AED200 - Project 5 - Portraits

I selected the pieces I did because they all use an unusual way to depict their own self image.  You can tell the image is of a person and it is intended to be a portrait, what makes them unique is how they area actually portrayed.

Vincent Van Gogh - Self-Portrait - 1887

Juan Gris - Portrait of Pablo Picasso - 1912

Giuseppe Arcimboldo - "Summer"  - 1572

I chose to use a mosaic style digital image because I have always enjoyed these types of pictures.  Also my lover for technology and the 40,000+ pictures I have helped me make this decision.

My only real challenge was finding other self portraits that reflected the theme I wanted to incorporate into my project.  Van Gogh has a similar style that is present in many of his portraits and I did not want to use 3 of his pieces.

What made this project work for me is how I chose to re-create my image.  The mosaics are all of my family, mainly my children.  These are the pieces that make up who I am and they will be the image of who I am through their self interpretation.  For the rest of my life they will make up the entirety of my life and I will be a template for them to pick and chose which pieces of me they wish to accept as their own and which pieces to change and make theirs.  It is symbolic and I think it holds the essence of what art can mean when outside influence shapes the creation.

1500 images - My Favorite of them

 This is my favorite mainly because the images of my kids is so much more prevelent.  It is a little hard to see when not its intended 8x10 size but you can easily see that I am a blurred figure behind them.  The more pictures the clearer the image, true, but it loses the meaning behind what I was shooting for,

Mainly I had to tweak my original image and retake the image in many different scenes to allow for a touch of color that stood out from my image while keeping the detail present in my original image.

I really liked this project, it gave me a chance to explore a deeper meaning behind the creation of a piece and allowed me to use a few digital editing tools I have never had the pleasure of using.  I would totally recommend the software "AndreaMosaic"  it is a free program that allowed me to transform my image into something meaningful.  There are tons of options that can allow for complete customization.

The final outcome is actually what I wanted.  I used a library of just over 10,000 images of my family and it really came out nice.  I included multiple images for you to see that range from 1,000 to 10,000 tiles using both landscape and portrait images to recreate the original image.

Project #5 Blog Post

I actually looked at five different projects before I selected one.  I  was not looking for anything specific, or so I thought, until I realized the five I selected:

1. Melissa Dillion - Nature: The Real and The Surreal
2. Anil Akyigit - Nature is the Beauty of Earth
3. Kellie Magle - Trees of Life
4. Brandon Martens - The Beauty of a City
5. Jeffery Wilcox - Reality Unhinged

They all had to do with either nature or some form of surrealism.   Hey, I guess you know what you like and gravitate towards it.  I ended up selecting the exhibit by Jeffery, Reality Unhinged.  Mainly I chose it because my personal like for Salvador Dali.  I knew he would be there from the title and the exhibit did not disappoint.

The only real challenge I faced in this critique was finding the proper way to express my interpretation without being judgmental towards the pieces.  Trying to keep the review to style and its fit in the exhibit is what I focused on and that seemed to help keep personal taste from interfering.

I enjoyed critiquing the work of my peers especially since it was all done off site.  Trying to judge someone you do not know in person can be stressful and unless you are prepared for a rebuff it is hard to anticipate the reaction of a peer when being critiqued.

Reading the critiques of my own exhibit would be nice.  It would at the very least allow me to see if they saw my vision for the project or not.  I would not be so concerned with the review of which pieces I selected, I did not make them but if they felt a piece did not fit it would be helpful so see why they thought so.

I would rate my finished article a 9/10.  Mainly because I am no master of this craft and I cannot hope to be seen as perfect in this area.  I would however consider my article objective and not merely a thumbs up or down type of article.  I would like to think that after reading my paper that you could experience the concept of the exhibit without ever actually have been there.

This was an enjoyable project.  I did stress over the pieces I wanted to include in my own exhibit and really spent a lot of time trying to make sure my concept would work.  I am sure most students had the same reflection while working out the flow of their exhibit.

