Jon Bangs Assignment 9

Jonathan Bangs

E. Serrano

March 2016

            I will like to open my weekly reflection by saying much hasn't changed since my latest journal entry. The show is premiering at Caracen this Friday but I will be absent because of the Graduating Actors Showcase. Going to New York in a few days has really consumed my thought process to the point where the "Team Project" necessarily hasn't been circulating. I'm looking forward to do what is needed on the East Coast and attack whatever his needed from me in terms of Shelter. In conclusion, the team and I have decided to do a tad bit of self-promotion at Lincoln Park Wednesday morning. . .  I can't wait to shed light on the experience for my next benchmark. 

Noga Yechieli- advanced benchmarks

Let's Talk Sex Work has taken some major leaps over the last ten days. 

1. First after collaboration and rehearsals since November the final script is complete, with about 90% of the script being DIRECT quotes of sex workers. I am so pleased to have maintained such accuracy with the work. My cast is currently getting off book to prepare for the NWF. 

2. I have been in contact with the Nola Brantley Speaks and it looks like I will be able to bring her to give a lecture to the cast sharing her own experiences as a sex worker and hopefully collaborate in the future of the piece. 

3. I am bringing a young woman by the name of Jessica Jean who is a trans woman, to come and speak to two of my cast members that are playing trans women, and to share her personal experience. 

4. My producer Salina is going to be writing an article for bitchmedia.org about our piece and our process. 

5. More interviews with the cast will be coming out next week as well. 

6. I have reached out to an organization called Children of the Night which works with trafficked teens and children to possibly collaborate with them, but am still waiting for their responses. They are located in Van Nuys so hopefully it won't fall through. 

Monique Wilmoth – Benchmarks

This past week, the team working on the Shelter project visited Lincoln Park to pass out fliers around the surrounding community to promote the event. The support from businesses around the community was so positive! Jocelyn & Camila did an amazing job giving voice to event & describing further details to community members we engaged with.

SERINA BERNSTEIN—ADVANCING BENCHMARKS

I was added to the social media team during our last meeting, so now I can post on the FB page for shelter promotional material. I drove a group to Lincoln Park on Wednesday to promote the event by passing out fliers to people and businesses. I plan to attend the performance at Carecen and Ratri and I have plans to discuss engagement strategies during the break. We are on track with our ideas for engagement, however we still need to decide exactly what we are doing, when, and what supplies we need. I'm wondering when these questions will be answered.

Jocelyn Dimaya// week 9

The Salsa event was a huge success. We sold most of the food, everyone danced, the salsa band brought a lively energy as always, and most importantly, it was a great opportunity to share our work with the Calarts community and get some feedback on our projects. Since my project with Melis requires people's news, we left out a table with strips of paper for individuals to write down news that is happening in their lives. Reading through the answers, I found so much sincerity. It was a mix of excitement about finishing films or babies being born as well as people struggling with loneliness, college debt, and passing of loved ones. It reminded me that news is everything. News is all of the good and the bad. It was very inspiring and I cannot wait to do this in Cuba.

Josh Lowenstein - Progress Report 3-15-2016

Progress Report: 3-15-2016

Last week we went to downtown LA to interview homeless people. We stayed around north Hollywood and talked to two people who were asking for money. They both had interesting stories that we recorded on our phones. We will be using the audio we compiled to make an installation to present in the main gallery. We need to organize how that event will go and clean up the audio samples. I will be dealing with the audio samples and I will provide a sound system to use for the gallery night event.

Paige McGhee/ Update!

Salsa Night was a SUCCESS!! We had food from Portos which helped us with fundraising the trip to Cuba. The class had the chance to share their art and get feedback from other artists who came. Also the salsa band confirmed they would play on Thursday morning and they rocked the house down! Everyone had an amazing time and wanted more events like this!

For our individual project Madeline and I finally got to take our pictures. It was really cool working with each photos texture on our bodies, the 2 photo textures mixed together, and working with shadows on the projection screens. The photos came out great and we will be selecting 3 images to print. Evelyn will be taking the photos with her to Cuba.  

