I participate in civic discourse through the art that I create. This is because art gives people the chance to put the current societal climate into a new context and potentially sparking conversation. When using art as the gateway to civic discourse it is important to note a clear message within the piece. For example, in political cartoons there is a distinct meaning that is trying to be translated throughout. This also applies to caricatures, modern art, and several other forms of art making. Art itself is by no means a literal subject which is why it is perfect to act as a platform for conversation. In my art specifically, I tend to reflect the existing state of society through subject matter and approach to creating the image. In fact, most of the time this reflection is largely unintentional but rather a realization after the fact. For instance, the subjects that inspire me usually reflect our current America. As the Black Lives Matter movement had a resurgence and the fight for diversity began to increase I noticed the art I was making included subjects of a wide array of ethnic backgrounds who dressed more fluidly. The medium I used is also reflective of our current society by how I began to use the computer as a form of art making. Therefore, as our society becomes more enveloped in technology artists as well are being forced to adapt. Ultimately, I participate in civic discourse by having my art reflect society in that point in time.
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I want my unit three project to make my audience think. Unit three is a mere continuation of the second unit’s research on love. However, in this unit I am adamant about drawing a concrete conclusion from my research which I was unable to do last time.Unlike in unit two, in this unit I have a thesis before I have even begun my research.My primary goal in this project was to find evidence that supports the idea the love can not be defined. Love itself is incredibly broad and individualized to the point where it is hard to know even what love is. That is why this unit was dedicated to find evidence for the fact that this “non-answer” is the answer.The concepts that I will be translating are convoluted to say the least and more likely to be a source of confusion rather than understanding.However, I hope to be able simplify my ideas in the form of art making. My art making process is not uniformed to say the least. This is because I do not have a concrete approach to creating art but a more centered technique that is influenced by the medium and subject of the piece. For example, the artwork I created for unit 3 is meant to illustrate four different interpretations of love, hence causing me to focus on concept first. Naturally when I create a narrative focused piece I draw out thumbnails, take reference photos, as well as have a brainstorm session with my peers which help me flush out the idea more clearly as well eliminate any lacking ideas. Once I had a clear concept I began the actual creation of the piece with a light sketch that will be inked after the basic layout is complete. Depending on the piece I may add color after inking or leave it as just inks.
Going into this unit I wanted to have a focus on analysis and conclusion. This is because my tendency to be overly concise with my evidence is a writing challenge that I’ve been chipping away at for a while now. On both my unit one and unit two portfolios I got the similar critique of “For next time, think about diving deeper into a complex thesis/call to action and let that control your organization/treatment of sources even more”. In unit three I solely focussed on the dive. For example, when finding sources I tried having the mindset of this being a sort of puzzle, it could be a good piece but if it doesn’t fit and add to the overarching theme it’s useless. Luckily, I was able to find the pieces to the puzzle. It was crucial to choose sources that analyzed different cultures while not displaying too many similarities amongst them. This is because my entire point is constructed from the idea that a concrete definition of love is impossible to come by, hence by finding an abundance of similarities it would negate the entire argument. A crucial study titled, “Love: American style, Russian style, and Japanese style” which breaks down the various aspects of romantic perspectives in three vastly different cultures. For example, the various authors of the study delved into the topic of gender roles in a relationship and how they are dependent on the culture that you follow. Susan Sprecher, one of the authors, exclaimed that “Thus the samples selected provided an opportunity to draw sharp contrasts on key dimensions of collectivism – individualism, love ideology, economic wealth, and traditionalism of gender roles” (Sprecher 350). This article truly looks at love through a sociological scientific lense. This is clear because of the consistent approach taken with their research in which they conduct experiments and then put the results into a sociological context. For example, a significant amount of the research was dedicated to examining the variables of love across cultures. This includes the frequency of how many times someone has fallen in love, relationship status, love styles, and demographic. After gathering enough results they can then draw conclusions such as , “A greater proportion of the Americans than the Japanese or the Russians had a secure attachment style” (Sprecher 364). Ultimately, by bringing in sources such as Sprecher’ study it gives me the ability to fully support my claim while not over complicating the concept.
