Reaction Paper #1

I was very confused the first time I read the Miracle by Kim Zore Caputo. After reading it a few times, it started to make sense to me. While reading this, I was thinking about all the memories we create for ourselves. I think she was trying to say that memories are so important because if you took away everything else, we would still have our memories. Unfortunately, in time our memories tend to fade. This is why pictures are so important. They capture special moments in our lives that someday we
might have forgotten if we didn’t have pictures to document them. I also think the writer was saying how you never know what memory might pop into your head with absolutely no rhyme or reason at all. Although I’m not sure how this picture addresses the subject of memory, I really liked the butterfly picture by Peter Campus. It shows the beautiful sky in the background. And almost looks like the picture is being split by the changes in the color of the picture in certain areas. I have to say that my absolute favorite picture was by Zeke Berman. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but to me it looks like a spider web. I think it relates to what the writer is talking about by saying it’s a web of memories. Each string represents a memory. And the entire web is full of different memories, but somehow all comes together as one piece. I also liked the picture of the lamp by Baldessari. I felt it was a partial picture. The pieces missing represented lost memories or things forgotten. Whether good or bad, there will always be memories.

Reaction #1

After reading "Miracle" by Kim Zorn Caputo I realized how important memory really is. I thought that the article did a good job telling the readers that memory is important and the best way to keep a memory is to have an object that you can look at or touch to bring you back to the time the memory happened. The article says that one of the best ways to ensure that you won't forget a memory is make it into an art piece. Every piece of art comes from a memory whether it was good or bad, or if it was your memory or someone else's. I never really thought much of memory before reading this article and the posts from the other students but now that I have I think it's safe to say I won't take memory for granted and I will always value it.

This image caught my eye the most because when I think of memories I think of happiness. I think that everyone wants to remember the good things and kind of forget about the bad, so when I see this image it reminds me of a memory that nearly everyone would want to remember for their lifetime.

Response to Mein Kampf

How can anyone in our generation possibly relate to this? The horrors of anti Semitic genocide, cannot be described in words by “the average person.” I myself have read many stories and have seen many pictures, and to this day I have absolutely no Idea what the Jewish population went through during those dark times, the horrors they have experienced, the murders they witnessed, or the nauseating smells of burning bodies, being crammed into small cells and fed bare bone meals.

Mein Kampf, which is German for “My Struggle,” was written by Adolf Hitler while he served his sentence in prison for attempting to take over the German government for the first time. (He was not quite successful his first time, however he became dictator of Germany later on.) The book Mein Kampf was Adolf Hitler telling his story about his great struggle for power during his rise to leadership, and also he tells his story about his life as a German soldier, fighting in the trenches during WWI. He tells of his love for Germany and how he will someday become supreme leader, and “fix” Germanys economic downfall since the first great war.

During the early stages of Hitler’s leadership over Germany, he was possibly one of the greatest leaders of all time. He managed to pull Germany out of a huge economic downfall, He rebuilt the German Army, and had many great promises for Germany’s future. The German people followed and were close to worshiping him, unaware of the dark plans Adolf Hitler had to purify and restore “The New Germany”.

Response to "Miracle"

The article “Miracle” by Kim Zorn Caputo was very intense. It awakens the senses and opens the soul. I believe her interpretation of art is to be understood by those who create art. This article brings together the forces of time by including those who have searched for purpose generations before us. I loved the relationship between smelling the almond, soft falling rain, feeling a cold sink and previous life experiences. It was like a deja vu moment.


I understood the unconditional love & deep loss, I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer. She was my anchor, my foundation, love and truth. She left me with memories, I believe this to be the greatest gift I am left with. She understood me. Now I wonder, searching on this journey. I see the beauty of the sunset & the full moon . She would often call me to remind me to take a look at God’s beauty.

Life experiences allow us growth make us stronger. Through art and the capture of memories we are brought to understand fulfillment and human purpose. The longing to be embraced to feel alive may be our empty heart touched by reality…a reality we did not know before loss or love.

The image by Sally Mann brought back memories of my sister, and mother and I sitting by a bonfire my father lit. It was a grand life we had.

The image by Lee Friedlander caught the depth of time. I took a similar photo of my girls near the river by an old cottonwood tree. Trees seem to show age, strength, beauty, depth, and life. A relationship between life and death with each passing season.