Jonathan Bangs assignment #9

Re:

Just last class, the team and i went to Hollywood to conduct our first series of interviews. Me, Jarron, and Josh bought donuts to give out to people in need and ended up striking a few conversations from it. We ended up meeting one very compelling man, Arthur, who had a really crazy story to tell for our project. In all we got two interviews which was a good kick off to start our project with.

Aidan

On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 6:48 PM, Aidan Bach <aidanbach@alum.calarts.edu> wrote:

Assignment 7

The project I have been working on this semester "The Tent of Meeting, " went up very smoothly and successfully nearly a week ago.  Because of all of our carful planning and preparation, the set up, performance, and strike all went problem free. The show included many disciplines working together, the musical ensemble, two dancers,  the graphic designer responsible for the poster design, the light design department, and myself the scenic designer representing the fine art major.

We are currently waiting to hear back from the school about the possibility of an interdisciplinary grant which could reward as much $1,500, and if we do get this , then we will move the performance to a new venue.

With in the Cuba project, I am currently awaiting for my silk screens to be remeshed. Once they are finished, I will be able to finish my project.

-Aidan

On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 7:31 PM, Aidan Bach <aidanbach@alum.calarts.edu> wrote:

Week 6

aidan bach

-A dialogical approach must engage minority body of people in some way. Whether it be by race, gender, sexuality, a subjects circumstance, or so on, the subjects should have something with in them that they can give to the art world.This is demonstrated in much of Lacey's work such as "There are Voices in the Dessert " which commemorated the people of an area of desert known of bodies of women whom where kill in domestic violence cases where known to show up.

-In many cases, dialogical approaches often yield large scale, or very prominent projects. As noted by critics, a dialogical approach typically does not yield a strong aesthetic appeal, and must be made interesting in another way. Also, dialogical art typically makes use of a larger body of people to operate to its fullest."Boat Colliqous" for example require more than a gallery space, they relied on inviting viewers of the project to come aboard real boats in which the group being surveyed

-Dialogical works typically produce an eviroment that is comfortable or familiar to the group that is being studied. In this evrioment, the people art of the art are more at ease and thus more likely to feel more natural and express themselves more freely. It is more as if the viewer of the work  is being invited to scope the people of the project in a way that they never had before. This is demonstrated in numerous times through out this form of art such as "The Roof is on Fire, " "the Bus Dialogues,  "

-These projects are meant to produce a positive outcome for their subjects. No matter the subject matter, or the state of the people involved, dialogical art  is meant to give a face and voice to people who often overlooked are ridiculed. "Intervention to Aide Drug Addicted Women " for example is not meant to ridicule or demean drug addicted women in anyway, but is instead intended to demonstrate to the community their struggles and prosperity.

-Though dialogical response work can be appreciated by many unassociated people, it is work made by a community for a community. Related to the idea dialogical art is meant to serve those who form it, it is meant to boost the representation and draw much needed attention or clear understanding to them. In "Shelter " for example, despite the teens and families represented with in the play, the subject matter and the location of the play will engage an audience of many races and privileges, it is a work that serves to demonstrate a relevant issue that is often overseen. 

On Tue, Feb 16, 2016 at 9:01 PM, Aidan Bach <aidanbach@alum.calarts.edu> wrote:

What inspired me most when reading Battle in Seattle was the level of community that the WTO protestors had engaged. In my home city of San Diego, despite being over twice the size of Seattle, may causes for protest with in the city (such as the police brutality protests of last year ) generate much less organizers. Despite the effort exhibited, I also think that the employment of peace and fun tied in with  the anarchist protest is a very effective protest. It goes to show, that anarchy and peace, when executed catiously, can be acheived. 

-Aidan Bach

Advancing BenchMarks-Week 9 Madeline Quint

At this point, Paige and I have successfully put up our project once and were able to see how the images worked together, and how we could use those images to create new ones. We even ended up adding in shadows of ourselves or hands to make it have a comfort and a human like feel to it. All of that turned out perfectly, but now we need to get the images printed by Wednesday to be able to send them to Cuba! So the next step is to print the images and have a final decision made on the title of the project by then! Once everything is sent off to Cuba, we will then working on getting everything ready for the galley in LA. 

