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Alexus Tomlinson and Anaya Gomez

Artist Statement:

Alexus: I first got glasses in 3rd grade. At first I thought it was this cool thing to have. It made me unique and I felt like a superhero. But this idea didn’t last long, people started calling me four eyes and when I got braces people called me UGLY BETTY.  I felt so bad and I want to get rid of my glasses but I still had to wear them. The bullying didn’t last super long anyway because other people got glasses too. Sooner or later I realized that soooo many people wear glasses they just don’t wear them. Wearing glasses has played a big part in shaping my personality.

Anaya: I chose to do a pair of glasses because i wear them everyday.  I have been wearing glasses since I was in first grade. When I was younger I was scared to wear my glasses because i wasn't used to wearing them. As i got older i started accepting the fact that i have to wear glasses in order to see. Today I love the fact that I wear glasses and i'm happy that I do wear them. It makes me feel smart and different.

Our: We chose this sculpture because it reminded us of ourselves because we both wear glasses.  Glasses are an important part of our character because it is apart of who we are and glasses can change the way a person perceives you. Glasses also shows that we are different. Not everyone wears glasses so this separates us from others.

The objects we chose to use in our project were a cardboard flower which Jacqueline created, and a protist stuffed animal which Alyssa created. We chose to use these things because we wanted to use projects created in school that were meaningful to us. We decided to place the protist stuffed animal on Jacqueline’s flower sideways, so that we could set the flower down when lit. We tied the stuffed animal to the flower using the protist’s strings, because glue or staples might have ruined the flower, and tape would not work.

Lights were placed in the center of the flower to make it stand out, and lights were placed on the “ears” of the protist to allow it to stand out in the dark. The bright colors of the protist contrast the the brown cardboard of the flower, though in the dark it needed something to stand out, with all of the lights in the flower. It almost resembles a koala or cat resting on a flower. Its whiskers resemble a cat’s, though on the flower it could be mistaken for a koala climbing a tree.

The flower represents hidden beauty, because even though it has duller colors, it is still a beautiful flower. The protist stuffed animal was shaped like a type of animal on purpose, to represent Alyssa’s love of animals. Combined, this creates a project with a deeper meaning. Even though at first glance you may not be able to tell what the project is, but once you hear the story behind you may come to understand the true meaning behind the project.

Artist Statement for the Physics Project

Wesley White

Domenick DeAngelis

We chose to do our project this way because we both likes sports.  However, we like different sports, so we did different objects to express ourselves through the things we do.  We both like sports, so we thought it would be a good idea to work together to create a project that represents both of our interests.

I did a hockey helmet because I love hockey, I have been ice skating for over 8 years and have played hockey for 2 years. The helmet I used was one of the first helmets I got and I used it to played hockey. It means a lot to me because of all these reason and because I have used it so many times. However, I grow out of the helmet a while ago and it was very damaged from using it so much. So I thought it would be a great thing to use for this project, I would have used something like a hockey sick of skate but the hockey stick is too big and a skate will smell. Which is when I got the idea to use a helmet, and I remembered all the things I used the helmet for. This is why I used a hockey helmet for my science project.

Artist Statement

I chose to make create my lit phone case because my phone is a big part of my life personally and I believe society in general. I believe that technology in general was my aim for a project idea but I felt that a phone case would be better because of the fact that it is a handheld device unlike a computer. I use my phone multiple times a day and use it for music, communication, and social media. I think it states that this generation is more involved in technology than anyone ever has been. Therefore I believe it means that I am a technological person, whether that means it’s a good thing, or a bad thing.

Cash’e Chapman Jan. 5, 2015

Saraa Fadl East Stream

Artist Statement

A paper rose with lighten thorns. What would it mean to you , and given the information that two young ladies created it. You would probably think they made it because its pretty. But know we critical thought about what we would like to create. We thought of how complex we could really be and think which was more than the stereotype problems of a teenage girl.

We don’t believe in stressing the problems if a boy likes us or not because we know our beauty. We stress the mess of our grades and how we have to straighten them out for college and how it is just one of the four major steps we have to reach success which is what our four thorns represent. High school career, College readiness, College Career, and Society readiness.

When we started this project we instantly thought of what would represent us. This rose does that by expressing the bright future and steps we need to take to get there with each thorn which leads to the last light in the middle of the rose. The rose also represents the beauty in which we take these step as well as our thorns represent the pain we can endure on this difficult journey to success.

Artist Statement:

I chooses this experiment because I wanted to see if I could make a glow  bracelet The reason I choose this ideas because I  wanted to do something different from everybody else, another reason I wanted to make a glow bracelet is to make my invention into a reality and use it for the future, that will help the world in future. (Definition: an ornamental band, hoop, or chain worn on the wrist or arm)  https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+bracelets&espv=2&biw=1008&bih=619&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=HOCzVPrmK6XCsATEkoGIBw&ved=0CAUQ_AUoAA&dpr=1.)

