Krystal's Art Appreciation Blog

[mandab97-blog]

Week 16 - Closing

Your reflections     on the readings

The reading on Marina Abramovic was interesting this week! Simple layout with statements about an artist’s life and what it should and shouldn’t be. I like that some points repeated themselves to make an impact and emphasis its point. I think all the lists are important to keep in mind for artists and are sometimes easy to forget.

The Ten Rules for Students and Teachers article was also a good read. The rules may be confusing at first, or at least they were for me, but after some thought they make a lot of sense and are incredibly important. Some of these rules are really inspirational as well and I find myself wanted to frame it and hang it in my room! For example, I think Rule Six is my favorite and important to keep in mind; “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.”

Your overall     experience in the course—please get more specific than “I liked     it,” or “it changed how I look at art,"—tell me why.

When signing up for this class, I thought I would like it but at the same time I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by how in depth the class is and by how many questions it raises that I had never thought about. I think many people, including me especially before this class, simply take art at face value and determine if they like it or not. I have learned the importance of understanding the background and the various meanings behind artwork.

How art has been     a part of your life prior to this class, and how you anticipate it will     play a part in the future. (I’m not just looking for feel-good responses     here; I’d love to know, honestly, how much or how little this     course will impact your future engagement with the art world).

In my elementary and middle school years I loved art, in fact, it’s one of the few classes I actually remember from that early in my life. I was always at my happiest in an art room, and that carried through to high school. I took almost all the art classes I could take, including digital camera, photoshop, drawing and design, drawing, clay, etc.

I think this class will always come back to me in the future. I have learned about so many new mediums and found that there is so much more to art than what I originally believed. Now when I see art, I try to imagine what the artist might have meant and I take a lot more time than I used to in order to understand the work fully. Even at the art museum I went to this semester, I found myself actually reading about the works and putting in more effort to understand it. I don’t think I would have done the same in the past. Since I am not planning on going into anything directly related to art, I am honestly not sure how much the course will continually affect me. However, I think I will find myself considering what I learned in relation to art that I see and make quite a bit.

 And though I don’t think I will be working in anything directly related to art, I do now that it will always be a big part of my life and that I will always come back to it. This class has shown me the many different ways to express myself and to not worry about if other people love or hate it on sight. 

[kcshannon-blog]

The ten rules might be my favorite part of this week. It was unexpected, but really valuable advice! I also find myself contemplating the artists intention much more now, and I also think I'm much better at it than I was in the beginning because I've learned to watch for the clues and the signs. It's been different than what I expected, but in a very good way

[kcshannon-blog]

Closing Week

Before this class, art was something that I appreciated in a general sense. I liked some art, I didn’t like some art, and I couldn’t always explain why either way. Some art I didn’t care for at all because I couldn’t understand what was so great about paint splatters (Jackson Pollack) or soup cans (Andy Warhol).  As people, I think we tend to reject things we do not understand. This class has equipped me with an understanding of the elements of what makes up art and what goes into art and the ability to at least try to interpret what I am seeing and experiencing. More importantly, I also now have the language to express myself so that I can better discuss and share my ideas with others. Pop art may still not be my favorite, but I have actually come to understand it and so I like it much more than I did before. I think Pop art always made me mad that i didn’t “get it”, and now that I know there’s not always something to “get” I am able to relax and enjoy the work for what it is meant to be.

Jackson Pollack, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)

I feel like I have gained an appreciation for looking at something and appreciating it for not just what it is, but also for how it came to be. I now understand that what is so spectacular about some art is how an artist managed to pull off something that on the surface seems fairly straightforward, but in reality they chose a difficult technique, like the way Andrew Wyeth could pull off precise details and texture with tempera, which is a difficult medium to work with in that way.

Andrew Wyeth, “The Virgin”

I love that I was introduced to areas of art that I didn’t know existed previously. I am actually kind of interested in sound art. I wonder if sound art could eventually have some of the same practical applications that architecture does, and if we might someday be more open to decorating our spaces with sounds as much as paintings and statues. Sound certainly influences mood. There are already apps and programs that play soft background music conducive to studying or writing.

I don’t believe I’ve ever come across “10 Rules for Students and Teachers” by John Cage and Sister Corita Kent. I feel like it is something I would love to adopt as my manifesto. It really strikes the perfect tone between placing an emphasis on hard work, yet it also leaves lots of room for creativity and learning from the mistakes we are brave enough to make.

What I really liked about Maria Abramovic’s “An Artist’s Life Manifesto” was the use of repetition, as if she is saying, “this is important. Repeat it so that you do not forget it.” It’s interesting that she included all aspects of the life of an artist, from day-to-day morality to love and even limiting possessions. I think it is interesting that she says, “An artist should not treat his work schedule as a bank employee does”. I always wondered what the daily life of being a professional working artist looked like, and if they worked like writers do or not. Obviously, Maria Abramovic only speaks for herself here, but the insight is helpful nonetheless.

Going forward, I think I will be more comfortable about attending a local art show. I’ve always wanted to do that, but I have usually talked myself out of going because I didn’t “know anything” about art and I didn’t want to be the crazy person critiquing the coat rack by accident. 

