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Final Week

In Avant-Garde composer John Cage started out as a disciple of Arnold Schoenberg. He had looked up to the exiled Austrian as a model of how a true artist ought to live. Cage in turn inspired generations of artist and composers both through his work which incorporated elements of chance into his music and through his teaching. A person whom he inspired was Sister Corita Kent. These readings had provided information regarding many artists which I thought was pretty interesting. It was very interesting to read all of the rules.

Overall my experience with this class was great. I really like how we did the blog post every week and got a chance to read others to know what they are thinking or learn about all the different opinions. This class made me realize what art really is. Another thing I really enjoyed about the blogs were seeing all the different pictures from others artist of the week. For me I think that’s what made it fun was to learn about different types of artist and get to each and everyone’s artwork they had created. Before this class I had always thought art was just painting or making things out of clay I just had general ideas however this class made me realize how big a verity art really is. I enjoyed learning all the different categories art really has and what it takes to make art. Art has always been a part of my life. I like to create things and thing of different ideas to do. I couldn’t believe all the different chapters the book had about art and reading about all the different kinds. I have always created things but I never realized some of the things were art like when people created music. That is a unique piece of art because they think of it and create something that sounds so great. I feel like this class with really impact my life. I have learned so much from the first day of class. I now know things about art that I have new before or even realized was art. I think it’s amazing how we see some kind of art every day or even create it. Once I make something I’m always thinking I just created an art piece. I have never been that great at drawing but I make things at my best ability and enjoy it. This class made me realize a lot like how art is around us each and every day. I have never imaged this much information or different creations in art. It was great learning when it takes to create drawings, paintings, clay figures, sculptures, and many more. I always thought learning how long and how big artist created some artwork was fascinating. I would have never imaged art containing so much math. This was a big think I had learned that artist really have to know math and measurements to create the art piece and for it to turn out just how they want it. It was great to read everyone’s post during this class!

Digital Art

This week is about digital art. This chapter was interesting. I learned that the original method of using the computer for drawing purposes was to type out mathematical formulas programs in order to communicate with the computer and printer. Art is created by numbers and it takes a lot just to draw a line. Some of the drawing formulas allow artist to work father drawing by hand, they use an electronic stylus on a digitizing tablet that transfers their markings to a computer screen. The grid has points that are called pixels. The computer assigns mathematical references to points on the image thus digitizing them so that they correspond to the numbered grid of pixels on the screen. It didn’t surprise me when I was reading those artists are now using computer technologies that the touch of the human hand is disappearing from much of today’s artwork. That made me sad in a way because it seems to me everything is becoming technology instead of doing it how people did years ago. I love looking at artwork that people do by hand instead of artwork that was created on the computer. I think artwork that artist do by hand can have more meaning behind it. Computers also can now create a painting by manipulating a scanned in photographic image for painterly effects. They simulate brushstrokes; produce an image in a particular style such an impressionist, rotate and wart and stretch the image with any hands on work that needs to be done by the artist. It was neat to see some pictures done with digital art. Computers can be in three dimensional arts. It is crazy how far technology is coming along. I feel like someday down the road creating art by hand may be a thing in the past because so many people computers.

The relevant artist that I picked this week was Rick Silva. Rick Silva subjects and processes landscapes through a digital lens creating abstract and sometimes animated three dimensional digital paintings. Rick Silva has a background in experimental filmmaking and Net Art and has been creating GIFs since he was an undergrad in 2003. It is through the creation of GIFs that he came interested in looping. Rick Silva is experimented with live DJ/VJ remixes of landscapes using google earth for a project titled “Satellite Jockey.” Rick Silva has had several gallery and museum exhibitions including at the BronxArtSpace and at the University Of Michigan Museum Of Art.

The video this week was about Tabaimo in “Boundaries.” Tabaimo’s drawings and video installations probe the unsettling theses of isolation, contagion, and instability that seem to lurk beneath daily existence in contemporary Japan. Tabaimo draws aesthetic inspiration for her animated videos from a combination of Japanese art forms while she sets her layered surrealistic narratives in domestic interiors and communal spaces. It was great to learn about this chapter and know that digital art can be one of the easiest forms of art to experience in person. Some of these are designed to be viewed on a computer screen rather than presented in a gallery.

mandab97-blog

Week 14 - Sound

Your reflections on the reading

This week’s reading was interesting and contained, again, a lot of information that I never knew or thought of. I never thought to think of sound being considered art so this week is really challenging my view of what art can be. I am still not sure if I really consider sound to be ‘art,’ but I think I can understand why others do consider it an art. I liked that the article mentioned that we are constantly hearing sounds but most of the time we do not listen, or consciously notice it. I also liked that it was pointed out that we usually focus more on the objects that make sound rather than the sound itself. I was also surprised by John Cage’s piece 4’33, which incorporated the audience into the performance by focusing on all the sounds present.

