1. Why is the "viewer" an important element in conceptual art?
-The article states that, "conceptual art is not about forms or materials, but about ideas and meanings." I think this statement is saying that the ideas and meanings come from the viewer, therefore making the viewer an important element of conceptual art. It's meant to be thought about when looking at it.
2. Why was it so difficult for people to accept the "Fountain" by Duchamp, as art?
-It said that before the Fountain, people were rarely required to really question what art was. Art was either paintings or sculptures, so there wasn't much interpretation or variation in art. After the "Fountain" was put out there, it was a lot different and people had to question, "is this art?" and if that can be art. The urinal was not a statement, but a question for it's viewers and I think that's why it was difficult to accept it.
3. What question did Duchamp pose with his "readymades"? Explain with examples.
-I think the main questions he posed were, is this art? Can this be art? What does this mean? With his urinal, the article says that people had to question it with those questions. It was hard to see what that urinal meant. His picture of Mona Lisa with the beard was the same way. Can that be art? Is it just a copy of someone else's work?
4. Why is it difficult to categorize Conceptual art in the context of traditional art? Explain using examples.
-Conceptual art is just hard to categorize because it seems to be different for every artist. The article talked about how many definitions of conceptual art there is, and that there's probably as many definitions as there are artists. With traditional art you pretty much have three categories: paintings, sculptures, and drawings. Conceptual art can pretty much be anything, so it's hard to put it into categories. Also because it's more about the idea and meaning behind it.
5. Choose a quote from the article that you find interesting and explain. Be sure to cite page number.
-"A work of art normally behaves as if it is a statement: 'This is a sculpture of the Old Testament hero David by Michelangelo'; or 'This is a portrait of the Mona Lisa'. " (p. 6) I thought this quote was interesting because i've never thought of it this way, but it makes a lot of sense. It's saying that with non conceptual art you can look at it and say oh that is __________ (fill in the blank). It's not really a question if it is art. With conceptual art, it is not as much as a statement as it is a question. We have to question the meaning of it and how it is art.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sketches
So I posted my sketches from the paper exercise we did in lab, but those didn't go along with my skeleton skin project. I ended up changing my idea so here are the sketches for the project I made. These look a lot different than what my actual project turned out to be because I didn't really know what my end product was going to be. 
Stress
Yesterday in class I found out that our transformation projects are due this coming Tuesday. I just got back from my trip, so I obviously haven't been able to start my project. I thought I knew what I was going to do, but when I tried that it did not work. I was going to put marshmallows in the microwave and them shape them into something before they dried. When I tried that it didn't work because they dry so fast and are hard to mold into anything. I got really discouraged after doing that because I didn't know what else to do for the assignment and the due date is coming up quick.
The only other idea I have at the moment is also one I had before. I thought of using marshmallows to make a pillow. I was planning on just glueing them together to make a pillow shape. Then yesterday I thought about actually putting the pillow in a pillow case. That way you look at it and think, oh a pillow, but when you actually look at it it's made of marshmallows. When I actually tried to glue the marshmallows together, it didn't work. I tried super glue. so I could try another adhesive to keep them together. I also thought of using toothpicks too.
Another idea that went along with the pillow is to get a real pillow, take the stuffing out and fill it with rocks or another material that is opposite of fluffy. When I thought of that idea it reminded me of the teddy bear we saw in class, but I didn't think of the pillow because of the teddy bear at all. I wouldn't want to get graded down or anything like that because it would be similar. I'm just a little stressed with this project because my plan did not work, and i'm scared these won't either and i'll be left with nothing. I can't let that happen, and I won't but the process of getting somewhere is not fun.
The only other idea I have at the moment is also one I had before. I thought of using marshmallows to make a pillow. I was planning on just glueing them together to make a pillow shape. Then yesterday I thought about actually putting the pillow in a pillow case. That way you look at it and think, oh a pillow, but when you actually look at it it's made of marshmallows. When I actually tried to glue the marshmallows together, it didn't work. I tried super glue. so I could try another adhesive to keep them together. I also thought of using toothpicks too.
Another idea that went along with the pillow is to get a real pillow, take the stuffing out and fill it with rocks or another material that is opposite of fluffy. When I thought of that idea it reminded me of the teddy bear we saw in class, but I didn't think of the pillow because of the teddy bear at all. I wouldn't want to get graded down or anything like that because it would be similar. I'm just a little stressed with this project because my plan did not work, and i'm scared these won't either and i'll be left with nothing. I can't let that happen, and I won't but the process of getting somewhere is not fun.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Artist # 5 Tom Friedman
Tom Friedman's work is new to me, and I really like it. I love how he uses everyday objects and just completely transforms them into a masterpiece. I was first really interested when I saw his starburst looking object made out of thousands of toothpicks. It's put together so well that you wonder how it's put together. How are the toothpicks staying together? It also looks like it must have taken a really long time.
His structures look amazing just as they are, but then you learn what they're made of and it makes them even more amazing. He uses objects that people use everyday, but in ways that I would never think of using them. For example, construction paper. He made this:
Because construction paper is so common, I have worked with it before, but I know how hard it would be to make this kind of sculpture. It seems like it would be easy because it's just paper, but I know if I tried it, it would be difficult.
You can see his time put into the sculptures. This giant ball is made up of 1500 pieces of chewing gum. Just thinking about the process of chewing all that gum and putting it together to make it look like one solid ball is crazy. When I first saw his different sculptures I thought to myself, "oh that's easy, I could do that." Now I know that it would really not be easy and I probably couldn't do it, and that's why I'm writing this about him and not myself!
This is the last picture I'll show. It's a self portrait carved into an aspirin.
