Studio Foundations 4D MSU BH

[bh333333]

Artist Statement - Project #4

Studio Foundations 4D

MSU Denver, Spring 2020

How about taking a children’s art project and recreating it in college?  When I first saw the paper weaving assignment I was a little embarrassed because it seemed soo simple.  After looking at the examples provided by other students, I quickly changed my mind.  I was inspired not only by the abstract images created by the bold use of colors and patterns, but also by the use of photographs as the weaving material.  I decided to use photographs for both of my weavings.  The first weaving is a black and white self-portrait.  It is the same photograph placed upside down and weaved together.  I made a few strategic decisions that did not exactly follow the weaving pattern.  First, eyes in both images were obscured.  Second, the weaving was spaced apart so that each piece does not touch another piece.  

I followed a similar approach for the second weaving.  The second photograph was of an air traffic control tower at the Tucson airport.  It is a beautiful structure with bright colors set against a mountain backdrop.  My intent was to have the image reflected by having the tower rise from the bottom of the frame and drop from the top of the frame. However, it turned into more of an abstract gathering of bright and dark squares.  

Christoph Niemann is probably the Illustrator I am most familiar with since he was featured in episode one of Abstract on Netflix.  His overall idea of creating something lifelike out of everyday objects resonates with me.  I was intrigued by the task of expressing emotion through the simple arrangement of furniture.  In fact, I wasn’t even sure if it was possible.  Confidence and envy seemed straightforward.  How does a piece of furniture represent melancholy though?  I attempted to use lighting to create dark spaces within the image of a single chair.   I also viewed the chair at eye level rather than from above.  This allows the viewer to face the chair head on and makes them feel as thought they are looking at an aged face with dark wrinkles.   The chair is looking at us and it is anything but happy.

[bh333333]

Project #4: #theartassignment   Paper Weavings   

http://www.theartassignment.com/assignments//paper-weavings

Artist Statement coming soon.  

[bh333333]

Confidence, Envy, Melancholy

Project #4: #theartassignment   Emotional Furniture     http://www.theartassignment.com/assignments/emotional-furniture

Artist Statement coming soon.  

[bh333333]

Reading Response #4: Postmodern Art Approaches

Studio Foundations 4D; MSU Denver; Spring 2020

Postmodern art, other than simply coming after modern art, is a reaction to and rejection of some of the core aspects of modernism.  But what does that mean?  It is hard to define and it is easier to say what it is not.  

The clearest description that resonates with me comes from the Tate Museum’s website.

While modernism was based on idealism and reason, postmodernism was born of scepticism and a suspicion of reason. It challenged the notion that there are universal certainties or truths. Postmodern art drew on philosophy of the mid to late twentieth century, and advocated that individual experience and interpretation of our experience was more concrete than abstract principles. While the modernists championed clarity and simplicity; postmodernism embraced complex and often contradictory layers of meaning. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/postmodernism

Although I have identified a work of art that fits into each category, it is easily apparent that many of the artworks listed could fit into numerous categories.

1.  Escaping the Confines of Museums

           Storm King Wave Field, earth and grass, 2007-08, Maya Lin

2.  Collapsing Boundaries between “High” and “Low”

           Moat, acrylic on canvas, 1966, Yokoo Tadanori

3.  Rejecting Originality

           Marilyn Diptych, silkscreen print, 1962, Andy Warhol

4.  Jouissance – refers to ta viewer being so lost in a work of art through intense pleasurable involvement that self-awareness and objective distance are lost

           False Start, painting, 1959, Jasper Johns

5.  Working Collaboratively

           Minutia; dance, music and sculpture; 1954; Merce Cunningham, John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg

6.  Appropriating

Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, oil on canvas, 2005, Kehinde Wiley

7.  Simulating

           Feastlings, chromogenic print, photography, 2005, Anthony Goicolea

8.  Hybridizing

           Masques, print, 2014, ORLAN

9.  Mixing Media

           Nostalgia, mixed media sculpture, 2020, Heather Campbell

10.  Layering

The Strong and the Beautiful, paint and photograph print, 2009, Ronald Ventura

11.  Mixing Codes

           Love is in the Air, graffiti, 2003, Banksy

12.  Recontextualizing

           Object; fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon; 1936 Meret Oppenheim

13.  Confronting the Gaze

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, painting, 1940, Frida Kahlo

14.  Facing the Abject – refers to the supposed unsavory aspects of life, especially concerning functions of the body

           Piss Christ, photography, 1987, Andres Serrano

15.  Constructing Identities

           Blue Dress, painting, 1985, Paul Keene

16.  Using Narratives

           The Rehearsal, painting, 1955, Avel de Knight

17.  Creating Metaphors

           All of the art, mixed media, 1992-present, Christoph Neiman

18.  Irony, Parody, and Dissonance

           The Disembarkment, painting, 2017, Patrick McGrath Muniz

[pnguye57]

Project 3 - Performance Art

The idea of this performance was inspired from one of my essays about the importance of images in media release, such as articles from magazines, newspapers or blog, regardless of print or online. The essay concentrated on the way visual elements attract attention easily, tell stories effectively and covey messages quickly, rather than a box full of text. Through this performance, I decided to demonstrate the idea under my perspective, particularly when I am a design student, about how I usually decide what article I should read just by its visual appeal. As the adage tells us, a picture tells a thousand words.

