My Interviews

For this, I interviewed Fred Idesis, a senior at GBS, Kevan Bauman and Kyle Eastman, my brother and one of his best friends who both graduated from South and currently live in Glenview, and Mrs. Mary Vicars from the social studies department.

1) How would you describe the 21st century human?

Fred Idesis (student): I find the 21st century human to be very needy. it seems like people these days aren't satisfied with what they have and continuously strive for more to improve themselves, even though they may already be efficient or "good enough"

Kevan Bauman and Kyle Eastman (residents): Lazy. We don’t have to do things for ourselves. We don’t have to gather or do anything. We have other people do things for us. People that should be making money are laborers, and the people that make money are the ones that don’t work. People don’t want to put in the time to work. And Technology is taking over big time.

Mrs. Mary Vicars (teacher): The 21st century human is a person who spends lots of time using technology and lots of time having impersonal contact with people (texting, emailing, Facebook) The old idea of face-to-face contact is gone.

2) What do you find appealing in art?

Fred Idesis (student): what I find appealing in art is the ability for the artist to turn something completely ordinary, like a box, into something extraordinary. I find it really interesting how an artist can take anything and make it into art. I basically like the idea that art is all around you. when an artist displays art in something very insignificant and overlooked, that to me is just awesome

Kevan Bauman and Kyle Eastman (residents): The design. The color and how visually appealing it is.

Mrs. Mary Vicars (teacher): I like impressionist art--Van Gough especially I like lots of colors. I
don't like abstract art.

3) How do you feel about modern art and why?

Fred Idesis (student): I’m not very inclined towards modern art. modern art is like a collage of random things combined together to show some kind of hidden meaning. modern art seems very random and skewed. to me, modern art is more based on patterns as opposed to actual paintings or drawings of certain things. its too abstract for me.

Kevan Bauman and Kyle Eastman (residents): I don’t like it. There’s no meaning to it. It doesn’t take any talent, and anyone could do it. It’s like “The Emperors New Clothes”.

Mrs. Mary Vicars: I don't like modern art; maybe that is because I truly do not understand it. My nephew is an art professor at a college. I have gone to his art shows and have seen his work. It seems so simple; I could draw it and call it art. There just doesn't seem to be too much for it.

4) What stresses you out?

Fred Idesis (student): I cant really think of many things that stress me out. i am generally a very stress-free person, even when it comes to homework or college essays. i suppose one thing that stresses me out is when people take things too close to the heart. I may say something as a joke or just a fun fact and another person would take it way too personally and become aggressive and attack me for it. i basically get stressed out when i interact with people who cannot detach something that someone says from their emotions

Kevan Bauman and Kyle Eastman (residents): Getting pressure from people. Not positive pressure I mean. Finding a job is stressful especially the way the economy is going.

Mrs. Mary Vicars (teacher): The number one thing that stresses me out is my own children. It seems like I am always worrying about 1-2 of the three. I usually have no problem sleeping at night except when I am worried about them. Also I get stressed out when I have too much to do--especially school-related. I try to do a good job and I try to be efficient. I can't figure out how I can leave work without having to do much at night. That makes me stressed.

5) What are common beliefs of the 21s century?

Fred Idesis (student): as of now, it seems to me that people are steadily becoming indifferent to the environment. towards the beginning of the century, global warming was huge and saving the environment was top priority. nowadays, things have dwindled down and people aren’t as environmentally worried. while people are straying away from the environment, it seems more and more people are thriving for world peace, or at least a stop to the current war. with Obama in position, many people are seeming very hopeful about the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq. a common belief that we discussed today in issues and answers was that of robots and humans. it seems like this is the century where robotics and humans are on the verge of combining. people are really looking forward to advanced technology to allow for humans to live longer and be more efficient i.e. replace certain human parts with robotic parts. basically, people seem to be optimistic about the transition into a more technologically advanced society that’s just the common beliefs though I myself find the human/robotic transition to be frightening.

Kevan Bauman and Kyle Eastman (residents): That you’re owed things like healthcare. That it’s a right and not a privilege. That if you’re too dumb to do stuff for yourself then someone else will do it, and that the rich is required to give to the poor. Laziness is rewarded.

