Self Portrait

Below are links to my three inspirational pics. I wanted to post the pictures, but couldn't seem to get it to work.

http://www.googleartproject.com/galleries/31925143/32296017/31372707/
http://www.googleartproject.com/galleries/31925143/32296017/32272038
http://www.googleartproject.com/galleries/31925143/32296017/32299054/

1. I ran into both the Paul and Van Gough paintings earlier in the semester and they really resonated with me, especially the van Gourgh one. I think he looks sad, like a troubled soul that he was. Paul on the other hand looks happy, something that I find amusing in a self portrait. I choose the Rambrandt one merely because I enjoyed it.

2. I am not very good with any kind of art, sketching I at least have a lot of experience with. thought I am happy I wont have to do it again for a blog.

3. None really. My only challenge was really the sketching.

4. I am smiling and happy, which is how I usually am.

5. I tried to establish lines and shading, thought I'm not sure if it worked.

6. I enjoyed researching the portraits, not making one.

7. it does not appear that I have gained any talent with sketching from my first attempt.

Blog Reflection For Peer Review

1. Dark side of Love, A Dog's View, Pop of Life

2. A Dog's Eye View

3.the only real challenge I faced was filling up two pages.

4. Apprehensive. It isn't something I like to do.

5. Yes.
6. 7. I find it hard to sometimes separate what is subjective and what is objective.
7. yes. it is was interesting and a change of pace. 

Week 16

1. I expected to learn a lot more about a subject that I have not had much experience with in my life and I did. I’ve learned a lot about art.

2. While I have learned a lot about art, I don’t think that my definition of what art is has changed.

3. I did not have a favorite artist on my initial post, but I defiantly do now. I really like Salvatore Dali and have since my first visit to a gallery.

 4. I have taken many online courses and this class has not tarnished my image of them. Online courses are great!

Module 15 Video Blog

1. "Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark" is a video with TJ Clark interviewing Clement Greenberg about art critiquing. some key concepts that I learned is that when discussing art, outside influences like political views should not affect your objective views of the art and that writing about visual art is tougher than that of other media like books or music.

"Greenberg on Pollock: An Interview by T. J. Clark" is another interview with Clement Greenberg by TJ Clark, the topic being Jackson Pollock. Some key concepts I learned were that over the course of his life, Pollock move further and further from more traditional art to the kinds of "splatter" type art he is known for.

2.I think that these videos will help a lot in the next stage of the curator project, critiquing peer work. That is why I choose to watch these videos over the others. I picked up a lot of idea I hadn't previously thought about that I will put to use shortly on that project.

3.I think that these two films, especially "Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark" give a tremendous amount of insight into understanding art criticism and I look forward to putting that insight to use. 

Curator Project. 

I based my slide show on a theme of movement in everyday events. I tried to organize these slides by the type of movement they depicts, like flying or swimming or animals running. One thing that I found challenging was finding the right works to fit my theme when there was an massive amount of pictures to comb though. 

Module 13 & 14 Video Blog

The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art: This video was very informative. It discusses the origins of many things. Some key concepts are how it originally meant pornography and art lacking taste. I have a friend who is a professional artist who makes a lot of cartoon works and just recently got criticized by someone for not making “art”, so I found this video insightful. This video does did not give me much help regarding my exhibit as I do not plan on focusing on this type of art.

Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology: I found this video extremely informative. I can’t actually believe I have never learned anything about this before. Some key points are that Native Americans are upset over tens of thousands of bones that have bee dug up and collected over the years for scientific study and never returned, this is apparently very different than how other nationalizes are treated. Laws have been passed to protect the burials sites of Native Americans because of this. Since a good amount of this video focused on museums I did learn something about my exhibit and added to the depth of my understanding of museums and exhibits.

An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and the Metropolitan Museum:  This video was very helpful to me regarding the exhibition project. I learned so much from it about how a museum works and what directors and curators do and how that job interacts with the end product. Some key points were that a museum is never actually finished and that Philippe de Montebello served as the Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for over 30 years.

Displaying Modern Art: The Tale Approach:  This was another video that was informative to me as someone who is about to make an exhibit. It was in depth and offered a lot of new insight. Some key points are using white walls and flexible lighting to bring more focus to the works of art on display and the categorizing or art by time period and movement, going from room to room is like switching channels on a televisions.