Apart from that, since we are confronting this crisis, I think this project is going to be interesting for us to have different perspectives and experiences with performance art. Especially when our performance did not happen in an ideal condition like in art galleries, we would have various perceptions when seeing each other projects.

The project includes a series of photos and a short video of the performance. Enjoy! ☺️

Phoebe Ng. - 2020

[hcarbone3]

Project #3 - The Artist is Present

to read 

For some reason this project was difficult for me because I always assume art needs to take more time and effort, so I wasn’t happy with the performance art I had chosen for a long time. At first I thought, “how is this considered art if all I’m doing is filming myself do next to nothing for a minute?” However, with how quickly our society works all the time, it was more difficult to force myself to focus on only one thing for this long. It ended up being a lot longer than one minute since I decided to film via time-lapse, so what you see as only a minute long activity took actually 30 minutes. 

Reading is something that consumes most of my days since not only do I work full-time (before COVID-19) but I also am going to school full-time, so I chose to film myself reading my art history textbook. As I re-watch the video, it’s interesting to see how fidgety I am when I read, so major kudos to all performance artists who stay absolutely still for long periods of time. I’m really happy that this section revolved around performance art because that’s what I’m currently learning about in my art history class, and it’s fascinating! 

[runeofthenord]

The timelapse effect for this is really cool. I think it certainly adds to the performance. It is a mundane everyday activity that I’m sure we all do, but the timelapse made it exciting. I think the fidgeting also made it exciting. If you just sat still it wouldn’t have as much life to it I think. Well done!

[cridgley]

You really do have to watch all the way to the end. I found myself laughing every time I watched it.

I will often find myself doodling in class on grid paper. Doodling helps me relax, and will often help me in the divergent thinking process to get to what I need to do.  When in class it helps me focus on the lecture and think of ideas to contribute. I will also often find people watching me fill in every square on the grid paper, and be taken aback by the end result. I honestly think people just find it fascinating that I have the attention span and patience to fill in every square. In real time, it took be about 30 minutes to fill the whole paper.

[bh333333]

Project #3

Studio Foundations: 4D   -   MSU Denver   -   Spring 2020

Artist Statement:

Is it love or is it despair?  Is it a beautiful movement of form or a struggle?  

The goal of this piece was to incorporate movement to demonstrate our relationship with an everyday object.  I used a gold bed sheet as both a dance companion and a nemesis. The video color is black and white to make the forms and shadows produced by the sheet more pronounced.  The side-by-side view keeps the eyes and the mind both engaged and intrigued.  The side-by-side view is also the result of the limitations of iMovie.  The original intention was to overlay the two videos to run on top of each other.  However, making something less transparent in iMovie proved difficult.  For those paying close attention, the sound does not always match the movement.  Two editions of the same soundtrack are playing simultaneously, but each starts at a different point in the video giving the viewer a more complex experience.

[bh333333]

Exercise #3 - Words

1. Throw

2. Catch

3. Watch

4. React

5. Dive

6. Notice*

7. Hold

8. Rotate

9. Put on

10. Look*

11. Remove

12. Run

13. Skip

14. Lift

15. Scoop

16. Twist

17. Force

18. Glance*

19. Drop

20. Roll

[bh333333]

Exercise #3 - My Eyes Are Up Here

Words: glance, look, notice

Studio Foundations: 4D

MSU Denver

Spring 2020

[bh333333]

Reading Response #3

How would I feel if someone stared into my eyes for fifteen minutes?  How would they feel?  I think it would be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.   It is art, but is it also a psychological and sociological experiment.  Throughout the documentary, the number of people who voluntarily signed up to participate fascinated me.  I’m even more fascinated by the idea of slowing down time.  It creates space to really appreciate what is around us and helps give meaning to the world.  

The idea of stamina kept popping into my head since Marina Abramovic’s pieces seem to push her physically. Slapping someone, walking the Great Wall of China, running into another person, or staring intently at strangers for seven hours a day, all of it requires intense focus and fortitude.  This comes to mind because I am a runner during the summer months.  Running can be a painful process that really forces you to focus on your body and decide what you are able to withstand.  Marina says it is all about placing oneself in the correct headspace, which resonates with me.

The Rosalee Goldberg article focused my attention on concerts.  Are concerts a type of performance art if the audience is somehow involved?  After all, a musician’s body is usually on full display throughout a concert.  If the musician isn’t signing, aren’t they entertaining through dance and performance?  Imagine going to a concert and wearing sound cancelling headphones.  The performance would take on the feel of a performance art piece.  