Your reflection on the videos/media

I thought the video for this week about Tim Hawkinson was neat. I thought it was interesting how he incorporates sculptures into his work. His larger scale piece, Uberorgan, was amazing because it was so huge and made equally ‘large’ sounds. The sounds reminded me of whales. I will say though that I really didn’t enjoy any of the sounds made. The “rain drops” were amazing because of how he created them but the continuous sound was just plain irritating for me. Same with Uberorgan, amazingly crafted and unique, but I can only listen to so much of that sound before I just can’t stand it any longer.

Also, I’m one of those types of people that are just incredibly irritated and angered by certain noises so it might mostly just be me that is affected by them in this way. I can hardly stand the sound of chewing, even when someone’s being as quiet as possible, and sometimes have to even leave the room because it makes me so irritated. Same with other small noises, especially if it is quiet and it’s the most prominent noise I can hear. I share a room with my sister and she usually wakes up much before me to do her makeup. I become so incredibly frustrated and angry just by the small short noises of her picking up and setting down her various make up brushes and tools. Even I’m surprised by how angry I get but I can’t help it, even if I know it’s irrational. I usually either put on white noise and fall back asleep or listen to actual music to wake up. So it’s interesting that a lot of noises we simply hear and don’t acknowledge, and there’s others that we can’t NOT acknowledge.

Connections/comparisons you find between the two

There’s the obvious connection of sound being the main point of both the article and the video. They both show examples of how sound can be used in art. One difference I noticed is that Hawkinson uses sculptures to make sound or go along with sounds while the article focused on ways that were strictly sound, like in John Cage’s 4’33.

Connections to another artist’s work

For my relevant artist this week, I chose Haroon Mirza. He does sculptures, installations, and performances. I thought one of his works, the National Apavillion of Then and Now was amazing. It’s a circle of light that gets bright as the noise increases and goes completely dark when the noise stops. I think it’s awesome how that works and it gives me a better understanding of how sound can be art.

pollysbloggingaway-deactivated2

I am like you, as I never thought to think of sound as an art form as well. It took me a while to wrap my head around that thought, but our readings and video helped me to garner more perspective on this topic. I loved your comment on Tim Hawkinson and his “rain drop” creation, as I had the same thought. Could listen for a little bit, but would have to leave after a few minutes as it was like nails on a chalkboard to me! After reading your post I went and searched for Haroon Mirza and I found his “National Apavillion of Then and Now” to be interesting, and it was!

molly-gardner-blog

I thought you did a great job on your post! I also thought this week was very interesting however I did learn a lot of information that I didn’t know before. I thought it was very interesting creating the sounds from different objects and it being so unique. I had relly never considered sound to be art until I really thought about. I thought about it because people are making it and creating it so it may be art. I also liked the article mentioning that we hear sounds however we sometimes don’t listen.

It was interesting to learn that sound art is quite a new field or at least new in its recognition as its own separate class of work. Sound art is an artistic discipline in which sound is utilized as a primary medium like many genres of contemporary art, sound art is interdisciplinary in nature or takes hybrid forms. It is separate from music and just noise that you hear. It is sound art of auditory experience often presented with a visual component as well. Sound art can also be a framework that the artist creates for example John Cage in his piece 4’33” sat silently in a concert hall for the named amount of time, framing the ambient noise of the audience and the room itself as the work of art. Sound art is a process in fact it is a complicated process of particles moving, of objects moving, of air moving and sometimes liquids moving. Sounds can create many memories. This week I went through many of the artist we could choose from and I thought many of them were very neat but in a way different.