AED200 - About the Course "Extra Credit"

1. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the best? Why?
I would have to go with the off hand drawing assignment.  This was something I have never done before and it was interesting to see how my off hand struggled to perform even the simplest of tasks.   It was by no means a difficult assignment but I enjoyed it more than I expected.

2. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the least? Why?

My least favorite has to be the reviewing of others art curator projects.  I am a bit of a harsh critic and really find art to be taste driven.  These combined really just make me feel like I am being unfair or overly judgmental of others work but then having to suppress that to try and sound impartial to work that may/may not have been well thought out.  In short I do not feel like I am qualified to put down anyone's work on a technical level and am left to my personal interpretation while forced to suppress that instinct, was tough.

 

3. How did you like using ANGEL?

Navigation in ANGEL is easy and I have used it quite a bit due to the number of online classes I have taken over the last 3 semesters at Buffalo State and 2 other semesters at ECC.  I think it is buggy and has some issues with regards to user interface and speed but that is all knocks on the design side with no correlation to this course.

4. If you had the opportunity to change this course:

What would you keep?

The different tasks.  The discussion board, blog reviews (video and project), projects and art visits.

What would you remove?

The occurrence of all of them every week.  The reading and discussion every week then blog posts on videos based on the same content mixed with a project or similar every week was exhausting.  You can see it in the post people put in the discussion board and the replies to them as well.  They get pretty sub par pretty quickly.  Having one posting activity every week and a project or quiz is plenty in my opinion but I am not immersed in the art world and these things all take time for me to do.

What would you add?

Honestly I would not add anything.  There was so much content that additions are not needed anywhere.  The material was covered from 2 angles and was even reflected on from both those angles.  Any more content and this would be a graduate class for an art major ;)

5. Would you recommend this course to your peers?

I would only recommend this class to a few people I know that have a good work ethic and enjoy art.  Though that list is small, I would still recommend the course.  I would definitely warn them of the work load, to make sure they balance out their schedule to accommodate.  But, the class was not bad in any way, well I didn't like the quizzes but who does really ;)

 

Reflections of Buffalo State's AED200

I wont lie to you, this has been a long semester.  Five classes, an internship and 2 kids is something that should have been thought harder about.  This class was both what I expected and at the same time not.  As the class title suggests "Fundamentals of Art Inquiry" I expected the history and definitions, even the curator perspective.  What I was not totally expecting was the practical art that snuck its way in there.  Lets revisit my expectations:

• I hope to gain another perspective of the Art world out side of my previous teachings (High School and AP art classes
• With any luck I will get to see a fair number of students express their views on art and other related topics
• Lastly I hope to have some fun!  I have never ran a Blog and with my love for technology I am honestly surprised I have never dove into this trend

 I absolutely gained more perspective on the art world as a whole.  There were lessons that really opened my up to the development of techniques and the way the art world perceived the works of their time.
A few of the projects required the interaction of peers to review their work and even critique it.  This accompanied with the answer and response message boards really allowed for some close interaction with my fellow students.  It actually felt like too often to be honest but it was all a part of the process.
As for the fun, I did have some fun throughout the semester.  Agreeably the work load for this class got to be a little on the heavy side but if anything it drove home the material.

As for what art is, I still believe it is the same.  Anything that can be seen or thought of a creative and adding something of value to any given area of life.  My original definition really focused on the visual arts specifically but art is so much more.  The funny part is that art is what people make it to be.  There are women who made quilts out of old tattered cloths as a need to survive and re-use the resources they had.  This was nothing more than a blanket to them and now the world celebrates these pieces as art.  The makers had no intention of creating art and in fact it may have been the furthest thing from their minds when they made them.  As time moved forward and people started to see how spectacular these quilts were and what they were comprised of they shifted from blankets to art.  I have just gained a new appreciation for the styles and techniques that are used to define art.  New styles will crop up as time moves forward and they will always be compared to the styles of the past.  We look for connections and inspirational motivation from these past forms to better understand the new.  Some times clear connections can be made other times it is much more difficult for professionals to agree upon, but this does not make it any less of art then it was intended or not.