In the beginning of the semester I was unsure of what to expect from this class aside from the fact that it was focussed on writing. I also was coming off of a semester that heavily leaned on writing in both my interpretation of film class and art lecture classes. Needless to say, I was entering this relatively blind and hoping that I at least could write about something I enjoy.Thankful, that was a key component of what this class was as well as giving me opportunity to explore my true passions within the context of the class. For example, as an illustration major, fine arts and storytelling is a deep rooted interest of mine. I was lucky enough to be able to practice this in my first two unit reflections as well as my final project. This is because I was allowed to take my research and conclusions and interpret them into illustrations. In fact, when I did a political cartoon for my unit one reflection I had little intent to continue doing them. However, after my first reflection I got comments such as “Abe, this is a fascinating political cartoon. It spoke to me in so many ways. Being able to not revert to violence and disagreement is vital in trying to achieve a successful brand of political discourse” (Tim Fell). This opened my eyes to a new relationship between visual art and literature in that I can use both to enhance each other’s impact. As a result, this influenced how I wrote and researched because I would want to choose topics that have enough substance for both an illustration and essay. For example, my unit one portfolio was based around art education and it’s great impact on the world. Therefore, in my essay I would dive into the sources I found and what it proved about the impressive impact art education has on people. However, my reflection would be presented primarily as a political cartoon or illustration that would display a more emotional and personal aide to the argument. Overall, it is the comments of wanting that artistic quality to my blog that made me continue with it throughout this process. In fact, it is due to a person commenting on the idea of doing a speed drawing as one of my reflections that sparked the idea for my final project. Pleasing my audience was not a top priority of mine but certainly part of the handful of ideas to keep in mind while designing my blog. The primary goal was always to create a piece of work that interested me and I was proud to put out into the world. Nevertheless, I certainly made changes to my writing and research style to give the audience a more in depth product as well as maintaining the artistic soul of the blog to keep them interested. In conclusion, Unit 3 should be an accumulation of the entire semester’s work. It should entice the audience by having the creation of art happening right before their eyes while still getting the message across with narration simultaneously occurring.
As I explained in my previous library outing, my history of voluntarily going to the library is slim pickings at best. I also could not physically go to my local library today because of Covid-19. However, I went on their website and found the newsletter that I have never considered reading before. It was actually far more interesting than suspected and kept me updated with what is happening in my town. From now on when I have my annual library outing I will stop by the newsstand and read wha tis happening in Hightstown, New Jersey.
Surprisingly I am not about to write about beer because this is a family friendly page. Instead, I am going to be reflecting on a time when one of my peers changed my mind on a specific matter. Before deciding what specific time where I had my mind changed I wanted to figure out if I could connect it to the idea of romantic love since it was my most recent unit project. This was quite a difficult task because love is something that I am unbearably stubborn towards and it is nearly impossible for me to change my opinion on it. However, there was a single memory of when I was speaking to my friend about how social media has it’s positive qualities and that there is a has never been a greater accessibility to people. To my surprise, this remark was met by a scoff and her exclaiming, “Well not if you’re trying to find love”. I. was shocked and confused but then clarity hit as she continued. She explained that because of modern day society’s reliance on dating apps the couples first interaction would be through text rather than in person. As a result, there is a much higher chance of not having a connection later in the relationship. After hearing this it made perfect sense to me and I still use this philosophy today.
This is my favorite in class writing assignment because it was one of the few that didn’t cause my attention to break in the slightest. The activity was also social and interrogative in nature which is very intriguing to me. However the most intriguing aspect of the activity was how you chose what you wanted to ask and then translated it into writing. It was very open ended which is the most interesting form of writing for me.
I feel like it is fitting to go back to my roots and illustrate how I understand the difference between eastern and western perspectives on love.
