Carving "This Is The Year"

For Unit 3 of P’Art of History, we covered many parts of history where people revolted for a cause, such as the 8 hour work day, Segregation, and The Vietnam War. For our 3rd Action Project, we made a carving out of soft cut linoleum.Then used it to make a plaster mold of a propaganda poster, explaining what we would revolt for. We also wrote a poem about it that was inspired by Martin Espada’s “Imagine the Angels of Bread”. Below is my amazing poem and my inspiring poster!

NVA, "Stop Testing" 7-24-14, Chicago:GCE

NVA

Carving “This Is The Year”

Soft cut Linoleum, Carving tools, plaster, clay, box knife

6” by 6”

7- 24-14

What Would You Revolt For?

I would strongly revolt for Animal Testing, because….

This is the year;

Apes put Humans in cages

To teach them love and care

Observe as they change heart

As everyone slowly evolves into Greaters

This is the year;

That rabbits concocted from leaves and berries,

both rabbit and human faces are

colorful

without the pains of chemicals

This is the year;

That mice test cures on humans to

treat sickness

instead of stabbing each other with injections

mice cure humans by showing them life’s

truest meaning

If the Haymarket Riots began with the vision

of equality…..

then this is the year;

If the Chicago 8 revolted in court to

fight for what they think is right

then this the year;

If the courts that tried the Chicago 8,

could eventually drop the charges that

violated their freedom of speech.

then this is the year.

So may every rabbit, mouse, and ape

that are trapped in cages

have the right to live and lead us into the new Revolution.

A propaganda poster is a special poster that consists of a power symbol, is bold and has a very strong message. They are usually created to protest a cause or to influence people into taking action. In my art piece the bunny is the power symbol, because many people like bunnies and think they are cute, this helps to create more emotion. The words “Stop Testing” is to tell people what the poster is trying to get at, this is usually done in most propaganda to make the message clear and to the point.

I created my art piece by drawing my protest poster and then coloring in the parts that I wanted to carve with my pencil. Next I would “stamp” my drawing on the soft cut linoleum, then I would softly outline the drawing. Next I would carve my drawing into the linoleum until I thought it was deep enough. Then I would get clay and build 4” tall walls that would border the linoleum. Next I had to spray it with oil so that the walls and the plaster wouldn’t stick to the linoleum and ruin it. Next I poured the plaster into the box. Lastly I cut the walls off and pull off my linoleum and I have my art piece.

NVA, "POH Art" 2014, Chicago:GCE

Carving Chicago's Power

In unit 2 of P’Art of History, my class learned about all the major events that happened throughout the 1800s, such as The Great Chicago Fire and The World Fair of 1893. Both of these show how Chicago has demonstrated resilience. We also studied Art Deco by investing different buildings and sculptures in the city that show elements of Art Deco.We had to think of a time where Chicago has shown resilience in our lifetime. I chose the 2011 snowstorm in Chicago that caused many people to get stuck in their car. As with the previous Action Project. I created an image and a linoleum carving which we would use to create a cement tile

NVA, "Carving Chicago's Power" 7/14-15/14, Chicago: GCE

Carving Chicago’s Power

NVA

6” by 6”

7/14/14

Soft cut linoleum, carving tools, clay, cement, water, and box knife.

In what way has Chicago shown resilience in your life time?

For me it was in 2011, Chicago had one of its worst snowstorms, the snow got up to cars windshields. The cause of this was that warnings that were made weren’t strong enough that people didn't prepare. Also since global warming has become a huge thing now a days, a storm like that is going to be worse. Since the snow was so high many people could not go anywhere. Some people were on Lake Shore Drive, and they were stuck and had to stay days in there cars waiting for people to get them out and to safety. Also many people could not get their cars out of their driveways to go to work, so the city as basically shut down. Chicago showed resilience was by they got snowmobiles and firemen to help get people out of their cars, then they set new protocols so that this kind of thing would not happen again.

Another time Chicago has shown resilience was on Oct 8-9 in 1871, during the Great Chicago Fire. This fire destroyed all of the downtown area and basically everything around it. The story behind the fire was that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow knocked down a lantern and that started the fire, but there were other factors. First of all, many people were stocking up winter and people had a lot of flammable things in there homes. Second, a man who called the firefighters, called all of them except the ones closest to the house.Third, The Chicago River which people hoped would top the fire actually helped fuel the fire because there was so much oil on the river from the trash in it. The fire was so bad that it ruined the whole city turning most of it into ash. But, Chicago demonstrated resilience by rebuilding the city in only two years, the fire didn't burn the lumber yards.Also other states helped give money to Chicago and that helped them fix the financial part they needed. One of the biggest effects was once the city was rebuilt segregation was made in Chicago. After the fire they made a law that said they couldn’t build a house with a wooden frame, it had to be metal.