My favorite artist has not really changed at all.  I still enjoy Dali's work and if anything I have a better understanding of who he was as a person and his vision on art.  I would say this stayed the same mainly because this course did not alter my tastes but instead it allowed for me to make connections between different forms of art and the methods in which the artists created the imagery.  I still like what I like but now I have seen the development of who I like and even how his pieces would be incorporated into an art collection and curators vision of a museum.

For the reflection of taking an online course I would say my expectations were close to spot on.  I have taken quite a few online courses and this classes format was no different than any other before it.  What I would say is that this class carried a work load that rivaled every class I have ever taken, be it online or in class.  I liked each section of the class but to have 3 or 4 sections that really take a fair amount of time to divulge pertinent and viable information was more tasking than expected.  Without a doubt of the 5 classes I took this semester and my internship, this was easily the class I had to spend the most time on.  It was taxing and at times I felt like I was putting in too much effort while others may not have and I noticed every week on the discussion boards and project, hey I looked at every single one every week and some times I really had to search for posts that had enough insightful information for me to comment or respond to.  That was the only surprise for this online course.

Module 15 - Art Criticism Videos

We are closing out the course on the criticism of art and the way these critics come to the conclusions they have in there critiques on art.  This post will cover the two videos that I chose to watch from the selection that was offered.  Both actually co-featured the social historian T.J. Clark and originally I only picked the one because I had to chose one with T.J. Clark but then I picked a second to hear more on his views and form of questioning.  Clark used a very philosophical way of describing pieces and even showed no problem in questioning a peers view on a similar topic all the while keeping the conversation cordial and professional.

Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark
I think the focus of this video showed how a critic tries to be impartial when reviewing a piece and tries not to mix personal taste with the review.  The review of art for arts sake is a questionable method and hard to prove an opinion is being made without the influence of your personal taste.  What also seems to come to lite is how critical a critic is on there own work.  Greenberg constantly referred to his past work a too judgmental and controversial.   It is almost like time allows the critic to open up more and start to broaden the view by which they see art as art.
This interview had very strong relevance to art criticism and my up coming art project that is geared to directly critique a peers art exhibit.  The interview really covered how Greenberg tried to describe and relate a piece of art to the people.  This self interpretation will always come with some push back from somewhere in the community but getting the opinion out there and allowing others to see a side they may not have encountered when they fist saw the piece is what adds to the success of the critic.
I enjoyed the video and really wanted to hear the rant that must have followed after Greenberg literally started to grill Clark on the young people and their need for information.  When he called for cut, I thought it was a joke but it left me hanging.

Jackson Pollock: Michael Fried and T. J. Clark in Conversation
This video really centered around the difference in verbiage and lingo with regards to the description of a piece.  Though Fried and Clark both had similar views on the works of Pollock, the way in which they got there differed quite a bit.  Even the bit on the use of the word "master" of modern art was interesting to hear.
Here we had a direct tie into the world of art criticism and how people can agree on a concept but disagree on how that concept is derived.  The idea is almost political in nature.  How both sides want the same thing and agree about the good but completely disagree on how to arrive at the same goal.  I will use this critical appraoch im my reviews as well and try to be impartial but expect  that some will disagree with my interpretation of the work but may come to the same conclusions.
 The conversation between Fried and Clark almost requires a dictionary handy to make sure you are following the ideas and concepts that flow from their mouths as they speak to the qualities of the paintings of Pollock.  I think that alone made me enjoy the video.  The level of intellect they brought to their arguments where carefully chosen and never aimed to assault the other person.  It was well done and I would have liked to have been a part of the conversation had I actually been present.

