Breath of Fresh Art

 Materials: Multimedia paper, black paper, printer with printer paper, glue, wire (this will be in the finished piece) Processes: I printed out the thinker and drew a weightlifter silhouette on white copy paper and taped that to black paper then cut both out using a pocketknife. I then adjusted the positions and glued them down. Ideas: I wanted to contrast a simple contemplative lifestyle with a more physical and active lifestyle, or simply brains v brawn. I would like to add zigzag wire of different color coming from each to represent the different energy that comes out of each lifestyle. I don’t want to say that strength or intelligence is better or that one cannot have both. Instead I want to show that they are distinct.

Materials: Multimedia paper, large printer paper, glue stick, and red yarn. Processes: I found a pattern for a brain maze that has straight edges and printed it as a reference. I cut multi media paper into two centimeter strips and then folded and cut the strips along the width to make the appropriate corners and ends. Ideas: I wanted to show that our brains are like a maze. A neural pathway that our thoughts can take is represented by the red string. I wanted to show complexity within the human brain and thinking by illustrating the neurons firing in a specific way that makes a thought. Progress picture:  

  Materials: fabric from worn out firefighter pants, yarn, thread. Processes: I laid a head outline out with dark yarn, and put blue and white yarn in. Ideas: I wanted to represent decay in cognitive ability and memory. The blue yarn represents good synapses and the white represents dead synapses and I made the white rise up like smoke.

Materials: White, black, purple, blue and red ABS plastic. Processes: I found silhouettes of three subjects and replicated them with a 3D pen. Ideas: I wanted to illustrate an exaggerated comparison of three brains. Each has a purple section which represents the amygdala, which is responsible for life critical functions among other things. Red represents the temporal lobe which is responsible for memory and some analysis. The blue region represents the frontal lobe and is responsible for many human characteristics like speech. In reality the distinction between all these sections is not always prominent.  

Materials: 3D pen with black ABS plastic. Processes: I found a suitable image of the brain and printed it, drew the body and the strings with pencil, then put the clear plastic board over it, filled in the negative space in the brain, and traced the rest. Ideas: I wanted to find a new way to represent string so I made a representation of a puppet controlled by strings. I made the strings attached to the body because physically, people can be controlled, but our minds are able to think freely.  

Materials:  Black origami paper, white poster board, yarn. Processes: I tied the knot that I found and folded origami men of different sizes to represent a father and son. Ideas: Many of our tendencies and cognitive behaviors are inherited. I wanted to show a link between generations in our similar brains. I was inspired by a rope decoration that I found at my grandmother’s house.