[kcshannon-blog]

Week 15 - Digital Art

Digital art was a really complex and interesting week. It is such a new genre, but it has changed rapidly in such a short period of time, especially in contrast with other types of art. Part of what makes it interesting is that it has advanced to the point where technology allows for digital art to closely mimic the look of a traditionally done sketch or painting. This opens possibilities for an artist to manipulate the same image multiple times or try different things with one image over and over again without having to start from scratch every time. In a way, that’s not entirely different from what Warhol did with his repetitive images that he screenprinted different colors. I think it is allowing artists to be more playful with their work or more willing to be experimental.

The other aspect of this genre that is fascinating is how the growth has rapidly escalated. It leads one to wonder how today’s advancing technology is going to influence digital art in the future. It has already gotten hyper-realistic, is it going to continue to be even more refined or will there be a swing in a different direction? Will the artists be part of the movement that directs how technology changes? There seems to be an interesting intersection in this group of people who have higher math or technical skills that seems to be found in other specialties due to the fact that it is a technology-dependent genre.

I found the ethical concerns on ownership of digital art especially interesting, The genre has grown faster than answers to some basic questions about ownership and when something that you manipulate into art becomes becomes yours. I will be very interested to see what conflicts this will create and how it will be addressed by the art community and the legal system.

I really identified with the hands Tabaimo animated from her drawings into a moving and undulating representation of what it feels like when her skin condition flared up and makes her itchy. I have two daughters who suffered from eczema pretty badly when they were little, and I recognized the fidgety itchy constant moving and rubbing to make the itch go away when it won’t. I am pretty impressed she created art out of something so mundane, but I love it because it’s a way to rely an indescribable feeling without words.

I haven’t had a chance to explore more than “Get Embedded” by Yung Juke, but I am blown away by the creativity in that video. It is so on point with current culture, especially social media and seemingly desperate quest for views and likes. To manipulate something that all of us find so familiar like the YouTube format and likes, the ads, and to make it all interact is clever and I find myself wanting to explore more of his work. He did it all very convincingly, too. It was hard to tell if he had created it all or if he had “hacked” YouTube at first.

[enchantingcollectorturtle-blog]

Art Appreciation—- This weeks reading was very interesting. It was also a nice lengthy essay/article that went more into sight about the making of sound, the definition, and how one defines it. In the article Robert wrote “You cannot get hold of it, you cannot touch it, you cannot feel it in your hand.” (In this he is talking about sound and noise itself), Yes this may be true but to some people they can feel it in their soul and it is what can change someone’s mood in a split second.  I know that I am one of those people and to see this and interpret it this way makes me happy. The article started to lose me when it started to talk about the composer John Cage. To me the only thing about sound that I find appealing is music. And from what the information in the article entailed it sounded like music is exactly what it was talking about.The media was quite weird, as you can see above one of the pictures that I shared for this weeks post is what we saw in Tim Hawkinson’s video. His strange yet amusing works range in size from monumental kinetic and sound-producing sculptures to almost microscopic pieces created from such unassuming materials as fingernail clippings and eggshells. Driven by ideas, materials, and an interest in transformation, Hawkinson continues to create unlikely and thought-provoking associations by transforming common materials into works of art. There is no denying that when you look at something that Tim Hawkinson has create you definitely scratch your head and think about how he possibly. This week for my Relevant Artist I chose Amenta Abioto.  Amenta Abioto is a one-woman wonder.  She writes, sings and plays all of her own music, ranging from gospel to punk.  Sometimes all at once.  We’ll introduce you to Amenta as well as to her five artistic sisters and mother, all of whom came with her to Portland from Tennessee. I have listened to some of her music and it honestly sounds like music that would be played in movies. I looked her up on Facebook and she has a page. She has a little under 1000 likes but she does say up to day on it quite frequently. Also from what i have seen she does play shows in Portland Oregon frequently. The very first picture that I embedded into this weeks post is of Amenta, I think it is of her singing at one of the shows that she has preformed at. Lastly, i know this has nothing to do with this weeks topic but I was on Facebook and I saw a video of a man who does a very unique kind of art. This man makes pictures of anything using just art. It is quite the picture to look at because even though it is in salt it has so much detail. It would take hours to finish projects as large as his. I would really recommend looking up  bashirsultani on youtube or Facebook if you get the chance. 

[kcshannon-blog]

You bring up some great points. I agree that John Cage was a bit of a stretch for me in that the definition of what the art actually is starts to get really loose. What I did appreciate about that piece was the explanation of the pianist having to "be silent" versus "do nothing". It's a minor difference, but I like the way it subtly changes it from inaction to an action. That makes it feel like it fills the space a little more and has more intention.

[kcshannon-blog]

I knew I would have to keep an open mind this week, as I had not ever heard of sound in and of itself being art. I feel like my reactions to many of the pieces, especially Uberorgan by Tim Hawkins, was initial skepticism followed by wonder and excitement as I finally began to see, or rather hear, the finished project. Tim Hawkins’s projects do have a visual element to them, but the main focus is the sound his sculptures create. The sounds Uberorgan makes are big, resonating tones based off of hymns and other music. You can start to pick up on that if you listen carefully.

