Reviewing The Arts

I believe reviewing the arts is very important. Art is everywhere and is a big part of life. Being able to understand what other people see in art and interpreting it through their eyes is very useful. It opens a door to different ideas and helps to broaden your mind. Before I knew how to review the arts, I had no idea what components were needed to do so. Thinking differently when visiting a site, giving detailed analysis, writing clearly and grabbing the reader to make them interested. When I started, I didn't know how to structure my reviews. Now at the end, the presentation is better and I feel I've learned the basics of how to write art reviews. Reviewing the arts has really improved my overall ability as a writer and as a thinker. It has helped in making me come to focus how I see the meaning of it. Columbia College was such a great community to do such reviews and brought me even closer to the campus, students and teachers. Taking the opportunity to review Columbia's art students as not only helped my reviewing but my writing overall.

Columbia College Review Final

The Columbia College is one that stands out among other colleges downtown Chicago. Maybe for its absurd school's colors, half circle logo titled "create change". Students standing outside drawing on the floor with colored chalk, dancing in the streets, showcasing their arts. The campus as I see it is pretty big, the environment is in the loop downtown Chicago. I see Columbia as a window to opportunities with your creative mind and go forward. After hearing some of the current students here, I really see a strong division of people who would agree and disagree. I stand in the middle; Columbia is a great school that helps students enhances their skills into the major they want to proceed. The many exhibits this semester had showcased proved this.

Walking in the gallery for the first time I noticed how cold the atmosphere was. There was a lot of open space for people to walk around, white walls and a dull-looking brown painted on the pillars. The benches had random-colored pillows placed on top that were way too big. The only lighting in the gallery was on the paintings – there were no other light. The first body of work I came across was Jennifer Hines’ three paintings. The artwork to me feels somewhat weird and disturbing. Photographic images of naked women sitting, holding themselves, wrapped up and covered in some sort of plant-like rooted figure. The colors seemed to be random, as an artist I couldn’t relate to this piece of work.

Another piece of work I stopped to look at was Colleen Mcgrann's of mine. 'A triptych of herself photography'. The three pictures were rather creepy with a mysterious, blurry look to them. The pale-yellow color scheme, with a girl in white night dress looks like something out of a cheesy horror film. The process of her planting something isn't appealing since there is no visual of where she is, the background being emptiness. I couldn't feel really anything from her piece.

Walking around the gallery I did seem to pause at the video clip created by Victoria Bradford called 'Blue focus'. The video involved images being shot out on the screen at random. It was dazzling. The text looked like font from a typewriter, it moved at an awkward rate, disappearing and reappearing, the background always white, with photos of a girl constantly being repeated. It looked like a complete mess and gave me a slight headache. It just seemed like a weird video to me. Perhaps if I had met its creator, I would’ve had a much greater understanding.

The piece of artwork I most related to turned out to be a simple notebook. Kelly Parsell's my 'Spanish book revisited' was this piece. She used this book when she was a child learning Spanish but she also put in her own drawings and little notes. It was her personal little book in which she did whatever she wanted to. I was able to relate to this as I've also kept many journals, notebooks and sketchbooks from when I was younger. Like her, I can never seem to get rid of them. It's the stuff in the past I just don't want to forget or let go. A personal journal.

In the open areas, comics are the main focus, though there are other displays. However, the other displays really don’t connect with the comics at all and seem very random. The atmosphere was welcoming yet congested; there were a few less seats for students, which was bothersome and made it harder to get a seat. The amount on display made it feel like there was so much going on.

The first piece I look at was Angeline Mascarena’s "A day in the life of a snowman" pen and ink on board, 2009. This cute little snowman comic is very amusing. Its execution is simple but it tells you a story that makes you ask a lot of questions. Who throw the snow at him? Why did he make a snowgirl and rip out her heart? The comic is plain, nothing in the background – a good choice as no more was needed. The artist didn't put any words, just pictures to let the reader guess for themselves. The color is plain as well; nothing bright, mostly cool light purple, grey colors to match the snow and sky. It immediately catches the viewer’s eye with its simplicity. It gets them to look when walking by and makes them want to stop and notice what is going on in the image.

Joyce Rice "My last winter in grawn, MI" Digital Print 2009. Her comic was on one side and on the other they picked her biggest panel from her comic and enlarged it redoing it, painting on the wall itself. The art style is very interesting and sticks out a lot compared to some; it’s her own style. Colored in only blue tones and one light brown color it looks well made and completes the image, she not even needed to put any other colors looks well. The text is easy to read and clear, cell shading, a clean piece of work. The story is compelling to make you want to view the full comic page to start from the beginning to find out what’s going on.

