This semester is starting to come to a close. It’s crazy, because it feels like my junior year only started a couple of weeks ago, and now I’m halfway through it! As fun as this blog was to run, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have next semester to continue it. So, we’ll call this a goodbye for now post. I might post something on here from time to time, but for now Art Simply is on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. Thank you so much for sticking around and reading my blog these past 15 weeks!
Here’s a little heads up that I’m going to go on hiatus for the next week! It’s Thanksgiving, meaning I’ll be around friends and family all week, and will also be entirely too busy stuffing my face to actually post here. See you guys in December!
Now, light writing is certainly not something that is new nor is it something that is all that difficult. Anyone can do light writing. All it requires is a tripod, a long shutter speed, and a source of light. You can write words, draw pictures, pretty much anything your heart desires. And because of that, when my studio professor first said we were going to do light writing in the studio, I wasn’t all that impressed or excited. Why visit a concept that was so easy?
Except then our professor showed us this image by Picasso, and told us he was going to teach us how to do this:
Suddenly a world of possibilities opened up. Of course it took a little while for any of us to get excited about it, but as we worked together as a class to create interesting, one image narratives through light painting, we got more excited about it. By the time I had a chance to work on my assignment for this project, I was totally in love with the concept of light writing. It also forced my brain to be creative. I wanted to think of a narrative for this assignment, and I had to figure out a way to do that through light writing. Look at what I came up with!
It was certainly a nice little exercise to get those creative juices going!
To see the full set, titled Sweet Dreams, head over to my photography blog!
So today I think I stumbled upon a new favorite artist. Her name is Nicola Yeoman and she is a set designer and visual artist from England. She has worked with prestigious people and companies, such as Louis Vuitton, Alexander McQueen, Hermes, H&M, and Selfridges. She has also worked with Vogue (the British, American, German, and Italian editions), as well as the New York Times and other publications.
But on to fewer words and more images. Yeoman’s work is absolutely breathtaking. She uses a mixture of light and texture to give her work feeling. As Yatzer put it, the combination of the two make “her compositions appear flat and three-dimensional at the same time.” The feeling can be unsettling, but also makes the image more appealing, so it’s like you can’t look away. But don’t just take my word for it. See for yourself:
The images above are from a number of Yeoman’s series, including Circles, And Then…, and Alphabetical. While each image is very distinctly part of a series, they all manage to have a similar feeling to them so you know they all came from the same artist. The same goes for each image within a series too. Each is distinctly its own installation, and yet they all work so perfectly together as a group. Honesty, I’m just blown away by her work and I’m seeing it as an inspiration to become more involved in set design for my photography.
Check out the rest of the article and the installations here! There’s also a ton more set design photographs, and they are all absolutely stunning!
I guess this post is more of a response post to last week’s post. (If you didn’t read it, do that here!) More or less, I had posted about the way to get creativity flowing for those who don’t feel all too inspired right now. Personally, I’m in that boat right now. I’ve been trying to come up with a concept for my final studio project, but just can’t seem to come up with ideas. So I figured, hey, why not take my own advice? So I’m going to work on a little bit of an inspirational file to show you guys. This is really just some of my favorite photographers and some of their photographs, but it’s got to be a start!
Duane Michals
As if it wasn’t obvious enough from my posts two weeks ago, I have a huge crush on Duane Michals’s photography. I absolutely love his photo stories and his text written on his photographs. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if my studio final turned out to look somewhat like his work.
Yvonne de Rosa
I was first exposed to Yvonne de Rosa’s work when I was looking for the use of color in photography for my color photo class last fall. She definitely has very good control over her use of color as well as her lighting and knows how to convey her meaning using her mastery of both. Not only that, but the artist statements that go with each body of work are great.
Jerry Uelsmann
Now if you want to see something amazing, check out Jerry Uelsmann. This man is amazing. All of his photo manipulation is done in the darkroom, but its done so perfectly you’d assume that it was in Photoshop. As someone who has printed extensively in the darkroom, I’m still completely and utterly blown away every time I look at his work.
