Varsha Iyer
Arts Scholar
Pentathlon Semester 1
As an experiential component of College Park Arts Scholars, I attended a selection of five art events during my first semester. These events ranged in art mediums and each sparked dialogue among my peers.
#VisualArt
Art Projects for Adults, Prompts 1 & 5
(via Zoom Call)
September 13th, 2020
My friends and I zoom called together to work on art prompts from this site, and chose the following prompts:
Prompt 1: Pick a Color and Fill a Page
Prompt 5: Have Collaborative, Creative Party
To make it more collaborative, me and my two friends (2 of the 3 people tagged in the photo to the right) chose colors for each other, and when one of us ran out of ideas the other two would suggest some. The technical aspect of this prompt was not as challenging for me as I'd hoped, so I decided to add another rule for myself: everything had to be drawn in marker, meaning I could not sketch beforehand. This challenge would force me to think ahead of each marker stroke, which is a skill that I find difficult, so this was also an exercise in artistic skill as well.
I think challenging myself in little ways is something I can apply to all aspects of my life, not just in an art challenge. In Arts Scholars, I can do this with my peers by encouraging individual challenges within the group, even while working on the same thing. By creating small hurdles for ourselves, we can avoid the overwhelming aspect of challenges, but still improve ourselves little by little. Doing this, we may make progress slower, but it will be a steady, consistent growth, and in the long-term this is both smarter and more fruitful compared to the alternative of quick progress and easy burnout.
#Film
The Old Guard
(via Netflix)
September 26th, 2020
This movie was the hit of this past summer! All over Twitter, I saw people discussing it, creating fanart, and gushing over the characters. If I remember correctly, I saw an article about its startling success on Netflix during this pandemic summer, and this combined with all the buzz about it convinced me to check it out. I'm glad I did! It was a super enjoyable experience.
I love going into movies without knowing what it's about, so I can theorize and think ahead using only what the film gives me. For this film, I was worried I wouldn't like it, because it started out really gritty and felt a bit aimless, but I was quickly sucked in when the main characters' unusual abilities were revealed and the plot really began to unfold. I feel that this movie had a solid plot, but also a very strong focus on character backstory — and it had some very compelling ones at that. Each member of the immortal group was their own character, had their own motivations, and pulled the story in a unique direction, even if it was subtle. I think the character foundations are so strong that I was drawn most to a character that only showed up at the end! All we got from her was a short but powerful backstory before then, and from that alone I was super invested in her character’s interests and motivations.
I think this demonstrates how, if a piece of art has strong foundations, it can build the story for you. These characters, with their individual motivations, drive the plot; they are the foundation for the direction of the story. In the same way, an art piece with a deliberate sketch will create a better finished artwork, and a choreography that builds on basic, foundational movements to create complex ones will be more cohesive. Thinking toward the upcoming Arts Scholars capstone, this could be having a solid, basic plan of action to build upon and drive more creative and complex outcomes by the end of the project.
#Film #ArtsScholars
BLACKPINK: Light Up The Sky
(via Netflix)
October 25th, 2020
As a fan of K-Pop, this new documentary about one of the current biggest girl groups was immediately intriguing to me. K-Pop, while being an industry about public idols leading their lives largely and often intrusively in public, is somehow very quiet about how these idols get to their perfect personas presented at debut. This documentary provided a look into that system, and even more than I expected; we got to see the lives of Blackpink, from their pre-debut childhoods to their 2019 Coachella performance, their habits and their struggles even on tour. I really feel like I began to properly understand what the K-Pop system is, and that I began to feel more empathetic to the Blackpink members.
