On Creativity and Art!!

[Creativity isn't the monopoly of artists. This is the crucial fact I've come to realize, and this broader concept of creativity is my concept of art. When I say everybody is an artist, I mean everybody can determine the content of life in his particular sphere, whether in painting, music, engineering, caring for the sick, the economy or whatever. All around us the fundamentals of life are crying out to be shaped or created. But our idea of culture is severely restricted because we've always applied it to art. The dilemma of museums and other cultural institutions stems from the fact that culture is such an isolated field, and that art is even more isolated: an ivory tower in the field of culture surrounded first by the whole complex of culture and education, and then by the media which are also part of culture. We have a restricted idea of culture which debases everything; and it is the debased concept of art that has forced museums into their present weak and isolated position. Our concept of art must be universal and have the interdisciplinary nature of a university, and there must be a university department with a new concept of art and science.] Joseph Beuys

Art as self expression...

Yesterday I gave my students an exercise where I handed each two white sheets of paper... one to use and one as a background... using only pens and sticky tape they had to express themselves and produce a piece of art...
My concept was to see art through it's basic definition as a form of self expression... using everyday material... anything that is around us to create the unseen...

Here are the samples of work... mine included...

Hanada Khatyibeh


Dina Khayyat


Hiba Abdallat


Laura Nofal


Myself

خزعبلات | Supersititions

This is the animation done by my student Farah Abu-Roos as part of her graduation project...
Enjoy...

Rexona...

A deodorant is used for hygiene people!!! not to attract the opposite sex... mind your hygiene... your looks and your smell... for YOUR own comfort...
Using a deodorant is part of the personal care and cleanness... not for attracting or pleasing one cool guy you meet for 5 seconds in an elevator!

WOMEN of Earth... you need not please men!!! DO IT FOR YOUR SELF!!!




[[ The concept behind...
[[ Want to join the fight?

One and Eye

إلى أين سنصل؟ : Reaching Where?

These two animations are the work of one of my graduation students that I have supervised... His name is Amer Daboub... I hope you'll enjoy...

Textures of Amman II

In my search for more textures of Amman...I went to a place frozen in a moment long past... I went to Duke's Diwan : Downtown...
There I looked around... for the memories trapped inside...

The Narratives* | 14

14

Nature says...
A bird must teach its baby birds how to fly....

Nature says...
A bird must watch them fall back and high again...

Nature says...
A bird must bid them goodbye as they strongly fly away...

.....

Nature doesn't say...
It will be joy without greif... pride without solitude.... hope without fear....

Nature doesn't say...
It will be ease without hardship....

* The Narratives: stories, events, and scenes that happen[ed] inside and around my head…

Amer, Farah and Zeina

After a one year of extensive work my three graduation students have managed to pull through... and produce some great work... I'm very proud of their work... and I wish them the very best in their careers....

Amer Daboub 'Reaching Where?' Campaign

Amer's project was two animations that tackle the issue of technology abuse... and how all these new technologies and ways of communications though connected us with those far away they have deprived those around us from our real human connections...
Amer drew all the frames of his animation on paper then scanned and painted them using Adobe Photoshop... the compilation of the animation was done using Adobe Aftereffects and the audio using Adobe Premier...
Aside from the two animations he designed a set of posters as part of his campaign...
His campaign is made in Arabic and is named ٌالى اين سنصل

UPDATE: watch the animations

Farah Aburoos Khuz3ablat : Superstitions

Farah made an animation about the issue of superstitions and how they are only figments inside the human mind... she has made all the illustrations and drawings using Adobe Illustrator and the animation using Adobe Aftereffects...
She takes the viewer inside the eye of a fortune teller and travel in this fantastic world of superstitions... I'm not going to spoil it for you... but the animation will be on-line soon...
Farah has good sketching abilities and has mastered her tools to suit her purpose quite well...



Zeina Darwazeh About Amman : digital maps of Amman

Zeina have designed a set of maps about Amman. She started with a well-designed guiding map of Amman with all the needed legends for people to go easily about the city. She also designed a scribble map of the same streets but now the user have his own custom made legends that can help him to document his own travels around the city, people he met, things that caught his attention...
Beside these she has visually and aurally documented the city of Amman based on different criteria and represented them as maps as well... where a user can trace patterns between the different areas of Amman...
She has made maps about faces, memories, things people hold, activities, doors and street things and sounds of Amman... these maps are digital and can be navigated on interactive urban screens or on personal computers.



It has been a true privilege to help the three of them and supervise their work...

a word to Amer, Farah and Zeina... I'm so proud of you and happy for you... way to go guys!

Not ready for a woman!

So I guess... the Free world is not ready for a woman yet!!!
=/

[Hillary Clinton will withdraw from the race to become the Democratic candidate for the US presidency, and back her rival Barack Obama, her campaign says....] BBC

[...upon] Gender Identity...

For their final project I asked my students of [Computer Design 2] to make a video about the way they see their gender identity...
before that they had worked with their family identity, place identity, a short project on love and then about their cultural identity and lastly came this project...
issues of gender is very sensitive in our society... with a lot of taboos... double standards... prejudices and misconceptions...
Anyways... here is their work...



Inside out :: Hanada Khatiybeh


Possessions :: Sama Saba


The Third Hand :: Dina Khayyat


Lead me; Follow me :: Ala Tabba


Gender Identity :: Hala Abu Mizar


Untitled :: Diran Malatjalian

fighting Media epidemic: Fair and Lovely

Fair and Lovely's campaign has been around linking having a more fair skin to success.

What I dislike about their ads are the following:
:: They measure beauty by how white you are... which is racist for me and might indicate superiority based on skin color which is nonsense.
:: They link the success of a woman with the way she looks.
:: They objectify women... and emphasize the fact that she is to be looked at...
:: As much as it is important for a woman to feel confident about the way she looks... it should be an inner feeling and not a judgment passed on her by others [men or women]...

:: Most Arab women are dark skinned and it is the reason why they should feel special... and not want to change their uniqueness...
:: There is NO checklist to define beauty... NO universal standard... physical beauty is not in a specific color or features... is in the overall composition and the harmony of the whole body and face...

No wonder you can hear many Arab guys asking or wishing to have a blond, fair skinned, tall, not skinny nor chubby girl as a wife...

A word to Arab girls... YOU are beautiful... just stick to a healthy, clean skin..

[[ The concept behind...
[[ Want to join the fight?

now it's time to ban the koffieyeh!

[[US chain drops 'terror scarf' ad]] BBC

This is UNFAIR...
The Palestinian scarf [koffieyeh] is NOT a symbol of terrorism...
I hate it how they twist and turn things to suite them... this scarf has been worn by my ancestors and many other people who are peaceful... life lovers... and nowadays Arab youth...

If some people chose to wear it while they engage in some "terrorism" activities... it doesn't mean that the scarf should be condemned so...

What about the use of Cross during the Crusade War? Wasn't that act of terrorism? should we ban the wearing of Cross for that??

WHY the double standards...???

I hate this...

3rd Annual Degree Show | Faculty of Arts and Design