Nan Goldin
I simply find this woman’s work inspirational. While I myself am not a documentary photographer or a photojournalist, I can still appreciate her work. There’s a raw and uncensored emotion in every single one of her photographs, showing that Goldin was not afraid to capture things just how they were, nor did she shy away from certain subjects.
If any of these artists inspired you, please take a moment to look at more of their work!
Do you have a favorite photographer or artist you think I should look at for inspiration? Please add him or her in the comments below!
On Satuday, November 15, the Color Run came to Pittsburgh, PA. While the weather was chilly (a whopping 28 degrees...), hundreds of runners made their way to the North Side to participate in the Happiest 5K on the Planet. The race is non competitive and focuses on having fun rather than being the winner. Take a look!
If any of you guys are like me, a little stress can be a kick in the butt to help get your creative juices flowing and finish a project. A lot of stress, however, can make all of that shut down and make you feel as if you’ve never had an original idea in your life. Personally, I’m starting to reach that point. Naturally, instead of working on any of my projects, I decided to procrastinate and make a list of ways to get your creativity going. I’m hoping this comes in handy for a future me and also you guys!
Create An Inspiration File. This is something you can do even when you’re not stressed! It can be something as simple as a folder on your desktop with photos of work you like to a physical notebook filled with images, thoughts, and the written words of others. Not only is it fun to look at your favorite or most inspirational artists, but looking back at the file can really help you remember why you do the work you do in the first place. In other words, it can connect you to your “artistic roots” and really get your ideas going. It’s never too late to start an inspiration file! Already have an inspiration file? Great! Take time to add a new thing or two to it. Who knows, this might just be the kick you need!
Try Something Different. Are you a writer? How about you try doodling? Or if you’re the opposite, how about trying a stream of consciousness writing. It doesn’t matter if you can only draw stick figures or if you’re not the next Hemmingway. It doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, no one has to see it except you! Stretching your mind in ways its not used to might just be the thing you need to kick start some new ideas.
Experiment. Going along with the first two ideas, is there an artist you really like or find really inspirational? Why not try copying their style for awhile? Thinking like someone else will only help stretch your mind. Not only that, but figuring out how you can emulate someone’s style while creating your own original work is a creative feat in itself. Double points if it’s an artist that works in a medium different from your own.
Stay Motivated. Maybe you’re having issues trying to think of a concept for your final studio shoot, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a creative photographer! Keep yourself distracted with side projects. Are the leaves beautiful? Great! Go take photographs of those. It might not necessarily be your big project, but it’s a way to take a break from your main stresser while encouraging your creative juices to flow. You’ll be happier creating work you like and you will come back to the new project with a better mindset. Try Googling quick craft projects if you’re stuck without an idea.
Do Something Else. If all else fails, there’s no shame in taking a step back! Forcing yourself to get creative isn’t going to help anything. In fact, it’ll probably just stress you out even more! If nothing above worked or you think you’re beyond the point of any of these suggestions, then take a break from it. Go for a walk, talk to a friend, watch a movie, and completely let your mind wander from your stress-causing project. Ideas can come even when you’re not looking for them. But don’t forget to write those ideas down!
Remember, not every new idea is going to be the best one you’ve ever had, but ideas have a way of snowballing. You only need one to get that creativity going!
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
― Maya Angelou
Not to give anything away, but the most expensive painting ever sold (you’ll have to go through the slideshow to find out!) sold for $143.8 million more than the most expensive photograph sold. It’s certainly an interesting comparison, and can really make you think about the value of different mediums within the art world. Is photography really valued so little when it comes to mediums that are centuries older than it?
