WR 7&8

Kristen Zelenka
Weekly Response 7&8
8 November 2009

Last week in class we were asked to complete four different exercises in a corresponding quadrant of a grid we were given. Between each exercise we passed it to the person next to us. First, we were given a series of words that we had to draw symbols of. Second, we wrote descriptive words about the first time that we felt pain. Third, we were asked to draw our response to how much medication we have taken in our lives. The fourth and final exercise was almost a reversal of the first, we were shown drawings and we had to write down the first word that came into mind.

Between the four squares that I ended up with, there are a variety of styles that the four different people used in completing the exercise. However, everybody used pencil and everybody stayed within the boundaries of the box provided to him or her. The boxes are drawn in stark black sharpie and remind me of cubicles. The two drawings filled the area of the square while the two boxes where there was writing both started in the left hand corner of their respective boxes. The first box looks more like logos, clean and concise, while the third is more of an emotional sketch and a collage of different ideas. If I had to characterize the creative type of individual that completed these two boxes, I would say that the first was a graphic designer, the third a fine artist due to their drawing styles. The items listed in the fourth box are all definite objects that one could buy but in the first box, which was the reverse of the exercise, I cannot definitely tell the word that the symbol represents.

I would say that the first, third, and fourth boxes all relate to consumerism. The first, as mentioned before, resemble logos because of how they are cleanly drawn and arranged. The third denotes a lost of consumer goods that you could buy. The fourth is about medication and I instantly associate that with drug companies and insurance plans, especially with the huge bottle that takes up the majority of the space. However, the second box is more of a personal story and something relating to the individual’s mom. It made me think more of family and not of a consumer background. Despite this, I believe that with how the exercise was set up, talking about how consumerism rules our lives, it might influence our responses more than if it was not given in the same setting. We also completed the exercise while in class, where we the students are the consumers of the university that is a service provider.