I used different Kente symbols to represent my example of Chicago showing resilience. My symbols show, hope, learning from the past, courage, patience and tolerance, and humility and strength, Learning from the past is how they made a new system to prevent that from happening again. The courage and patience/tolerance was shown by the people that had to stay in their cars over night in that cold weather. Humility/strength was shown by the whole city and how other states saw them from not helping those people faster. Art deco was a special art during 1800s that was used to show industrialism, it consists of geometric shapes and symmetry.My art piece shows Art Deco, because it is simple, is symmetrical, and has geometrical shapes. I created my piece the same way I did my last, I took a piece of paper and drew a box the was 6” by 6”, then I drew my design. Then I shaded in everything I wanted to carve out. Then I took the paper and put it up against the linoleum and rubbed the pencil drawing onto it. Next I outlined what I was carving, then carved. I used a special carving utensil that cuts precisely. After that,I made a clay border that was 4 inches tall and 1 inch thick, I made this mainly because when I pour the cement on the mold it will hold in place. Next, I actually make the cement, which was done by testing different amounts of water and cement, I took the rocks out of my mix to get a smoother surface, then pour. Lastly, I waited for the cement to dry and then cut the walls off and pull my art piece off which is a cement mold

NVA, "Carving Chicago's Power" 2014, GCE

Carving Neighborhoods

For my new P’Art of History class, we studied the historical events of Chicago during the 1600 - 1800s. We also took an artist view for history and looked at statues of different historical figures. Then we learned about neoclassical art and how the statues are examples of neoclassical art. For our action project we took soft cut linoleum and made molds of what we thought would lay to our Chicago experience. The challenge was trying to get the lines to come out straight. The fun thing about this was trying out a new style of art that uses a different perspective.

NVA, "Protection of the Neighborhoods" 2014, Chciago: GCE

Protection of the Neighborhoods

NVA

6" by 6"

7/1/14

Soft cut linoleum, carving tools

Who lays claim to your Chicago Experience? Well maybe I will help you decide that: 

A neighborhood is what defines how we will grow and the person you are going to be. Now some neighborhoods are nice and peaceful, where others can be life or death walking outside. Everyone’s neighborhood controls them more than people think. It controls the schools effecting your education, the police and how they watch over certain places more than others, and the people you will grow around and their influence on you. Everyone is under the control of their neighborhood. Especially in Chicago because we are so segregated making our neighborhoods more of influence on us.

I live in a middle class neighborhood called Sauganash, where it is very peaceful and rarely has any harm or disturbance. Everyone there is very nice and welcoming, if any new moved in they would always get a warm welcome. Going to school I would always walk confidently knowing I was safe and have little to worry about. I would go to school meet with friends and have class. I always thought that the school was very bad, because of other schools seeming to get high educations. Then a new teacher came up and she used to be a teacher at the south side of Chicago. She said that we are lucky because in her old school everyone would get in fights and she would have to break them up form fights. Many kids from her neighborhood wouldn't get good educations because of where they lived and everyone around them.

After that I would always look at neighborhood and think I was very lucky to actually live in a good place where I wasn’t influenced by gangs ruining my chances of my education today. Today many people are shaped from their neighborhoods and how they think of Chicago today. When someone is born in a neighborhood they are patented to that area and everything they become is determined right there.

This would relate to historical events from the 1800s when people were just starting to lay claim to the new land around them. Between the period of 1783-1812, the British stayed in the Old Northwest and manipulated Native American tribes to fight for them against the Anglo Americans. The British did this by giving them weapons, money, and alcohol and in turn, certain Native American tribes harassed Anglo-American on their newly acquired frontier. The tribe that helped them was the Winnebago but the Pottawatomie and the Miami didn't like the British.

Chief Black Hawk believed that property couldn’t be owned, and that when you won something it has to be something that you can bring with you. This relates to what I’m saying, because I believe that land has claim over land and not that you have claim over the land. Also we are that something that land can bring, make, and shape.

My piece is 6” by 6” and shows the different neighborhoods, upper, middle, and lower and how they all are different in the way of the people act. The shields are the protection of that neighborhood and how well protected by the police it is. The border frames are what that neighborhood is about and what they are known for, from luxury to death. The money shows how the upper class has lots of money, the trees for the middle class show how a middle class neighborhood is peaceful, and last the fences on the lower class show how in lower class neighborhoods it can be very dangerous. The two lines are to show how Chicago is very segregated, and the reason ones are bigger than others is because the classes of neighborhoods can determine how much land they have and how well known they are. Also the lines that separate the neighborhoods are bigger close to the rich side because they are so isolated from the middle and lower classes, and the other one is smaller because middle and lower classes are closing together.