Tim Hawkins, Uberorgan

One of the ideas I found especially intriguing is that we don't really have names or works for specific sounds, but rather identify sounds by what is making them. Piano music, that’s a flute,  etc. It's funny how things that seem rather obvious once pointed out can never once occur to a person up until that point. Though the English language does contain some words that sound like what they are, such as trickle, boom, or gasp.

Sound in itself is not tangible, it is experienced in the moment and then quickly gone or forgotten. But we can remember how it made us feel, and sound does have a big impact on our emotions. Very much like the social art from last week, sound art may not always be easy to identify, but I personally feel that this this does not diminish it's value. It is a fascinating frontier for artists to explore that has not been done over and over again, it is still relatively fresh and new.

One of the other things that I found especially interesting is the idea that when they began experimenting with sound in Italy, they were literally creating sounds nobody had ever heard before. I also like the idea of exploring sounds that aren’t traditionally associated with music. Three are certain sounds and noises that are fascinating and enthralling to listen to and experience that don’t fit in with rock music or a symphony orchestra. I think maybe the world could use a little more stopping and listening in a day when we often hurry from one thing to the next and fail to realize that we are surrounded by some pretty amazing experiences if we are keen enough to know where to look.

Burke Jam - "Generative Music Series : 12" - Out of the Studio S1.Ep6

The featured artist I chose this week is Burke Jam, a Montana native who is a professor at the Portland State University. I love the piece A River Made of Bells, a twenty minute recording of trickling water and tinkling bells. The sounds the water makes is beautiful. The sound is so clear and rich and dynamic, you can almost feel the cool damp air and imagine the cold taste of water. He really demonstrates that with high quality recording equipment, you can turn everyday sounds into a work of art. 

[molly-gardner-blog]

week 13

This week was about social practice. I was some what interested learning about this chapter but I did get confused on some of the information. I think it is interesting have many people be included creating this artwork. This week’s video was about Tania Bruguera who is a politically motivated performance artist who explores the relationship between art, activism, and social change in works the examine the social effects of political and economic power. I thought it was pretty interesting. I am not as interested in her artwork like I have been with the other artist however everyone’s pieces of art are unique in his or her own way of creating it.

Vanessa Beencroft was born April 25, 1969 in Genoa Italy.   Vanessa first studied at the Civico Liceo Artistico Nicolo Barabino on April 25th, 1969 in Genoa, Italy. Vanessa Beecroft is known for her performance, photography, drawing, painting, and sculpture. Vanessa Beecroft’s work is largely performance based often featuring female models as living art objects that exist somewhere between figure and object, static and dynamic. A lot of her work is informed by her personal struggle with an eating disorder and she explores issues of body image and femininity in contemporary culture. Vanessa Beencroft has worked with designers and celebrities.

[kcshannon-blog]

I too struggled a little to grasp the concept this week, but I think it is because sometimes the “art” is not something tangible and material that you can hang on a wall or display on a podium. If I understood it correctly, Social Practice in in the actions and relationships between people. It’s an interesting concept, and perhaps in some ways makes Social Practice one of the more impactful forms of art while also being one of the more difficult forms to identify on sight. It’s an interesting dichotomy. 

[kcshannon-blog]

Week Thirteen: Social Practice/Street Art

This week was exciting and challenging. Social Practice and street art seems to be very specific in that it has to have an impact socially and/or politically, yet have few boundaries as to how it can be done. It can be anything from Tania Bruguera opening her her dance and fitness studio for immigrants with the hope of turning it over to them and letting it flourish without her, to Rikrit Tiravanija cooking and serving pad thai for his audience.

I really liked Tatlin’s whisper #5. I think when we see images on television of protest, we distance ourselves from the human experiences of the protesters and the police because it’s on television. We may agree or disagree, but I don’t think we really put ourselves in the place of what it must feel like to the crowd to be controlled by police in riot gear or mounted police, herding them around like a flock of wayward sheep. The officer in the video was cheerful and polite but still authoritative shuffling the audience around, and I bet even knowing what you are there for it probably makes your heart beat a little more quickly to be ordered around.

This genre of art is probably one of the least likely to be identified on sight as art. The “art” is in the social experience of the pieces. Bruguera was creating a social safe space for immigrants where she could connect them through movement and experience together. Tiravanija brings his audience together in the intimate experience of preparing, serving, and sharing a meal together.

The featured artist I chose this week is Haha, a street artist. He looks at popular culture and the way it affects people. I think his work is sometimes humorous, sometimes provocative. Though he is featured in galleries now, the thing I love about street art is that it confronts you in your everyday routine. There is something about the idea of being struck with a message while you are going about your everyday business that I find intriguing. I don’t deny that I feel bad for people who have to deal with the nuisance of property damage or people who feel confronted by the message, but that is a part of the overall message that I think you lose when you put these pieces in a gallery, It is avant garde where people cannot always avoid hearing what the artist has to say.

[pereza2611-blog]

Week 12

The concept of this week on performance art was very interesting. This was the last thing that would have come to mind in connecting it to art. Performance does have its connections to art and is the least one to have respects towards. This makes the art come out to life and audience have a closer connection towards. Performance art is made up of many other forms of art. With performance, there are other things in relation like body art. Our body can work as a canvas like anything else around us just like being part of a sculpture is using the body as art.