Week 8 Assignment

There have been several advancements made to the Seeking Human Kindness project since last update. We have since gone out on the streets of my neighborhood in Little Armenia and collected a handful of interviews from local homeless people with partners: Aidan, Sophia, Josh and Jaron. After, we visited My Friend's Place, a nearby day-shelter for young people. There we learned what resources are available to people that are our age who experience homelessness and gained a further insight into the issue. My Friend's place was a fantastic organization who provides necessary assistance to those in need so Sophia and I decided that we will take our cast there one weekend to volunteer. We also decided that when the performance takes place, there will be a booth hosting a food and clothing drive that will be given to the shelter. 

MELIS NUR YORUK 

MARCH 15TH ASSIGNMENT :

Write an individual blog describing the work you did to advance a specific team goal. Reflect on what elements of your team's process seem to be "on track" and what might be some challenges or questions you might have regarding the process. ?

-----This week the EL ACERCAMIENTO TEAM hosted a fundraiser for our trip to LA HABANA CUBA. We had Porto's Cuban Bakery pastries, Salsa band, Salsa lessons. At this event we also showcased our work thus far. For this event Jocelyn and I showcased our cocoon and in order to dig deeper and move even further with our project we put out paper and pens for people browsing this event to personally write down their news. WHAT IS YOUR NEWS? We got a great amount of supporters and answers in a jar that was by the papers. This was great because now without even apporaching people for their news they personally with out my asking submitted their news themselves. 

This event also helped me mentally to get ready for our project next week while going to Cuba. I am a bit nervous in thinking if my project would speak out or if it'll be none important but having this event. I realized that this project made sense to me and I personally have a message to send out and whatever people interpret it thats what they interpret it as I have no power against that. Also that this project will always be in process. 

Cris Hernandez - BENCHMARK 3/9/16

SEEKING HUMAN KINDNESS: Graphic Designer

Research is almost complete and reference material is currently being archived. Mood board is complete and logo's are currently being mocked. We will have a group meeting during class to further discuss identity.

Cris Hernandez - BENCHMARK 3/2/16

SEEKING HUMAN KINDNESS: Graphic Designer

I've begun drafting the identity for Seeking Human Kindness. The first steps involve researching events/associations with similar moods/characteristics to what Seeking Human Kindness is aiming to achieve. A mood board and first draft should be finalized by the next week.

Keanu Beausier Assignment 7

My part in helping the shelter project is promotion. Looking for ways to have the community around calarts engage in the process. The first part of this plan was inviting people from the newhall community center who were seeing a film (minions) to sign up and come to an acting workshop. Serina created the sing up sheet through google and many people signed up. Unfortunately, this has been postponed so now our focus has been shifted to engaging in activities around Lincoln park, which is also were performances will take place. 

Keanu Beausier assignment 5

Modern day slavery museum

   The strategies used in the exhibit are very helpful when the art is more about the message and awareness. They have a large mobile way to move it around, touring the states and with each successful visit the crowds only rise in numbers. The importance of showing and not telling becomes crucial, when it comes to political awareness they tried their best to show the facts rather than their interpretation. Jumping off of the Narvarrete case helped as well, not only as inspiration but a good example and segue to show how long agricultural slavery has been going on for and that it's still a modern problem to this day.

 

Joshua Rivas Cuba Event Update

This past week I have posted all 32 posters around campus with the help of Paige. Thanks to JJ, Jocelyn and Tyree the posters look wonderful! Concerns I have may have to do with the DJ and what equipment they may need for this Friday and whether or not we need a DJ and if some speakers and Salsa music would be more satisfying and less complicated. I understand Melis-Nur contacted a DJ and I am anticipating a conversation with them, to confirm the use of Latin inspired songs. In terms of my personal progress with my piece that is being sent to Cuba I have been in intense collaboration with Tanya. The project will consist of many items and objects and I am quite excited to see it on display this upcoming Friday at the event. I am taking photographs tomorrow night and Tanya is in the process of building the container in which the photographs will live! 

