nel aeroporto..

Or.. do you say it like that?... Hmmm.. I guess I will find out soon. very soon. sooner that I thinK.

SO. today. July 24th.2008, I'm on my way back home. Just for a little while, just for a week-7days... BUT hey, It only took GOD 7 days to create THIS wonderful world. I wonder what I will be able to do in my 7 days of grace.

7 days to see friends- to see the, and realize that NOTHING has changed, 7 days to realize that everything's different and you dont belong there anymore-OR is it me- HAVE I CHANGED? HAS MY WORLD CHANGED? perhaps!

Optical Illusion: After Images

The phenomenon I studied is called After Images. I initially tested the optical illusion on my computer and it worked perfectly, so I printed it. After printing it, I mounted it on a small piece of cardboard and put a pencil/stick inside it so that it was easier and faster to flip. The illusion did not work; possibly because the printing and paper quality were not the best and did not make a strong enough impact on one’s eyes. I decided to print it on the school’s printer, and now it works a little better. The best result is still obtained when looking at the computer.

This is how it works: just stare at the dot for 30 seconds. Flip to the grey image of the picture, as your eyes adapt to the inverted image you were seeing first, you will see a color image for a few seconds and then it will change to black & white.
.
I tested my friend Sunja and he was completely amazed, he said that optical illusions don’t usually work for him but he kept on saying that this was magical. He wanted to try it one more time, because the first time around he didn’t realize what had happened exactly; he just knew something was weird. So I let him try it again and this time he realized what it was. He said he had read about this phenomenon on the back of a cereal box! That was hilarious! He explained it to me as if I had showed him my report!

My roommate who was sitting next to us became interested in knowing what was going on. She is always very curious about what I am studying in Psychology class because she loves this subject. She came over and tested the illusion as well. She could not believe that I had created my own illusion and thought that it was “so cool”. I explained to her how it worked and she sort of remembered about the subject. She is an illustration major, so I told her I would show her how to make the illusion and that it was not difficult at all. She will probably do this to a good amount of her pictures-just to play around-.

I got this idea from a “Black and White Spanish Castle in Color” Illusion in John Sadowski’s website, he claims to be the original creator of this type of illusions. I goggled him, but nothing special came up. I proceeded to look for information of the scientific aspect of it.

Afterimages
An afterimage is an optical illusion of an image that continues to appear in one's vision after the exposure to the original image has stopped. One that we have all experienced without knowing it is the bright glow that floats before our eyes after staring at a light bulb for a few seconds.

Ewald Hering (Karl Ewald Konstantin Hering) was a German physiologist who not only described the Hering illusion, but explained how the brain sees afterimages, in terms of three pairs of primary colors. After-images appear once the original stimulus is removed. The colors revealed are usually the opposite (complementary) colors of the original picture. He explained the opponent process theory, which suggests that we receive information for three opponent color groups: red vs. green, blue vs. yellow, and black vs. white. This opponent process theory says that any visual receptor (cones and rods) that was turned off by one of these colors was excited by its coupled color. Therefore, a green image will produce a red afterimage.

There are two types of Afterimages: negative (inverted) and positive (retaining original color). The exact process behind positive afterimages is unknown but it is related to neural adaptation. Negative afterimages are better understood.


Negative afterimages
Negative afterimages are caused when the eye's photoreceptors, primarily the cones, adapt to the image by over stimulation and lose sensitivity. Normally the eye deals with this problem by rapidly moving, and the “flickering” is later "filtered out" by our brains so it is not noticeable. However, if the color image is large enough and the small movements are not enough to change the color under one area of the retina, those cones will eventually get tired or adapt and stop responding. This can also affect the rods.

When the eyes are diverted to a blank space, the adapted cones send out little signals and those colors remain muted. However, the surrounding cones that were not being excited by that color are still "fresh", and send out a strong signal. The brain interprets the signal as exactly the opposite color.

Positive afterimages
Positive afterimages appear the same color as the original image. They are brief, lasting usually less than half a second, and may not occur unless the stimulus is very bright. Although there is not much information on Positive Afterimages we know that activity in the visual system makes the retinal photoreceptor cells (cones and rods) send neural impulses to the occipital lobe revealing that the experience of a stimulus can vary with the intensity of the stimulus. Usually only very bright stimuli such as the sun produce positive afterimages, and a stimulus, which brings out a positive image, will usually trigger a negative afterimage quickly via the adaptation process. That is why my print out did not work the first time around; the intensity/saturation were not a strong enough stimulus.

