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Art Review of the Holiday By the Seas

For my museum art review, I chose to go to Isla Vista’s First Friday. I arrived at 10:30PM, an hour and a half past the opening time. My expectations were high due to the hype First Friday had built for their “Holiday by the Seas” event. However, I was not able to prepare myself for the magic that was happening that Friday.

Christmas lights were strung, Santa was there, and the vibe was enchanting. Coming from Fraternity parties and intense raves, this music and arts display was surprisingly refreshing. The Excursion Club was able to carve out a slice of Christmas magic and share it with the Isla Vista Community. It was an event that I was out of my element, but in a good way.

I love seeking out new experiences. Even the crowd was different then I was used to. It seemed that this event brought out the hipster/ indie crew of Isla Vista, while the drunken partiers resumed their normal debauchery on Del Playa.

Although, there were not that many art installations, I did enjoy a couple that they did bother to set up. One of them included a “Surfer Santa,” Isla Vista’s beach spin off of Old Saint Nicholas. Here, Isla Vista residents were allowed to revert back to a childhood dream of sitting on Santa’s lap. Built around Santa was a three dimensional dome like cage structure where lights were wrapped around to illuminate Santa’s cage. This seemed to be a big attraction of First Friday due to the extensive line that formed outside of Santa.

Another notable art installation was a large tye die tent. Inside there were LED lights to give off a trippy, hippy vibe. Also notable were the people inside the tent. As I was passing by, they yelled at me asking to take a sexy selfie with them. Whatever the hell a sexy selfie was, I respectfully declined. I was here for business, not pleasure. What this led me to conclude about the crowd was that they were fun loving, liberated people who are just trying to give value to others and spread the love around Isla Vista.

One final installation that I chose to comment on was the stage. Although, the entire First Friday was decorated very well, I was a little disappointed with the stage set up. It was very bare and they were lacking in lights and installations. Coming from a background in event production, a minimum for every event that I set up is colored stage lights. The only lights that I noticed as present was a basic yellow light that one would use during a construction job.

Perhaps this is the way that Indie rock shows are presented, minimalistic. Nothing at the event was grand by any measure, yet something about the minimal style and the groovy vibe added to the value of the show. Perhaps the appeal of events like First Fridays is that it is something that is not over the top or mainstream but can be special and private for the students of Isla Vista.

Surfs Up: The Graveyard

We would curate our show right on the beach at sunset low tide. Time TBD based on sunset and low tide meeting up

The Concept is artwork made from broken surfboards.

Artists: surfers, Kahuna Hana, Seaweed Sally, Sandy Cheeks. Dave Dolphin

"It was the year 2014, and the only thing bigger than the ambition for art was the WAVES BRAH. Breaking artistic boundaries and surfboards. The tide may be low but their creativity is high."

Guerrilla Girls: The Original Feminist Culture Jammers

I stepped into IV Theater expecting to hear a mundane lecture from a monotone speaker. Instead, I was presented with an extravagant light show directing the attention of all those present to the front of the stage. Displayed at the front of the theater was a bold collage of the “Guerrilla Girls” movement and all their accomplishments pasted together in a comic book style.

When the show began, the flashing colored lights subsided and a well-spoken woman approached the stage and explained the Guerrilla Girl movement. She began to explain how the Guerrilla Girls were about telling the world the truth about how women and minorities are underrepresented in the art community. She also expressed her admiration for the Guerrilla Girls and detailed a time when she first saw their work. Finally, she ended her brief introduction and introduced a menacing character.

I turned my head to the back of the theater due to the audible gasps coming from that direction. Slowly strolling down the aisle was a black dressed figure with a frightening gorilla mask. However, all feelings of fear dissipated when the person spoke with a pleasing female voice. A weird feeling of dissonance swept over me because of her frightening appearance and her disarmingly sweet voice. Perhaps this was the appeal of the Guerilla Girls: a bold appearance but a kind and informative show. Apparently, the ominous gorilla introduction elicited an emotional reaction from others in the audience because they were at the edge of their seats while listening to her speech. I believe that the gorilla mask made a large impact due to its stolid but powerful appearance that demanded the attention of the audience.

