Up North

Up North

       For my final project I want to explore the concept of salvation through a work of fiction. I am going to be writing a short story about the Second Coming of Jesus. 

When you die, provided you’ve done the right things and avoided the wrong ones, you go to heaven, up in the clouds with God, your soul ascends. However. there is an even greater kind of salvation. One that comes to the followers of God during the End the Times: When Jesus Returns. It is likely you have heard some mention of the “Second Coming” also known as “Jesus 2: The Reckoning”.

 In essence, Jesus returns to save the good peoples of this world and to punish the sinners and defeat the Devil in a glorious war for humanity and the Universe. Although human civilization does burn, Jesus ultimately wins and all is well. For a thousand years or so before the Devil returns for another bout of destruction…it’s kind of his thing.

 You would think the “End of the World” would frighten most people. But Christians have nothing to fear, for they believe that when the world comes to an end they will be saved through the rapture, a biblical event in which God takes his people into Heaven to avoid all the nasty apocalypse business. Jesus’ return is, more often than not, seen as a wonderful event, one to be looked forward to instead of feared. When Jesus comes, the good people of the world are ultimately freed of the pain and trials of life and are brought up to heaven where they are given eternal peace and happiness. 

With “Up, North” I want to explore what happens to the United States when Jesus comes back. The celebration and the panic. I want to show how the people who have spent their whole lives anticipating this event react and to show nonbelievers questioning everything. I also want to tackle the different ideas of what salvation means and perhaps even explore why there are some people who might not even want salvation when it comes; people that might go in the opposite direction. A Brief Synopsis: 

With the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, everyone is going to Juno, New Mexico to be saved. But I’m going in the opposite direction. I’m going through a sea of religious insanity. I’m going Up North, to see her again. 

In Up North young college student Felix Follows finds himself traveling across the country as everyone goes to be saved, but he’s going to find his younger sister, the one person he ever got along with. She ran away from home years ago and they haven’t spoken since. And to find her he must travel in the opposite direction, away from Jesus, away from the promise of eternal salvation. Felix finds himself up against against crazed parties, righteous militias, terrified nonbelievers, and the greatest migration in American history. He also faces a crisis of faith as he wonders if Jesus really has returned and if going Up North is really the right thing to do. 

I really want to tackle this event from the perspective of someone that is not a part of it, someone who is actually fighting against it and illustrate what that might be like. I will likely be taking some creative license but given the figurative nature of the good old Book of Revelations I think it will be okay. There is a good deal of this story I have yet to figure out but I am very excited to explore these subjects and relate them to up and hope that this goes well

https://www.pinterest.com/AltenInk/rain/

https://www.worldslastchance.com/biblical-christian-beliefs/the-second-coming-part-1-triumphant-reunion.html

http://blackmanwithagun.com/386-survive-riot-happens

http://www.nuwaycarcenter.com/blog/stay-safe-on-the-roads-this-fall-with-these-driving-tips/

http://projects.aljazeera.com/2014/arizona-border-militia/

The Art of Suspension

The first thing that comes to mind for suspension is up in the air. Things frozen in place, lazily floating about, not moving up or down but still somehow above, perhaps above our heads. This word or metaphor is seen in many aspects of life, including:

• architecture
• liquids
• sneezing
• dust
• legal matters
• uncertainty 
• ice skaters
• gymnasts
• power lines
• the space between two breaths

For my final project I'm not only going to analyze the image of suspension, but also the feeling, act, or metaphor of such. 

I'm going to combine photography with moving images to create a multimedia project that conveys the emotions of suspension, whether it be inspiration, uncertainty, or tranquility. 

I want to interview a civil engineer or architect to further analyze the aspects of building and keeping things above ground and "up in the air." Combined with this, I want to explore the relationship of gravity and suspension- two opposing forces that work as a natural and complimentary pair. 

Hummingbirds?!

Update:  After class, I got the idea to do something on hummingbirds.  I am really fascinated by their flight, and I think it could be compelling to research their movements and illustrate them through maybe some sort of stop motion video.





I do not have any ideas for my final project.  I am currently planning my upcoming film shoot for my Sophomore, Intermediate Production that shoots in 3 days.  Once that is done I will really be able to approach my final project with an un-cluttered mind.   So, in lieu of a proper blog post, I am going to compile a list of things that I could do for my project that I have previously expressed some kind of interest in.   These things, in tandem with my discipline in film could be conducive to some kind of project.  I fully intend to re-do this blog post when I am not going crazy.

