Untitled

[faithpalmer01]

Week 15 - Censorship

I do not think that censorship in art and entertainment is necessarily a requirement but I do think it is important in few cases. While traveling to Germany with my family, we saw plenty of art pieces that some people may have thought should be censored. Touring the Ettal Monastery, I remember seeing many pieces that seemed strange to me. But, after reading the descriptions provided, I realized that it is important for society to see these in order to better understand other cultures and history. I do not agree with what Hitler did as far as censoring everyday items, pieces of art, etc. to the public because of his discrimination against the Jewish population. This is where I think the government should not have interfered. There are few instances now where perhaps a piece of art or entertainment should be censored, but most often not. Movies are rated so young kids can not see certain movies and most often there are notices made for art shows so that people are aware of what it is they will be seeing.

Perhaps some movies, TV shows, video games, etc. could be encouraging bad behavior but as it said in the attached article, it is difficult to predict whether this is true or not. I do not think young children should be exposed to such violent concepts, because the brain is still developing. But as we grow, there seems to be no problem with them. I think that some violent video games help certain children get their anger out this way rather than physically.

People’s own personal beliefs and preferences should be valued whether considering different cultures, government styles, and while working with and being around other people. As we have learned this semester, we know there are many artists who, although some may be similar, each have different art styles and preferences which are each valued in their own way. Some artists use censorship to get important points exposed to the public, causing us to think more deeply on a subject such as the emotion and passion Ai Weiwei portrays in his art work. Artists should be allowed to express themselves through their art. For those who work in the art industry full time, it is there way of making a profit as well. I think that those who question governments and other powers should be careful of what they say or create to do so publicly, but they have a right to speak out.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

I agree with you that there should be some sort of censorship in art today but there should not be some in other ways because then it takes the beauty out of some of the art pieces. I really like your story of going to Germany and what you saw should be censored.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

week 15 response

I believe that censorship is required in our society to an point. When it comes to art I believe there should not be because art is art and if you censor it then you are basically destroying someones work and what they stand for. When it comes to entertainment I believe there should because I think you should not be able to show nudity on television. Besides that I think that there should not be any censorship because then you are keeping people from seeing art. I do not think that it is dangerous because art comes from all ideas and concepts. The line for censorship for for television only for me. Some swears and nudity have to be censored for the fact of children. There might be some explicit in cultures but that is what makes that culture them. I think that there is a parallel because they are not treated the same way as people that might share different kinds of art that is not censored. I think that artist should be allowed to express their opinions because we live in a country with free speech and if we do not let them express themselves then we do not live in a free country anymore. I see censorship becoming less restrictive because compared to how censorship was from in the past we are less restrictive now more than ever. It will only become less restrictive. 

[alexanderboeck-blog]

week 11

When I first looked at his pieces of art I thought that they were pretty well constructed. They are better than a lot that I have seen in the past. When I look at his artwork, I kind of wonder how he did it because one of the pieces of art I saw was of a bunch of chairs and I wondered how he did it. They are pieces of art that really make a statement. Some of the pieces of art stand for something that needs change in the world and as an activist himself he came up with perfect ways to express himself with these works of art. I see his artwork as both art and activism because almost anything can be art if you work on it and are happy with how it turned out. He constructed his pieces of art so well that you can tell that he worked hard on them and it shows. Also if you look at his artwork then you can see that he is trying to make a point and stand up for whatever he might be fighting for. He has said that he was trying to make a point and have some sort of activism in it. The way that his art is constructed and thought out is how you know that it is both art and activism. The ways that I see his art as fine art is but how it is constructed. The effort that has to be put into it shows the finest part of it all. He has to be so precise when working with it and the way that they are all shaped and come together so that they are seen as fine art. I feel that this kind of art does need to be a part of today because of the way that our world is, it is the only way that we can sometimes get our point across. Art is a way of expressing ourselves and if it is the only way that people are going to listen then you have to do what you have to do. For people to understand what is going on today with Hong Kong and all over the world people need to see what is going wrong with the world and how we need to fix it now because if we do not then something worse will happen from it.

