Last day at Zayed University/ Exhibition at Tashkeel 2

Last day_working on group projects for the exhibition



Tashkeel_presenting each groups' project

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MZ Swap


After the presentation, our group got critics from people who came to the exhibition. One of the comments we got was that our group project was more towards about the process and progress than the result or final product.
Implying our ideas into 4 individual panels was about going through a thought process to present the individuals. Then how those different 16 panels (4 each) come together and make one piece to present the ‘unity in variety.’ Our thoughts developed from the phrase that Maitha found, “Similar but so different, Different but so similar.”

As mentioned before,
“We are all different, but similar, and it is only when we share our thoughts that we accomplish the ultimate goal of understanding and peace.”



Bernard said, "Experience is what it is."

From this Dubai trip and working with Zayed University students, I learned how to compromise and negotiate each other’s ideas and opinions within the group. Working with group is an important part in design field. From sharing thoughts, I got to know and understand better about the culture and people.
Experiencing culture and people physically and emotionally was the whole process of making this Dubai trip much more valuable and unique.
This great experience gave me chance to expand my way of thinking and understanding different cultures. I definitely think this experience will affect my art.
I hope this opportunity can be shared and continued.

Last day at Zayed University/ Exhibition at Tashkeel

E- On our last day at Zayed, we finished up the individual part of the work on the panels, and moved quickly to get the backs painted. We laid all of the panels out and decided what composition looked best based on the imagery and colors that we chose, then flipped the panels and painted them a solid black. Once they dried we stenciled the quote "The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety"- a quote that we think really sums up what we wanted to achieve through our work.

At the actual exhibition we faced several obstacles when installing our work. We couldn't hang anything on the walls so we had to create a tiered platform by stacking tables and benches of various heights. We ended up covering our makeshift display with brown craft paper, as to not distract from the work itself. It worked out quite nicely, but boy was it a lot of work.

We weren't sure what to expect regarding the presentation of the work, were we doing a presentation to the whole crowd or were we going to just stand by the work and explain it to individual viewers? We prepared for the latter and therefore our presentation was somewhat short and disorganized. After the presentation we received comments and questions from several people. In general the feedback was positive, and the only criticism we received was about the presentation.

When the critique was over, the Zayed girls gave us amazing gifts like books, dates, burqas, textiles, and lots more. We had given them our gifts a few days before. The gift exchange was really great, and saying goodbye made me realize how close everyone had really gotten in such a short time. I can definitely say that working with the Zayed girls has had a great impact on my art and my whole way of thinking. It's been a fantastic experience. I hope that this program will continue for many years to come. Maybe next year the girls can come to the states!

Here are some of mine and Sunny's photos from the last day in the studio and the exhibition at Tashkeel.

Bernard Hilton

Bernard made it into the tabloids after being seen with this "cute camel".

Work in Progress

For Emily

Kimchi is better

AMERICA IS THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!!

Emily celebrates the 4th of July alone in her hotel room. What a loser.

Triangle Madness

Trying to find inspiration from optical art, dimension art, and graphic design that incorporate triangles.






More Images

Our Progress on the Final Project

While brainstorming and researching for our project, we came up with a lot of different ideas that we eventually had to try our best to combine.

Ideas and Concepts:
- Real Stories (Inspiring stories with morals)
- Truths and Myths (Things that people think are true but are not actually true)
ex: 1. women in the gulf are abused 2. women in the gulf are not convinced with what they wear.. etc
- Religion and Beliefs
- Contemporary Culture (Our new evolving culture)
- Similarities and Differences (We always try to point out the things that makes us different and separate us, but forget the things that makes us similar)
- Stereotypes
- Cause and Effect

Possible Vehicles:
- Trading Cards/Flash Cards/Card Game
- Illustrations of Keywords on panels

We debated over the idea of a card game for a while, but decided that it wasn't in keeping with our concept, which is more about trading ideas, not comparing them. We landed on an idea that came about because of a photography exhibit that Maitha mentioned to us. The photographer had done a series of several photographs that all had the same compositions, but different subject matter. We agreed that this went along quite well with our concept that we are all different, but similar, and it is only when we share our thoughts that we accomplish the ultimate goal of understanding and peace.

Our vehicle will consist of 16 panels of MDF- each 15x15 inches. Each of the group members will be responsible for 4 of the panels and has total freedom as to what they what to put on the panels, as long as they have a triangle in the center of the composition. When the panels are turned over, as the viewer will be instructed to do, the 16 panels together will form a new image with a large triangle across them all. We chose a Triangle to symbolize the 3 different cultures that make up our group (Korean, American, Emirati).

We made the news!

This group photo, taken at Sheikh Nahyan's farm house was published in yesterday's newspaper. We were all very excited!

Catching Up: June 30- July 2

Since the talk with the creator of Freej, we have been moving forward at a faster pace with our final project. We've been working out the kinks within our group and have the materials ready to start working on the physical aspects of the project. Khadeeja purchased 16 15"x15" panels of MDF on which we are going to paint and print on in the upcoming days. Our concept is that unless we share our thoughts and stories with one another, we cannot see the big picture- a unified and peaceful world. We were inspired by one quote in particular- "The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety."

On Wednesday, July 1st we went to a gallery talk lead by our art history professor, Ron Hawker, on Ancient Islamic Art in Farjeem Gallery, a gallery in DIFC.

We walked around the area and visited several other galleries with all kinds of art from all over the world. One of the galleries was Cuadro. Another was the Opera gallery.

Later that day we went to a catered panel discussion at the Dubai Ladies Club. Emily and Sunny represented MICA on the panel and talked about their experiences with art exchange programs- this one in particular. We also discussed about the identity and how we can change peoples' perception by sharing arts (Method of communication).

Art and design is the greatest tool to communicate and spread ideas and culture.
We feel that it is our responsibility to share our experiences and spread what we have learned to the public.

On Thursday, July 2nd, we visited Sheikh Nahyan at his farm house. We ate a huge lunch there and talked to him briefly about our program. There was more food on the table than any of us had ever seen. It was surreal!

After lunch the Sheikh insisted that the provost of UAE University take us on a short tour of the facilities. He showed us a research lab where we saw a robot that they had been working on. He was capable of using social networking sites like facebook. The also had several other projects in progress around the lab.

This week we will have 4 days of studio time before the final exhibition. Now that the blog is up to date, we are going to start printing and painting on the MDF.