-woodworking
-sculpting
-gardening
-poetry
-painting
-drawing
-basic animations
-singing
-dancing
-raising a duck
-finding a house to live in next year
-designing clothes
-photography
     -portrait
     -fashion
-comics
-documentaries
-cooking
-eating
-exercise/working out
-publishing a magazine
-publishing a book

Possible Topics:

-Astronomy
-Construction
-Happiness
-Education
-Popular Entertainment
-Mountains
-Jumping
-High Fashion
-Afros
-People who wear blue pants



I'm terribly sorry.

Final Project Idea

Since the final project is quite open ended, I have been experiencing some difficulty coming up with a good topic. The idea that I am exploring right now, though not necessarily the idea I will end up going with, is a more in-depth look at space exploration vs Earth preservation. I want to look into the pros and cons of space exploration, hopefully discovering why certain scientists and scholars believe that this area of science is an important one, and I want to simultaneously do the same thing concerning Earth preservation.

By Earth preservation, I mean the research and development of tactics to reverse our negative environmental impact, or adapt to the state of the planet as it is, ideally in order to prolong our successful habitation of Earth as our home.

By space exploration, I'm referring specifically to the desire to colonize other planets (so as to find a new home now that we have basically ruined this one), and developing the technology that would allow us to get to that point.

I intend to look at both of those subjects, find the benefits and detriments of each of those scientific pursuits. Then, to tie them both together, I want to research and look into ways to combine those two pursuits, so that the technological development of the coming years can benefit both paths. I also hope to determine for myself which of those pursuits might be best to focus on, weighing the pros and cons of each.

Currently, I love space exploration and its related subjects, but primarily because they are simply interesting to me, not necessarily because they deserve my attention. I believe the subject does indeed deserve attention, but I want to objectively show why (or why not). However, since the argument was brought up in class about the need to "focus on our own planet first," I have wondered if that is the "correct" way of thinking. Should we focus on fixing the Earth? Or should we focus on what lies outside of our planet? If we try to focus on both at once (as we essentially are right now), which one deserves more attention? My personal opinion is not quite solidified - as much as I love space exploration, it does seem logical to focus on the Earth while we're still here. I'm hoping this project allows me to discover things about both subjects and form a more educated opinion for myself.

I'm also planning on enlisting the help of Haley from our class (hi Haley, if you're reading this), to try to push my boundaries a bit. My end goal is some sort of video or documentary about this topic, but I'm hoping Haley can push it in a more artistic, experimental, and conceptual direction, instead of sticking purely with data and facts.

I have a few people in mind for interviews. I happen to have a friend who used to work at JPL, so I'm planning on reaching out to him and attempting to get an interview with someone currently at the company. I would love to get the opinion of someone directly in that field concerning the question of Earth vs space. Additionally, I hope to find someone on the other side, a scientist involved with fixing and protecting our own environment, to weigh in on the issue as well.

Since my Freshman year, I wanted my capstone project to be a documentary about space exploration - specifically following one specific project from NASA or Space X and seeing it through to the end. I think this final can be a great stepping stone to that capstone idea, providing me with some contacts and information that might help me on that future documentary.

Urban Planning, I guess.

I once read somewhere that the only responsible way for our modern communities to adapt to growing populations is to start building up.

Currently– and very obviously here in Southern California– many people live in one place and work in another. How do they get from place to place? They drive of course. The price of cars, car maintenance, gas, the cost of road upkeep can amount to billions of dollars annually in the United States. All so that we can live in separated communities far from the spaces we work, buy and interact. Urban planning can locate the spaces we work, trade, eat, buy and socialize in one area, limiting our negative impact on the planet through gas use and decreasing the time we spend sitting down in a car. Our reliance on cars for transportation is a huge reason for our obesogenic environment.

Have you ever noticed that most buildings here in Orange are very low to the ground? It appears that Old Towne Orange has a height ordinance (for historic preservation) that restricts most buildings in town to two stories. That's always seemed inefficient to me. Imagine if Chapman's dorms were eight stories high instead of four. Would we have a housing deficiency? Imagine if instead of sprawling neighborhoods, people lived in carefully designed skyscrapers and tall buildings. According to this Gizmodo article, the taller a building is, the cheaper and fast it is to construct. And yet you're housing twice as many people.

