self-portrait

I selected these inspiration pieces because they were the only ones I could find.  I decided to use graphite pencil to do my self-portrait because it's a medium I was most familiar with.  Furthermore, I thought it would work well to help portray the sepia tone the original picture was taken in.  I think the biggest challenge of the self-portrait itself was simply drawing the self-portrait and making it accurate.  I'm pretty satisfied with the way it came out, but I still think there are some things I could have improved on.

This piece represents me because it's an accurate representation of what I look like.  I think this is a pretty good portrayal of my attitude too - laid back and pensive (if I do say so myself).

  In terms of element and principles, I used predominantly line, value, and shape.  The basic elements of my face are simple shapes (oval, square, triangle), they are all made using lines, and the picture is given "depth" through the use of value.

I did enjoy this project - I wish more of the class was actual art projects.  I am pretty satisfied with my final piece, although I'd eventually like to darken some of the values and possibly try to make it sepia like the original.

Reflections of AED 200

From this course, I was expecting to learn about art and all its different forms and styles.  All in all, I'd say I have a much better grasp on art and art history.  I can recognize many different artists now and the styles they paint in.  Overall, I think my expectations were met, although I wish I had more artwork to show for it!

Originally, I thought art was, literally, "almost anything as long as someone has an open mind."  That thought process has not changed.  One thing that really cemented that thought into my mind was learning about Fountain - the fact that a urinal submitted to an art show so profoundly influenced art history is astounding.  It is evidence towards proving that, yes, almost anything can be considered art with an open mind.

My favorite artist in the beginning of the class was Claude Monet.  Although I still enjoy his work, my new favorite artist is Lovis Corinth.  They are both impressionist painters, but for some reason, I really connected with Corinth's style of painting.  The obvious love he had for his wife and children was evident in his paintings and even his landscapes he painted after his stroke were still beautiful.  I also really loved Ed Moses' work, an artist I discovered at the Albright Knox.  His piece Blue Velvet was the most interesting piece I saw in person through the entire semester.  Though simple, I love the colors and patterns that are evident in his work.

I thought taking an online course was a good experience, but I am glad to be done with it, as I am for all of my other classes.  I must admit, it was not as simple as "laying in my cozy bed."  I didn't expect there to be so much "busy work."  I really enjoyed doing the actual drawing, painting, sketching, critiquing, and art gallery visits, but I feel as though most of the time I spent in the course was watching the video reviews which I didn't value as much - I'm sure this is a fairly common answer!

Art Criticism Article

I selected Christine Krolewicz's exhibit, Back to Nature.  There were many exhibits to choose from - I picked a few at random and I thought Christine's looked the most interesting so I decided to go with hers.

Christine made it easy for me - I really enjoyed her exhibit.  The only challenges I really faced were that I wasn't very familiar with the artists/works of art that she used in her exhibit, so I had to continually check back for all the information.  Other than that, her exhibit flowed naturally, had many eye-catching and interesting pieces, and really made me question my relationship with the environment.

I enjoy critiquing my peers work; however, I think it would be much different if I didn't like Christine's exhibit.  I did comment that I think it would have been nice to group the furniture pieces in her exhibit together, but other than that, her exhibit was top-notch.  I wish there were more opportunities to do these kinds of projects throughout the semester.

I'd be interested to see what my peers thought of my own curation project, but I am used to criticism from being in various bands for so long.  I enjoy constructive criticism and it is very refreshing to sometimes get a different, unheard viewpoint.  Plus, I think my classmates would enjoy my exhibit!

I think my article deserves at least a 9, if not a 10.  I hit every discussion question and highlighted many of the high points in Christine's project.  I think if she read my article, she would be pleased to hear my opinions and would take my suggestions well.  I was straightforward and to the point - although I didn't have to "sugarcoat" anything, I wouldn't have if I had to.

I did enjoy working on this project - I think interactive projects like this are much more effective learning tools than simply opening a book or watching a video.  Although I recognize the importance of these things in classes, I get much more from a class that has interesting and thought provoking projects like this one that force me to think critically about things.

Week 16 Video blog

The first video I watched was Greenberg on Art Criticism.  I enjoyed this video because it compared art criticism to criticism of music.  Greenberg pointed out that music was easier to criticize because musicians emote through their music and an actual score can be observed.  With art, it is much more difficult to subjectively criticize.  I think this is important to my art criticism project because it gave me a whole new perspective on art criticism as a whole.

The next video I watched was Greenberg on Pollock.  I thought this video was interesting because I got to learn about Jackson Pollock whose artwork I find mysterious.  It was interesting to learn that, although Pollock rejected the easel, he continued to use it throughout his career.  I also learned that there was a very specific technique to making his paintings look the way they did, and even if they came out correctly, sometimes they just "did not work for the eye."  I didn't think this one was very relevant to art criticism, even though there was a section in the film about it.  I still enjoyed learning about Pollock either way.

The next video I watched was An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance.  I thought this video had good intentions, but ultimately, I would have rather preferred a straightforward video about criticism rather than a skit.  All in all, I learned that artists would "never have been able to create the works they did" without examining the masterpieces of the artists before them.  My favorite part of the video was learning about "sfumato" which was used on the Mona Lisa.  I think this was fairly relevant to my art criticism project and I am going to try to find influence from artists that may have influenced our self portraits.

The next video I watched was The Critics: The Story from the Inside Page.  I thought this video was interesting because it examines the similarities between critics and reporters.  Being a musician, I appreciated the segment on Paul McCartney.  A critic might say, "Paul performed well on his new songs but could have done better on his early Wings material."  They also might comment on how "trippy his piano was" or how interested the crowd seemed to be.  Overall, I think this video was important to my art criticism project because it helped me understand that we're not just looking at the art, we're looking at everything connected to the art.

