Ulmer's Army

As Sam mentioned, I too have had to watch my movie a countless number of times.  And given the heavy, existential themes of Waking Life, this was not exactly healthy for my morale.  I feel like the final outcome of my website really reflects my struggle to deal with such disturbing thoughts, and how I tried to sort through it all in my head.   It was not an easy process. It took me a lot of thinking and sleepless nights watching the movie and sifting through its many ideas, trying to find an order in it all.  Yet I feel that the outcome was worth it, for it resulted in a project that I feel to be much more genuine and personal than the last.  I especially feel like the art on the website really mirrors how I felt while studying the movie, and the close-up picture I took of my face still bothers me when I look at it--I feel like it's another face looking back at me, one that is troubled and restless.

Yet I feel that this project has been very important for me--it has greatly affected the way I observe and produce any medium of art or literature.  This, as well as our study of the Third Meaning, has completely opened up my understanding of art and given a great insight into what I should be doing as a musician myself.  As I am currently forming a band here in Gainesville, I find that I am already applying many of the ideas and themes that have been discussed in class, as well as Waking Life, into the music I make.

From the moment I started my project on Waking Life, I had a vision of exactly what I wanted my website to accomplish, and overall I am very proud of how it turned out.  Everything from the aesthetic of the pages to the images that I used were exactly as I had imagined.  This is another way that this class overall has really benefited me: I feel that with this class, my ability to actually flesh out the artistic ideas that I envision has grown.  From the the picture you see at the top of this blog to the website I have created, I can say that I actually have the ability to successfully form the artistic works, and therefore also convey the messages, that I want to--something that I have always struggled with in the past.

And as for the radio project, I already have some ideas, although I feel like I have yet to be struck by an overall vision.  But I am sure that the things we will study in class will help spark such an idea.

--Ryan