Western belief because it focusses on each person in the relationship’s individual needs and acceptance.Eastern because it is focussed on the sacrifices that are necessary when one truly feels love
I really wanted too choose a different topic than unit one because it would show another side to my interests. However, the consequence of researching a new topic is that it brings the risk of causing disinterest for my audience. As a result, I had to approach the writing very particularly because the audience I am aiming towards are mainly interested in media and romance. Therefore, it was important to me tot make the style of writing rather informal yet informative. This also caused me to ouse television and film as a decent part of my research because it ideally is an interesting topic for the readers. The research process however was rather difficult because I would have to connect text based articles and proof of it occurring in popular film. For example, I connected Ted Mosby’s speech about what love is in How I Met Your Mother with how it is displaying a Russian perspective on romantic relationships. I also feel like I was generally successful with engaging the audience in both my pitch and final portfolio because I brought in different forms of media too break up the large amount of reading that is done. However, it is no surprise that as I continue writing I have points of to improve on. The aspect I am most focussed on currently is analysis which I attempted to improve upon in the Unit 2 portfolio but I still have a ways to go. Finally, I feel as though I can bring my focus on analysis into everything I do, especially my art. This is because analysis causes me to be more careful with what I do and how I approach that work at hand which is very helpful in life.
The idea of love in the romantic sense has been a topic that has fascinated me for as long as I could remember. This may be because I am a self diagnosed hopeless romantic and watch romantic comedies semi-religiously.However, I have noticed a trend throughout my life of love heavily influencing culture and how people generally treat each other. This idea largely sparked recently when I read the article, “Romantic Regimes” written by Polina Aronson who is a Russian sociologist who moved to America as a teenager. In this article, Polina breaks down her experience with love as a teenager and the daunting differences she noticed with how love is viewed in both Russia and American culture. For example, Russian culture largely perceives romantic endeavors through what the author calls the “Regime of Fate”. This is Romeo and Juliet and an extreme perspective towards love by claiming that true love requires some sort of detrimental sacrifice. This is what Polina was raised on. However, she experienced an incredible culture shock when she immigrated to America and was introduced to the “Regime of Choice”. American society describes love as far more focused on each partner’s individual needs and less stress on commitment. This potentially further morphed into polyamory and the growing and necessary stress on consent. Therefore, the culture that a person is raised in shapes how they not only view the world but how they perceive the concept of romantic love.
American society puts an abundance of pressure on the dreaded “L-word”. This is primarily because of how the media portrays healthy relationships especially in movies and television shows. These programs create what I refer to as “the list”. This is the checklist that slightly varies from person to person but generally consists of the rules of how each individual should act in a relationship. Polina briefly explains this in the article as well. For example, she quotes Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider writing, “The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr Right” they break down what a person should do if they want to attract a man. Admittedly this is a rather old fashioned belief that is extremely outdated. It can practically be summed up as not paying attention to a man so they would be attracted to you and make the first move. In classic television programs such as I Love Lucy they display classic American ideals towards romantic relationships from a single sentence that Lucy utters. She is explaining to her friend Ethel that , “Getting a man is just like swimming, once you’ve learned you never forget”. This perfectly represents the old fashioned, American perspective on love because of the mere fact that it is a woman’s duty to learn how to attract a man and that it is a skill it even can be learned rather than simply occur by chance or fate. However, as time went on America began to change and their view on love followed as well. This already relatively free thinking country began to truly branch out and have an explosion of inclusivity and boundless expression beginning in the late 1970s and continuing to grow in the present day. As a result, their view on romantic relationships morphed into far looser, non committal or restrictive relationships. There of course are exceptions to this because every human being thinks and perceives the world differently. However, there is no denying that polyamory, the practice of engaging in multiple sexual relationships with all members consenting, is a phenomenon that’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. For example, Elisabeth A. Sheff has studied polyamours families for fifteen year and wrote an article titled, “How Many Polyamorists in the US ”. Her findings were complicated due to the fact that she concluded that the exact number of polyamorists in the United States is virtually impossible to figure out, however she predicted that there are approximately 1.2 to 2.4 million polyamorists currently living in America (Sheff 1). This growing free willed perspective on love aligned with the growing importance of self expression that was occurring in the late two thousands and the early two thousand tens. For instance, as this self expressionist revolution began to make an appearance in the media as Woody Alln’s movie titled “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” hit the theaters. This film was focussed on a pair of women that go on a vacation in Barcelona and run into a damaged playboy artist which causes an exploration of love, sexuality, and experimentation to ensue. Surprisingly, this movie was not praised for its subtlety but rather the sense of unforgivable forgettable that several critics picked up on. In my opinion, this is the perfect reflection of the form of romance the film was attempting to convey. This is because the polyamorous ideals displayed in the movie is deeply rooted in a lack of committal intent as well as lack of care for the stigma that it holds. As a result, this movie was viewed as silly, insignificant, but wildly entertaining. It was solely created to please the viewers and make them feel content which is precisely the goal of modern western love.Therefore, the rise in stressing individualistic ideas and the internal needs of people aligns with the rise in non-monogamous behaviors in America.
