After the reception for Matt Bodett and the Bay Windows was a lecture by Ellen Scott. I didn't really know what to expect from this because I didn't know her, or what her work was like. She started the lecture out with an exercise for the audience. It had four parts to it. 1. cool down and warm up. 2. entanglement-look at every detail and try to see everything. 3. reflect and write. 4 relax and recieve-pay attention to what comes into your mind. This exercise is for before you look at art. So she had the lights dimmed and we sat for a couple minutes with our eyes closed and tried to just focus on breathing. Then she played a video that she made and we tried to notice every detail. The video was at the bottom of a couple escalators at the Central Station in Hong Kong. It was around rush hour and so there were tons of people moving about. Ellen said she just stood there in the middle of all the people and just stood still with a camera. After watching the video she had us write down everything that came to mind. Here is what I wrote:
Somewhere in another country. All asian people. Most girls had short hair. No one looked happy. There was a girl with flowers coming down the escalator. The camera was at the bottom of the escalator where people come off. It gave me a sense of movement. I felt weird, almost like I was moving a little bit. It was really crowded. People acted like they didn't see the camera. When it first came on I wasn't really sure about it. I was wondering, why this? There was weird music paying too. Almost like the sound of the escalator, it intensified a little too. Played in slow motion.
The reason for this video was because Ellen was feeling a sense of "otherness," and seeking connection with other people. She wondered what would happen if she stood still amongst all these people who were moving.
The themes of her exhibit are separation, longing, isolation..etc. She talked about her process and her work that is in the gallery opening tonight. It's titled "Liminal" that comes from the latin word limen meaning threshold. After she finished she had some time for people to ask questions, and that was it. Being at the reception for the whole time before and then being at her lecture for another hour and a half was a lot for me, but she seems really nice and good at what she does.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Extra Credit: Bay Windows
I attended the reception for the Bay Windows in the Student Union Building on campus. I really had no idea what it was, but wanted to go check it out. I walked around the building trying to find these "windows" and wasn't finding anything. I asked someone and he said, "oh those are them," pointing at two large rectangles coming out from the wall with paintings inside. I guess they used to be windows, and were left that way with the new add-on to the building. There were only a few people there when I was there and I felt pretty weird because i've never gone to one of these things before. Also when I first looked at the paintings I honestly didn't like them. I was wondering what they were and why someone chose to paint them. After I read the little plaque about what they represented it made a lot more sense and I could see that. I liked the painting on the left more. The man flying away on his own represented going and finding new ideas and venturing away from the pack. I liked that. The colors were kind of interesting, orange for the sky i'm assuming and then blues and red for the planes.
After awhile more people showed up, a lot more people, I had no idea there were these events. The food was good, especially the brownies :). They announced the request for proposals for round 2 of the Bay Windows. There are two more that are going to be filled in by another artist and the competition for that is starting. I was given one of the sign up packets, but I don't think i'll be entering. I didn't take any pictures so I can't really post anything else about it.
After awhile more people showed up, a lot more people, I had no idea there were these events. The food was good, especially the brownies :). They announced the request for proposals for round 2 of the Bay Windows. There are two more that are going to be filled in by another artist and the competition for that is starting. I was given one of the sign up packets, but I don't think i'll be entering. I didn't take any pictures so I can't really post anything else about it.
Artist # 2 Ron Mueck
I think his sculptures are really interesting. The sizes are crazy. Some of them are huge and some much smaller. They’re very realistic. That almost throws me off when just looking at a photo because you see this sculpture of a human that looks very real and think that it’s just life-size, but then you see other people next to it and it’s much, much bigger than real people. It’s interesting to me why he chooses to blow up these people. What’s the point? Or why he’ll make some of them way smaller than an actual person. I found that he plays with the scale to produce “disconcertingly jarring visual images.” (Wikipedia ).