So what is the difference between the positive and negative afterimage? A positive afterimage forms only when the backdrop used is the same external object and the negative afterimage forms only when the eyes are shifted away from the external object using a blank backdrop.
While doing this assignment I discovered a variety of optical illusions that blew my mind away. Choosing one was fairly difficult, but I am glad I chose this one. It was easy to make-easier than I though possible-and if you do it correctly it works really well. Even when you are not testing yourself if you are looking at it while showing someone, the result will also affect you.

bo-D.ART.hleeta

bo-d. ART. hleeta



Adorning the body is an important aspect of African Egyptian cultures, from ancient to contemporary times. Body art; from scarification, body paint, headdresses to hairstyles, play a very important role in their lives and societies. It has influenced their art and culture in and the relation between them.
In South African Rock Art an Archaic Rock Painting of a Horned Female Figure in the Tassili N’Ajjer Region of Algeria a cow deity or female goddess is adorned with raffia and other body ornamentation. The cow, like women, is a source of milk and a nurturer. For the Ajjer peoples adorning the body with tattoos, beads, or body paint apparently contributed to the experience of transformation into the spirit they portrayed in their masquerades and rituals.
The cow deity/mother concept carries over to Egyptian Art, as we see the pre-dynastic Female Figure sculpture with raised arms that resemble horns. In Egyptian beliefs the woman, sometimes Isis or Osiris as mother of Horus, has immense sexual power, which is seen as a source of life, and an important symbol of rebirth and resurrection. At a grave at Thebes, Egypt we see how a female figure’s hair plays an important role as a symbol of female fertility and birth, and pubic hair is shown in a triangle and her well-groomed locks, made out of black mud beads are seen as erotic. Women’s role in society is motherhood and to nurture; as mothers of the Pharaoh and as Queen, but they do not emphasize on the babies. Some rock paintings showed us how tattoos served as spiritual protection and not just for physical beauty, scarifications served to mark the different stages of life and were sometimes done in the abdominal area to protect women and their fertility.
In Nubian culture it was believed that the God Amun Ray impregnated the sister of the Pharaoh; this made them a matrilineal society and the Queen was a ruler. They were often depicted as large and heavy to represent how much strength and majesty they possessed. The wealthiest capital of the Kingdom of Kush was well known for their trade with other countries along the Nile and Queen Amanishakheto of Meroe was a good example. An ornament found in her tomb is believed to have been part of a headdress or a ring. It contained cowreshells that resembled female genitalia. Egyptian and African women wore them for protection and blessing. We also saw photography of a Nuer man with forehead scarifications that are still used in contemporary Sudan; for them it is a symbol of manhood and bravery.
In Nigeria, the Ga’anda women-especially the wives of the Chiefs- have to go through rituals of scarification during their engagement period. Sometimes at a very young age, they undergo this process to prove that they survived the pain and they are strong. The groom gives gifts to her parents when the first makings start to appear and, when she is ready to marry. Hleeta represents a sensual beauty, because of its dimensionality, but its patterns can be read by others. It indicates their social status, civilization and order. It is an idea of village vs. city/marshes vs. the pharaoh’s establishment of organization. It is supposed to protect them for reproduction and the bearing of children. In the MBIRGLENGNDA enshrined in a rock (3-10) hleeta also represents the sexual maturity and the achievements and responsibilities that come with adulthood. In West Africa , the Nok sculptures have very intricate hairstyles and no facial hair. In Bura culture the terracotta pots found on the graves were mostly women; their pottery showed marks on the body both for women and men.
Not only is hleeta used to mark people, but its significance has also influenced other cultures and Ga’anda art forms such as the engraved calabashes and the sculptures and vessels of the Dakarkari peoples.

auto.retratando.self.portraiting

Well. this is the FIRST thing I ever tried to do using Illustrator-back in the summer of 2006. I know it needs improvement-it needs lots of work, and to finish it.. but thought I'd share it anyway...

fishing.jeremy fisher

"perceptions in creativity"...

a ZERO credit class I had to take on SATURDAY mornings for a whole semester... to LATER find out that they eliminated it from our curriculum and it did not even count as an elective or anything.. NO RECORD... NO NOTHING...
well, not really.

I met some amazing people and really broke into the school, and I just found this mini-collection inspired on a children's book, that with a little polishing, COULD turn into a fabulous thing.

I will be UPDATING!

fit.FIT.fit

patternmaking.sketchin'

CHANELling....

My first semester at FIT... Fall 2006, I took a class called AR112. It was like Fashion Art 101. At the end of the term we had to create a "collection" (a.k.a-3 outfits) inspired by Chanel.

Let me see how I put this...

I've never been a huge fan of Chanel-especially in those times, when I was ignorant of her amazing influence to fashion history- so I was not too excited about doing this project. However, I think it came out a LOT better than I expected it too, and my teacher was somewhat surprised by my "photoshop skills"-which at that time were close to NADA-

Honestly, I didn't realize that it was true, looking back, this project came out better that some I did on my sophomore year...


It's nice to admire your own work and remember how tedious and fun it was to do it... I swear... I still remember sitting on the floor rendering those black pants--> Marker, charcoal pencil, and even prismacolor pencil... argh, black and whites are so hard!!!
....
Although not my complete favorite-I wish I had adapted chanel more to my style- I think I like it enough to share it with you...

draping away

fusioning! pictures OF the show!

On March 8th and 9th 2008, 30 aspiring designers showed off their collections at the Fusion Fashion Show 2008. 15 students from FIT and 15 students from Parsons were selected from the hundreds that applied...being one of them was an honor...
I honestly didn't realize how big of an experience Fusion was going to be... It consumed my life for around 5 months, but it really helped me learn about who I am as an artist/designer.

