Spirit Animal and Prior Work

When the concept of "what is your spirit animal?" was brought up in class I immediately had an answer- Blue Morpho Butterfly. I know it sounds a little silly, but let me explain.

From a purely symbolic standpoint the Blue Morpho butterfly goes through several life cycles taking different forms and emerging stronger and more atune to its environment. The delicate nature of a butterfly can also be viewed as how delicate and perishable we as humans are. The purpose of a butterfly is to pollenate and assist in the reproduction of plants, a truly noble endeavor in itself. Aside from being large and brightly colored the Blue Morpho has the ability to close its wings, perch on a branch and disappear completely disguising itself as nature's backdrop. The ability to make such a commanding presence and the ability to completely vanish are both equally difficult to accomplish.

We haven't even begun to discuss the flying aspect of a butterfly. Who wouldn't want to fly? The butterfly has also been mentioned in many ancient texts. For example, the Aztecs believed that the fiercest warriors came back to life as butterflies. How about that for turning gender norms on its head. Oh ya, and while I was down in the jungle of Chiapas and visiting Mayan ruins I saw many of these amazing creatures, and even had a close encounter of the Morpho kind. This picture is of my hand and was taken in June of 2010 at the Tonina Mayan ruins, this Blue Morpho decided it wanted to make contact with me.


I don't know if I would modify my response according to my situation/surroundings. I think it applies to any situation- an animal that continually transforms into beauty and takes flight works for me.

I also wanted to put up links to my prior work:

This was the second film I made- Root Awakening. It focuses on an educational community garden in a low-income high density area of Orange County, California. There is a lack of green space in this urban setting, and much of the immigrant population have little access to healthy food. This community garden allows for older generations to share agricultural knowledge with younger ones. The class was two semesters and we had Sony HD cameras and used FinalCut Pro for editing. I was the cinematographer for both of these films.

Root Awakening 22min36sec
http://vimeo.com/10369251



This was my first film, much lower quality. It was filmed with a handheld camera and edited in iMovie. This was Cal State Long Beach's first ever attempt at Visual Anthropology, and was completed in only one semester. We won an award for this film- best film by undergraduates. It is about a dog park in Costa Mesa, California and the space issues faced by dog owners.

Bark Park 6min40sec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtWXjoqZrgc

Mission Statement

I posted a blog about the conceptualization of my project last week before I saw the prompt about creating a Mission Statement. After reading my peer's statements of practice I saw many commonalities between my worldview and theirs. If I were to condense the reasons behind my work it would have to be based around the idea that privileged hands have the ability to assist, whether or not they do is the issue. I have realized my position and how it has been attained and feel that I have the power to make change that will better more than my own interests. Yet when considering what exactly are "my interests" one realizes that others should be included in this concept. The ability for compassion and love is the ability to expand oneself large enough to welcome in others. Leading by example has been the best route I have witnessed by great individuals throughout time and is a model that should emulated. My mission statement will change over time as any good idea should, there is always room for improvement and by bringing in new concepts it becomes refined. One major realization I have come to which could be the core of my Mission Statement is: you enjoy what you have most when it is shared.

I wrote this in November of 2011:

We are all actors upon the world stage,
On display, splayed, absorbing gaze,
We all work for the same agency,
Power is sometimes granted, planted, born into,
Privileged hands have multiple uses,
To lift up, hold another, make a fist,
Or do nothing, remain voiceless,
Not taking a stand is to drag,
Social surveillance keeps them in line,
No one should be at ease,
We are allowing the redefining of slavery,
We have forgotten that the Other,
Like us, too has a mother,
Hope and hunger fuel dangerous decisions,
Restrictions on both retains the status quo,
What will be your contribution?
Seasons will change
As colorful leaves fall to the ground
Cold creeps and blankets the land,
We will consume to demonstrate our love,
As we shut our eyes for the night
Within warm walls and under solid roofs
The producers of our hollow products
Warm their hands by a wood burning stove
Our system isn't profiting as much as it would like
The machine is hungry and thirsty
It sips on our accounts
Takes bites out of our futures
The difference must still be made up,
Didn't take one
But passed it down
Now watch the invisible people scramble
Huddled, oppressed, but numerous,
By joining together we can form
Whatever we'd like to be the norm
A plurality of voices
Allows for better choices
But we can't keep fighting over the scraps
The master's house was built by us
Don't ignore the whispers
These are the Earth's quieted screams
What is the purpose?
What is the plan?
To give back for what we've been given,
Or should we continue to steal from our children?

