Interview Responses

Interviewing three different people gave me a few surprising results. One surprise was how similar some of their responses were. I interviewed my coach, a fellow senior, and my sister who is twenty years old. I asked each of them three questions that each sparked very thoughtful responses. I asked each of the three about the habits of people today. My coach said that today, people are too obsessed with technology. Everywhere you look, there is some one who has some sort of technology attached to them. She even said that if she forgets her computer at home, she feels as if she does not know how to go about her daily routine without it which shows how dependent people are on their cell phones and computers. She also mentioned that people are finding expensive ways to deal with stress and no one can really deal with stress naturally. My friend's response was kind of similar in that he mentioned that he thinks humans are constantly moving and cannot enjoy what is happening at that moment. Humans are way too overworked and need to look at their life more. My sister talked about how she thinks humans today have been very open with their lives and now talk more about things like sex. She also thinks that nothing is private anymore for humans. When I asked about whether abstract art or realistic art is more important to them and what speaks the most to them, they all said that they loved realistic art much more than abstract. They said realistic art is much more challenging and you have something to compare it too. Finally, I asked them about where the sculpture would most fit in and they all said not in a natural environment. It needs to be where people are constantly moving around it.

When I think about the responses I received about the habits of humans, I was not surprised. The funny thing is is that all the people I interviewed knew that what they were doing was a bad obsession or habit to get into, but it doesn't stop them from still being obsessed with technology or constantly moving. I think that is interesting that we, as humans, know something is not natural or healthy, but we continue doing it because we cannot stop. I was surprised, however, with the fact that everyone likes realistic art more than abstract because I thought at least one person would have picked abstract. I completely agree with them because I love realistic art. Realistic art shows how difficult it was to make because an artist can take something that is real and make something so precise, it looks like it is real itself. Finally, I probably shouldn't have been surprised that a modern human sculpture cannot be put with nature because I guess I liked the idea of our sculpture being by those trees near the school. I suppose that putting it there would not represent a modern human because we are not one with nature anymore.

Interview Synthesis

It was very bizarre. Each of the people who I interviewed felt basically the same way about the topics of interest. They all described the 21st century human through a series of negative qualities. They see them as being dependent, lazy, ungrateful, technology based, short-sighted, and disrespectful. I believe my cousin summarized 21st century humans best as being "The Internet Generation." This title encompasses the 21st century human because we are technology based, speed obsessed and impatient. We feel lost and powerless if for a split second we don't have all the answers available at "lightening speed." My interviewees said hardly anything that would place this generation above a previous one.

Not only did the three agree on what the 21st century human is, but they also agreed on what a work of art that is displayed at school should look like. Upon asking questions about the topic, the first thing each of them said was it should be attractive. After further questioning, I discovered that even though they felt it should be visually attractive, it does not have to be emotionally attractive. This means that negative expression and themes within the piece are not off limits. My peer group brought up an interesting point, they all agreed that the art displayed at school should be intriguing and attention grabbing. It should provoke people to stop and take some time to look at it, the themes and messages should be subtle not blatant or obvious. They also said that it is crucial for it to be simple in appearance but complex in expression.

The main themes and ideas that I can take from these interviews is that one's taste of art is almost impossible to summarize or understand. During my interviews, I rapidly took notes on whatever I could, but upon looking back at my notes I realized that what was taken down was riddled with contradictions. One bullet point would talk about how the person appreciates technique and skill over expression and sincerity, but then in the one following they say appearance takes second class to expression and emotion. Trying to summarize what a person looks for in a work of art is the equivalent to trying describe what one looks for in the opposite sex, full of conflicting qualities and contradicting themes. The key to it, is finding balance.   

Interview Summary

Through this interview I learned that the three people that I interviewed (Mrs. Collins, Sister, and Sophomore girl) actually all had similar ideas about what a 21st century human is. They all had similar ideas when it came to the idea of the connection through electronics. They believed that todays human is connected with other humans through the form of emails, texts or Facebook more than ever and it may be over used at times. They also believed that the 21st century human is more fast paced than before. My little sister said that she thinks that humans in this century are also very materialistic in the way that they think and act, which I thought was really interesting.

Another question that the people that I interviewed seemed to be really interested in is the art aspect. I asked all three of them what there favorite form of art is, not necessarily piece of art, but form. They all had a similar favorite which was music. They felt as though they could connect to art the best through music. My sister also added that she really connects to art through painting, as she loves to paint as hobby. I found it really interesting that the three people that I interviewed all had so much in common, which I never thought would happen. From this interview, it seems as if the 21st century human is seen as the same through many people of different ages.

Here We Go!!

We are The Modern Day Fitzgeralds!!

We decided on this team name when we realized that the author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had the same goal when writing his classic American novel as we do for this project. His goal was to great a piece of art that would summarize his generation so that future generations would be able to use it as a tool for education. From this goal we derived our motto:

 ~Summarizing a generation for ages to come~

 GROUP RULES

• Always respect and "hear out" all proposed ideas
• Always pull your weight 
• We will never put our name on something we are not proud of
• If a team member is having a problem of any kind, they will always be vocal  and communicate said problems
• We will never "lose our heads" and lose focus on the important things in the project and in life  in general
• We will have a great time!

MEET THE CREW!

Mr. Peter Jorjorian: Peter has his background in the arts. He is a very active member in the Glenbrook South music and theater department. He has been participating in these areas for his entire life. During this assignment, Peter will act as the main Physical Creator. This entails leading any part of the project that involves a physical structure or model that needs to be built. He would be best suited for this role because he is very good with his hands and has a keen eye for creating things!

Miss Emily Miller: Emily has her background in dance. She has been on the Poms team all 4 years of high school and has been dancing for he whole life. During this assignment, Emily will act as the main Scribe. This entails taking charge of any portion of the project that involves writing (notes about progress, write-ups, ect.) She would best fit this role because she is believes her self to be a great writer and that she is able to express ideas through writing better than any other crew member!

Miss Chandler Murphy: Chandler is the sportiest of the group. She has been playing sports all her life and she is currently captain of the Girls Varsity Tennis Team. During this assignment, Chandler will be the main Organizer. This entails being in charge of all hand-outs, papers, supplies and other important group work. She would best fit this role because she believes that she is the most organized of the crew members and she is confident she will not lose anything for the group!