Carla Freire

  "Jane Avril, Jardin de Paris"

Through his art Lautrec aimed at showing others what Parisian life was like whether it was the high end balls or brothels.  The women in this painting was one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s biggest muses, his dear friend Jane Avril.  Toulouse-Lautrec initially painted the poster in order to promote one of Avril’s largest performance that took place at the Jardin Paris and after his painting Avril began to grow in the entertainment industry.  Although Avril was considered a type of exotic dancer in Parisian life, Lautrec does not attempt to sexualize her in the poster.  In fact, Lautrec emphasizes on showing her talent and putting her name out there as a respectful performer.

  "At the Moulin Rouge"

Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting of the crowd at the Moulin Rouge is an excellent example of the manner he strips all the glamour from scenarios and presents them as normal gatherings.  When a person begins to think of life in Paris during the time period of Toulouse-Lautrec, they immediately begin to imagine glamour, fame, and upscale events.  Many different outlets of the entertainment industry such as movies and different paintings often show these time periods to be filled with people dressed in high fashion, elegant locations filled with jewels, and a crowd of upscale citizens, but Lautrec does not do this.  Toulouse-Lautrec uses dark, matte type colors in his painting of “At the Moulin Rouge” which makes the upscale club seem dark and boring.  The crowd in the photo does not seem to be all laughs and happiness like they are usually portrayed, but seem gloomy and somewhat boring.

"In the Dining Room of the Brothell"

American singer-songwriter and producer, John Mayer released his album, Continuum, in September of 2006. Continuum consists of some of Mayer’s finest works which include “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, “Gravity”, and “Dreaming with a Broken Heart”. Mayer is still continuing his career as a singer-songwriter/producer.  After Continuum, Mayer released three more albums: Battle Studies (2009), Born and Raised (2012), and Paradise Valley (2013).  Basically, Mayer is still an unmarried playboy that can make one hell of a love song. [1] Continuum was brilliantly produced by Mayer himself with the help of Steve Jordan.  It contains a little bit of everything from blues and soft punk to R&B a bit of pop, a very "John Mayer" album. Mayer covers just about everything in the twelve songs included in his album from world-wide issues in "Waiting on the World to Change" to extremely sad, "how can I live" heartbreaks like the one spoken about in "When You're Dreaming with a Broken Heart".

Mayer is known for using his lyrics to express himself clearly throughout his songs and in “Waiting on the World to Change” he utilized words perfectly to describe his view of on war and the media’s influence over everyone.  Mayer says, “"When you trust your television/What you get is what you got/'Cause when they own the information/They can bend it all they want,” Mayer slyly gives his outlook on the media and their way to change the news into whatever they want the public to think. 

One of Mayer’s stellar songs from Continuum definitely has to be "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room". This song is the song you play when you’re in a relationship that seems to be going down the drain, but you do your best to think it’s not because you’re way too scared to let go for whatever reason and then you listen to this song.  It’ll open up your eyes, maybe make you shed a tear or two and allow you to realize that you are indeed “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”.  The old-school blues and jazzy rhythm and instruments utilized in this particular song adds onto the brilliantly thought out lyrics and vocals created and visualized by Mayer. Unlike some of his other songs with love as the topic, Mayer’s lyrics give the essence of sadness, but understanding of how a relationship could be everything someone one wants, but it’s slowly deteriorating in front of them.  Personally, this certain song is not only a favorite off of Continuum, but it is a favorite from every song John Mayer has composed. The soothing sound of the guitar with the Mayer’s vocals that express emotion through pitches and lyrics add so much value to the song and the album as a whole.

Although Continuum is an extremely brilliant album, there is one song that is somewhat a dud when compared to the other eleven songs on the album.  “Bold as Love” does not reach the high levels of the other songs on Continuum. It lyrically lacks some content and the instruments utilized does not assist the song in becoming any better.  The instruments overpower Mayer’s voice and distracts the listener a little. Sorry to break it to you Mr.Mayer, but "Bold as Love" is the ugly duckling of the album.

This image really stuck out to me apart from all the other images because of the simple text, but the important message I interpreted from it.  I believe that in this internet poem the author is trying to show the manner in which relationships have curved away from interpersonal relationships, but have turned into digital relationships between two people.  I interpreted that the digital relationships people are in causes them to be lonely in reality, but whenever they receive a text or call they immediately find comfort.  These people depend mostly on technology in order to feel secure within their relationship or feel wanted.

This internet poem is expressing a worldwide issue that is the obsession society has with always being connected to digital media platforms.  The computer mouse being connected to the vein of the hand signifies how connected society really is to the internet.  It is sort of saying that technology has infiltrated us and is now vital part of our lives that keeps us moving like the blood in our veins.  The quote being used for this poem is being utilized by the author as a wake-up call for society.  The message the author is trying to get across is that maybe we should stop taking pictures of every little thing we are doing and begin to enjoy the moment more.  Also, this image is saying that we should stop being do dependent on technology and start working more towards actually living life than just making sure we show everyone else that we are. 

This internet poem depicts the way in which people tend to put up a façade over social media websites.  Although it is just stating that people seem pretty and nice and lovely via the internet, it can also be interpreted as other different ways people may pretend to be over the internet. This internet poem can also be a representation of how people only want to show off on social media.  People tend to post their best pictures, biggest news, and best events all over any social media platform.  This often leads others into believing that those people are living a perfect, happy life which may not always be the case.