https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3SZxe1AkhI

David Xiquevaldetano

For my re-mix I will create a short informative video on harmful effects of legal cannabis on American societies.

David Xiquevaldetano

Looking at the title of the workshop, Virtual Sculpture Gallery, I imagined 3d modeling. I have a little experience with 3d modeling and was excited to see what Baruch offers in their ART 3041 class. Walking in, I noticed that there were VR headsets which surprised me. I thought we would be staring at student projects on a computer screen and not actually walk in them. I had never used a VR headset before so it was a new and exciting experience. Waiting for my turn to use the headset, I asked Professor Joshua Whitehead, the instructor of ART 3041, what the sculptures were made of. I was shook once he told me his students carved them using x-acto knives. Using this type of knife in my art class in high school, I quickly related to the struggle of carving these complex structures. As seen in other’s posts, the sculptures have many layers. Professor Whitehead also said the layers were carved one by one, something I would never have the patience and motivation to do.

Using the Virtual Reality headset for the first time was a fun experience. Someone at the event said it made her dizzy and it kind of worried me. Nonetheless, I used the VR headset and was surprised by its weight. An assistant told me how to hold the remotes, and what I could do in the virtual reality. I could walk into the buildings, teleport to another, get to the roof, and fly around. The headset would also alert you when you came close to a table, wall, or if you were extending the wire to its limit.

I learned much from attending this event. Talking to the students that implemented the structures into the Virtual Reality world, I learned its actually really easy to add something from the real world. Something that I really wished to see was the students that made these sculptures. Looking at their creations, I had a lot of questions. I wanted to know their motivation behind each sculpture, know if it was worth carving in the end, the grade they received and if ART 3041 is a good class to enroll.

Right before leaving, I used one of the Google Cardboards they had. It supposedly mimics VR pretty well and is made of cardboard. After trying it, I didn’t like it and preferred the actual VR headset I had used earlier. Even though I didn’t like it, I noticed that the Art class had made their own world on a virtual reality app called Makerhub. This surprised me of the seriousness the class was. Not only did students carve projects that took half the semester, upload it to a virtual reality world, but on top of that, the class had their own world on a popular app. It was kind of cool that a famous New York business school was making sure an art class irrelevant to its reputation took a step further into making sure it was fun. Another thing that I learned at this event was that there is plenty of software at Baruch. Although it may not be what I had hoped or expected, at least Baruch is stepping into programming and is seeing it for the gem it really is.

Overall, the setting was very welcoming and the Professor answered all my questions respectfully. I am also now intrigued about upper-level art classes at Baruch. Being known as a business school, it’s surprising that their art classes look fun and difficult.

The social network is a movie about the creation of facebook and how Mark Zuckerberg dealt with cease and desist lawsuits for stealing the idea from his classmates.

In the beginning of the movie, we quickly see how Mark is in a place he does not belong. He is at a bar with a girl he cannot talk to. Mark is also terrible at socializing and we can see how he tries to be witty and funny but fails and offends his friend. The scene shows how a nerd goes out of his bubble and explores something new like talking to a girl at a bar.

1. How can gentrification be solved?
2. When talking about gentrification, should we side with the economy of a neighborhood or the people?

1. In my opinion there is no real solution to gentrification. A “solution” would only hurt the population or the economy of an area.
2. When talking about gentrification, I always say choose the greater good. Everyone’s got their own opinion on who or what is the “greater good”. For me the greater good is the economy of a state. If it takes for a few to move to another place, so be it. Although if gentrification made me move, I would be angry.

