Last week, Kyle had the daunting–and rather impressive–responsibility of being the first to present his self-portrait to the class. He was at odds with the fact that he was unable to explain his piece prior to performing it, which became understandable once he explained that the music he had used in the portrait had been his own composition. His piece consisted of him attempting to write in his notebook while simultaneously being interrupted by the constant playing of music from his laptop. Kyle interestingly uses his left hand to cross over his right to play/pause the music, demonstrating how he feels he must suppress this desire to embrace his musical side while also revealing the moments when he is able to express this desire, however brief they may be. Halfway through the piece, Kyle leaves the desk and begins exercising, doing basic training drills such as push-ups, jogging in place, and jumping jacks, paralleling the crescendo of the music from the laptop and its heavier bass beat and rhythm. At the end, he returns to the desk and picks up his notebook, no longer reaching over to turn off the music. It seems that Kyle has accepted the music’s presence and his final action is to turn his notebook around and reveal what he has been writing all along: the Chinese phrase for “Arts in New York City”.
One aspect that I felt I was really able to relate to through Kyle’s self-portrait was the presence of an internal duality of self. In the taste-themed portion of my portrait, I placed both American candies (Twix) and Chinese ones (fruit jellies) inside of Chinese takeout containers on which I wrote “Made in America”. This was my attempt to portray the duality of culture I feel in having been born and raised in America and having to struggle to reconcile this fact with my Chinese heritage and upbringing. Although Kyle’s duality pertains to his love of music and creative expression versus the more rigid structure of studying and training/fitness, I felt that both of our portraits were making a point about how frustrating it can be to have this internal back-and-forth of ideals, but also how liberating it can be to fully embrace every aspect of the self.
I also noticed that Kyle and I both made heavy use of music in our portraits, allowing it to become a central point in our pieces and even adopt a meaning of its own through its pervasive presence. When I first approached this project, I knew for sure that music would be one of the first things I would incorporate. I found that the musical aspect gave my piece a kind of cohesiveness and also something for me to find comfort in just in case I ever felt lost in the midst of my presentation. I felt a connection to Kyle’s portrait because it seemed that he interpreted his use of music in a similar way. Music offered us both a way to speak without the need for words.
Despite the many similarities I saw between my portrait and Kyle’s, I did feel like we differed in execution. My intent was to be slightly more abstract with my portrait and I wanted the audience to be able to make connections both between the various items/ideas I was presenting and between the ideas and myself. Kyle’s portrait seemed to present a more concrete story that had a beginning, middle, and end. He was telling one cohesive piece to us about one major aspect of his personality whereas I presented more fragmented and varied aspects of myself that all were connected through the commonality of the five senses. Although Kyle’s method was not how I chose to represent my particular portrait, I really appreciated the skill and thought that went into being able to present the piece with such clarity. His choices throughout the performance were deliberate and exact and I was very impressed overall by his portrait. He certainly set the bar high for the rest of the class!
–Norine Chan (Blog A)