I’ve been listening to Blackpink’s music and watching their content practically from their debut, so I knew the members fairly well already, but this documentary demonstrated a new side to the group that revealed each member’s vulnerabilities and passion. I was most fascinated by the use of transitions between each member’s backstory. The backstory began with Jennie, the member that trained the longest before debuting as part of Blackpink. At the end of her section, she said, “until I met Lisa,” and this transitioned to Lisa’s backstory. Lisa’s transitioned to Jisoo’s, and Jisoo’s transitioned to Rosé’s, and this is where the most incredible transition happened, in my opinion. Jisoo said that she thinks people who know what they want to do in life are lucky, and this is where the transition to Rosé happens. Rosé grew up loving music, singing her whole life; for her, her path to music was nearly inevitable, and this stark contrast to Jisoo’s words was an amazing case of juxtaposition. Jisoo wasn’t sure who she wanted to be, had never imagined she’d be where she is now, but Rosé’s life had taken trajectory from the moment she began singing late at night.
Not only was this effective storytelling, but it also suggested this idea that everyone around you, even people close to you, can have totally different backgrounds and completely variable outlooks on life. Here are two close friends whose lives directly contrasted. These were four people in one group who are perhaps entirely different from one another, but have made it an advantage rather than a weakness. I think that’s the ideal for any community, group, or project. This documentary truly emphasized the idea of teamwork using individual differences rather than working despite them, and this is applicable to both Arts Scholars and really any group of individuals. The differences between each of us in Arts Scholars can and should strengthen us, and bring new perspective, rather than create dissonance. Each one of us may lead separate lives, totally different trajectories, but under Arts Scholars we can bring our differences together as an asset toward a common goal.
#Dance
Latin Dance Monday with Juan Aristy (Maryland Latin Dance Club)
(via Zoom Call)
November 9th, 2020
My friend messaged me last Monday, “are you free at 8p tonight? there's a bachata dance workshop thing,” and attached an email screenshot. “LATIN DANCE MONDAYS,” said the email. “W/ JUAN ARISTY.” My friend and I both love to dance, and we’d talked about joining the Maryland Latin Dance Club, so this was an opportunity we were both eager to explore. She sent me the Zoom link, and we both joined at 8 pm.
Having a virtual dance class is a little weird. I would know, because I was taking a dance course during the semester that we were sent home due to the burgeoning pandemic. Speaking with total honesty, it’s not the same at all. There’s this energy you gain from having other people dancing with you, in person, and it’s not really replicable in the virtual settings of a Zoom call. I remember showing up to virtual dance class, super unmotivated, and then continuing to feel that way throughout the entire class, because the energy of others was no longer there to bolster me. I had my apprehensions because of this prior experience, but this bachata workshop was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. The instructor, Juan Aristy, was very enthusiastic, and would often check on us and watch us repeat the movements he taught us. I think having someone very invested in what they teach, that really wants to have a reciprocal conversation and checks up on the students to do so, is what can make the difference between a sorely unmotivating class and an exciting experience. Juan encouraged us to turn our screens on, if we were comfortable, so that he could see us trying out the moves and know when to move on or go over something again. It felt like a conversation, and that was engaging; it didn’t feel as lonely.
In times like these, where nearly everything is virtual, I think this idea is extremely applicable. To make efforts toward having a productive discussion through Zoom, whether that’s in Arts Scholars colloquiums or in any other class, we should keep a receptive and conversational attitude. With that open attitude, we can hopefully reduce the feeling of isolation, and create a more welcoming space for everyone during these difficult times.
