Bargains and Deals!

During this economic downturn, many people need to find ways to trim their expenses and budget their money more effectively. However, we increasingly live in a consumer culture where ads proclaiming the next big deal are at every turn. It is extremely important that we, as consumers, learn how to choose the best deal for a product when every store is claiming to have the best price for that item. Math is essential in this process and will only help consumers get the biggest bang for their buck. Furthermore, although the government is imposing stricter regulations on credit card companies, I continue to see numerous enticing ads that seem to offer incredible deals on credit cards that contain an awful lot of small print. As this current financial crisis has shown us, credit card companies exist to make money not necessarily help the consumer. It is important to read the fine print and compare offers (or cut expenses and budget more effectively in order to save money!) so that consumers do not find themselves in continuous financial predicaments. As time goes on, we live in an increasingly financially complex world so math and problem-solving skills can only become more essential to being a savvy consumer.

Liteacy photo 2

For me this photo shows aspects of literacy specifically in visual art. There is a lot that went into making these boots, sewing, color combination, planning, technique, and a functional aspect. There is also a lot that could be talked about when viewing these boots. Students need background knowledge and practice in order to create art, and they need vocabulary and information in order to know how to analyze art when they are viewing it, instead of just saying I like it because it is cool. Some visual art aspects that could discussed include cool verses warm colors, materials, ideas, craftsmanship, technique, style, planning, function and much more. Sometimes we know that we like something like a painting, but are unsure of how to describe it or explain what it is about that painting we like and why we like it. Literacy in visual art is like literc in ery subject becase it allow students communicate verbaly and in witing as to why they think and/or feel a certain way. Literacy allows students to learn at a higher level of undersanding.

Literacy In a World Without History

Can you imagine a world with no history? Is it even possible?

I took this photo in Philadelphia a few years ago, but I thought it was appropriate to revisit it for this last post. When I first saw the sign I thought it was a joke, but then quickly realized it was in fact an actual city sign. Philadelphia is a city rich in history and I suppose city officials didn't want tourists thinking any history was on this street.

What strikes me about this sign is the irony. We know by now that literacy is all around us, but what if we couldn't process it? What if we didn't even have the freedom to use the literacy skills we had inherently developed? No history? I don't even know what that would be like? I don't even want to know really.

The famous quote that says history is bound to repeat itself may apply to life, but does it apply to literacy? What I mean by this is we all build off of what we learn at a young age. That's our history. Sure, family or country history is interesting and integral, but what intrigues me is personal histories and how that applies to personal literacy. As an art education major my own personal literacy involves a lot of visual elements. I can't imagine a world without literacy in it.

La religion catolica

I was watching Univision last night, and within 30 minutes there were three references to God and miracles.

First, I tuned in late to La Rosa de Guadalupe, a television drama created for teens that always has a moral at the end. During the show, the protagonists reveal their problem and then at some point, visit a picture of the Virgen de Guadalupe to ask for guidance or help.

The background on the Virgen de Guadalupe is that a young Mexican boy named Juan Diego was walking through the Mexican countryside when the Virgen Mary appeared to him and told him to tell the local priest to build a chapel in that spot. He ran to the church to tell the bishop, who asked for proof. Juan Diego went back and the Virgen de Guadalupe gave him a bunch of roses, not native to the region, to carry in his cloak and take back to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened his cloak to show the roses to the bishop, the roses were gone and an image of the Virgen was imprinted on his cloak. Today, millions of people visit the shrine of Guadalupe and ask for her help.

After La Rosa de Guadalupe, the Spanish-language version of Entertainment Tonight, Primer Impacto, came on. They interviewed a woman in Honduras who has a son playing soccer in the World Cup. Several times during the interview, both she and her son mentioned that they honor or thank God first, and then hope that his team wins and that he does well.

About 10 minutes later, Primer Impacto did a segment on capturing the energy of Jesus Christ, interviewing a man who says he feels real energy and well-being when he sits in front of his picture of Jesus Christ. They interviewed a few people who have worked with this man, and they, too, could feel a physical holy presence emanating from the picture.

This all reminded me about how important the God, the Virgen Mary, and the Catholic Church are in the everyday lives of the majority of Spanish-speaking people, especially in Latin America. There are diverse opinions, of course, but overall, the Catholic Church plays a much bigger role in day-to-day life there than it does here in non-Latino U.S. Society. Being culturally literate in Spanish means being aware of this difference.