Jocelyn Dimaya // week 8

This week was incredibly productive for our team working towards our fundraising event. On Sunday, JJ and I were able to screen print the posters and they have been hung around campus. A Facebook event has also been created and it seems like there are quite a few people who are very interested in supporting our work. There are even people who are not apart of the calarts community coming to this event. I have invited my roommate and she has also invited friends. We are continuing to promote the event and I am hopeful for a big turn out. 

Another job I took on was securing the catering. I had initially made the order for Portos in Burbank, but that has since been changed to Portos in Glendale and Evelyn will pick up the preheated platters at 7 pm on Friday.we will be spending approximately $110 on food and the remainder will go towards water, plates, and drinks.

ADVANCING BENCHMARKS—SERINA BERNSTEIN

Ratri asked me to come up with engagement activities for local children at the park. Here are some: 

One idea is to fill in a template of a map of where their best friends and family live. Maybe putting stickers where different people they know live and labeling the sticker (such as friend Linda, Cousin, grandma) and then decorating/coloring in the countries where they place the stickers. This project causes the children to think about their ties to different countries based on personal connections, and the global nature of relationship. This connects with the play because the children in the play are travelling great distance to reconnect with their family.

Another project idea is to teach the kids how to make origami boxes, (or just simple fold and tape boxes) and then ask them the question, if you were moving somewhere new, but you could only bring five things with you, what would you bring? Ask them to draw these things small, cut them out and put them into their travel box. It would be important to explain that the box is a metaphor, explain what a metaphor is, and encourage the children to think about what really matters, and it's ok if it wouldn't normally fit into the box, because this is a game. This connects to Shelter because of the boxes that the characters bring with them on the journey. It allows the children to be either practical, strategic or metaphorical and imaginative. They could also decorate their boxes.

Camila Ascencio:Project Update for Shelter

This week, I am beginning outreach to people who can connect me to people who have migrated to the US that I can interview and photograph for my portion of Shelter's social media campaign. Currently, we have a good amount of likes on the Facebook page but almost no interaction whatsoever. So we need to work on making sure our content reaches people. That includes comments that generate conversation on posts, etc. We are also going to talk to Chi Wang about doing a take over of CNP's social media sites.

Update/ Paige McGhee

Since the last check up El Acercamiento group has turned in all of our paper work for our Salsa event is this week on Friday! As a team we are focused on getting the word out through flyers, email, social media, etc. JJ has finished the flyers and they are printed. Josh and I spent time hanging them up all around the school. I set up the facebook page! It's pretty exciting knowing that our event is at the end of this week. We meet with Facility's team to make sure everything is approved for our event. Unfortunately there will be no salsa band so a challenge we are facing is finding a dj for the night under short notice. We want to stay true to our event and the theme. After tomorrow meet up I think we should have everything squared!

Advancing Benchmarks 2

Jaron Crespi

Last week the team brainstormed to figure out possible strategies for engaging people that are homeless in a way that would empower them and allow us to be their megaphone in this project. Tomorrow (March 9) we will be going to Hollywood to approach people on the streets for the sole purpose of hearing them out and being there for them. If an opportunity should arise, we will ask if they would want to participate in our piece by allowing us to record their stories and whatever it is that they want to talk about.

Since I am very new to this team and the project as a whole I don't really quite understand the big picture yet but after tomorrow I believe I will have an in depth understanding of the project and its goals. This is a challenge for me, but I trust Sophia and her vision for the project.

Let's talk sex work benchmarks- Noga Yechieli

This past week I did some extensive research and am waiting for a response from "Nola Brantley Speaks". Nola Brantely is a well known activist fighting against trafficking of girls in the U.S. She was a victim of incest and was pimped into sex work as a teenager. She does a lot of public speaking and radical activism. I reached out to her, hoping she will be able to come and speak to the cast from a more first hand experience. I hope to be able to collaborate with her in performance as well, so that she could possibly lead a workshop after we do our show. 

In rehearsals this past week I met with a number of the actors working with them individually for an hour each time, understanding and building the full biography of each character. We dug deeper analyzing each woman's entry point into sex work and looking at the question of- why are they coming to the support group in the first place. After working with some of the actors individually we did a group rehearsal as well and finalized some of the script which was very exciting since nothing had been finalized yet. If we continue at this pace we should be well prepared for NWF.  

