Assignment # 14: Write your life story in less than a day

It was a Friday night during November in a year of the 1980s, I entered to the world. At that time, in my country, the war just had finished around six years ago; thus, every one lived in a very hard condition. I grew up with no toys, with no milk for baby; and my mother could not nurse me because she had not enough nutrition to eat. I was feed by the broth from rice and vegetables which were steamed almost four hours per day by my mom.
Time goes by, when I was six-month old; I was sent to a kindergarten which is closed to my house because if my mom had stayed at home longer, she would have been fired. At that time, the salary of my dad could not afford the whole family; therefore, my mom had no choice. Coming to kindergarten, I was terribly sick. Almost every month, I had to stay in hospital for a week and my parents took turn to take care of me. Of course, the threats of being lay-off were always hanging over our lives. Thankfully, I was better when I became six years old. I could eat much more than I had done before and had a better health. Consequently, my parents could concentrate into their works and had some promotions during that time.
Since then, I started my premier school where I was being a monitor from grade one to grade five. I was a leader in activities and always tried to be on the list of the top-ten pupils. My mom taught me everyday night from seven to nine o’clock to make sure that I understood everything I had learned from school, so I would get good marks. However, one day, I remember, I lied to her that I got ten marks in Mathematic but actually I just got four, later on she fingered out that I lied to her. She beat me that I could not forget until now. She, then, taught me that marks did not the goal in studying; it should be the reflection of my understanding. I was so ashamed about what I had done. When I went to my secondary school, I still kept my position as a monitor generation. I became the center in the class and famous in the school because of my top grades. I studied all the time that I could because I needed to pass the exam to enter into the best high school in my town. At the end, I got it. My high school time was the time that I remember most. I started having dating with two or three boys in the school. Our relationship were too pure to remember clearly; our conversations just were about the study and chit-chatted about our friends. That was all we did.
Afterwards, at the end of 2001, I went to Sweden with my father, who worked for Vietnamese government. I learned Swedish in three years but I did not have certificate in English to be able to enter into university there. Therefore, I came here, Canada, where I met one man who is a student from my country and understand me most; he afterwards is my husband. Now, he is sitting beside me and reading this story as one way of rehearing my life. Thank God that let he comes to my life and share the life with me.
At first, I want to thank to Miranda, who creates this website and gives the idea of retelling the life story. It gives me a chance to share my life with some one else, who would never image how I could be like I am now. When I wrote this story as an assignment, I followed the direction in Miranda July’s website. First, I wrote down what I remember into a piece of paper. Then, I formatted it in full sentences and organized it for the readers able to follow it easily. At the beginning, I thought it would be less than two hours but it was not. It actually took me almost four hours to write, organize, and type it up. Doing these, I feel like I am a “real professional writer.”
Moreover, the website of the introduction to the book “No one belongs here rather than you” of Miranda July makes me feel that she is using the postmodern term to apply to the art. At the beginning, she uses the top of her refrigerator as a dry-erase board, and then the face of the fireplace to write down the information. Miranda is using the technoculture and pastiche as the characteristics of postmodern to make the readers feel very friendly. The two materials that she uses in this website symbolize for the preparation of a food, which is a “spiritual food”. Then, through this, we can say that art depends on the way you look at something else’s not from their own physicals.

Assignment # 27: Take a picture of the sun

About my process

Recently, I took a picture of the sun. The photo was taken at Old Montreal, under a tree. It was September 25, 2007, and the time was 1:36PM. I remember the weather was sunny, and the temperature reached about 26 degrees Celsius. I used my cell phone camera which was a Sony Ericsson W850, an two mega pixels flash. I pointed the camera towards the sun and shot the photo. I did not look directly at the sun through my camera’s viewfinder because the sun was shinning so bright, so I did not want to hurt my eyes. Then I went home, connected my phone to the computer and printed out the image.

The process of this assignment is not hard, but not easy too. A simple image of the sun is just a picture without meaning. However, a good picture is something we can inspire things from it. It needs to follow the path to take a perfect photo, and I did it. Here is what I did while taking the photo of the sun. First, I thought about my photo: the place, environment, etc. Second, I chose my angle. Third, I framed my shot and controlled the light effect. Finally, I snapped the shot.

Analysis

I think the assignments of Miranda July’s goals are to lead us to our own experience, and to learn things from it. The assignments given in the website are various subjects that we can experience. Miranda July aims us to try ourselves in the person’s that professes it. By doing these assignments, we know more about the definition of art. So what we have here is curiosity, to explore, to discover and to learn things that we never did before.

