Project by: Tatsuya King (10th Grade)

Project Advisor: Jonathan Segal

Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Jonathan Segal

Description of the Project:

For this project, I wanted to memorialize the last few months in an artistic journal. Inspiration for this project came from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the many changes in society that came with it. Along with the upcoming election, I thought that this time period would be a time I would want to remember. Each day I would look for something important or interesting and create a sketch or art piece depicting it. This could be anything from small objects in my room to restaurants and landscapes from the city. The main quality that I wanted to look for in my subjects were things that could provoke feelings and specific memories. I’m sure that I will remember the general feeling of this time period as everyone else will, but with this journal, I hoped to spark very small and hidden memories that would normally be lost to time. If this project is done well, I could come back to my journal in several years and still remember each sketch. My hopes for this project were that I would create a rhythm of drawing every day and that I would gain new insight into the world around me. I also hoped to turn these experiences into a media that I could share with others so that they could understand my feelings during this time.

Final Product (e.g., documents, images, video, audio, poster, display, etc.):

Final Reflection on Learning:

After completing this project I believe that it has been a success. Not only did it push me to draw more often and improve my technical skills, but it also forced me to look at the world around me in a different way. Whether that meant personal objects I’ve had for a long time, larger aspects of the community that are changing, or even national elections that affect everyone. During this time period in America, many things are changing and I would definitely say that this journal helped me keep track of those things. Each sketch sparks a specific memory or experience of mine that I might have forgotten if I hadn’t recorded it in some way. When half my family fell victim to Covid-19, this journal helped me distract myself as well as record my own process of dealing with the stress that having a sick father and brother brings. While I will certainly carry these experiences with me for a long time, keeping a journal, especially an artistic one, adds extra layers of depth to these memories which I am very grateful for. Another interesting question this project for me was the difference between a personal journal and a public art piece. While this journal is definitely personal to me, it is also being shown to whoever wants to see it. This creates a strange balance where I am sharing how I’m feeling while also hiding or changing certain things because I am conscious of who might see it. If I were to do this project again I might choose to go in only one direction, either making art that is specifically meant to be seen by others or creating artwork for only myself, hiding the many aspects from the public.

Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):

In these first three weeks, I started my journal and started exploring what kind of entries I could add, as well as what kind of entries were most relevant. I found a couple days where I couldn’t think of an entry right away and I had to take some time to think before I could add one. I do most of the entries at night, but there were some days I forgot and had to complete them the next morning.

Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):

In weeks 4-6, I continued to add daily entries to my journal. I started to explore different themes in what I chose to draw that are symbolic of this time. Keeping up with the daily drawings also became more tiresome and I found myself forgetting to do an entry more often than before. Entries depicting my own house also started to become limited as I looked for more and more things around me to draw. I found that going outside and taking pictures provided a lot of inspiration and material. However, I couldn’t always go outside and there were some days or stretches of time where I didn’t leave the house to take pictures at all.

Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):

These last few weeks were the most interesting out of the whole trimester. At the very beginning of this time frame, my brother and dad were exposed to COVID-19, and my whole family was sent into self-isolation for two weeks. During these two weeks, I had to wrestle with how much information I put into my sketches. I wasn’t fully comfortable sharing my family’s situation with anyone and I knew that these sketches would be public. On top of this, I had to find objects to draw from only my room for over a week, forcing me to look even harder for meaningful items. After a week or two of isolation, I felt more comfortable with sharing my experience, writing notes about the day in each entry. The most meaningful moment in these weeks was when my mom and I went outside for the first time in a while. This was not only refreshing but also allowed me to take enough reference photos for entries to last until the end of the project.