Project Update - Josh Lowenstein

Progress Report: 3-8-12

I recently changed groups to the homeless individual group with Sophia. We will be going to downtown LA tomorrow at 9AM to interview homeless people. We will be asking various life questions and seeing where it goes. The process will be relatively flexible in terms of where the questions go. In addition, we will be very respectful of individuals who do not want to partake and our questions will only go as personal as the individuals want to go. The basic purpose is to see how they got to where they are and what their lives are like. Our group will also travel together and be very careful to not run into any danger during the process.

Jon's Benchmark/ Assignment #8

Jonathan Bangs

March 2016

E. Serrano

            This week during my Shelter process we were recently informed of press that will be coming in for the following week, as well as a performance that will take place across the country during the summer. I haven't been in contact with my class this week to see how the designers and others are progressing, however the social medial page is still managing to be doing outstandingly well. All aspects of the piece seemed to be aligning and all members of the team seem to be adding smart/tactful elements to willingly aid this project. The next step for myself individually is to gather the one page reflections from my cast and crew. Lastly, I'm hoping I can substitute next week's benchmark entry with my own in depth and intimate reflection on the process.

 

 

 

Warmly,

Bangs (Eusibio)

 

 

Monique Wilmoth: Project Update for Shelter

This week, I spoke with Evelyn & she helped create a very clear timeline for me the next few weeks when working on the branding & poster designs for Shelter. Now, with a clear deadline, I've been preparing the first drafts of the posters for tomorrow's class to go over with Ratri & Leslie. We have set prep and print deadlines to proceed.

Sophia Pietrkowski- Project Update #2

We are beginning to plan for our first attempt at interviewing people on the streets this Wednesday. I am getting together a mass email of all the interview questions and our first cast gathering sometime this week or next week to discuss the process of obtaining these interviews, which I believe we are not going through a shelter. Once the interviews are collected, we will begin to design audio and really get the show rolling. Beyond that there isn't much of an update yet. Tanner and I are visiting My Friend's Place to discuss how to go about collecting stories in a sensitive and opportunistic way for these people to be heard. Someone in the group shared that the goal was to make our interaction the art itself. We are not sharing their past, we are sharing the moment of listening. 

Advancing BenchMarks-Madeline Quint

Since last week, my team and I have met with facility's at Calarts to ensure we have everything covered for the upcoming fundraiser this Friday. Talking to them included...getting chairs and tables, extra bathroom utilities, making sure we had power coming from the outlets, approval of food and drinks, and approval for anything else that will be at the fundraiser. We also had a poster made and printed, which turned out wonderfully! Since our salsa band came back with a no, we are now working on finding a dj that is willing to play during that time, if not, then the team and I have decided to create a Spotify playlist that will "fit" the event. Another challenge some of us will be facing is setting up the art work in time before the gallery starts, since some team members classes don't end until 6 or after! 

But I have faith in us all and we will get it together by Friday! :) 

Re:

Melis Nur Yoruk

WEEK 8

This week for Jocelyn and my project I have been trying to edit our footage from shooting around LosAngeles. I have never edited anything in my life and it is a huge challenge for me. I am trying to make it as raw and clean cut possible and its really hard for me but I will work it out! The huge step we have overcome is shooting and getting it on the editing software, our next step is to bring it to Adian Bach to help us edit it.

But I will be positive and keep trying myself with looking at youtube tutorials !

On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 11:54 AM, Melis Nur Yoruk <melisyoruk@alum.calarts.edu> wrote:

Melis Nur Yoruk 

1. Content: What is the issue, need, idea or opportunity addressed by this project?  Racism and Resistance in Us History and today.

2. Form: What medium and techniques were used to embody the content? One she used young children as actors and used there voices to spread the message and she used TO as her medium. Specifically The Joker System by Augosto Boal. Joker system is a spectacular discussion or even trial, where different ideas and feelings about historical characters or events can be presented and debated.

