Website Explanations
About
INFORMATION
I wanted to use the About page to give a brief introduction into who Kahlo was/is now. The hard part was explaining why she was alive once more, as she had expressly stated "I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return." I chose to have Kahlo continue to live through her artwork. She put so much of her thoughts and feelings into her paintings, that her works were almost an extension of herself. Therefore, since she would not come back to life by choice, she would be forced to partially remain, as she had unintentionally left a piece of her soul in each of her paintings. Her personal information was fairly brief, as she was not one to divulge the unnecessary to strangers. However, I feel that she would provide information regarding the things that she was most proud of or dedicated to. First of all, Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907. Later in her life, she would claim that she was born on July 6, 1910, as it was in 1910 that the Mexican Revolution began. Therefore, I felt that Kahlo would proclaim her birthday to be in 1910, despite her actual birth year. Next, I mentioned her being married to Diego Rivera, as he held a huge importance in her life. Finally, I mentioned her passions: Diego Rivera, her painting, and communism. I chose these as she was focused on these three essentially her entire adult life.
IMAGES
For the image banner, I blended together a portrait of Frida Kahlo and one of her more famous works, 'The Two Fridas'. I chose ' The Two Fridas" as it represented the two sides of her- the person she was with Rivera and the person she was without. All images came from Google Images.
I wanted to use the About page to give a brief introduction into who Kahlo was/is now. The hard part was explaining why she was alive once more, as she had expressly stated "I hope the exit is joyful and I hope never to return." I chose to have Kahlo continue to live through her artwork. She put so much of her thoughts and feelings into her paintings, that her works were almost an extension of herself. Therefore, since she would not come back to life by choice, she would be forced to partially remain, as she had unintentionally left a piece of her soul in each of her paintings. Her personal information was fairly brief, as she was not one to divulge the unnecessary to strangers. However, I feel that she would provide information regarding the things that she was most proud of or dedicated to. First of all, Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907. Later in her life, she would claim that she was born on July 6, 1910, as it was in 1910 that the Mexican Revolution began. Therefore, I felt that Kahlo would proclaim her birthday to be in 1910, despite her actual birth year. Next, I mentioned her being married to Diego Rivera, as he held a huge importance in her life. Finally, I mentioned her passions: Diego Rivera, her painting, and communism. I chose these as she was focused on these three essentially her entire adult life.
IMAGES
For the image banner, I blended together a portrait of Frida Kahlo and one of her more famous works, 'The Two Fridas'. I chose ' The Two Fridas" as it represented the two sides of her- the person she was with Rivera and the person she was without. All images came from Google Images.
Contact
I felt that Frida would have known who she wanted to talk to, and known who she wouldn't have wanted to talk to. Thus, she wouldn't waste time providing contact information for people that she did not wish to talk with.
Diego
Diego Rivera, Kahlo's husband, was a large part of her life. I believe that she would have wanted to pay some tribute to him, without being too dramatic or too defensive of their often questioned relationship. Therefore, I felt that a quote from Kahlo regarding Rivera, a picture banner, and a link to Rivera's website would suffice. This quote was shown to be an origional on the page by using a quote block bar. The picture banner included a photograph of Kahlo and Rivera, along with her famous painting, "Self Portrait as a Tehuana."
Exhibitions
Frida Kahlo was an artist quickly rising to fame when she died. Even before she became well known, she would often travel with Diego Rivera, promoting and selling their work. Therefore, it makes sense that she would continue trying to draw attention to her work today.
This section includes text directly copied from the exhibits' websites. This was done as Frida would have wanted to promote the event by showing the advertisements for the exhibit to encourage people to come. Although the text was copied, it was placed in quotation marks with the source website directly below, so that it can clearly be seen that these are not 'Frida's' words.
This section includes text directly copied from the exhibits' websites. This was done as Frida would have wanted to promote the event by showing the advertisements for the exhibit to encourage people to come. Although the text was copied, it was placed in quotation marks with the source website directly below, so that it can clearly be seen that these are not 'Frida's' words.
Communism
Frida Kahlo was a devoted communist. She was active in the party from a young age, and continued being a loyal party member her entire life. I chose to include a quote from Trotsky, as he was not only an important communist, but also one of Kahlo's lovers.
