Final Laser Cut

I am fascinated by Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) Art and designs. The overall rituals and celebrations of the ceremony of Day of the Dead, also known as All Saints Day are very interesting. I am Catholic so I have always gone to church for All Saints Day. I like the way the Mexican community chooses to celebrate their lost ones and recognize that on Day of the Dead, their ancestors walk among them and their spirits are present. This is why they choose to celebrate instead of being sad, they make it a fun and colorful day. The skull designs with flowers and other designs are beautiful.

I wanted to take the traditional Day of the Dead skull design, add my own designs onto the skull shape then cut, raster, and engrave different areas to create texture. I chose the material of wood, basically thin plywood that I took to the laser cutter. I am creating a frame around my design so that it is cut out and certain areas between it are also cut out. I put together a somewhat prayer book. I inserted a few pages with prayers and images. These are all Catholic prayers and images. I drilled holes in the left side of my wood pieces and also cut the same holes in my pages. I bound the "book" with palms my mom had given me from church a while back. They last a long time and cannot be thrown away. The long piece has been sitting in my room & I decided this material was strong enough to tie for the book binding. I am not sure how long this will actually last since it has dried out quite a bit. This definitely adds my Catholic side to my design. 

I wanted to integrate my Catholic upbringing with this Mexican view of All Saint's Day. Integrating two different cultures that celebrate the same day in different ways. I feel as though I would rather celebrate Dia De Los Muertos than go to Catholic Church for a more boring celebration of All Saints Day through a mass, literature, and scripture. I am bringing together some of my Catholic views of All Saints Day to tie in those prayers and traditions into this little book that has a Day of the Dead style design on the cover. Integrating cultures and traditions is the overall theme here.

Net Art Proposal

The words across the top will be links to the main 12 pages. The 12 images correspond to the words and will also take you to those same 12 main pages. For example the word "eyes" and the image in the square of an eye will both take you to the main page about Identity and the eyes. All linked pages will be other websites of relevant information dealing with different parts of the body and how the identify you. It is all interesting information along with some quizzes even. It is fun and interesting while also getting the viewer to look and think about their own self and body image and how that related to their identity.
All the pages will link to 4 common pages that talk about "Gender Identity", "Racial Identity", "Ethnic Identity" and "Our Sense of Identity" since every part of the body making up our whole human selves deals with these 4 areas. There will always be the main bar of words across the top so that on any page you may go to another easily with one click.

Net Art Project Ideas Group Critique

Body Image - Identity

Strengths:

- Linking of body/parts and identity lends itself well to fragmentation and/or simultaneous perspectives on a single narrative or event.

- Plenty of aesthetic and navigational options (Operation).

Improvements:

- Might benefit from a very specific focus (i.e. experiences related to a single part/process/issue, etc.)

- Concept might easily into chicles (Vagina Monologues, etc.)

Insight:

- Blind men and the elephant parable, reminisent of