I think the common assumption behind a move to living in cities is that at some point we'll end up in a post-apocalyptic WALL•E moment where the buildings will be replaced by trash and humanity will embark on a endless space cruise to find a new planet to mess up. Not necessarily true!

"This is what urban living will do to our planet!"

Urban planning involves smart architecture and design, infrastructure planning, legislative changes, health benefits, economic benefits, environmental benefits. Great urban planning can solve a great many issues in one fell swoop. Encouraging city dwelling increases our mobility and social interaction and wellbeing. Urban planning and building up is incredibly interdisciplinary– my challenge will be honing in this idea to something I can adequately investigate.

"A philosopher once asked, 'Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?' Pointless really... 'Do the stars gaze back?' Now that's a question" -Neil Gaiman, Stardust

A common trope that is frequent amongst people around the world is to “look up” in a search for guidance or direction. Whether that be looking up to another person as a model of behavior and morality, keeping your head up as a means of hope and positivity, looking up to the heavens to confer with a higher being during a time of disorientation, or even to look a topic up through research to gain more insight about the unknown. However, in more ancient and historic practices the act of looking up for guidance had more practical applications. 

            The captivation and fascination that humans have had through time with the night sky is vivid throughout art, literature, religion, and science. The stars specifically have been anthropomorphized into constellations with rich stories that have been carried on through the ages. The stars have also acted as pillars of direction and guidance for many cultures and individuals in a variety of applied ways. Some of these uses include physical navigation such as the orientation of ships through the night in the wide ocean, points of reference to determine a growing season and frame our orientation of time and the calendar, or even as markings of our destiny and individual experiences of life through astrology. In these ways we look at what is external and distant or “up” from us to explain our own position in the universe. 

            Through my research project I hope to highlight the ways in which humans have used looking up at the stars as a guide to find meaning in their actions. To do so I will look at aspects of navigation, time keeping, and astrology as they pertain to how the influenced the individual choices of a person. For example, when someone may decide to harvest their crops in correlation to the constellations visible to them during the season, or what health precautions to take based on the picture of the sky at the time of their birth reflected in their natal chart. I feel that this topic relates to both my Peace Studies major and Environmental Studies minor because it looks at sociological traditions which connect the individual to all aspects of nature, others, and entirety of the universe through applied practices as opposed to separate. The project is inherently interdisciplinary because it ties a variety of subjects to a common metaphor, but I also plan on expressing these ideas about the direction sought from the stars creatively through paintings and poetry from the perspective of the onlooker for my final product.

The ceiling of the Sala dela Mappomondo in Villa Farnese in Caprarola, Italy

Sailor Navigating by the Stars, Eric Westbrook

Stonehenge, www.livescience.com

Discovering Up in Martial Arts

I began martial arts in fourth grade and can't seem to stay away from it. At first, I was absolutely embarrassed about it and refused to tell anyone about my participation in what I thought was such a strange sport, and I would have died of social suicide had anyone seen me in my gee. My mom tried to post pictures on Facebook, and I think it was that day in fifth grade when I experienced my first mini heart attack. Yet, as I grew older and attempted to explore other avenues of physical activity, some intangible force kept pulling me back in.

It wasn't until my freshman year of high school that I realized how heavily martial arts had shaped me, bothy physically, mentally, and emotionally. It was then that I realized my passion for, not punching and kicking, but rather for the other spiritual elements that came along with it. It was then that I realized how vital martial arts was to heightening my ability to see the world from new heights and perspectives. And lastly, it was then that I realized that I didn't want to just take the classes but rather I wanted to make martial arts a life style and learn from other practices as well.

When I came to Chapman, I had to stop training, seeing as there were none of my schools in California. I thought this would hinder my ability to live in suit of my practice but rather it allowed me to open myself up to new sorts of martial arts, bringing me to my topic for the final. I decided I wanted to focus on Pakua and Taekwondo and compare the two and how each of them contribute to the concept of up in the school, practice, and execution.

Pakua

Taekwondo

I am going to take photos from my current Pakua sessions as well as conduct research on the two and how each form of martial art was founded and how various things such as order of lining up, position of the body in sparring, form of sparring, and ideologies share varied connotations of the term up. For my interview, I plan to interview the head master at the Pakua studio who I have yet to meet. And for my final project, I will either form a demonstration which encompasses both teachings or I will instruct the class in a form which mixes the two.