Stephanie wegryzn and john coxworth hellgeezer' digital print 2009 has only text on this piece is the title in English and Japanese, looks heavily shaded, tones, black and white, the mood feels serious and some sort of mystery to it. Blood in each individual panel. Detailed smoke making it confusing to the characters, black to white fading setting a mood, lighting very important hitting the characters and objects. The comic pages makes you wish there was more, or turned into a comic or a manga book.

This gallery really is a comic book artists’ treat. Seeing such variety of work from the student body, it’s really an eye opener to view and understand the talent others show and their knowledge of the style of comic books. The different styles, techniques, rendering one can do when making a comic, the feelings and ways that get the reader to get a much better understanding of what the artist is trying to bring forth in their work. Location: 623 S Wabash Ave, first floor. Gallery Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9am–7 pm, Friday, 9 am–5 pm

The Harrison red line stop is the closest by 623 S. Wabash Columbia College Building. The only time I would ever go on the Harrison stop would be to visit my relatives on Rosevelt or go visit Chinatown. I remember the first time I ever been there when they remodeled it from Columbia College and Jones College Prep Students who adopted the el stop through the CTA program. The leave symbols that are repeated down the el actually really look like weed (keep in mind I've never done drugs in my whole life). They badly decorated the platform and pillars with poems of haiku's. I'm no fan of poems or anything and this really didn't help interest me whatsoever. So most of the haiku's made no sense to me and just sounded rather ridiculous.

One was about love and it went "Listen! His sweat working it's way down my cheek is whispering." The poem doesn't even sound finished, and was just so random. I would of loved to see at least a poem that would maybe relate to well I don't know...transportation? Something that got someone thinking while they traveled to wherever they were going. Most of the pillars were vandalized, people were ripping it with whatever object they had with them. You would of thought that we would change poems time to time so something like this wouldn't happen.

The color scheme seems pretty dull. A bunch of yellow, orange, red colors. I really am dissapointed on how Columbia handled this. We had a great opportunity to make something look amazing, yet they somehow made it looks tacky. I hope people will act and give their input to Columbia and maybe we could change the look of Harrison and change it into something greater.

Columbia's whole campus location in itself I believe is really fantastic. I almost think every building has something to offer for an outsider who wants to experience how Columbia is. A beautiful location in the Chicago loop covered in stores, restaurants and has a very welcoming atmosphere. However since we have to pick one and If someone new who came wanted to learn what Columbia College Chicago was like, the place I would highly recommend for Art & Design majors is the 9th floor computer lab inside 623 S. Wabash building.

The 9th floor computer lab is one of the most complex floors filled with many things that catch the eye compared to most of the floors inside this building. Opening the door from the stairs or coming off the elevator the room you can tell right off that the room is pretty much full of life. There are current students working at the front desk, very lovely people that will be very kind and will help you if you have any questions. You can ask them anything from needing help on a computer program glitch, needing supplies you didn't have time to bring with you to class and even if you need to find a class room. There are plenty of computers in this huge room where each one you can choose whether you want to use windows or Mac desktop, all the programs you need for your classes are there and ready for you to start working. There are always many students diligently working on their homework.

The computers are in the center of the floor while it is surrounded by two classrooms that share the same floor, no wall separating it. Going through one of the class rooms you get to the cut paper section where students are free to use the free space to cut paper, measure, trace on the light box and work on anything they need to do. Taking care of all the equipment, using it correctly, sharing with other students, making it a fun filled experience.

The environment is very lively and friendly, not once I’ve seen any kind of fighting break out, everyone is respectful for one another and helps each other with giving advice on ones artwork.Once you get used to how everything works you do tend to notice certain cliques with groups of friends like the Illustrators, Graphic Designers and Animation artists, but that’s not to say that’s a bad thing, everyone gets along, you just also notice people get to meet others in the same major early on and connect with them over time having to take many classes with them. They form a very strong bond and they all help one another if one needs assistance. Of course there is a sense of competition but it’s rather a friendly one. Everyone wants to see one another do well.

I actually saw this exhibit being made when coming to our class weeks ago. Seeing two men spraying the huge graffitti on the wall and wondering what kind of subject would that be involved with. After that I honestly never bothered looking back at it until we got assigned to do another blog about a Columbia spot. I was searching about 4 places around campus and when I really couldn't find anything this exhibit finally came around in my mind. Found inside of the 33 E. Congress Columbia Building first floor, which of course is our building we have our class session. Access Excess is the name of this student body of work.

Out of everything that has been shown at this current time, this exhibit I think is the one I would honestly stay away from. I was already not interested in it while it was being set up. Media entertainment and creativity isn't my most interest desire, this gallery has brought me to get interested. I do love going to concerts, however not the ones that have such huge mosh pits and insane fans that people would get hurt at, and this exhibit really seemed at first what that was all about. Now after taking the time to look through the displays and how Columbia Students presented their work, I see it as much more.