[faithpalmer01]

Week 8

Caravaggio was a drunk, sometimes violent, and even a murder. Some of his most famous pieces of art were after he committed murder and left Rome. He chose to paint things in the world around him which I find very interesting and intriguing. A lot of people during his time also found this way of art lovely, which made him a well-known artist. His artwork is full of contrast and detail which makes looking at them so interesting. I remember in elementary school, our art teacher taught us about Caravaggio and his artwork called Bowl of Fruit. As 5th graders, we actually were assigned to remake this piece of art for ourselves. This was one of my favorite pieces of art we did during that class.

For my analysis and reflection, I will be looking at one of Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings. She was greatly impacted by Caravaggio; he was a reason she became such a great artist. I am intrigued by her painting Susannah and the Elders. This piece stood out to me because it looks so incredibly real and the detail is amazing and I think it also relays to life today as well. In the painting, Susannah is unclothed but seems to be wrapping herself in a white cloth, trying to cover up her skin. She has a distressed look on her face, as she sees two men looking over a wall trying to see her bare skin. The men seem to be older (hence the title); not young. One is leaning over top of the other in order to get a better look at her. Susannah’s skin is quite light in contrast to the background of the painting. The sky seems luminous around the three figures. Her legs seem to be sitting in a pool of water with a small fountain that is circulating the water at the edge. Possibly Susannah is trying to wash herself when these two men come invade her space. Or maybe she just wants to go for a swim. I also respect and appreciate that Gentileschi did not paint Susannah with a really skinny figure.

If I were in her position, I would feel very vulnerable and scared. I like to think that most men are respectful of women’s privacy, but from what I hear at school and on the news, this is not true of all men. Susannah is beautiful, but she deserves respect and her privacy. I think the artist is telling us how society seems to be at times, no matter how old or young an individual may be. This also can go both ways; sometimes it is the women peering at men. I appreciate this piece of art from Gentileschi.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

I agree with your interpretation of this piece of art. The fact that society is the way it is because of the peer pressure that is put upon someone, which can go both ways, is a very understanding way of seeing this piece of art. I also like how you talked about how she was not pictured as a really skinny figure and how this kind of stuff can happen to almost anyone no matter what someone might look like or what the shape of their body might be.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

post #8

The artist I decided to pick was Caravaggio and the piece of art I picked is named Crucifixion of St. Peter. This piece of art was created in 1600 in Rome. Some of the elements that I find stand out are the colors in the painting with there being a lot of dark in the painting but here is also some bright color to make the most important part of the art piece stand out. Also, I feel the texture of the art piece stands out. The painting I feel is rough because of how sharp some of the painting is with the emotion of what is going on in the painting and the shapes that the artist makes with what makes the texture the way it looks. The piece of art also has great shadowing because as you look throughout the painting you can see a lot of shadows and they are accurate to where they should be. I think that the piece of art shows both fear and anger. If you look at the piece of art then you can see that Saint Peter has that look of fear or pain from being crucified and knowing that he is going to die for what he believes in. The anger would come from the people who are crucifying him because if they were not angered at him why would they be doing this. There could also be the emotion of tiredness because as you can see in the piece of art the guys look tired or are working really hard to get the cross up so that they can be done with it all. I feel that the artist of the painting is trying to tell the famous story of when Peter, who was one of Jesus' disciples, was getting crucified upside down because he did not want to be crucified the same way as Jesus himself.  

[gomezla98]

When analyzing The Garden of Earthly Delights the first panel makes me think of the beginning of everything that came to be on earth. For example, their standing in the painting is adam, standing in the middle is Jesus himself, and to the right is eve. You can also see a hole in the ground wherefrom this there is life coming through. It is so peaceful so simply and beautifully painted with no chaos even being thought of. In the middle panel, we see lots of human interaction as well as more animals and more of the objects evolving. It’s in this panel where we start seeing more chaos and no more of the simple, peaceful, and calm side like in the first panel. Lastly, in the third panel, we can see what looks almost as though the destruction of nature. This painting really gives off the notion that what is to be depicted is that humans have a way of destroying what is simple and beautiful like nature for instance. In the last panel, it is dark, gloomy, chaotic, we no longer see the beauty and simplicity like in the other paintings this panel is the closest resemblance to hell as it seems the humans have become corrupt. The painting now has animals and humans morphed together having said that to me that would be the interpretation that there is no real distinction now between the two. In the two scenes that I have chosen the first one is Adam and Eve. Adam representing the human world and Eve the human soul. The second scene I chose is of the bird that is seen swallowing the human to later have them dropped into a hole in the ground. This scene to me almost represents the life being sucked out of them as they no longer are pure like they once were because we can see the birds leaving the person’s body as he enters the bird’s mouth. We can also see that the humans are later dropped in a hole in the ground where one human is defecating and the other is vomiting.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

