Eunice Oh
Arts Scholar
Pentathlon Semester 1
As an experiential component of College Park Arts Scholars, I attended a selection of five art events during my first semester. These events ranged in art mediums and each sparked dialogue among my peers.
mxmtoon at the NextNOW Fest 2020
September 10, 2020
As an avid fan of mxmtoon and her music, I was excited to have the opportunity to attend a virtual live performance and Q&A session. From mxmtoon, I learned that music can allow you to portray your emotions, even if it sounded rather silly. She wanted us to understand that mistakes are how we learn about ourselves and that music, like other art forms, can be a platform to showcase what we love. This can be connected to Arts Scholars in that there is an emphasis of doing what you enjoy yet trying things you've never done before. Art is versatile, diverse, and forgiving; sometimes when you try something new, you make mistakes, but it's important to know that it's okay to make those mistakes because they're all learning experiences. After having a fallout with music years ago, mxmtoon makes me want to give it a second chance.
#music
TED Talk: Give Yourself Permission to Be Creative by Ethan Hawke
October 2, 2020
This TED Talk's title struck me as odd at first. After all, being an artist, I never thought that I needed to give myself permission to be creative and express myself. However, as actor Ethan Hawke explored this in detail, I learned why we may not give ourselves this "permission." We want to offer something that lives up to the world's expectations, and sometimes, your creativity might not suffice. For most people, we're never really thinking about the arts all the time; there are too many things to tend to. Yet, creativity can take form in anything. It's how we embrace it and make it part of our lives and individuality. I came to understand why we need to allow ourselves to be creative, even when it seems unnecessary or not enough. If anything, what really stuck with me was how Hawke described creativity as something so vital. It may be hard to embrace your efforts of expression, but in the process you get to heal and tend to yourself and others. Creativity is personal yet extraordinarily capable to reach others. I believe it has a vital role in all parts of society.
#presentation
Arts Scholars: Zine-making Workshop
October 8, 2020
I had the opportunity to connect with my fellow Arts scholars peers in a TA-led zine-making workshop through Zoom. A zine is essentially a home-made self-publication. In this workshop I was able to not only collaborate with my peers but venture into my own distinct style with freedom. A zine is free from any limitations so making one is all about self-expression and incorporating your own twist of creativity. This workshop is one of many examples of how the Arts scholars fosters a tight-knit community. We all get to know one another through our own creativity and imagination; it was amazing to see how diverse each of our zines were. Zine-making is an example of how art, essentially, can promote interpersonal relationships. I look forward to other Arts scholars events to create more connections and to continuously hone my own creative ideas.
#visual art #arts scholars
Arts Scholars: Among Us Game Night
October 17, 2020
My Peer Mentor, Amy, hosted an Among Us game night. Among Us is a mafia-esque game with two teams: crewmates and imposter(s). The crewmates must figure how who the imposters (who are trying to sabotage and ultimately kill them) are while completing their tasks and fix emergencies. The game's popularity has been on a steady rise ever since quarantine started. Among Us has been a favorite of mine because of its simplicity. With 2D characters, simple colors and shading, and ability to customize one's character, these artistic choices highlights a message of accessibility and that you don't need to have artistic ability to draw these characters, as there have been many who've done so. Although this is only a game, I've realized that there's much more to it than its actual gameplay. So much development and concept are poured into the background and I can't help but to appreciate games so much more. Now, I've been finding myself plunging deeper into the artistic and imaginative worlds of other games such as League of Legends, Pokémon, and more.
#presentation #arts scholars
Arts Scholars: CO-STUDY SESH
December 12, 2020
Gabi led a co-study session that incorporated the Pomodoro method, a time management technique for studying or working in organized intervals of 25 minutes with 5 minutes breaks. I chose to participate in dance-based stretches during the breaks. As someone who constantly works non-stop, sitting for hours on end with my eyes glued to the screen can cause me to experience burnout, unnecessary stress, and fatigue yet, I used to think that taking breaks would “waste” precious time that could be used to study. Although I grew out of this harmful mindset, Gabi’s integration of the Pomodoro method reinforced the importance of taking breaks and allowing your body to rest. Stepping away from my work allowed me to focus on myself. The dance-based stretches impacted my study efficacy in that I felt refreshed, something that's necessary after working for a while. They positively forced me to be active rather than remaining sedentary. The Pomodoro method is something that I'll integrate into my future study sessions.
