Untitled

[valiantunknowncrusade]

idea 3

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idea 2

[valiantunknowncrusade]

idea #1

think about incorporating African-American culture into this piece. I'm considering using more black culture within my works for the semester.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Final Index 2024 sculpture

QCQ #3: The Gravity of Levity 

Contradictory Structures: Research

Contradictory Structures: Final

QCQ #4: X Marks the Spot

Lost Statements: Research

Lost Statements: Final

Self-Directed Manifesto: Research

Self-Directed Manifesto: Final

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Self-directed Manifesto: final

title: "Savagely Modern"

materials: wood,white paint, screws, and steel bars

My aim with this art piece was to combine the ideologies of Eurocentrism view points of what they considered barbaric, primitive, and savage, which is often associated with African culture, with the concepts of modernity in today's architectural design. I got most of my overall concept for the look of the piece from the Zulu warriors of Africa. their unique shields and spears that they used for war and for hunting is something that I found to be very interesting. and despite the views of the European perceptions, the zulu were very advance. especially in their skills in warfare, pastoralist techniques, and civil society. using that in combination with my fondness for modernist architecture of the Bauhaus, De stijl , functionalist , and the international styles that is sweeping America today, is what brought about this result. i enjoyed the process for this art piece and i take a bit of interest in the merging of cultures or conflicting viewpoints to bring about a different perspective to the public.

the process

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Lost statements: final

title: untitled as of yet

materials: stepping stool, black silk drapery, plaster of Paris (hair pick) molds.

this art piece that i assembled was more symbolic than visually appeasing in nature. over this semester i have been taking a African arts class. the class touches on the topic of the history of African art and its rise to popularity. But, in the art itself, like all art of every culture, was tied deeply with the history of African and its people. I've grown to have learned a lot from the class and have come to many enlightening discoveries. these discoveries has allowed me to gain knowledge of African-American history as well since they surprising draw from one another as well. thus, i wanted to make a art piece that signified a bit of what i have learned during my research. My aim was to make an image that was very simple in appearance, like something you might casually see if passing by on a busy city, nothing in your face but rather to the side. that was an intention to show case how the past history of people of color, like myself, has been placed in the background. always present in society and yet ignored by the majority. not too often or if not at all is black history really given mention or notoriety. schools have often given the usual martin Luther king jr or Rosa Parks event as the grand scope of black American history. and this is basically solely for the event of "black history" month. yet, throughout the year we study not only American history but European history to the very foundations of its rise to power. yet, we don't even bring into mention African history and its influence, besides slavery, to the world. as a black man I was surprised on how little knowledge of Africa I contained. its kingdoms, their kings/queens, their inventions, the wars fought, and their Art etc. So, to add this piece i wanted to create a image that was synonymous with black people as a whole. I chose to create plaster molds of picks. this is something that is very unique to only African-Americans because they were practically designed with the black persons distinct hair in mind. no other race, from my knowledge, uses pick to comb their hair otherwise. furthermore, I used plaster of Paris as a symbolic reference to multiple issues that of being dissolved in society. the slow decimation of discrimination, the interweaving of cultures, and the speculated (not sure if its true) attempt at eradicating black people and their culture through interracial breeding (this ironically was mentioned unintentionally by a classmate of Asian decent. who brought up a similar issue of their cultures attempt to eradicate the darker skinned people of his country by having them breed with people of lighter complexions). i did this by making various mixtures of plaster and water. at the base i for the first mold, i used a high amount of plaster with minimal water. i then increased the water content until the last mold was practically brittle to the point that it could hold itself together. i wanted to make the mold look more like feet, so I added a flat background layer to make this appearance possible. thus, as we climb to newer heights of knowledge and understanding( the ladder) the past ideologies vanish. the black silky drapery was solely for the purpose of representing the rich history of black culture and history. this piece wasn't created with the intentions of dividing or invoking racist idioms but to bring awareness to history itself.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

X Mark The Spot QCQ

QCQ

McCollum Krauss

quote:

“acting well before anti-form, does not take this route of explosion, or dismemberment, or dissemination. It does not open the closed form of the fabricated object to release its material components from the corset of their construction, to turn them over to the forces of nature—gravity, wind, erosion— which would give them quite another articulation, one cast in the shadow of natural processes of change. Rather, it takes the path of implosion or congealing, and the thing to which it submits this stranglehold of immobility is not matter, but what vehiculates and subtends it: space itself”