The Metal and Stone Warriors of the World

This project took some time for me to think through.  I wanted something that I would actually go see and yet something not so boring and repetitious that I would never make it through the exhibit.  Taking the time to find pieces that fit the image you are going for coupled with the sizes and mediums you want really limit your selection.  I found myself pouring over thousands of images on ArtStor and Google to find more and more images.  Before I knew it I have over 50 images and details collected and had to start narrowing the pieces down.  This allowed me to be a bit more selective and open the door for some planning on layout.

Since I was going for pieces from all over the world I did not want to focus on the separation of the origination of the piece.  What I wanted to do was embrace the difference of how societies evolve in the same would during the same time periods.  This lead me to the idea of keeping the exhibit linear and this way I could show pieces from all over the world and how they compared at the same time.  You could pieces from Asia and the Americas then look over and see how different they all look from the works in Africa and then you realize the time line and how different each culture was in the same year.

I wanted to show a proposed layout for my exhibit but it was not coming across as a good way to show my idea.  What I would like is a perimeter that forces the viewer to either walk forward in time or backwards.  Thus the idea of my view of evolution and de-evolution in regards to the advancement of art form, expression and depiction.  This layout would be the best, I do not want people time jumping from 5th Century B.C. to the 1300's and then out to the 20th Century.  My vision is the progression and relation aspect of the layout.

Module 13 and 14 - Art Curator's

Our final stretch of this course leads us to consider the work of an art curator and the care need to build a collection in a museum.  We had four videos to review and they all are very different from one another.  The main idea here is to consider what art can mean to different parts of the community and how it effects more than just the buyer and seller of the piece.  Lets take a look at the reviews.

The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art

Here we explore the clear separation of art from a high society standpoint to a less technical and less old style specific.  Lowbrow work was not considered art by the upper class of the art world.  The techniques they used and the unusual display they conveyed was not traditional and unclassifiable thus shunned.  I think this video opened the concept that any art form can be accepted and followed; you just need a place to show it off.  If you are not able to get into a prestigious gallery because they look down on your work, why would you want to go there?  Why not start up your own and rally together with your fellow peers to establish a network of like pieces and spread the word.  This was a really eye opening video because I have never heard of this art form or at least the name associated with the type of art.  I have seen and enjoyed pieces like this since I was a boy looking at music posters and comic books.  It definitely adds to my knowledge in art and the unfortunate discrimination of art and artists that did not conform to the acceptable forms of art.  I do not think this added much to my curation project in the sense that I was not given any clear incite on the practice of curation.  I gained more of the concept of open acceptance of any form of art.  Personally I would never reject a piece of art unless it was made to not fit in my gallery.  Personally, I would be a little to open with acceptance and would be forced to keep a structured organization that would allow growth without too much restriction.

Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach

The focus in this video was how much is involved in planning the layout of art that may have little to no ties to one another on a grand scale.  The amount of people involved and the amount of criticism was more than I had expected.  I know art critics will express their concern on pieces of art but to weigh the layout of the room against a piece to me feels like you are losing the point of the artwork and instead critiquing the flow of the room.  This video is directly in line with our project in the sense of how we must think about the flow of our exhibit.  There are a number of things to consider and this video covers them all.  The film was informative and added a number of perspectives, both positive and negative.  This really helped with adding to the considerations that must be made when trying to lay out a museum or an exhibit.  This will be in the forefront of my mind when considering the flow of my room and the feel I am trying to express as well a continuity that does not bore the viewers.

Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology

In this video we focus mainly on the conflict between the Native American culture and the groups that are gathering their relative’s remains in the name of science and history as well as archeological findings being housed in museums.  The debate is on the scientists taking and keeping the remains of these tribes and then coming back to the tribes to tell them the relationships they think they have to one another is wrong and science can prove it.  Though I can see how the Native Americans can take offense to this entire process, I am not sure it this video is suited to the project.  There are some ideas and concepts that can revile the displeasure some groups may have when their heritage is taken from them and displayed in museums.  The video was very informative and well organized but a touch off topic in my opinion.  I took an anthropology class last semester that this would have been better suited towards.  Though the video was not really tied to my project directly I must consider the effect that displaying such material will have on people from this culture.  You can easily offend a person or a group by displaying something out of context and I think that this video tries to show that.  The personal link that cultures have with their heritage is strong and no one would like their history and story to be told it is false on the proof of science.  Science can offer a lot in the way of understanding the evolution of the past and the development of disease and other problems that trend in the heritage of the culture.  However to tell a group their history is false and the stories they live by hold little truth because of scientific research can cause nothing but controversy.  This is something you do not want in your exhibit, not on a scale such as this.

An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and the Metropolitan

This was by in far my favorite video of the group.  It really was done very well and covered the concept of the project very well.  The focus is on the great curator Philippe de Montebello who is the top curator and director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The video does a great job at capturing the mindset of Montebello when he is considering the acquisition of art for the museum.  How the curator must leave behind the personal thoughts on a piece and open their mind to the contribution the piece makes in the world of art and how it rounds out the current collection.  Always considering the future of the museum’s collection and the potential expansion of a collection already present in house.  The process of acquiring a piece was very interesting and the amount of time and effort put into researching an acquisition was really intriguing.  This video really did open the door for the appreciation of an art curator and the love for your craft that you must have in order to appreciate the piece for its impact on art and forego the personal interest in the piece.  It’s not what you like about the piece personally but what that piece adds to the collection and the value of its presence.  This will add to the level of detail I consider when laying out my exhibit.  It will also expand my appreciation for the care and work that goes into the whole process of a museum.  I now have to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see this vast collection.  It was inspiring.

Module 12 - Video Review

Another week of videos and options to supplement our textbook.  This week I chose one on Andy Warhol, partly because he was an American artist and also because we had an extra assignment having to do with him and this was a great opportunity to gain more incite on him.  The second was more of the title the drew me in, The Power of Art, it caught my attention and had to be picked.

The Power of Art: Rothko
I really liked this video.  I was having some issues streaming it from the schools proxy server and was getting some skipping but I still did not care.  The whole video revolves around an American Artist Mark Rothko.  Rothko's story was told but not in a biography style.  The focus was centered around his pieces the were meant to be for the Four Season in the Seagram's corporate building in Manhattan.  I really like how the story was presented and how we saw the progression of Rothko's style shape based on life experience as well as past artist.  I think this quote sums up what Rothko was always aiming for:

"When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing. No galleries, no collectors. No critics. No money. Yet it was a golden age, for we all had nothing to lose and a vision to gain. Today it is not quite the same. It is a time of tons of verbiage, activity, consumption. Which condition is better for the world at large, I will not venture to discuss, but I do know that many of those who are driven to this life are desperately searching for those pockets of silence where we can root and grow. We must all hope we find them."

This man had an experience with every piece he created and he wanted the world to feel it.  He did not want his pieces to be loved and made to be beautiful, he wanted them to bring forth the emotion that they presented to him when he was painting them.  Some people found his meaning and he mentioned it in the video, "The people that break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I communicate those basic emotions."  Behold the power of art.  Since art means something different to every viewer, interpretation can vary from the artists intended portrayal.  Rothko wanted desperately for this to not happen to his pieces and he showed it.

I think this video really added to how I view art from an emotional aspect.  I have felt the presence of art and I have tried to feel what the artist was attempting to deliver but until I saw this video I do not think I ever tried to make a personal and emotional attachment to a piece for me.  I was have always tried to interpret from the artist perspective.