The relevant artist I choose this week was Marcus Fischer. Marcus Fischer is a multimedia artist and musician based in Portland, Oregon. Marcus Fischer releases music both as half of ambient due unrecognizable now and as a solo artist with an album coming soon on prestigious label 12K. Marcus Fischer uses acoustic instruments, filed recordings and take loops to brand a sound of his own. He is currently working as a freelance photographer and has a family in NE PDX. Marcus Fischer’s latest album is a 12” collaboration with The OO-Ray on Optic Echo entitled Tessellations. From reading information about Marcus Fischer it sounds like he is always on the look out to find new opportunities to further experiment with sound. I think it is amazing the things that he creates.

The video this week was about Tim Hawkinson in “Time”. Tim Hawkinson tinkers with everyday materials to build surprising mechanical art works. In his studio Tim Hawkinson explains how he used gears, switches, buckets, nozzles, and pie tines to build a drumming machine that captures random drips of rain and amplifies them and organizes them into music. One of Tim Hawkinson’s largest projects Uberorgan is an inflatable installation that is in a space the size of a football field. Tim Hawkinson is renowned for creating complex sculptural systems through surprisingly simple means.

Overall I thought this week was interesting. To learn how different artist make sound by using different instruments or items that they turn into his or own instruments. I think it is so neat that people can make sound and make it a rhythm that creates something beautiful. I think that this is something that may be difficult to create because you could get so many different sounds out of different things. I also think it may be difficult to remember every little thing they did to create that sound. It was interesting to learn about sound art this week

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.

chrisernstblog-blog

Week 12

This week’s reading is over Performance and the many ways performance can be used to convey as art. As I sit down to do this Blog and read the articles assigned, I can’t help but to think of how I feel about performance art now and how I may feel when this assignment is over. Not knowing a lot about art let alone performance art. I would have to say performance art is expressing art though the use of your body. After reading the story of Bree Newsome’s story of climbing the flag pole to remove the confederate flag I can now see how some of these, what I will call stunts are linked back to performance art.

After watching the art21 video of Janine Antoni in “Loss & Desire” I was kind of taken back again. Her first project was the rope made of items from family and friends. At this point I do not see any relationship with performance art. I think it falls more under 3D or sculpture art. Then she has this thing for cows. I get that we drink milk and all but to lay naked in a water tank to take a picture of a cow that looks like it is nursing from her?!?!?! I think people could almost go to jail for this and is not only the last thing from art but is sick and wrong. I mean if I hang out naked with animals I’m sure people would call the cops. Her next piece is with the human on all fours and covered in cow hide to me is almost as strange. By know I’m sure you can tell I’m pretty conservative and don’t care for much of the out of norm types of things.

Once again with her chocolate face and soap face, I think this is not art but something wrong with her. Wanting to do this is not art to me and wanting to make your body chocolate to lick yourself is beyond me. The good thing is that I know it is not just me because I made my wife watch this also.

On a positive note I did like her rope walking and what she did with the horizon in the background. I feel that this is good art that everyone can relate to and enjoy. When reading about the different styles and concepts including action, body art, happenings, endurance and ritual I can see where some of this actions come from and are testing the trueness of the art in my mind. I can also understand that they are reaching out to different audiences and pushing the limits but some things I feel should not be done.

Adrian Piper is the artist I picked this week to review. She was born in 1948 and received her doctorate in 1981. One her projects was to put on a mustache, an afro wig and wire glasses. She then dressed and went down town acting like a man. Living in the moment was one of her key terms I read about while she worked at bringing social and political issues to center stage.

pollysbloggingaway-deactivated2

After reading a few blogs, I am finding out that a good number of us students found Janine Antoni to be on “odder” side of life and art. I do have to agree with you that most of her art should be categorized as anything else but performance art. For me her only performance piece was the tightrope walking, the rest of it was just odd. And we all know, that if we walked naked around animals and took pictures of us next to them – yes, we would be arrested.

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molly-gardner-blog

I thought this week was very interesting! I enjoyed reading your post. I also thought the picture with Janine Antoni sititng in water with the cow was very awkward and different. Yes it may be performance art but to me that is a different kind of performance art. I feel that this type of art is very very different from the others we have learned about. This kind of art makes people express themselves in a different way. This was very interesting.