Comment: this article was a very elegantly written work. I ultimately enjoyed the use of vocabulary that Krauss has used to write the article. The quote itself that I chose for the QCQ sounded more like a complexly written poem rather than it did an essay. I truly enjoyed how they correlated the solidification of empty spaces as a form of chaos or death. They went further to explain that the fact that we wouldn't even know what the object was from, its purpose, or what it could have been- if it wasn’t for the title being the explanation of it all. I was an amazing at the correlated concept. it speaks volumes to that point of chaos because chaos has no order or specific purpose until we know the results of the aftermath. That is actually an interesting take on reality in a sense, to me. To think that Bruce Neuman did these works of art solely in rebellion to the article written by Donald Judd make the piece even more interesting to see the results on his views. It was clear as stated in the article that a specific authority in the art community considered minimalism art to have rules that comprised of minimal yet well-built materials that needed to take up space, provide colorful appeal, and present a specific meaning in accordance with the artists. Yet, Neuman made use of no space to create objects from plaster (which isn’t considered the best material to use), and grayish, not so vibrant colors. These objects wouldn’t hold meaningful identity unless given the title thereof. Robert Smithson on the other hand had not intentions of making any bold statement at all. His coasting was simply made from his love of geology. From his love of the earth and its mysteries that’s held with its tectonic plates, he used that as means to create his works.

Question: what are your views on minimalist art?  would consider using the absent of space mold casting as an option in your work? And why? Do you agree with the views Neuman projected in his works?

Bruce Neuman’s work

Robert Smithson art work

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Idea 3

self directed manifesto idea

[valiantunknowncrusade]

idea #2

Yinka shonibare

self-directed manifesto idea

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Idea 1

self-directed manifesto idea

[valiantunknowncrusade]

titled: “tools of liberation”

I made this art piece because I wanted to show my love for music and entertainment. This was initially inspired by dedication to learning the acoustic guitar. Though, it means a lot more. I’m currently studying African art for this semester and I’ve enjoy the history and art that the class has introduced me to. A lot of art history is connected Africa and was an inspiration for a lot of world famous artist such as Picasso. In fact, he developed a lot of his art from African artifacts, paintings and sculptures. This led to his introduction to the world the art style known as cubism. Whilst, I was creating this piece, my prof. Informed me that my art work emulated Picasso art piece titled “Picasso guitar”. I was amazed by this because I had no intentions of emulating his work but the idea of the history in itself, I guess, manifested on what my work came to be. Africa has been greatly brutalized and taken advantage of, from its resources, art, and land. So, it’s no surprise that their art it’s distinctly associated with freedom. I’ve come to recognize that African-Americans and Africans(blacks) have always seemed to be in a constant fight or struggle for freedom, in a sense. I mean, Ive even heard a classmate who presented a video of her sculpture on the street at night state “I felt so invisible, even when two cops driving by noticed that I was build my sculpture under this highway bridge, they didn’t do anything, they just allowed me to do my thing” I was amazed by this because she was, of course, white and I thought about what if it was a black person, would the results be the same? Why make the effort to point out something that was not necessary? what was the intent behind such a comment? I wondered… yet, I was influenced by the African drums and how they used animal skins to create them. I didn’t have antelope skins or anything so I used wood to sort of emulate the look and feel of the drum with the addition of the modern guitar as a contrast. Im happy for this piece because I’m approaching the freedom of graduation and music has been a big part of my growth and creative process. Taking a moment to not have to worry about assignments, deadlines, materials, or the obnoxious is very refreshing. Yet, my professor has been so amazing. Giving amazing advice, ideas, and means of a creative process. This has been an awesome semester.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Idea 3

light dark

not sure if ill use this form of imagery as a representation of my idea. but, I do like the concept of involving the human anatomy. i haven't really indulged much on that topic. I'm leaning more into instrumental design .

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Idea 2

Organic/inorganic

not completely committed to doing something like organic and inorganic. maybe something that will involve what ive learned in the semester. not sure. I can consider using funtionality and the not functional as a concept.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Idea 1

thought about the possibly of utilizing empty space for this art piece. not quite sure if that would be the best route.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

QCQ 3

MAURICE PIERRE JR

The Gravity of Levity: Humor as Conceptual Critique, by Heather Diack

QCQ

Quote: “Anthropologists have observed how true laughter exposes a momentary loss of self-control. Whether humor produces guttural laughter or simply a nod to a clever maneuver in rationale, the body is undoubtedly implicated in the life of the mind whenever laughter is concerned.”

