Persecution of Montagnard Religion

In the video below, I compiled a few videos demonstrating how the government in Vietnam has been persecuting, harming and hindering their people simply because they want to practice their own religion or even Christianity freely. If Montagnard people are found practicing, worshiping, singing or conjoining together to practice their faith, they will be taken away from that location and then will be abused and persecuted. This type of government control has even been enforced in the children's schools. If a child is found practicing Christian faith, then their family will be taxed-even if they are already too poor to take care of their family already. Their government has full control over their people and if found acting out against the government, they will ensure pain and abuse onto their people to 'teach' them. This type of behavior is still going on today, unfortunately and is sad to know that these people cannot worship as freely a they wish.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_dbdUYq8Uk

Is Digital Media Bad for us?

Worries have been surfacing for some time now debating the issue of digital media and the regression it has on the American society, specifically the most recent generation-my generation. Worries about WikiLeaks and who controls the information and its accuracy to the public is a constant subject on society's mind. We are constantly worried about "control, authority, and secrecy" in this digital media of WikiLeaks, concerned with the fact that this topic is mainly derived from scientific discovery, and some are not necessarily comfortable with that, just like others are not affluent with democracy which WikiLeaks represents.
Another type of worry is the Social-interpersonal worry which is mainly concerned with the effect of the Internet on personal relationships, or a face to face relationship with another person. The Internet allows you to talk and chat with multiple people at once on several different websites, and you may not even know all the people you are talking to. This kind of hidden way to be social can inhibit or in turn cause a person to suffer when in face to face confrontation in a social setting. It can also lead to anti-social behavior; using the Internet as a way to be outgoing but fearing the real world. Research done by Kraut and Nie & Ebring surfaced the issue that "Internet usage leads to an increase in depression, loneliness, and neglect of existing close relationships." (Internet and Anti-Social Behavior Theory Unfounded)
Phychological-cognitive worries target on the loss of brain power, or concentration and intelligence rather in the modern society. People now who start to read a book begin to get fidgety and try to find something else more interesting to embark upon. The surfing through the Internet may have caused us to lower our mental efficiency, or focus and strive to learning and understanding new material. Now that everything is on a digitized level and everything we want is at our fingertips, people no longer wish to focus on things that are not relatively interesting to us at that time. Why read something we find boring when we could just look up humorous photographs on the Internet? This question remains a worry in society as some people may think that Internet usage could be destroying our mental abilities of memory because it would not be as exercised as often.
The worry of Internet usage, WikiLeaks and deteriorating mental capabilities is and always will be a topic of discussion and how to compensate for this massive concern in society. Digital Media however may be causing certain behavioral issues such as not really engaging in a face to face relationship, not participating in homework assignments because of distractions from the Internet, or WikiLeaks where you may not know if it is a reliable source; the Internet still provides society with a way to access important information if need be. So is it bad for us? In some aspects, yes, I would say it is. But over the grand scheme of things, taking into account this new generation we live in, I would say it helps more than hurts. It provides the people with information right there at our fingertips and allows us to find out anything we wish to know. Whether or not it is damaging our mental abilities is a mystery to me, considering how accessible information is on the Internet. But the worry will still remain in society.

Cueva de las Manos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz5nwLOy9ao


This video reveals that spray painting art is not a recent artistic element-in fact it is been known to be around during the Paleolithic period. In particular the Cueva de las Manos located in Santa Cruz, Argentina. These caves show how the people during that time enjoyed art and what was some of their favorite subject matter. In this video, I compare and contrast this traditional time of spray art and what it is known as today.

Creativity.

