Hey Kate
thanks for the comment. I liked your video/slideshow as well. I especially like that you included pictures of your family. Looking back at my video, I wish I had used more photos of my family since I think family is a very meaningful aspect of my life. I believe it was question 3, where you mentioned you would have liked to include your drawings since it is also meaningful to you. I agree it would have been great to see some of your work from your design journal. I also had the same problem, there where several aspects of my life that I did not have the time to include. I also liked your question at the end, I paraphrased it, does a completely meaningful life exist? It is an interesting question to ask.
Sep 22, 2008
Sep 17, 2008
Let me Know 9/17/08
Let me know if anything written below does not make any sense or if I should elaborate on something, I am extremely tired and may have made some mistakes.
Written Portion of Project: Description, Video/Slideshow, Analysis & Insight
Description:
1. What have you included in this video?
In this video/slide show, I have used my photography to show an aspect of my life that has meaning to me, my art. Within my photography I have captured aspects of my life such as, friends, Crispin, Ben, Dean, Morell, Nick, etc.; my family, my younger brother Jin; and places in my neighborhood. I have also included food and interesting things I’ve seen in my life so far. I would also like to clarify and just point out that I had, in the beginning of this project, wanted to include that aspects of my life that do not brim with meaning. But after much deliberation I have made a final decision to cut out the part of my project that would have had photographs of the aspects of my life, which lack meaning (i.e. responsibilities, etc.). I have made this decision because I feel that if they do not have meaning in my life then I do not wish to mention them in a project that I believe is about showing the aspects of my life that brim with meaning and those that matter to me and who I am. I have also chosen one of my favorite songs to play during the video/slideshow.
2. Which parts of the video related to relatively meaningful aspects of your life? Which parts related to relatively meaningless aspects of your life?
Art is and has been a large part of my life as an interest and a hobby. I love to be creative and photography has been one of my favorite ways to show my creativity. I have not taken any photography classes, yet, but it has been something I have wanted to do for a while. I would like to improve my knowledge and skills with a camera; I believe with a deeper understanding of the art, it could become a more meaningful aspect in my life than it is now.
In this video I am using my photography to show the meaningful aspects of my life, which are: my ART, my family and friends, and the places in my neighborhood.
I started getting into photography about a year ago, when I bought a Sony digital camera with my own money, which I was very proud that I had saved up that much. Although after a month or two I was bored of it so I bought another camera, except this camera happened to be a film camera (that I bought at Urban Outfitters, not too proud of) it was a Diana Camera. It was basically a remake of an older plastic made camera that was popular in the 1980s. Meanwhile my brother, Jin, noticed that I was interested in photography and reminded me that I have had an old Polaroid 250 Land Camera. For my birthday he was nice enough to research and buy the type of Polaroid film needed for the camera. So very soon I was interested in film cameras and Polaroid cameras. I also like to collect cameras so I bought a Bolsey Model C Twin Lens Reflex (off ebay). At first I thought it was functional but I later learned there was something wrong with it and I am still trying to fix the problem because I believe it would be a great camera to use. Just a few weeks ago I happened to be walking around Red Hook and stopped into an antique shop next to Hope & Anchor (an excellent restaurant for breakfast/brunch and even dinner). I love antique shopping (a majority of my room is antique furniture) so Jin and I decided to have a look. There was a large glass case and inside it I noticed this Honeywell Pentax Camera (film) and automatically fell in love with it. So I ended up buying it for only $35 and it works fantastically, I absolutely love the picture quality and the fact that it is a film camera. Photography is my hobby, my passion, and it is an extremely meaningful aspect of my life.
In this video are photographs of my friends that I took myself because they are meaningful to my life. My friends are there for company, support, and relationships (between friends). I included photos of people who have been my friend since 9th grade and photos of those who I meet a few weeks ago. No matter the length of the relationship between us, friends/friendship is still a very important and meaningful aspect of my life. I care about my friends because we have formed a bond over the years or in some cases a few weeks. I hope I am always there for my friends when they need me and I hope they would do the same for me in return.
