​Camille Lorente
Arts Scholar
Pentathlon Semester 1
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
David C. Driskell Center, Trees by David C. Driskell
On Friday September 18th, I visited the online exhibition, Trees by David C. Driskell. The exhibition is a selection of various drawings, paintings, and more made by Driskell. I thought it was a really cool exhibition because it showed the different ways that nature can be interpreted into art pieces. I liked how some were more colorful and textured, and others were simple sketches, but they were all equally beautiful. It relates to my idea for my capstone studies because I hope to study the connection between art and nature. It made me want to go out in nature and do a painting of my own. My major is business undecided but I hope to focus on sustainability as well so the nature in this exhibit is linked to my studies. #visualart
http://virtual.driskellcenter.umd.edu/Driskell_Trees-exhibition/vex4/images/e5c4be01-388b-470d-83df-083517335118.jpg
Pentathlon Semester 1
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
Shantell Martin: How Drawing Can Set You Free
For my second pentathlon event on October 4th, I. chose to watch a TEDtalk about the arts. When I went to the page with all the art-related TEDtalks, the title "How Drawing Can Set You Free" really caught my eye. It reminded me of the workshop I participated in last semester about art therapy, because to me art therapy is about using art to set you free. The talk ended up being a wonderful story of Shantell Martin's life. She explained what brought her to draw, and the way that her decisions and experiences in life shaped her as an artist and as a person. She said that she "follow[ed] this line" (01:27), the line being her pen, and that it set her free. It was inspiring to hear this outlook on drawing, that it's not the artist controlling the pen but rather the pen leading the artist. #Presentation
Pentathlon Semester 1
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
Give Yourself Permission to be Creative by Ethan Hawke
For pentathlon three, I chose to do presentation again, because I found that I really enjoyed the last TEDtalk I watched. I chose this one because the title "Give Yourself Permission to be Creative" felt like it related to my life right now because I often don't take the time out of my day to let myself be creative. Whether that be in school or in my free time. As I watched I realized that I misinterpreted the title, and that the TEDtalk was about more than just allowing yourself time to be creative, it was about allowing yourself space to find your creativity. I appreciate how he mentioned that his brother's creativity was leadership because it reminded me that creativity doesn't always have to be artistic. Creativity can be everywhere and it is different for everyone. This is especially important right now in my life when I'm getting to the point in my college career where I have to declare my major, and really find my calling and my creativity. #Presentation
https://www.ted.com/talks/ethan_hawke_give_yourself_permission_to_be_creative/transcript?language=en
Pentathlon Semester 1
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
LeVar Burton Reads, "Jump" by Cadwell Turnbull
Last semester, I listened to a short story by LeVar Burton Reads for one of my pentathlon events. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, because I don't normally like audio books. However, it turned out to be a great way to relax and get away during the stressful time of quarantine. Because of this, I decided for pentathlon event 4 to listen to another story. The story I listened to was "Jump" by Cadwell Turnbull. It's a story about a couple who discovers randomly that they can teleport one afternoon. However, after the first experience, they are unable to repeat their actions. The husband becomes completely fixated on trying to do it again, but the wife just seems to appreciate the fact that it happened at all. Eventually this difference, and the husband's obsession, comes to get in between their relationship, and they end up splitting. It ends with them reuniting to try one last "jump."I honestly was not a fan of this story. It was a little depressing, which is not what I came for, but it did have an important message. The story illustrates the importance of interpersonal relationships. It reminded me that the people I love are the most important things in life. It was a reminder to not let work, school, or anything else get in the way of the time I spend with people I love. My major has been taking up a lot of my time and energy lately, so it was nice to be reminded of what's important. So even though it wasn't necessarily the de-stressing story that I was looking for, it was still a good story with a valuable lesson. #Literature
https://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/
Pentathlon Semester 1
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
Super Ruwaxi: Origins
For my final pentathlon event of the semester, I chose to watch a dance performance through UMD's dance streaming streaming service. I chose this because it was something new to me, I hadn't watched one of their performances yet. I watched Super Ruwaxi: Origins, a somewhat comedic story about a feminist Ruwaxi who has superpowers in her hairy armpits and body odor. I didn't realize that the dance would be a comedy until I started watching, so it was a pleasant surprise. I appreciated how the performance was not just a dance, but also a fun and engaging story. At a few points during the performance, the dancer brought up people from the audience as volunteers, and used them as characters in the story. I thought this was a really interesting way to keep people in the audience engaged. If I were able to attend this event in person, I would like the fact that the performer included the audience like that. I liked that the story was about expressing yourself and your gender identity. The way that I do this is through my clothes,which relates to my capstone project which is about fashion and clothing up-cycling. #Dance
https://search-alexanderstreet-com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C3409487
Pentathlon Semester 2
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
National Gallery of Art: Race in America