Mark Rothko, Rothko Chapel (1971). Houston, Texas

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image
This was basically a breakdown of how Andy came to fame and sought to keep it.  The video actually seemed to make Andy a narcissist and oddly they actually mentioned it in the video when Andy Warhol started to commit himself to self portraits.  What did seem to come to the main theme of Andy Warhol was that he was an artist in the business for making money and he knew what to give the people to get them to keep buying.  This seems to make his efforts into silk screening almost a natural course since it allowed for mass production on a new level.  I learned more details about Andy Warhol than I expected for the short film and after watching it I actually felt that he was less of an influential artist because of how he approached his pieces.  Not discounting any of his work but the feeling somehow seemed removed from his pieces.  He seemed to make pieces that would ensure fame and fortune and nothing more and the bits about him on the video only reinforced that.  There was a heavy focus no his piece the Ten Lizes:

This piece exploded his reputation even more after the Marylin head shots that he spread all over.  What was odd was the timing of it all.  He almost seemed to try and do it to capitalize on her potential death due to being ill overseas while shooting a movie.  It worked for him before, screening a famous celebrity icon after an untimely demise.  I learned mostly about Andy Warhol's life style from this video and not so much as to any actual meaning from his pieces.  It almost felt as if the intent was simply to please the masses in order to obtain wealth and fame.  The video was by no means bad, just disappointing to hear about a famous American artist that was in it for the capitalist gains more than anything else.

Module 11 - Art Visit #2

Took another visit to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, courtesy of the Student Pass, this time to view the different Art Exhibits from a more curators perspective.  I focused on the one I was allowed to take pictures of this time around in the Kelly Richardson - Legion exhibit.  Kelly Richardson uses high resolution video and different combinations of hi-def sound to transform a room into a unique moving scene.  I also took some time to look at the section they have dedicated to Greek Culture where you can see a number of small sculptures and pottery as well as some silk work.  There was also a section that housed contemporary photography which I had not seen so what better chance right.  Lastly a trip would not be complete if I had not walked the perimeter and saw all of the outdoor pieces both on the landscape as well as the building itself.

Kelly Richardson - Legion
There are a number of pieces on display here and I almost missed the first 3 because they seemed almost not attached because they were before the actual main opening in the exhibit.  The main theme here was the use of high definition video and sound to depict a real yet unreal environment.  The images are so natural and the sounds so vivid that everything seems normal then, pop, a tree vanishes or a forest animal pops up glowing in a green smoke.  The main pieces had their own rooms and only a couple actually shared a room and these had motion activated sensors that played directional sound from above.  In my opinion the main pieces were the three large videos in the back.  All done with 3 projectors and only one spanned a straight wall.  The other 2 were made to wrap around the walls on three connected screens.  All the rooms had soft black wall panels, likely to deal with sound quality and to help keep the room dark.  The only lit up section was with regard to the piece details and the screens.  Walls were mostly white but all the lights were out and little light caught the walls.  All the pieces only had a single section in which to sit made up of leather clad cubes that where also black and usually put you in an ideal vantage point.  All the rooms were completely clear of any other object.  Open floor plan allowed you to view the piece from a few angles and even get close enough to totally engulf you in the video completely.  Since the layout of the rooms limits the movement and the shear size of the pieces take up the majority of every room you move from section to section to see the pieces.  The big three are in the back and the others are much smaller rooms that connect 2 or 3 pieces together.  The flow is by no means hindering and each section has its own similar style.  There were only a few pieces that were different in the sense of how the image and sound connected.  The piece There's a Lot There, 2001 has this buzzing swarm of mosquitoes and a completely distorted image that has this familiarity that ties into the outdoors.  Another has a shaky image of the moon and what sounds like popping and crackling of a fire perhaps.  The others all seem to have a super clear backdrop and scene with one or two odd features.  Each piece has a descriptive plaque on the wall in the room where it is displayed and is even lit up from a ceiling spot light carefully directed with the help of some black duck tape.  Here is a few shots of the pieces and some videos of the exhibit.

There's a Lot There

Overhead directional sound

Here are a couple of the main pieces and the equipment used to display them.