Module 12 Videos

1.       The two videos I choose were “Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ‘50s and 60s” and “Andy Warthol: Images of an Image”. I choose the former because it sounded like an interesting topic and the later because I always found Warthol a strange person and wanted to know more.

2.      A key concept of the Pop Art video is that the movement is largely due to the effects of globalization and the merging of different art ideas from around the world. A Key concept I learned about Warthol is that is main focus with art was repetition. This is a theme we learned in this class early on. Many of his famous paintings, like of Campbell’s soup or Marilyn Monroe display this trait of his.

3.      The Warthol video doesn’t relate very much to the reading, considering if focuses solely on him. The Pop Art video related very strongly to the reading. Much of chapter 22 was about the globalization of art and focus on New York City after World War II. Important aspects of this movement.

4.      I always love the videos for this class as they go into so much detail about a topic, I find them much more informative than the reading.

 Module 11 Video Blog

I choose the "Dada and Surrealism" and "The Impact of cubism" videos. I choose both of these videos because they were two topics that really interested me in the reading.

A key concept I learned from "Dada and Surrealism" was how Dada got started in Germany after World War 1 as a reflection of how people felt about the government. another is how Surrealism was created to explore the brains subconscious. a key concept I learned from "Impact of Cubism" is how much of its inspiration originates in African tribal iconography, which was interesting.

These videos go into much more dept that the text, although both of these topics are covered in detail in the text. In previous weeks I choose videos pertaining to topics that were hardly mentioned in the text and found that more fulfilling. While the videos were very good and informative, I think that in future modules I will stick to topics that I didn't really learn much from the text about, as it is more interesting to learn new things then go over some information again. 

Art Gallery Visit #2

I visited the Burchfield-Penny art gallery for this assignment. They had several exhibits going on. One dedicated to the life and arts of Charles Burchfield, which was rather large and interesting, as they even had a 3d recreation of this studio. another was the works of Bruce Jackson, a photographer. This was also a very large exhibit.

The galleries had a lot of light and each room was lit slightly differently. Once room which a video was playing was dark. The color of the walls differed from room to room as this gallery makes use of a large space slit into different exhibits by both permanent and temporary walls and barriers. The gallery is extremely non liner and the viewers movement can be done in a variety of ways. this seemed to contrast my last gallery visit which seemed like I was being lead around from exhibit to exhibit.

the artwork is organized by exhibit. a couple of the rooms were dedicated to Burchfield, another room was dedicated to sculptures from various artists. Several large rooms were dedicated to Bruce Jackson and the upstairs was dedicated to sculptures by a particular artist whose name I did not write down. This gallery on a whole had a lot less paintings that I anticipated. Most of the works were sculptures, photographs or something else. that last time I was at this gallery, about a year ago, everything was different and the vast majority of works were paintings.

I found it interesting looking at this gallery from a different perspective. at my last gallery, I didn't spend any time looking at the space itself, only the art. This space was well lit, had very high ceilings and a lot of sitting room to relax and absorb everything in. I liked it a lot. 

Artist: charles E. Burchfield

Title of work: Cain and Abel

Media: Wood engraving

Date: 1926

Size: Approx 8x12

1.   Description – This work depicts the battle between the biblical brother Cain and Abel. It depicts Cain's murder of Abel in front of a backdrop of dark storm clouds.

3.   Formal analysis – Space and Movement. Cain is shown mid-impact as he is about to smash an object over his brother. The use of the clouds in the background frames the space of the work.

4.  Bracketing - The work depicts a biblical story that is in itself an allegory. The story of Cain and Abel is one of the good vs evil nature inside mankind.

5.  Interpretation - I think that the artist was portraying the power of evil that lurks in man. This is signified not only be the action in the foreground, but by the clouds in the back ground. 

Artist: Karl Heerdt

Title of work: Tower Falls III

Media: Oil on Linen

Date: 2012

Size: Approx 18x36

1.   Description – This painting depicts a waterfall and stream flowing through a rocky outcrop.

3.   Formal analysis – Movement and Landscape. the most predominate feature of this work is the flow of the water. We can see where it is falling and the subsequence rush of the water below.