Neoclassical art - Is old art style that contains mainly, simplicity, symmetrical, clean lines, unemotional, and a heroic figure. My piece could be an example of this type of art because it is simple, there are clean lines, and is a little symmetrical.

I have created my art piece using soft cut linoleum, which is like a denser clay and is very good for carving. Instead of redrawing my piece or doing it from sight. What I did was I made what I was going to carve dark with pencil on the original paper. Then, I stamped it on to the linoleum and I was able to what I had to carve, I outlined it aswell so I could see better. Last the carving, I used a special tool that somewhat worked like a shovel and very precisely started to slowly move it and it would carve. Once I carved it, I took a bigger piece and tried to make it cleaner

What I plan to do next with it, is take cement and pour it on it then once the cement dries I will have a tile that will make everything that is carved in pop out.

NVA, "Carving Neighborhoods" 7/14/14, Chicago: GCE

NVA, "Carving Nieghborhoods" 2014, Chicago:GCE

Saturday School

Other than GCE I attended a Greek school every Saturday for 3 hours, where I would learn the Greek language and culture/history. The reason I did was, because my dad is Greek and his whole side of the family is as well. It was challenging because it was on Saturdays, and I would always have plans. I enjoyed going because I got to meet people that were at various levels of Greek. I also learned how to Greek dance, which is a very big part of the culture.

NVA, "Essay Certificate." 2014, Chicago

The picture above is a certificate of excellence for writing an essay on my thoughts/experience with the Greek culture.

Ever since I was young (5-8 years old)  I did everything Greek; I practiced the religion, I went to festivals, I ate the food, and I would hang out with Greek people. The only thing holding me back from being one hundred percent Greek was I couldn't speak the language. When I was younger I would go to school to learn Greek at a church like most Greek children, but I would always struggle, even when I was put in the special needs classes. I would always keep trying for my father because he is Greek and his whole side of the family would speak it. When I would go home to try some of what I learned that day, I would mix up words and I would always mess up every time. So after that my family decided that I wouldn't attend school at that church anymore. I never took any classes after that because regular school always got in the way. I also started to attend fewer events, like, going to church or going to festivals. Years later when I was about to start high school my family and I decided to give it another shot.

We would first read a story from our books, then we would go over the vocab and discuss what was happening in the book to see if we understood. Then we would go to our work books and do a lesson. When a holiday would come we would have a big event where each class would come up and do a poem about that holiday and what it meant for the Greek community. I would always get very nervous, but my teacher knew I would struggle so she would only give me a small verse. Same would happen for graduation. Before any class would begin we had to do dancing, which was very fun and good exercise. We would learn these different dances each time a new holiday was coming. Then we performed what we learned at the big events after our poems had been read.

In the end, I learned how to pronounce the letters, and understand some of what I was reading. I never got to learn how to write it, but I am still proud that I went to that class. Even though it was for one day of the week for six months and I had to balance my first year of high school, I still learned a lot more than I did when I was younger. I plan to take it next year so I can continue to learn the language of my family. Thank you for reading!

LIfe "Masterpiece"

In the last unit of Food for Thought, our humanities course we were assigned to team up in four groups to demonstrate the understanding of our four units in pictures. The main points of the whole drawing are agricultural history, and to envision a sustainable future of food production. Each group had to have 3 topic points to demonstrate in the drawing. My group was assigned the first unit which was Life. This unit talked about the beginning of agriculture and ancient civilization and how different foods were found and domesticated. For inspiration the whole class looked at a very interesting piece of artwork done by "The Beehive Collective," called the "True Cost of Coal." The major challenge of this drawing was to connect all the units together through different styles of artwork. The other challenge was thinking about the future of food, with all the experiments that scientists do with food, is there really a bright looking food production ahead of us?

                                                   NVA "Life Masterpiece" 6-2-14, Chicago: GCE

NVA (2014) Food For Thought

This drawing is based on the first unit, called “Life.” The main focus of this unit is how and why humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies, and how different ancient societies domesticated and found food. In my group, we decided to make a road timeline to connect all the units together. For our unit, we drew an assortment of different foods on the road. The reasoning for this is to symbolize how people grew crops to survive. There were no chemicals or fertilizers, so societies grew organic gardens. In 10,000 B.C.E, people were hunter-gatherers, which means they hunted animals and fish support their diet.