Digital versus Analogue media has to do with the signal, digital being many broken of pieces of data and analogue being just a constant signal. In Lev Manovich's article on what new media is, he lists all the different categories of digital media talked about in the press. Such examples are web sites, computer games, DVDs, television shows, films shot in 3D, etc. All these categories and more new media to come demand a level of creativity and individuality to be able to reach the audience in a manner where the media is not simply just another copy. The affect of the first photograph or the "daguerreotype" pushed the media into a new path where creativity went beyond just the industrialized, and into a more digital and easily accessible way to view. The computer helped push this creativity further, as even more things became obtainable and more sophisticated for the artist to push his originality and individuality to the next digital level to appease the audience and himself. Digital media also helped theatrical productions, dances and even started developing movies push themselves to the very next level. DIgital media in the 20th century became a means of communication, a way to talk to others without even being near them, by using a computer, webcam, email, etc. This move into the future helped advance creativity as well. But theft in creativity is also seen more often once the media becomes more digital, photography becomes more popular, etc. Some people may like another's idea but then take that idea and use it as their own. This kind of behavior does not promote digital media as a good thing but rather as a warning or threat of theft of originality. Creativity has and still will always progress with our advances in technology as new things come about and are accessible to the creative.

CMAP

Composition

The Persuaders mentioned in the PBS video focuses highly on advertising and its affect on the American people and their culture. So many advertisements are bombarding the American people-everywhere you look there is an ad trying to sell you something, and The Persuaders reveal how clutter-some our world is with all these advertisements. The more advertisers make, the more they have to develop to reach the American people. There is am immense amount of competition in advertising and they continue to create and create to overcome the other competition. THis can definitely be related to my art field of Scenic Painting. The more I make to appease the audience, the more I have to overcome those skills and please the audience even more. As more and more Scenic Painters arise and portray their own talents to the public, the more I have to hone and create more and better things for the audience. Advertising plays a role in this, as I will have to advertise my own skills and talents to the public in a creative and intellectual manner to please society. 

Montagnard and Religion

My interest in the Montagnard people include a focus on their religion and how they practice it. They practice what is called animism, where they believe that both good and bad spirits are present all around us in the natural world and they are extremely involved in nature.
I would like to learn more about this religion they practice and some of the rituals they do.

http://www.cal.org/co/montagnards/vrelig.html

Self Portrait Blog

My name is Heather Collins and I am a first year Scenic Painter at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. I was born and raised in Yadkinville, NC. I have one brother, Jared who is 12 years old and unlike most siblings we actually get along and rarely ever get into disagreements. My mother's side of the family is Irish, English and Scottish with a few Cherokee relatives. My father 's side is mostly English, Philippines and Cherokee Indian. I have a happy medium between both sides and although I do not look it, I am about 1/3 Indian. My mother works at Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance in Winston, and my father works at Flow Acura as a Master Technician. Although I have never been out of the country, I would recommend to people moving to the U.S to explore everything this country has to offer. Traveling will be an easy way for newcomers to feel the culture and the everyday American lifestyle that surrounds them. Living here in the United States is diverse all over but is much more different than any other part of the world. Technology is an everyday norm for the people who thrive here. We depend on it to get us places and to keep us in contact with everyone else.

Father and Mother

One of my favorite hybrids, Betsy.

Growing up, my family had a farm and I raised the animals we had there. I would wake up in the morning around 4 A.M and take care of the horses, cows and chickens. My uncle who lived near us had a garden which I helped harvest and gather every season change. I loved the animals at my farm but really what interested me was painting and artwork in general. Technology has had a strong influence on me and the way I live now. When I turned 11, my family and I moved away from our farm and into a home with no animals or garden to keep track of. This change allowed us to breath from the hard work we had been doing to keep our farm afloat. Although I miss the farm and the animals, I am grateful for the move because it allowed us to advance with the rest of society in a forward thrust into the future with technology. Not only did I live on a farm and had that experience, but I became involved in all the sports my school offered. My favorite being Track and Field and Softball. I played both of those from 3rd grade until 12th grade when I graduated. Sports gave me a feeling of release and the freedom to do my best. It seems that painting gave me the same feeling, even more so.
I had been painting and drawing since I learned that I had hands. Living in a mostly country setting surrounded by the more conservative folk, my individuality and creativity was simply looked at as being the odd one out, or the weird girl in town. I never really minded the strange looks toward the way I dressed or presented myself, or even when I went to town covered in paint from a long days painting adventure. Individuality to me is probably the strongest aspect anyone can have and own to carry on in the world. If you have that, there really isn't anything that can bring you down.