Semester 1

Arts TRYathlon #1: NextNOW

7 September 2023, Ricky Montgomery at The Clarice

#music

The question of, “what is art?” left the professor's mouth more times than I could count in these first couple weeks of colloquium. When I saw both the people who had only heard Ricky Montgomery’s music through Banana Fish edits on Tiktok and groupies screaming every lyric of the song rushing to the stage at the end of the show, I knew what art was. Well, maybe I knew it the moment I saw my best friend whom I hadn’t seen since I was eight years old huddled near the back of the crowd, and subsequently ran over to wrap her in a bear hug. Art brings people together. I could have never danced with the cool girl with pretty hair jumping to touch Ricky’s hand without the music. I never would have had the confidence to scream “I love you Kyle!”, to the guitarist, without people yelling to the song lyrics next to me. Art is the sound from Ricky’s voice, the vibrations of Kyle’s strings, the song lyrics, the lights, the wires inside the speakers that let us hear the music, the architecture of The Clarice, the voices singing next to mine, the hair, her clothes. Art is all around us. Art is whatever we want it to be. Every beauty and tragedy on the planet Earth could be considered art, and today, I’ll see Ricky Montgomery’s concert as a work of art.

Arts TRYathlon #2: Choose Your Own Adventure

27 September 2023, LHM Paint-A-Pot Night hosted by MICA and Studio A

#painting #functionalart

The value that art carries (or lack thereof), was the main discussion point of the last colloquium. I found a way art can be valuable in a more literal sense today – functional art! To me, functional art is any object that carries both aesthetic and utilitarian value, though what makes an object function art is subjective. I mean, from this definition, any object could be considered functional art if I think it looks pretty and is useful in some way. I kind of like that perspective, though, that anything could be a pretty piece of art, even a boring wooden bench. At Studio A, I painted a plain ceramic pot with colorful flowers and moths. I was inspired by the henna that my friend, Zoya, had drawn onto my wrist. However, the value of this functional art wasn’t just from the aesthetics or use. It was also the smile on Zoya’s face when I showed her the pot and told her who inspired it. It’s the joy I get when I see my little ivy plant thriving inside of the once empty pot. It was the little exchanges I made with the strangers painting next to me; it was giving my leftover paint to a girl who had just started painting; it was looking over at a girl painting a beautiful scene of pine trees and wind on her vase, and subsequently feeling inspired to add clouds to my own.

Arts TRYathlon #3: Arts Scholars Event

6 October 2023, Craft & Chat: Perler Beads for the Teenage Soul hosted by TA Alyssa Caruso

#pixelart #nostalgia

A few weeks ago, a speaker came into colloquium to voice their experience with identity and belonging. They seemed so confident and sure of their own identity, and I realized I may forever be unsure of my identity, and where I fall into society. I’m indecisive, I grew up in a mixed culture household, I’m an undecided major who’s unsure where their passions fall. Yet, one thing I will always feel grounded to is my memories. At Alyssa’s craft and chat, I rediscovered a childhood interest. Perler beads. I remembered placing each bead individually for hours, and carefully handing the beads to my mother who ironed my rainbow shaped bead hearts. I remembered eagerly going to my best friend’s house after the long elementary school day to see her shelf full of perler bead shapes. I remembered carefully picking up a perler bead shape in order to not break the delicate edges. It was all so wonderful and nostalgic. During the craft and chat, I realized there was so much more to perler beads that I never knew about. Premade patterns on pinterest with the most intricate designed video game sprites out of beads. Techniques to make perler beads into three-dimensional functional objects. The girl next to me made a rollable dice from her beads, and someone else made a character from Animal Crossing. I felt so much euphoria from our shared passions, even if it was childlike. And I realized that it doesn’t matter if I never know my identity. I don’t need to dawn on the little details of myself. My identity will evolve naturally along the ground I walk on.

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