This project started off on a rough patch but I enjoyed it because we fit in a couple extra projects for fun. To start off out learning, out teacher tried to show us how to become historians and analyze people to learn more information. To start off our project we learned about snaidanac ( which was a fake religion for us to practice analyzing ) and we had to try and figure out the messages that were being shown in the descriptions for them. I was the first person to realize that the snaidanac were actually based off of Canadians and the “American” lifestyle. I really liked this project because we also were given fake religions to try and and represent to a group of “historians”, which meant we spent 20 minutes doing improv and acting likes idiots.
For our first real keystone, we worked on analyzing actual pictures depicting colonization. Our names were spun on a wheel to see who got to choose their pictures first and my name was chosen second which meant I got to choose the one I was most interested in. I choose a picture of a nun reading a book to a group of indigenous children. I was really intrigued by this photo because I felt as though the picture looked quite innocent but could have a darker side of it exposed with my reinterpretation of the drawing. I had to find out the main perspective of the drawing, find the qualities of the Europeans and the Indigenous and the symbolic message.
For our second keystone we focused on creating a reinterpretation of our chosen drawing to show the other perspective. I was really happy about this project because I like drawing and because I already had an idea for the reinterpretation. I wanted to try and make a drawing of the child sitting at the nuns feet looking up towards this nun towering over her. As I tried to create the drawing, I soon realized that creating an entire new drawing in a very specific art style was a lot more difficult then I originally thought. The night before the drawing was due I made the decision to make an entire new drawing. It took me another 4 hours to complete but I am a lot happier with the outcome of my artwork.
Our third keystone was mainly focused around creating a script for our AR video. We had to write up an essay explaining the meaning behind the changes in our drawing and how it had to do with colonization. I struggled with this project because I knew what I wanted to say but didn’t know how to write a long enough essay about it. Pretty much I had no idea what to write. I had started this project but kept putting it off because I just couldn’t figure out how to talk about the original drawing. I put it off until the night before when the pressure of the project being due finally kicked in and I realized that I needed to work fast. I finally got it done and I was quite happy with how I finally figured out what to say. I’m a very easily distracted person so sometimes if I’m frustrated or bored with a task I’ll end up procrastinating about it.
My final project to create was a AR video of our art with a voiceover of my script. The second I found out that I had to use a voiceover I was scared. I hate having to listen to my voice over a recording because you end up questioning whether or not you ever want to speak out loud eve again because of how cringey your voice sounds. Once I made the voice recording, I was surprised by how I didn’t cringe as much as I thought I would ( although I have contemplated whether or not I hate the sound of my breathing ). I actually found that creating what I thought would be a simple AR video took a lot more work because I had to plan out where to move, and when, to line up with the voice recording. And then I found out that I actually have a YouTube channel so we had to upload our videos there.