Janine Antoni’s work is amazing. Her one piece where she dipped herself in is just amazing. She puts herself into her work deeply. She used her hair as paintbrush to paint the floor of a room to complete her piece she was doing. Her work caught my eye and her effort on learning to walk on tightrope was inspiring. That work of the connections between the rope and the idea of it being like an umbilical cord is creative. She mentioned how it is just a way to connect everyone, her friends with her family.

Francis Alys is Belgian but is a Mexico based artist. He was an architect but then relocated to Mexico City. He connects many of his performances to the culture, conditions, social and politics.

This performance is called Game Over. I had an idea that it was going to have to do with something just ending, which I was kind of right. The car was driven straight to the tree and then left there.

In this second video fits well with the name, Watercolor. He went to two different seas, named by a color and did the performance of doing a mixture.

[kcshannon-blog]

What I find fascinating about performance art is that explaining and describing rarely does it justice, like the piece you mentioned where Antoni painted the floor with her hair. To say and and try to describe it, it just sounds odd. and it is a little odd when you watch it at first on video, but you quickly begin to pick up that she is basically turning herself into a paintbrush and removing the tool between the artist and the art. 

[kcshannon-blog]

Performance Art - Week 12

Yet again, this class surprised me. A week I thought was going to be a struggle for me I found really engaging and interesting. I think that from the general public viewpoint, performance art probably gets the least amount of respect out of all of the art genres. I feel like performance art is often much better understood when you know and understand the sometimes extensive backstory behind the piece. At least, while you can get a good understanding by only watching the performance by itself, I feel like when you know the depth and breadth of what has gone into the creation of the performance it opens new layers and dimensions to the message being conveyed.

Yoko Ono, Cut Piece (1965)

I’m going to go backwards this week and talk about the relevant artist I chose for this week, Yoko Ono because I had such a strong reaction to her work; In particular, her performance of Cut Piece. I was riveted watching the video, at first curious, then frightened and disgusted by the behavior of the audience participants. Yoko sat on the stage alone, a pair of scissors next to her. The audience was instructed that they would be allowed to go up to her and use the scissors to cut off a piece of her clothing that they would be allowed to keep. While it started small, with people giggling and making remarks in the background, it began to escalate. People began making cuts that were large and meant to expose Yoko Ono instead of to clip a small piece to keep. The hardest part to watch was when one particularly ambitious man began cutting away at her bra and straps until a woman yelled at him to stop and called him a creep. I feel that there are so many different ways to look at this piece and what it says about the artist, but especially about people, that I simply don’t have the space to do here. Yoko herself said, “When I do the Cut Piece, I get into a trance, and so I don’t feel too frightened.…We usually give something with a purpose…but I wanted to see what they would take….There was a long silence between one person coming up and the next person coming up. And I said it’s fantastic, beautiful music, you know? Ba-ba-ba-ba, cut! Ba-ba-ba-ba, cut! Beautiful poetry, actually.” I rather saw an aspect of objectification with a touch of public sexual violence myself, but I think they are not mutually exclusive.

In a sense, this reminds me of the article talking about Bree Newsome taking down the Confederate flag and how that can be seen as performance art as well. There is such a vast possibility to combine the personal and the political in a way that captures people’s attention. They may not all understand the statement, but they can’t avoid becoming aware. The conflict with what Bree Newsome did is that it was illegal, and it upset a lot of people and made some activists worried she had harmed the movement to have the flag removed. However, I like the way the article stated, “She performed an action movie gesture as a vicarious and thrilling experience for anyone who wanted this symbol of the Confederacy – synonymous with racism for so many people – removed, even for a brief time.” Her outrageous act helped give some people a burst of energy to keep fighting to have the flag removed.

Moor, Janine Antoni

Janine Antoni’s featured work Touch and Moor were a little less political, but nonetheless very personal. I love the idea behind Moor, that she was given scraps and pieces and materials that she turned into a rope trailing all through the gallery where she could pick up any piece and begin to recall who gave it to her and why they were an important part of her life. These are the people who anchored her to her life, and she literally made a rope that represented them. The other piece that really stood out to me was the one in which she had made a model of herself, draped it in wet rawhide, then removed the model. The visual is stunning. You see the person on all fours, submissive and animal-like, draped in the hide of a cow (often seen as very docile). When you look inside, it’s empty. It’s a little unnerving. 

Saddle, Janine Antoni

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Week 11 - Architecture

For me, this chapter on architecture has been the most interesting chapter we have read this far. The time and planning it must take for an architect to create such structures is mind blowing.  Not only do they have to keep the client happy but zoning committees, keeping track of building codes, planning committees and then they just hand off their designs to a contractor and construction crew to make it all come to fruition.  Not sure I could let my vision/creation go – just like that.

I have always thought that the lines in columns were for decorative purposes.  Now I know that those lines actually have a purpose, and that is to conduct rainwater downward.   There is my something new I learned today.