This week was about performance art. During the 1970’s some of the artist began creating performance art featuring themselves as actor or director of an event of some sort. Kimsooja’s Lie on the Nature was a performance piece in which the artist spread and then bundled bedcovers acts which carried evocative meanings for Korean observers. However sometimes the artists own body becomes the subject of performances involving acts of self exposure and self mutilation. It was interesting to learn performance artist Marina Abramovic had created three ascetic rooms that she had lived in silent ritualistic fashion for twelve days in full view of spectators. She did not take any food and was on display throughout the days and into the nights. This weeks video was about Janine Antoni. She knew everything about her rope and everything that it took to make art with her rope. I thought her artwork was very interesting. Antoni’s use of unusual sculptural materials such as chocolate, soap, lard, and rawhide is explored as the artist takes the viewer on a tour of a major exhibition at SITE Santa Fe.The relevant artist I selected this week was Yoko Ono. Yoko Ono was one of the eldest of three children, born to Isoko and Eisuke Ono conservative Japanese aristocrats. Yoko’s father wanted to be a concert pianist but have gave up his career to be a banker and the mother was a painter.

pollysbloggingaway-deactivated2

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!

molly-gardner-blog

I agree with your post! I think architecture would take a very long time because of what all goes into the process. They have so many things they have to focus on and so many steps to take. I have learned a lot in this chapter but I thought it was very interesting. The St. Patrick’s Cathedral is very neat. I would love to go to New York to see this in person! Being in this class makes me want to go travel to see all these great pieces of artwork!

This week was about architecture. Architecture is very similar to the other visual arts in aesthetic terms. The architects work with texture, form, space, line, and color, using principles such as repetition, variety, and emphasis to unify the results visually. The outside and insides of architecture have their own aesthetic impact which can be seen in the outer and inner views. I had really enjoyed look through all the pictures that the artist had created. It the reading it told us a lot more on how the buildings were built and the reasoning behind it. A picture that stood out to me and I thought was very interesting was the Chartres Cathedral, Chartres, France, constructed 1142-1220. It would be very neat to visit some of these places that they had showed in the book. The relevant artist I chose this week is Frank Gehry. Frank Gehry is a Canadian American architect known for postmodern designs including the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Frank Gehry was born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto, Canada on February 28, 1929. Frank Gehry had studied at the University of Sothern California and Harvard University. Gehry has been based out of Los Angeles since the 1960’s. He was once married however later then he dropped out of Harvard and divorced his wife which he had two daughters with. In 1975 Gehry married Berta Isabel Aguilera and had two more children. Gehry had launched a line of his “Easy Edges” cardboard furniture. Gehry is known for his professionalism and adherence to budgets. This week’s video was about Maya Lin. At twenty one Maya Lin had become one of America’s most recognized artists with her winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I thought that was amazing to learn and such a great reward! It was interesting to see the pictures of the park before she had created something with it. Her idea was talking sculpture and make it into a park. She ended up creating an ice skating rink in the park. She mentioned in the video how the ice skating rink was up and running however she has to go in and put trees around it. It was interesting to learn about her she is half an artist and half architect.

Overall I thought this chapter was also very interesting. I noticed a lot of this chapter the artist in the video and the relevant artist I had selected this week they designed a lot of buildings rather than just artwork. It was neat to learn about the most famous buildings they had created and see all the buildings and pictures in the textbook. I learned about what it takes and many steps to design something.

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.

pollysbloggingaway-deactivated2

Your post was a great one to read this week. I do agree with you that this was an entertaining chapter to read and does prove to us all that art is indeed, everywhere we look. Your paragraph on woodworking is spot on! Handmade wood items are really a special treasure to have, but at the same time so pricey to own. I love going out to the Amish and look around at their items, but the price tag just kills me! One of my favorite things about this class is the option to pick a featured artist. Xenobia Bailey seems to fit your description to a “T”. I love her use of colors and they really do seem to bring out a vibrant energy. Great post!

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molly-gardner-blog

I completely agree with you that craft was a very entertaining week. I really love that I am learning so many things I never would have thought of. It also amazed me the artwork that was created with the wood. I love handmade wood items. They are amazing to look at because all the different kinds of wood people tend to use. Each type of wood has something unique about it. The finished product in the video was very awesome to see! I really like your post this week and thought you did a great job!

