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:

Module Ten - Video Reviews

This module was centered around the many religious and cultural movements of Africa, Asia, India and the Middle East.  Given the choice of a few videos to pick from I quickly selected two that interested me.  Buddhism - Heaven on Earth and Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum.  Buddhism has always been an interest of mine but I never took the time to dig into the details and this was a perfect opportunity to do just that.  And I enjoy most thing influenced by the Chinese culture and really wanted to see their art through the ages.

Buddhism: Heaven on Earth
This was a nice video that walked through the creation of the religion quickly.  The start up of the lifestyle was a bit unusual but what was more unusual was how the birth place of the whole idea is one of the places it is least practiced.  Also that the religion split after the death of Buddha.  The main idea was how the search for inner peace and serenity was used to decorate every shrine and monument for the cause.  The peacefulness of the lifestyle really speaks out when you see the artwork and architecture.  The text and the video were almost exactly the same with regards to the concepts and ideas behind the religion.  This video just walked us through the spreading of its ideas and how each area took the inspiration their own way without straying far from the original concept.  This film was done well and was typical of this learning style film series.  It was short but it packed in the details.

Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum
This video was awful.  Sadly it was also 42 minutes long.  It was literally an auction style video that would display a call number like "F209197" then go into some small detail on the item.  To make matters worse the narrator sounded like a robot!  I started this thing over once to make sure I had the right video and a second time because I jumped forward to see if anything changes, nope.  Just 30+ items and a description of the pieces.  I did at least get to see some nice pieces and get an idea of how Black Glazed tea bowls were used to show off light teas and under glazed blue was used to add depth to drawings.  Item F209197 was actually a cool piece, a two layer vase where the inner layer could spin independent of the outer layer and the outer layer had reserves open for the inner layer scenes to pass through.  Was a cool idea.  I could not get past the layout of this video and honestly learned little from this.  There were some high points on how the colors were used and manipulated by kiln temperature but the items went by quickly and the facts even quicker.

All in all I should have gone with another video but sadly after the beating I took from the Chinese Art piece I could not bear to go any further.

Module Nine - Video Reviews

This section had a strong focus on the different movements of art over the centuries and how each period offered its own take on artistic evolution.  I watched two videos on artists and their works and contributions to the art world were the main focus.  Here are the two videos:

• Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance
• Albrecht Durer: Image of a Master

Leonardo da Vinci : The Mind of the Renaissance
I selected this video simply because I enjoy the works of Leonardo da Vinci.  I simply wanted to know more about him and his life.  This video really focused on the life of da Vinci from start to finish.  Literally from birth to death.  The amazing thing that is captured is how much time and effort he put into all of his different fields of expertise and that he did not consider himself a well read man.  That last bit really surprised me.  I just can not fathom how much detail he put into his simple sketches of machinery and inventions.  Then add his ability to paint and create art, this man was simply amazing and it must have been a special treat to have lived and learned with him.  I think this video painted a great picture of his life and really showcased how he moved from one area of work to another.  His life was so full of interest that this video is really just to short to really dive into more detail on all his pieces and ideas.

Albrecht Durer: Image of a Master
This video was picked for an odd reason I must admit.  I noticed that Durer was a artist that made a lot of pieces by print and use of wood cutouts among other materials.  These reminded me of a movie, the 9th Gate, and the prints that were the focus of that movie.  So I dove in to see what more I could learn about the craft.  This was another almost biographical approach to Durer's life.  It was a little short to really capture any true details of the artist but the main concept was how well this artist was known for his ability to paint portraits.  His ability to capture the life like qualities and exploit the process of aging made his pieces true to life.  His work with printing, though great, was more on the focus of paying the bills.  He did play with new techniques and other new concepts and his fame came more from this than painting, though both were great.  I liked the video and actually did some more research on the topic of his works in the printing section of his life.

Module Nine - Drawing Assignment

Took on an interesting assignment for this module and it involved using my non-dominate hand!  The task was to draw a still image of your hand with both your dominate hand and then once again with your non-dominate hand.  Lets take a look at the pieces:

Drawn by my dominate hand

Drawn by my non-dominate hand

I have drawn my own hands before so this was not to out of the ordinary.  What was a slight twist was the use of my off hand to draw.  I chose to go with pencil mainly because I knew if I had to use charcoal for my non-dominate hand it would be a disaster.  The smudging alone would render the picture non viewable.  As I suspected, the drawing with my left hand was like learning to write all over again.  I honestly could not hold the pencil.  I was unsure how to move my hand in coordination with my fingers holding the pencil.  The left hand picture did come out better than I expected.  You can see how I need to produce small strokes to even complete turns and produce curves.  It took a few strokes to get into the swing of things but in the end I liked how the scale of the project came out.  As for trying this again, I would.  Again, I would stick with pencil.  Paint wouldn't make it into the picture for at least a few attempts.  I would honestly tell people to try this on their own.  The experience was enjoyable and a good learning experience.