4.  Bracketing - I do not think there is any hidden meaning in a painting like this, it depicts a beautiful waterfall flowing through a rocky landscape.  

5.  Interpretation - While I am not an expert I do not feel this artist had any hidden meaning other than painting a beautiful waterfall.

Artist: Joseph Orffeo

Title of work: Untitled

Media: Acrylic on Canvas

Date: 1986

Size: 36x24

1.   Description – This painting is rather subjective. I see a waterfront landscape with clouds.

3.   Formal analysis – Color and Proportion. There is a vivid use of color in this painting, the contrast of the blue "water" and "orange" sky with black used for clouds and barriers.

4.  Bracketing - This painting reminds me of a beach setting, with clouds and people frolicking in the water and foreground.

5.  Interpretation - I think the artist is creating a work that will evoke different emotions in different people that see different images in the work.

MASK

I choose the above three masks for my inspiration. they felt very representative of the reading from the text and I was a lot more interested in the more bird-like qualities of many of the American ancestors' rituals and garb. I especially like the second picture, the mask has a patterns through the whole face that is very detailed. The first mask is very colorful, meant to portray the devil in a ritual. I wanted my mask to be bird like in appearance. I also wanted it to strike a similarly to the infinity sign, as I feel this sis a representation of a lot of the cultures from this chapter. My concept sketch also included a long, point nose or beak, but i choose to remove it in the end because I didn't like the way it came out. I tried to paint it in two complementary colors on opposites ends of the infinity sign to show a kind of Ying and Yang feeling. I enjoyed this project even if it was more art and crafty then I like to get.

Module 10 Video Review

1.The two videos I choose were The Great Wave and Buddhism. I choose the first because I have always been interested in all aspects of Japanese culture. I choose Buddhism because after reading the text I realized it was a much deep and more varied religion than I thought and wanted to learn more.

2. A major concept I learned from The Great Wave is how it is viewed very differently by different people. Some people see it as its face value, a wave of water. Other people look at it on more symbolic terms. Another thing about it is that it is made out of wood, something that is not apparent, at least to me, upon my first view of it.

A key concept I learned from Buddhism is the age of the religion. I’ve always thought of it is a “newer” religion, due to its new popularity in the West, but it is much older than that and has gone through several changes. Another thing is that there is a lot of architectural art related to the religion in China, much like what we learned past chapters of Christianity in Europe.

3. One relation I found between the text and The Great Wave was the belief of Shinto. Shinto puts empathies on natural aspects and the spirits that are within them. I believe this shows an aspect of that. A relation with the text for the Buddhism video is the extensive influence the religion has on not only the people and art, but on the whole society as a whole.

4. I enjoyed the videos, especially The Great Wave. I found the way that it was made out of layered wood very interesting. I always enjoy the videos, as they add so much more depth and understanding to the material.

Hand Drawing


1. Awkward, as I was unable to use the subject hand to position and hold the paper. When drawing the dominate hand it was even more awkward

2. I choose pencil, as I felt it would be easier to work worth.

3. It was very difficult. I have medical issues with my wrists which gave me more limitations on sketching and made it even worse to draw with my non-dominant hand.  My sketch is very poor, and was my third attempt.

4. While both drawings are lacking, the non-dominant one looks almost cartoonish. I just don’t have the control with my left hand to make it any better. I tried using very small stokes of the pencil and then piecing them together with larger and larger strokes.

5.  No, never. I hate doing anything with my left hand and this exercise was a very frustrating for me.

Module 9 Videos

1) The two videos I choose were “The Drawings of Michelangelo” and “Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance”. Not because they were the first two, but because they seemed like the most interesting to me. The first one is about drawing, a topic I am interested in more than other and I am always interesting in learning more about Leonardo, as he was so much more than just an artist.

2) The key concept of the Da Vinci video was studying the man’s life as a whole, rather than concentrating on just the artistic side of it. This was good for me, as an engineering student, as da Vinci contributed many things to the fields of engineering and science. A key concept I learns about Michelangelo was that many of his famous works of art started out as sketches.