[sduaime]

DoodleJam PROJECT #2

-VOLUME ON!!-

Grease is the Word: PROJECT 2

This exercise required a different kind of ”grease”. I encountered multiple roadblocks in downloading videos for the exercise and ultimately chose my own zone. “Conventionality belongs to yesterday.” Being unconventional is my grease. I decided to stay true and create a Doodle Jam. The video is edited to have “groove and feeling”. The editing is grooved while the filters are feeling. Grease has many meaning meanings in our society today. Grease is highly valuable in our society being the base of lubrication or the base in fried food. “Grease is the word,” while my word is art. Grease is my art. Doodle Jam is an art groove meant to entertain the unconventional way with a meaning to “you’ve got to be who you are”. The Worm and Monster are as odd as they sound. The Monster is derived from a toy called Boogaloo Bird puppet. A toy from the 90’s I received as a surprise, as a child. The worm is something that felt right. I have a saying, “the early worm gets to squirm”. This song has a jam and groove to it. Go with you flow and grease those axils. “Start believing now that we can be who we are.” Grease is the Word, Doodle Jam

-Sunny-

[bh333333]

Nice job picking a concept and sticking with it.  

[casshobs]

Project #2

This was a difficult project for me to think of something to make sine video art is such a broad thing. I decided to show the story of my art, which is snowboarding, I took this video at Copper mountain over the last weekend with a group of friends. I also tried to add a story to it with trying to make it have a beginning, middle and end. Using Preimere is easy for me as I have used it in the past, though I am still working on getting smoother cuts and a better eye for editing I am proud of this video.

[bh333333]

Nice job using different vantage points.  I really like the views looking down at the snowboard.  Lighting in the snow can always be a challenge and everything looked consistent in the video.  

[maybejusthappy]

Module 2 Project - Vanishing and Becoming

This is the first time I’ve attempted to make any kind of video art and coming up with an idea was challenging. At first, I wanted to explore various light reflections, mostly off of water. As I was doing that, I started to explore how different kinds of shadows and movement altered that light. I tried to hone in on that movement in various ways and wanted to make it flow somewhat cohesively. I also tried to show a contrast in the colors used, where the video begins with a gloomy palette then transitions into more color. It ended up giving the video a stormy feel that I really like.

[bh333333]

The sound really keeps the viewer engaged.  

[tarable10]

Artist Statement 2

I truly enjoyed trying to mastermind the cutting and syncing.  Contemplating what makes visual art interesting, and going with something that I could accomplish in the time allotted to work on it was a challenge.  I love the Sufi culture and have always been mesmerized by their spinning meditations.  Their Whirling as it were.  The explosiveness of the passion flower was something the create contrast while holding the soft symmetry of the visual of the Dervish dress.. The moon rise was something to follow up with a wrap up the pentameter of the music, reflecting the intention of the aspects of all things that are under the same astral body in space.

[bh333333]

The strong use of black throughout really pulled everything together.  

[cavila9]

One minute video.

For this particular project, I decided to do something different. I was really inspired by Bridget Riley and her motion work and wanting to do mines based on her. The lines and the illusion give it some sort of comfort and relaxation. I wanted to show the depth of the line mixed with other lines and create an illusion. Now, most of her work was black and white so I choose to do my favorite color with a faded color on the corners making it seem like it’s fading away. The music on the other side is from Josh Viette. His music is classical hip-hip and I wanted to give it some sort of emotion. So overall the illusion and the music tells you a story and that story is that time is running out. When the music starts to go slower it’s counting the minutes that you have left but as soon as it starts to get faster is telling you that you have seconds but the exciting part is that there is no end to it; it’s a repetition of life. Hope you all enjoy.

[bh333333]

Nicely composed.  There is a strong use of color.  

[bh333333]

Project #2 Video

MSU Denver

Studio Foundations: 4D Design

Spring 2020

Artist Statement:

It seems like we are texting all day.  Rather than walking around and interacting with people or our environment, we look down at our phones as we walk.  It’s as though we can’t be bothered to interact with those around us.  But how does the world look from our phone’s point of view?  While we’re focused on the screen, what are our phones looking at?  The views are interesting, but not necessarily informative. There are views of walking on an urban sidewalk, up multiple flights of stairs in a condo building, and through the park.  Each view runs simultaneously and each has lighting impacted by its environment. With regard to sound, there are actually two audio clips running.  The first is another take on walking.  It is the sound of my steps, but at an entirely different pace and on a different surface than those in the video.  These steps are actually distracting to the viewer, just like how our phones are distracting us from interacting with our immediate surroundings.  The second audio clip is a recording made to make the viewer feel as though they are moving along with the steps.  It is my voice making the sounds and I committed to using the first take rather than working to refine it.