Assignment #55: Photograph a significant outfit

The reason why I chose this particular assignment is because I love photography and I am fascinated with clothing. There are many reasons how I remember wearing that particular outfit. The previous night I went on a wild road trip, my boyfriend asked me what I wanted to do throughout the weekend and as a stunt, I said I wanted to go to New York City. He was then enhanced to go and within the same hour, we were packing our luggage to spend the weekend in New York City. It was such a drastic event in such little time that we were scheduling therefore I was feeling excited and stressed. Our laundry basket was over loaded and we obviously did not have time to wash some clothes and I was urged to prepare my outfits not knowing if the weather was going to be warm, cold, or rainy with limited choices of clothing. I was anxious about the idea that I did not have my best outfits and I knew that it would make me feel uncomfortable however I compromised with myself and wore anything. The ridiculous concept is that I was so concerned about my outfit and I actually cut my tights on our drive to New York because the temperature was hot. The fundamental significance of that outfit is that my adventure was unexpected, astonishing and overwhelming.

I believe Miranda July’s website could be based to produce imagination and artistry an impression of reality or to evoke a memory either by the smells, sounds or visions. After browsing through the different topics, I can perceive that she wants people to think about or inspect things that are happening in our daily lives or to recapitulate events that affect an individual and expressing the events by art such as acting, drawing, taking pictures, or even writing. This assignment conceives people to experience a passive event in an unusual and particular way.

Assignment #59: Interview a person who has experienced a war

“Daniel Was a Young Child During the Second World War”

Me: “What was the most frightening experience you had during the war? An experience

that has stayed with you forever?”

Daniel: “That is when my father, may he rest in peace, was killed in front of me.”

Me: “Would you mind telling me what exactly happened?”

Daniel: “It was on a Monday, in February, and I remember it was a really cold day but it

was also a happy day for me because I turned thirteen and I was going to

celebrate with my family and all the other families that were living with us.

That night my father wanted to go and get the bible from a neighbour so that I

can have it and pray from it on my birthday. My mother and I were watching

from the window because normally a person was not able to go out of his house

at night. I told my father it is ok I don’t need the bible on my birthday, but he

insisted and he said he wanted it to be a good birthday for me. I saw my father

running and suddenly I heard four gun shots and I saw my father fall down on the

snow. I remember standing there in shock and my mother screamed and started

crying hysterically. That was the worst day of my life.

Me: “I am so sorry, I cannot even imagine what you must have felt seeing you father

like that. It must have been so hard.”

Daniel: “It was very hard, but I still felt like he was with me during the entire war.”

Assignment #11: Photograph a scar and write about it

My scared forehead


To be honest I would have never thought that of this particular kind of assignment is related to English class. Usually I would thought that writing papers and reading books would basically sum up to what we all know as English class. I never knew that so much art could take part in an English class. I didn’t even know that photography could relate to English.

The assignment that I had to do was to take a picture of my scar and talk about it. I had fun doing this assignment, not only that it makes English even more fun but it really open my eyes to how English can be involve with everything in life.

My story began when I was about 5 or 6 years of age, and lived in Calgary. My sisters and I were playing in my dad’s bedroom. It was a pretty small room with just a twin size bed and a next just a meter away from his bed. On the desk, there was a cloth covering the top so that my sisters and I won’t ruin the wood. One day, I have decided to jump on my dad’s bed. My sisters joined of course, and we had a blast. While I was jumping up and down, I thought to myself, it would be even more exciting if we jump from the bed to the desk, jumping back and forth. So we started jumping back and forth from the bed to the desk, and jump from the desk to the bed. While I was standing on the desk, I was preparing myself to make a big jump to the bed. As I bounced off the desk, I slip on the cloth that was covering the desk, miss the desk, and my forehead landed on the bed frame, which was made out of medal. My forehead hit the bed frame pretty hard that my forehead actually split open, and blood just starting gushing out. My sister started crying but for me I find it rather exciting. I wasn’t in pain or anything, all I felt was the warm blood coming out of my forehead, which somehow relaxes me. So that is why I have this scar on my forehead, because of my immaturity.

This experience was fun, and I really enjoy doing this assignment. As a graphic designer, I have to learn photography, learn how to choose certain lightings for certain shots and areas. Doing this assignment, I had to fool around with the lighting a lot, changing the ISO, the aperture, and also the F-stops. It is hard but it didn’t really matter to me because I had fun doing it. Taking a picture of my scar is hard because I have to make the picture clear in order for the viewer to see my little scar on my forehead. It was challenging at times because most of my pictures were blurred, so I had to do so many retakes. Some of my picture had my hair covering my scar; some pictures didn’t even showed my scar, meaning that I had aimed at the wrong spot.