As beautiful as the Taipei 101 is, I would never want to be inside that sucker when a natural disaster would decided to strike.  Yikes!  That building is tall and just by looking at it I can feel my stomach turn at the thought of how much that building would sway (even with that massive pendulum to help out).

I have to say that my favorite piece of architecture is St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. It really is a spectacular piece and I really never get tired of visiting it.   However, as I was scrolling through the internet an interesting tidbit regarding buildings in New York City appeared. According to www.dailymail.co.uk, the “Big Bend” has been designed around zoning laws and requirement and is “described as the ‘longest building in the world’, the project’s concept drawings reveal a skyscraper reaching an apex then curving back down, featuring an elevator system that can travel in curves, horizontally and in loops”.  I can’t wait to see if this piece really comes to life. It will certainly change the Manhattan skyline.

The Artist 21 piece on Maya Lin was interesting to watch.   She makes me want to grab my ice skates and head to Grand Rapids to skate among the stars.  I did find it surprising that she considers herself an artist and not an architect; although most of her designs/concepts are really in architectural form. Congratulations to Maya Lin of creation and completion of the Vietnam Wall!

My relevant artist for this week is Renzo Piano.  After looking at his structures I realized that he “created” The Shard, which is on my bucket list to see when I finally ever get to London.  According to www.the-shard.com the concept of this impressive building

           “was conceived as a building with multiple uses: a vertical city where people could live,    work and relax. It comprises world-class offices, award-wining restaurants, the 5-star  Shangri-La Hotel, exclusive residences and the UK’s highest viewing gallery, The View                    from The Shard, offering 360-degree views. Well-connected and comprehensively              serviced by central London’s transport infrastructure, facilities and amenities, The Shard   is a timeless reminder of the power of imagination to inspire change”.

The Shard has everything you need at your fingertips and really would have no reason to ever leave the building.  It is a visually stunning structure to look at as well, plus all the added extra touches makes this one spectacular building!

[kcshannon-blog]

I agree with you that architecture is probably the most complex art to execute because of the extensive planning and regulations that must be followed. What really grabbed my attention from your blog this week is big bend! I don't know the practicality of a structure like that, but it would certainly change the sky line in a dramatic fashion! Something that unique is bound to attract a lot of attention for sure. I like that Maya Lin talked about how she has been labeled, and how she has worked with and around that. Very interesting to see how it may have influenced her career.

[kcshannon-blog]

Architecture - week  11

This week had a very different feel from the other weeks. More than any other art discipline, architecture requires work from many groups of people coming together in order to realize the finished space or building. From the very beginning, artists have to work with people in the planning stages in order to make sure that the finished building or space they come up with meets the needs of people that they are creating it for. The artist’s vision also has to encompass limitations, such as safety guidelines and public input. Then, in order to construct the building they will also need to work closely with the construction crew during the building process to make sure that everything is being built according to their specifications. This does remind me of some of the artists who create larger or more complex works of art and rely on teams help them create their final piece.

   One of my favorite segments from this chapter was actually about the different styles of roofs. In particular, I found it interesting that the distinctive onion style domes in Russia were due to the fact that the flat or sloped roof would collapse under the weight of snow. The onion dome was developed as a solution to this as the shape and grooves on the onion dome would allow the snow to slide off instead of building up. In milder climates, the sloped roofs were perfect for channeling rain off the roof and away from the building.

    I also found it incredibly fascinating that even with all of our modern day technology, we still don't fully grasp the mathematics and techniques that allowed the pantheon Dome to stand to this day. They do have some good guesses as far as possible composition of the concrete and some of the mathematical principles behind it, but it is still something of a mystery.

    The geodesic domes designed by R Buckminster Fuller were pretty interesting as well. He based them on natural structures, and according to the book, no properly designed geodesic dome has been damaged by earthquake or hurricane.

    I love the idea that some architects are trying to get more out of our everyday spaces, like shopping malls. I would really love to see the shopping mall that has the indoor gardens and welcoming spaces that give people other reasons to visit. That is becoming vital to the survival of brick and mortar stores in the age of online shopping with free 2-day shipping. The crystal palace is another example of a space like this. I loved reading how it was designed to be moved around and reassembled.

    My relevant artist is Andrea Zittel. She also experiments with open spaces in her architecture. I feel like her little camping pods make me want to really want to go explore the outdoors. They look like they smartly fit a lot of amenities in a very small space and are as practical as they are gorgeous. That is the ultimate goal of really good architecture, to make something that functions and is also art. 

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Week 10 - Craft

I thought I would share with you all, my attempt with the craft of clay.  This picture will give you proof that I was totally correct in not taking up art as either a hobby or profession.  This “bowl” was created in my 8th grade art class formed on the potter’s wheel, then then “O’s” were created by pressing a spoon into it and then a knife created the “+” sign.  My parents have kept this piece and I have no idea why, other than one of their children made it.  I still can laugh at this piece today.

This chapter on craft proves that art is all around us in our daily lives.  I have a few friends that when I walk into their bathrooms I feel like I’m at a museum because of all the fancy fixtures and handles on the cabinets!  