I am sure it is no surprise that on the entire other side of the world romantic relationships are viewed differently. Most notably, Russian culture is far less focussed on free philosophy but rather order which is fascinating when taking into account how they view love. This is the clearest when analyzing old russian proverbs that are used as guides for how to behave in everyday life. For example, sayings such as, “Work is a wolf, it will not run away to the woods” and “Endure, [and you will] fall in love” perfectly encapsulates the stress on order, sacrifice and endurance that is put on russian society. The first proverb has a rather interesting meaning by explaining that working requires patience and should not lean towards chaos because the job is not going anywhere until complete. As a result, it can be concluded that followers of this proverb would be strong minded and patient. The second proverb is crucial to a russian view on love because it can be interpreted to mean that you can fall in love simply by staying with your partner despite possibly not even caring for them at first, anyone can learn to love. The vast majority of Russians believe that there can not be love without sacrifice and struggle. Unsurprisingly, these ideals are also displayed in popular russian media. For example, the one of the most popular shows in Russia was “How I Met Your Mother” which originally was American but had an abundance of russian ideals instilled in it. This is most evident in the seventeenth episode in season nine which includes Ted Mosby explaining love.
Ted Mosby exclaims that , “If you’re looking for the word that means caring for someone beyond all rationality and wanting them to have everything they want no matter how much it destroys you, its love!” (Season 9 episode 17). This is precisely how the general Russian community views love. For example, Russians strongly believe love to be a call from an existential source that is impossible to resist and both people in the relationship must sacrifice some aspect of themself to the other person to show their love. This is a rather popular ideal in eastern cultures which is known as the previously mentioned, Regime of Fate. The idea of a romantic regime that requires any aspect of suffering directly clashes with the western regimes of choice. This is because in the west it is popular for both partners to simply accept each other’s flaws and no one has to change or give up an aspect of who they are. This clash of ideals was perfectly displayed on the television program 90 Day Fiance when the Ukranian and American couple talk about if they love each other. To preface, before this interview the couple has been having numerous problems revolving around religion and both partners’ stubbornness. This is primarily due to the fact that the ukranian fiance wants to convert her atheist partner to christianty and he refuses. During the interview they ask Natalie, the ukranian fiance, if she loves Mike and all she can say is that she thinks that they have potential and that love has to grow through a lot of difficult situations first. Natalie is accurately reflecting her Russian ideals through claiming that in order to say that she loves her partner and mean it they must survive difficulty together and sacrifice. This could also have contributed to why she was so adamant about Mike converting his religion, she has yet to see any form of sacrifice from him. She sacrificed her home by saying that she will eventually move to America with him yet she has not been met halfway which could definitely put stress on a relationship. Therefore, Russian culture causes members in a relationship to feel a deep, almost extreme passion in the romance because of the fact that both care immensely enough for each other to sacrifice something they hold near and dear for their partner.
I personally connect to both aspects of eeastern and western romantic ideals. This is because I am both an American as well as Russian and Polish jew. Unfortunately, this sometimes causes an internal clash since they do have an abundance of opposing ideas. For example, I fully believe that compromise is essential in any relationship as well as being accepted for who you are and not having to change. This is closely connected to the regime of choice by being more focussed on appreciating who the person or people truly is/are. Contrarily, I am pretty strongly monogamous. I am not entirely sure the exact reason why but it is rooted in the fact that I could never imagine being in a polyamourous while still having equal feelings towards each partner. Once I realized I had strong feelings towards one partner I would have to cut it off with the others or else I would feel as though I am leading them on. This is a rather russian perspective towards love because they say that you can love anyone with enough time but never do they say you can love multiple people. That is because polygomy directly contradicts the idea of fate. Fate in terms of relationships generally revolves around the idea of a person’s one true soulmate and when a person is in a fated relationship it is one where they learn and grow immensely as a person. This of course is simply my opinion and can vary from person to person. Nevertheless, Russian’s widely believed in love to be an otherworldly force that pulls two people together, which strongly connected to the idea of fate. However, I do not agree with the idea of shared suffering being a part of the concept of love. This is because when love is true it should be more rooted in enjoying every aspect of their partner, even the flaws. As a result, sacrificing a part of who you are to merely prove the validity of your feelings is not necessary. In terms of sacrifice, I believe that sacrificing your pre-existing home or the weight of your family’s words or judgement is a natural part of growing up. Overtime, especially once you’ve found love, it is normal for one’s priorities to change and be more centered around their partner rather than their guardian and family members. However, there should be no need to sacrifice safety and health for “love” because that is far too extreme and demonstrates not a true sense of care for eachother. In conclusion, the concept of love can be complicated and convoluted because it is shaped from a combination of internal and external sources. Anything from the movies we watch to the children’s book read to us as children molds how people view romance.