From a less depressing point of view, it is really interesting to see what works of art sold for how much, especially because you’d think the most expensive art must be super impressive in order to have sold for so much. However, that might not always be the case, especially to some people who might not have too much of an interest in art. Even if you do have an interest in art, some of them might leave you scratching your head and asking “how did that sell for that much?” And trust me, some of these top tens are pretty surprising!
Are you curious now? Go ahead and take a moment to go through these slideshows and leave your reaction in the comments!
On my way to the Duane Michals retrospect, Storyteller, at the Carnegie Museum of Art! It just opened today and runs through Feb. 16, 2015. He's one of my favorite photographers and I really can't wait to check it out!
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For those of you who don’t know, Duane Michals is a well known photographer from the Pittsburgh area. He was born right over in McKeesport.
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He’s known for his photo stories that echo film stills and his addition of text to photos. Michals disagreed with the idea that a singular photograph had to be an entire story and instead used multiple images and also text on his photographs to tell stories. In other words, Michals is unconventional and often works against contemporary art.
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DUANE MICHALS IS HERE!!
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I JUST MET HIM
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Apparently, Duane Michals was doing a book signing, which I had no clue until I got there. Spent way too much on a book but it was worth it!
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(Wow I wish I had known Michals was going to be here. I probably could've interviewed him for my audio assignment. I had absolutely no idea! Way too nervous to actually talk to him.)
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"What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see"
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Seeing all of this in person is so much cooler than on a screen. I’m blown away!
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These are absolutely outstanding! Painting on tintypes
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Getting to see Michal’s contact sheets makes me feel like I’m part of his photographic process
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In love with all of these projects! Everything is so beautiful. I love how most of his prints are just normal print size. Sure, there's some massive prints, but a majority of them aren't. It makes Michal's work seem very personal and accessible.
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There are so many projects of his that I have never seen before! This is outstanding!
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I am absolutely in love with this one!
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A lot of these projects are recent too. I love seeing the juxtaposition of older and current work, especially because classes only teach about Michals’ older work usually
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There’s so much to see it’s almost overwhelming. Definitely need to come back! I could spend weeks in here and be completely content.
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Below the photograph it says "never trust any photograph so large that it can only fit inside a museum." This is one of the few prints that were actually massive.
With that being said, however, I decided I should watch a scary movie in the spirit of Halloween. We’ve talked a lot about thriller and horror movies in my Arts and the Human Experience class recently, and I wanted to watch a horror movie so I could look for some of the elements we had talked about and Halloween is a perfect excuse for that. In that class, we’ve also talked about how horror movies can be cathartic and while I’m not sure I exactly agree with that after watching this movie, I honestly think being scared out of my mind was kind of fun.
My roommate, a horror movie fanatic, was only happy to help to pick out a movie. We ended up watching The Conjuring, which is one of my roommate’s favorite movies. If you haven’t seen it before, here’s the trailer to give you a preview:
This movie was certainly scary and that was mostly what I was concentrating on while watching it. However, for the couple of times I was able to actually concentrate on the movie from an artistic point of view, I found myself really enjoying it. First off, I loved the way The Conjuring was filmed. A lot of the camera angles were unique and really added to the mood of the movie at certain points. For example, at a really intense part of the movie, the director chose to flip certain scenes so there was a juxtaposition of upside down scenes paired with right side up scenes and it really added to the creepy vibe and put viewers on edge.
The audio also contributed to the spookiness of the movie. While I’m sure it’s a typical horror movie formula, I thought The Conjuring did it really well. A main component of this movie was a music box, and just the song from that was creepy enough. Every time I heard it in the movie, I was convinced something awful was going to happen regardless of whether it was going to or not. Also, switching between rather quite scenes with sudden loud noises were very disconcerting and it always took a couple of seconds for the viewer to reorient themselves and figure out what was going on.
All in all, I still don’t think I’m a huge horror movie fan, but I can definitely understand why people love horror movies. The feeling of being spooked and the adrenaline from it is definitely addicting! Who knows, I might have to watch more horror movies.