Week 10

This week we read about clay. Clay is sometimes built up without firing to create purposely temporary conceptual pieces. This week I learned five key topics to clay. The ancient craft of making objects from clay is called ceramics. In a traditional culture like rural India most of the villages have one working ceramist creating functional piece for an everyday use. Clays can be found all across the globe. The most common clay bodies are earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Clay is a three dimensional sculpture and a painting at the same time. However to make it into a painting you have to experiment with a lot of glazes to see if they fit. Metal is the second key topic. Metals are amenable to being shaped. However the ones for handcrafted objects have included copper, nickel, brass, pewter, ion, and the precious metals gold, platinum, and silver. They are vary in malleability. Iron and steel are the hardest of the common metals. The third key topic is wood. Wood has a strong appeal due to its rich natural colors and warm touch. Many handcrafted wooden objects are now valued as collector items from jewelry boxes with ebony inlays to folk art pieces made with soft woods like pine and spruce. The fourth key topic is glass. Glass is made by the simple process of melting sand with lime and soda. This technique has been around for at least 3,500 years for creating luxury versions of functional objects. A very common way of making glass vessels it to scoop up a glob of molten glass with a long metal blowpipe and blow it into a bubble while shaping its form with hand tools. Before the twentieth century glass production had been done by skilled glassblowers using techniques that were thousands of years old. The glass had great light reflection and gemlike colors. Glass could have also been cast. Which was the lost wax. The fifth key topic is fibers. This category includes everything made of threadlike materials usually woven or tied into larger wholes. In heavy handwoven textiles pictures were woven directly into the fabric. It was amazing for me to learn all these key topics and looking at the pictures made it very interesting to learn all of this information. I never knew what it takes to create a piece of artwork because looking at the image I would have never thought it took that much time into the making. In the video the Crystal Palace in Madrid looks absolutely beautiful. It would be amazing to go see this in person! The relevant artist I selected this week was Tilleke Schwarz.Tilleke Schwarz artwork is known for visual poetry that is a mix between contemporary influences, icons, text images from traditional samplers, and graffiti. Her artwork is a part of a continuing story that is a personal reflection on modern life. Looking through her artwork I thought everything I saw was very interesting although it hasn't been my favorite artwork out of all the artist I have selected hers was still interesting. All the artwork I see I always like however some can be very different!

chrisernstblog-blog

Week 9

This week we covered Installation art and many examples of installation art. Installation of art can either be temporary or permanent. These pieces can be placed in spaces such as museums and galleries indoors and also in outdoors spaces in public or private spaces. I think this opens the doors for many different piece to find a place to display. The best thing with art is that you may not even know you’re walking through a piece at all. Examples of this is from the 5 Wonders in New York. Imran Qureshi at the Metropolitan shows us how a garden can become an installation of art showing passion with the colorful floor and some take it as blood and crime. I for one do not see where they get blood but instead think it accents the garden and shows the colorful side of the flowering season.

The video segment Do Ho Suh talks about an issue I think most of us go through at some point in our life. The fact that at some point we need to leave home and move on with our future. This causing a lot of our comfort zones to be left behind. In this video he not only makes art but also solves part of a problem he was dealing with in life. He discovered a way to replicate his home as it was growing up. I really like the park monument he did with the people holding up the monument. I think it shows how it takes everyone to hold the weight and that one person can’t do it by themselves. I also enjoyed hearing about the school system and how everyone was to go into the military after school. I think this has a lot to do with the way he thinks and seeing thing in being an artist. I believe the installation art he made with all the dog tags is a great idea and symbolizes not only art but the way of life for all Koreans.

This week I chose Spencer Finch for my artist. Even though he is best known for his light installations, I feel his other work is also very interesting and entertaining. A little background on Spencer, he was born in Connecticut in 1962 and now lives and works in Brooklyn New York. Above is the installation I chose of Spencer’s. I picked this because of the colorfulness and also shows a before and after timeframe.

molly-gardner-blog

Chris, I agree this type of art is really neat because you may not know you’re even walking through a piece. It was neat looking through examples of this form of art. The video segment Do Ho Suh I agree with you at sometime in our life we have to move on with our future and take a step away from home. I looked into Spencer Finch’s artwork and his artwork seems very interesting! Great post!

The relevant artist I chose this week is Rachel Whiteread. Rachel was born in London in 1963 and she had studied painting at Brighton Polytechnic and sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art. Rachel Whiteread was known as one of the few artists of her generation that had produced some important public sculptures that had achieved a monumental status. Rachel Whiteread has many well-known sculptures. One including her breakthrough piece from 1990 which is a plaster cast of a living room modelled on a Victorian terraced house in North London that way very similar to the one which the artist grew up. Rachel whiteread lives and works in London and her work is presented in many private and public collections worldwide. Rachel was the first woman to win the annual Turner Prize in 1993.