I liked how you thought that the first piece of art has to do with life. As much as I agree with you, you could possibly say that it could also deal with death because the colors are kind of a darker shade and the whole in the middle could be a pit to Hell because you really only see birds which can not really fall into a pit. Also how Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and left to die could be another clue to it.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

Post #5

In most of these art pieces, there is definitely a lot going on in them. The first one that I picked was the one with the knife in the middle of the ears. I feel like this could mean a lot of things both as the picture as a whole and the separate pieces within the art. The ears in the art piece could possibly mean that history will repeat itself because the ear and the people around them are dead and have definitely been in a war of some sort. We hear about all the things in history class and it goes in one ear and goes out the other. The person in the middle with his butt cracked open could be an ignorant thing. It could mean talking out of your butt or there is something loving in your butt. It could be a lot of things but  I feel that the entire piece together could be about government or politics altogether. The fact that I said that history repeats itself and the talking out of your butt, which we know some politicians do that. There are plenty of meanings that could be put with this work of art.

The second piece of art that I did is also all over the place. At the top with the person in the clamshell could be a funeral or kidnapping. Whereas for the bird at the top also looks dead so the piece of art could be about death by looking at these two pieces of the art piece. The people in the middle could have to do with lust with all of the males surrounding the one naked female. Since lust is considered one of the seven deadly sins, this could lead to the death part of the art piece. There also looks like there is slavery and that could work them to death kind of slavery. In the whole picture of the art piece, you could say that it has to death with death.  

[lutesm-blog]

Week 4

What Power does art hold in this confrontation? 

I feel some of the most amazing pieces of art have been created in what is considered the darkest times. Artists, as some would say, are mentally different, by saying that the artist finds a sense of hope in the chaos/ turmoil around them. Art is meant to have a meaning, As stated in the article “most meaningful and relevant creative expression are living on the streets, rather than inside perfect white cubes insulated from the real world.” When fighting for something you believe in and fight for that you are willing to die then what stops you from saying what’s on your mind, or creating what you feel words are lacking. They are making things that stand for what they want what they are fighting for from the “graffiti, songs, signs, mems, Stonehenge-looking roadblocks, and even performative protests.” all these acts of art represents what their “ demands, dreams, hopes, and fears.” are and is that not what art is about?  

[alexanderboeck-blog]

I agree with what you are saying, some of the pieces of art do have those kinds of "help me" movements. The different ways that you mentioned, such as songs, graffiti, and memes, can definitely should the sign of weakness. Through the words or colors of some things are what can change it from being happy to crying for help. I do feel that the best art comes from those who struggle because they are putting their hearts into that piece of art.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

week 4

What I think Abby Chen means when she says "This is about being human" is that the people in Hong Kong wanted to end the protests and are trying to find a way to make Hong Kong a better place or make things better than they actually are. They use all different kinds of art to make them feel better and not make it as bad of a place. To me, I feel that the importance of art in the Hong Kong protests are high, It is something that helps people feel better ad make them sometimes laugh in a time of horror. The power of art can change the way that things are being dealt with. It can show that they can have peace in Hong Kong. The memes that they use are a big part of art that can help people forget about what is happening on the outside. It is something that can help people express their feeling about the protests. The power of art is as big as it can be because it is something that can change the way something thinks of something. The article talks about how.there was a piece of "art" that sold for $120,000 and it was just a banana duct-taped to a wall. It is something that is important and can be so important that someone would spend so much money on something like that.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