I really enjoy looking at visual art, so, for my first Pentathlon of the semester, I chose to go on the National Gallery of Art's website. When I opened the website, the first thing I saw was the collection called Race in America. It is Black History Month, so I decided to spend some time going through this collection. I liked how each of the paintings not only had descriptions of what they were depicting, like they would in the physical art gallery, but they also had thought provoking questions underneath. For example, this piece depicts a man in a hoodie, referencing a stereotype about Black men, the description under this piece explains that the photos are meant to look like a mug shot, and that it is meant to call out police brutality. At the end of the description it asks why the artist might have chosen to conceal the mans identity, and use the blue tone that they did. Blue to me represents sadness so the artist might have used the blue hue to make the piece more emotional. Additionally, the color blue represents the police, so it could be another way to reference police brutality. The concealing of the mans identity may go to show that it could be anyone, it doesn't matter who they are, Black people still face violence from the police. This relates to my major because in marketing, you have to think of how your artistic choices, like the blue color of this piece, can have an affect on your audience. #VisualArt
https://www.nga.gov/education/teachers/lessons-activities/uncovering-america/race-america.html
Pentathlon Semester 2
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
John Sabraw: How I Make Paint From Poison
For my second Pentathlon event of the semester on February 28th, I chose to watch a TED talk. I chose this because it is something I have done for Pentathlon before, and enjoyed very much. I chose to watch John Sabraw's How I Make Paint From Poison, because the title was intriguing to me. I was curious if the title was literal or figurative and I wanted to learn more. I was immediately interested as the speaker began by talking about the environment, a topic that is very important to me. In sum, the Sabraw spoke about a project that he did with orange sludge that is found in Ohio rivers as runoff waste. He used this waste to create pigments that can be used for his art. I thought this was super interesting because of the crossover between art and sustainability. This is the basis of my Capstone project this semester, where I combine fashion design with sustainability and the environment. Because of this relation to my Capstone project and the environmental importance of the topic, I really enjoyed this talk. Additionally, when I chose this talk, I didn't realize that it would be about sustainability. It was an interesting coincidence that it was not only because of its relation to my Capstone project, but also because I have been considering picking up a minor in sustainability lately. This TED talk was very inspiring to me for that reason. #Presentation
https://www.ted.com/talks/john_sabraw_how_i_make_paint_from_poison
Pentathlon Semester 2
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
Acting From Stage to Screen
For Pentathlon three, I chose to stream a theatre piece from University of Maryland's streaming service. When I scrolled through the options, I saw Acting From Stage to Screen. I thought it sounded interesting because it made me think about what you might have to do different as an actor when transitioning between the two mediums. The actor interviewed in the piece talked about how the camera was more intimate than the stage, which was very interesting because I would've initially thought otherwise. One of the interviewees mentioned that there is a slower build in stage than in screen. She seemed to like the slow, dramatic build of a scene that happened on stage that wasn't really possible on screen. I noticed that they didn't mention the makeup and hair, because on stage it generally has to be much more dramatic than on a screen, which I would think could possibly affect the way an actor feels and performs. This might connect to my major because marketing is all about analyzing the way that small changes can affect the way a person feels about a product, and this piece was all about the small changes that make such a significant impact on actors' and actresses' feelings and performance. #Theatre
https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/acting-from-stage-to-screen
Pentathlon Semester 2
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
Kress Collection Digital Archive
For this Pentathlon, I chose to view a collection from the National Gallery of Art. I chose this because I loved to go to the National Gallery of Art with my friends in high school, but I haven't been since then. I came across the Kress Collection Digital Archive. I was initially intrigued by the art on the cover, but once I opened it and read the explanation I realized it was a really interestingly organized exhibit. Not only did it have the paintings and their captions, it also had related information about Samuel H. Kress (the artist) and the origins of his work. There was even a timeline of his life. This lead me to think about curation. The interactive timeline and additional related information were both curation choices to make the website more engaging and personal. They told a story about the artist and helped the viewers see the art in more detail. I thought this was cool because it related to my idea for my capstone website, which was to fill it with pictures and maybe videos in order to make it more personal. I also had planned to make the rest of the design more bland so that the pictures and other things can speak for themselves,which was something that I noticed about this exhibition. #VisualArt
https://kress.nga.gov/
Pentathlon Semester 2
Over the course of the semester I attended and participated in five artistic online events related to various arts categories. These events may be related to visual art, music, theatre, dance, film, literature, presentation, and more.
U-Define, By Surjit Nongmeikapam
I watched U-Define on April 22nd, a dance choreographed and performed by Surjit Nongmeikapam. I chose this because I wanted to do something different with my last Pentathlon, and I've only done a #Dance Pentathlon once. Additionally, I had a great time with the Alexander Street streaming service last time. Immediately, I was interested to read about the choreographer's background, which they had a little piece about in the beginning. One thing that I quickly noticed was the setting, it was outside and very dark, and you could hear the sounds of outside in the video. The movements of the dance were very awkward which I found interesting. I didn't have any particular expectations going into the video as the title is quite vague, however I was surprised by the peculiar nature of the almost-naked guy who was crawling around on the ground outside. He was moving around a hole in the ground, and then went in it, and later yelling something. I honestly couldn't make much sense of the performance, which is actually sort of ironic because I felt like that kind of relates to my semester and overall college experience due to the outstanding circumstances we've all faced recently. I don't know if contemporary dance is really my thing, but I am very glad that I tried something new. I think after watching this I have a better understanding of the ways that dance can vary so drastically. #Dance