Comment: I personally believe that there isn’t anything wrong with implicating humor into art. I can’t agree that laughter is the foundation in which philosophy has started its foundations, as the literature has depicted. Though, I believe, philosophy in its principal was the attempt at understanding life, its meaning and the discipline needed to obtain one’s own philosophy into reality. I do agree that humor can create a mental shift that can spark inspiration or set the mind into a different perspective in their world. This, in opinion, actually adds more to an art piece rather than detract from it. Humor provides a certain kind of seasoning to an art piece that will cause more joy than any other work of art. Art in history has rejected the idea of laughter in art because I believe artists, at that time, wanted their works to mean something on a personal level rather than just for entertainment. We often associate humor with, despite its positive results and joyous reactions, with negative connotations. When the public thinks of humor or laughter its often associated with a level of disrespect, a lack of acknowledgement, or considering a matter to be trivial. All these things considered, I still believe that humor needs to be included in art to some degree because its refreshing. Laughter, to me, is like a restart or a fun moment of clarity. we can consider most of art to be a nutritious meal that gives us a taste of understanding and yet humor is like the dessert that you have to have to complete the meal. Its tastes sweet and delicious but if you have to much of it, then it could rot your way of thinking and approaching art or any subject as a whole. It’s there to remind ourselves to not take ourselves to seriously. We can’t place too much importance on our own opinions, actions, and thoughts because this life is short and we all are heading closer each day to the grave. So, why indulge a little in that aspect of confection in life, if given the chance.

Question: how do you feel about humor being induced within art? Do you think humor improves art or does it do the opposite? Should humor in art be placed within its own category or do you think it should be broadly applied? what are your thoughts on laughter/humor and its relations to psychology in art.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

room manifesto

for this assignment I tasked to give demonstrate a representation of the three themes or 'manifestos' for this semester sculpture class. these manifestos are "embrace who you are: don't be afraid of change", I stated this as one of the three manifestos because my life has changed dramatically over the years and I've always found myself trying to fit in with people and try to conform to their way of thinking even though it was clearly flawed, and never fully just being myself or indulging into my own aspirations. the next one was " love is a weapon that many use to destroy their world", this statement is odd but it fits with my life story. I have usually found myself trusting and caring for people who ultimately back stabbed me over time. I would usually be blinded by my love for people and my caring nature that I've developed from my parents. who actually raised me right in regards to others, in my opinion. I use music as a way for me to motivate myself and have fun. I figured I would play one of the songs I listen too for everyone to hear, since I listen to music not a lot of people are familiar with. Lastly "find God, continue to improve, help others", with this statement I wanted to express my faith, the desire to grow, and over come the obstacles I'm facing despite all the hate, jealously, envy, resentment, etc. from my haters that I've come across over the years on this journey of mine. I wanted to touched on each theme in a fun, funny, and playful way. in addition I also hoped to show some of the goals I'm aiming for by the end of the year.

[valiantunknowncrusade]

Title: relaxation leads to elevation

materials: wood, glass bottles, JBL speaker, nails, glue, markers of various colors

the assignment for the class was to create a pedestal and apply a ready-made object/s to the pedestal. the idea behind the assignment, as I interpreted it, was to look beyond the basic concepts a pedestal. since a pedestal is normally used to glorify a sculpture, the intent was to identify the pedestal as part of the sculpture and not a separate entity. the assignment included that we add sound or light to the piece. thus this was my created result. at first I was at I dilemma because I wanted to find a meaning or a great cause to be used to represent my sculpture. I was studying artists such as Doris Salcedo whose works are meant to represent those who have suffered through violence or Olafur Eliason who uses his work to bring awareness to the environment. though, I couldn't gain inspiration from a cause. over time, as the assignment grew near, I realized that my overthinking was stifling my creativity. thus, I decided to take the moment to relax. go to my car from time to time to drink a soda, eat a snack, and take out a speaker to jam to music whilst I worked. this process really allowed me to be more creative yet still be immersed in thought. coming to understand that whether I stress a situation or not, its still going to lead to the same destination in a generic sense. So, I wanted to represent that in my work, by making different variations of pathways leading up. using a rugged spiral, linear dynamic lines, and straight directional points. the use of various colors was to take away from the fact that the viewer is simply looking at wood and to add a child like playful appearance. since I think, as children, that was when we were most creative. the ready-made objects I chose was the glass bottle I was drinking whilst making the piece. the speaker was the tool needed to apply the sound to complete the assignment. the sound I used was created to the youtuber ASH99. the link is below. (I usually hate public speaking because its tough for me to articulate my idea in the moment. maybe next assignment ill write it down and read it.)