ESOL Reflection

In the past few weeks, we have been reading a book called "The River" by Gary Paulsen. The river is about a boy who spent 54 days surviving alone in the Canadian wilderness. A few years later, he was hired by a group of men to live in the woods again, so they can learn some survival techniques from him. There was another book before this story, but we didn't have the time to read. Instead, the teacher just read us a summary. 

What I like about this book is the fact that it teaches you some survival things such as making a fire using a flint and a hatchet. There's nothing I don't like about the story, but I quite find it boring sometimes. In the past few lessons, we have also been learning about the essay structure. I haven't really learned new things from it since I've already learnt it before. In the end, I would like to make a game to share my knowledge. 

Desperado

What is the song about? 

I think this song is about a desperado. A desperado is a desperate person who has been running away because of the things that they've done. In a nutshell, the song talks about how a desperado needs someone to love them before it's too late. 

"You better let somebody love you

(Let somebody love you)
You better let somebody love you
Before it's too late"

Wananga Reflection

To be perfectly honest, this week has been the most stressful week ever. I had to study for the maths internal and the end-of-chapter review test for science. Now that it's done, I feel calm but worried at the same time because I don't know if I've done well. The only internals that I have left now is the creative writing for English. I'm kinda struggling with it since I've run out of ideas to write down. I can still do it though even if it's hard. 

Yesterday was Athletics day. I had to wear yellow for my Kahui which was Mohua. The events that I did were long jump, shot put, and 60m run. I've also played some games with my friends during the free time we had. 

AS 90913: Tracey Tawhiao Subversion - Blog Post 2

1. Wide reading approach: Subversion as a compositional framework.

Tracey Tawhio - Draw a thumbnail sketch and label everything - one artwork

2. Record: What can you categorize the objects she uses as, and why?

The objects Tracey Tawhiao used in her artwork are a fish, double koru, rectangles, triangles, wavy lines, and one of the drawings of the Maori cave art. 

Fish - represents the economy

Double koru - represents two lives growing together(Maori & Pakeha)

I think the rectangles represent fields of land that they owned but were taken away/

Triangles - represents Maunga/mountains

Wavy lines - represents water/sea

Maori cave art - represents the Maori culture 

Altogether, these symbols represent what was lost from the Maori after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. One is land(represented by rectangles & triangles). The majority of New Zealand was covered by Maori land holdings when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. Within a century, it had been reduced to a few isolated patches of land, mostly in North Island's central region. Their land was either confiscated or purchased by the government or in private. Because of this, comes a loss of the economy—meaning waterways and food sources(represented by fish & wavy lines). Another result of land loss is the lost access to culturally significant sites such as burial grounds and pa(represented by the Maori cave art). 

Double koru is also one of the symbols used in the artwork. Although, mostly all of the symbols represent what was lost due to the result of the agreement. I believe this was added to represent one of the consequences of signing the treaty—two cultures growing/living together. 

3. Record: Talk about space in her work-what do you notice?

She separates her work by following the grid in the newspaper. She also left some space to show texts that she wants to convey to the viewer. In this case, the texts of "It's what they didn't say that told the story"(the misunderstanding of the written agreement)  and "ownership"(land theft) — referring to the aftermath of the Treaty of Waitangi. 

4. Record: Talk about colour in her work-what can you describe?

- The colours she used in her work are monochromatic green as well as blue and grey. The colour blue and green is used to represent the nature/environment. 

Surivivng in the mountains

In ESOL, we were given a question. We had to write an essay about it with at least 250 words.

What three items would be best to have if you were lost in the mountains in New Zealand in winter, and why?

If I was lost in the mountains in New Zealand during the winter, and I’m only allowed to bring three items with me, I would take a Snow Mantra Parka jacket, an emergency kit, and a sled. According to the internet, the Snow Mantra Parka jacket is the warmest jacket in the world. This will be useful because it can help me survive through the cold climate and not freeze to death. Another item I would take with me is an emergency kit. An emergency kit includes a first aid kit, a flashlight, batteries, water, food, a pocket knife, and many essential things. With this item, I wouldn’t need to worry about the simplest thing. Lastly, the last item I would take is a sled. My last item was supposed to be a machete. I decided to not take it because I already have a pocket knife that I could use in my emergency kit. It’s not as powerful as the machete but I think I could work with it. Since I had to remove the machete, I needed another item to replace it with. That’s when the realisation hit me; I’m supposed to have an item that will help me find a way to get back home and not just things that will help me survive in the snowy mountains. At first, I thought of using a snowmobile but I realized that it will be a hassle to use. Then I decided to just use a sled because it’s not that big and you can pretty much carry it around. It can also help me carry things as I walk.

Wananga Reflection

This week, in Wananga, we've only done a few things because our Wananga teacher wasn't here most days. One thing we've done is setting goals in the MyMahi app. We've also done the weekly quiz and played GeoGuessr. 

AS 90913: Tracey Tawhiao Subversion - Blog Post 1

1. Subversion in Art: read, take notes, link the article.

- Art came into existence to educate, challenge, inform, inspire, and outrage us. 

- Subversion in art is one of the reasons why it exists.

- Subversive art is about overthrowing or undermining an issue in society.

2. Tracey Tawhiao Artwork: Quick thumbnail label everything- describe the artwork? 

Colour Palette & Shapes/Pattern: Overall, the repetition colours of gold, brown, blue, black, and white are used in both panels as well as the koru-like shapes, fish, and triangles.  

Texts: Each panel holds two written texts. The right-side panel has texts that say "All Share Space" and "Blessed with nine lives". There are also texts(little paragraphs) on the left-hand-side panel but they are both unreadable.

*Based on the text, "All Share Space", I think it referees to what happened in terms of the land lost from Maori people after the signing of the Treaty of the Waitangi. Their land was strayed as a result of a mix of private government purchases and direct confiscation. Instead of the space being shared equally between both parties for the agreement, one took advantage of it - the Crown.

                        Thumbnail Sketch       

In my perspective, the focal point in the left-hand-side panel is the koru-like arrow. The focal point is created through the contrast of the thicker line of gold in comparison to all the golden lines used in the panel.  

The focal point might be also the artwork in the middle with the dark blue and gold triangles on each side. Although in this case through leading lines. Altogether, the triangles created on the sides make a connected diamond. The connected lines of the diamonds then lead to the unreadable text which hooks the viewer's eyes to look at it closely - why it's a focal point.

  

The focal point on the right-side panel is the artwork located in the bottom middle of it. This artwork has unusual shapes formed together unlike the other simple shapes used. 

 

3. Choose one artwork- explain how subversion is demonstrated. 

In this artwork, subversion is demonstrated by the  text that says "We don't profit." From my perspective, I think this connects to the Treaty of Waitangi. 

The Treaty was supposed to benefit each party. However, after the treaty was signed, most lands were no longer held by the Maori. As a result of this, they lost access to culturally important places such as burial grounds and pa. Their access to forests, rivers, food supplies and other taonga was also inferred.