Look back at it (reflections)

Now its time for a reflection, I was asked to go back to week one and re read what I had written as an introduction. And here it is.

1. What were you expectations for this course and where they met?
My expectation was to grow a better knowledge about art and the people who spend their lives making it. Yes Absolutely. It was a rather broad expectation but that's really what how I felt!

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?
Honestly I would define it basically the same way as I did before which was "I think art isn't necessarily something that could be defined in words. But if I had to say art is a form of visual expression, It has no right or wrong answers but has to be somewhat understood in order to create it"


3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?
Well, I do feel the same way as I did. It's hard to label one particular artist as my favorite while so many of them have different things to be offered and can nt be compared on the same scale. However if I had to pick one artist in general ir would still be Salvador Dali. For the same reasons he was the first time, because of his surrealist approach that makes us question what we see,

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?
I feel neutral. I personally enjoyed this class but art is my favorite subject. I'm not sure how I would like a math or English online class. But It was straight forward enough to get used to. The only thing I struggled with in the beginning was trying to figure out when the right time to do homework that was due on the weekend. Eventually I was able to work around my work and school schedule.

Self

Its a very busy week for me so I decided to visit a gallery virtually.  I chose this particular gallery from Google Art Project

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/user-gallery/self-portrait-guidence/hQLSSV3ZMJqgJg?projectId=art-project&position=0%3A12

These are the inspiration portraits I chose.

Self portrait with highlight on nose, 60х50, Painting, Voligamsi Rinat

Ivan Le Lorraine Albright, 1951, 24 x 20 inch, Self portrait

w810 x h962 x d50 cm , Nora Heysen, self portrait, 1932







                                                                  My Final Drawing

Beerkittenz.wordpress.com

*Note- I used a mirror to look at myself instead of drawing from a two dimensional picture, I did however take a picture of myself at the time and angle I was drawing from*

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

I selected the three self portraits above because I'm not sure which angle I'm going to go with yet but I like how different they all are from each other.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?
I chose Colored pencils on black paper because of the powerful contrast it creates.

 3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?
I have had to make other self portraits in the past so I have experience working with my own face. The only real challenge I had was the mirror I was using was to small, so it was hard to see all of my face at one time.


 4. How does this piece represent you?
It represents me because I am the subject. I was debating making a fully abstract portrait but I decided to do a realistic one. Everyone that I showed said that it does look like me!

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?
Color, I've done black and white portraits in the past and I really wanted to use color to my advantage. Contrast, The black paper is very dramatic against the light colored pencil. 

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?
Yes I did. I really like to use my self as the subject, more so then drawing someone else.  

7. What do you think of your final artwork?
I really enjoyed the way it turned out. I wasn't sure if I would like the medium I chose, but I ended up liking it.

Reflection Jorunal Art curator project

The Process of making this curation project was fun yet challenging. At first I wasn't to sure how to come up with a theme. But after watching the assigned videos I understood more about categorizing the artworks. The theme I chose was the influence of cats in the art world. A title was easy because I love naming things. "For the love of cats". I searched through many cat artworks until I found ones that worked well and complimented each other

Week 13/14 Blog video review

Step 1: Watch All Three Videos.
 The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art

Tate Modern (four part series)

An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan


1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Lowbrow -To be honest I wasn't even sure what lowbrow was until this video, that being the main concept I learned. Lowbrow is a category that people find hard to categorize, it is very similar to surrealism but seems to have more naked women, cars and bright colors.

Tate Modern- I have heard of this gallery, in one of my other cases we learned about "the weather project". It was very interesting to see the other live exhibits and interacting performances that they have offered.

Acquiring mind- This video was very real for me. I live very close to NYC and I remember the first time I went, I was in 4th grade and we went to see an exhibit with Egyptian art and jewelry. It is one of my favorite museums and have been there many, many times. It was interesting to see the gallery from a different perspective.

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

Yes the sure do! By watching these videos it very much put into perspective on how I would going about picking a theme. The term "Theme" is kind of intimidating because of its general and vague meaning. This was very helpful to the creation of this project.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?

My honest opinion of these videos is the same as every other video I've had to watch for this class. The videos take much to long to show the concept at hand, BUT I do find it easy to watch videos for information as opposed to reading chapter after chapter. They all did add depth to the understanding of the art concepts I practiced while creating my curation project.

video blog posting mod 12

The two videos I chose are hyperlinked below

 

Hockney on Photography

 

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image

 

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose
I chose these videos based on content. I am a fan of Andy Warhol

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
andy-i learned a lot about the act of silk screening and how it works. This is something that I did know.

