5 Art Events

Artist: Rose Ramirez and Lydia Vassar
Venue: In front of Academic Hall at CSUSM
Kind of Event: Basket Weaving Presentation
Date: September 24
This art event was held to show the students at Cal State San Marcos what basket weaving is all about. The two main speakers at this art event were Rose Ramirez and Lydia Vassar. Both had done presentations for our class not too long before. They also brought children from the Pechanga Reservation School along with them to demonstrate the art of basket weaving which is part of their Native American tradition.
The plants they used were all native plants but the most commonly used for basket weaving was the juncus plant, which was a long stemmed plant that grew green and when dried turns a honey blond color. The juncus plant also had darker shades to it in which the basket weavers used to make different patterns in their weaving. The speakers expressed the importance of preserving native plants and their benefits to one’s health.
Personally I did not know how much effort it took for basket weavers to make a basket or other weaved crafts and the time taken to gather the plants and things for the weaving process. I thought it was admirable for them to continue the tradition and teach it to the children at the Pechanga Reservation School. I was amazed at how skillful the children were with their basket weaving and how little is known about this form of art. After the event it made me appreciate basket weaving more and the people behind the weaving.

Artist: Jose Yenque
Venue: CSUSM Arts 111 Performance Hall
Kind of Event: Film “Between”
Date: October 27
This art event was for Jose Yenque presenting his film “Between” to art students. This film was shown to students of Cal State San Marcos to raise awareness to the stereotypical perceptions found in the movie world. The speaker talked about what an actor has to deal with in show biz and the stereotypical stigma that deals with his race when auditioning for a part.
The film “Between” is about a woman named Dianne who goes to Tijuana, Mexico in search for her missing sister Nadine. There she meets a shady Mexican detective who helps her look for her sister. She goes through different obstacles and a stage of denial, she realizes that it was all a dream she experience while on the operation table between life and death.
The film overall was interesting. The concept of the whole story was good but I do not think that it was shown in its fullest potential through the film. There was no real transition from what the plot was perceived as to the realization of the dream so it was quite confusing. Some of the actors and actresses chosen to play the roles in the film were not convincing and did not feel genuine. However if it was more elaborated and detailed the film would have been more of a success than what it was.

Artist: Film “Scandal Makers”
Venue: San Diego Asian Film Festival 2009
Kind of Event: Film Festival
Date: October 24
This film was shown at the San Diego Asian Film Festival. This is a festival that is held annually that features popular Asian films. This festival celebrates the talents and cultures of Asia as well as gives outsiders a better understanding of Asian cultures and traditions. The film I chose to watch is called Scandal Makers, which was the film chosen as the cover page for the festival’s ad campaign.
This movie is about a famous person who hosts a radio show. He begins to get several messages from a single mother who tells her story to the radio show that he hosts. Later, he is confronted by the single mother and her son and was told that he was her father. So the story is about this famous person dealing with this crazy situation.
Watching this movie was hard. To me, it wasn’t that interesting and I just didn’t like the plot idea. The story was too farfetched to enjoy and laugh about even though the movie was meant to be a comedy. The only thing that caught my attention in this movie was the way they decided to film it. It was very cleanly done and detail oriented. The editing for it was really nice; unfortunately I cannot say the same for the story line. I just wish I went and watched a different movie so I would of gotten a better experience at the Asian Film Festival.

Artist: Art made by different cultures
Venue: Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park
Kind of Event: Art Exhibition
Date: November 17
The Mingei International Museum is a museum full of cultural folk art. I researched the name “Mingei” and it means “art of the people”. It had many designs and crafts created by different cultures and came from different eras of the world. I was able to go during the free Tuesdays the park offers.
This museum had many pieces that came from different parts of the world. There was a large portion of the museum that was dedicated to third world country photography. The photographs are of the native people in their rural villages and were displayed on large panels of glass that had light projected through.
What piece that really stood out to me was called “Fisch Out of Water” made by Arline Fische. The piece was a whole bunch of jelly fish that were made out of wires and strung from the ceiling. They were placed in front of a blue wall and had their shadows casted on the walls. The shadows casted looked very realistic and gave the whole museum a serene feeling. I learned that this artist was originally a jewelry maker and made these life sized metal jelly fishes by crocheting it with copper wires. I thought that was a very creative approach and this was my favorite piece out of the whole museum.

Artist: Contemporary Artists
Venue: San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla

Kind of Event: Exhibition

Date of Event: October 29
The Museum of Contemporary Art has two locations. The one I decided to visit was in La Jolla. This museum of dedicated to living artists and only displays work made by artists who are still alive. From what I got from my experience upon visiting there, their mission is to show art through exhibition, interpretation and preservation to a wide range of audiences.
This was one of my favorite museums that I’ve visited so far apart from the Getty’s Museum in Los Angeles. They had the kind of art that I liked and best of all it was free. I had to go here for a job interview but afterwards I was able to look at their exhibits. I cannot remember the name of my favorite pieces but one of them was a big metal installation piece where it was spiraling in the hallway all the way to a room with big window panels. It was really beautiful. On the floor were blocks with things carved in them and in the middle of the spiral was a television with a video playing. The other piece that stood out to me was a large house that was carved out of soap. It was about 3 feet tall and very detailed. The museum’s atmosphere was really relaxed and calming but the only thing I did not like about it was that I was being followed the security people because I was the only one in the museum. It felt pretty uncomfortable and they didn’t really try to make it discreet when they were watching me.