Research topics

T.C.
2.14.2007

Research Topic(s)


From my original list of ideas, I singled out three topics for research that I thought could be the most interesting in various aspects, and ones which I hope to get a lot out of working with. The three topics I chose were: fear, grounding one’s self, and dragons.

1) Fear: I wanted to aim at portraying fear in both rational and irrational senses, and get to an understanding of the underlying hows and whys we as people fear, or may fear, what we do. I wanted to explore more deeper concepts, and incorporate a dark, somewhat gothic aesthetic value to the pieces I would create if I did go with this topic.

2) Grounding one’s self: I came to this topic due to the fact that I’m very interested in and intrigued by the ideas of meditation in various forms, and how one must ground themselves in a deep state of calm and relaxation in order to reep the utmost benefits of the practice(s). As society grows and technological advances grow and lead us to lead more fast-paced, stressful lifestyles, it is highly important that we take the time out every once in a while to just relax and gain/regain our bearings. The idea of grounding, in conjunction with meditation, I wanted to portray it dually through the use of using the phrase “grounding one’s self” as a metaphor for keeping one’s head “straight,” their thoughts and actions present in the now, and not always in the what will be or what has been, but keep themselves rooted in the current situation at hand.

3) Dragons: (Metaphoric evolution) Though dragons in the typical western sense are nothing more than imaginary creatures which probably never were to begin with, there is no denying their mystifying existence as it stands within the genre of fantasy. They are wondrous, magnificent creatures that have been associated with various ideas/emotions in various cultures throughout time. What I had in mind for “dragon(s)” as a topic was based around my wanting to explore the legends and myths surrounding dragons in the areas of their historical context and treatment. I wanted to delve deeper into their mysteries, and shed some light on the great beasts, in the way they were perceived then and now, and somehow connect both those factors. I want to strive to portray both the good and bad sides of dragons through their evolution through history, and in the end, I want to attempt to get away from concepts of literal dragon depictions and associations and allow the dragon itself, both in name and image, to become a metaphor for various enmities (greedy, hoarding, courage, ferociousness, bad, life-bringing, water-carrier, omen of good fortune. . .) in my later pieces. Dragons have been known as great beings of evil (in the West), who are ferocious and hoards stashes of treasure which is pretty useless to them, or as creatures of good fortune and life-giving essence (in the East), such as bringers of the storms and the water that gives life to all plants and animals. Two very conflicting views of the same creature, and so many different stories to tell. . .