Whatever the medium, there is the difficulty, challenge, fascination and often productive clumsiness of learning a new method: the wonderful puzzles and problems of translating with new materials. 

- Helen Frankenthaler

As a first-year entering into a dauntingly-large and foreign campus, I tried to pick classes that would be interesting yet familiar, a schedule that worked for me as a science major, but would not be a shock adjusting to. Unsurprisingly, I failed spectacularly at selecting these dreamed-up, simple transition courses-- and I am glad that I did. My image of this class was one of studying and analyzing various forms of literature in addition to art, occasionally trying our hand at writing in a different medium, but something simple and fairly passive. When we jumped into the world of multimedia composing, I was surprised but excited; a completely new and unfamiliar means of creating was shown to me, we were encouraged to learn and explore how technology can enable a completely different approach to literature. 

The challenges and opportunities that the programs we worked with provide forced me to think in novel ways; this class became my much-needed creative outlet. I cannot think of a better term for the original and new ideas that come out of adapting a new medium than productive clumsiness.  I have learned so much through exploration of sites like Camtasia and Audacity alone. The concept of building on and correcting one’s work, which is what this portfolio allowed, was attractive to me because of how much control and time one is given. What I didn’t expect was how much control I would had to give up when posting earlier drafts of my final work, posting it for all to see and critique. Initially, I was intimidated by the different programs and the completely alien formats— I misjudged how long an assignment would take to complete, I struggled with finding source material, I couldn’t tell when exactly something was ready to post.  When I began to see my peer's comments and projects, however, that insecurity transformed into excitement about what our website and class was compiling. 

This portfolio tracks the projects that I worked on across the semester, and though it is presented chronologically, in no way did I finish one project and continue on. Weaving in and out of projects, gaining inspiration and technical know-how, helped me improve and change everything that is compiled here. I knew very early on that I wanted to work with very specific female artists' works whenever outside content was needed, and through those works, found strong themes of loss, gain, and growth that helped direct me. 

Begin this path: Emily Pak

1. Sound List
2. Audio Essay
3. Live E-Poems
4. Edited E-Poems
5. The Road
6. Portfolio Walkthrough

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