As the “Guerrilla Girl” began her speech, the scenery changed in the background to display a slide show telling the origins of the Guerrilla Girl movement. The basic formula for the Guerrilla Girl movement was to make an outrageous statement and back that statement up with statistics. For example, one of the billboards made by the Guerrilla Girl movement, displayed a black and white image of a woman in a gorilla suit posed seductively. Displayed along with the image were jarring statistics that read, “ Less than 4% of the artist in the Modern Art sections are women, but 76% of the nudes were female.” As the show progressed, her speech began to take a didactic tone. She tried to liven up the crowd with occasional jokes like “the museum went bananas,” (gorilla reference) but they often fell flat. Unfortunately, the show began to lose a bit of momentum because as I looked around I noticed a few limp bodies and closed eyes. So much for the grand opening.

Although the energy of the crowd around me was flat lining, I stayed attentive. I was enraptured by the artwork and creative ways the Guerrilla Girls spread their news. Most of the artwork made by the Guerrilla Girls shared a common theme. They all were boldly stated with bright colors and an emotionally engaging image. For example, the image titled “Where are the women artists of Venice? Underneath the men,” stirred up a bit of anger toward the offensive image.

The show took a turn when the speaker changed her culture jamming didactic tone to a more appreciative tone by when she expressed her gratitude to the art community. Originally the movement was started to criticize the art community but recently the community has began to embrace and praise the movement. Apparently, the crowd appreciated the tone as well by the noticeable increase in attentiveness toward the speaker. It goes to show that after all the hard work and effort, the Guerrilla Girls finally made their mark in the art community and changed the way we look at art.

The Guerrilla Girls movement can be viewed more in depth at www.guerrillagirls.com and their book "Bitches, Bimbos, and Ballbreakers."

Julia Fish: Viewing Nature from Others Eyes

Julia Fish is an artist who is known for her “realist attitude,” but “abstract point of view.” Fish makes artwork of nature from a completely different perspective.

For example, “Key” made by Fish, features an abstract piece with an indigo background and a white four by four assembly of ghostly dots. Although, this piece looks something not from this world it is in fact a piece of photosensitive paper marked white where light could not reach due to seeds of Earth being an obstruction. This is how Fish incorporates her abstract point of view with her natural and realist attitudes.

Another example of Fish blending nature with abstract style is her art piece “Floor.” What is displayed is a brilliant network of grey hexagonal fractals to form a box on the outside. Although, this psychedelic pattern is very abstract, it is the inside honeycomb structure of a bee-hive.

Julia Fish shows us that nature does not have to be mundane. She allows us to see into her eyes on how she views the world. Thanks to Fish’s artistic contributions, it encourages us to look at the world and nature in a completely different and abstract way.

Fusing Language and Pictures in the Modern World

Scott McCloud’s comic strip revealed the story about how language and pictures were once one entity. To believe that pictures only had practical value at the time is hard to do because art is so ubiquitous in our lives.

However, there are modern styles of words and pictures used together to make the characters of the words descriptive. The font that everyone uses when they are writing best exemplifies this. For most formal pieces it is marked by “times new roman” or “arial.” This is because these are familiar and generic fonts that generate no representation of anything on earth. On the other hand you have fonts that have more liveliness to them and give more representation. For example, a middle school student might write his comic book project in “comic sans” font to give it a more playful feel. Likewise a Halloween store would label their stores font in something spooky like blood oozing down the letters. These are just a couple examples of modern usage of blending pictures and language.

Another instance in which pictures and language are blended in modern life is the use of Logos in pictures. The Yellow M or “Golden Arches” for McDonalds have been a famous logo representing the fast food joint for many years. It has been so deeply engrained in a part of our culture that no longer do people look at the logo and think about the Yellow M or even Golden Arches. Instead, immediately consumers realize it as a landmark for food. Logos have that kind of power in western culture, especially if they have been established for a while. Another example is Monster Energy. On the can there are three neon green claw rip marks to roughly make out the letter M. Often, people just see the can and recognize it as Monster the energy drink. Fusing characters with pictures in logos for advertising is a example of the way modern society is blending language and pictures.

Perhaps the biggest way we see language blending with pictures is in art. Just the other day I stumbled upon artwork that utilized handprints, footprints, and letters. The featured art piece depicted the word “LOVE” spelled out but instead of O they used one giant handprint and for the V they used two duck-footed positioned human footprints. My normal reaction to art like this is nausea, but thinking about it more after reading McCloud gives it much more value to me. I actually think to myself “Wow, someone was really creative to incorporate their own body prints with letters to form a word that we as human beings cherish as one of the greatest things to live for. When the gears start turning in my mind, and the art piece transcends pure aesthetics that is when it becomes real art for me.