#arts scholars #dance
Pentathlon 1:
UMD. NextNOW Fest."mxmtoon." Accessed 10 September 2020.
Pentathlon 2:
TED2020. Ted Talk. "Give Yourself Permission to be Creative." https://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_hawke_give_yourself_permission_to_be_creative/transcript#t-462965. Accessed 22 October 2020.
Pentathlon 5:
UMD Arts Scholars. Gabrielle Tillenburg. "Co-Study Sesh." Accessed 12 December 2020.
Pentathlon Semester 2
Follow along this semester as I continue to document my arts experiences.
Arts Scholars: Online Game Night
February 6, 2021
Arts Scholars Peer Mentors, Amy and Vicki, hosted a game night on Zoom where we played Telestrations and Among Us. It was great to spend some time with my scholars peers. Focusing on Telestrations, it's a game a drawing version of the classic telephone game where you instead draw what you're given and guess what other players have drawn. Despite all the fun and laughter we shared, through playing Telestrations, I've realized the powerful impact of these games. Not only did this involve art in that there was doodling and drawing involved, but it highlights how art and teamwork can go hand-in-hand. This game wouldn't have been successful if it weren't for this teamwork. I'm reminded of how teamwork can build up art in ways that one may not think about, and how through art, we are able to connect, collaborate, and support one another. This serves as a powerful message of how art, even through seemingly simple, mundane games like Telestrations, can be truly impactful for us.
#presentation #art scholars
Arts Scholars: Colorful Playlists
February 19, 2021
Arts Scholars Peer Mentor, Sidney Strong, led a virtual playlist-making activity through Zoom. As a group, we collaborated in creating multiple playlists based on different colors such as sea foam green and gray for their themes. We were given creative freedom when picking the songs to add to the playlists. This activity gave us an opportunity to delve into the role of music in the arts. Overall, it was interesting to see the diversity in everyone's music tastes and how each person's thought process differed as we added our chosen songs. This highlights how people perceive music in different ways that may be unique and individualistic to them. Music is powerful, capable of moving people and guiding them to create their own perception of how music can both consciously and unconsciously change their lives. Music has, and always been, an influencing aspect of society; it has diverged from cultures around the world and the act of combining different music genres and songs into these collaborative playlists was very marveling. Through this collective playlist-making, I was able to further gauge the influencing role music plays not only in the arts but in society as a whole.
#music #arts scholars
AAB & Peer Mentors: 2-For-1 Pentathlon: Skribbl.io & Drawing Together
February 28, 2021
The Arts Advisory Board and Peer Mentors held a joint event through Zoom that consisted of multiple art related activities. I chose to participate in playing Skribbl and doing drawing prompts as a group. As many of the other pentathlon activities have done, these two activities also further reinforced my perception of the arts and how these informal activities still nonetheless encourage creativity and imagination. Whether it's simply a game like Skribbl or a timed prompt drawing done as an entire group, these activities still bring out the creativity in creative people. Sometimes, having these fun activities can bring out greater creativity than formal assignments. We are able to also bond in this way. This event was unique personally because of the difference in how we were challenged. For example, in Skribbl, the challenge was showcasing your chosen word with a drawing with a time limit in mind, forcing you to quickly think and draw. On the other hand, the Drawing Together activity where we drew based on prompts challenged us in that especially with the non-timed prompt, the increased amount of time challenged us to really build on our creativity and ideas.