Mis Amantes
Frida Kahlo had no shame in having lovers. When she was first married, she remained faithful to her husband, Diego Rivera. She knew of his numerous affairs, however her anger culminated when Rivera slept with her sister. From then on, Kahlo decided that if he could have affairs, she could too. Kahlo slept with quite a few people. Although it could be said that she would have had a good time sleeping around, she also did it to take revenge on Rivera and make him jealous. A prime example of this is when she slept with Rivera's idol, Leon Trotsky. This is why I posted Trotsky's picture first. As with the rest of her lovers, she was mostly drawn to him by his fame and power. Due to the reasons for her attraction, I posted the lover's picture and what made them important. In general, Kahlo would have posted this section as another attempt to spite Rivera (she loved him very much, but she did not like him having affairs).
Blog
I chose to have Kahlo interested in Angelina Jolie, artificial vertebrae, domestic violence in the NFL, and the 43 missing Mexican students. All blogs were simply signed 'Frida.' This was done because that was how Kahlo signed all of her letters.
Angelina Jolie - Cancer
I chose to pick this topic because there are many similarities between Kahlo and Jolie. They both love children, both are artists, both have lost parts of themselves for medical reasons, and they both can get a little wild. Given their similarities, I believe that Kahlo would have been interested in Jolie and had sympathy Jolie because of the operations that she underwent.
Image choice: The image that I chose was simply a picture of Angelina Jolie to show who she was.
Artificial Vertebrae
Kahlo lived a life of physical pain. Therefore, she would have been very interested in any medical advancements that might have healed her. One area that caused her much pain and problems was her back, which was severely damaged in the trolley accident. Finding out about potential solutions, such as artificial vertebrae would have been fascinating to her-- and made her envious.
Image choice: The image that I chose was a picture of an artificial vertebrae that might have helped Frida's back condition.
NFL Domestic Violence
The NFL domestic violence would have caught her attention as she spoke out for women's rights and tried to draw attention to the abuse in her time. With the attention and outreach that the NFL anti-abuse commercial received, Kahlo would have probably been glad that people were finally paying attention to the issue. She would also re-iterate her disgust with any type of abuse, as she was firm in her beliefs.
Image choice: For this, I did a side by side comparison of Frida's efforts to end domestic violence and the NFL's efforts; thus her painting, "A few small nips" and the video of the commercial were used.
43 Missing Mexican Students
The 43 Mexican students were chosen as this event occurred in her home country, Mexico, and she could identify with it on many levels. First of all, she could identify with the mothers and fathers who had lost their children, having lost numerous children herself. She could also connect with the murdered students and current students, as the students were murdered for speaking their political beliefs. This is because as a a student, Kahlo was highly active in politics and joined a communist group to express her beliefs. She would not have wanted any student's voice to be silenced, especially in this way. Also, she would have wanted to express her anger towards those who committed this crime.
Image choice: The images used were the image of all forty-three students (for impact), and pictures from the aftermath rallies.
Angelina Jolie - Cancer
I chose to pick this topic because there are many similarities between Kahlo and Jolie. They both love children, both are artists, both have lost parts of themselves for medical reasons, and they both can get a little wild. Given their similarities, I believe that Kahlo would have been interested in Jolie and had sympathy Jolie because of the operations that she underwent.
Image choice: The image that I chose was simply a picture of Angelina Jolie to show who she was.
Artificial Vertebrae
Kahlo lived a life of physical pain. Therefore, she would have been very interested in any medical advancements that might have healed her. One area that caused her much pain and problems was her back, which was severely damaged in the trolley accident. Finding out about potential solutions, such as artificial vertebrae would have been fascinating to her-- and made her envious.
Image choice: The image that I chose was a picture of an artificial vertebrae that might have helped Frida's back condition.
NFL Domestic Violence
The NFL domestic violence would have caught her attention as she spoke out for women's rights and tried to draw attention to the abuse in her time. With the attention and outreach that the NFL anti-abuse commercial received, Kahlo would have probably been glad that people were finally paying attention to the issue. She would also re-iterate her disgust with any type of abuse, as she was firm in her beliefs.
Image choice: For this, I did a side by side comparison of Frida's efforts to end domestic violence and the NFL's efforts; thus her painting, "A few small nips" and the video of the commercial were used.
43 Missing Mexican Students
The 43 Mexican students were chosen as this event occurred in her home country, Mexico, and she could identify with it on many levels. First of all, she could identify with the mothers and fathers who had lost their children, having lost numerous children herself. She could also connect with the murdered students and current students, as the students were murdered for speaking their political beliefs. This is because as a a student, Kahlo was highly active in politics and joined a communist group to express her beliefs. She would not have wanted any student's voice to be silenced, especially in this way. Also, she would have wanted to express her anger towards those who committed this crime.