The people and the forms they're in that he chooses to sculpt is also interesting to me. They’re in positions that I wouldn’t normally think to see a realist sculpture of. For example, Dead Dad. It’s really weird to me that he made a miniature sculpture of his dad dead lying on the floor nude. I don’t like some of his sculptures, such as that one. Honestly I’m not really into any of the nude sculptures, but it’s just amazing how real they look.
It’s crazy that he can make these huge human sculptures and have them still look so real. There was a close up detail of the foot of his sculpture Boy and it’s so real looking. It seems like it would be very difficult when working with that large of a scale and have the end product to be realistic. Or maybe it’s easier working with larger scales? I’ve never done it, so I can’t say. I do like looking at his work and think it would be really interesting to see them in person.
The people and the forms they're in that he chooses to sculpt is also interesting to me. They’re in positions that I wouldn’t normally think to see a realist sculpture of. For example, Dead Dad. It’s really weird to me that he made a miniature sculpture of his dad dead lying on the floor nude. I don’t like some of his sculptures, such as that one. Honestly I’m not really into any of the nude sculptures, but it’s just amazing how real they look.
It’s crazy that he can make these huge human sculptures and have them still look so real. There was a close up detail of the foot of his sculpture Boy and it’s so real looking. It seems like it would be very difficult when working with that large of a scale and have the end product to be realistic. Or maybe it’s easier working with larger scales? I’ve never done it, so I can’t say. I do like looking at his work and think it would be really interesting to see them in person.
February 5
The other night I was walking back to my car from my night class and I really wish I would have had my camera. The sky was really light and had a pink tint to it. I park in the park so as I was walking to my car the trees agains the sky looked really pretty. I liked the dead branches and the shapes up against the color. The next night it was like that again, but the sky wasn't as pink.
I was looking at flickr again and found some pictures that I liked.
I thought this picture was kind of funny, and I recognized it was Ron Meuck's work, which we looked at in class. I had never heard or seen of his work before so I thought it was cool to see it on here.
I really like the motion of whatever this is and the colors. It looks like something that could have worked for our assignment that's due on Tuesday. I wanted to put it in here just in case it could work for anything else during the semester.
I just like the wallpaper here. I like patterns like this one and also thought it might come up later.
Last I have this sunset because I love sunsets. :) I liked the colors in this particular one with the grass and the water. When I was younger I was talking to my friend and said, "if I could have a job that had to do with sunsets I would love it!" and she always makes fun of me for that. I just love the colors and the peacefulness of them. They make me feel good. Also the fact that they only last for so long, you can't sit and stare forever because it disappears, makes me want to see it even more.
In class yesterday we were given our new assignment. While she was talking I instantly had an idea, but I'm not sure if it's the one i'll go with since it's my first. I thought of making a "pillow" out of marshmallows. Because marshmallows are light and fluffy, I thought I could change the meaning I guess into a pillow. I'm not sure if that's the right way to word that or not. I don't think I would melt them and form it that way, I would just glue them together to make a pillow. Desirably I would want it to be life-size, but it depends how many marshmallows I would have to use for that. They're already white so that works too. I'm just not sure if this really fulfills the assignment. We didn't talk about it very much, so i'll learn more about it next week. As far as the assignment that's due on tuesday, I am getting closer to being done. I still have to add some more wires and then connect the sides together so it will stand up. Then I have to add my skin, which I think i'm using plastic wrap. I haven't decided if I want a colored wrap or just clear though. I also wanted to maybe add a base, or if I feel it should hang I might do that. I like it because it was meant to have an outline, but not a set plan so I can do what I feel needs to be done as I go. If one thing doesn't work out, then i'll do another. I also have to write my artist statement, but I will have it all done by Tuesday!
This journaling overwhelms me a little bit because i've never really been one to write in a journal. I'm not to the point where I like doing it yet, so it's hard to get it all done. I really need to do more artists since we have to have 30 of them and I have one so far. It just becomes a lot to journal, do the artists, do extra credit, and do the actual assignment on top of all my other classes. I've been writing here for at least 30 minutes so I better get on to the rest of stuff.
I was looking at flickr again and found some pictures that I liked.