This week was very interesting to learn about. I thought learning about sculptures was very interesting. I learned that there are four different keys to creating a sculpture. The first was carving. Carving the sculptor cuts away the material from an existing piece of some hard materials such as stone, ivory, and wood. In Michelangelo’s unfinished “Atlas” Slave you could still see the rectangular block of stone from where he was extricating the form. The second step into the sculpture process is modeling. Modeling is the hand shaping of soft, malleable materials. I learned in the book that some of these are so soft that they can’t support their own weight and they must be built over an armature. The armature is a simple skeleton of harder material that is wood or wire. However, plaster is normally built over an armature by strips shaped by fingers. The third step into the sculpture process is casting. Casting is easily shaped materials that are used to create a negative mold into which a molten material as plastic or bronze is poured that hardens. This process that the Bronze Age was named was refined by the ancient Greeks. They have developed the lost wax process. The fourth step into the sculpture process is assembling. Another way to sculpture is assembling, fashioning, or collecting pieces of varying materials and then attaching them to each other to form aesthetically unified whole somehow. The last step is earthworks. Other than sculpting materials that are took from the earth some of the artist have used the earths surface as the medium. However this form of art is ancient and found in certain cultures all around the world. It was amazing for me to learn about the main key topics of sculptures because this is all knew to me. I have always looked at sculptures but I did not know this much information about what it takes and exactly how they create the forms. Kara Walker’s work revolves around history. Her sculptures are very big. She had to learn a lot about sugar when creating her sculpture. Her first ideas were sugar and molasses. It was neat to see how she made her sculptures. Overall this chapter was very interesting to me.

karawolter03-blog

Week 7

In this week’s content we learned about photography and filmmaking. My first reaction to this reading was wow the use of cameras has come a long ways! I remember using a camera with film when I was younger and now I see parent’s carrying around those huge digital cameras to take pictures of their kids. I think that photography was beneficial for artists. For example Dante Rossetti could capture an image of his wife instead of having her pose the same way for hours on hours. One of the photos I liked from the chapter was by Elizabeth Sunday called Life’s Embrace. The image is beautiful and captures something that we do not see ever see here in the United States. I like how she blended the woman’s clothing with the trunk of the tree to show that they are similar. It almost looks as if the tree is hugging them. A piece of work I liked from the filmmaking part of the text was called The Matrix Reloaded. Just from looking at the image it really looks like the character is flying through the air. From watching old movies and to watching new movies it is amazing how far they have come by adding certain special effects.

I enjoyed watching these three films for this week’s content. The first video I watched was the Hot Beach Babe Aims to Please. I struggled to find what the artist wanted the viewer to see from this film. The artist wants there to be so much attention on the beach babe so when she comes on the screen they do this by having computer cursors swarm over her. At first I thought they were birds. The second film I viewed was Belly. The meaning behind Julia Pott’s work is once you leave someone or something behind or if someone leaves you behind you can feel the bad sensation in your belly about it. In the first part of the film Alex leaves Oscar behind and Oscar is upset about it. Towards the end Oscar says “He is not my boyfriend,” to Alex. Oscar’s friend did not feel good about that and wanted him to leave. I think Oscar regretted saying that. I think the author made this film because she was left behind a lot in life and had many feelings of a pit in her stomach. Lastly, I watched Thunder Road. The meaning behind this film is not to take your parents for granted. They do so much for you and you might regret later in life how you treated them. I think that these videos are more modern than the ones they show and talk about in the book.

The relevant artist I chose to research about was Cindy Sherman. She was born in New Jersey. She is an American photographer and film director. She is best known for her conceptual portraits. She became interested in visual arts at Buffalo State College. She began painting. She became frustrated with this and decided to take on photography. She typically photographs herself in different costumes. She shoots alone in her studio. She plays multiple roles as an author, director, make-up artist, hair stylist, and a model. The meaning behind the reason for Cindy’s artwork is to show gender equality. Sherman’s work has to deal a lot with feminism. I enjoy looking at her work and the different costumes she puts herself in. I think that Sherman’s work most likely compares to Carrie Mae Weem’s work. Although there seems to be a different meaning behind Carrie’s work some of their portraits are similar to one another. By looking at some of Carrie’s artwork I could see some of her pieces as dealing with feminism. I see this through many of her self-portraits.