Main theme was music but not just that, its what people do to prepare, have to handle, the environment around them, their experiences and they found their own way to express it from their art and decide how to show it to others who aren't familiar with the subject or doesn't understand what is so great and exciting, what is the big deal of it all. This gallery gives you a chance to take a look at the artistic view and provide a better view of musical performances.

The whole exhibit really was a very interesting set up, nothing like I've seen here at Columbia so far. Every wall as a orderly section of going to a concert both for the experience and/or preparing the expected to this occasion. It starts out with preparing; they had a suitcase displayed with objects inside showing what they'd bring to the tour. It instantly felt like a museum exhibit display that I really find pretty amusing. I personally think they would defiantly bring more than what they showed but it gave people a general idea.

Next to it on the wall is a Record shop selling band t-shirts, short shorts, hats, CD's etc. Reminded me one of the few concerts I ever been to when they sell a bunch of merchandise with their ridiculous expensive prices. This display though seemed pretty familiar.

The next parts were artistic designs created by students mostly graphic designers making very unique, hip looking posters for bands, flashy colors that light up, something really visual appealing to the eye. The set up was done nicely as they all lined up side-by-side together creating a collage of great work. Right next to it had a type of sculpture of different kind of records, some designed, some plan, all melted together creating this unique design. I thought of music and how many can mix with another. Some that sound the same can combine and even two completely different songs can somehow when mixed properly can even sound wonderful. The last parts were a huge collection of CD covers that looked like a story of pictures taken at different angles at a concert. The color scheme blended nicely together making the piece flow nicely.

This exhibit really stuck out a lot to me, this hobby is really something a lot of Columbia students take pride in. Its not just a crazy concert/band community like I always thought. It opened my eyes a little bit and realized that this is something that people have great passion for and its very entertaining on top of it. Sweat and tears were probably happening defiantly more than once at concerts. People relate to the music, relate to others and share a common sense of appreciation. This gallery very well proved me wrongs the most and I couldn't enjoy it any more. Access Excess exhibit was created by Ayisha Jaffer, Arts Entertainment and Media Management and was held March 4th-April 23rd and sadly is gone by the time you read this.

Columbia proves itself that students that love what they do get their chance to show case it and express how they want to showing other students. All the exhibits I encountered this semester really presented Columbia College's side in wanting to reach out to the public eye the ability Columbia students have.

Access Excess

I actually saw this exhibit being made when coming to our class weeks ago. Seeing two men spraying the huge graffitti on the wall and wondering what kind of subject would that be involved with. After that I honestly never bothered looking back at it until we got assigned to do another blog about a Columbia spot. I was searching about 4 places around campus and when I really couldn't find anything this exhibit finally came around in my mind. F

ound inside of the 33 E. Congress Columbia Building first floor, which of course is our building w

e have our class session. Access Excess is the name of this student body of work.

Out of everything that has been shown at this current time, this exhibit I think is the one I would honestly stay away from. I was already not interested in it while it was being set up. Media entertainment and creativity isn't my most interest desire, this gallery has brought me to get interested. I do love going to concerts, however not the ones that have such huge mosh pits and insane fans that people would get hurt at, and this exhibit really seemed at first what that was all about. Now after taking the time to look through the displays and how Columbia Students presented their work, I see it as much more.

Main theme was music but not just that, its what people do to prepare, have to handle, the environment around them, their experiences and they found their own way to express it from their art and decide how to show it to others who aren't familiar with the subject or doesn't understand what is so great and exciting, what is the big deal of it all. This gallery gives you a chance to take a look at the artistic view and provide a better view of musical performances.

The whole exhibit really wa

s a very interesting set up, nothing like I've seen here at Columbia so far. Every wall as a orderly section of going to a concert both for the experience and/or preparing the expected to this occasion. It starts out with preparing, they had a suitcase displayed with objects inside showing what they'd bring to the tour. It instantly felt like a

museum exhibit display that I really find pretty amusing. I personally think they would definatly bring more than what they showed but it gave people a general idea.

Next to it on the wall is a Record shop selling band t-shirts, short shorts, hats, CD's etc. Reminded me one of the few concerts I ever been to when they sell a bunch of merchandise with their ridiculous expensive prices. This display though seemed pretty familiar.

The next parts were artistic designs created by students mostly graphic designers making very unique, hip looking posters for bands, flashy colors that light up, something really visual appealing to the eye. The set up was done nicely as they all lined up side by side together creating a collage of great work. Right next to it had a type of sculpture of different kind of records, some designed, some plan, all melted together creating this unique design. I thought of music and how many can mix with another. Some that sound the same can combine and even two completely different songs can somehow when mixed properly can even sound wonderful. The last parts were a huge collection of CD covers that looked like a story of pictures taken at different angles at a concert. The color scheme blended nicely together making the piece flow nicely.

This exhibit really stuck out a lot to me, this hobby is really something a lot of Columbia students take pride in. Its not just a crazy concert/band community like I always thought. It opened my eyes a little bit and realized that this is something that people have great passion for and its very entertaining on top of it. Sweat and tears were probably happening definatly more than once at concerts. People relate to the music, relate to others and share a common sense of appreciation. This gallery very well proved me wrong the most and I couldn't enjoy it any more.

Access Excess exhibit was created by Ayisha Jaffer, Arts Entertainment and Media Management and was held March 4th-April 23rd and sadly is gone by the time you read this.

9th Floor Computer Lab

Columbia's whole campus location in itself I believe is really fantastic. I almost think every building has something to offer for an outsider who wants to experience how Columbia is. A beautiful location in the Chicago loop covered in stores, restaurants and has a very welcoming atmosphere. However since we have to pick one and If someone new who came wanted to learn what Columbia College Chicago was like, the place I would highly recommend for Art & Design

majors is the 9th floor computer lab inside 623 S. Wabash building.

The 9th floor computer lab is one of the most complex floors filled with many things that catch the eye compared to most of the floors inside this building. Opening the door from the s

tairs or coming off the elevator the room you can tell right off that the room is pretty much full of life. There are current students working at the front desk, very lovely people that will be very kind and will help you if you have any questions. You can ask them anything from needing help on a computer program glitch, needing supplies you didn't have time to bring with you to class and even if you need to find a class room.

There are plenty of computers in this huge room where each one you can choose whether you want to use windows or Mac desktop, all the pro

grams you need for your classes are there and ready for you to start working. There are always many students diligently working on their homework.

The computers are in the center of the floor while it is surrounded by two classrooms that share the same floor, no wall separating it. Going through one of the class rooms you get to the cut paper section where students are free to use the free space to cut paper, measure, trace on the light box and work on anything they need to do. Taking care of all the equipment, using it correctly, sharing with other students, making it a fun filled experience.

The environment is very lively and friendly, not once I’ve seen any kind of fighting break out, everyone is respectful for one another and helps each other with giving advice on ones artwork.Once you get used to how everything works you do tend to notice certain cliques with groups of friends like the Illustrators, Graphic Designers and Animation artists, but that’s not to say that’s a bad thing, everyone gets along, you just also notice people get to meet others in the same major early on and connect with them over time having to take many classes with them. They form a very strong bond and they all help one another if one needs assistance. Of course there is a sense of competition but it’s rather a friendly one. Everyone wants to see one another do well.

Harrison Red Line Stop

The Harrison red line stop is the closest by 623 S. Wabash Columbia College Building. The only time I would ever go on the Harrison stop would be to visit my relatives on Rosevelt or go visit Chinatown. I remember the first time I ever been there when they remodeled it from Columbia College and Jones College Prep Students who adopted the el stop through the CTA program. The leave symbols that are repeated down the el actually really look like weed (keep in mind I've never done drugs in my whole life). They badly decorated the platform and pillars with poems of haiku's. I'm no fan of poems or anything and this really didn't help interest me whatsoever. So most of the haiku's made no sense to me and just sounded rather ridiculous.

One was about love and it went "Listen! His sweat working it's way down my cheek is whispering." The poem doesn't even sound finished, and was just so random. I would of loved to see at least a poem that would maybe relate to well I don't know...transportation? Something that got someone thinking while they traveled to wherever they were going. Most of the pillars were vandalized, people were ripping it with whatever object they had with them. You would of thought that we would change poems time to time so something like this wouldn't happen.

The color scheme seems pretty dull. A bunch of yellow, orange, red colors. I really am dissapointed on how Columbia handled this. We had a great opportunity to make something look amazing, yet they somehow made it looks tacky. I hope people will act and give their input to Columbia and maybe we could change the look of Harrison and change it into something greater.

Spongebob Square Pants

Now I'm a hardcore cartoon-obsessed artist. Back in the 90's, as a kid, watching Nickolodeon was like an addictive drug, and I'm sure you can relate.This kid channel aired great cartoon shows such as Rugrats, Doug, Rocko's Modern Life, The Ren and Stimpy Show, AHH Real Monsters etc. The list goes on with memorable shows and I wish I could elaborate more to make you think down memory lane, but this blog as you know isn't for that. There is just one nicktoon that really gets under my skin and its none other than that yellow loud mouth fruitcake Spongebob Square pants. I can't believe how low cartoons have gotten and this cartoon is one of the few that I just cannot sit down and watch for the life of me.

The theme song is just horrifying, you got some irritating pirate man and a bunch of annoying kids screaming spongebob square pants a total of 8 times. Other than that it explains that he lives in a pineapple under the sea. More descriptive it’s called Bikini Bottom at the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Spongebob (Tom Kenny) works as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab restaurant, which how is that even possible if they are living under water, but hey it’s only a cartoon show. He’s best friend is a sea star named Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), another so called friend is a octopus name Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) who isn’t too pleased to be around the two. They all seem to get into some random obscure adventure each episode. Somehow people just love to watch them interact and enjoy. This series was the top of Nickelodeon’s ratings chart and maintained a huge fan base. It’s full of wacky humor, silly scenes that appeal not only children but many adults as well. Many say that it sends positive messages about friendship, hard work and loyalty.

There are so many people who just adore this show so much. Having all kinds of merchandise and what not. They are obsessed and I just can’t put my finger on how and why. I was forced to watch the Spongebob Movie when it hit theaters with my younger sister and cousin and it just didn’t make any sense. The jokes were random; I don’t see how little kids really get what’s even going on. Supposedly now there are a lot of dirty jokes my 15-year-old sister told me in the cartoon series. I watch my sister as she still watches the show constantly, bawling out laughing while I stare in confusing. You would think I could understand the humor behind it all since I still watch cartoons but Spongebob just isn't for me. The annoyance level on this show for me is high and I stay away from it at all costs.

I assume that I have to try and be in the shoes of the other people because I know for a fact the cartoon and anime shows I fully love and enjoy, people also hate a great deal. Everyone has their own likes and hobbies and I think people really shouldn't bash others for liking something like Spongebob. I always thought that was the best way, don't argue or fight, just let them be happy with what they enjoy. Your life will be much better with just staying happy.

Justified

“Justified” what seems to be a police drama starts its show rather climatic, as one of the two characters knew they were going to die right there at that table outside the hotel lounge. The winner is the main character, the brave ethical cowboy Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the new hero that really is too confident pretty quickly in this first look at him. He always seems to know how to handle each situation, can get out of trouble so easily and makes it a little game. I didn’t know if he was a decent pick for the role as I have not seen him in any other movies but from the earlier discussion the actor might of went down hill for a show like this but I won’t judge.

The group of villains Raylan must face is a group of neo-Nazis who don’t seem to as smart as you would think. I don’t know why people would really get too offended that this takes place in Kentucky for the genre, your from the South, you automatically will be targeted on a show like this. Why really waste your time on just a TV show? I’m sure this show, from what the first episode has shown wont get too many rating and really everyone just needs to relax. It’s made for the entertainment aspect. There are the heroes and the villains anywhere you go, whatever the location may be. Yes we all may not like what we see, but this is something we have to live with and deal with. I think I might give this show another shot even though I’m not of this type of genre. “Justified” shoots on the TV network every Tuesday on 10:00pm.

Dave Chapelle's Block Party

Dave Chapelle' documentary Block Party, is all about how he brings together people from his neighborhood, old friends and people of different races inviting them to a rap concert. Presenting to them the hip-hop culture in a sense to make them enjoy it. Show that it's not just for one race to enjoy but anyone can be apart of. To have fun and enjoy yourself, uniting. Dave goes to his home town in Ohio first and finds random people off the street giving them passes to the concert. He makes a Willy Wonka reference giving out his golden tickets. He didn't limit himself to the race, he asked blacks whites, people he knew growing up, even a Central State University's drum line marching band was off to the concert, they're excitement as well as all the others who got to go really gave you giving Chappelle some credit in showing his passionate side. The block party consisted of popular hip-hop artists such as Kanye West, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, The Roots as well as the Fugees to end the party with a big bang. He even invited The Central State University Marching Band to come along and play during this major event. Throughout this Mr. Chappelle of coursed performed his comedy monologues and little sketches during the film.

The majority of the people invited went to the party, yet there were some people who didn't jump at the chance. They believed that rap music relates to just inappropriate language and is not intended for kids or even adults. I strongly do agree with what they say, as I am not a big fan of rap in general. However I don't believe that its fully true. Most do go towards violence, sex etc. but after watching this you can quickly learn from many of the performances that it isn't all that bad. Most believe that rap is sending a message about abuse, how poor they are, sexism, drugs, murder rape etc. This block party contained artists of different backgrounds and beliefs, showing a different side and somewhat relates to the audience. They take their talent and skills, giving it their all in the show.

Most of the back stories from these music artists, before they were well known and had any sort of record of being famous were running around in the streets. Doing the right thing, something to do thats fun by playing music together in clubs and not bumming around doing nothing with their lives. They all have interesting, unforgettable and warming pasts that is shared. Just by watching the performances they displayed, everyone was comfortable with one another, they were all good friends, everyone enjoyed each other's company. They really knew how to work well with great respect from one person to the other. Behind the scenes you see them with Dave, having a great time, playing around, goofing off. Even when Dave was on stage you saw how he interacted with the performers, doing the funny things he does.

The power of this film is all from the music that plays. The environment very welcoming to all who came. Everyone just wanting to have a good time. A sense of over joy that you really don't see in any kind of rap concert with a hint of Dave Chappelle giving in his two sense of humorous jokes and character into it that held strong in this movie. He mocks the rap battle, throwing out random one-liners, whatever he could do to slow things down. This concert shows the great strong message of unity of people and having one big party. Interviewing each artists as you listen to their music, what they believe and what they have to say about how music has inspired them, where they got it all and what they want to do with it sharing it with others. It was like chapters of a book of back stories that gave you the real life and meaning.

Dave Chapelle' documentary Block Party seemed to be a real big success after the uproar of the media and fans talking about how he is insane for walking away from a lot of money for his show, roughly a $50 million contract deal. He walked away from it, his determination and dedication to himself as a person showing the world and not giving a damn on what they thought. Being true to himself, his own person. This block party was something that really made him shine. It was his opportunity to shine and be real with the world, and I think he pulled it off tremendously. This documentary showing the power of diversity and changes, presenting it in a positive way. He didn't sell out on the contract, he showed what a real comedian, artist, person can do, a rue side.

Dragonball Evolution

Dragonball Evolution is a 2009 American live-action film adaptation based upon the Japanese Dragonball media franchise, directed by James Wong, produced by Stephen Chow and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The story centers around the adventures of the lead character, Goku, (Justin Chatwin) who on his 18th birthday, is asked to gather the seven Dragonballs in order to save the world from the evil alien Piccolo (James Marsters). On his journey, he meets several other characters that aid him in his quest. From the release of the very first trailer, all indications were that the movie was going to be horrible, and despite a decent basic premise, it is. From the murky art direction to the jumbled mess of a script, poor acting and hopeless directing, this movie is a beyond terrible.

One of the most striking aspects of the movie is how inappropiately casted most of the characters are. Goku is the most notable example. You do not expect the transition from a cartoon to a live-action movie to be without major changes, but the Goku in Dragonball Evolution shares nothing in common with his anime counterpart. In the cartoon, he is a young, happy, energetic boy who rides across the land on his magical cloud, full of self-belief and spirit. Justin Chatwin's Goku is a miserable emo who rides a bike to school and gets picked on by the 'cooler' kids. Other characters are similarly miscasted, Marster's Piccolo is perhaps being the closest to resemble the character from the cartoon, but seeing as how he gets roughly 10 minutes of screen time in the whole movie, you're never given the chance to appreciate any aspect of his performance.

The down right god awful acting. The movie features some of the poorest performances I've ever seen. Chatwin chops through the clunky badly written script, in a performance so wooden it would embarrass most items of furniture. Emmy Rossum (Bulma), Jamie Chung (Chi Chi) and Eriko Tamura (Mai) establish little if any personality for their respective characters, and Joon Park's Yamcha is a disaster. Even the talented Chow Yun Fat fails to restore any credibility to it, he just smiles as he walks away with his fat paycheck.

I personally see few if any redeemable features to this movie, but I can understand why some might enjoy it, particularly a younger audience. At 90-minutes, the pain is short, and one can't accuse the movie of dragging, there's always *something* happening, regardless of whether it's good quality entertainment or not. Some may see it in the special effects, I personally think, like the rest of the movie they're awful, but the sheer brightness and flashiness may be enough to wow some viewers ( known as 12 year olds). The fight scenes as well, while undeniably cheesy are not terribly executed, just a little cliché.

In the end of it all, this movie basically is for no one, I really don't understand how someone can like this, it honestly doesn't appeal to anyone. This movie was made for nothing but the money. The people who will go and watch this movie and have no knowledge of the Dragon Ball story will be so confused by what there watching, they will most likely tell everyone it is one of the worst movies.

Living Out Loud

Living Out Loud was created in 1998 directed by Richard LaGravenese. Holly Hunter stars as Judith Ne

lson, a middle-age, feisty woman who's marriage fell short after her husband left her for a younger woman. She's going through her mid-life crisis, This has deeply depressed her causing her to stop and think about her life ahead.

Trying to see that now being single yet again, what were the right and wrong choices she took in that time period. Where does she go from here? Her voice runs through her mind all over the place. Saying one thing then another thing pop ups right after. There were more than one

occasion where you saw what Judith wanted to see happen in her life, until reality hits and you see what really happens.

On the other side you meet Pat Francato, played by Danny DeVito, a single father due to his addiction to gambling his money away. His daughter passed away just recently and now has job is being the elevator operator of the building Judith lives and the two form a friendship. Together they talk about their pasts and the difficult obstacles they both have faced in their families befo

re meeting and how they will have to forget and move on.

Queen Latifah plays Judith's singer idol Liz Bailey and befriends her at the Jazz club. They share their relationship issues and become rather close, going to a gay club but not before taking drugs and having a random musical dance number happens.

They hint that Pat and Judith might be together but throughout the whole movie you get a feeling that Judith and Pat might become even closer than friends. Pat admits his love to Judith several times throughout the film but she always said no and wanted nothing more than to be friends. He seems more like a father figure to her. She leaves him and several months later after she finally decided she wanted to go back to school to finish up being a nurse, she was too late. Pat had found his voice and began singing at the Jaspers Jazz club.

The performance these characters show are quite rememberable. The film kept moving despite there was no story line to push forward. Judith seemed to be the one character that developed the most and got a lot out of it. Her new experience helped her gain what she was missing.

This movie shows the hardships one can have in their lifetime, showing relationships you can have with a complete stranger, how hard life is and this film has a point in making us stop and think that life isn't always going to happen how you want it, everything can change in an instant when you least expect it. Whether or not you want it, try and make the best of what you have.

A Dragon ball World

There is one massive art form that has been apart of my personal life as an artist and also a fan. It surrounds my personal guilty pleasure but also links to my way of how I see art the way I enjoy it. My personal appreciation comes from a manga series created in 1984 named Dragon ball created by Akira Toriyama. Finding out about the franchise at the age of 10 I first became a fan of the anime series and watched it religiously after school on the cartoon network channel. So obsessed I had to buy empty tapes and record all the episodes every day as well until it came out on VHS.

Some few years passed and the series finally was released on DVD. Searching online to find out more episodes that weren't released in America I browsed and became more involved on the art style. I used reference from the manga books and copied the style over and over, wanting to be able to learn how to draw the character's from memory. I become heavily interested in comic books and manga was highly being noticeable in America more through the years. I started collecting the entire Dragon ball Z manga series.

I remember spending hours on end drawing the characters that I tend to love and grow up with over the years. The back stories, character development, theme, everything that this series had, this world was the one I wanted to be in when I wanted to get away from the real world around me. In the situations the series had, it made me really think about life and also helped me relate when I had my own problems I had during my childhood with friends and family. If something happened I knew I would always turn to this series and expressed myself by drawing out my frustration making the characters in a situation I was just in.

To many people I’ve talked to, they say this is just another typical fighting ‘cartoon’, however I see it as something much more deep. Currently I am now a fan of this series for 12 years and still to this day I go back to that art style, admiration and understanding that only a hand full of people get. I had the opportunity to talked to other artists online all over the world and some I had the pleasure of meeting, sharing the same similarities and gratitude. I couldn’t stand here and tell you if Dragon Ball Z weren’t in my life I would be still drawing and wanting to be an Illustrator.

Shoes

Your foot includes more bones than any other section of your body. You rely on your feet every day, shoes at first were created to protect your feet from rocks, burning sands, natural hazards of the weather/climate, the rough ground that we walk and anything that would danger them. Only until recent years, the shoe wasn’t even worn by most of the world’s population. There of course still to this day where people walk barefoot who can’t afford any. Shoe prices can be one extreme to the next. Flip flops at Kmart can go for only $1.00 while at the Nike’s basketball shoes can go as high as $150.00.

Shoes are an item of decoration to the middle and upper class, they seem to be more focused on how the shoe looks rather than if it’s comfortable. Woman complaining constantly how at the end of the night they get blisters all over their aching feet. Some sort of silly fashion statement, or you can tell how a person is by the type of shoes they ware. Some people just buy shoes to match with other groups, to be with the in, not caring about price. Some want to be noticed on what their wearing by showing it off, bragging that they got some high expensive pair that no one can afford.

Depending on where you’re from there is a certain brand people wear. There’s so many examples so the best one I always find that stand out mostly from many are the group of boys who are skater. You can tell by the most popular skater name brand shoes they ware. They all look flat and somewhat similar. Brand names such as Vans, CD, Etnies, Osiris is most popular when riding a skateboard showing off your moves on the half pipe.

The variety of shoes one can go through in someone’s closet can be an alarming number. You need different types of shoes that accommodate the time of the year, snow boots during winter, flip-flops during the summer, but that’s not all. They types have many categories in itself. You need shoes for sports such as running, tennis, basketball, ice-skating, skateboarding, dancing. You need dressy shoes to go out to a special event and the list just goes on and on to how much shoes are a big importance.

Shoes can be worn by anyone, no matter what sex you are; anyone can pretty much get away with wearing whatever. Doesn’t matter if you buy shoes for men, woman or a unisex pair. In this generation there really isn’t any order to what you wear or how you wear your shoes.

Framed: The World Of Comics

Comics are a focus here however there are other very big displays in the open areas. The displays really don’t connect with the comics at all and seems somewhat very random. The atmosphere is welcoming yet congested; there are few less seats for students, which is bothersome and harder to get a seat. Everything in display makes it look like there is so much going on.

Angeline mascarenas "A day in the life of a snowman" pen and ink on board, 2009 This cute little snowman comic is somewhat very amusing, its simple though tells you a story that makes you ask a lot of questions, who throw the snow at him, why did he make a snowgirl and ripped out her heart. The comic is plain, nothing in the background, which was a good choice since there is not needed to be anything more. The artist didn't put any words, just pictures to let the readers mind only guess. The color is plain as well; nothing bright, mostly cool light purple, grey colors to match the snow and sky. Usually simple is the best kind of message for a viewer. Gets them to look when walking by and makes them want to stop and notice what is going on in the image.

Joyce Rice "My last winter in grawn, MI" Digital Print 2009. Her comic was on one side and on the other they picked her biggest panel from her comic and enlarged it redoing it, painting on the wall itself. The art style is very interesting and sticks out a lot compared to some; it’s her own style. Colored in only blue tones and one light brown color it looks well made and completes the image, she not even needed to put any other colors looks well. The text is easy to read and clear, cell shading, a clean piece of work. The story is compelling to make you want to view the full comic page to start from the beginning to find out what’s going on.

Stephanie wegryzn and john coxworth hellgeezer' digital print 2009 has only text on this piece is the title in English and Japanese, looks heavily shaded, tones, black and white, the mood feels serious and some sort of mystery to it. Blood in each individual panel. Detailed smoke making it confusing to the characters, black to white fading setting a mood, lighting very important hitting the characters and objects. The comic pages makes you wish there was more, or turned into a comic or a manga book.

This gallery really is a comic book artists’ treat. Seeing such variety of work from the student body, it’s really an eye opener to view and understand the talent others show and their knowledge of the style of comic books. The different styles, techniques, rendering one can do when making a comic, the feelings and ways that get the reader to get a much better understanding of what the artist is trying to bring forth in their work.

Location: 623 S Wabash Ave, first floor. Gallery Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9am–7 pm, Friday, 9 am–5 pm

Phone: 312.369.8177

Columbia College: At Close Distance: Labyrinth Of Self Exhibition Gallery

Walking in the gallery for the first time I noticed the atmosphere, it was pretty cold, a lot of open space for people to walk around, white walls and a dull looking brown painted on the pillars. The benches had pillows that were random colors and way to big placed on top. The lighting hitting only on the objects, paintings. The first body of work I came across was Jennifer Hines three paintings/photographs. The artwork to me feels somewhat weird and disturbing. Photographic images of naked women sitting holding themselves wrapped up and covered in some sort of plant liked rooted figure. The colors to me were somewhat random, as an artist myself I couldn't even relate to something like this. The pieces of personal growth, oddly shaped branches coming out of her, it just seemed generic. Another piece of work I stopped to look at was Colleen Mcgrann's of mine. 'A triptych of herself photography'. The three pictures looked rather creepy with the blurriness/mystery look to it. The pale yellow scheme, girl in white night dress looks like something out of a cheesy horror film. The process of her planting something isn't appealing since there is no visual of where she is, the background being emptiness. I couldn't feel really anything at her piece. Walking around the gallery I did seem to pause at the video clip created by Victoria Bradford called 'Blue focus'. I'm at a daze seeing images shoot out on the screen at random. The text looked like font from a typewriter, it moved at an awkward rate then disappears and reappears, background is always white, photos of a girl constantly being repeated. It looks like a complete mess and I was getting a slight headache. At first glance it just looks like a weird video to me, possibly if I had met the creator of this I would get a much better understanding. The most related piece of artwork I found out was to be a simple notebook. Kelly Parsell's my 'Spanish book revisited' was this piece. She used this book when she was a child learning Spanish but also had pictures of drawings she did and little notes. It was her personal little book that she did whatever she wanted to. I've also kept many journals, notebooks and sketchbooks from when I was younger and I can never seem to get rid of them. It's the stuff in the past I just don't want to forget or let go. A personal Journal.

I heart/I hate

I Heart/I Hate

I heart my family's HD T.V. I was never able to have a t.v. in my room when I was little. Once we got our new t.v. I fell in love with it, I'm used to the old t.v.'s that were made over 10 years ago. At every chance I get I will use the HD T.V. for watching movies, shows, playing video games and using it with my friends.

I hate when police cars think they can not follow the law when its unnecessary to. For example them making a right turn not even having their signal on. Turning on their alarm just to get through traffic so its convient for them. I've seen so man police cars do this almost causing many accidents, I don't believe they have a right to do whatever they want just because their cops.