I thought this picture was kind of funny, and I recognized it was Ron Meuck's work, which we looked at in class. I had never heard or seen of his work before so I thought it was cool to see it on here.
I really like the motion of whatever this is and the colors. It looks like something that could have worked for our assignment that's due on Tuesday. I wanted to put it in here just in case it could work for anything else during the semester.
I just like the wallpaper here. I like patterns like this one and also thought it might come up later.
Last I have this sunset because I love sunsets. :) I liked the colors in this particular one with the grass and the water. When I was younger I was talking to my friend and said, "if I could have a job that had to do with sunsets I would love it!" and she always makes fun of me for that. I just love the colors and the peacefulness of them. They make me feel good. Also the fact that they only last for so long, you can't sit and stare forever because it disappears, makes me want to see it even more.
In class yesterday we were given our new assignment. While she was talking I instantly had an idea, but I'm not sure if it's the one i'll go with since it's my first. I thought of making a "pillow" out of marshmallows. Because marshmallows are light and fluffy, I thought I could change the meaning I guess into a pillow. I'm not sure if that's the right way to word that or not. I don't think I would melt them and form it that way, I would just glue them together to make a pillow. Desirably I would want it to be life-size, but it depends how many marshmallows I would have to use for that. They're already white so that works too. I'm just not sure if this really fulfills the assignment. We didn't talk about it very much, so i'll learn more about it next week. As far as the assignment that's due on tuesday, I am getting closer to being done. I still have to add some more wires and then connect the sides together so it will stand up. Then I have to add my skin, which I think i'm using plastic wrap. I haven't decided if I want a colored wrap or just clear though. I also wanted to maybe add a base, or if I feel it should hang I might do that. I like it because it was meant to have an outline, but not a set plan so I can do what I feel needs to be done as I go. If one thing doesn't work out, then i'll do another. I also have to write my artist statement, but I will have it all done by Tuesday!
This journaling overwhelms me a little bit because i've never really been one to write in a journal. I'm not to the point where I like doing it yet, so it's hard to get it all done. I really need to do more artists since we have to have 30 of them and I have one so far. It just becomes a lot to journal, do the artists, do extra credit, and do the actual assignment on top of all my other classes. I've been writing here for at least 30 minutes so I better get on to the rest of stuff.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Artist #1 Frank Gehry
I have never heard of Frank Gehry, therefore have never looked at his work. I wasn’t even sure what kind of artist he was. In class we were told to look him up for our skeleton skin project because his work is similar. As soon as I typed in his name, I found that he is an architect, and a very different one. His work is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I haven’t seen any of his buildings in real life, I’m pretty sure I would remember if I have. They are very unique and I like them. Of course I don’t like every single one of them, but I like the general look of something different.
I read a quote by him that said his skill is his hand-eye coordination. He can come up with a sketch and actually build to look just like that sketch. These sketches aren’t just regular buildings; they are masterpieces that are functional. That’s what I like. His buildings are like big sculptures, but they’re buildings, so they’re used for something. I think it would be cool to work in one of them.
Frank Gehry’s buildings don’t look like other buildings, just by the materials used to make them. Most buildings are pretty boring to look at, neutral colors, tall and straight. He uses colors, and metals, some are shiny, that are definitely not tall and straight. They really draw attention to them and make me want to see them in person. Here I have some of his buildings.
I like this building, and it's hard to say why. It just pleases my eyes while looking at it. I like the color chosen. It's not shiny metal, but kind of metallic. I like the shapes and think it all just works together really well.
These two pictures are of the same building, but I liked the different views. I also really like the look to it. I love how the building reflects onto the water and sort of gives it a symmetrical look that way. I think it plays with the actual building and adds to it.
I thought this one was just pretty crazy. I don't necessarily like it, but I don't really dislike either. This one is a little further out there as far as a building. When I first looked at it, I didn't even think it could be a building. I don't really like the pieces that are added on the "roof" of it that just kind of stick up.