Reaction Paper Number One

Miracle

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of a miracle is definitely not trimming my toenails and the scents of rain and almond oil. When I first think of memory, it reminds me of the movie 50 First Dates. When Drew Barrymore suffers from a memory impairment. Each night that she goes to sleep her memory is erased from that day, and she believes that everyday is her fathers birthday. This movie breaks my heart to see someone that you love go through that and be able to explain to them everyday what happened, I could not imagine life without a memory or having to be reminded each and everyday who I am. The article took me a few times to read before I was able to connect with and understand the message that the author is trying to portray. I found it interesting how complex the human mind really is and the ability to connect a simple task like trimming toenails to jealous gods. The mind is a beautiful thing, and it could also be treacherous. It allows you to imagine, dream, hope wonder remember and be a unique individual. Hope can also drive someone insane and can be a dangerous thing. People rely on their memory to do everyday tasks and also use it to remember and broaden their view of the world. Every person also has the ability to retrieve and repress memories and events that they have been through in their lifetime. Art allows you not to forget your memories and express them in creative ways. This reminds me of how I write poetry and scrapbook, the little tags next to the pictures and the poems that I incorporate all tell a story of my life that allows me to retrace my childhood and walk through it step by step again. The description and the details put into the artwork allows me to be like I was in the moment.

The pictures from this issue really amaze me and are really eye catchy. The first picture that really struck my eye is the “Gate” by Zeke Berman. Abstract is really eye popping and catchy to me, and it allows your mind to wander and create of the picture what you think it looks like. When you first look at it looks like it is a broken window shattered by a rock, also in the background it looks like there is a window sill in the background. Black and white pictures also are really appealing to me, just adds a touch of elegance to the room.

The next picture that really stands out to me is the “Child in Rubens’ House, Antwerp” by Todd Weinstein. The expression on the girls face looks like she is concentrating really hard and by her hand expression it looks like she might be terrified of something maybe something in the foregrounds stimulated her memory and it was a reaction. Another thing that stands out in the picture is the picture that looks like it is leaning off the wall and it is kind of shadowed so you cannot make out what was in the picture. It allows someone looking at this piece to visualize and think of something that might make her react in such a manor.

Miracle

When I first read Kim Zorn Caputo's article it was hard for me to understand what she is saying. After I read it a couple times I realized that memory is such a beautiful part of our lives. Having memory is like having a homemade camera in our heads. Memory takes better pictures than an actual camera but will fade in time. Pictures can have a lot to do with memory and can tie into memory in many ways. Anyone can think of different ways to tie the two together.

When I read this story I thought about my grandma who is suffering from Alzheimer’s/Pick’s Disease, which both deal with memory loss. This doesn’t only affect them, but it affects all of her friends and family members. She cannot recognize anyone and has basically been living without a memory for 7 years now. I do believe this has brought our family together closer, but how fun would it be to not have a memory? This is why pictures on paper are very important because the pictures in our minds might now always stay there.

When I was looking at the pictures, the picture with the sand on the table really stuck out to me. To me, the table is the head and all the little rocks are memories that have been made. Through time, though, it might get windy and some of those rocks will fall off the table, which means, to me, that that is when some of the memories fade away.

I kind of thought the same thing for the picture with the oats field and big fire. All of those oat plants are memories that someone has, but as those oats turned brown after being green, they start to burn and fade away. Memory is a gift from God and everyone should be thankful for it. Everyone should cherish memory while they have it because it will fade as times goes on and they get older.

Tammy's Reaction Essay 1

I believe it is said that we use only 10% or less of our brains. How much of that is memories? Perhaps 99%? Memory is a funny thing. We all seem to want to remember everything that goes on in our lives yet why do we need most of what has happened to us.

I found Zeke Berman’s Gate very expressive of what I feel like my memories are like. It seems very sketchy with lots of empty black space. Having a neurological issue due to migraines I lost part of my memory several years back and have never regained it. Do I miss it? Yes for some things, such as memories of raising my children. Are there things I would like not to remember (or in my case…be told about)? You Bet!

I know that our memories are for the most part just stories that we tell ourselves or that others tell us. If you ask two people to describe an event from their past they both will tell you some variations of that event. Kim Zorn Caputo hits the nail right on the head when she says, “Memory is the force behind making art—the drive not to forget.” With my photos of the past I am able to find some of my own stories according to the subjects. I can see that I am trying to capture all the people in my life so that I will always have them. I know part of this has come from losing my parents when I was in my very early twenties some twenty years have passed since then. Without art…my photos I would have lost all of their last years.

I also was drawn to John Baldessari’s, The Lamp Series. I find myself looking for what is missing to be very engaging. I not only want to know what he took out but what can I put in that space. I can imagine that I see that there was perhaps a person along the left of the photo and then a desk and even a typewriter on that desk to the right. But this is what I want to see as I don’t really know what was there. But that is what I think art is…a chance to dream for all of us.