It all starts with a "vision" which ends up getting more and more complicated as you start developing it. In the end- although essentially what you imagined- It turns out to be VERY different... beginning of every show because it kept on breaking...

No one knows the mayhem/madness of the backstage... AND... that I had to fix a zipper at the . However, I cannot believe how "professional"our work looked when it went down the runway.
So...
ENJOY the pictures >.< !




model: Leah Barton + dress: .leah.




















model: Mallorie Carrington
dress: .mallorie.














model: Dana B.
dress:.dana.

















model: Stephanie Rodriguez
dress:. stephanie.
dress:.monica.
model: Monica Cordoba

fusioning. pre-show interwiew with Jimmy

(backstage at "the TRESSEMME" hair salon room")



Well, I am Zaida Adriana Goveo Balmaseda (yeah, all that!) and I participated in the Fusion Fashion Show Design Competition between FIT and Parsons on 2008.
I just thought I'd share my experience with you because it was AMAZING! It was a LOT of hard work and hours of dedication, but being passionate about it made it all so much fun.

This is my pre-show interview with JIMMY(the show organizer):

School and Year:

Fashion Institute of Technology! Second Semester, freshman

Hometown:
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Age: 18

What is fashion to you?
Fashion is art, wearable art. Fashion to me has a special significance-Its what allows me to create pieces that can make other people feel like I felt when my mom dressed me up as a princess. Sometimes the way you dress expresses a mood. It’s the expressive creation of the designer, a shout of intellect! A dress is a decoration, and a ploy to gracious seduction, a tease towards creative talent. It is ART, a madness that illuminates the significance of being a lady. It is a study and a trace of history; it’s a celebration of family heirlooms and traditions. Fashion is part of Culture; it is part of you and me!

Describe your collection:
My collection is called zephyr! It is a light, gentle wind... its origin comes from a personification of Greek God of the west wind zephuros...I was inspired by the WIND.
The wind that dances around us has a little bit of everything, and everyone, and the Elements of nature inspirit me every day. There is a lovely song called “colors of the wind” by Stephen Shwarts that talks about how we should treasure, love and respect the world around us and embrace that we are one with it.

“… I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

-And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

-For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

-Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth…

-You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind”

Every dress has incredible luminosity; giving us a sense of enchantment with multicolored hand dyed silk satin bodices, while Nude, flowing, weightless skirts celebrate different skin tones. I tried to experiment with shapes and volume to create ethereal, organic and delicate (almost couture, one of a kind-pieces) that have a personality of their own, just like we all do.

What about Fusion are you most excited about?
Everything, everything absolutely everything! I am excited because I’ve been making new friends that share this fascination (and that are passionate enough to spend their whole winter break SEWING), seeing how your vision comes together and you create amazing works of art, THE CHALLENGE…and of course… the moment of truth; when you FINALLY see all your models walking on the runway. WHOA! I am so happy that we get to expose what we have without boundaries, without labels… being genuine, ourselves, wholly! ....


Watch out for more fusion posts... cause' they will be here!

9 Giorni al solito!... aiuto!

Hey there... I need help/advice/comments...

I will be moving to Firenze in August 14th 2008, for a whole year. I will be studying Fashion Design at Polimoda with a study abroad program from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

I'm traveling alone and am quite unsure about how to do this so I was wondering if you- the locals or usual travelers- had any comments on the following...
*Any suggestions or advice you might have will be SUPER helpful!

grazie mile!!

I will be arriving in Florence on August 14th and don't have anywhere to stay yet. You see, our ORIENTATION WEEK begins on August 23rd and ends on September 1st -when our classes begin-. We are supposed to look for housing during that week, but I am a bit worried about finding an apartment in less than a week at the same time as everyone else, so I decided to to travel early to see if I could go "apartment hunting" before everyone else gets there.

However, I am planning on living with 2 or 3 more girls so that our monthly rent is is lower. Our school arranges meetings with agencies every year to help us find apartments but I want to avoid broker fees because as students we don't have a lot of money and I was hoping we could rent an apartment directly from the owner. Do you think this will be a tough task?-Considering I don't know how the italian "apartment renting process" is. One of my friends was there last semester and she said it was really stressful because the real estate agents with whom they met, were short of apartments.

My other issue is the following:
I will arrive almost two weeks before the orientation period... And although I am a member of Couch Surfing, I have never experienced it.I was hoping to stay at a Hostel for the first 2 nights just to "get a feel for the area" and then with one of the people that responded to my Couch Surfing request. but -- this is my first time traveling to Europe and although I am completely fluent in English and Spanish and know a little of Italian, I am not sure if the Hostel or the Couch Surfing idea is a good one as will be traveling alone.

I am usually not scared but since this is such a new experience I just want to make the best choices.


Would I be better off trying to rent an apartment for a week or 10 days? just while I find my own-instead of staying at someone's couch or at a hostel?

Its not that I don't trust couch surfing.. I think it is a genuine program and i believe in it, but my stay will not just be for one night or 2.. but almost a week... I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable...


Do you have any comments or ideas on this? DO you think I am totally out of my mind?


ancora, grazie per il vostro tempo!'

http://www.couchsurfing.com/profile.html