3) The videos I choose related very much to the reading in the text. As Ch16 was all about The Renaissance and spoke at length about da Vinci and Michelangelo. In contrast, the Michelangelo video was about his drawings rather than paintings and sculptures of the book and Da Vinci was about his life as a whole rather than just his art that the book depicts.

4) The videos, as they always do, added a lot of depth to my understanding of this week’s course work. Since this week was all about the renaissance it was nice to watch videos that didn’t focus completing on the art of the period but also the culture and people of the period. It adds up to give a very broad understanding of what the era was actually like rather than just the art of the era.

Module 8

1. "More Human Than Human" was mandatory. I chose "Late Gothic art and Architecture " because I've always been interested in Gothic architecture, and architecture in general. I choose "the Greek Awakening" purely because of the reading and discussion I have already done this module on Greek art, as I found it interesting.

2. The key concepts of "More Human than Human" discuss that images of humans and human form are all around us.  A concept of "Late Gothic art and Architecture" was how architecture evolved from the middle ages to the renaissance. Much like art gradually changed between those periods, and exploded in the renaissance, so did architecture. One of the concepts that "The Greek Awakening" focuses on is that art and religion are interconnected. each has a influence on the other. This is especially true for the Greeks, as in Ancient Greece much of their art was focuses on their goddess and fables.

3. The videos complement the text reading very well. The text provides small sections of a variety of topics and the videos provide a much larger, in depth view on a specific topic.

4. I enjoy the selected videos for this course, especially the ones where there is a choose of what to watch. "Late Gothic art and Architecture ", for instance, was chosen by mean because I've always been interested in the topic and enjoyed the reading in the text. So I immediately went to that one when I saw the list. It added much more depth and understanding on the Gothic era. 

Mod 7 videos

The first video I watched was the one on Frank Lloyd Wright. The key concept of this video was his "Prairie Style" architecture, which was used throughout the Midwest in the 50s and 60s. This style of home was about flat construction, to reflect the landscape of the mid west. This video related to the reading in the text by the descriptions of the types of walls and windows styles he used. attention to these styles is also something the text focuses on. I think that this film added a lot to my understanding of architecture. It is one thing to read the theory in the text and another to see so many examples from one specific architect. When I was younger I wanted to be an architect, and being from Buffalo I obviously had a lot of esteem for Frank Lloyd Wright.

The second video I watched was Architecture: The Science of Design. The key concepts of this video was the scientific advances in architecture and the development and use of concrete. I related this video to the text based on the section about concrete. Many of the building styles made through the ages, both modern and ancient, utilized a material like this. I really liked this film. While the section about smart houses was a bit corny, and even out dated due to its age, I enjoyed learning about concrete. I always wondered how they laid concrete underwater for bridge supports and such. I choose this film because, like I said previously, I wanted to be an architect when I was younger. As I grew I realized that this was more of an artistic field and I gravitated further into engineering. The Science of Design bridged that gap. 

Module 6

In the sculpture video, I learned that there is an amazing connection between the sculpture and the raw material he/she is going to work with. there is also a lot more planning involved that I would think. I thought the same thing on a previous chapters video regarding painting.

The second video was about glass and ceramics. I have learned a lot about glass before, as I have visited the Corning museum of glass several times in my life. They have a lot of demonstrations there and it has always been an interesting topic to me. One thing I did not know was that different temperatures make the glass react differently and that this is used in the creation of glass items.

Installation art work is a idea that was new to me. I have seen things that qualify as installation art, like a sound room at the art gallery on campus, but I have never seen it in so many forms. I found it interesting that artists work with so many new mediums to create their work. Video installations are particularly interesting to me, like the picture in the text with the Buddha watching a video of himself.

I always find the videos more helpful than the text. Not only is the text very technical, but the example pictures of art it shows often don't have a lot of descriptions. Experts in the field describing works in videos is not only more informative for me, but a lot more entertaining.

While the videos on glass and sculpture certainly added more depth than the reading, at least for me, my favorite video was the installation art video. I found the subject matter fascinating and the variety of methods it depicts and displays is astonishing. 

Peer Review

1.

http://maglekellie.blogspot.com/

http://tylersarratori9944.blogspot.com/

2.