I thought this one was pretty crazy too. It reminds me of a castle or a play toy for kids to climb around on. I'm not sure if I really like it. I was drawn to this one more than the one above it, but i'm still not crazy about it. I do like the sheen to it and the color though.
I read a quote by him that said his skill is his hand-eye coordination. He can come up with a sketch and actually build to look just like that sketch. These sketches aren’t just regular buildings; they are masterpieces that are functional. That’s what I like. His buildings are like big sculptures, but they’re buildings, so they’re used for something. I think it would be cool to work in one of them.
Frank Gehry’s buildings don’t look like other buildings, just by the materials used to make them. Most buildings are pretty boring to look at, neutral colors, tall and straight. He uses colors, and metals, some are shiny, that are definitely not tall and straight. They really draw attention to them and make me want to see them in person. Here I have some of his buildings.
I like this building, and it's hard to say why. It just pleases my eyes while looking at it. I like the color chosen. It's not shiny metal, but kind of metallic. I like the shapes and think it all just works together really well.
These two pictures are of the same building, but I liked the different views. I also really like the look to it. I love how the building reflects onto the water and sort of gives it a symmetrical look that way. I think it plays with the actual building and adds to it.
I thought this one was just pretty crazy. I don't necessarily like it, but I don't really dislike either. This one is a little further out there as far as a building. When I first looked at it, I didn't even think it could be a building. I don't really like the pieces that are added on the "roof" of it that just kind of stick up.
I thought this one was pretty crazy too. It reminds me of a castle or a play toy for kids to climb around on. I'm not sure if I really like it. I was drawn to this one more than the one above it, but i'm still not crazy about it. I do like the sheen to it and the color though.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
February 2, Class Notes
Vocab:
Balance
Counter balance
gravity
weight
horizontal axis/ vertical axis
symmetry of bilateral symmetry
asymmetry
additive
kinetic
representation
Nancy Graves
Today we watched a video on Nancy Graves and just a behind the scenes look at the making of one of her sculptures. We were to write down the vocabulary as we heard it in the video. I also took some other notes while watching the film. At the very beginning when talking about balance, it was with the body. It had to do with the vertical axis and keeping that in control. Arms and legs were used to help balance the body and act as a counterbalance. Say your left leg is out in the air, your right arm can act as a counterbalance to keep your whole body balanced. In this film we learned that sculptors like to play with balance in their pieces. It's one of the main components of a sculpture. Nancy Graves later stated that balance has to do with weight, mass, placement and color. I thought the color aspect was interesting. I had never thought of that before, and might not have if I didn't hear it. She said that the color in a piece can bring about balance.
The only thing I heard about gravity was that gravity pulls on each element. Nancy also wanted her piece to look weightless, so gravity was an issue for her.
Symmetry was a big word they went over. To be symmetrical both sides of an object, or art piece needs to be the same. That means with the same weight and same look. Most buildings are built to be symmetrical. When we see things that are symmetrical we feel good. It's comforting and familiar. You can have something that is balanced, meaning the weight, but not be symmetrical. I believe that is called asymmetrical.
There was a little about kinetic. If a sculpture isn't moving, but shows motion, the sculptor wants you to feel movement. You can see the motion that the object is moving in, but it's a sculpture and stands still. That's all I heard as far as vocabulary. I wrote a little more just about Nancy.
She likes using familiar objects, but putting them together in unfamiliar ways. She likes to question what is art and what can be sculpture. She likes to do things that have never been done before. These two things definitely showed in her sculpture from this film. She used a lot of really recognizable objects, but put them together in weird ways so you would question why it's in the place it is. Her style, and this sculpture particularly brought up some discussion in class. One guy didn't buy into the whole weightless look to her sculpture. I can see why he said that, but at the same time I agree with the other side. How the objects were placed we made to look like they're just floating. I'm also not sure how I feel about artists not doing their own work. This was another issue brought up because Nancy Graves just dictated what to do and where to put things basically. She did paint some, but in the video it looked like the other people did most of the work. I've never thought about the work that goes into a piece so I thought that was interesting. I know that i'm not okay if the artist really isn't doing anything, if they never touch their own work. Even if they come up with the idea, to me that's not an artist. An artist is someone who actually makes something. Anyone can come up with ideas, but the whole thing is actually replicating that idea into something tangible.