Ever wonder what there is to do in Pittsburgh? Well, you're in luck! This audio slideshow gives a basic overview of what cultural things there are to do in PIttsburgh. Take a look!
((Side note: All images used in the slideshow are from Wikimedia/Google and not my own))
Time for another gallery critique! This time, I got the chance to check out the SPACE Gallery on Liberty Avenue (812 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222). Their current show is titled Public Record and opened on Sept 29th as part of the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to check it out until now, but I was super interested in it every time I walked by the gallery!
Public Record features a number of artists, including:
Carolina Loyola-Garcia
Susanne Slavick
Matt Biederman (along with Aljosa Abrahamsberg, Marko Peljhan, Brian Springer)
Caroline Record
Paul Rosenblatt
Martha Rial
Rafael Abreu-Canedo
Paolo Pedercini
Two Girls Working: Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki
The show itself is very multimedia based and encourages interaction with the viewers, whether it be watching and listening to a video, playing a video game, choosing points on a map, etc. To get a better idea about the show itself and to hear about the pieces in the show from the artists themselves, take a look at this video!
SPACE is Public Record for Pittsburgh Biennial 2014 from PFPCA on Vimeo.
Personally, I really enjoyed this show. It grabs you the moment you walk into the gallery. The red walls are shocking but intriguing and instantly gives the gallery an edgier vibe. The multimedia components to the exhibit stimulate your senses immediately and it’s hard to figure out which part of the show to go see first. Honestly, I’m not even sure I have a favorite part, just because piece was so unique in its own right. Take a look at some of the photos and videos I took:
Interested in going to see this show (you should be)? Make sure you stop by the SPACE Gallery. You won’t regret it! As a reminder, the SPACE Gallery is free and open to the public!
We were greeted by a variety of pierogi options from the moment we walked into the fest. We stuck mostly to the food truck area of the fest, but even that was crazy! Of course my favorite pierogi truck was there, but so were so many you wouldn’t expect! For example, Franktuary (a hot dog food truck) was there with their twist on a classic pierogi – the pierogi dog. There was also the Pgh Taco Truck with their pierogi-inspired taco and the Southside BBQ Company truck, which had the “pierogi barbcone,” which was pierogi in a waffle cone with other foods (such as mac and cheese, coleslaw, and some sort of bbq). These were the pierogi of your craziest dreams!
The weather itself wasn’t that great (look at that gray cloud! We ended up getting rained on at least 3 times!) but it didn’t stop the crowds from forming. In fact, it was crazy crowded! There were so many lines that sometimes you couldn’t quite tell what you were standing in line for, or if you were even standing in line at all. It was worth it though!
After waiting almost an hour – and that’s not even an exaggeration – I finally got a pierogi-inspired grilled cheese from Oh My Grill. What exactly is a pierogi-grilled cheese, you ask? It’s mashed potatoes with two kinds of cheese, caramelized onions, bacon (although mine was without the bacon, since I’m a vegetarian) between two pieces of bread, grilled like a grilled cheese. It also had an excellent chive dipping sauce on the side. I swear I ate the whole thing in three bites!
While I was waiting in line for this, my roommate had ended up getting a vegan pierogi dog from Franktuary and sweet potato pierogi. I’m telling you, these were the craziest twists on pierogi you could ask for!
We had to stop by our favorite pierogi truck too for some traditional pierogi. Seriously, their pierogi are amazing and so is their haluski (which I unfortunately didn’t get…I was too full from the pierogi grilled cheese).
The only regret we have is not having the time to stop at more trucks! All the lines quickly tired us out. Next year, we’ll definitely need a better divide and conquer method!
For my timeline, I decided to showcase women photographers that I find very influential.
It’s sometimes discouraging working in a medium where most of the famous names that come to mind are males: Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Robert Capa, Edward Weston, Jerry Uelsmann, Joel Meyerowitz – you get the point. Even contemporary photography is filled with male photographers – Steve McCurry, Terry Richardson, James Nachtwey. While their work isn’t any less important of their gender, I decided to focus on the women photographers who were (and are currently) working around the same time as these famous photographers. They deserved a little of the spotlight too!
