Week 6

This picture is taken at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The architecture is more lit on the top, while the left side of the picture is dark. The left arc bounces light onto the right arc. 

The transition from light to dark gives me a sense of obsession; it feels like sucking into the darkness while still trying to reach for light.  

Week 6 –– Obsession

Newport Beach, CA (4:40 pm, 11/03/15)

When I thought about obsession, I felt that the most obsessive thing to me was the combination of human's architectures and natural creations. When I was riding my bike around the big lake near my home, I was so impressed by the views in front of me. The warm yellow sunbeam went through clouds and reflected on the lake, and the empty bridge lay on the lake that made me so comfortable and peaceful. I stopped my bike and took out my iPhone to take the beautiful sunset and the bridge. I started to realize that the most obsession of our life was the things we saw everyday.

Newport Beach, CA (4:40 pm, 11/03/15)

Nature in the pond (Week 6)

I wasn't quite sure what the meaning of obsession was, but I think my take on obsession is the obsession of nature. When I went to the park near California (the street) I found myself being drawn to taking photos of the birds. A lot of us are obsessed and drawn to the beautiful sky that reflects on the pond, and how the light gently hits the bird's feathers. I love how the light makes little bright white circles on the surface of the water. Even though this bird's colors are similar to the surface of the water, it still stands out with the light sculpting it slightly. Making his white feathers a little bit brighter than the gray parts of its body. When the sun shines on the water it almost makes the water look completely like glass. And if you look closely towards the water, you could tell that it is sectioned evenly with three different colors. We get memorized by one thing and focus so much on it that we wish to see more. I found myself obsessing over the colors and the reflection on the water. Even though this photo doesn't have many bold and vibrant colors, its still very peaceful and calm. It is very pleasant to see how this photo has a very nice color pallet.

Tunnel of Obsession!

This often seen but now dimly lit tunnel in Aldridge park made me think of the weeks theme of obsession. Tunnels seem to hold a lot of power in popular culture, often seen as metaphors for many things. There's the "Tunnel of Love" (love = obsession?), there's also the idea of having a "light at the end of the tunnel": a metaphor having a joint meaning of there being a good conclusion to a long and arduous journey as well as being a metaphor for the journey from this world to an afterlife (as in "follow the light!"). There's something about tunnels that capture our imagination. Is it that being underground is associated with death and being buried? (Archeological studies have shown that humans have buried the dead even prior to the invention of agriculture.)

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In Western Cultures (and perhaps others) there's often a variety of urban myths surrounding urban tunnel systems. Examples: London's tunnels (some believe) aided Jack the Ripper; Rome's tunnels and catacombs became (in popular imagination) a meeting ground for the occult; Paris's ancient sewer systems aided and abided criminals of the state escaping execution during the French Revolution. UC Irvine itself has an interesting subterranean tunnel system connecting various buildings that holds a certain campus lore.

Granted the tunnel depicted in this entry isn't a proper subterranean tunnel, however it still reads as one same to me and holds some symbolic power.

Obsessed is defined as, "an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind." When we're in a pit of obsession, we often don't feel like there's a way out. We roll something over in our mind again and again. We feel stuck with no way out. As an image I imagine being stuck in a hole with no way out. Or perhaps lost in a tunnel, only dimly lit as we follow the light at the end but with no clear knowledge of how far it will lead or to where.

In this image, I like how the tunnel itself is so well defined by ceiling lights, leaving shadows on certain areas. The exterior of the tunnel is dimly lit by a street lamp, and I can just barley make out the end of the tunnel on the other end, again dimly lit by a street lamp. It's as if all that exists is the tunnel and the rest is darkness, leaving my animal brain with a sense of uncertainty and fear.

Week 6 Night Time Traffic

While taking the bus I noticed how the head and tail lights of the surrounding cars seemed obsessive to me. As the bus zoomed past the stopped cars the headlights were hypnotizing and dizzying. Once the Sun sets, suddenly you are surrounded by a world of whizzing white, amber, green. and red lights, blinking and flashing. I find the lights fixating to look at (as a passenger, obviously).

There's also the car culture of Southern California that allows for the high congestion of cars and the hypnotic light show that begins at 5pm every evening. The fast paced life of Southern California is, ironically, defined by rush hour traffic and the idea that every one has an important place to be.

There's also the ideal that people want to move to "the Big City" with all it's "bright lights" - it's an idea people are obsessed with. This concept has written albums, made movies, theatre, been used in photography, marketing, etc. The idea of the "Big City" is defined by the cars rushing around everywhere, especially at night time, going to clubs, art gallery openings, someplace new and exciting.

Sean Deuel Week 6

This week, in trying to consider what might be obsessive I began to think about fast food. The fast food industry is huge, and they are constantly fighting over customers and trying to bring customers to want their food and come back for more. I realized that for almost all fast food restaurants I can think of they use big bright (often red or yellow) neon signs to advertise their store (some images of a few are in this post). I don't know what it is but there is something about these flashy signs that the industry has determined keeps customers coming back for more.

Week 5 Janani

I apologize for the poor quality of this picture.
I took this the other night when I was walking back home. The moon seemed to have to very thin layer of clouds over it and that made it look like it was shimmering and there was a beautiful glow around it. Though the light looks very white and perhaps can be thought of as harsh, it made me feel calm and composed overall. It was like this sign of hope that you see in an endless black no star sky. A glow that shined so bright that you can't help but smile. This reminded me of the par but perhaps a par with a cool color gel in it because standing so far away I couldn't feel the warmth of this light which is something i usually get from a par. :)