Image choice: The images used were the image of all forty-three students (for impact), and pictures from the aftermath rallies.
Design
The design chosen was a dark charcoal grey background, with a lime green header of “Frida Kahlo.” The banner across the top of each page changes depending on the page’s subject. For the home page, the banner is a picture of Kahlo with one of her famous quotes. The about page’s banner consists of a photo of Kahlo and the painting “the Two Fridas.” The contact page banner has a picture of Kahlo appearing disinterested. The “Diego” page banner has a photo of Kahlo and Rivera as well as a painting that Kahlo did of herself and him. The “Exhibitions” page does not have a banner, but has images of the exhibition fliers. The page on communism has a banner that merges a picture of Kahlo and Rivera at a rally, the communist flag, and Kahlo in her communist back brace. The “Mis Amantes” page does not have a banner, but includes pictures of her lovers. The blog uses a paint splatter banner. The explanations page was left banner-less.
The banners were constantly changed to best express the topic of the page. This was done because Kahlo was very artistic. Therefore, I do not believe that she would have kept the original site design. Having also known the power of color and arrangement, I believe that she would have tried to use these elements to her advantage like I tried to do, as each banner contributes to the meaning to the page..
The banners were constantly changed to best express the topic of the page. This was done because Kahlo was very artistic. Therefore, I do not believe that she would have kept the original site design. Having also known the power of color and arrangement, I believe that she would have tried to use these elements to her advantage like I tried to do, as each banner contributes to the meaning to the page..
Sources
The following are a list of reliable websites that contributed to my understanding of who Frida Kahlo was and how she would have created her website. By learning from these pages, I was able to speak in her voice and make a website that would contain the information that she would have wanted.
http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496
Although no specific author is listed, this website has a “Meet the Editors” page and an “About [Us]” page. Additionally, contact information (including their street address and email) is listed to additionally verify the information provided.
http://m.kcur.org/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#mobile/40210
This article was written by Silvia Maria Gross, who has had many stories aired on reputable networks. This website is maintained by the Kansas City Public Media, which is affiliated with the NPR, or National Public Radio. This website is also connected with the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Additionally, there is an “About [Us]” page and contact information is listed.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/12/artnews.art
This article was written by Javier Espinoza for the Guardian. The Guardian is a reputable news article source. Additionally, contact information, an about the author page, and an “About Us” page are all present.
http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/people.html
This article was found on the PBS website, and includes citations as to tell from where the information was obtained. Additionally, PBS has “About Us” and “Contact Us” pages. The information was assembled to be used in conjuncture with Amy Stechler’s film, The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, as an educational tool.
http://www.liberalamerica.org/2014/10/20/42-frida-kahlo-quotes-you-need-to-read-today/
This was written by Tiffany Willis, who is a Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the website. Additionally, there is an “About” page and contact information is listed.
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/22/11311488-doc-solves-mystery-of-frida-kahlos-infertility?lite
This article was found on the NBC News website, which is a well respected source. Although there is no author listed, NBC has an “About Us” page and a contact information page.
http://www.fridakahlofans.com/chronoLeonardoBirthCert.html
This was written or compiled by Mike Brooks. He cites all of his information and also includes photographic proof. This site has a home page where it lists the authors, contributors, citations, and contact information as well.
http://www.fridakahlo.com/
This site does not list the author, however all the information is cited and there is a bibliography page which includes reputable sources, such as Frida Kahlo’s own diary.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/52760.Frida_Kahlo?page=3
This web page has no author, as it is simply a collection of quotes by Frida Kahlo herself. However, there is an “About Us” page and contact information is listed.
“Secret Lives of Great Artists”
This was a book written by Elizabeth Lunday. It includes a bibliography and has been recently published (2008).