I based the timeline off of the photographer’s birth dates rather than active years photographing because TimeToast requires dates to have a specific day, month, and year. However, I figured seeing the birth dates gives at least an idea of when these photographers were active. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to put as much information as I would have liked to for each photographer, so if any of these ladies interest you, please look up more about them! I also encourage you to look at their work. Below, I had provided links to websites where you can view it!
"I am always trying to capture phenomena such as sound, water, fire, shadow, and light, and channel them along new grooves, turn them into something other than what they are. These are phenomena that you feel and think about, but never see.”
--Finnbogi Petursson
Icelandic artist Finnbogi Petursson titles the show SECOND/SECOND and it is his first solo show in the United States. The show itself is split into two exhibits, with each one being displayed on a different floor. For those of you unfamiliar with Wood Street Galleries, the gallery itself shares the building with a T stop, so the second and third floors of the building are devoted to the gallery. However, both floors are rather small and are usually devoted to just one exhibit at a time. This really works for SECOND/SECOND, because while the two exhibits are related, they are still very different and the split exhibition space allows you to experience the both separately.
The first exhibit of the show is titled Infra-Supra. Wood Street Galleries describes this exhibit in a very technical way:
“As in his previous water-works, the artist uses three sine waves to create circular patterns on the surface of a large pool build in the entire first floor of Wood Street gallery. Spotlights show the water reflection from a different angle in one large image on an opposite wall. The ripples travel across the water surface; they disappear for a while then appear bit later mixed with the ripples coming from the opposite direction. Together they break up the calm water surface in to negative/positive sinus ripples vibrating below and above the zero line creating infra-supra.”
The room itself is rather dark, with the only light source being spotlights close to the ceiling of the room. A pool of water takes up most of the floor, and light reflects off the water to create a ripple patterned reflection on a blank wall. A low sound is emitted whenever the sine waves are created, which is both somehow overwhelming to your ears (mostly at first) but still somehow comforting and calming. The exhibit itself is very unique, and it’s something I could probably sit and look at for hours.
However, it’s on thing to hear about the exhibit and an entirely different thing to actually experience it. Good thing I’ve got a short video of it!
Cool, right?! The audio isn’t as obvious on the video as it is in real life, so it’s just one of the many reasons why you should go see this exhibit in person.
The next exhibit of the show is titled Tesla Tune and is is dedicated to inventor Nikola Tesla. Another technical description from Wood Street Galleries:
“The installation emits sound that comes from an alternating current transformer, which is lead through a programmer (time-adjusted frequency equalizer and switch box) to channel the sound through eight different outputs—pipes. These eight pipes of different lengths hang from the galley’s ceiling, producing what seem to be different sounds, but the frequency is always the same, 60 Hz. The lengths of the pipes affect the pitch.”
This room is much brighter than the first room, though the far corner of it is left dark. The room itself has a curved shape to it. Large, comfortable beanbag chairs are placed in the darkened area of the room, forcing viewers to face the ends of the pipes. Sound is clearly the most powerful element of the exhibit and it almost takes on a physical form. In fact, if you lay back and close your eyes, everything else drops away other than just the sound. For a moment, it’s just blackness and that noise. It really is an entirely unique experience, and something I wouldn’t mind going to again. (Besides, those beanbags are very comfy! I wouldn’t mind taking a nap in them)
Again, the audio of this video just does not do the exhibit justice at all. It’s definitely better to be there to get the full experience.
As always, this description is nowhere near as good as seeing the show in person! For any of you in Downtown Pittsburgh, make sure to stop by Wood Street Galleries! SECOND/SECOND runs through December 31st, so it’s not like you have too much of an excuse to miss it. Wood Street Galleries is located at 601 Wood Street and is free to the public. Read below for hours!