To change the subject, I actually started on my project. It's looking how I imagined, it's just a slow process. I'm using a really thin wire to connect all the wire pieces and that cut me a few times! I'm definitely going to have to work on this a lot before Tuesday to get it done! i'm a little worried about it all coming together, but I just need to spend more time with it. Right now I need to get to some espanol for class tomorrow. Adios!
Balance
Counter balance
gravity
weight
horizontal axis/ vertical axis
symmetry of bilateral symmetry
asymmetry
additive
kinetic
representation
Nancy Graves
Today we watched a video on Nancy Graves and just a behind the scenes look at the making of one of her sculptures. We were to write down the vocabulary as we heard it in the video. I also took some other notes while watching the film. At the very beginning when talking about balance, it was with the body. It had to do with the vertical axis and keeping that in control. Arms and legs were used to help balance the body and act as a counterbalance. Say your left leg is out in the air, your right arm can act as a counterbalance to keep your whole body balanced. In this film we learned that sculptors like to play with balance in their pieces. It's one of the main components of a sculpture. Nancy Graves later stated that balance has to do with weight, mass, placement and color. I thought the color aspect was interesting. I had never thought of that before, and might not have if I didn't hear it. She said that the color in a piece can bring about balance.
The only thing I heard about gravity was that gravity pulls on each element. Nancy also wanted her piece to look weightless, so gravity was an issue for her.
Symmetry was a big word they went over. To be symmetrical both sides of an object, or art piece needs to be the same. That means with the same weight and same look. Most buildings are built to be symmetrical. When we see things that are symmetrical we feel good. It's comforting and familiar. You can have something that is balanced, meaning the weight, but not be symmetrical. I believe that is called asymmetrical.
There was a little about kinetic. If a sculpture isn't moving, but shows motion, the sculptor wants you to feel movement. You can see the motion that the object is moving in, but it's a sculpture and stands still. That's all I heard as far as vocabulary. I wrote a little more just about Nancy.
She likes using familiar objects, but putting them together in unfamiliar ways. She likes to question what is art and what can be sculpture. She likes to do things that have never been done before. These two things definitely showed in her sculpture from this film. She used a lot of really recognizable objects, but put them together in weird ways so you would question why it's in the place it is. Her style, and this sculpture particularly brought up some discussion in class. One guy didn't buy into the whole weightless look to her sculpture. I can see why he said that, but at the same time I agree with the other side. How the objects were placed we made to look like they're just floating. I'm also not sure how I feel about artists not doing their own work. This was another issue brought up because Nancy Graves just dictated what to do and where to put things basically. She did paint some, but in the video it looked like the other people did most of the work. I've never thought about the work that goes into a piece so I thought that was interesting. I know that i'm not okay if the artist really isn't doing anything, if they never touch their own work. Even if they come up with the idea, to me that's not an artist. An artist is someone who actually makes something. Anyone can come up with ideas, but the whole thing is actually replicating that idea into something tangible.
To change the subject, I actually started on my project. It's looking how I imagined, it's just a slow process. I'm using a really thin wire to connect all the wire pieces and that cut me a few times! I'm definitely going to have to work on this a lot before Tuesday to get it done! i'm a little worried about it all coming together, but I just need to spend more time with it. Right now I need to get to some espanol for class tomorrow. Adios!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
January 31
For my drawing class we were assigned to chose a drawing by a well-known artist and try to replicate it as closely as possible. It's meant to just be a line drawing, because that's what we've learned so far. I didn't have any artists in mind so I just went to the library and started looking through different artists. I honestly didn't know how many book there were on art at the library! There's tons of different kinds of books, it was pretty interesting. Anyways I finally found one that I thought I would be able to replicate. (That was the main decision factor, not what it looked like really, or the subject matter). I decided on a drawing by Van Gogh. It doesn't look like his style really, but it's in his drawing book and you can slightly read his name signed below it. It's a picture of a dog in an attack stance and looks like it's growling. I couldn't find the picture online because I don't think it's one of his popular drawings, and he mostly did paintings..(I think). That's what I know him from anyways. I also didn't have time to upload the picture right now, but maybe I will upload his and mine later on. I started the drawing tonight, and the final one is due tomorrow night at my class. I'm a bit of a procrastinator. I pretty much always have been. I don't think that I'm as bad as others, but if I have extra time I tend to wait until the day before it's due for some reason. It's never caused my grades to hurt though, so I figure it's okay. That's all I can think of to write about right now. Other than how I need to start doing my artists pages. I'll get to those this week.
January 31
I've been counting Sundays as part of the previous week, even though technically Sunday is the first day of the week. To me, it just seems like it's the end of the school week, and Monday is the beginning. So for the journal sake, can we count Sunday posts as being part of the previous week please? That's how I have it in my head and until I get more into the rhythm of writing in here, it will probably stay that way.
As far as a few things that inspire me...which are probably much different than what inspire other people, are bible versus and right now the book i'm reading. One verse that is on a little plaque in my bathroom that inspires me says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11
I might feel a little uncertain at times and just read that and realize, okay I can do this. I'm also reading this book titled, More Than a Carpenter. It's about a guy who was a skeptic about Christianity and always didn't like them, but then was challenged to find out whether or not the bible contains accurate pieces of historical records of Jesus' life. The author of the book, Josh McDowell, was studying to be a lawyer and took a break from school to pursue this because he really wanted to know. The book is just about what he found out, which it was very accurate. It's kind of weird that this inspires me, I mean it's a good story, but I think most people wouldn't say it's really inspiring. It is to me because this man had a yearning, or a desire to know something and he went out and found it and it changed his life. Just reading the book could change people's lives. It's not an inspiring story specific to art, but just to life in general, which school, and this art class fall into that category. I've had a rough week and so right now all I can think to write about is these things that can inspire me and lift my spirits. :) (Don't worry, that's as personal as I'll go, so it's not weird).
On a different note, I'm so happy that it snowed some today! It's so pretty when it's snowing outside. I love the way the snow looks falling, especially at night.
I love the contrast of the white snow against the dark sky, but I especially love when the sky is pink at night and bright from all the snow. I'm from Oregon and during the winters we usually got a lot of snow, so i'm used to that and have always loved it. Here, it doesn't snow so much so I like it when it does. It feels more like home.
As far as a few things that inspire me...which are probably much different than what inspire other people, are bible versus and right now the book i'm reading. One verse that is on a little plaque in my bathroom that inspires me says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11
I might feel a little uncertain at times and just read that and realize, okay I can do this. I'm also reading this book titled, More Than a Carpenter. It's about a guy who was a skeptic about Christianity and always didn't like them, but then was challenged to find out whether or not the bible contains accurate pieces of historical records of Jesus' life. The author of the book, Josh McDowell, was studying to be a lawyer and took a break from school to pursue this because he really wanted to know. The book is just about what he found out, which it was very accurate. It's kind of weird that this inspires me, I mean it's a good story, but I think most people wouldn't say it's really inspiring. It is to me because this man had a yearning, or a desire to know something and he went out and found it and it changed his life. Just reading the book could change people's lives. It's not an inspiring story specific to art, but just to life in general, which school, and this art class fall into that category. I've had a rough week and so right now all I can think to write about is these things that can inspire me and lift my spirits. :) (Don't worry, that's as personal as I'll go, so it's not weird).
On a different note, I'm so happy that it snowed some today! It's so pretty when it's snowing outside. I love the way the snow looks falling, especially at night.
I love the contrast of the white snow against the dark sky, but I especially love when the sky is pink at night and bright from all the snow. I'm from Oregon and during the winters we usually got a lot of snow, so i'm used to that and have always loved it. Here, it doesn't snow so much so I like it when it does. It feels more like home.
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