The artist that painted Portrait of Henry VIII of England was Hans Holbein the Younger and he painted it in 1537. The balance in the painting I think works quite well because there is not too much of one color and there is not a lot of the same patterns through the painting. The painting is kinda hard to determine the place because the guy in the painting, Henry VIII, takes up three-fourths of the painting. One of the first things that I draw my eye to is the blue in the back of the painting. Since the color blue is so prominent compared to the whites and other plain colors in the painting. I also notice the detail that is put in the armor on his body and the detail in his face and just in the whole painting altogether. The rhythm of the painting to me has a lot of them. First, there is the repetitiveness of the white and brown like shells on his clothing. These designs are both on his chest, as well as on his arms. Another thing that he repeats is the pattern that is on his chest plate. If you look at his chest plate you can see the similar movements that are around it.  This painting has a lot of contrast in it because of the light to dark colors that are put into the painting. In the painting, you can tell that there is great weight in the painting. The way that you can tell that is by how much it moves a person with the detail and the colors that are put into it. The biggest movement in the painting is the detail. The detail is something that can express how it changed the world of art. It is one of the best in this time period, according to me. The reason for me picking this piece of artwork is that it looks familiar to me. I have liked it in the past and I like the kind of detail that was put into this piece of art. The piece of art has been in a lot of my history books and liking history has helped me like it. The detail that is put into the painting and the way it was painted. When you see a painting like this you can usually tell that it was from the northern renaissance era. The fact that there is great detail in the guy in the painting gives a big clue when it is from.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

post #2

I would have to say that one of the biggest topics you could talk about is music. Music is a big part of our society and makes people sway in all kinds of ways. It can help people with what they think about something or how they feel about something. Music can have a big emotional imprint on someone and helps pave the way of how someone is feeling or how they should feel. In the last couple of centuries, the music world has changed dramatically. I used to be "soft music" to yelling and screaming in some cases. The swearing-in songs have definitely changed how people talk and how they move. Music has changed the way people dance. Dancing back in the 60s and 70s were what some people could say as being "innocent". Now we have dances that are not appropriate for the public and are just absurd. The way people sing or the speed as definitely changed in the past years with it being slowish to it being faster-paced music. There are more genres then there were in the past. People like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson are some people that have changed the way of music and they have helped pave the road all different kinds of singers. It could be race, gender, and the art style that they could have changed and paved the way for the singers we have today. "real music" is something that is being lost as we go year by year. When I say real music, I mean music that does not use autotune or anything that enhances a voice. Real music is when a person uses there real voice and has no help but themselves. In the future personally, I see the path of music going the wrong way. I think that music is getting worse and will destroy our way of life. Most people will like the kind of music that will be created in the future and some will consider them some of the greatest singers of all time. I feel that once rap became a thing the music world got destroyed. Some could consider it as being a turning point to something great and if anything, made music better for everyone. I think that the path it will lead us to in the future will be bad because the music we have today can have a lot of swearing and it has made swearing a norm in our society. I feel that more songs will have swearing in them and will cause us to be filled with nothing but swearing until it all loses its meanings and every other word we speak will be swearing. I may be sounding old while saying these things but I believe it to be true and I do not know what we can do to turn it to music that is acceptable to listen to. Almost everyone under the age of 30 that I have ever talked to say that Elvis is not a good singer and they have no idea how anyone could listen to his music. People will not recognize what "real music" is. I believe there is no way we can fix the way our music is today. I feel that music has lost its meaning and will not recover.

[faithpalmer01]

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh has been one of my favorite pieces of art since I was young. To me, this painting is very eye appealing. It includes a beautiful landscape with a village and a starry night of blues that are well blended and given a look of much texture and movement. The dark sky is behind a bright yellow moon and stars. Van Gogh was mainly self taught, which I find intriguing.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

I also like this piece of art because of how the lines work together. I also like the combination of all the blues in the painting and how they all swirl together.

[alexanderboeck-blog]

The Accordionist by Pablo Picasso. This Picasso painting is my favorite because I have had to work with this piece of art before and I have come to enjoy it. The longer you look at it, the more things you see. You may see a cat or a cup, all different kinds of things