NPHS Art Show

Today I went to my High School's annual art show. Seeing as my University is on spring break, I thought I would attend. I was a participant in the art show last year, a requirement for IB art candidates. You see, at my high school, Newbury Park, we have the International Baccalaureate program, which is like AP, but different, I guess. Anyway, as part of the program, all IB art students have to display their work in an art show. Last year, we had to produce 12 pieces of detailed art work, and fill about 50 pages of sketchbook, with well documented and intricately detailed notes/sketches of our artisitc journey, all of which must be centered around a theme. My theme was art in an urban setting. I slaved away all last year to display that work, labor that payed off as I passed the IB test and gained college credit in the process.

This year's show seemed a little different from the one I was in. For starters, there were a lot fewer students who participated, about 20 fewer to be exact. To fill in the extra space of the exhibition, which was held in the school's cafeteria, the work of AP photography students was displayed. Such was the case last year, however there were less previously than there were tonight. Regardless, much of the artwork was superb. I find that young artist's seem to have the most innivation and creativity in regards to visual arts; fresh ideas are floating around.

I did find that last year's work had more innovation to it, with students turning the flats the art was displayed on into installation art pieces themselves, me being one of them. A girl brought in squares of grass from a home and garden store to add to her collage/ instant art display (which included a peice of work she through a raw egg at). One student through trash all over the ground in front of his flat which was focused on recylable art. Another hung music notes above her flat, for her artwork was based after famous lines from popular songs.

The art this year wasn't bad, one of my favorite pieces however was the callaborative exquisite corpse piece shown to the right. Exquisite corpse is an art "game", if you will, where one artist starts the peice and passes it to the next artist, creating an eclectic work of art.

I think it was just a little weird to be back at my high school. I mean, I feel like coming to college, I've let that part of my life go. That it's part of my past now. I feel like I so badly wanted to escape the daily routines of high school, of my family, of my life, but I am constanlty pulled back into that world...that world that I worked so hard to escape. I also feel like, in a sense, that I no longer belong. I don't know, it's almost like I miss certain parts, but those aren't found when I try to go back. Maybe I just need to keep lookimg. Anyway, the art show is all this week, if you're around Newbury Park, then check it out.