Santos Morales

Art 135

Professor Amber Ward

Reflection 4

Lifes Deal: Deck of Cards

In our Art 135 course, we are covering the topics of taking risks and reality. To get a full

understanding of these topics, we are creating three (collage) deck of cards that reflect our, the

artist, personal views. We also received a prompt of questions, on a piece of paper, that were

very deep. I personally have asked questions to myself similar to the ones being asked on the

piece of paper. An example was, What is your [life] philosophy? I feel everyone needs to

have their own true philosophy, just like every organization or group has a mission statement; to

have guidelines in order to achieve target goals. My philosophy is to create

meanings/experiences as I pass through the instruments of time and space. In other words, the

meaning of life is to give it meaning. Artists often hinder themselves by only creating art through

their own narrow lenses; we need to open up our scope and see how views sometimes echoes

someone elses that is across the world. Even when there are differences in views, it opens up

space for others to create a sense of understanding. I often tell myself that Im a speck in a rocky

ball that is traveling thousands of miles per hour while being tethered to a ball of fire; this helps

me put things into perspective. We can give our personal view of what reality means to us, but it

will never be true reality, because we know so little of our existence that it becomes difficult to

express a universal concept of reality.

An example of minds with different expertise but similar mindset are artists and scientists. They
often question their existence and their work. Both minds often fall into a rabbit hole that may or

may not lead to something worth falling for. Scientists are often described as being rigid beings

and artists are seen as the creative ones. Sometimes the artist needs to be rigid in order to master

a skill and a scientist may need to be creative in order to move forward when facing an obstacle.

On a piece of paper, their realities are completely different, but their mindsets can parallel each

other when observed from afar.

In my deck of cards, I will try my best to express how I try to keep an open mind when taking

risks and the reality that Ive lived. The use of imagery and symbols will be the common factors

of this project. I will try not to over analyze this project so I can give myself the liberty to create

as I go. Something I would like my future students to experience.

Comments:

I would have liked an extra day just so I can have time to create a theme. Grabbing random

images from magazines will create random meanings for this project; its nothing negative, I just

may have a hard time expressing this artwork because little thought went into it.

National Core Arts Standards, Anchor Standards HS Accomplished

Creating:

VA:Cr1.2.IIa - Choose from a range of materials and methods of traditional and

contemporary artistic practices to plan works of art and design.

Presenting:

VA:Pr5.1.IIa - Evaluate, select, and apply methods or processes appropriate to display

artwork in a specific place.

Responding:

VA:Re.7.1.IIa - Recognize and describe personal aesthetic and empathetic responses to the

natural world and constructed environments.

Connecting:

VA:Cn11.1.IIa - Compare uses of art in a variety of societal, cultural, and historical

contexts and make connections to uses of art in contemporary and local contexts.

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Teaching Performance Expectations

TPE 1:

1. Promote students' critical and creative thinking and analysis through activities that

provide opportunities for inquiry, problem solving, responding to and framing meaningful

questions, and reflection.

TPE 2:

1 Promote students' social-emotional growth, development, and individual

responsibility using positive interventions and supports, restorative justice, and
conflict resolution practices to foster a caring community where each student is
treated fairly and respectfully by adults and peers.

TPE 3:

1. Use knowledge about students and learning goals to organize the curriculum to facilitate

student understanding of subject matter, and make accommodations and/or modifications as

needed to promote student access to the curriculum.

TPE 4:

1. Design and implement instruction and assessment that reflects the interconnectedness of

academic content areas and related student skills development in literacy, mathematics, science,

and other disciplines across the curriculum, as applicable to the subject area of instruction.