#presentation #visual art #arts scholars
Color Me, Stress Free
April 9, 2021
Arts Scholar Nicole Rose Panebianco hosted an Arts Scholars event to introduce her capstone project where we took the time to relax through meditation and coloring as a glimpse into art therapy and how it can be used to improve mental wellness. We first meditated for a few moments before using our peaceful thoughts as inspiration for coloring a mandala. Throughout the event, not only did I feel more at ease, I was able to understand the role of art in mindfulness and mental health. Art can be a powerful force in practicing mindfulness because artistic mediums whether it be colors, sounds, etc. can pull people in. Art doesn't need to require any formal training. There's creative freedom everywhere, and creativity and imagination pulls us into the moment even further. Art and mindfulness can go hand-in-hand in so many different situations. For example, introducing activities where art is used to improve mindfulness and focus on mental health in schools and even corporate organizations, could potentially boost productivity and the overall well-being of individuals. In a society where overworking and burnout are a norm, putting our effort in finding ways to tackle these serious issues is important, and art can be a great way to accomplish that.
#visual art #arts scholars
"Amidst" Artist Talks
April 22, 2021
UMD's Stamp Gallery presented a presentation featuring three artists, Martin Gonzalez, Alyssa Imes, and Elizabeth Katt, in the second year of MFA candidacy in UMD's Department of Art. The presentation not only showcased each of the artist's unique works, but also discussed how the pandemic has impacted society in the past year. First, each of the artists gave insight on the work that they displayed in the Stamp Gallery. It was fascinating to see how each artist interpret their creativity and imagination to create these beautiful installations. Each delve into social justice as inspiration for their work as well, touching on important issues such as sexual assault and trauma. Additionally, the emotional journey of finding one's identity was highlighted as well. This conversation demonstrated the powerful force of so many mediums of art and how each artist as their unique way of telling a story, portraying the importance of social justice, and more. Art holds so much strength and can be prevalent in so many parts of our lives. In a way, everyone is an artist themselves whether they consciously call themself one or not. Creativity is inside each of us and we have the potential and capability to draw on its strength in so many different ways.
#visual art #presentation
Pentathlon Semester 3
Follow along this semester as I continue to document my arts experiences in my second year.
NextNow Festival 2021:
UMD Immersive Media Design Showcase
September 16, 2021
As someone who's currently in the process of transferring into the Immersive Media Design (IMD) major, I wanted to take the opportunity to view personal immersive works by UMD students in IMD and gauge the significance and continuing emergence of immersive media design in the arts. The showcase was held at the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering. This showcase further opened my eyes to the possibilities of what can be done with immersive media design, AR, XR, and more. It was great to see the diversity within each project which ranged from user-interaction, VR, computing, and sound. Seeing each of the projects made me ask myself, "What is the future of art and design?" I think with immersive media design being a brand-new major at UMD as well as the art form itself becoming more and more prevalent in our technological society, it also begs the question of the relationship between the machine / computer with the artist and the exploration of that idea. This is something that my IMDM class has also been exploring because we're asking ourselves: "Is art that is drawn by a computer really art?" Leaving the showcase, I found myself eager to continue to work hard at getting admitted to the IMD major, and filled with inspiration, I wondered if maybe one day I could create my own immersive work. As a final note, being in-person for this Pentathlon made this experience much more enjoyable.
#visual art #presentation
The Clarice:
ACTnow with Javaad Alipoor & Roshan Institute for Persian Studies: Activist Theater
September 30, 2021
In this presentation which was a livestream over Vimeo, the audience was introduced to Javaad Alipoor, an activist that works in political theater. He talked about his upbringing as an Iranian-English artist who wanted to diversify theater and explore political aspects of it. He specifically talked about how with his own experiences with theater and creating a show he wants his audience to get "stuck" to the questions that he himself is "stuck" to. In other words, when a topic becomes so personal and connected with an artist, the artist wants the audience to feel that immense connection too. With political theater, Alipoor wants the audience to experience the story backwards and then see what that feels like. He then touches on his show Rich Kids: A History of Shopping Malls in Tehran, which is part of a trilogy that explores contemporary politics and technology. He invites the audience to enhance the viewing through Instagram. During a slow, heavy-hearted, monotonous time during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alipoor believed this would be a playful cool way to enhance the show. From Alipoor's talk, I learned that art activism has a real, important place in the world because it invites people to do a "u-turn" in their life, as Alipoor explained, to reflect on one's life to rethink the future, remake the world. This talk reminded of my first semester in Arts Scholars where we explored how arts and activism go hand-in-hand with one another, and I believe this teamwork can be a driving force in our society. Not only can this be achieved through theater but through other art forms as well.
