by Justus (’15)

this is modern art

There’s a project I’m doing for Modern World, a very open-ended project. The assignment is to “make a piece of modern art.”

I was originally planning to just write a long poem or something, but I have decided to do something a little out of the ordinary for me and work with visual art. I don’t normally do non-writing art, so this should be an interesting experience for me. I can’t actually draw, but, conveniently, Photoshop can.

My computer has Photoshop Elements 7, which I learned to use in a technology after-school program I took in middle school. We actually bought the computer used from the after-school program, which is why it has Photoshop. I’m enjoying the vast capability and relative ease of digital art.

Of course, I couldn’t omit words entirely from the project. I’m actually drawing the semi-abstract image using lines from a poem I wrote last summer (I color the text, then warp and transform it into the desired shape). After I’m done drawing with words and messing around with filters until I get something I like, I’m going to print it on photo paper and mount it on cardboard or something. I would attach the image file, but the piece is still being made and is therefore top-secret. Maybe I’ll attach it to a later post.

Anyway, that’s an update on the current art I’m doing other than that ten-page play I still need to print three copies of. I’ll let everyone know how my experiments with digital visual art work out as soon as they are over.