Favorite Artist

I can't choose a favorite artist because there are so many amazing ones in so many fields that I have been exposed to. I think my favorite from Art 1C which I took in the fall is Jane Callister. I absolutely love the whimsical colorful abstract landscapes that she creates. I heard her speak about her work and you can tell that she has so much fun making it. One of the things that I love about her work is that it doesn't have any hidden meaning. It is just pure aesthetics and color composition that she goes for. The graphic quality of the work is so beautiful and  I can appreciate how modern and simple it is. Art as a process should be fun and through her paintings, Jane has a lot of fun. Each piece is so original and cannot be duplicated completely even by the artist. The uniqueness  of each landscape makes it more personal. If there was one art style that I would like to mimic, it would be hers. I love using color, mixing custom colors and exploring how beautiful different combinations of color are. I would love to do some work like this. Possibly for the next project.

Freeform

Sometimes you think that you know the way that things work in life, but you never really know.

I stumbled upon this montage of photos today of cheetahs letting a baby antelope go. I love to watch nature shows and tv series and I have never seen anything like this. I know its kind of a small thing but it just goes to show you that you can always be pleasantly surprised by things that go on in the world. This reminds me of our assignment last week that was to perform a random act of kindness and or beauty. These photos are the cheetahs doing exactly that. Who knows why they thought better of eating the antelope and who knows why they played with and showed affection to it. From an anthropological sense, it doesn't align with any logic, but from an art sense, there are always beautiful  and strange things out there in the world.

  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9gJCpa/www.mfa.org/chihuly-music

I found this video and pictures of this gallery by Chihuly. His art is so beautiful and organic, it reminds me of an alien planet. I wish I could go see this gallery but it is in Boston. This art is so beautiful because it revitalizes an old art form of blowing glass and transforms the products into something amazing. The gallery looks out of this world.

Confessions Critique

I thought that today had a lot of very thoughtful confessions pieces. I'm sure the extra time that they had put more pressure of the individuals. I really thought that they all were good today. I don't think there was a weak one actually. So I'm going to talk about my 3 favorites.

I thought Jenny's piece was very symbolic and well put together. I liked the performance aspect of it when she unraveled the tennis racket from the basket. Every piece of the whole had so much symbolism and deep meaning. I could definitely relate to how she feels. It is such a big deal to have a father be your father and have a personal relationship with them. I could tell that this was hard for her to talk about. It was a very moving piece and full of elements that strengthened her story. I hope that her relationship heals in the future.

I thought that Ashley's piece was so heartfelt and unique. Everyone talked about themselves or people in their lives, She went ahead and talked about her spirituality. Her renewal of her faith was a beautiful thing to hear about. I saw how emotional she was about it. I knew that it would be very hard to come out to her family and friends after she had obviously expressed beliefs otherwise. I was moved by her letter and her performance. It was a very bold confession to do and I liked the ambiguity of it initially. It was so effective. I know she dug deep and took a chance and that is the most admirable thing that you can do in this kind of a project because bearing your soul makes the best art.

There was a lot of great craftsmanship to be seen today, The stained glass piece was very good. It was such an interesting confession to hear that he struggled with religion and didn't know what to say to his two kids. It was unique to hear a confession from a parent as we had been hearing them from people about their parents this whole time.

The confession projects today were very strong. It was definitely a good class.

Lecture Today

Personal Narratives were the subject of today's lecture. They are basically the oldest form of art. people have been telling stories to each other forever.I was most impressed by the story of the tank man in Tienamen Square. I had heard of the event and seen the photo but it was not really clear to me what had happened there until today in class. It was so amazing to have the testimonies of the reporters and photographers covering the area. I think that historical personal narratives are so enlightening because they tell a story and give a perspective that is usually kept secret. I liked the fact that Kip mentioned Elie Wiesel. I have read two of his books: Night and Dawn. His book Night was all about his experience in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It is a very powerful memoir and is a best seller. I think that book has had a great impact on whoever has read it. It's short but it is very detailed and good. Dawn dealt with the current crisis in the middle east and is the story of an assassin who has his prisoner hostage and gets to know him in the hours before he shoots him. It highlights the similarities of people instead of the differences. I wish Kip had talked a little more about him because he is a remarkable man.