#theater #presentation
Coffee & Crafts: Yoga and High School Music
October 7, 2021
TAs Amy Y. and Vicki hosted a relaxing yoga and fun dance break session to high school era music to unwind and have some fun for the incoming weekend. Despite this being an event to unwind and catch up with fellow Arts Scholars, both freshmen and sophomores, this event helped to emphasize that part of Arts Scholars is to connect with one another. I was able to do that through dancing and doing yoga with one another. The arts (dance and music in this case) also emphasize this connection with others. This event also reminded me of the Week 2Berkers and Michael's reading about festivals and collective effervescence. This event wasn't exactly a festival but we all experienced an energy of being together and having fun with yoga and dance breaks. It was even more connecting in that for the dance break, we were listening to high school era music, which we all grew up on. Sharing our appreciation for this music made this experience even more meaningful. Overall, not only was this event enjoyable, it also allowed me to relate this event to something we've learned in this semester, helping me to emphasize its significance in our lives.
#music #dance #arts scholars
Personal Digital Art Project: "A Girl Named Chaos"
October 27, 2021
I wanted to explore my personal art and draw a digital piece. This piece, called "A Girl Named Chaos," drawn on Medibang Paint Pro, was inspired by a new character that I had formulated. I then took the time to draw this piece; this piece ultimately took a day to finish. This personal project stemmed from my appreciation for character building and observing my own process when I create a new character. This piece was the creation of a character named Chaos who is a demon and shapeshifter. She's fond of more grotesque forms to intimidate others. Chaos came to creation through my inspiration of body horror and personal interests in incorporating teeth, eyes, and more fantastical creatures in my work. I used to think that my art style and artistic interests in my work didn't really "fit in" within the art community. I used to want to draw what everyone else did and was often ashamed of showing off my work over fears that I would get judged. However, more recently, as I continue to improve and develop my art style, I've become much prouder and confident of my work and have surrounded myself with supportive peers. Drawing this piece has helped to emphasize the importance of surrounding oneself with support and that "fitting in" shouldn't really be the main focus of art. I draw what I draw because it encompasses my interests and art style. No one should be able to take that away from me. Additionally, drawing this piece reminded me of the supportive community that Arts Scholars is, that any and all art are welcome.
#visual art
A Film Analysis of "Edward Said on Orientalism" from the Media Education Foundation
November 19, 2021
On UMD's streaming service, Kanopy, I came across this documentary regarding Edward Said's scholarly book "Orientalism." I decided to watch it because in one of my classes, we had discussed Said's work so I wanted to see if I could make connections between what I had learned in class. Fortunately, I certainly did make connections and was able to delve deeper into the Middle East specifically rather than focusing on Asia as a whole. Said and Sut Jihally discussed how the western hemisphere's views of eastern cultures have influenced the way people think the way they do, especially in terms of race, with particular focus on demonization of Islam in western popular culture. It was interesting to learn how popular culture beliefs about Islam and the Middle East are distorted and harms the enriching cultures that the Middle East encompasses. The film also discussed the differences in such beliefs between POC and whites, something that is still prevalent in our society today. This film helped me to create connections between two of my classes, Arts Scholars and Asian American studies, portraying how ideas of race and culture can be tied into the arts.
#film
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Pentathlon Semester 4
Follow along this semester as I continue to document my arts experiences in my second year.
All Niter: TIME WARP
February 5, 2022
I participated in the various activities that the All Niter provided, many of which were visual art-based. The activities included painting, creating a stuffed animal, making our own button pins, and more. This event not only allowed me to engage socially but also to enjoy the arts activities that the event offered. By the end of this event, I felt very engaged and energized because all of my attention was retained throughout the night. This event also surprisingly connected to my major in that I was able to get in contact with people I could reach out to regarding marketing opportunities and potential internships. In other words, this event exposed me to possible opportunities that I could take on in terms of exploring marketing as my major and career field. Additionally, this event was unique in that it further emphasized the influence of the arts coupled with social aspects. It highlighted how the arts can truly work with a variety of different aspects of society to bring people together and allow them to think and participate creatively with those around them. I believe such events like All Niter allows creativity to foster and provides the opportunity to do so outside of academics.
