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.