I never realized that there are several traditional methods of hand-building in ceramics, as I am only familiar with wheel-throwing. Metal seems to have many items in which to use to create fabulous pieces and I learned about malleability and ductility.   Woods seems to be the item most commonly found in our daily lives from the furniture we sit and eat on, the cabinets in our kitchen, picture frames and even a cedar chest that will hold our special treasurers.   My favorite section would be on glass.   I am in love with Dale Chihuly, No 2 Sea Form Series!  There should be no surprise now, since you all know that I love the color pink.  If you have not done so, Google Dale Chihuly and sea forms and look at his work – it’s incredible!  Although my favorite glass piece to own would be a real honest to God antique Tiffany lamp.  Oh to dream the dream!  Fibers were an interesting section to read and learn about as quilts was the extent of my knowledge in that area.  There is a lot of stuff to learn in regards to the art world.

After watching the video on Kimsooja, I have to say the Crystal Palace in Madrid looks “breath” taking!  I would like to go there and just sit in total peace and quiet and take a moment to enjoy that beautiful structure.  You could all most feel the serenity from just watching the video and listening to Kimsooja breathing.  I do have to say that I am not a big fan of her acting as an unmoving axis on the horizon. I was surprised to see so many people just moving around her and bumping into her.  If that was me – I would be sacred to be jostled around like a pinball inside a pinball machine.

I have chosen Nick Cave for my relevant artist for this week’s blog posting.  Mr. Cave is an American fabric sculptor, dancer, and performance artist but is best known for his soundsuits that are made from everyday items.  According to www.art21.org, “Soundsuits serve as an alien second skin that obscures race, gender, and class, allowing viewers to look without bias towards the wearer’s identity”.  I scrolled through all the images of soundsuits I could find on the internet and was totally amazed by some of his creations.  His vision and creativity are really outstanding, but not sure a soundsuit would be something that I would have to have.

[kcshannon-blog]

Those sound suits are an absolute riot! I'm not sure under what circumstances it would be appropriate to wear one, but what a fabulous idea!

Glass work has always been fascinating to me as well. There is something so primitive and elemental about the process of working with the fiery kiln and spinning molten glass to shape. The finished product comes out often so delicate and beautiful.

I completely agree with your thoughts that craft really takes the everyday and makes it art.

[kcshannon-blog]

WEEK 10 - CRAFT

Craft was such an entertaining week. The breadth of this genre encompasses the practical and everyday and elevates it to art. I will admit that I was very much surprised by the large scope some of the pieces could take. In particular, the piece Paula Winokur did called "White Butte" struck me. It was made out of 83 different parts and she would have to wedge as much as 200 pounds of clay all at the same time. That's extraordinary! 

 I also was fascinated by the artists who worked with wood. They often seemed to like working with the natural grain and knots in the wood that the average woodworker might tend to avoid. The resulting piece, be it table, bowl, or sculpture, is so unique in that it could only have been created by that specific artist with that exact piece of wood. George Nakishima often kept interesting pieces around for years until he felt he had found a project worthy of utilizing that piece. I love the idea that with everything becoming so cookie cutter, people are now revering the handmade. There is appreciation for the time put into making something from nothing by hand. The irony is that many of these handmade things are so expensive, only the more wealthy can afford and enjoy them. The doorknobs made by Victor Horta were one of my favorite things in the reading, but I'm sure a house full of them would be incredibly pricey. 

 The artist in the video was Kimsooja, and I thought her concept of using the air in the Crystal Palace as her medium was very innovative. When they started to apply the light refracting sheets and I could see where she was going with this piece, I got really excited to see the finished product. It did not disappoint. The sound of breathing along with the refracted and reflected light must have made everyone in there so completely aware of the air surrounding them in a way they may not have ever been before. The project she did with the bundles was very interesting as well. I knew that the bundle itself isn't art, but the way she arranges them is beautiful and transforms the common object into something bigger. 

 My favorite featured artist this week was Xenobia Bailey. I know a few ladies who are amazing at their craft of crochet, but when I sent them pictures of this woman's work they were stunned and so excited. Her dynamic use of color is electrifying and gives the piece so much vibrant energy. To create pieces so large is pretty incredible too, and I can't even begin to imagine how long it would take to make on that scale. Everything she did is so lively and cheerful, and it's because of her careful color juxtaposition and the way she layers her shapes.

[paper-wonders-blog]

Week 9

Installation art gives an artist an infinite number of possibilities for their creations, and allows one to be completely free with what they choose to create. I liked how the Wikipedia article we read mentioned how it is applied to the environment. An artist changes an environment we are in and allows their art to connect with the five senses. An artist’s ideas to portray their message is unlimited because installation has no limits, and the artist is free to create what they wish.

This week’s assigned reading was especially interesting because of the way it was written. By the way the blogger described each of the exhibits, the blogger took us along with her on her adventure in New York. It was a fun new perspective to read about art. The exhibit which appealed the most to me was The Rain Room. I hope one day a I can visit something like this. She talks about how therapeutic it was and how the rain connected with her on an emotional level. I think that’s exactly what the artist wanted it’s audience to feel. Weather has played a large part on my emotions and moods, and I think it affects other people also. I love rain because it symbolizes a messy cleansing, but at the end of every shower I always feel renewed.