I think her goal is for people to explore literature in an art kind of way. There are some people who are afraid of words and don’t want to pick of a pencil a write. So in order to get people writing to have art involve, and have them describe that piece o fart work through English literature. Having the idea of posting their work on her website shows pride and more motivating for the writers to continue writing for the fun of it.

Assignment #51 :Describe what to do with your body when you die.

There are two ways that I wanted to do with my body when I die. The first one is kind of awkward for I wanted to mummified, but I want my right arm raised up high in the form of hi-5. Then put my body into a museum and let everyone who sees me, hi-5 me. This is just to remind people how I enjoyed living and there will be no admission required. This is just one of my fantasy but it is however applicable.

The second one is to be covered in a mat made from leaves of a tree and usually hand-made, which we call “banig” in my country. I want to be covered in it and then be thrown into the ocean and people who want to witness it could come, and a ceremony is not needed. It’s a tradition in a province in my country. I want this to be done to my body because it is the most peaceful way to be one where I belong.

Assignment #51: Describe what to do with your body when you die

When I die, I’d like to have my body left to science. First, however, I’d like a small gathering with my friends, family, and loved ones, where they could all talk and joke and sing together like they did when I was alive. I’d also like to have them take existing photos and video footage of me and arrange them, in chronological order; to a song that they feel best describes my life. Once the scientists are done with my body, I’d like for my body parts to be removed from their jars of formaldehyde, placed into a beautifully carved box, and thrown into the Venetian Sea. I always said I would get to Venice one way or another.

I went through the different assignments, and this one was the one that immediately caught my eye. I plan a lot of things, and I’ve wanted to leave my body to science since I was twelve. The part with the gathering and the song came much later, as I was sitting on the bus listening to the song “The Rose” sung by Bette Midler.

When I started working on Miranda July’s assignment, I not only thought up what I would like done with my body after I died, but also how I would like to die; almost as though I needed that information to complete the required information. I decided that I would like to die, not necessarily of old age, but by a disease. Shortly before I die, I would like my friends, and loved ones to take my deteriorating body to a garden; any garden. I want my friends to place me in a tree and sit in its leaves with me. If there isn’t enough room in the branches for everyone, the some people can sit in the flower beds. I want everyone to talk, tell jokes, sing songs,(like in the ceremony) tell stories, and reminisce; and when I do die, I want to be laughing.

I felt that in completing Miranda July’s assignment, I ended up questioning a lot of other aspects of my life and how I’d like them to be played out if I had the option of being in control. I know we cannot determine every second of our lives, but it’s still an interesting experience to think up how we would want them to be if we could. I realized a very valuable lesson about myself in doing this assignment; it doesn’t matter to me when I die, even if it’s tomorrow, as long as the minutes before are happy ones.

I think that Miranda July’s main goal in crating this type of website was to really get the mental juices flowing in the minds of myself and my peers. I think that my generation has become detached from themselves and lost track of who they are. Maybe M. July wants to give us these concrete, down to earth, assignments, of things to do that will heighten our desensitized and mostly unfeeling society. Some of the other assignments were: Assignment #15 Hang a wind chime on a tree in a parking lot, Assignment #30 Take a picture of strangers holding hands, Assignment #33 Braid someone's hair, Assignment #47 Re-enact a scene from a movie that made someone else cry, Assignment #56 Make a portrait of your friend's desires, etc... All of these assignments are about documenting feelings or doing something for another person, or appreciating beauty; Miranda July wants us to become human again. She wants us to stop and smell flowers and smile when someone is nice to another person. She wants us to recognise that what is happening around us all the time, and she wants us to think about what we see, analyze how we feel, and form our own opinions based on our observations.

What is considered art is generally a painting or a sculpture, but Miranda July’s website even challenges what constitutes as performance art! Everyone has a different view of what art is: some say it has to be concrete, others say it has to be abstract; some even evaluate the legitimacy of a piece by how aesthetically pleasing it is. It’s like how some people think all poems should rime and others think they shouldn’t. These assignments, however, are made by the audience, yet who is the audience? It’s a worldwide audience, so now what is abstract is who is “watching” the show? The assignments always remain the same; it’s the people doing them that vary. Can interaction this indirect be qualified as art? I think it can, but most people would probably be afraid of such a dramatic change.