We drew trees and plants on one side of the road to represent life and peaceful times. We used keywords to guide our drawing. We used organic, domestication, and life. On the other side of the road we drew trees and plants to represent life. We also drew hunter-gatherers to show them hunting for food, and how they lived a natural lifestyle.  We showed the society by water and we showed the people farming and hunting.  

The beginning of agriculture is where the word “life” comes from. We wanted to show in our drawing, how our ancestors settled where they did and how they domesticated their foods. The importance of this unit is vast and it all comes together since this is the first of four units. Unit 2 revolves around monoculture, death, and colonization. Unit 3 revolves around this world’s food industry and the way that our food is made and treated today. Unit 4 revolves around the modification of the food industry and how life has transitioned through all 3 units, and imagines what the future of food might look like.

The GM Decision

In Unit 3 of my Food, math and science course, we mainly studied genetics and how different genetics work, and probability. We also studied GMOs, which are genetically modified organisms, and how the organisms have been genetically engineered. For this action project, we had to  make an argument through presentation explaining if we are anti GMO, or if we are pro GMO. The purpose of this action project was to convince a group of people if they should be pro or anti GMO. I am pro GMO, because GM crops are cheaper to maintain, GM foods have lots of nutrition that can save many lives, and the yields are higher. I learned more than I could imagine. Genetics can be very interesting and complicated which I liked. What I am most proud of is choosing a side. because its a hard decision. I learned how to take in the facts and then make an argument.

Did you know that 2 million children die each year from malnutrition? That is horrible, but a way that we can stop this is by growing GM crops, which are genetically modified crops.

I am pro GMO because I believe GM crops can feed more people, and as a result, save people from malnutrition and famine. Also GM crops are faster to grow than organic, making it faster to feed people with malnutrition. I will be sharing with you three arguments that help back up my thesis:

1. GM crop yields are higher

2. They have more nutrition and with that can save lives.

3. GM crops are cheaper for the farmer.

GM crops are cheaper than organic products, and have higher yields. According to Monsanto, GM crops of corn, cotton, and soybeans in the U.S. have increased between 5 and 8 percent. These figures are much higher than organic crops which increase from 1 and 2 percent. Since GM crop yields are higher, their prices are cheaper. This means that more families can afford food.

GM crops can increase the nutrition in crops. Scientist have genetically modified food fruits and vegetables to offer high levels of antioxidant vitamins that help ward off cancer and heart disease. Furthermore, the golden rice, which is a GM rice, can help our bodies generate Vitamin A, which fights off blindness. Vitamin A deficiency kills 2 million children each year.

GM farmers will benefit from biotechnology. Biotechnology means when scientists uses special techniques to improve or modify crops or animals. With genetically engineered crops that can resist pests, many farmers can avoid losing money and crops. Also with weeds, farmers have to spray different types of herbicides many times. With GM crops farmer only have to spray one type of herbicides once, saving them money.

I am pro GMO because GM crop yields are much higher, making the food cheaper. When the food is cheaper, more families can afford the food. Also the food can saves lives by giving people who are malnourished the nutrients they need to survive. 2 million people die each year from a lack of vitamin A. Giving them the food they need at that affordable price can save many lives in the long run. It doesn't just benefit the public. It also helps the farmer save money, because they don’t need to buy all the herbicides to keep the crops safe from weeds. We need GM crops. Are you ready to save lives? Vote pro GM seeds today!

REFERENCES:

“GMOs are a key tool to addressing global hunger.” The Boston Globe. May 23, 2014. Retrieved 5-26-14

“Genetically Modified Organism.” Wikipedia. May 21, 2014. Retrieved 5-26-14

“Reasons We Do Need GM Foods: It Is About Improving Nutrition.” Monsanto, Beyond The Rows. April 1, 2009. Retrieved 5-27-26

“Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and Threat of Anti Science Zealotry.” Norman Borlaug. Plant Physiology. 2000. Retrieved 5-27-14

“Can GMOs Help End World Hunger.” John Robbins, Huffington Post. Oct 1, 2011. Retrieved 5-27-14