This week’s assigned video, is about Do Ho Suh and his art. His transportable Korean style tent is brilliant. It’s a piece of his home which he can bring with him anywhere. The fabric used in his piece reminded me a little bit of Robert Irwin’s fabric installation at the Whitney from our reading. Both pieces use a similar media, even though they have different meanings. I had a great deal of appreciation for Do Ho Suh’s Public Sculpture he had built in the park. It was a very simple monument, but you saw it up close you noticed the monument is being held up by hundreds of little people. The monument recognizes the everyday people. It recognizes everyone, not just a certain group or person. The piece shows how important every single person is to society.

I chose to research Spencer Finch. What stuck out to me from his work, was he uses a lot of light pastel colors. In one piece in particular he actually uses natural light to his advantage. He made beautiful stained glass windows and allows the sunlight to shine through them. By doing this, the light duplicates the colors from the window and reflects on the floor. This reminded me of church on Sunday mornings and how beautiful it is when the sunlight shines just right through the stain glass windows. It always gives me a warm happy feeling.

Installation has a great capability to evoke emotions. This is because it applies to more than your sight, it can connect to all of your senses. In the real world this is what evokes human emotions and feelings.

[kcshannon-blog]

I agree with you about the wide scope of possibilities with installation art. This was a tough week to fully grasp because installation art is so varied and different. Because of that, there are also seemingly infinite possibilities to explore.

The rain room was also one of my favorites and if I ever got the chance to see it, I think I would never want to leave. There is something so cleansing about rain, and the idea that you can run through without getting rained on is so playful and clever.

[kcshannon-blog]

Week 9 - Installation

I found installation art to be interesting, and my reactions to this particular genre of art is as varied as the works included under the umbrella of “Installation art”. I’m usually pretty unflappable, but some of the work was pretty difficult to digest, such as Paul McCarthy’s X-rated and pornographic WS. I get it, I really do, that even art that is vulgar has a place and value, but I think you have to be in the correct mindset to allow yourself to properly assess a piece that controversial. It is also worth mentioning that we are not getting the benefit of a truly accurate representation of the experience of being there. 

Paul McCarty, WS

I think the fact that presence is an integral part of being able to view and understand is what I find most appealing about installation art. This isn’t something I feel like I can google and pull up on my phone and feel like I even know the more than in a general sense what that piece would be like to experience in person. Pictures will never really do it justice, not in the same way that you can get a pretty good impression of a painting, or especially a photograph. While I understand that nothing can compare to seeing any art in the proper setting, under careful lighting and with the right presentation, installation art takes that a step further. Typically, the installation piece is a room or a large space, indoor or out, that the viewer is able to move around in and look. It brings in the element of time and movement in a way that no other genre really can. This is giving artists new directions to work in that had not even been considered until recently. 

Do Ho Suh,  Home within Home within Home within Home within Home

I really enjoyed the Art 21 Artist, Do Ho Suh. From his miniature figures working collectively to bear the weight of things much larger than they are, to his technique of recreating buildings and structures out of fabric stemming from his homesickness for his family home back in Korea. He made himself a home that he could roll up and fit in a suitcase. Some of his other endeavors are quite ambitious, and end up looking like a transparent memory that you can walk through. It’s absolutely beautiful. I feel like he woks a lot with the aspects of everyday life and the mundane and elevates them into something extraordinary. I still cannot believe how realistic the buildings he recreated with fabric look. 

Spencer Finch,  Trying To Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning

I think my favorite featured artist this week is Spencer Finch. In particular, his piece for the 9/11 Memorial Trying To Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning. He hand painted 2.983 squares in watercolor to represent how he remembered the sky looking on September 11, 2001. That is one square for every life taken that day. It surrounds a quote by Virgil, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time”.

I think my favorite featured artist this week is Spencer Finch. In particular, his piece for the 9/11 Memorial Trying To Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning. He hand painted 2.983 squares in watercolor to represent how he remembered the sky looking on September 11, 2001. That is one square for every life taken that day. It surrounds a quote by Virgil, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time”. His concept is amazing. The title alone makes me reflect back on how clear blue the sky was that day, and it feels for a moment that I am going back in time to those days where we all watched footage over and over again of the towers, tall and regal against the clear blue sky smoke, tumble, and fall into dust.  I feel like the large size and magnitude of this piece must be incredibly moving and overwhelming to see in person, and if I ever find myself back in New York City I may go out of my way to visit the museum and see this piece.

[marisatetzner2-blog]

Week 8

This week was about sculpture. I found this reading actually very interesting. There were a lot of little details that interested me in sculptor. There are four different original ways to make a sculpture. Carving with hard materials, sculpting soft materials, casting molten materials that will eventually harden and finding “things” and assembling them together to create a sculpture. I read in the book that before artists start making the actual sculpture, they will create it in a small sized model. Another thing that I found interesting in the book is Alice Aycock’s Tree of life sculpture. I found it interesting that she painted the whole thing white to symbolize the purity that is lacking in our world. I thought that was a very cool and unique explanation of why to do something. I also agree with her that this world is lacking a lot of purity. In the book, it talked a lot about carving with wood. I found it very interesting that the deity statues have survived since 1203. That’s over eight-hundred years old! Another type of sculpting that they talked about was wax. Which I think resembles Kara Walkers work but she uses polystyrene and coats it with sugar. 