For a data gathering assignment, I created a survey on art and art galleries. Only 11 people actually took the survey, but the data was still pretty interesting! If you’d like to see the analysis of the data, then read on! And if you’re at all interested in taking the survey, follow the link here! If I get enough new responses, I’ll do another analysis of the new data and compare it to this set!
First off, here’s the basic demographics of the survey. A lot of the demographics are definitely skewed, because all of the participants of this survey were classmates, but the results are still pretty interesting and not what I would’ve expected, really. Of the 11 participants, 3 were male and 8 were female. As the first chart shows, most of the survey takers fell into the 18-22 age category, although there were two who did not. Most of the participants also self identified as students, though a handful did not. Again, such narrow demographics can definitely skew results. While there’s nothing really “wrong” with any data gathered from this survey, it’s a good thought to keep in mind that these results cannot be applied to the general public as a whole. While these graphs aren’t necessarily that interesting, it’s definitely a good idea to keep them in mind when looking at the rest of the graphs. And with that said, let’s continue on!
One of the first questions asked during the survey was whether or not the survey taker had an interest in art. I figured it was a good place to start, because if someone did not care about art at all, they probably would not have had any interest in the survey at all, which would affect their answers for the rest of the survey. On the flip side, someone with an interest in art would likely care a little bit more about the survey, so it would be good to keep that in mind as well when looking at their answers.
Another question I asked was whether or not people had heard of certain art galleries before, which is what the pie chart above represents. Of the five galleries I had mentioned, the Museum of Modern Art – or MoMA – in New York City was definitely the most well known. This makes sense, given the proximity of the gallery to Pittsburgh (which is where the survey takers were from), especially when compared to the rest of the galleries, which were all international. The Louvre came in a close second, which was a little surprising to me, though I guess it is probably the most famous out of the four remaining options. Thankfully, everyone had heard of at least one of the galleries, since no one had answered that they didn’t recognize any of them! A follow up question asking if the participant would be interested in visiting any of these galleries revealed that most people had at least a slight interest in visiting them, with only one person answering that they were neither interested or uninterested.
The last two charts are really the most interesting, or at least I believe they are. Question 6 of the survey asked participants to rate statements based on a five point scale (Strongly disagree, disagree, neither disagree nor agree, agree, and strongly agree). The statements were as followed:
1. Art galleries are important for the public.
2. I am likely to visit a gallery in the next month.
3. I am more likely to visit a gallery with other people than alone.
I did not graph the first question, mostly because all the participants had answered “agree” or “strongly agree.” The only reason I found this surprising was because I believed most people wouldn’t have too strong of an opinion on art galleries, especially if they didn’t have that much of an interest in art to begin with.
The responses to the other two questions were definitely more varied. Of the 11 participants, 6 said they “agreed” to the statement that they are likely to visit a gallery in the next month and no one strongly disagreed. With us being in Downtown Pittsburgh and students at Point Park, we have so many opportunities to visit galleries, since all of the galleries downtown are free and we also get a discount at many other galleries/museums. It was nice to see that a lot of people would likely take advantage of that opportunity. I also thought it was interesting that most people “strongly agreed” that they were more likely to visit a gallery when they were with other people than by themselves. It shows just how social art can be, and can also open up all sorts of discussions and critiques.
CONCLUSION
Overall, people definitely had a more positive reaction towards art than I had thought. I had assumed I would have a lot of negative answers or that people would have absolutely no interest in it. I see now that I was completely wrong, which was a very pleasant surprise.
I would absolutely love to give this survey to a wider demographic to see how these results would compare. I feel like a wider age variety as well as location would change a lot of these answers. If I would do this survey over, I’d probably add a couple other demographic-related questions to get a better feel of my participants. I would also want to add a wider variety of questions, because I feel like a lot of them were pretty repetitive and the survey could’ve been more interesting as a whole.