The mentioning of both Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das’s failing marriages was almost romantic in my opinion. Both were bored with their marriages and had little in common with their partners. Mr. Kapasi, a seasoned tour guide, was attracted to Mrs. Das in the beginning. As they follow through the tour, Mr. Kapasi described the outfit Mrs. Das is wearing and compares her legs to his wife’s. His thoughts and actions describe his lust for young women and make him realize the biggest regret of his life, his marriage. He tells the Das family that his marriage was arranged by his parents. His first son was diagnosed with Typhoid at a young age and forced him to get a second job. He would work as a doctor’s interpreter to help fund his child’s medical bills. In the end, the boy died but Mr. Kapasi kept the job because of it’s pay. Mr. Kapasi is saddened because he forgot how to speak in the various languages he learned in school. He calls his life a failure yet Mrs. Das calls it romantic. This sparks his attraction towards her, as she shows relentless yet subtle attention to him. Towards the end of the story, Mr. Kapasi learns that Mrs. Das had an affair, and consequently, a child. Mr. Kapasi rapidly loses interest and his fantasies about her disappear. Mr. Kapasi learns she only wants to use him and swiftly runs away. Lastly, Mr. Kapasi learns adultery is a curse that silently destroys the whole family.

“I remembered this one time that I never told anybody about. The time we were walking. Just the three of us. I was in the middle. I don’t remember where we were walking to or where we were walking from. I just remember the season. I just remember walking between them and feeling for the first time that I belonged somewhere”

-Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best books I have ever read. The book is filled with displacement from the beginning to arguably the end. The story is about an incoming high school freshman that has trouble fitting in. The displacement in the beginning is very different from the one expressed in the middle to end. In the beginning, the main protagonist, Charlie, is described as a loner and a wallflower. Charlie is currently passing through puberty and shows that the changes from child to teen can be very difficult to some. Remembering my freshman year, I’m filled with joy yet horrors. I remember the confusion of my changing body, friendships, and new feelings. The book itself has many messages in my opinion. When I first read it my freshman year of high school, I believed it was telling the reader that it was okay to be sad. As the author wrote in the book, some people are a hopeful kind of sad, the kind of sad that just takes time. Further, Charlie was very relatable to me and many others of my age. Traveling to a different place to meet new people, and learn new things was particularly overwhelming for me. To be honest, it was very hard to fit in for me. I was struggling to find a good and respectable group of friends that I could rely on. As in the book, after Charlie meets the popular kids and starts to hang out with them, life kind of falls into place and makes sense. The same thing can be said about myself. After creating friends at high school, life started to fade out and before I knew it, I was on my way to college.

1. skate park
2. appendectomy
3. moving

Every 4 years, I look forward to the international soccer world cup. Having Mexican parents, soccer is a very important part of my culture. Mexico’s national sport is soccer and every little Mexican boy’s dream is to become the next Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. Since soccer is the country’s national sport, you would think the national team would have plenty of talent right? Wrong. In fact, realistically speaking, Mexico’s international soccer team is mediocre at best. Our team consists of washed, unmotivated, and not good enough players. It sucks having a mediocre team because you patiently wait four years for your national team to be completely slaughtered by another. In my freshman year of high school, I joyfully watched the last 16 teams play in eliminations. The game was Mexico and Netherlands and was looking very bright. It looked like Mexico was finally going to break its curse of always being eliminated at round of 16 when all of a sudden they get whooped at the last 10 minutes of the game. Since soccer is a big deal of my culture, you could bet I was angry and ready to punch things. This was back in 2014’s world cup. In 2018’s, they again get destroyed by the Brazilian team and will have to wait another 4 years. Whenever your favorite team gets eliminated from such an important sports event like the soccer world cup, you die inside. On the outside you tell yourself that you don’t care but deep down inside, you’re completely full of rage. You feel this type of displacement since your team is being kicked out from a huge tournament and cant help but feel sorrow for it. Then again you move forward and in 2 days tops you don’t even care anymore and ready to wait for 4 more years.

1. Andre Aciman views Straus Park’s intersections as “crossroads to the world”, reminding him of past homes and adventures. Do you think Aciman’s yearning for the past is preventing growth or helping him cope with loss?
2. Do you think nostalgia helps you move forward or keeps you from seeing reality for what it is?
3. Does Aciman’s obsession with finding other’s displacements help him cope with his own displacement?