The work of Sally Mann was so graphically charged. I thought that the way she documented her children was really beautiful. I could totally relate to what she said about wanting to hold on to that stage in their life as long as she could before it was gone. My mom says the same thing to me. She says she can't believe how fast 20 years went and that she misses me all the time. I am so close to my mom. I know that me being away is really hard for her and I know that when I do visit, she really treasures her time with me. I felt like Sally Mann's emotions were the same but for some reason she wasn't able to express her love in the same emotional way that my mom did so she made art out of it.

Kip Fulbeck Is Legendary

Lastly I thought that Kips narratives about his life were hilarious. The one about him having sex with that girl in college was so funny and uncomfortably graphic all at the same time. The one about his family was endearing and comic as well. I liked the blend of elements in the two pieces. The mix of emotions made them each very strong and insightful pieces.

Comics Reading Response Chapters 7 and 8

Chapter 7 deals with the questions that arise while creating and defining art. Does art have to have a form, a function? It dealt with the choices and the different ways that artists create art. Art is made in some way by everyone at some point in their life because it is a human expression that we cannot get away from. So in this way, art makes someone human. They must do something with themselves when they aren't performing necessary survival functions. These actions are done for one's pleasure and thus are considered art.

In chapter 8 I liked the author's use on color and description of how it is used in art in different ways. It was nice to finally see some color on the pages of this book. Color is something that I tend to incorporate in my work a lot. I love different color palettes and mine tend to always be vibrant. Colors can convey very different things to different people and can be used to give work a mood or a feeling. I love color. as weird as that sounds. I will buy an art piece that is nothing but an arrangement of color. I think that colors are very powerful visually and sometimes can be experienced best in their pure form. Color and the color scheme combinations highly dictate my work. I liked this chapter the best so far. It's use of examples was very effective.

Reading Response: Robert Rauschenberg

Robert Rauschenberg is an artist that is unlike the other artists that I have read about so far. His life was much different. It seems that he lived a very normal life, he liked to draw but never thought anything of it. He was in the Navy and that's where he discovered that he was talented. He seemed to live a more sheltered lifestyle than the other artists that I have read about in the reader so far. I found that very endearing and almost more of a pure art than some other artists. I like his style. It is a bit disorganized and crazy but that's how he wants it to be. He has a very unique style and I love the collages that he did. The collage above is amazing. It embodies a whole movement of the 60's and what that decade meant. It was so influential and I think that this work embodies that perfectly. His piece with the goat is very interesting and visually engaging. I think the fact that he finds things that he likes or ideas that just seem good to him and goes for it and just does them. He seems to take chances and that is something that not all artists want to do, but it can be a very effective mechanism for creation. I think that he furthered the conception that art doesn't have to be beautiful to be powerful. The story in the reader where an old lady comes up to him and comments that his work was ugly and how she didn't understand the process that he went through while creating it was a perfect example of the concept that perspective is the key to looking at art and you sometimes have to suspend your preconceptions in order to understand someone else's work.

Art Show Review

I went to Desiree's art exhibition this week. It was a very unique and awesome show. I liked the portraits of the boxers and noted how they weren't set in a ring or necessarily an athletic setting. This made me feel like the message of the portraits went deeper than showing the form and beauty of the sport. They made me feel like the boxers were fighting in their personal lives and familiar settings as well as in the ring. Their strength was being carried over into other aspects of their life. The decision to hang the portraits with over sized clamps was very interesting. I could tell it was a very conscious decision. They were photos that were kept open by only those clamps, otherwise they would roll up. I know that this was an important element to the images. Maybe it meant that they were being strengthened by boxing in their lives, that boxing was a release and could help them open up and stay stable. The boxing elements that were installed in the room helped tie together the exhibition and strengthen it. The hanging punching bag and the custom made ring immersed the viewer into the boxing atmosphere. The ring was impressive. I had no idea it was custom made until I read the description. I thought it was for little kids or something. I enjoyed the exhibition, a lot. It seemed simple but that fact actually led me to pick up on the fact that there was so much more there. In light of our confessions week, I have learned that a lot of times in art there are deeply personal choices made in art, and some of the best art is something that is very deeply personal to the artist.