Ethan's Experiments

  Untitled No. 1, Ethan Swanson      While it may have taken a lot longer than it should have to print our photos (That dang printer!), overall I think it was really worth it to be able to see a physical version of our photographs. I really liked the look of my photos, and they really feel different on paper and displayed than on a computer. I the texture that the printer adds is really nice. And displaying them professionally with lights and frames was also really fulfilling. The gallery space really directs the eye and makes you focus on the artwork in a different way.      Making the book may have been one of my favorite things we did in class. The process of arranging the photos in a sequence gave a different mood to my photos, and gave an opportunity to tell a visual "story". I also liked arranging the photos in different ways directionally, so that the viewer has to work with the book, and the act of viewing isn't a ...

Allen Ginsberg, Prague, 1965 Link to my presentation:  https://lawrenceu-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/swansone_lawrence_edu/EQwAhjOV1ApNjBTjQqdwswwB6TD6mPHKhnJNeTEp-hBMgw?e=aeKxzr     I had a really great time researching Ginsberg. I was initially interested in him because he was a part of the Beat Generation, who were always interesting because they seemed like  photo-hippies. But upon learning more about him, I realized what an incredible artist and person he was. Howl was especially meaningful to me, because of its righteous rage against parts of American society that still exist today. As a queer person, it was also wonderful to hear about a man who was able to be fairly openly gay in  American society at that time. I'm sure he faced a lot of persecution, and it's amazing he was able to have the cultural impact he had. His poetry is also some of the best I've ever read, and is so incredibly emotional, which is why I chose to share so much of it in m...

Royal Proclamation of Canada (front), Hand cut calico letters on antique quilt, 2017                 "When information is brushed against information..." (McLuhan, 76)     Gina Adams' work is a remarkable interplay between clear illustration, and abstract patterning.  When the newly made (but history containing) letters interact with the vintage quilts she uses, her quilts show both injustices and the intersectionality of American identity. New information rubs onto the old to create something unique.      I found her Treaty Quilts really interesting conceptually. She could've chosen to make her own quilts to put the letters on, or some other material completely. But she chose to use these vintage, very American style, quilts. So there is this interplay between the letters which are about broken treaties and injustices done onto Native Americans, and these handmade quilts that are objects of comfor...

Experiment Link:  https://soundcloud.com/user-855245494/soundscape-experiment?si=f1216a12cb444d60becf68f61968ac3a     "In general we feel more secure when things are  visible , when we can 'see for ourselves'." (McLuhan, 117)     The above quote emphasizes what I wanted to do when creating this project. I wanted to try to make something musical (because I haven't done that before) but I mostly wanted to create a piece of sound that would conjure some sort of imagery in listeners heads. I think the  interplay between visual and auditory is really interesting, especially when they overlap. So I wanted this sound to indicate something visual even though it isn't.      I made this project out of instruments that Garageband  already had, using the virtual midi keyboard on my computer. It was really fun to play and try to put together a little 'song'. I really enjoyed adding effects using the peddle board options and messing around w...

  My Flickr Blume No. 2 "Something is happening here and you don't know what it is, do you, Mister Jones?" (Bob Dylan, 1965)          I just took this quote on a very literal level instead of its total meaning. I like the idea of something that is happening that is under everyones radar, so that's what I tried to do with the abstraction in the photos. I like making people see things in a way that they can't with their naked eye.      I took all these photos on a walk in the evening this past weekend. I focused mostly on making more abstract pictures because that is what I generally like to do in my art. To support that I manipulated them quite a bit in photoshop. I had a lot of fun in messing in the 'Curves' menu, I found that was a really good way to mess with them (especially in black and white). Overall I think that most of my photos are  successful, about 16 of them I'm happy with. There were some I included ...

    My approach to the project arose out of this idea from a shot I already had (it's not in the video) involving light and a person interacting with it. From there I just filmed shots that I found interesting relating to that. As in all my work, the structure changed almost completely during editing, and the video you're seeing is not what I set out to make. But I am happy (sort of) with what happened.      I have to admit that a lot of what McLuhan says in this book goes over my head. But I do relate a lot personally to his idea that life is moving too fast for us to comprehend or society to get a handle on. This idea of going backwards while we simultaneously go forward is something that I tried to incorporate into this video. I tried to mess with time a bit by using slow motion and jump cuts. The last shot of this video tries to tie the rest of it together and comment on the artificiality of our world. Sometimes life feels completely mean...

Justice MMIWG, Valaria Tatera, 2019-2021     I found Valaria Tatera's talk incredibly moving and informative. I had absolutely no idea Enbridge pipeline 5 existed or that Wisconsin even had residential schools. I think growing up in Wisconsin gave me the impression that most of the injustices meted out against native peoples were in other places, it was worrying to find out the same happened here. Although sadly it's not that surprising.      My complete ignorance on the topic shows just how deficient the school system is in the US, where the majority population can just choose to leave out the more unpleasant parts of history that make them look bad. This is why Tatera's art is so necessary, not only is it a healing process for herself, which would be important enough by itself, it makes people focus on what  they'd rather ignore.   "Whence did the wond'rous mystic art arise, of painting SPEECH and speaking to the eyes? T...