A second review of Scott McCloud’s comic made me realize how genius McCloud really was. It blew my mind a bit after I realized that the story and message that McCloud tried to convey was a printed comic, something that ideally blends language and pictures. All along, McCloud is both providing information and demonstration at the same time.

Art Appreciation is the New Healthy

Live your life like art! That seems to be the new trend in happiness these days. If you begin to apply artistic appreciation concepts to everyday life, you will notice a spike in the quality of your life. Like the manifesto that started the movement, one does not need to know “…how it feels to put paint onto canvas, manipulate solids into sculpture, or know what materials will compliment each other.” Rather, you can be simply just an “appreciator of art” to increase the happiness in your life.

Start treating everyone with intrinsic value that is yet to be discovered. Treat them as if you were appreciating the Mona Lisa. Look for the subtle nuances that make them different than the others. Understand what went into creating that person just like you would with art. With this simple mindset of curiosity, analysis, and intrigue, one will notice immediately that the quality of social interactions will go up.

Be in the now. This cliché self help advice is old but tried and true. It is one of the fundamental concepts to happiness in everyday life but then why do people always forget it? If you live your life always like appreciating art you will always be in the now. When you are intently appreciating art, your complete focus is in the art and all trains of thought are geared toward analyzing the piece. It makes you stop, think, and feel “…our surroundings and emotions that run through us…” This is the same exact focus, energy, and liveliness you will feel in your life if you live your life like art.

Incorporating artistic appreciation concepts to your life does not have to be a giant change. Rather it is easier to follow the steps of the founder of the movement and slowly integrate it into your life in small chunks. For example, the founder simply started treating her job as a Resident Assistant like an Art Gallery. She saw value in every resident just like she saw value in every art piece.

The Artist Manifesto of Flow

As I nervously enter the stage, the butterflies in my stomach flutter ferociously. An icy blue light facing the audience illuminates the hundreds of faces waiting for me to make a move. As I begin to fumble with the controls with my shaking hands, I pray that my stolid face masks the crippling anxiety that I am feeling right now. The first song is cued and it is time to melt faces. I close my eyes and press play.

The audience is moving; moving to my music! An exhilarating rush of confidence washes over me as I begin to realize that the audience is enjoying themselves. I am not a slave to them. I decide how I want them to move. I am in full control. I am liberated.

As I slam my cross-fader to the other side, the song transitions and an enormous burst of fog and lasers spray out behind me. The crowd goes insane! I am enjoying this world I created for the audience and myself. Time seems to stop, moments of eternity begin, and in those moments nothing else seems to exist.

With each production I build and each musical set I play, I know I am creating an alternate reality. In this alternate world, people can escape the monotony of everyday life and just simply dance. However, lots of hard work goes into every production. The lights, artwork, and sound must all be perfect.

I have had the opportunity to do this multiple times through planning events with my fraternity, professional events in Downtown Santa Barbara, and even in my own backyard. Every time I do it, I feel an infinite flow of energy.

Flow. It is a state of mind when you are completely in the moment. Every person on Earth can relate to this feeling of flow. Only when I am doing something I am truly passionate about does the cacophonous chatter of everyday life seem to silence.

The Statement of an Artist, By Me

Derek Ikeda's Artist Statement Through my work I attempt to examine the phenomenon of Spongebob as a methaphorical interpretation of both Knife Party and Dropping. What began as a personal journey of shitism has translated into images of Indian Food and right arm that resonate with japanese people to question their own blueness. My mixed media shoe embody an idiosyncratic view of pope sean paul, yet the familiar imagery allows for a connection between michael jackson, shoes and pizzas. My work is in the private collection of Ted McGinley who said 'YES OH MY GOSH!, that's some real round Art.' I am a recipient of a grant from Folsom Prison where I served time for stealing mugs and tie clips from the gift shop of The Smithsonian. I have exhibited in group shows at In n Out and Louvre, though not at the same time. I currently spend my time between my bed room and Berlin.

Reflection on UCSB Art Pieces

Our Reflection

1) The best idea/ sentences that we generated as a group was our idea about how Bollywood helps break ethnocentrism.

2) The hardest part for our group was determining the metaphor that would represent our ideas. Similes were easy but thinking a metaphor off the cuff proved more challenging.