#visual art
Ted Talk: Do Schools Kill Creativity?
(Sir Ken Robinson)
February 26, 2022
I watched Sir Ken Robinson's TedTalk on the relationship between school and the arts and creativity. Although Sir Ken Robinson has now passed several years ago, I believe his TedTalk provides valuable information about the importance of creativity and the arts even in academia. I particularly resonated with how he criticized national education systems stigmatize mistakes, preventing children from cultivating their "creative capacities." He asked the audience why society allows this, allows children to grow out of their creativity rather than allowing them to develop them. It also made me appreciate how fortunate I am to have the opportunities to truly cultivate my passion for the arts and creativity, both in school and outside of school. I believe they are fulfilling part of my life and my identity would be vastly different if I didn't have these passions. It's why I'm grateful to have communities and programs within UMD such as Arts Scholars to foster and encourage the arts in academia. I also believe that fostering creativity both with successes and mistakes can be an important part of education because creativity isn't always just the arts, but also innovation and transformation, all that can be found in various aspects in society.
#presentation
LeVar Burton Reads: The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
March 13, 2022
For my third pentathlon in the final semester of Arts Scholars, I revisited a familiar text, "The Paper Menagerie," by Ken Liu, read by LeVar Burton. I wanted to revisit this piece of work in terms of reflecting on my viewpoint on identity, culture, and assimilation as an Asian-American individual. This piece of work really hit close to home since I could empathize with the main character, Jack, and the struggles he had between his desire to assimilate into American culture while his mother tried to pass on Chinese culture so that it wouldn't be lost. Thinking about my own experiences, I recall trying to assimilate into American culture because I desperately wanted to "fit in," that the Korean culture I grew up with didn't belong. However, just like Jack in the end when he found his mother's letter after she passed, I grew to accept the Korean culture I grew up with because I realized that it was such a large part of my identity. Now, I don't want to reject the fact that I'm Korean; I want to embrace it. Coming back to this text I read in the past allowed me to take the opportunity of Arts Scholars to reflect how literature in the arts can allow us to connect with our identity and culture. Although not visual, the words themselves can weave together a powerful story.
#literature
Theatre in Video: About: "Costume Design"
April 2, 2022
I decided to take this opportunity to watch a film in relation to costume design in the world of theatre and its art of storytelling. I specifically watched something related to costume design because there was an animated film that released recently called "BELLE" and I saw a video about how the animators and producers collaborated with costume designers. This allowed them to create BELLE's costumes since she was a singer in this film. I found it really interesting how animators collaborated with costume designers to make this happen. Through this experience, I learned how collaboration within the arts can be very beneficial and sometimes necessary, and it makes me really appreciate the arts more in that it can be very communicative and interpersonal. Watching this film about costume and set designers discuss the importance of their designs in not only theatre but in the arts overall, and this makes me wonder how much more costume design and animation can collaborate with one another. I believe it was successful with "BELLE" and I hope that this collaboration can continue to develop. The creativity of costume designers working in tandem with animators can allow beautiful creations such as animated films like "BELLE" to come to fruition.
#theatre
Drawing Challenge via LinkedIn Learning
April 15, 2022
I tried a drawing challenge, specifically the "Draw what comes to mind" challenge led by illustrator and designer Von Glitschka, who led a 5-day drawing challenge. What I learned with doing this challenge was how freeing it can be to allow your imagination and creativity run wild without there being any right way of drawing something. This really helps to relieve the pressure that it has to be drawn a certain way. In other words, Glitschka encouraged that anyone can draw and that challenges like these can help creativity flow. This can be connected to Arts Scholars in that the program also encourages to take on these types of challenges to push ourselves and experiment. I wonder how else we could further implement these challenges not only in the arts but in other aspects of our lives as well.
#visual art
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