Stevenmurphy108's Blog

The Art Gallery

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:52:24 +0000

For this assignment I went to the Schnitzer Art Gallery right here at the University of Oregon campus. While walking around the gallery, the one painting that really caught my eye was the work of Jay Brackstand called “Pick an Apple, Any Apple”. The reason this piece caught my eye was the unique style in which it was presented. The painting is separated into three different sections. The first section has a horse riding what appears to be a motorcycle of some sort with random pink dots scattered on the section. The second section has a pair of woman’s legs and a small woman in between the feet of the legs. In the final section there is an outline of an oriental woman hold a fish and in from of her there is a bucket of dead fish.

After looking at Brackstand’s painting, I couldn’t figure out what his message was. So I checked out some of his other work and I realized that he always had three separate sections with arbitrary photos of the past and present. Some had random dots and silhouettes like the painting I viewed. I realized the Brackstand used abstract paintings to express his outside the box view. You can understand his message if you take a step back and interpret the paintings from a symbolic stand point. I think Jay Brackstand is a great artist who has a creative and unique approach to get his point across.

Images

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:48:28 +0000

Video Games and Art

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:38:26 +0000

Article One- Games as Art

What I think this article is trying to say is that video games can justifiable be called art. I completely agree that video games are art because they are visual works that can get people to express emotion while playing or have some sort of emotional attachment from the game. For instance a game can be considered a masterpiece if contains a combination of great graphics, game play, and a story line and can get mixed emotions out of gamers. However video games are unique in comparison to other art forms because they are actually interactive so people get more interested and involved in video games. For example, a lot more people today are majoring in graphic design to learn how to develop video games which gets more people exposed to art culture.

Greenwald, Will August 31, 2007 http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9769761-1.html

Article Two- Video Game Violence

In this article Paul Nyhan looks at how parents react to their kids playing violent video games. In his interview with Cheryl Olson, the author of “Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games.”, Cheryl said, “For most kids and most parents, the bottom-line results of our research can be summed up in a single word: Relax” I agree with Olson because I feel that most kids ages ten to seventeen can tell the difference between fantasy and reality. I believe kids that commit violent acts are just mentally unstable and those violent acts weren’t in response to video game they played or a movie they watched. People sometimes just get to emotionally attached to video games and they get so into it that they scream and curse and cry when they play it and that can which some people can mistake for violence, but the gamer knows that the game is just that a game.

Nyhan, Paul April 28, 2008 “Video game violence: Do parents overreact?” http://www.seattlepi.com/videogames/360857_videogames28.html

Spirituality

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:33:07 +0000

How do you define spirituality?

To me spirtuality is knowing that there is something that happens after you die. You believe that there is a purpose for you and other people in the afterlife. It is believeing in something that can’t be explained. We try to figure out how everything in our world works and I think that believing in something that can’t be explained can be good for us.

Does spirtuality differ from religion?

I believe that there is a difference between spirituality and religion. Religion focuses more on how you live your life to appease your gods to have a great afterlife while spirituality focuses on the actual afterlife. Religion can benefit people by have a set of moral values for them to live their life. Regardless of whether or not their religion is real it helps them live a better life which is all that matters.

How do you define Creativity?

Creativity is someone expresses themselves. It is the ability to make something unique that only you can create. Creativity can be every changing depending on the artist’s mood. It is something that everyone possesses and it is unique and different for everyone.

What is the source of creativity?

I feel that an artist’s source of creativity is their own emotions and feelings. It is a reflection of what the artist holds close to them. Two people can look at the same thing and interpret it in different ways because they have unique creativity. Your source of creativity are your experiences and your outlook on life

Why we Like Horror Movies

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:48:23 +0000

In this article the author ask the question, why do people love horror movies? There are several assumptions as to why horror movies are so popular and the authors list a few of them. One hypothesis is that the people aren’t actually afraid of the movie, but rather excited by it. Another assumption is that people are willing to endure the terror to enjoy the euphoric sense of relief that follows after the frightening part. However according to a new study by two college professors, Eduardo Andrade and Joel B. Cohen, they found out the true reason that people enjoy scary movies. They found out that people like horror movies because they experience both positive and negative reactions at the same time. In other words people like horror movies because they like being scared.

This article was very interesting to me because it made think about why I like horror movies. I understand the whole enduring the terror so you can enjoy the sense of relief that follows, because I have felt that while I have watched scary movies. Your entire body gets tense during the suspenseful parts and it is pleasant during that small dialogue break where you don’t have to worry about being scarred. However it is true that just that relief isn’t why we are attracted to scary movies. It is in fact that the actual horror scenes are why we are attracted to horror movies. It is this feeling of the not knowing what to expect that attracts people back to horror movies.

(July 31, 2007) Why do People Love Horror Movies? They Enjoy Being Scared, retrieved November 8, 2009 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070725152040.htm

This article also asks why we love horror movies so much. They give some similar answers as well as some new ones. One theory is that horror movies give us an intense adrenaline rush from the safety of a movie theater, while another is that horror movies explore what is the unknown and delve into the truly dark places in people’s mind. This article also talks about how our taste in horror movies has changed over the years. They talk about how we used to be obsessed with teenage slasher movies and how we are starting to see more horror movies about the supernatural. The author said, “that the supernatural is the one remaining frontier of horror films that hasn’t been overused.” The article ends by saying that the horror industry has thrived and will continue to thrive because of its ability to adapt to ever changing audience demands.