A portrait done by Cindy Sherman.

Self portrait of Carrie Mae Weems

molly-gardner-blog

Kara, I agree that photography has come along way! It is crazy to see how much things have changed in a short amount of time. I also thought the three films this week were very interesting. I had also chosen Cindy Sherman for my relevant artist. I learned so much about her and loved looking at her artwork. I thought it was interesting that she normally photographs herself however in the different costumes. I really enjoyed learning about her.

Week 7

The relevant artist I selected this week is Cindy Sherman. Cindy is a film director and an American photographer. Cindy is well known for her conceptual portraits. Cindy was born on January 19th, 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and currently works in New York where she grew up. She started by getting into classes at the Buffalo State College getting into the basic studio courses drawing, painting, and photography. Starting in 1977 she had started to work on “Complete Untitled Film Stills” which was a series of 69 photographs. Beginning in the 1980’s Cindy used color fil and large prints that focused more on the lighting and facial expressions.

I really enjoyed reading through this chapter about photography and filmmaking. Photography is one thing I have always had an interest in. It was really neat to go through the chapter to look at all the different pictures. In the short film by Jullian Mayer I thought the message was a girl feeling good in her own skin. Not changing her body type to be the “hot beach babe” but being herself and who she is. Feeling comfortable in her own skin and feeling calm. I thought this video was calming with the ocean background noise. The short film by Jim Cummings he had seemed nervous about what was going on. It seemed like it was bothering him when he went and stood in front of the congregation. He was expressing his feelings for his mother who had just passed away. He shared stories although you could tell he wanted to go into full detail and when he started he would notice and start to stop. He had shared his feelings for his mother and I noticed it was very very hard for him to do that in front of the public. He had got up and danced and sang a song in front of the public. Every minute I noticed he had a different emotion. This showed me how people react different ways with difficult times. I have noticed sometimes when people go through a bad situation like this they may act different and not know what to do. The short film by Julia Pott was about characters having different emotions. The other not wanting to go rescue the other but the friend was able to get him up and give him motivation to go. He was searching all over for his brother Alex. Alex didn’t have much time he was begging for help. One thing I got from this video is say things you want people to remember you never know when its going to be someone’s last. We don’t know if we will get to see that person again so only say things we mean. This week it was neat to see people’s different photos along with the filmmaking. Everybody does things so different but it was very neat to see the films by the artist. I love the messages they try getting through to people. You guess what’s going on and you understand what is going through someone’s mind.

paper-wonders-blog

Week 6

Because we recently did a unit on printmaking in my art class, the first part of this week’s assigned reading was interesting for me to read. Personally, it’s not my favorite way to create art, only because I don’t love the screen printing process. I do, however, enjoy viewing other finished pieces. To create most forms of prints you primarily have to focus on positive and negative space, and the contrast between the two. I liked the diagrams in the book which show how the stamps work and where the ink falls to leave the print on your piece. My favorite work in this part of the chapter was by Antonio Frasconi. The portrait he made of Woody Guthrie is clever, because of the wood grain his stamp left on his piece. You can easily see the different textures, and the contrast of black and white is very apparent.

Graphic Design always has to be changing and updating along with the public’s ever changing popular opinion. Graphic design is used mainly for advertising purposes such as logos. In this day and age, I believe graphic design is one of the most practical jobs in the art field. Company’s will always be looking for new and different ways to advertise there products. Not only is graphic design a practical way to be employed as an artist, it also gives an artist a very unique way to express themselves. Computers give artists the freedom to easily create exact dimensions and straight lines which may be much harder to make by hand.

John Baldessari is certainly a “unique” man. If I had only seen his art, and had not heard him speak about it, I think I would’ve appreciated his work more. Normally, when I hear an artist speak about their art I grow to like their work even more because I can better understand their message. However, Baldessari gave me a different vibe, he spoke as if he was superior to his audience. His art doesn’t me feel welcome, and I found this irritating. I did like his use of primary colors, and his collages with the variations of colors. He certainly has a sense of humor, which I believe is important for artists to have. Even though I didn’t love his work personally, it doesn’t mean his art is not good. That’s is a beautiful thing when it comes to art, just because the first person doesn’t like a piece doesn’t mean the next person won’t.

