Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Journal Five - Dillan

The profile I was assigned was Evangeline "Van" Calvin.

Isay takes a First Person point of view in this profile as he allows the dual interview of Ms. Calvin and her son Mikel to play out on the page. I thought this was an interesting point of view because it is almost like Ms. Calvin and her son are reciting a long-held conversation that they've shared with each other while at the same time her son compensates for his mother's failing memory by filling in the gaps. I feel like this dual style helped to create a good narrative that wouldn't have been capable with only Ms. Calvin on her own.

The photo has Ms. Calvin sitting amongst a number of naked mannequins. Each one is quite different, and there are men, women, and children mannequins surrounding her in a variety of casual poses. Three things I found interesting from the photo were: the baby mannequin because I didn't know they existed, the plethora of heads sitting above the assembled pieces, and the handless, female mannequin sitting beside Ms. Calvin has an eerily similar hairdo to her. I think the photo is composed to camouflage Ms. Calvin amongst her work, and it has a weird feeling to it. I think that if I were to stumble upon her in this building filled with mannequins that I would have to be having a nightmare as it looks too surreal.

I think Ms. Calvin represents creativity through her desire to assemble/repair each piece while painting the most realistic and unique faces she could compose for each mannequin. I think that she would have to be a very practical thinker because it seems that she often acquires pieces rather than whole mannequins, so she had to be able to make them fit and look natural. Also, she painted each face by hand rather than simply using a stencil, which shows a lot of commitment on her part because I think the average person would just go the easier, stencil route.

A quote that stood out to me was, " [...] any mannequin we ever did came out the best we could do it. That's what makes it, isn't it? If you're trying your best all the time? Whatever it takes to get a job done, I can do it. I know I can do it. Can't I?" I think this quote show Ms. Calvin's and her son's endurance and desire to commit to their craft of repairing these mannequins.

5 comments:

  1. I really like the quote that you chose! When I was reading this profile this is exactly the type of character that I interrupted from her. For me, it really goes to show how important it is to keep a positive mindset about yourself. If you believe in yourself you can do anything that you put your mind too, exactly like she says. Its often hard for people to do put that idea into words.

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  2. I also agree with the comment because they never gave up. Most people will give up instead of trying their best. For her to take the time and make each mannequin the best shows her dedication. I don't think I could paint unique faces for each mannequin that was made.

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  3. I think you did a great job at looking at the front picture. I didn't notice the baby mannequin at first but now I too am really curious as to what the purpose for that is! I think your right too, these too love what they do and they are very committed to their work.

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  4. I think you did a great job at looking at the front picture. I didn't notice the baby mannequin at first but now I too am really curious as to what the purpose for that is! I think your right too, these too love what they do and they are very committed to their work.

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  5. I think the commitment that Mrs.Calvin and her son has for these mannequins is truly admirable. If everyone was this dedicated to half the things they did, I wonder where the world would be today. People are often to ready to quit as soon as something becomes to challenging. I also laughed out loud a little when you mentioned the baby mannequin because I also didn't realize that was a thing. I would have also been frightened to walk into a room filled with half finished mannequins and this women so content among them. It seems like its something straight out of a horror movie.

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