I was reminded of a time last year when I picked up my Colombian friend and her two children to go to the swimming pool. As I began driving, she suddenly did an intense prayer to God and made the sign of the cross. I still don't know if that is something she always does, or if she feared for her life with me behind the wheel.

Literacy is everywhere

We read everything every minute of everyday. Even in our sleep our brains cannot help but predict what will happen next and struggle with confusing situation. We are always reading, analyze and placing thing n a context to make sense of them.

As an artist I find myself alway noticing different aspects of life that perhaps other don't think about. For instants this public performance outside of "Rock the Garden". The obvious relation is these people are all dressed as Andy Warhol outside of the Walker which displays many pieces of his work. But are they making a statement or simply being clever about getting exposure in this busy place by being dressed like Andy Warhol as a group in many different position for photo opts. Is it a peaceful protest to the fact that the Walker is closed this day to accommodate all the concert goers? Does the fence play a huge part in their performance because it keeps their views at a distance? Is there signifigances in the number eight, is that how many works of art by Andy Warhol the Walker owns? Is it planned when they change positions? Is there a certain time frame they are working with? The questions that my mind automatically starts asking as it visually reads this live performance are crazy. It also beings a conversation with the people at the concert and crowds gather to document this unusual situation.

Read the World

Every single person in the entire world is a member of a community, whether that community is small or big. In addition, every single person in the entire world is a citizen of the world, a continent, a country, and then a province or state, and city or town. How does every single person in the world know how to be members of communities or just a citizen in general? Growing up, children are taught societal values that most often reflect what could be the “instructions” on how to behave as a member of a community or as a citizen. Citizenship is taught all over the world in every nation, but although the actual definition of citizenship (Active citizenship is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment of their community through economic participation, public, volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens, as well as the political participation in the life of the community, the right to vote, and the right to receive certain protection from the community, as well as obligations) stays generally true for most places you go, the individual meanings of each of these stand for may vary drastically from one country to the next, and sometimes even from one town to the next. For example almost all countries I have ever heard of, besides extreme poverty stricken communities, all require some sort of “economic participation” as stated in the definition above, however “economic participation” definitely does NOT have the same meaning or expectation everywhere you go. In order for every single person to fulfill this responsibility, they must be able to recognize and read their world in order to become “literate” members of their particular community or citizens of their state/ nation.
The photo is of a flyer that was dropped off to my front door by Mr. Bob Bushman who is running for Sherburne County Sheriff. Now, I have lived in Sherburne County almost all of my life, I have other family and many friends that live in Sherburne County. I know the area, the type of people, the quality and type of schools; therefore I am able to read Mr. Bushman’s flyer bulleting his experience, education, and civic involvement to formulate an opinion of his candidacy because I am literate of the expectations of my particular community.

est-ce que vous êtes révolutionnaire?

I took this photo yesterday in the Lund's parking lot:

It caught my eye for two reasons.  First off, everything French grabs me- whether it's writing or speech (two French ladies came into the movie theater the other day, speaking French. I almost had a heart attack I got so excited).  Second, after I stopped and read it I thought: "whoa."  I mean, it's sort of deep, isn't it?

est-ce que vous êtes révolutionnaire?
are you revolutionary?
or
are you a revolutionary?

This made me think of literacy instantly, so I whipped out my phone and snapped a picture.  There are so many different ways to read into it.  You can look at the writing, or as a photograph (as it's now become).
Written on the back of a Ford pickup truck with a topper, with a Led Zeppelin sticker and a South Dakota license plate as the only other defining clues.  What kind of revolution is the driver fighting for?  Is he recruiting?  Did he write the phrase on the back of his own truck, or did someone else do it?  Is just the truck from South Dakota, or is the driver?  Are they just visiting?  Do they call Minneapolis or even Minnesota home now?

The reason I gave two different translations is because in French, you do not put an article in front of a profession.  So you don't say "I am a lawyer," you say "I lawyer" basically.  That is one of the specific reasons that this French phrases begs more questions than answers for me.  In French we have mostly all the same aspects in literacy as in English, with the added bonus of crazy grammar to make things more confusing (not necessarily in a bad way).

I guess I have just learned that literacy can be interpreted in different ways.  The word literacy can mean many different things and be applied to almost anything.  And in this same way the message written on the truck can be interpreted in many different ways.  It could mean anything.