Mrs. Mary Vicars (teacher): The common beliefs of the 21st century are:
The US isn't always right; we make mistakes like other countries do.
The world today is a much more dangerous place than it used to be when I was growing up.
Technology doesn't always improve our lives. Sometimes being in constant contact can add to stress.

Summary: In short, the concensus was that the 21st century has become more lazy and relies too heavliy on technology. Also, those I interviewed didn't enjoy modern art, but do enjoy alot of color and visually appealing aspects of art. All the stessful aspects seemed very different, however seemed to all deal with the effect other people had on them. Lastly, all the beliefs of the 21st century seem to have to do with technolgy again and how it isn't the best thing for us.

21ST CENTURY HUMAN INTERVIEWS

For my interviews, I interviewed Alexandra Bream, Mr Hartman (the school psychologist) and my freshmen peer group. I was shocked to discover that all three of the people i interviewed had very common beliefs about who and what the 21st century human was an also what modern art is.

What is the 21st century human?-- From my interviews i learned that to many people, the 21st century human is a person that strives for individuality. There is less civic engagement and more focus on personal gain. The 21st century human is fast moving and over scheduled. We never take the time to just sit on the front porch and rock in our rocking chairs. We are greedy and egocentric. We only care about our own personal advances and not the bigger picture.

What are the 21st century human's values?-- One of the biggest values that people today is technology. We use technology to get the things that we want. A lot of 21st century humans search for a group of people that they can connect to. With the internet, it is very easy for today's human to do that. We look externally rather than internally for answers to our problems We lack creativity and only care about what we produce. More than in past centuries, today's humans value knowing personal information about other that may not be their business. We also value a strong belief in ourselves and that we are better than others.

What d you think about modern art? -- Today's art is sometimes something that was put down on paper just to make a statement. A lot of art today may not be actually artistic but simply a statement made to attract attention. The simplest of things are considered art and usually takes no talent to create. The only good thing that people find appealing in modern art is that it allows for interpretation. It's reflective and lets everyone have their own views.

What art do you like?-- Most people find art that you can interpret in your own way the most appealing. It is realistic, more modern art that takes you way to a fantasy land that makes art appealing for some while it is the sense of self expression, freedom and chance for reflection that is appealing.

Overall, from doing this interviews i discovered that people find humans today greedy, self-centered and fast moving. The art that is considered modern today is thought of as messy, easy and not necessarily art. People are looking for a piece of art that can make them think, reflect and escape to another world.

The Interview

        In my interview I asked five questions about my interviewee’s opinions on art, people today and their lives.  Besides some slight differences, their opinions were basically the same. They all thought that the 21^st century person is distracted, stressed, worried about the economy and more interested in technology then in past years.    When I asked them what type of art they like they all said paintings and none of them liked modern art.  However, they all liked different forms of art. Mr. Mueller (guided studies teach) was a fan of surrealism so that “everyone can see their own picture,” while Angela (senior at GBS) preferred a realist picture that is eye catching and beautiful.  My mother, Joan Kindle, differed from both of them; she preferred the classic works of artists like Van Gogh and Picasso.

        From these interviews I’ve learned that our community has very similar general ideas.  However, we all have different personal opinion.  Art is subjective depending on the viewer, which makes this assignment that much harder.  How can we make an artistic creation that is pleasing to everyone if the only artistic thing they agreed on is that they aren’t fans of modern art?  After this interview the best idea that I have would be to put up a piece of modern art in the front of the school. Art I often disliked during the time period that it is created. So, in the future as society’s opinions of art change they will hopefully begin to enjoy this piece.  Much like how Van Gogh’s was most appreciated after his death.        

Forming Teams

Team Name: The Change
Team Motto: Defining The Undefined
How We Will Work Together: We all be responsible to help each other
                                                Everyone will pull their own weight
                                                We will work together to solve a problem
                                                We will create a schedule to keep everyone on task
Skills: Jordan-creative, artistic, responsible
          Lizzie-organized, hardworking
          Kendal-creative, passionate
Assign a Role: Kendall- note taker
                       Jordan- make sure we stay on topic
                       Lizzie- make sure the work is divided equally