1984

One of my favorite books of all time is 1984 by George Orwell. The version of the book I have, in my opinion, has one of the best cover arts since the book’s publishing. What draws me to the cover of this book is definitely the writing on it. The whole front and back covers of the book is writing. The front of the book has in big, capital, boldfaced, white letters: “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” The back of the book says: “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER” three times going down the page. Contrary to the front cover, the back cover’s words are written in red writing, almost as if being scratched onto the back of the book. There are little blots of ink that fall in between the letters that could give the illusion that it was in fact written in blood. The background of the front of the book has a red background with white letters, which is the exact opposite of the back with a white background and red letters.

I think this cover art has great interaction with the actual meaning of the book. The front has the very bold words, which are the words that are spoken by the “Big Brother” government. The back has the words written, almost weakly, that are meant to be written by the “anarchists”, the ones who are against the Big Brother government. This follows the main plot of the book, which is the idea of good vs. evil. The conflict between Big Brother and these revolutionaries. And the continuous overwhelming success of this government against the revolution. I definitely think that the typography of the covers transmits a message to the reader, even before the reader opens the book. The colors of the background and the words catch your attention, and cause you to read the covers and learn a little about the book before you even open the front cover. 

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Artist Statement

My inspiration is everything unknown to me. The unknown is the fuel keeping me running to find the truth. The unknown does not scare me, as it does many; yet, it intrigues me and lures me to the depths of the world and the depths of myself to find out more. I  am not afraid to venture into the unknown, into the abyss of things that I have yet  discovered. My hope through the films I create is to make people less afraid to know more. These days, our society teaches us that ignorance is bliss. People, especially in America, live in a shell, protected by the controlled media and censorship; protected from the knowledge of life in other countries and around the world. To believe that ignorance is bliss is to chose naivety. To chose ignorance is to knowingly put aside what happens outside of America, because there is indeed a whole world out there unknown to many people. My hope is to get people to think. My hope is to get people to question. My hope is to get people to not just accept what they hear all around them. Through using a video camera, I want to capture and expose the world’s horrors and grandeurs, and hope to bring to light the things in the world that are too often kept in the dark.

New Eyes

This is a picture of a building part of the Second Avenue subway construction. This construction has been going on since I was a freshman in high school, about five years ago. Everyday I leave my building and see this and several other construction sites walking along 2nd Avenue. To be honest, I hate the construction with a passion. But in taking on this assignment and trying to look at this with new eyes, I noticed the Irish flag being raised. This makes me feel a little bit better about the subway construction, simply because I see my heritage being proudly hung over this terribly difficult and laborious project. It makes me even more proud to be Irish and since I have looked at this with new eyes, I see the flag every time I pass this and smile a little bit.