Mariner 9

1/3 projectors for Mariner 9, note the tape to control the image placement on the screen

Another projector for Mariner 9, note the tape and black card to again control image placement.

Seating and Black wall pad behind in The Erudition

The 3 screens of the Leviathan

Three pieces I really liked where The Erudition, Exile of the Shaddered Star and Twilight Avenger.  I thought the pieces were all intriguing to look at and the atmosphere with the sound was peaceful.

The scene in The Erudition was beautiful with an interesting disconnect on the left and middle screen.  What seems like a continuous 3 panel scene has a break in the lower right of the left screen and the lower left of the center screen.  We see a hill on the left that just does not continue on the center screen.  What is striking is that was not even noticed by me until I reviewed the video at home.  The outlier here is the trees.  They glow with a soft blue hue and pop in and out of existence.  This lead me to think that maybe the scenes are not connected but the center and right screen have what seems like a common sun or light off in the distance.  Then I think the sudden popping and movement of the trees symbolize the death and rebirth of nature in one area to another.  The science in me could not help but think of the possibility of the three panels being representative of the potential of multiple dimensions and the glinting in and out of one to another.  At the very least the moving trees leave you searching the scene every time you hear that pop to see which tree moved and where.  The you move your eyes back to the scenery.  The piece is well done and keeps you actively trying to see the whole piece while surprising you with a magical tree here and there.

Installation view of The Erudition, 2010

Exile of the Shaddered Star was yet another beautiful scene of a county scape that had all the peace and serenity you could ask for.  The sounds of the what seem to be the early moring just before the sun rises but the scene seems to tell a different story.  The sun appear to be out already but only to the left, possibly setting, and yet on the right and along the top it almost seems to hint at a storm.  The landscape is lit up yet has that shadowed feel like the sun has gone down and not up.  What is more striking is the fireballs falling from the sky.  If you were to walk into the exhibit with your eyes closed you would never expect the falling of flaming shrapnel but a peaceful scene with birds chirping.  It feels like the co-mingling of peace and destruction.  They both can exist in the same space and you can chose to focus on one or the other.  The sound almost forces the peaceful side but you are not able to overlook the falling flames.  This movement does a great job at forcing the viewer to look at both the foreground and the background.  It is almost like watching two things at once.  You can't help but notice the falling pieces of burning yet the scene is inviting and the sounds constantly playing wishes to take you to that serenity. 

Exiles of the Shattered Star, 2006

Then was have the Twilight Avenger.  The depth the video camera captures along with the realness of the scene again puts us in this peaceful nature setting yet the sound here leaves us believing that it is night time and we are alone in the woods.  There is one special thing about these woods however, the stag that is shown at the start of the clip.  The significance here is really that our only visible living creature happens to be glowing green.  The atmosphere is not completely inviting and yet there is no visible threat.  The only being with us is peaceful and nonthreatening yet he has this ominous glow that almost makes him fell not of this world.  We are forced to watch him because of this strange addition of glowing and yet when he walks away and off the screen the only thought that comes to mind is, Where did he go, is he coming back?  I see this as another touch on peace and serenity in an otherwise uninviting situation.  Not many would care to be in the woods alone and in the dark.  A welcome peaceful creature, glowing or not, is still a sign of hope that something this good can live in this place.  Our stags movement again takes us around this image and when he leaves we look at the rest of our scene to see if anything else might be coming; yet we always look back to where our stag left us to see if he might come back.

Twilight Avenger, 2008

I took a lot of photos this go around and grouped them up nicely in Photobucket, here are a few of the albums for you to take a look at:

A Celebration of Greek Culture

Outdoor Pieces and Sculptures

Looking Out And Looking In

Hope you have enjoyed the brief tour and my take on the Kelly Richardson Exhibit.  A few more sections left in this semester and I have experienced more than expected already.  I hope you have gained some information and some incite as you have gone through these posts as well.  Till next time.