#Presentation
TED Talk: Why people believe they can't draw - and how to prove they can (presented by Graham Shaw)
(via Youtube)
December 12th, 2020
I went to explore the world of TED Talks focused on the arts. I found one, Why people believe they can’t draw - and how to prove they can presented by Graham Shaw, and was immediately intrigued. I consider myself capable of drawing to some extent, but I've seen countless people say they "can't draw" with a strong sense of finality, and I even doubt myself a lot of the time. This video sort of breaks that mentality down. When we think of being able to draw, we imagine these extravagant pieces made by professionals, and forget what goes into that extravagance. Watching this video, I was reminded of those fundamentals. Every art piece can be broken down into simple shapes, and even simple techniques. Simple techniques are easy to learn, and it is becoming good at combining the techniques that becomes the challenge. By honing those simple techniques, we become better prepared to approach more advanced combinations. By starting with simple techniques, we avoid becoming discouraged and build confidence instead; this was the main message of the video. When we imagine those extravagant pieces that we are far from achieving, we create this chasm between our ability and our output. By starting simple, we slowly construct the bridge that will walk us over to what we want to achieve. This is the power of deconstruction, and it's applicable to everything. In CPSA200, we've deconstructed our capstone proposals, making them easier to tackle and accomplish; by the end of the semester, the entire thing is complete. By creating simple tasks out of a large one, we can make something manageable, and therefore achievable in our minds. When faced with something seemingly impossible, it's important to remind ourselves of that.
Pentathlon Semester 2
#Film
The Hunger Games
(via Amazon Prime)
January 30th, 2020
I’ve watched the Hunger Games before, around the time it was released. I was in middle school, though, so I had watched it for entertainment, and not thought about how they filmed it or why they filmed it in that way. I remember being vaguely dissatisfied when I watched it then, so I wondered if I would enjoy it less now, or more, perhaps better understanding the choices they made in adapting the story. It turns out that I actually did enjoy it more now. I understood why they made the choices they did. For example, a lot of people complained about the shaky, documentary-like camerawork for many of the beginning scenes, but particularly the one at the Cornucopia bloodbath (the beginning of the actual fight-to-the-death Games in the story). Watching it now, I can understand the reason: these are children being forced to kill each other. It’s an experience that’s bound to be terrifying and disorienting, not some sort of cool action scene. They made an artistic choice to convey that this is a scary and negative experience, not a moment of triumph.
I also really appreciate how they accomplished so much worldbuilding and exposition through dialogue, while still making it as natural as possible. I watched this movie with my sister and mother, and during this film they had a lot of questions about the world that I would answer immediately—and then just a few scenes later, the movie actually does explain, which surprised me. I was sure they would cut out a lot of information, purely because there is so much detail in the world Suzanne Collins made for the book series, but I was proven wrong. It did make the first half of the movie very information dense, but I think that is preferable. During a second or third watch of this movie, someone who hasn’t read the books might pick up on the information they didn’t have time to absorb the first time around, making it a good movie to rewatch multiple times. In my opinion, that is better than a movie that is lacking information and would leave movie-only fans eternally confused, so I applaud the director for trying to include so much background information from the books.
I think this movie really proved to me that there is intent behind every decision in an art piece, whether we understand it or not. When I was younger, I didn’t understand why The Hunger Games was constructed in such a way, but being older I can begin to realize these distinct choices made within the movie to keep the audience interested while still maintaining a coherent storyline. This would most likely be my goal for my scholars capstone as well. I want my project to be entertaining to view, but still convey something with coherency and meaning. Even from a broader standpoint, I hope that all the art I create is both interesting and coherent, and I know now from this movie that I can do this by making every detail and choice count during the process.
#Dance
Learning TikTok Dances
(via 2-for-1 Pentathlon Event on Zoom)
February 28th, 2021
I attended the 2-for-1 Pentathlon Event, in which we spent half an hour on two different events. The first one I attended was the "Learning TikTok Dances" workshop, where we learned the TikTok dance for "Any Song" by Zico. I actually had seen this TikTok dance before, because it originated from the K-Pop sphere, which I am a part of. I vaguely knew the dance, but I'd never stopped to properly learn each move. In this workshop, we were able to learn each move and even dance it together, albeit through Zoom due to the pandemic. When I saw this dance on my own, it was for my own personal enjoyment, seeing different K-Pop artists do this dance together. Through this workshop, I found that there is a sense of community that comes with learning these dances with others that I was unable to discover seeing the dance on my own. There's a collaborative environment when learning something with others, and it often makes the process faster; the process is externalized, and several minds are working on it at once, so it is a combined effort to memorize and perform the choreography. Being in the workshop brought a unique sense of joy to the experience that learning the choreography on my own would not have brought. We were accomplishing it together, and that can be so motivating and uplifting. There are a lot of benefits to sharing or working on a process together, and it can bring new perspectives that are incredibly helpful to making a better ending product or output. I think that's really applicable to so many things, and I've noticed since this workshop I've been more open with my personal projects and it has benefitted them. Externalizing my ideas to the people around me helps put the ideas in an objective light for me at the same time that I receive input from another source. This is something I had undervalued for a long time, but I am starting to see how useful it can be, in all aspects of life.