My family is probably one of the most important and meaningful aspects of my life. I live with my mom, Kim, and my younger brother, Jin. My dad, who I call Pop lives in Manhattan and I visit him every once in a while. But my mom and my brother have always been there for me and I care about them very much. I love having my family so close to me and I feel, the older I get the more I realize how important and meaningful they are in my life. I believe that’s because when I was younger I didn’t care about the meaning of life and what aspects of my life are meaningful to me, I was consumed in cartoons, playing tag, and making berry dirt pies. But now I realize just how meaningful they are to me.
Cobble Hill has been my neighborhood for the past year and I love living here. It’s a cute/small neighborhood right next to Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, and Red Hook. I live right across the street from the water, by the pier with the cranes and construction. There is also a bike path that runs along the sidewalk by the pier, which reminds me of the west side by Pier 40, just less crowded. My neighborhood is an important aspect of my life because it is where I live and where I find some of my inspiration for photography.
3. What would you have liked to have included but weren’t able to?
Unfortunately it took a lot of time and patience to upload all of my photographs to my laptop so I was unable to include all of my art even thought I would have loved to include them in this project. My art is very important to me and I like to include as much as I can into any viewing or project that I can because it is a part of who I am and I believe I can speak through my art.
I would have loved to include photographs of my mom, Kim, and my father, Ariki, since all you see in the slides is my brother, Jin, since we hang out a lot and he’s always around. I also would have liked to include all of my friends since many were excluded from this project. Adding video would have been nice as well instead of just looking at photos.
I would have liked to include photos or footage of other aspects of my life that are also meaningful like my clothing, my room, my heritage, etc.
Brimming with Meaning from Reiko Omae on Vimeo.
Analysis & Insight:
4. What seem to be some of the main criteria you use (emotionally +/or mentally) to assess how meaningful an aspect of your life is?
I would like to say that I think of something as being meaningful because I like or love it, have an interest in it or I have a personal connection with this “thing” or if it happens to be a person. If a person, place, or thing has an importance or is a meaningful aspect of my life I would say I am very interested in it, therefore it has more meaning.
I would like to quote a fellow classmate: “the more power I have, I find it more meaningful and interesting.” –John
I completely agree and feel the same way as John, if there is an aspect of my life in which I have more power over it and make more decisions about it, the more interested I am in the aspect. Therefore, the more meaningful it is in my life. I don’t think I like the way this sounds but power is a part of what I find meaningful in my life and what I do not.
5. Is there a pattern in what you find meaningful or meaningless? What are some of the elements in that pattern?
I would say that there is a slight pattern in what I find meaningful and meaningless and I believe it has to do with the point made above about power and interest, leading to the meaningfulness in my life. I also have found that people who I feel are meaningful aspects in my life, are people are themselves, true to everyone. In other words “no masks” which hide who they truly are, but it may be difficult to find a person like that because everyone has a mask. The mask may be a large full-face mask (Spider man), a partially hidden face by medium sized mask (Batman), and then there is the mask that just covers the eyes (). I think people can still be themselves on the inside and then where a mask on the outside. I just hope that the mask does not take over the person wearing it. I feel that people who are meaningful to my life are themselves, they may look different but they are still the same people on the inside. People who are “fake” or let the mask become who they are
So the pattern would be that I find people who are real, true, themselves to be more meaningful than the people who let the mask control who they are, or I should say, who they were. Then this process of deciding who is meaningful and who is not continues. Whenever I think if “this” person is meaningful to me or not I think of the “masks.”
Another pattern I find in determining the meaningfulness of people or aspects of my life is this power situation above. The more power I have in making my own decision(s) the more interested I am in the aspect of my life being discussed, and therefore I believe it has more meaning or less meaning.
6. Looking at the video as a whole – is it a fairly honest/accurate depiction of your life? Does it make you seem interesting/special/exciting?
Looking at this video as a whole I would say that it is a fairly honest depiction of my life because I did not lie about anything, about my art, family, friends, etc. It is truthful and it is about me. But on the note of it being accurate I would have to say, that it is not completely accurate. This video is short and only shows a few of the aspects that are meaningful to my life. Although this video does show that I can be creative and that I enjoy the art of photography. Which are both aspects of my life that I believe to be accurate.
Hahaha.....I really don't think this video/slide show that I have made makes me seem interesting/special/or exciting, unless, someone thinks that I am that talented. But as for myself I would hope that this video/slideshow shows my love for photography and creativeness.