When you think of printmaking, whether you know about it or not, Andy Warhol’s work most likely is the first thing which will pop into your mind. Andy Warhol is the most famous pop artist of the twenty first century. When Campbell’s Soup Cans, came out it certainly was something which went away from the average up and coming piece of art. When Warhol was a child he became sick, so his mother fed him Campbell’s soup. To Warhol, Campbell’s soup was a representation of his youth. Andy Warhol probably holds his childhood close to his heart, making this piece must have been his way of reminiscing. Warhol’s work with the same image repeated in different colors is very similar to Baldessari’s work. I like how they choose images, and change the colors of major areas of work. I think this is a very cool technique.

Andy Warhol’s really impressed me because of his connection to his childhood. I love how he used the soup cans to convey his message. Even though I wasn’t as impressed with John Baldessari, I just couldn’t connect with the meaning of his work. It’s impossible to please everyone when you are making art, especially when you create it for yourself. Once one accepts beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, you are free to create what you wish.

briggcaa-blog

Printmaking was a very interesting unit in my art class also! I really found I enjoyed just sort of “shaving away” the negative space, and really liked how most of my prints turned out. I agree with you when you say Graphic Design is always changing. I think that kind of is the only form of art that is changing, and probably always will. I also love that you used your Campbell Soup example! I have seen that example used everywhere in different textbooks see it and it is definitely one of my favorites!

chrisernstblog-blog

I would have to say printmaking is my favorite. I think is has all the levels of connection as other methods with adding the physical part of carving out the negative space. I also think printmaking takes more thought process to obtain the final object making it more interesting to me. I agree with you on the graphic design changing with time. As trends and styles change over time so do graphics and advertisements. With the internet and all the software on the market, I think this is the easiest way for anyone to start.

molly-gardner-blog

I totally agree with you I love viewing other peoples finished artwork. It was interesting to see Antonio Frasconi’s artwork and seeing how different it is from another artist. From being in graphic design before I did notice that is used mostly to create logos but you can design so many things using a computer. I also thought that printmaking was very neat. Starting to learn how to create art by graphic design is a great way for a starter to begin.

The relevant artist I chose this week is Kara Walker. Kara was born November 26, 1969. She is an African American contemporary painter, silhouettes, installation artist, printmaker, and film-maker. In her artwork she likes to explore race, gender, sexuality, violence, and identity. Kara is well known for creating black and white silhouette works that are African American racial identity. Her artwork is mostly around violence and sense of slavery. Kara Walker cuts out and affixes black or white paper directly to galley walls and uses light projectors to cast viewers own shadows into her silhouetted narratives creating a deep experience. I thought learning this information about her was very neat. I like when the artist has something they enjoy creating. Looking through her artwork I thought it was very interesting.

This week it was very interesting to learn about printmaking and graphic design. When I was in high school I did graphic design for two years. It was amazing everything I learned in that short amount of time. I learned things that I never knew how to do with art and created some amazing pieces of artwork. It takes many steps to create artwork including the printmaking process. It was neat to learn the different process because I didn’t know this information before this chapter. The monotype which is a printmaking process in which the artist paints an image directly onto a sheet of metal or glass with the printer’s ink or paint then presses paper onto it to transfer the image. Looking at these pieces of artwork I never would have imagined so many steps taking place when creating art. Intaglio is the second major category of printmaking. In Intaglio prints the image is cut into the surface of a plate. This was amazing to learn the different types and how each one is different. Two major ingredients of graphic design are letters and images. I learned that typography is the art of designing, sizing, and combining letter forms on a printed page. However, the other major ingredient in graphic design is illustration. John Baldessari I noticed had put stickers over his artwork sometimes during the video. He had a piece of artwork in two and he mentioned don’t always look just at the picture look in-between. In his artwork he sometimes had used multiple colors in the artwork that made the colors stand out. John Baldessari seems to be an interesting artist. He seems to be a lot different from the artist that I have learned about in the past chapters. It is still very neat to learn about the artist and how they create things so differently from one another. I don’t think his artwork stood out to me as much as the other artist but his artwork is still unique. It was great for me to read about the graphic design. I never thought it included that much with even being in the class for a couple years. It takes a lot of learning with the different techniques but it is great creating art.

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