When I first visited the website, I was quite confused, as it wasn't what I was expecting. When I hear the word "art" I think of these overly-complex, beautiful, striking, cerebral paintings. I forget that art comes in so many forms, all of them linked by a sense of creativity, expression and, most importantly, freedom. These various projects all contain those qualities, and they're unique, something I've never seen before in terms of art and creativity. There's a sense of humor to many of them, and in others, a carefree and spontaneity to them, and all of them feel so simple and easy on the surface. It's not until I took the time to process what I was seeing and reading that I realized that if you go below the surface of what's been created, you get to the heart of the inspiration and message. The piece called Seeking Good Conversation was the first one I watched. I thought it was a creative way to speak to new people, to delve into many people's lives and interact with people in a convenient way, especially in a world where we're all rushing around, stressing out over silly things. There's something intriguing about the idea of just leaving flyers asking people to converse with you, getting to know strangers while still being anonymous. The videos depicting a few of the texts were brilliant, too, not just in their execution, but also the messages themselves. They were short and basic, not giving away any information, but about something that almost everyone relates to. It shows how connected we are, even as strangers, that we all feel so used to our environment and lifestyle that we don't stop and think about it until texting with a stranger, realizing how automatic life has become. A good example of the humor I mentioned at the beginning is in Modern Greetings. It's an interactive piece that gets people to greet in more unusual, awkward and funny ways than the traditional hand-shaking. I found it to be funny, and also something that I'd imagine is a good ice-breaker. Handshakes themselves can feel awkward even though they're the norm, so why not do something more unusual to take away the formality of it? I thought this was a very interesting piece for that reason, and that was the thought that came to my mind as I was reading through it. My favorite piece, though, was the one titled Interactive Signs. It, too, seems so simple, and is simple, but that's the brilliance of it; it takes something so simple to get people to break their mundane habits and routines, to make their day just a little bit different. All in all, I loved viewing the artwork I've seen. It's opened my eyes to how art doesn't always have to be riddled in metaphors and concepts that no-one but the artist and some experts will understand or relate to, and how it isn't just something that caters to the mind, but also to the heart and body; something that reminds me to break the monotony, break away from the stress and routine, and do something different. Most importantly, it reminds me to live. That's what this art is all about, to me. It's about life itself, and that is the greatest form of art.