“Should We Grow GM Crops?” PBS. 2001. Retrieved 5-29-14

Egg Lemon Soup Review

In unit 3 called Birth of my Food For Thought class, we learned about about the process that some food has to go through to get to your plate and if the process is industrial or organic. We also learned about the Industrial Revolution. The most important thing we talked about was Michael Pollan’s 5 diet transformations and how people have changed their diet so drastically that we don't get the correct amount of nutrients today. The 5 transformations were:  Whole food to Refined foods, Complexity to Simplicity, Quality to Quantity, Leaves to Seeds, and Food culture to Food science. For the action project each student in my class picked a different food that they liked. Then they had to go out and buy it from a restaurant and write notes about the taste smell, and most important tell if he/she thought it was Fresh, Organic, or Industrial. Then go home and make our own homemade version, listing the same notes. After we took the notes we had tp make a food review and which I prefered and why. The food I picked is a well known Greek dish, Egg Lemon Soup, it is mainly an appetizer. For a restaurant I picked a local place near my house called Psistaria, which has very good egg lemon soup. Going there with my parents I was happy when the food came, and then I thought if it actually looked fresh or not, the answer is my food review. When I went home to go cook it, my mom helping understand what the descriptions of the process meant in the recipe, I knew that all my ingredients were organic and didn't have chemicals and if they did they were good chemicals that added vitamins. This has greatly impacted the way that I eat, it makes it hard for me to trust the restaurants that I’m eating from. Now I will try my best to cook my own dishes using organic or fresh ingredients.

NVA, "Egg Lemon Soup at Psistaria" 5/20/14, Chicago

Egg Lemon Soup is one of the biggest Greek appetizers, which might seem weird but actually it is one of the most sweet, sour, and bold that isn't a pastry. Everyone I know has liked it and never has said anything bad about it.

I have always loved something that is sweet and has a bold taste, once it is put in the mouth it gives an amazing variety of tastes to your tongue. I was very excited to go to one of my favorite Greek restaurants, Psistaria. Like most Greek restaurants it was filled with Greek people and the lighting was always the same, a light sunny yellow with white walls with paintings of different islands or churches in Greece. I mainly picked the soup because it is an appetizer used at any Greek event, from the fanciest places to the most local restaurant.

Once the soup was brought to my table I was instantly hit by the sweet but sour smell. The soup looked a sweet pale yellow, and I could see the rice and chicken slowly floating up to the top. Even with it looking very nice, it looked industrial because of the thickness of the food and the poor texture of the chicken. Once I put a spoonful in my mouth I got a sweet zesty taste with the rice calming the the strong lemon. I could feel the soft squishy rice while I chewed and the smooth chicken run against my teeth.

Everyone that is Greek knows this soup very well, but I have never heard of anyone talking about it - if what they’re eating is actually nutritional or if they just don’t care. It isn't homemade by lots of families today, and I thought I would try to make my own that came from someone with a cooking background and related to a strong Greek culture. After flipping through many Greek cookbooks I found a recipe that was by a priest. I thought if I made something from scratch it could give me more nutrition and taste better, plus add more culture to what I’m eating.

The result was a soup that wasn't thick, it was watery, and was a weird yellow color with white strands made by the eggs. It didn't look as good as the restaurant’s. I didn't care about the look though,I wanted it taste good and have the nutritional value. The smell of it was the same as the restaurant’s, because of the same ingredients used. Once I ate the soup I was amazed at the sweet and pungent taste that came from it. I wasn't disappointed at all, it felt like it was a lot healthier. I could taste the tangy lemons mixing with the rice and smooth chicken. The egg added a sticky feeling to the soup that helped with the watery feeling making it thicker. Now the rice was the same as used in the restaurant, converted, which meant that it was refined but had chemicals added to get back the vitamins.

NVA, "Homemade Egg Lemon Soup" 5/21/14, Chicago

The best way to show the difference between the two is using Michael Pollan’s five food diet transformations, where he talks about how much our diets have changed and in what ways, listing five different ones. For this taste test it would be quantity over quality, which talks about how someone today will buy a food that has a lot of ingredients in it but barely has any nutrition, where quality you get the nutritional value of the dish, but not have has much.

The reason I say that is it quantity over quality, is because when I bought the food I got a lot of the soup for a low price.  Once I made it myself I got the nutrition from the eggs, chicken, and lemons. Except for the rice because it was refined and had chemicals added to it to give back the vitamins. One of the chemicals was Thamin, which adds B vitamins to the rice. The B vitamin had to be added back, because the rice was refined, so the company had to add it back. Overall, the quality of it was so much better than what the restaurant gave me.

Something that I like better about what I made was that I made and I saw and knew everything was being put in it. In a restaurant they could put something in it that the consumer would think is gross.

Overall, I prefer the homemade version because it had a simple taste and smooth feel when in my mouth. It really didn't hit my senses as much as the restaurant, but I felt better after eating it, I was very energized. Since it was homemade I had a control over what is being put in it, such as the rice, which is refined, but it does have chemicals that give it a B vitamin complex. Meaning it isn't perfect, but it does have some nutrition to it, making it better than the restaurant’s soup. The dish is a lot better when put in the fridge and eaten the next day because it has a thick texture that I like but others may not not. Homemade is the way to cook and eat your food, because you can trust what you are eating.