The following websites contain the event information that was directly copied and quoted to promote Frida Kahlo's exhibits. These are reputable sources, as these are the museums and organizations that are sponsoring and hosting the events.
http://www.nybg.org/frida/
http://www.dia.org/calendar/exhibition.aspx?id=4608&iid=
http://www.fridakahlogenova.it/orari-mostra-genova.html
The following are the websites that are linked to the names of Kahlo's lovers. These are reputable sites as they are either the official sites, museum sites, or reliable sites (with contact information, about page, etc. given) of the lovers. *One site is a Facebook, as Chavela Vargas is still alive today.
http://www.trotsky.net/
http://www.icmuseumberggruen.de/en/museum-berggruen
http://www.andrebreton.fr/
http://www.jacqueline-lamba.com/
http://nickolasmuray.com/
http://www.noguchi.org/noguchi
https://www.facebook.com/chavelavargasofficial
The following are reputable news sources and reliable sites (with contact information, about page, etc. given) that I used to aid in finding information about the current events that Kahlo blogged about.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/americas/mexico-missing-students/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ad-criticizing-nfl-over-domestic-abuse-to-run-during-super-bowl/
http://io9.com/5825764/your-synthetic-spine-is-almost-ready
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/angelina-jolie-double-mastectomy_n_4905789.html
Below is the link to the NFL football video that I used in the blog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTJT3fVv1vU
All images were found using Google Images. The banners were made by combining pictures from Google Images. Thus, although all banners contain origional images, the banner itself is unique to my website.
http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496
Although no specific author is listed, this website has a “Meet the Editors” page and an “About [Us]” page. Additionally, contact information (including their street address and email) is listed to additionally verify the information provided.
http://m.kcur.org/?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#mobile/40210
This article was written by Silvia Maria Gross, who has had many stories aired on reputable networks. This website is maintained by the Kansas City Public Media, which is affiliated with the NPR, or National Public Radio. This website is also connected with the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Additionally, there is an “About [Us]” page and contact information is listed.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/12/artnews.art
This article was written by Javier Espinoza for the Guardian. The Guardian is a reputable news article source. Additionally, contact information, an about the author page, and an “About Us” page are all present.
http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/people.html
This article was found on the PBS website, and includes citations as to tell from where the information was obtained. Additionally, PBS has “About Us” and “Contact Us” pages. The information was assembled to be used in conjuncture with Amy Stechler’s film, The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo, as an educational tool.
http://www.liberalamerica.org/2014/10/20/42-frida-kahlo-quotes-you-need-to-read-today/
This was written by Tiffany Willis, who is a Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the website. Additionally, there is an “About” page and contact information is listed.
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/22/11311488-doc-solves-mystery-of-frida-kahlos-infertility?lite
This article was found on the NBC News website, which is a well respected source. Although there is no author listed, NBC has an “About Us” page and a contact information page.
http://www.fridakahlofans.com/chronoLeonardoBirthCert.html
This was written or compiled by Mike Brooks. He cites all of his information and also includes photographic proof. This site has a home page where it lists the authors, contributors, citations, and contact information as well.
http://www.fridakahlo.com/
This site does not list the author, however all the information is cited and there is a bibliography page which includes reputable sources, such as Frida Kahlo’s own diary.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/52760.Frida_Kahlo?page=3
This web page has no author, as it is simply a collection of quotes by Frida Kahlo herself. However, there is an “About Us” page and contact information is listed.
“Secret Lives of Great Artists”
This was a book written by Elizabeth Lunday. It includes a bibliography and has been recently published (2008).
The following websites contain the event information that was directly copied and quoted to promote Frida Kahlo's exhibits. These are reputable sources, as these are the museums and organizations that are sponsoring and hosting the events.
http://www.nybg.org/frida/
http://www.dia.org/calendar/exhibition.aspx?id=4608&iid=
http://www.fridakahlogenova.it/orari-mostra-genova.html
The following are the websites that are linked to the names of Kahlo's lovers. These are reputable sites as they are either the official sites, museum sites, or reliable sites (with contact information, about page, etc. given) of the lovers. *One site is a Facebook, as Chavela Vargas is still alive today.
http://www.trotsky.net/
http://www.icmuseumberggruen.de/en/museum-berggruen
http://www.andrebreton.fr/
http://www.jacqueline-lamba.com/
http://nickolasmuray.com/
http://www.noguchi.org/noguchi
https://www.facebook.com/chavelavargasofficial
The following are reputable news sources and reliable sites (with contact information, about page, etc. given) that I used to aid in finding information about the current events that Kahlo blogged about.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/americas/mexico-missing-students/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ad-criticizing-nfl-over-domestic-abuse-to-run-during-super-bowl/
http://io9.com/5825764/your-synthetic-spine-is-almost-ready
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/angelina-jolie-double-mastectomy_n_4905789.html
Below is the link to the NFL football video that I used in the blog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTJT3fVv1vU
All images were found using Google Images. The banners were made by combining pictures from Google Images. Thus, although all banners contain origional images, the banner itself is unique to my website.