Viva Voce

On the 15th of August 2017, I set out to learn more about the students and people at Open Window through replicating the Humans of New York Instagram photographer Brandon Stanton. I was helped by my friend Samantha to be my trusty photographer for this task. "I'm struggling the most with my love life. Boys are liars. Every guy I meet has a girlfriend and lies about it. I have been cheated on. I didn't love him, love is a big word that I don't really use much. I'm still good friends with him right now and I'm good friends with most of my exes. I forgive easily. " (Centurion, South Africa) "The biggest thing I'm struggling with is dedication to studies. I tend to put a  lot of other things first. My relationship is always going to come first for me. No matter what, she is always coming first. I'm also struggling to stay fit because of the lack of time, working, studying and maintaining a healthy relationship is difficult. B...

On the 3rd of August 2017, I had an informal interview with Dr. Stavros Halvatzis (an expert). Dr. Halvatzis has a PhD in Narrative studies and has published 4 books. Dr. Halvatzis has t aught screenwriting and digital media in Australia and is currently a screenwriting lecturer at Open Window Institute. As a child I had always wanted to meet Jacqueline Wilson (an English author who wrote the Tracy Beaker books). I used to write tons of fan mail to her and had dreams of sitting down causally for a cup of tea with her. Even thinking about my love for her books now gives me nostalgia. I feel so privileged to have sat down with Dr. Halvatzis and to learn more about how his passion for writing and reading that started at a young age, and even more privileged to know that he is my lecturer. I can honestly say that this experience reconnected me to my past and reaffirmed my love for reading and writing that I have lost over the years.   ...

The task I did was write out 100 questions. 1. Who am I? 2. What am I doing here? 3. Why do I do the things I do? 4. Why do I think the way I do? 5. Why do you look at me differently? 6. Who are you? 7. Why are you judging me? 8. Why do I jump to conclusions? 9. Where do I want to go? 10. Where am I right now? 11. Where was I? 12. Who are you to me? 13. Who do you want me to be? 14. Who do you see me as? 15. Who do you see me with? 16. Why do you think I associate myself with me? 17. Who are they to me? 18. Why are they drawn to me? 19. What about them draws them to me? 20. Who do they see me as? 21. Why do I talk to them? 22. Why do I talk to myself? 23. Why do I talk? 24.How can I get to the places I dream of? 25. How do I have dreams? 26. Why do we dream? 27. Why do we hide our dreams from one another? 28. Why do I choose to tell my dreams to certain people? 29. Why do I choose to hide my dreams from certain people? 30. Wh...

On the 2nd of June, I decided to spend some time with a young girl called Leamo.  Leamo and I take the same transport back to our homes and on this particular day I decided to get to know her I little bit more. Leamo is 6 years old and always seemed shy but after talking to her for a while she began to open up to me. I really really really love children so having a conversation with a child is always pleasant and intriguing as this little humans have so much to say about the big world we live in. I think this experience will influence my creative process by allowing me to step into my 6 year old self at times too,  as childlike creativity (without fear) is always something good to have. I have included a little video with a snippet of our conversation.

On the 20th of April, I attended a Media Class (aka- was somewhere I'm not supposed to be). I joined my friends (Ashlin and Marco) in their Media Aesthetics class. The experience was weird as it felt like constant deja-vu because I  had the same exact lesson on the 17th of April.Weeks later after my little visit to their class, I decided to make a ritual of g oing to their Media Aesthetics class as well as mind. Not only have a realised that my brain absorbs more knowledge than I thought it would (because of the repetition) but also now I have made more time to see me friends. If class is hindering you from seeing your friends than you might as well go to class with your friends.   I feel like this experience will benefit my creative process as it has pushed me to look at things different even though I have seen them before.

The past week I read an auto(biography) of someone I admire (Connor Franta). As soon as I found out he had released a new book, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Connor Franta is a Youtuber who makes lifestyle blogs and inspirational short films. I heard about the book from another Youtuber I watch who highly advised all his viewers grab a copy as soon as possible.  I scanned the internet looking for a pdf copy of the book for free but couldn't find one and eventually persuaded my mother to get it for me off Amazon.  After reading the book, I'm glad I have it as a hard copy as I think it's a fine wine book. You don't read it for the sake of gobbling down the words but rather resonating on them and reflecting on your life. My favourite parts of the book are the pages left for photography and poetry as they allow you to get to know Connor better as well as they are beautiful words. I feel like by reading someone else's life story and I have a bit more insight i...

Two weeks ago, I made a zoo biscuit and an elephant out of clay. As a child, I really enjoyed getting my hands dirty in the mud and "making cakes" and last week I got the privilege of diving back into my muddy cake ways. I throughly enjoyed the experience and didn't think I could sculpt that good. I was surprised with the outcome of both the zoo biscuit and the elephant. This experience surprised me and I'm very happy with the outcome. I think this experience will benefit my creative process by making me more aware of how simple shapes can morph together and form such complex and interesting things. After this experience, I think try to dive into my childhood loves more often.