Module 11 - Video Review

The semester is rounding up on a close and we have been given the choice of two of seven videos that compliment our textbook and art of the modern world (1800-1945).  This breaks us into a new set of styles; Surrealism, Expressionism, Cubism, Avant-Garde and others.  These drastic changes in style shock the art world and entice new and upcoming talent.  I picked a video on Matisse and Picasso as well as a video on the impact of cubism.  I picked these mainly because I enjoy Picasso's work and knew he was a large influence on cubism.  Here are the two videos I selected:

1. Matisse and Picasso
2. The Impact of Cubism

Matisse and Picasso
This video was done to show how complex the relationship between Matisse and Picasso was.  It did a wonderful job at working through how closely the two watched each others work and fed off the way the public reacted to each others pieces.  What details I found most intriguing and seemed to be the focus of the video was how at war both artists were with the creation of their art.  Picasso painted to reflect his mood and was so brilliant at his portrayal that it captivated Matisse.  Matisse on the other hand struggled on a personal level but always tried to keep his pieces of a more calm and serenity like style.  A place for Matisse to escape to and hopefully take the viewer with.  Due to the influence the two painters had in their time the book dedicates a separate section for them to touch on some finer details but the video really showcases how the relationship between the two really formed and was shaped as their lives moved forward.  I enjoyed the video and was happy with the presentation.  The more intimate details were nice to learn as well as the honest love they had for each others work, though at times they seemed to loath one another.

The Impact of Cubism
Here we have a different layout for a video.  It focuses on six specific artists that worked through the Cubism movement and speaks directly to these six artists specific pieces.  What is surprising is the six artists that they picked, not so much as to how popular or influential they where.  I speak more of a surprise to who was not covered.  This was a nice surprise honestly because of the previous video I really was not all that excited to dive into a repeat.  The layout really did help show how each of the artists took their skill and embraced the movement.  It also allowed us to take a closer more detailed look at a few specific pieces and add some conceptual en-site as well as some information as to how the artists came to fame with their different yet similar styles.  The common theme was a sense of movement that looked less than normal.  The way objects were conveyed and how they were distorted to give the impression of movement through the pieces.  The sharp complemented angles and use of light and dark to shift the eye around the image.  I like the video and the brief 10 minute coverage of each of the six artists helps us learn more of what makes these specific pieces and how they relate to the cubism movement.  These are the six artists and pieces covered:

• Juan Gris - The Breakfast Table
• Marcel Duchamp - Sad Young Man on a Train
• Robert Delaunay - Champ de Mars
• Sonia Delaunay - Electric Prisms
• Kazimir Malevich - An Englishman in Moscow
• Umberto Boccioni - Farewells

Module Ten - Art Exploration Project

Our task here was to create a mask.  No real style is required but the thought process needs to be documented from online resources and even planned sketches for the final product.  Personally I was drawn to some really overly complex masks then came to the realization that I did not have the time to make these work.  Here were a couple of my first inspirations:

I thought these were all well done and in line with what I wanted to make, but sadly I do not have the time or materials to produce these.  So I figured lets take a step back and consider a new angle.  My next step was Margi Gras because these are decorative, ornate and can be a touch easier to create.  I found a ton of inspiration for these from countless photos I have seen over the years from the actual even and then good ol' Google helped as well.  Here are a few that caught my eye:

This seemed more like what I could tackle, well not so much the off white one wearing a hat, but it was neat looking.  So this was my plan and the only way I was going to pull it off is with a 3D mask, crap!  This leads to the slight delay, I need to make a paper mache based that can then be painted and decorated, obviously I could just by a base and add t it but where is the "art" in that.  So I drew up some concepts and will make a mask based on some variation of these:

Turned out the paper mache idea was not going to work in any sort of timely manner.  My daughter and I did make a nice mess testing the idea though.  This is how the final product came to existence: