Ashlee's Blog

For The People

asalamon — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:29:41 +0000

Through out my Journal entries I have focused on myself and how I describe my senses, how people react to me, and how other people affect me and my surroundings. So I decided to focus on the people. Without people walking around and being part of my day, my projects/ journals would be impossible. So I decide to create yet reconstruct my projects and journals, I am creating a new journal so that I will be focusing on what the people mean to the world, and giving back to them for giving so much to me, and I am reconstructing Project one in using Sama’s suggestion on giving back to the people. So I wrote “thank you” on one side of the paper and taped to quarters to each, and on the other side I said “thanks for being you, it helped me”. From there I taped these papers to areas where people would need the money in order to go on with there everyday life, places like a parking meter, pay phone, pay station, newspaper stand, and soda machine. While I was taping these messages, I almost felt guilty, like I wasn’t giving enough. But after observing each place I taped my message for about 10 minutes, I began to laugh. I observed people watching me taping this “piece of paper with money” on different objects, staring then looking at the message then they continued walking and then looked back again. No one in any of the five places took my offering in the 10 minutes I watched them. I thought it was funny that no one picked it up, that now my message was a part of the object. I hope to go back tomorrow to see if just the money was taken, or the whole thing. I hope my contribution to the people helped on person today, because it helped me feel better about using many people to help aid my projects during this pre-session.

Now Hurry! Maybe you could find one!

Decide For Yourself

asalamon — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:15:34 +0000

Your voice is the most tool you have in this world. And I am finding this out as I decide for myself who I want my next president to be. As your going up you hear little things here and there about what president is good and ultimately just support your parents in there decision. Or those conversation you have had with friends, asking them what their thoughts are. I’ve found through taking about politics with people that there opinions really don’t matter to me, it’s my own opinions that matter. I have come across people who choose who they are gonna vote for based on what there parents have said or what there friends believe in, and I feel as if that is the easy way out, the easiest way not to deal with it. Now that I face the first election that I will be able to vote in, I can’t help to think about what my parents and my friends, but thats not what I want, I want to decide for my self and make my decisions based on facts and my own needs from a president. Thats why I decided to make a political statement, and hopefully when people come across my statement they will look at there decisions, whether they are political or personal and make it for themselves!

I Walk in Your Name

asalamon — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:42:05 +0000

So, I asked my boyfriend what his cause would be, he asked me to walk in the name of the arts. As a musician he is concerned about the education of music and the arts within the school systems, and complains do me on a daily basis, that at his little sisters school they don’t offer enough classes geared toward music or even regular art classes. I believe he told me once that there is only one art class offered and two music classes, the rest where all considered extra circular. So once again as we got into a aggravating conversation about what he would want me to do to make people aware he began to discuss the idea of having a festival or parade of sorts that would involve bands playing and art being displayed. He began to go on that there should be different classes during these festivals that would give parents and children the opportunity to get involved with art and music, and form there opinions on whether this cause is worth fighting for, there will also be information about what classes are offered with-in the school districts and statics about the low rate of music and art classes offered in elementary, middle, and high schools through-out the country. After we talked about what he would want me to do to the extreme, I asked him if i where just to walk around tucson in the name of the arts what would you want me to feel, and observe. He said that I should feel for the kids you don’t get the opportunity to experience the arts, those who don’t get to experience what he loves about music, and I love about photography. And then he asked me to observe the art on the walls as I made my walk, what did I see and if I was inspired by the art that I saw. So before I walked I began to think if I would help him in his awareness of the arts, and I came to the conclusion that I would, If he were to get this festival in the works I would help him in anyway I could because art is what I love also, and to think that many kids don’t experience it is heart breaking. After I went on my walk and tried to consider everything that me and my boyfriend had discussed I noticed a lot more public art and private art. But the one thing that kept running through my mind was, if kids aren’t exposed to art as we once where, will there still be people making art 30 years from now?

An Experimentation Within Everyday Life

asalamon — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:55:52 +0000

I chose to be really loud at work one day, just talked to everybody in this really obnoxious tone and level of voice. I work at a photography studio, so when ever I was taking clients pictures or a guest was in the lobby, I was asked to tone it down. As I ignored the requests, acting as if nothing was wrong and everything was fine was difficult. The people I work with know me, so I believe it was a little more difficult to get away with such an obnoxious character. I was asked over and over again why I was being loud, and I simply stated that I wasn’t being loud and acting like my coworkers were crazy. I couldn’t really document my performance, because the someone would be curious to why I was taking pictures if myself or my coworkers reacting. I was never really treated any differently, I was just looked at weird. After the five hours of performance was over I had explained myself, and everyone was pretty impressed by how much I had stayed in character. They explained to me that they were confused by my behaviors but just thought I was having “one of those days.” Then it got me wondering, if I really have to many of the “one of those days.”

Cocooned vs. Engaged

asalamon — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:45:41 +0000

Since I rarely see any of the University campus, because I am stuck in the Art building 24/7 I decided to become familiar with new surroundings and it’s people. I rarely find myself being super closed in while I am on campus, so this was a new experience for me. As I walked around (the only girl you could find with-in miles wearing a hoodie in ninety degree weather) with my i-pod blasting and sunglasses on, I observed the way that people were looking at me. Not only did others look at me weird and probably thought that i was nuts, only made me feel weird and TOTALLY nuts! I even convinced myself at one point that I was. Convinced that people where afraid of me, one girl saw me and choose a different path as I walked toward her. It was hard for me, to not be accepted in a world I felt so comfortable in. It was also hard for me to stay in character, avoid smiling at people who smiled at me. Then finally relief, I was able to walk as I normally would. Smiling at everyone, I even found myself saying “Hi” to people I didn’t know because of the horrible feeling of being cocooned, I even started skipping around being happy to be in the ninety degree heat without a hoodie! I was just happy to be me again, it’s just so much easier to be happy and friendly!

Desired Line

asalamon — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:31:55 +0000

As I mapped my way through the canyons close to where my parents live, a path that has become so familiar and intimate due to the many times that my family had spent so many memorable moments, I couldn’t help to notice the path is now a much walked one. What was once just mine, my own little personal getaway from the world was now where I saw joggers, artists, and construction. As I walked a path that now had many imprinted footsteps in the sand I couldn’t help but snarl at the pedestrians walking by, they where in my special place. The pieces of junk left behind where now apart of what was once untouched. I guess i’ll just have to find a new “special” place.

Mapping Senses

asalamon — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:14:04 +0000

I took a trip to the zoo, and as I made my way through many people and a variety of different animals I though about three different senses. All which were a different experience then anything I have ever experienced before.

As I made my way through the zoo, there was many different smells. The smell of dirt, grass, flowers, and the ever so lovely scent of poop. As I walked around trying to focus on these smells they became overwhelming, like smells that I’ve never experienced before.

Out of everything that I have newly become more closely acquainted with sound was my favorite. All of the sounds that I don’t even notice as I walk down the street due to distractions, where amazing. The sounds of children playing, crying, laughing, the footsteps that followed behind me, and the different sounds the animals made. I’ve always been a lover a of music, but these sounds that I would typically ignore because of the normalcy of what we hear everyday.

Now for the sight, I’ve never been to the zoo in the over 10 years I have lived in tucson. The Reid Park Zoo was one of the nicest most intimate zoo i’ve ever been to. To be so close to the animals see all of there colors the giraffes skin, how it looked like leather, the peacock, with colors of blue, turquoise, purple, and green. To really sit an analyze everything I saw was a nice change of pace. To be able to really appreciate everything that I was seeing was an amazing feeling, one that I will no longer take for granted.

Graffiti

asalamon — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:12:53 +0000

I made a tag that represent my group, or my personality. I am a very music driven person, I can’t play music but I love listening to it, and it influences a lot of the things I do. For example my art, the words I write, the choices I make, music speaks to me and truly explains why I am me! Not only does music influence me it surrounds me through my social scene, I have many people in my life that are involved with bands, which gives me the opportunity to go to many shows and also gives me the opportunity to hear different music as well. Everyone that I know has a special connection with music, which in turn allows all of us to learn and feed of each other through are love of beautiful sounds.

All We Need Is A Little LOVE

asalamon — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:53:10 +0000

Right?

Well i’ve tried and tired to get the words in the images bigger but failed! The sayings on the papers are: “I love you..”, “Someone Loves You..”, “You Are Loved..”. Everyone needs a little love sometime, any kind of love really. So i thought I would help those couple people receive theirs.

What?

asalamon — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:28:17 +0000

So here it is my first blogging experience. It seems like a good way to get through to many people, maybe even share some great ideas and experiences. Here it goes, it’s all or nothing now.