A crescent moon is an Islamic symbol which tell us Muslims when the month begins and also when Ramadan is approaching. The start of the crescent moon is an Islamic symbol and it was connected with the Muslim world after it was  adopted by the Ottoman Empire. It was related to Islam because the lunar cycle is an important ritual and legal role in Islam’s calendar. This symbol is  often seen on flags of predominantly Muslim countries. I choose this sculpture piece because I am Muslim and it’s a symbol of my religion. I also chose this because when I look at it make me feel like God ( Allah) is with me everytime.  This symbol reminds me of Africa, how the moon and the stars shine so bright that it makes it possible to see anything outside at night.  Back in Africa, my friends and I used to go outside at night. We used to dance, sing, and talk about scary late night stories under the shining sky.

I chose the as my project because I love music. Also, I played in an orchestra and played these notes in treble. What it says about me is that I admire music. Music makes everything around me lights up which this is a perfect sculpture with light for me. My music helps give me an expression of life.

For our project, we decided to 3D print a sign that would say Science Leadership Academy on the front of it going from top to bottom in a futuristic font. We chose to make a sign because we thought that our school needed one, even though it isn’t very large. The sign is made out of grey plastic filament. The lights are holiday lights, which are blue and white.

We think that our sculpture is unique because we are the only group who decided to go the loyalistic route and design a sign for our school, and we also stayed true to the colors of our school; blue and white. We drew inspiration from our school’s main focus which is science, hence the font used.

We thought that the most difficult part of creating our sculpture was actually getting the lights to work, and ensuring that they were as bright as we wanted them to be. We tried using two 9.05 volt batteries to make the lights brighter, but it did not work out because we didn’t have enough wire to close the circuit. Something else that was hard for us was writing up the analysis and the artist statements because it felt like the due date snuck up and then just appeared.

An easy part of this project was stripping the wires, that was actually a fun part. Most of the project was actually relatively simple, as all it involved was simple physics and creativity.   

Artist Statement

Tronta-

I had decided to make a truck with light bulbs attached to the front headlights and lights on the back head lights. This was not actually my first thought that came to my head when thinking of this project. I actually wanted to do had a whole different partner in mind as well. We decided to come together based on of liking of cars and thought it was actuaI. Its is very simple and unique at the same time and that is what this project shows about me.  

Jordan-

Just like my partner Tronta I was stuck on the idea of what I wanted my project to be. I initially did not know what I wanted to do but until me and my partner came together and found that we both had an interest in cars and this sparked an idea between the two of us. This is why I choose to do the project. This project simply shows that I have an interest in cars.

Both-

We were stuck for a while on what we wanted our project to be on. There was so much to choose from that sparked our interest. We wanted something that was original and also had a nice look to it. We ended up coming together with a toy truck that we will end up putting lights on the headlights and backlights. We both have an interest for vehicles and we thought it would be a cool idea to incorporate both our interest into this design.

Artist Statement

For our project we choose to use a sneaker and make the lights as shoe laces. We chose this because we both found the common ground of realizing that we both like shoes. We could even be called sneaker heads by the way we like them and how much we compare different ones and the things about them. Our goal was to light an object of our choice with a circuit and lights. For our specific goal we choose to use christmas lights as shoe laces and replace them with the actual shoe laces.

For my physics project sculpture, I chose make a small pyramid, with a drawn on eye in the center on all four sides of my pyramid, and at the center of the eye, a single red LED light. This sculpture is supposed to resemble the All Seeing Eye, which is an eye that is usually depicted in a triangle/pyramid. The All Seeing Eye most notably, is on the back of the dollar bill.

Sweaters have been represented to many people as a show of respect and professionalism. Also some would say that sweaters show your warm nature as a person and sweaters are like a good vibe to them. This is what we wanted to represent the warm nature we have and especially the lights that show a good and happy vibe to them. We chose the sweater because since it gives off a professional look as students of SLA. Also we wanted to show our warm hearts and the lights show the good vibe swagger. In light of the current weather and season sweaters fit the cold weather and since we both wear sweaters we wanted to make one with lights.  

In conclusion, we wanted to make a sculpture that represented or mood and us as people for the holidays.

In this experiment we chose to light up a hat that wires are set up in parallel and series wires.  We chose a hat because its easy and its different and also if we would wanted to do something where you could also wear this designs. We both like creating things where you can interact with the object and is eye catching.You may ask what is art and we say art could be anything we can make it be. Even the littlest things that you may make or do is art whether you like it or not.

The process of this project was to figure out what object we wanted to make our circuit experiment on. The circuit experiment me and my partner decided to make a winter hat light up.The second, part was choosing what kind of lights we wanted to use. We chose to use lights with color to them to make our hat more interesting. The next, step to our process was to find out the resistance in each bulb. We used in total twelve different bulbs with many different resistances that were very hard to calculate at the time. The hardest part of the project was setting up our wires trying to find a way to make all twelve light light up. Which is not as easy as it seems it was actually harder than you think because the brightest we could get the lights could only be three in each series. After several days of thinking we finally made a way for the lights to light up we had to put our circuits in parallel and series.

We believe that our already known knowledge on something does change the we think or our understanding of it because we do get to learn more than we did before. Also, we get to compare our previous knowledge and see if what we may have been told was the right way or see if we may have missed something from before.

For my Electrical Arts Project, I am creating a Super Mario Statue with lights surrounding it. I was introduced to Super Mario at the age of 8, and since then, I was playing Super Mario games every day. When ever I played a game, I would get sucked in, and I wouldn’t be able to stop. The base of my project is actually a Nintendo DS holder, which happens to be Mario. I used to collect Super Mario Plush, and plastic toys to set up in my room, and the DS holder was one of my favorites. Mario has been a big part of my life growing up, and even though I don’t play as much anymore , he will always be important to me.

Taped to Mario's back, there is a 9volt battery, and a switch. There are festive lights around Mario's neck and hands. I carfully cut a section of lights from a big strand of lights. Since there was bare wire, I had to cover it up with electric tape.

The accessory know as the sunglasses have been trendy since the 1940’s. For us, sunglasses is way to state our fashion sense. We both believe that sunglasses can state your fashion sense in many different ways. Including, sunglasses can be worn during any time of the year, not only in the summer. Sunglasses could be paired with almost anything. Basically, sunglasses are something which can keep you in the fashion loop.

There are many health benefits which is another reason why we chose a sunglass as our foundation. Sunglasses help prevent skin cancer around the eyes. In addition, sunglasses help prevent sunburn in the eyes. Sunburn in the eyes can cause irritation and redness in the eyes. Moreover, sunglasses help the eyes adapt to dark light faster. Being in bright light for 2 hours, then imminently being in darkness or under dull lighting can hurt your eyes internally. Eventually, sunglasses are not only to look cool, but also provide safety for your eyes.

Another reason why we chose sunglasses for this project is that it seemed ironic to use them. Since sunglasses are used to protect your eyes from sunlight, adding lights on to the glasses almost cancels out that protection. Also since sunglasses are a very fashionable accessory we thought adding some flashy lights would make them more “cool” and weird but not as stylish as they would normally be. The glasses would then now look more appropriate for raves or events with many lights.

Sunglasses are also something which is very close to Mallika. Mallika lost her grandfather in 2010. Her grandfather’s death occurred after her 10th birthday. Mallika received 2 pairs of sunglasses as her birthday gift from her grandfather, being the last ever “gift” she ever received from her grandfather. For Mallika, those sunglasses are extremely special. The sunglasses are a tribute to her grandfather and a representation of his importance.

So the reason we chose the sunglasses to use in this project is that we know they are important in the fashion and health world. They also are important to one of our group members and serve as a remembrance for her grandfather. Lastly it gives the glasses a sense of irony and create a mocking image towards the health and fashion worlds.

   I chose to do my sculpture based on inspiration. I was inspired by my favorite drink, Watermelon Arizona. What I made was a box with a watermelon slice cut out of it. I decorated it the colors of the drink which consist of red and green. I also used glitter, tissue paper and beads to make it pretty. I incorporated my circuits by poking holes in the watermelon slice and put blue lights in them represent watermelon seeds. What my sculpture says about me is that Watermelon Arizona  is the best soft drink ever.

Project includes:

-1 sculpture of decorated box

- 11 Mini LED christmas lights

- Extra copper wire to connect lights

Artist Statement

The reason why I had  a mirror light up is because I always love to look into the mirror. Every time I look into a mirror, it allows me a time to reflect on myself and the decisions I make for myself. This sculpture says about me that I always like to reflect on my actions and a mirror is my best ways of viewing those types of decisions that I think about during the day.

Now I used very little items for my sculpture so there isn’t a lot of elements, but there were a small circular mirror that can stand on it’s own, so it wouldn’t have to be held up, 16 christmas lights and different colors to some some christmas spirit, and a 9V battery to light the bulbs that there’s on the sculpture.

My sculpture is a bit of a confusing are piece I used a girly glasses case (to express my girly side) with lights coming out as crazy looking teeth. The crazy looking “teeth" are placed to show how effective and crazy my words can be. I like to think that my words sometimes have a major impact on whatever situation I decide to act upon with them. The whole meaning of the glasses case is my better half and alter ego also known as “Ruby”. When I am usually upset, to stop myself from overreacting, I put on my glasses and I am known as Ruby, the quiet, nonchalant girl who is not affected by one’s words but is not afraid to use her own.