Let me know your philosophy on love and romance and if it is more aligned with the east or the west!
Bibliography
Aronson, Polina. “Russia against the Western Way of Love – Polina Aronson: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 23 Mar. 2020, aeon.co/essays/russia-against-the-western-way-of-love.
Elena. “88 Famous Russian Proverbs and Sayings, and Their Meanings.” Elena’s Models, 25 Oct. 2016, blogs.elenasmodels.com/en/famous-russian-proverbs-sayings.
The idea of love in the romantic sense has been a topic that has fascinated me for as long as I could remember. This may be because I am a self diagnosed hopeless romantic and watch romantic comedies semi-religiously.However, I have noticed a trend throughout my life of love heavily influencing culture and how people generally treat each other. This idea largely sparked recently when I read the article, “Romantic Regimes” written by Polina Aronson who is a Russian sociologist who moved to America as a teenager. In this article, Polina breaks down her experience with love as a teenager and the daunting differences she noticed with how love is viewed in both Russia and American culture. For example, Russian culture largely perceives romantic endeavors through what the author calls the “Regime of Fate”. This is Romeo and Juliet and an extreme perspective towards love by claiming that true love requires some sot of detrimental sacrifice. This is what Polina was raised on. However, she experienced an incredible culture shock when she immigrated to America and was introduced to the “Regime of Choice”. American society describes love as far more focused on each partners individual needs and less stress on commitment. This potentially further morphed into polyamory and the growing and necessary stress on consent. American society puts an abundance of pressure on the dreaded “L-word”. This is primarily because of how the media portrays healthy relationships especially in movies and television shows. These programs create what I refer to as “the list”. This is the checklist that slightly varies from person to person but generally consists of the rules of how each individual should act in a relationship. Polina briefly explains this in he article as well. For example, she quotes Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider’s writing, “The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr Right” they break down what a person should if they want to attract a man. Admittedly this is a rather old fashioned belief that is extremely outdated. It can practically be summed up as not paying attention to a man so they would be attracted to you and make the first move.
Guys, so I just walked into Bird Library and…and…I’m scared. What is this place??
Okay I’m obviously just joking I HAVE been in bird like…3 times before but I am still not a “regular” here.
Therefore, if I had to pick a go to spot it’d be this spot right here….The ART SECTION (I never said I wasn’t on brand.)AAAND I got a book that is full of art to draw from
The library is a strange place for Abe Frankel. It has always slightly confused him and left him unsure of how to feel about it. For example, on the one hand there are very still people that are perfect to draw for extended periods of time. However, it is so unbearably awkward when you are sitting in a silent room and then you hear the crunch of a turning page. It makes your skin crawl.Now some people may simply say, “But Abe, why don’t you just put earbuds in and listen to music. That will solve your problem!” To that I can only respond with the fact aht that is indeed a good point which I did not think of before the emotionally scarring already formed. Okay there isn’t any actual scarring but the point is that I still do not prefer libraries! I can never concentrate when I’m in there because it feels too serious of an environment, especially since I’m usually there about to check out a book I don’t particularly want to read. That being said I don’t mind reading for my own amusement. These books are usually dystopian novels that reflect something about the world in a creatie, fantastical manner. My favorite book is that I have read called Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I love this book because it truly transported me into a different world and I did not think of it as a mere assignment but simply part as my routine.
Abe's Bloggy World 