For Project #1, both of the peer projects I reviewed did very good jobs. There were some pictures that were not only amazing snapshots in their won regard, but excellently captured the theme they were meant to represent. The most important discovery however, was how different people went about choosing what types of items to capture. There was a lot of creativity here.

3.

For Project #2 there was only one piece chosen by the peers I reviews that was the same as mine. Tyler choose Salvador Dali's “The transparent Simulacrum of the Feigned Image". Which was actually my favorite painting at the gallery. It was enlightening to see what other people had connections with though. Some works of art that I glossed over and found very uninteresting, other people found amazing. this is an important aspect of art, as it affects us all differently.

4.

Kellie choose Andy Warhol's "100 Cans". I have heard o this piece before, as it is something of a pop culture icon, but never thought much about it. After revisiting it while reading her blog it has piqued my interest more. What makes this piece so popular? is it because it is such a reflection on our daily life? I plan on looking into this.

5.

I found this assignment valuable. not just because I was able to compare on contrast my learning experience with that of my peers, but also because it allowed me to judge where other people are coming from and in what ways they have similar thoughts on the subject matter and where they do not.

6.

I found the comments on my projects helpful. I have a hard time writing subject material, especially on a subject matter I know little about and feedback of any kind of extremely helpful. 

Art Gallery Visit #1

A piece that had an impression on me was GIACOMO BALLA's "DINAMISMO DI UN CANE AL GUINZAGLIO" (1912). The implied movement in this piece was something I haven't seen before. The woman and her dog in it appear to be in very fast motion and stationary at the same time.

Another painting that had an impact on me was YVES TANGUY's "DIVISIBILITÉ INDÉFINIE" (1942). I found this painting to have beautiful, bright colors with amazing uses of light and shadow. The shadow that the main object casts is particularly great and was the first thing to draw my attention to this piece.

I felt a connection with Salvador Dali's " THE TRANSPARENT SIMULACRUM OF THE FEIGNED IMAGE" (1938) immediatly. the painting is very surrel, almost like a strange dream. Being someone who only has strange dreams that I can never understand, it reminded me of my own dreams vividly.

JUSTINE KURLAND's "BUSES ON THE FARM" (2003)  is from a collection of photos from communes in the US. I found a connection with this photo as it depicts people from within our own society, who have access to the same resources as all of us, living in apparent squalor. It speaks a lot about the types of people who choose to live in communities such as these and the impact that decision has on their youth.

I would like to know more about STUART DAVIS's "NEW YORK WATERFRONT" (1938). It is a painting of what appears to represent the New York City skyline from the water front in stylized imagery and scale. I would wonder why specific objects were chosen to be in the skyline rather than others and why the particular colors were used, rather than more realistic colors.

JENNIFER KARADY's "FORMER STAFF SERGEANT STARLYN LARA, C DETACHMENT, 38TH PERSONNEL SERVICES BATTALION, 1ST INFANTRY DIVISION, VETERAN OF OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM" (2010) is defiantly a photo I would like to know more about. This photo is very interesting and while the other photo also displayed at the gallery from this collection was easily understood by me, I could not fathom what the subject matter being displayed was. Especially the bunny in the corner, that appears to be watching the female soldier.

1. I wasn't too thrilled about this assignment when I read it, as I thought it would be very difficult to come up with a personal logo that reflected myself.

2. I am a big gamer, I love games of all types and styles. I started with a keyboard and mouse, but when I realized that a keyboard was extremely difficult for someone as bad at drawing as myself I gave it more thought. First I swapped out a controller for the keyboard. Then i incorporated a die and checker board into the logo for a final logo that was a lot more reflective of myself than the original idea.

 3. That the process of coming up with such an idea was not as fast as I would think. Graphic designs must put a lot of time and effort into these types of things, even if the finished product appears so simple.

4. The amount of time and effort and man power that goes into making a marketing logo. All of the processes and reworks that it much go though. Even more astonishing is that while some logos, like the Nike "Swoosh" may last for decades, many others can come and go within months depending on how they are received by the public. 