#ArtsScholars #Presentation
Playing Skribbl.io
(via 2-for-1 Pentathlon Event on Zoom)
February 28th, 2021
I attended the 2-for-1 Pentathlon Event hosted by Arts Scholars via Zoom. It was an hour long event, during which we engaged in two different half-hour activities. The first one I went to was for learning TikTok dances, and the second one I attended was one in which we played Skribbl.io, which is a site where multiple people can play what is essentially Pictionary online. The site would tell us whose turn it was to draw, and that person would select one of three things to then draw into the online editor. The other players would then guess what word they think the drawing is into the chat. We were able to see the amount of letters and spaces in the word or phrase, as it was shown like in the game hangman, and as time went on we received a clue of one or two letters. It really is a test of knowing how to communicate something in the fastest way possible, for the person drawing, and for the people guessing it's a test of how quickly they can brainstorm based on just a little information. It's also a test of depicting something in a recognizable way! So it's a bit of artistic ability and a bit of communication or presentation. In Arts Scholars, we've been working on both as well: for our capstones, we've been creating presentations to explain our works as well as developing our artistic works in a way that portrays what we aim to present. In a way, Skribbl.io was like a miniature form of that, where we are trying to communicate to our audience using our abilities in the most effective way possible. Which is an interesting thought! It's also a lot of fun to play, and it was exciting to do something with the sense of community that Arts Scholars brings.
#ArtsScholars #Music
Colorful Playlists
(via Zoom)
February 19th, 2021
This caught my eye when I saw the event being advertised. I love music, and I think playlists are so fascinating, so the idea of "colorful" playlists intrigued me. Originally, I had thought that we'd be making individual playlists, and perhaps sharing them with the other people at the event. Instead, we made collaborative playlists: we voted on one color from four options through a Zoom poll, and then we added songs we thought matched this color to the playlist. I admit, I was worried. Many of the songs I listen to are in the genre of K-Pop, and those songs tend to be upbeat. I'm not a huge fan of slow songs. Just looking at what others were adding to the playlists, I could tell they were definitely adding in slower songs. I thought my songs in the same playlist would be too jarring. I went to this event with a couple friends, and they encouraged me in a separate chat to just add things that I think fit the colors, and not worry about ruining cohesivity of the overall list. So, I trusted them and added what I wanted. In the end, we made two playlists: one for the color seafoam green, and one for the color gray. I was especially worried about the gray playlist, because that one sounds like it should be slow songs, and I added some faster, more experimental songs along with a couple slower songs. We listened to the playlists afterward, and I found that my music wasn't super out of place! It actually added an interesting dynamic to the playlist, so that it wasn't too much of the same type of song; the contrast between songs made it fun to listen to. I had been doubtful of this collaborative effort turning out well because of the very different visions each of us had, but I think those different visions actually enhanced the end product. I'm used to doing things individually, but this collaborative playlist made me want to continue being more collaborative; after the event, me and the friends that attended made our own playlist to share between our friends, based on the theme of "awe." It was just as interesting combining our music tastes for that playlist, too. I think I learned that collaborative efforts can create something even better than expected, and that I shouldn't be so avoidant of the idea. I'll be sure to try engaging in more collaborative works in the future!