7. Does your life seem meaningful from an outside perspective? Is it from an inside perspective? Why?
It depends on the outside perspective, they do not know everything about me just from watching this video. (I am not even in it) They do not know what i consider to be meaningful, so I cannot say whether they would think my life if meaningful or meaningless.
From an inside perspective...well I'm not sure. If the inside perspective is coming from me then my opinion is the same, I believe my life is meaningful. And if this "inside perspective" is not me, then again, I am not sure.
8. What questions do you have about living a meaningful life at this point?
Will my life feel more meaningful than it does now? …in the future?
Is it meaningful to know if others think you life if meaningful? Shouldn’t you live your life based on your own opinion on whether or not you think your life is meaningful? Why should we listen to what other people think is meaningful about our own lives?
Do people really wear “masks,” trying to be other people?
1. What have you included in this video?
In this video/slide show, I have used my photography to show an aspect of my life that has meaning to me, my art. Within my photography I have captured aspects of my life such as, friends, Crispin, Ben, Dean, Morell, Nick, etc.; my family, my younger brother Jin; and places in my neighborhood. I have also included food and interesting things I’ve seen in my life so far. I would also like to clarify and just point out that I had, in the beginning of this project, wanted to include that aspects of my life that do not brim with meaning. But after much deliberation I have made a final decision to cut out the part of my project that would have had photographs of the aspects of my life, which lack meaning (i.e. responsibilities, etc.). I have made this decision because I feel that if they do not have meaning in my life then I do not wish to mention them in a project that I believe is about showing the aspects of my life that brim with meaning and those that matter to me and who I am. I have also chosen one of my favorite songs to play during the video/slideshow.
2. Which parts of the video related to relatively meaningful aspects of your life? Which parts related to relatively meaningless aspects of your life?
Art is and has been a large part of my life as an interest and a hobby. I love to be creative and photography has been one of my favorite ways to show my creativity. I have not taken any photography classes, yet, but it has been something I have wanted to do for a while. I would like to improve my knowledge and skills with a camera; I believe with a deeper understanding of the art, it could become a more meaningful aspect in my life than it is now.
In this video I am using my photography to show the meaningful aspects of my life, which are: my ART, my family and friends, and the places in my neighborhood.
I started getting into photography about a year ago, when I bought a Sony digital camera with my own money, which I was very proud that I had saved up that much. Although after a month or two I was bored of it so I bought another camera, except this camera happened to be a film camera (that I bought at Urban Outfitters, not too proud of) it was a Diana Camera. It was basically a remake of an older plastic made camera that was popular in the 1980s. Meanwhile my brother, Jin, noticed that I was interested in photography and reminded me that I have had an old Polaroid 250 Land Camera. For my birthday he was nice enough to research and buy the type of Polaroid film needed for the camera. So very soon I was interested in film cameras and Polaroid cameras. I also like to collect cameras so I bought a Bolsey Model C Twin Lens Reflex (off ebay). At first I thought it was functional but I later learned there was something wrong with it and I am still trying to fix the problem because I believe it would be a great camera to use. Just a few weeks ago I happened to be walking around Red Hook and stopped into an antique shop next to Hope & Anchor (an excellent restaurant for breakfast/brunch and even dinner). I love antique shopping (a majority of my room is antique furniture) so Jin and I decided to have a look. There was a large glass case and inside it I noticed this Honeywell Pentax Camera (film) and automatically fell in love with it. So I ended up buying it for only $35 and it works fantastically, I absolutely love the picture quality and the fact that it is a film camera. Photography is my hobby, my passion, and it is an extremely meaningful aspect of my life.
In this video are photographs of my friends that I took myself because they are meaningful to my life. My friends are there for company, support, and relationships (between friends). I included photos of people who have been my friend since 9th grade and photos of those who I meet a few weeks ago. No matter the length of the relationship between us, friends/friendship is still a very important and meaningful aspect of my life. I care about my friends because we have formed a bond over the years or in some cases a few weeks. I hope I am always there for my friends when they need me and I hope they would do the same for me in return.