I agree that the adrenaline rush that you get when you watch scary movies is something unique to horror movies. Action movies sometimes give me an adrenaline rush, but it is not nearly as intense as some of the really terrifying horror films which gives the horror genre a unique aspect. I also agree that the horror industry has thrived because of change. Every new generation has a different taste in everything including movies. So if an industry like the horror movie industry wants to keep up, they have to adapt to their every changing audience. It appears as if they have done a good job at adapting because the horror movie industry has thrived for a long time and it seems like it will continue to thrive.

Graham, Mariano (October, 2009) Why do we Love Horror Movies? Retrieved November 8, 2009 from http://www.a1articles.com/article_1208738_21.html

The Way I Dress

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:56:32 +0000

The way that I dress is pretty simple. Usually I wear a t-shirt and shorts in the summer time and a t-shirt, jeans, and a jacket or sweatshirt in the winter. If I were going out I would probably wear jeans and polo or a collared shirt, however I have gone out before in just jeans and a sweatshirt too. I tend to be more casual and comfortable than stylish, but I do enjoy dressing up every so often. I think that my wardrobe kind of reflects my lifestyle as a laid back mellow person. While my preference in different brands has changed throughout my life, I still always find myself wearing just a t-shirt and shorts or jeans.
I feel that the values that my parents instilled in me make a small impact in the way that I dress. My parents have always allowed me to dress pretty much the way that I wanted to. My mom always dresses nice and my dad dresses nice for work and casual at home. They have taught me that appearances are important, but they are not everything and that I should get to know them before I judge them.
I feel like our generation tends to dress to the way they feel. Our generation is unique in the fact that there are so many more groups of people and style of clothes that there were in the past. People also use clothes to express themselves more than they used to. I believe that there are really two ways in which people choose to dress themselves. They either dress to the way that they feel or they dress to express themselves. Either way, the way someone dresses does reflect them in some way.

The slow food movement

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:36:16 +0000

This article, written by Maureen Cavanaugh, discusses the importance and impact of the “slow food” movement. This article explains what “slow food” is and what it tries to accomplish. The goal of slow food is to try to distance everyone from the fast food culture. They try to warn people of the risks of fast food while instilling the importance of local foods. They explain how helping local farmers impact our community. The authors do a very good job of painting their side of the story. She has a strong emphasis throughout the article warning us of the life that we could potentially fall into if we continue to live a fast food lifestyle.
The article focuses on the cons of the fast food industry. They explain the potential dangers of a long term fast food lifestyle such as, diabetes, heart attack, and obesity. This raises a good point. Why do we Americans seem to gravitate to fast food when we know the dangers that come with it? When people ask that question they seem to realize that slow food maybe very beneficial. I believe that people are starting to change and that we are starting to see a shift in society. With the outbreak of organic food, I think that are society is starting to realize that a fast food lifestyle is not a healthy way to live.
This article also talks about the importance of social movements. Usually when we think about social or political movements we think about the civil rights movement, or the right to grant women suffrage, or even recently the gay and lesbian movement, but hardly do we ever talk about it in regard to food. The way the author described the importance of slow food made me think that if food is really that important to us, shouldn’t we recognize it as art? I believe so.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/oct/06/slow-food-movement-aims-change-how-we-view-food/

My Values

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:57:36 +0000

Values: Family, Friendship, Loyalty, Wisdom, Integrity, Independence, Personal Development, Personal accomplishment, Enjoyment, Community, Creativity, Service, security, Leadership, Health, Wealth, Power, Expertness, Prestige, Location

Today was a pretty average day. I called my mom today to wish her a happy birthday and talk to her about the family (family) I went to help finish paint a house that i started yesterday with a few other people (personal accomplishment). I went to go on a bike ride like i do every Sunday (Health). I try to live by these values each and every day. I believe that if i can follow these values in my day to day life than I will be a successful human being.

Family is the most important thing in my life. I love and respect my parents more than anyone else and they were the two people who taught me how to be a good person. They have taught that family and friends are the most important things in life and that personal responsibility and work ethic are what you need to have if you want to be successful. While I know that I am far from perfect I try to take what they taught me and truly live their words. I may not have all the answers, but if I continue to live with integrity, responsibility, and respect then I know that I’ll be alright.

The Individual

stevenmurphy108 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:42:17 +0000

W.H. Werkmeisterr had some very interesting points in his philosophy of the individual human being, but the one that stuck out to me the most and get me thinking was Werkmeister’s point pyschological potential and if we can ever reach it. Werkmeister says that, “In the case of physiological or mental growth, … it is difficult to say when any given individual has reached his limits or whether anyone ever has.” This is a good point because we can never truly know what are limits are, speaking from a psychological and mental standpoint. Throughout history man has always figured out new ways to push the limits and find out what we truly can accomplish. We have grown as a society because of our advances in technology, culture, and social standards. For society and the individual to continue to grow, we must continue to push the limits and try to do the unthinkable to hopefully reach our potential.

Pac 10 Vs. Big Ten, Whose better?

stevenmurphy108 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:46:40 +0000

In this video blog, two bloggers debate which ncaa conference is better at football, the Pac 10 or the Big Ten. Both bloggers start by talking about the teams in the conference and talking about the pros and cons. They compare the teams in the opposing conferences together and discuss who would win in an mythical match up. Both have different opinions and bias toward their respective conference, but in the end they agree that the Pac 10 is the stronger of the two conferences.

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/1571/video-big-ten-vs-pac-10-mythical-challenge