3. Context: What are the circumstances and setting that frame our understanding of this project? The circumstances are CAP which is to teach younger kids by cal arts and other students and teachers. The plaza de la raza and Red Cat. The biggest frame of this project is that they have to make a play with young kids and teenagers and thats there circumstance.

4. Stakeholders: Who can affect or be affected by this project?

This project can affect people who have either had been exposed to racism in their life. The people who could get affected by this project in my opinion could be privileged white people who especially don't know what their privilege means.  

5. Audience or communities engaged: For whom and/or with whom was this project created?

6. Engagement strategies: How were the stakeholders, audiences, and community members engaged in this project? How were the goals of the project advanced?

7. Resources: What tangible or intangible resources were used to pursue the project's goals? They used the voice of the children and also history. 

8. Goal: What are the project's objectives?

The projects objective was to let the kids voice be heard but overall have the audience engaged and let all kids play the so called "bad role" and "good role"

9. Outcomes: What were the results and the impact of this project? Did they match the goals?

Yes they did Ive noticed from the children atleast

10. Values: What were this project's guiding values and/or core beliefs? There core beliefs were to incorporate The joker into a play written and having the children speak there mind into it as well so its more engaging where they don't just play a character in a play but we engaged in the play. 

week 7

Melis Nur Yoruk 

WEEK 7 ASSIGNMENT

My collaborator and I last week went around Los Angles shooting our performance piece and it was a huge jump for our project. At first personally I was very nervous to get into this cocoon half naked in public share it with strangers. We first went to Hollywood and it was actually surprisingly fun people were engaged and asked Jocelyn questions when she was shooting. I also didn't even realize the people around me. When I got out of the cocoon I hugged it to keep it close with love. Later we went to union station and that was a total different experience. It was a closed space and busy and alot of people stopped to look at the piece and it turned out to be this emotional experience in which I didn't even know was going to happen. Later we spoke to people about it and it was shocking to see all these different interpretations. 

To recap I would say that personally with Jocleyn and my piece last week.

The challenge for me was actually performing it.

But it totally paid off !

Jonathan Bangs Assignment 7

Jonathan Bangs

March 2016

E. Serrano

            I've been apart of the "Shelter Team" since last spring and the journey has been eventful and arduous. Recently things have seemed to be moving in a prosperous direction with the acquisition of graphic designers and a few other brilliant thinkers in my class. My fearless director Martin Acosta has such a vivid vision for this piece that sometimes his quest for ultimate perfection can get a little frustrating; however after seeing the cargo freight container being put in place and utilized by "us" the actors, I can strongly say for the first time I was surely a believer in how far "Shelter" can go due to its aesthetic and social message. In the vein of "social" our facebook social media page was launched last week and the numbers are exponentially rising. Connecting with the community and giving them insight on the process day after gives me the gratifying feeling that something special and ingenious is happening. A community-engaging piece that emphatically speaks to the times we are living in at this very moment.

 

assignment 3 Jon Bangs

Jonathan Bangs

 

TEN LENSES:

1. Content: What is the issue, need, idea or opportunity addressed by this project?

2. Form: What medium and techniques were used to embody the content?

3. Context: What are the circumstances and setting that frame our understanding of this project?

4. Stakeholders: Who can affect or be affected by this project?

5. Audience or communities engaged: For whom and/or with whom was this project created?

6. Engagement strategies: How were the stakeholders, audiences, and community members engaged in this project? How were the goals of the project advanced?

7. Resources: What tangible or intangible resources were used to pursue the project's goals?

8. Goal: What are the project's objectives?

9. Outcomes: What were the results and the impact of this project? Did they match the goals?

10. Values: What were this project's guiding values and/or core beliefs?

 

1)     The focus was on two civil right issues from two different decades and seeing how they correalted.

2)     Joker system, a few Brectian methods, analyzing and Boal's theatre.

3)     "South Central Farm"

4)     Anyone who reads this piece can honestly be affected by the project

5)     I guess the piecce was origanally inteded for Latino's and African Americans of Los Angeles but 10 years after it was first performed at Plaza De Rasa, I firmly believe it can be intended for any citizen of the United States.

6)     From what I was able to gather the project seemed inclusive from the start. Dramaturg, Scene Design, Choreographer, Director and a community full of kids around the same age all collaborated and cultivated a piece that touches on an issue this country has constantly tried to act oblivious to.

7)     I would the say the kids were the tangible resource that turned the projects vision to fruition.

8)     I believe the projects objetive was to make a inclusive piece and see the connections of two civil right events being brought to life by young Angelino children.

9)     The result of the project was that the audience and performers were enlightened; I wouldn't be able to say if the intended goals were matched.

10)  We must be in a countinous disucssion and/or expoloration of the race issue not only in the United States but worldwide. 

Serina Bernstein—Advancing Benchmarks Week 7

I helped advance a team goal by going to the Newhall Community center and writing the date/time of the workshop on fliers. It seems the team is on track with the scheduling of workshops, however some challenges are how to meaningfully engage with the promotion of the workshops and overcoming resistance to being more involved. 

Tent of Meeting update - Jaron Crespi

Tent of Meeting went up on February 24. We were able to come together as a team of 36 people who contributed in one way or another to the accomplishment of this project. There was an immense amount of trust between every person involved, and everybody pulled their own weight and put in a great deal of work to make it a success. We are currently finished and all wrapped up with Tent of Meeting, however, if we qualify for the interdisciplinary grant offered through the provost then we will be able to construct another tent at an outside venue in LA. 

Progress Update/ Paige McGhee

This past week, we have finalized our space for the Salsa Night. It will be on Friday, March 11 in the Main Gallery. This week I want to focus on creating the Facebook page to get the word spreading about our event. I believe we are on the right track, we just need to focus down 2x more to have a successful event. I have also meeting with Madeline to create a group of images to work with for our shoot.

Cuba Fundraiser Update - Josh

So far I have been in contact with our Graphic Designer, JJ, making sure he has all the information he needs to be making these posters. I have also taken a trip with Jocelyn to a local Cuban restaurant to be the official Cuban food taster to see what would be the best option in terms of catering. On my own, in terms of art curation, I have been working on developing ideas on my art piece I will be displaying in Cuba and at the fundraiser and I am excited to explore further how money dilutes culture and what that means to me. 

Monique Wilmoth - Shelter Project Update

This week, I worked with Ratri to quickly design a flier which I printed and trimmed quickly on Friday evening when preparing for the Newhall community event. I've started working on the branding of Shelter. Previously, JJ & Alex had prepared a presentation of proposed Visual Interventions for Shelter at Plaza. The continuing weeks, I will need to finish the branding so we can move forward designing other visual assets for Shelter.

Week 7-Project's Benchmarks (Madeline Quint)

This past week, the team and I that are fundraising money for our Cuban project's and travel expenses, finalized all of the details regarding the fundraiser. Meaning, we know who will keep tracks of the donations, who will help serve food and drinks, how we will get those food and drinks, we filled out all of the necessary forms, and discussed what we wanted to have displayed. The only main issue was how much we were going to spend on everything and we wanted to verify that with Evelyn before taking further action. The other main issue, is to make sure that the proper amount of food and drinks are sold and that it doesn't get out of hand. Otherwise, I think we are making great progress! 

Re:

Assignment 7

The project I have been working on this semester "The Tent of Meeting, " went up very smoothly and successfully nearly a week ago.  Because of all of our carful planning and preparation, the set up, performance, and strike all went problem free. The show included many disciplines working together, the musical ensemble, two dancers,  the graphic designer responsible for the poster design, the light design department, and myself the scenic designer representing the fine art major.

We are currently waiting to hear back from the school about the possibility of an interdisciplinary grant which could reward as much $1,500, and if we do get this , then we will move the performance to a new venue.

With in the Cuba project, I am currently awaiting for my silk screens to be remeshed. Once they are finished, I will be able to finish my project.

-Aidan

On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 7:31 PM, Aidan Bach <aidanbach@alum.calarts.edu> wrote:

Week 6

aidan bach

-A dialogical approach must engage minority body of people in some way. Whether it be by race, gender, sexuality, a subjects circumstance, or so on, the subjects should have something with in them that they can give to the art world.This is demonstrated in much of Lacey's work such as "There are Voices in the Dessert " which commemorated the people of an area of desert known of bodies of women whom where kill in domestic violence cases where known to show up.

-In many cases, dialogical approaches often yield large scale, or very prominent projects. As noted by critics, a dialogical approach typically does not yield a strong aesthetic appeal, and must be made interesting in another way. Also, dialogical art typically makes use of a larger body of people to operate to its fullest."Boat Colliqous" for example require more than a gallery space, they relied on inviting viewers of the project to come aboard real boats in which the group being surveyed

-Dialogical works typically produce an eviroment that is comfortable or familiar to the group that is being studied. In this evrioment, the people art of the art are more at ease and thus more likely to feel more natural and express themselves more freely. It is more as if the viewer of the work  is being invited to scope the people of the project in a way that they never had before. This is demonstrated in numerous times through out this form of art such as "The Roof is on Fire, " "the Bus Dialogues,  "

-These projects are meant to produce a positive outcome for their subjects. No matter the subject matter, or the state of the people involved, dialogical art  is meant to give a face and voice to people who often overlooked are ridiculed. "Intervention to Aide Drug Addicted Women " for example is not meant to ridicule or demean drug addicted women in anyway, but is instead intended to demonstrate to the community their struggles and prosperity.

-Though dialogical response work can be appreciated by many unassociated people, it is work made by a community for a community. Related to the idea dialogical art is meant to serve those who form it, it is meant to boost the representation and draw much needed attention or clear understanding to them. In "Shelter " for example, despite the teens and families represented with in the play, the subject matter and the location of the play will engage an audience of many races and privileges, it is a work that serves to demonstrate a relevant issue that is often overseen. 

On Tue, Feb 16, 2016 at 9:01 PM, Aidan Bach <aidanbach@alum.calarts.edu> wrote:

What inspired me most when reading Battle in Seattle was the level of community that the WTO protestors had engaged. In my home city of San Diego, despite being over twice the size of Seattle, may causes for protest with in the city (such as the police brutality protests of last year ) generate much less organizers. Despite the effort exhibited, I also think that the employment of peace and fun tied in with  the anarchist protest is a very effective protest. It goes to show, that anarchy and peace, when executed catiously, can be acheived. 

-Aidan Bach

Week 7 Assignment

This week, in advancement of my project I made a very valuable connection with one of the people who we are going to be interviewing for the project. His name is Letitbe and he lives on Hollywood Blvd. He is a homeless man who learned to speak English from the Bible and has a way of speaking similar to a preacher where he will often use teachings from the bible to formulate answers to questions. We got to speaking and I let him come over to my place for a shower and and a good night's rest. I met up with him again yesterday and took him to the Hare Krsna temple in Culver City where we went to the Sunday service and free meal.  Soon we will be able to record the interview. Right now collecting the interviews is the biggest priority for our project along with connecting with Bridge to Home so we can volunteer and hopefully meet potential interviewees. 

Josh Lowenstein - Project Update

Our project took place last week in the ROD Music Hall.

The project is a concert which featured alternative and electronic music. The audience sat almost all around the performance area to create a sense of togetherness and allowing them to become immersed with the performers. There was a team of three choreographed dancers who moved into the crowd at various points of the piece. In addition, there was an immersive lighting experience with video projection.

The space was be decorated with many rugs and pillows. In addition there were some natural elements like plants and to set the scene up like a spiritual tent.

The audience primarily included members of the Cal Arts student body and faculty, but there were many family members of the performers as well. The project was created with many musicians, a lighting and video designer, and a set designer.

The audience got to become immersed in a unique environment and the individuals putting on the event get to see the reactions of this crowd. The main strategy is creating a very welcoming environment.

We used the interest of the public to gain support for this project. The Music School at Cal Arts is also helped to organize and provide a sound crew for the event.

I think we did a good job of making everyone feel welcome and create an environment of wonder and escape, but still togetherness. We got a lot of support from the community and unfortunately had so many people in attendance that we had to not let some individuals into the event.

Our goal for the future is to bring this show to new places and outreach to new communities such as downtown Los Angeles.