The next video I watched was The Colonial Encounter: Views of Non-Western Art and Culture.  I thought his video was interesting, but not very relevant to criticism at all.  I thought the segment on sexual exploitation of indigenous women was the most interesting segment, as I can see how scientific research and exploitation can run a fine line in this sort of situation.  I don't think this video was very valuable towards my art criticism project, except that I also learned that tools can be considered an art form, not just traditional paintings and pottery, etc.

Finally, I watched Jackson Pollock.  I thought his video was very relevant to art criticism, as they examine how Pollock is considered a "master" but that his work is often used as a way to describe a "low point" in modern art.  I also found their discourse on "Lavender Mist" to be extremely descriptive and detailed - it is important to realize that so much can be taken away from something that many would consider so abstract that it simply looks like scribbles.  Overall, I think this piece was very valuable to art criticism, as it allowed me to see that some people might consider an artist a master while others might consider them hacks.

Art Curator Reflection - Full-Figured

I enjoyed searching for the different works of art that were going to make up my exhibit.  I was really happy with the theme that I chose and I thought that I came up with an interesting title, Full-Figured.  Before I decided on my theme, I was looking through the book to try to get some sort of inspiration.  After seeing pieces like Allegory and Alice Neel's Self-Portrait, as well as remembering pieces from past projects like Niki de Saint Phalle's Nana, I thought that doing an entire exhibit on big figures would be interesting and fun.

Finding the works of art was not terribly difficult, but it posed a few challenges.  It was hard to search for "fat" people, since most artwork isn't titled "Fat Woman" or "Fat Guy" etc.  I had to find interesting ways to phrase the words like "rubenesque."  Furthermore, this challenged me to think outside of the box, as finding pregnant woman or self-portraits of artists with double chins or extra weight can in very handy.

Finally, I wanted to consider the actual gallery as part of the exhibit.  After finding all of the works, I found that most of them were nude figures, so I thought a fleshy tone on the walls would be fitting.  I also had several recurring artists and themes.  Fertility was a common theme, so I figured many of those works could be featured together.  I also though I could have a room/space dedicated to Rembrandt, Corinth, and Neel respectively.

Week 14 and 15 video reviews

The first video, The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art, discusses the Lowbrow style, which is defined as “uncultivated or lacking in taste.”  Though I initially looked at some of the art as challenging to even be considered art, I began to understand that some people look at Lowbrow art as easier to relate to than more traditional paintings.  Since I identify myself as a musician, I really enjoyed the part about the psychedelic posters of the 1960’s and the artist, “Big Daddy” who designed them.

The second video I watched, Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology, dealt with the Native American genocide and whether ancestral remains should be returned to their families.  I thought the video made an interesting point – if a Caucasian person’s body was found, the remains would be buried; if a Native American’s body is found, the remains are studied.  I didn’t think this video was as related to art as many of the other ones, but I still found many of the points they made to be interesting.  It was nice to see in the conclusion that many bodies are being returned to their families.

The next video, George Eastman House: Picture Perfect, followed George Eastman who was widely considered to be the father of modern photography, and his house, which became a museum.  I learned that the house has a large collection of daguerrotypes.  In addition, I learned that the Eastman House offers an extensive amount of online photographs – 140,000 of them.  I might try to access it for influence for my exhibit.

Finally, I watched Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach.  This video covered the questioning of traditional ways of displaying art – art eventually came off of the walls to become busy and noisy.  I learned that rather than display the art is chronological order, the Tate approach subjects the viewer to random changes that are often visually striking.

Week 13 video reviews

I chose to watch Andy Warhol: Images of an Image because I have never liked Andy Warhol's art. I don’t know if it is because everyone else loves it or if it is just because I can’t make a connection with it, but I was hoping this film would help me to at least understand where the artist making advertisements, which makes sense in comparison to his later works of art. I also did not know that Andy Warhol was also a filmmaker and a journalist. The video also explains the silk screen technique, which is how many of Warhol’s works were actually made. This was interesting for me because I am currently using this technique in my fibers class. It makes sense that Warhol saw silkscreen images as a way to make money because the images can be easily reproduced. Overall, I thought this video was good because it gave more information about Warhol than the book and I have decided that I like the ideas behind his work. The concept of the immense power images have acquired in our society and the topic of American consumerism have always interested me.

I chose to watch Hockney on Photography because I am interested in photography and I took a class on it in high school.  I really enjoyed the collages made out of the Poloroid pictures - I actually like making collages myself.  What was most interesting about this video is it addressed the artist's thought process, rather than just a work of art in particular.  It was more a concentration on Hockney himself.  Rather than relating to this chapter though, I think this was more relevant to earlier chapters that focused more on photography.

I watched Uncertainty: Modernity and Art because I quite like modern art.  To put it simply, the main thesis of this video was that uncertainty what modern art strives to achieve.  Nothing is ever stagnant; I though this was very reminiscent of the chapters in the book this week, as globalization has really changed the way we look at art in so many ways.  I thought it was interesting that the video related all the way back to the Greeks as well.

Finally, I chose to watch Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the 50s and 60s because the title sounded pretty cool.  I thought the book was rather lacking, but this video helped to further cement the topics covered in the chapter.  What I liked most about this video was that it was different than most of the films that we have watched this semester – there were no interviews, just a narrator and various pictures.  That was a refreshing change. I thought Jasper John's "Flag" was really interesting.  It didn't seem out of the ordinary at first, but upon closer examination, you realize the detail that actually went into the piece.