Hokney- I found it very interesting how they went into depth about his first experience with a polaroid camera


2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
As usual the videos closely relate to the text with the same slash similar content. Many of the pieces in the videos are in the book but further explained.


3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

My opinion of the films is neutral. The films add depth to the understanding of the readings and art concepts simply exactly how I stated before. With the same content just displayed in a different medium.

The gallery, the second time.

I went to the Burchfield Penney gallery and saw the Jack Drummer:The Effects on Time exhibit.

1. What is the title of the exhibit?
Jack Drummer:The Effects On Time

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?
I would say the theme is making art out of industrial products, like rubber, steel and dyes. Manipulating something we wouldn't consider beautiful into art.

1. What type of lighting is used?
It was overhead lighting

2. What colors are used on the walls?
In that specific exhibit the  walls were white, the color varied depending on where in the museum it was

3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space?
Honestly i am a little confused of what this question is asking. There were benches in the middle of the gallery,so one could sit and view the art work

4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?
The art work invites you to walk through the whole gallery with its intriguing use of color and space between the pieces.

1. How are the artworks organized?
They seem to be next  to pieces that are aesthetically similar, with much space in between each other

2. How are the artworks similar?
They use similar materials in similar ways

3. How are the artworks different?
They all have a sense of uniqueness to them, making a different statement with the same materials.

4. How are the artworks framed?
I don't believe they were framed, each piece was very large and very many were three dimensional

5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?
There was a small plaque with the artists name date and title, many of his works were not titled.



6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?
It did vary some were about a foot apart, many were meters apart or in separate sections of the gallery.

 This piece is called Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak no evil. It was made in 1962 with a medium of oil on tin,cardboard, and wood. Many of the other pieces i saw did not have titles, i think it adds to the effect of the viewer. Color is a very strong aspect in this work. also the three dimensional aspect makes it feel more alive. The space between each block of color, almost feels like a stop light to me. The colors chosen show great contrast.

This piece is called "untitled" (2004-2006) and the medium is stretched rubber, tar and rubber stitching. This one particularly caught my eye because of the high contrast between the black and white rubber. When i first saw this piece i thought it was leather because of its shiny texture. The white stitching creates a certain movement that catches your eye and brings it around the whole canvas. 

  

This piece is also called "Untitled" (1995-1997) It is made from Stretched and Dyed Rubber and consists 21 panels. This piece was actually so large in scale that i couldn't get a good picture of it i had to take it from the galleries website, it practically took up the whole wall. The one thing that stands out from the other is the use of color.  All the colors used are very similar in tone but slightly different at the same time. It creates a feeling of unity

:What did you think of visiting the Gallery and purposefully looking at the exhibition from a different perspective - the physical space, the architecture, theme, etc.?

I live very close to the new York city and have been to many musuems and galleries but this experience was different, yes i was focusing on the art but realized the the architecture and physical space was an art work in itself

Mod 11 another video blog posting

The two videos I chose for this assignment are as follows:

Dada and Surrealism

The Impact of Cubism

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

 I chose the two videos above for a few different reasons. I am a huge fan or surrealism if I had to pick a favorite art movement it would definitely be this one.  Salvador Dali is my favorite artist from this time period, I picked this video in hopes they would go into his artwork and background!

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Dada and surrealism- I learned about these movements in depth last semester so I knew a lot of the information given. I was very interesting in the Dali segment as anticipated. I learned a few things I did not know prior. The narrator said and I quote " Ever since he was a child Dali had an erotic fantasy about crutches that later developed into a fetish". I felt that was bizarre enough for me to quote, that is something I learned.

The impact of cubism-I learned that in cubism, painting tends ignores the traditions of perspective drawing and it shows you many views of a subject at one time.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The videos pretty much reinforce the readings with similar information. They relate  in explaining the events that occur in history and how it had it's impact in art. I enjoy the artist bios in the book I find that very informational.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I have to be honest here I wasn't the biggest fan of these videos they were both very dated and slow moving. I found the content to be interesting but found myself very bored at the same time. I think its the narrators voice, it makes me very sleepy. Just kidding!