3) The word choice and sentence structure could be a bit more refined. Therefore, if there was something to change it would be minor details with grammar and sentence structure. Another thing to change would be blending the idea of propaganda better into the thread of our post (ethnocentrism). One last thing we could have done for our review was provide more in-depth analysis to the review.

Reflection on Beltz Review (http://perryjuesworld.tumblr.com/)

1) The way the group described the artwork of Beltz was very descriptive. The analysis provided much insight into the artwork and was well thought out.

2) We didn’t see anything that could be added since the group provided a great amount of information. However, we agreed that the group was not able to fully refine the sentence structure so that it was simple, easy to read, and compact. Other than that, the review was great.

Bollywood: A Tool for Cultural Awareness

“People talk about Bollywood being very kitsch, and just songs and dances, and over the top and colorful.”

- Shahrukh Khan

Ethnocentrism, believing that your culture is the only way of living, is a big problem in the world. It can no longer be tolerated due to the close interactions that happen internationally. Bollywood helps to break the cycle of ethnocentrism by introducing Indian culture to mainstream Hollywood American culture.

The Bollywood poster depicting Thor The Dark World Two, is a great example of how American Hollywood culture is infused with Bollywood culture. The artwork represented carries the Bollywood traits of colorful and visually striking outfits. The artwork however, still represents all that is the American Marvel Superhero Thor, thus combining Indian and American traits. Also to be noted about the artwork is the henna like looking images on Natalie Portman’s arm. This can be viewed as Bollywood’s attempt to put their spin on the American Film.

The art piece looks like propaganda in the way that the image and text are displayed boldly and straightforward. The message that the Bollywood art piece tries to convey (“watch our movie!”) is in your face with the bold colors and font just like the way propaganda is.

Walking into this exhibit felt as if we were walking into another country. It gave us a slight taste of the Bollywood culture and piqued our curiosity on what Bollywood life is really like. This exhibit if anything allows people to experience a bit of Bollywood and ease the ethnocentrism that still pervades to this day.

Instagram Helping or Ruining Art?

When did nature’s beauty lose a bit of its purity? With the invention of Instagram.

The displayed picture shows a gorgeous, rolling, countryside. You can tell the season is Fall with the amber coloration of the trees. At the bottom of the picture the user added a couple of emojis that remotely represent the Instagram picture but add cuteness. Apparently the user decided to get a little hashtag-happy and decided that 25 hashtags were not enough. However, it was neither the reproduction of the picture nor the hashtag suffocation that irked me. It was the fact that the user was intending to utilize nature’s beauty to gather likes and followers.

Normally, I am all for sharing Earth’s beauty with those who are not fortunate to view it with their own eyes. However, exploiting beautiful scenery just to increase popularity on Instagram ruins the purity of intent. No longer is nature an art form to be appreciated but rather a commodity used to gain likes and followers. It is a clear the person sharing the photo on Instagram had an ulterior motive to sharing nature, by when they hashtag “followmeforfollowback.” Had they just tagged normal tags such as “naturesbeauty” or “earthporn” then the post would still maintain a pure intent.

Walter Benjamin explains, “…the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition.” Translated into our era, this quote is saying that the art re-shared on Instagram is ruining the experience because one is not experiencing art the way it was intended to be experienced. Yes, I do agree with Walter Benjamin that the experience will not be the same, but I disagree that the experience is ruined. When I see artistically pleasing pictures on instagram, it motivates me to seek the full experience. Therefore, I see reproduction of art as a motivating and introductory factor toward getting our society to appreciate the arts.

Another quote by Walter Benjamin talks about how he believes that the increasing reproduction of art is causing it to lose its natural aura. Perhaps, some art loses its appeal after a constant viewing of it, but that has to do with the quality of the art. For example, the Mona Lisa, is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. Millions of copies of that painting have been made, but those copies and those multitudes of viewers only add aura of the legendary painting. Without reproduction, the world would never know of Mona Lisa.

After reflection of Walter Benjamin’s writings, I believe he is right and wrong in many of his ideas. I agree that viewing art by other ways than it was intended does alter the experience. However, I do not think art replication is bad for our societies appreciation of the arts. Instead, with the newest technologies, people are expanding their artistic tastes and creating motivation and desire to truly experience art the way it was meant. Art is going in a great direction just as long as people do not take away from the purity of arts and treating art the way it was meant to be treated; as a form of self expression and to share beauty with others.

Walter Benjamin: The Early Stages of Mechanical Art Reproduction

In Section 1 of “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” by Walter Benjamin, talks about the impact of the recreating process in art. He begins by explaining how early man made artifacts were always imitated but never mechanically. Eventually, woodcut graphic art was introduced in the 19th century and the mechanical reproduction of lithography was born. The process of lithography involved drawing the art on a rock or hard surface with oil, and then pressing it into the wood to leave an impression of the design. Surprisingly, only a few decades after the invention of lithography, photography was introduced. After the invention of photography, reproduction of art was highly accelerated and was able to share with a broader audience.

In an attempt to foreshadow the topic of his discussion, Walter Benjamin writes, “In principle a work of art has always been reproducible.”

This quote by Walter Benjamin carries much significance because it outlines the most common thread that intertwines the past, present, and future of art. For example, early artifacts have been replicable (although by man not machine). Currently, technological advances allow us to share artwork with the click of a button. Only the future knows what method of sharing we will use to share artwork but art will always be reproducible.

My Writing Process

My writing process is like coachella, Chaotic and creative

The Beneficial Effects of Art in Society

In the constant chaos of modern day society, it is necessary that art be ubiquitous in our lives to keep us sane. The arts are not just there to add beauty to the world but also an outlet to express oneself in a completely non-violent fashion. Art can be considered any form of expression of the emotions, thoughts, and imaginations that occur in people’s minds. Dave Hickey adds support to this view by explaining that the reason why shootings and killings happen is because of the lack of alternative ways that killer individuals have of expressing their anger or frustration. Hickey also adds that killers lack in imagination (a key ingredient to creating art) because they cannot imagine the repercussions of squeezing a trigger.

The input about killers by Hickey stood out to me because during his entire article he talks about how much of a perfect artistic utopia Santa Barbara. However, recently there were killings of close friends of mine by a troubled youth named Elliot Rogers. At first I was angered by Hickey stupidity of thinking that Santa Barbara was a perfect utopia where no violence occurred. However the more I thought about it, I understood that Elliot Rogers was an extremely sexually frustrated individual. If Rogers was presented with alternative ways of expressing his frustration, such as art, lives potentially could have been saved.

Susanne Langer wrote that “The primary function of art is to objectify feeling, so we can contemplate and understand it.” After talking about how the arts can help art creationists express themselves, this quote by Langer helps us understand how art serves the individuals appreciating or evaluating the art creation.

As a hobby, I DJ parties and events where I am able to share the feeling I get when I listen to music. Through my lights, music, and performance of my musical events, I try to convey the amazing feelings I get when enjoying my passion of DJing. By DJing I am able to objectify my passion and allow others to understand the way I feel.

Now there are critics of art in this world. Hickey gave the examples of right wing critics of art thinking that leads to too much free expression and that it cannot be a means of civilizing a population in a time of chaos. I cannot remember the last time a war was fought over art and from my life experiences, art has been nothing but therapeutic.

Hickey also gave the example of left wing critics to art by saying that left wingers think that art is “opium” in the way that it will make us too civilized. Left wing critics also would state that being too civilized is a bad thing because it omits the option of revolutionary violence and challenging of ideas. I disagree with leftists on this issue because arts are also an option of revolution and challenging of ideas but instead in a nonviolent way. With the imagination and innovation that comes from the arts, there is no way that arts can act like opium to society.

People say that the world is too complicated. However, when I am creating, sharing, or appreciating art, there is a sense of calmness and flow that envelops me. In that moment of calmness and flow is where the cacophonous chatter of society eases and the world becomes a much more simpler and sane.

Elizabeth Murray: Creation from Chaos

Abstract artist Elizabeth Murray creates large vibrant paintings that reflect harmonic chaos. Murray portrays the craziness of her paintings by using a three dimensional canvas that pops out, wraps around, and engages on a different level with the audience. Murray also is able to get the bold vibrant colors of her paintings by using oil based paints. Elizabeth Murray's art is displayed at the Pace Gallery in New York City.

"Jutting out from the wall and sculptural in form, Murray’s paintings and watercolors playfully blur the line between the painting as an object and the painting as a space for depicting objects" (quote from Art 21).

Elizabeth Murray's passion and craziness is exemplified in her paintings. They are far from minimal and the boldness in color and design reflects the anger and passion that fueled the process of creation. Murray claims that only once she feels like ripping up the painting does she actually make progress.

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