Conceptualization

After reading the Shaking The Money Tree text and discussing my project in class I am beginning to formulate a clearer understanding of how my project will unfold. I will be creating a proto-type entity during the course of this class with the hope to be able to recreate a similar entity during my anthropological field research. The ultimate goal for this is to offer a media project and internet presence as a reciprocal gift for allowing my presence and research within the community I will be staying. This experiment will be within a much more controlled environment with access to resources and time compared to the time I will be spending in Guatemala. As I decipher and decode the technological jargon thrown around in our classroom I am picking up useful ideas of how to market and implant my project on the Internet. Shaking the Money Tree also provided me with insight on how to successfully reach target audiences, appeal to the appropriate markets, and contact potential funding sources. I intend to continue filming and accumulating footage for my proto-type advertisement, weather permitting.

I am excited to be able to complete every step of this process because my prior work involved co-creators who had designated tasks. The diversification of labor during those projects left me specializing in only one component of film making- cinematography. To be able to produce a final project from start to finish on my own is a skill I have wanted since I began tinkering with visual media. This class is going to not only allow me the opportunity to accomplish this, I will be able to take the finished product and breathe life into it on the Internet. This skill set will prove useful to me not only for my summer field research, but for the future of my career which I envision having a visual media component.

Project Idea

As an anthropology graduate student taking this course I will be attempting to incorporate my future research into the curriculum for this course. My ultimate goal is to be able to produce some form of video from start to finish while doing my field research in Guatemala. Last winter I had the pleasure of visiting the Q'eqchi' Maya village Plan Grande Quehueche which is situated behind the port city of Livingston, Guatemala. The community has come together to establish a sustainable tourism business which involves explanatory guided hikes through the local areas (jungles, coast, caves, etc). The tour ends in their village where visitors are welcome to stay in the several cabanas they have constructed, have dinner, and partake in a traditional Maya ceremony involving marimba music and dancing. The experience and services provided is amazing and deserves recognition and promotion. There seems to be a lack in promotion for their service, so this is where I may be able to contribute.

This Media Arts class is designed to create a media project with an Internet presence. I feel that this is a perfect opportunity for me to experience the needed steps to create a promotional Internet presence for the community business in Plan Grande Quehueche. I feel the most appropriate way to execute this goal is to utilize the resources I will have available during my stay in Guatemala. I have an Olympus Stylus Tough handheld camera which also shoots video. I have decided to use this as my camera due to its inconspicuous nature and also because it is shock resistance and waterproof. I will also be using basic editing software which I will have available to me on a small portable laptop. I am debating on using Windows MovieMaker or iMovie for my iPad, but bringing the iPad to Guatemala may not be an option.

Since this class will be preparing me for my experience abroad I am documenting a local nature preserve (Saluda Shoals) and activities available there. I will create a mock promotional video using the tools I will have available while in Guatemala (Olympus camera, laptop editing software, etc). I have already filmed a kayak trip and will be taking photos and videos throughout the park to be able to create this promotional video by the Spring Break deadline. This exercise will hopefully enable me to complete a similar film while conducting my field research.

Week 1- Who is Mike Young?

That's a very good question, thanks for asking. My name is Mike Young and I spent most of my youth in Southern California. My own identity perplexed me as I grew up. My father is American of mixed European descent and my mother came to the US from El Salvador at age 17. I was born in Ensenada, Mexico, spent two and a half years in Puerto Rico when I was five years old, was blond with fair skin until I was about three years old, and English was the main language spoken at home. As difficult as that mental map is to follow it was equally difficult to identify with as a young child. So, this lead to my questioning of identity as a concept growing up.

Understanding and appreciating diversity are what guided me in the direction of Anthropology and Human Resource Management. These were the disciplines I double majored in while at California State University Long Beach. After spending time abroad in Latin America doing volunteer work with my wife I sought out schools that matched my interests and University of South Carolina was a great match. I want to be able to continually make contributions towards positive social change and feel that focusing on Cultural Anthropology with an environmental focus will have the greatest lasting impact. Technology and media arts are vital tools to empowering and connecting people around the world and I would like to sharpen my skills through this class to best put these skills to use. I also understand how important visual components to documentation are to creating histories and drawing in diverse audiences.