Kara Walker is an African American artist born in 1969 in California. Kara’s work resembles history. Even though the piece of art may not look like history, the meaning behind it has to deal with Sexuality, race, religion, etc. She thinks that it is very important to enter the future with knowledge of our history even though it may bring sadness. Coming from an African American family, maybe Kara deals with something like slavery that was in her family long ago. She may be affected from it in that way. Kara works with sugar, which I thought was interesting. She kind of talked about the history in slavery and how sugar pickers were done by slaves and underpaid workers. I think that may also play a role in her history and why she is so affected by it to incorporate her work into it. I thought it was very cool that Kara’s anticipation for her sculptures was for them to just sort of drip and melt away after everyone had seen them. I also thought it was very cool that she displayed her sculptures in an old sugar factory. 

By: Petah Coyne 

For my relevant artist, I chose Petah Coyne. Petah is an American sculpture and photographer. She uses organic material to make her sculptures, which I thought was cool. She is sixty-three years old and was born in Oklahoma. I was reading up on Petah and found some interesting, yet a little disturbing information on what she uses to create her sculptures.  Ribbons, mud, dead fish, wax, sticks and more. Most of those things are normal except for the dead fish. The main meaning behind her sculptures are life and death, but there are some in betweens. Beauty, seduction, and vulnerability.  When she decides to change her materials, it usually reflects on her travels. After I read that, I thought, maybe when she decides to use a certain material such as dead fish, maybe her last travel was somewhere like a lake where she saw a lot of that and it reflected back on her main meaning life and death. 

By: Petah Coyne

[kcshannon-blog]

I like what you said about Kara incorporating history into her art purposefully. I admire her dedication to her work, going so far as to research the history of the sugar industry in all of its aspects, from how the workers were treated where it was grown and harvested to how the factory workers were treated who helped refine it. She expressed all of that in statues made out of sugar, which is amazing to me that they held up so well from how large they were. And I too like that she made that they will melt away as part of the sculpture. It’s like they are slipping back into history again.

[kcshannon-blog]

Week 8 - Sculpture

Again this week I found myself much more drawn in than I thought I would be. I learned so much about the process behind creating a sculpture that I had not known before, and it really helped me appreciate even more just how much skill is behind the finished product. I think sometimes the finished work is so perfect, whether it be Michelangelo’s David or Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses, it becomes difficult to comprehend just how much work had to go into that piece. The ellipses are so clean and simple, yet the artist had to take into account weight and balance so they would not be in danger of tipping over and hurting someone. With Michelangelo, not only is it fascinating to read the process of carving the marble, but the difficulty in choosing the right marble vexed him time and time again as the best quality marble for sculpting was in a town that had poor access for hauling heavy blocks of marble towns away. 

By far, my favorite story in this chapter is the creation of Perseus with the Head of Medusa. For starters, I had no idea how a bronze casting was even made, and now that I do know I stand in awe of these large and complex works, especially this one created in the 1550′s. Cellini’s workshop caught on fore, a storm was blowing in through and messing with the furnace temperature, and Cellini thought he was dying he was so sick. But he had a vision that his work was ruined, hopped out of bed and by some miracle and the sacrifice of approximately 200 pieces of pewter dishes thrown in the furnace, managed to save his magnificent statue.

I was also really really intrigued by the extra dynamic ephemeral art gives artists. Is the brief and fleeting duration of the art part  of the essence of the piece, or is the slow decay of the piece a part of the work as well? Is it okay to “refresh” the art and replace pieces that have gone missing or been damaged? I really like the idea that conservators and curators are creating a project to address this specifically so that art is being dealt with in the way an artist would wish, even after their death.

The video artist this week was actually on of the feature artists I chose in a previous week, Kara Walker. This video specifically covered her installation piece called  A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby at a Domino sugar factory that was slated to be demolished in Brooklyn, NY. I love how Kara very thoroughly researches he subject so that she can incorporate nuances into the art that that are specific to the medium she is working with. In her video, she talks about how a subtlety is typically a figurine or likeness made from sugar in the likeness of someone esteemed, like the wealthy or nobility. The fact that she made gigantic subtleties in the honor of those that were the work and the backbone behind sugar is a clever way for her to lift up those that were looked down upon while using the exact thing they worked so hard to help make. Her art is also ephemeral, meant to be viewed only until the warehouse was tore down.

The featured artist I chose this week is Diana Al Hadid. She uses a wide variety of materials in her work, including fiberglass, polymer, cement, and wood. I find her art absolutely enchanting. It is the kind of art that you can stare at for a long time and continue to discover new things. The way she uses the drips and the open spaces gives it an impression of reality being interrupted, and a bit dystopian in some of her pieces. Her figures have a feel to them like the classical Greek statues, but are worked into the sculptures in a very contemporary way. It looks like an organic interpretation of digital degradation of the image you are looking at, only this work is three dimensional and to me gives the impression of reality breaking down.