Art Material Exploration #1

I had a bit of difficulty creating the value scale with a pencil. It took several attempts to get it right. I found the color wheel interesting to make. The black in the center of my wheel did not turn out to be true black, but I think that is due to the color I choose for my yellow. It appeared to be the right shade in the store but as I was working with it , it appeared more of a yellowish-light brown. Like a lot of people I have always thought that the primary colors were Red, Blue and Green. This project was interesting and informative. I liked the video and learned a lot, but I feel it would be a lot more informative with sound and voice over. 

http://s1287.beta.photobucket.com/user/scibetn01/library/Proj1


After reading the chapter and watching the videos of this module, I have become increasingly observant about art all around me. The most difficult part of this project was determining what a specific viewpoint I was looking at should be. Most subjects I was taking a picture of could have fallen into several categories,  at least to my limited understanding of the subject matter.

Module 3    

 Color is a function of light. The less light that is available, the darker the color gets, to the point of it being black in the absence of light. light is refracted into different colors in different ways. Colors can bring out emotions in humans. Cooler colors tend to be more dark and bring about more negative emotions, while warmer colors bring positive ones.

     The aspect of color that I find most intriguing are harmonies. While I have never been an "art guy", one of my hobbies is painting miniatures. I often spend a lot of time researching what colors go with each other before I decide to paint a batch of them, mostly due to my ignorance on art as a whole. My mother always taught me that my clothes had to match colors, but that isn't really the case. Colors that contrast each other can go together just as pleasantly as complimentary colors can. This chapter has helped me understand more about this topic and thus I will put it to use.

      I found it surprising that artists would plan their paintings in advance. choosing the colors they were to use carefully and working from sketches. I've always thought of art as a creation that was made "in the moment" and not planned. The Scottish woman's story about visiting Italy to inspect the views she was going to paint was something I have never considered before.

      

     That places like restaurants seek out specifics colors in paintings to make their customers more hungry and that colors choices can have such a basic emotional response to begin with. It isn't surprising that a warm painting makes someone happier than are darker one, but I found it very surprising that a painting could control hunger.

Module 2

                In the first video I learned all about various philosophers theories of aesthetics. they varied in both opinion and time frame. In both the article and second video I learned a lot about how the brain interacts with the eyes to find aesthetics pleasing. This in turn guides that hands of artist while making works of art. It all goes hand in hand. We perceive and appreciate art because of how our neurology works and creative individuals transform that into great works of art.

                I think that Plato's philosophy on art and beauty is the most important to how we perceive and categorize art. Plato thought that the true nature of the things we see in the world is the idea of them. He believed that for us to have a perception of beauty there must be a higher form for beauty in which all beautiful objects exist which in turn make them beautiful as well. He felt that for art to exist, there needed to be an idea of what that art should be.

                Changeux's speech concentrated a lot on the size of the human skull, and therefore brain, throughout mankind's history and how that coincided with the perception of aesthetics at the points in time.  I found Ramachandran 's speech incredibly interesting, not to mention entertaining. His "Eight rules of Art" described how the brain perceives aesthetics, as a Neurologist specializing in vision his perception on this matter is both interesting and informative. I found the piece about the blotchy picture of the Dalmatian and how our brains grasps at the picture looking for answer as to what it is particularly interesting.

               

                The text was detailed information delving into the theory of aesthetics and the first video was also about aesthetics but concentrated on individual philosophy of specifics philosophers. The articles and second videos more focus on who the brain works in contrast to our perceptions and enjoyment of art and aesthetics. I found both the Ramachandran 's portion of the video and the article incredibly entertaining and informative. I never knew that so much of the art world and how we perceive both art and everyday beauty is connected to our biology and neurology. Coming into this class I felt I knew that art was this thing humans made to appreciate but after this module I understand that it goes so much deeper than that. 

Week One

1. How was the process of creating the GMail account and setting up the Blog?

Setting up a Gmail account was very easy and the PowerPoint made setting up the blogger account a breeze.

2. What do you expect to learn in this course?

From this class I expect, or at least hope, to develop an understanding and appreciation for art. I have had a very limited exposure to art on almost any level, despite being in my thirties. I have many  friends who are former Art majors or semi-professional artists and I would like to be able to converse with them on topics that they have such a passion for.

3. How do you feel about taking an online course?

I am very comfortable with taking an online class. I have been taking online classes for about ten years and this is about my seventh. I try to take as many as I can a semester as I am an evening student and there isn't much time to fit traditional classes in.