My family is probably one of the most important and meaningful aspects of my life. I live with my mom, Kim, and my younger brother, Jin. My dad, who I call Pop lives in Manhattan and I visit him every once in a while. But my mom and my brother have always been there for me and I care about them very much. I love having my family so close to me and I feel, the older I get the more I realize how important and meaningful they are in my life. I believe that’s because when I was younger I didn’t care about the meaning of life and what aspects of my life are meaningful to me, I was consumed in cartoons, playing tag, and making berry dirt pies. But now I realize just how meaningful they are to me.
Cobble Hill has been my neighborhood for the past year and I love living here. It’s a cute/small neighborhood right next to Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, and Red Hook. I live right across the street from the water, by the pier with the cranes and construction. There is also a bike path that runs along the sidewalk by the pier, which reminds me of the west side by Pier 40, just less crowded. My neighborhood is an important aspect of my life because it is where I live and where I find some of my inspiration for photography.
3. What would you have liked to have included but weren’t able to?
Unfortunately it took a lot of time and patience to upload all of my photographs to my laptop so I was unable to include all of my art even thought I would have loved to include them in this project. My art is very important to me and I like to include as much as I can into any viewing or project that I can because it is a part of who I am and I believe I can speak through my art.
I would have loved to include photographs of my mom, Kim, and my father, Ariki, since all you see in the slides is my brother, Jin, since we hang out a lot and he’s always around. I also would have liked to include all of my friends since many were excluded from this project. Adding video would have been nice as well instead of just looking at photos.
I would have liked to include photos or footage of other aspects of my life that are also meaningful like my clothing, my room, my heritage, etc.
Brimming with Meaning from Reiko Omae on Vimeo.
Analysis & Insight:
4. What seem to be some of the main criteria you use (emotionally +/or mentally) to assess how meaningful an aspect of your life is?
I would like to say that I think of something as being meaningful because I like or love it, have an interest in it or I have a personal connection with this “thing” or if it happens to be a person. If a person, place, or thing has an importance or is a meaningful aspect of my life I would say I am very interested in it, therefore it has more meaning.
I would like to quote a fellow classmate: “the more power I have, I find it more meaningful and interesting.” –John
I completely agree and feel the same way as John, if there is an aspect of my life in which I have more power over it and make more decisions about it, the more interested I am in the aspect. Therefore, the more meaningful it is in my life. I don’t think I like the way this sounds but power is a part of what I find meaningful in my life and what I do not.
5. Is there a pattern in what you find meaningful or meaningless? What are some of the elements in that pattern?
I would say that there is a slight pattern in what I find meaningful and meaningless and I believe it has to do with the point made above about power and interest, leading to the meaningfulness in my life. I also have found that people who I feel are meaningful aspects in my life, are people are themselves, true to everyone. In other words “no masks” which hide who they truly are, but it may be difficult to find a person like that because everyone has a mask. The mask may be a large full-face mask (Spider man), a partially hidden face by medium sized mask (Batman), and then there is the mask that just covers the eyes (). I think people can still be themselves on the inside and then where a mask on the outside. I just hope that the mask does not take over the person wearing it. I feel that people who are meaningful to my life are themselves, they may look different but they are still the same people on the inside. People who are “fake” or let the mask become who they are
So the pattern would be that I find people who are real, true, themselves to be more meaningful than the people who let the mask control who they are, or I should say, who they were. Then this process of deciding who is meaningful and who is not continues. Whenever I think if “this” person is meaningful to me or not I think of the “masks.”
Another pattern I find in determining the meaningfulness of people or aspects of my life is this power situation above. The more power I have in making my own decision(s) the more interested I am in the aspect of my life being discussed, and therefore I believe it has more meaning or less meaning.
6. Looking at the video as a whole – is it a fairly honest/accurate depiction of your life? Does it make you seem interesting/special/exciting?
Looking at this video as a whole I would say that it is a fairly honest depiction of my life because I did not lie about anything, about my art, family, friends, etc. It is truthful and it is about me. But on the note of it being accurate I would have to say, that it is not completely accurate. This video is short and only shows a few of the aspects that are meaningful to my life. Although this video does show that I can be creative and that I enjoy the art of photography. Which are both aspects of my life that I believe to be accurate.
Hahaha.....I really don't think this video/slide show that I have made makes me seem interesting/special/or exciting, unless, someone thinks that I am that talented. But as for myself I would hope that this video/slideshow shows my love for photography and creativeness.
7. Does your life seem meaningful from an outside perspective? Is it from an inside perspective? Why?
It depends on the outside perspective, they do not know everything about me just from watching this video. (I am not even in it) They do not know what i consider to be meaningful, so I cannot say whether they would think my life if meaningful or meaningless.
From an inside perspective...well I'm not sure. If the inside perspective is coming from me then my opinion is the same, I believe my life is meaningful. And if this "inside perspective" is not me, then again, I am not sure.
8. What questions do you have about living a meaningful life at this point?
Will my life feel more meaningful than it does now? …in the future?
Is it meaningful to know if others think you life if meaningful? Shouldn’t you live your life based on your own opinion on whether or not you think your life is meaningful? Why should we listen to what other people think is meaningful about our own lives?
Do people really wear “masks,” trying to be other people?
Video Correction 9/17/08
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT MY VIDEO(S):
The video below shows one version of my project that includes both aspects of my life that brim with meaning and those that do not.
The second edit of my first video only shows the aspects of my life that brim with meaning. I explain in my writing portion, shown with the second video (above), why I decided to exclude the second half of my video.
So feel free to watch both versions. Although I must say the first video may not make much sense from the way i explain my reasoning for using art to portray the aspects of my life that lack meaning.
The video below shows one version of my project that includes both aspects of my life that brim with meaning and those that do not.
The second edit of my first video only shows the aspects of my life that brim with meaning. I explain in my writing portion, shown with the second video (above), why I decided to exclude the second half of my video.
So feel free to watch both versions. Although I must say the first video may not make much sense from the way i explain my reasoning for using art to portray the aspects of my life that lack meaning.
Sep 16, 2008
My Art is an Aspect of My Life That Brims with Meaning 9/16/08
My art is an aspect of my life that brims with meaning because I create it. It is a part of who I am as a person and it is a part of my life as a whole. I enjoy creating art and it is a large part of my life, it is a part of who I am. I can express myself through my art, therefore my art brims with meaning. I am making a slide show with photos that I have taken over the past weeks. They include my friends and family and show my love for photography. I will also include photos of other pieces of art that I have created, which I cannot physically show in person. Then the second half of my slide show will incorporate more of my photography but it will show another aspect of my life that does not brim with meaning and is not a large part of my life. This aspect will show parts of my life that do not interest me, therefore they do not bring any meaning to my life, or make me who I am. Aspect: Responsibilities and Parts of my everyday life.
Sep 15, 2008
Basic Outline & Personal Thoughts 9/15/08
Basic Outline:
Aspects of my Life that brim w/ meaning
-Art (Photography)
Then show art --> with photos (this is meaningful to me because I create it)
Then show aspects of my life that do not have meaning.
-Responsibilities and Parts of my Everyday life:
dishes
laundry
food shopping
homework
school/education-graduating, going to college
taxes
money
job (boring)-not interested in job
cleaning (use the two pictures of trash/food wrappers on the table to show a mess)
eating (The Underground (The Hidden City Cafe) take pictures of it, tired of eating there everyday, has no meaning to me, but it does to everyone else, I only go there because I don't want to eat lunch alone.)
Show this aspect (Responsibilities and Parts of my Everyday life) through MY art: photography
So I'm using an aspect of my life that brims with meaning to show an aspect of my life that does not brim with meaning.
I also have beginning slides with credits on it and so on and so forth. Still in progress.
Aspects of my Life that brim w/ meaning
-Art (Photography)
Then show art --> with photos (this is meaningful to me because I create it)
Then show aspects of my life that do not have meaning.
-Responsibilities and Parts of my Everyday life:
dishes
laundry
food shopping
homework
school/education-graduating, going to college
taxes
money
job (boring)-not interested in job
cleaning (use the two pictures of trash/food wrappers on the table to show a mess)
eating (The Underground (The Hidden City Cafe) take pictures of it, tired of eating there everyday, has no meaning to me, but it does to everyone else, I only go there because I don't want to eat lunch alone.)
Show this aspect (Responsibilities and Parts of my Everyday life) through MY art: photography
So I'm using an aspect of my life that brims with meaning to show an aspect of my life that does not brim with meaning.
I also have beginning slides with credits on it and so on and so forth. Still in progress.
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