Composition #2

I must say that I was really impressed with the compositions that the four groups came up with for last week. They encompassed a lot of themes that we have discussed in the class and people's own projects.

First, I'd like to start with my reaction to our composition. I really wish that I could have seen it, but alas I was in it! :-p I agree with Shanga that we could have done a lot better on our timing. Our composition had a lot of ideas that we were trying to bring out, but we didn't do them as well as we could have. I would like to do what Shanga keep suggesting and push one element as far as we can. In this particular composition I don't really know what element that could have been. I really liked that our overall composition came off as light spirited or playful. I think this really fits with our research and they way Germans are dealing with immigration. The society as a whole tries to treat it as a non-issue, but it's not--there are multiple issues and concerns that are bubbly below the surface. Our composition did this on a certain level, but it could have been portrayed a little better.

One thing that I really thought people would comment on was the fact that we were digging the graves up. This was an allusion to a very famous Paul Celan poem "Todesfuge". This is a poem about the German treatment of Jews during the holocaust. Celan was a concentration camp survivor, who had been enamored with German culture, prior to his ordeal. He later committed suicide . . . but back to our compositions. Our group sees certain connections between the German's past ignorance of issues with the Jews, which eventually lead to the Holocaust, and the issues that are brewing under the surface with the Turks and new foreign population.

On the other compositions: I was very impressed. I particularly enjoyed the arts and identity groups. The visual displays were very impressive and artsy. The identity group presented there ideas very well and it was easy to understand their topic. I enjoyed their text, especially the one about the zipper.

At first I didn't really understand the arts group's composition, but it was visually very powerful. I thought that the girl who died was crying, but it made sense both ways. I thought their use of levels was terrific, those stairs are great for what they did. I would like to encompass something similar in a later composition.