His work just gets more unique and crazy as I look at it. The detail is amazing when you know that it's in an aspirin. Pills are small enough, but to carve your face into is amazing. The idea itself is amazing. His work is really inspiring while going through our own transformation projects. I really enjoy looking at his work and am glad I was introduced to him in class.
His structures look amazing just as they are, but then you learn what they're made of and it makes them even more amazing. He uses objects that people use everyday, but in ways that I would never think of using them. For example, construction paper. He made this:
Because construction paper is so common, I have worked with it before, but I know how hard it would be to make this kind of sculpture. It seems like it would be easy because it's just paper, but I know if I tried it, it would be difficult.
You can see his time put into the sculptures. This giant ball is made up of 1500 pieces of chewing gum. Just thinking about the process of chewing all that gum and putting it together to make it look like one solid ball is crazy. When I first saw his different sculptures I thought to myself, "oh that's easy, I could do that." Now I know that it would really not be easy and I probably couldn't do it, and that's why I'm writing this about him and not myself!
This is the last picture I'll show. It's a self portrait carved into an aspirin.
His work just gets more unique and crazy as I look at it. The detail is amazing when you know that it's in an aspirin. Pills are small enough, but to carve your face into is amazing. The idea itself is amazing. His work is really inspiring while going through our own transformation projects. I really enjoy looking at his work and am glad I was introduced to him in class.
Class Notes- Conceptual Art
Conceptual Art: The idea is more important than the object.
-It's not always clear what the idea behind it is, so it can be frustrating.
Yoko Ono
-most famous unknown artist
-conceptual work that crosses boundaries
-work involves viewer
-"gives feelings of unfished-ness."- Yoko Ono
-"by conceptualizing things you have a freedom from the object."-Yoko Ono
Rtmark
-anti corporation ideas
-to expose things that are wrong, evil in their minds
-doing it without knowing who did it
-investors get involved with the idea to see it happen
Tom Friedman
-has to do with the everyday things in our lives
-creates mysterious meanings of the objects
Marcel Duchamp
-conceptual artist
-used a urinal as one of his pieces
Janine Antoni
-"loving care" was painted with her hair covered in hair dye
-It's not always clear what the idea behind it is, so it can be frustrating.
Yoko Ono
-most famous unknown artist
-conceptual work that crosses boundaries
-work involves viewer
-"gives feelings of unfished-ness."- Yoko Ono
-"by conceptualizing things you have a freedom from the object."-Yoko Ono
Rtmark
-anti corporation ideas
-to expose things that are wrong, evil in their minds
-doing it without knowing who did it
-investors get involved with the idea to see it happen
Tom Friedman
-has to do with the everyday things in our lives
-creates mysterious meanings of the objects
Marcel Duchamp
-conceptual artist
-used a urinal as one of his pieces
Janine Antoni
-"loving care" was painted with her hair covered in hair dye
Paradise-Aqua Hotel
Although I had never been on a cruise and was really excited to go, I was also really excited to go to Cancun. I had never been there either. Our flights went smoothly and we landed in Cancun on time. It was pouring rain when we got there, but it was okay because it was in the evening and we wouldn't really be able to do anything outside anyways. The minute we walked into our hotel I was blown away. It was absolutely incredible and I never imagined staying somewhere so beautiful. Our hotel was the Fiesta Americana Aqua.
This is the back of the hotel:
and this is the front:
Every room has a balcony with the view of the clear blue ocean. The rooms were amazing too. Really nice, and the view was breath taking. I took tons of pictures. Here are a few:
We started our first full day off eating breakfast in a room that also has a beautiful view of the ocean.
The windows look out over the pools and the ocean below them. The breakfast was also amazing. There's a huge buffet, but not like continental breakfasts at most hotels. This buffet was pretty much gourmet. It was pretty cloudy outside but we still decided to go down to the beach after eating. We walked along the water and then the sun began to come out! The water looked pretty cool against the dark clouds.
To get down to the water there is a little cliff of sand. In the wall there are shells everywhere. I took some pictures, and liked this one. I like the detail of the sand with the colors of the water and sky in the background.
For some reason my boyfriend and I were very stupid and didn't bring sunscreen, or buy any to put on. It was cloudy with spots of sun for awhile, but still really warm and we thought we would be fine without any sunscreen. After awhile all the clouds were gone and it was just clear blue sky. We spent the whole afternoon out on the beach until it was dark. We did end up putting sunscreen on later in the afternoon, but it must not have helped because we got burnt crisp. It was the worst burn I have ever had. We both usually don't burn in the sun, or if we do it will be gone by the next day. So this burn was so incredibly painful I couldn't stand it. We had to get tylenol because the pain was so bad I couldn't sleep, and it hurt to do anything else. I was so mad at myself for that first day because it ruined our time in the sun for the rest of the trip. I spent my time with clothes on and in the shade. Today is Sunday, I got burnt on Tuesday and I am still burnt. My chest is still bright red, and i'm just now starting to peel..it's gross. It definitely taught me to never not wear sunscreen again! (or at least go tanning before like our friends did).
This is the back of the hotel:
and this is the front:
Every room has a balcony with the view of the clear blue ocean. The rooms were amazing too. Really nice, and the view was breath taking. I took tons of pictures. Here are a few:
We started our first full day off eating breakfast in a room that also has a beautiful view of the ocean.
The windows look out over the pools and the ocean below them. The breakfast was also amazing. There's a huge buffet, but not like continental breakfasts at most hotels. This buffet was pretty much gourmet. It was pretty cloudy outside but we still decided to go down to the beach after eating. We walked along the water and then the sun began to come out! The water looked pretty cool against the dark clouds.
To get down to the water there is a little cliff of sand. In the wall there are shells everywhere. I took some pictures, and liked this one. I like the detail of the sand with the colors of the water and sky in the background.
For some reason my boyfriend and I were very stupid and didn't bring sunscreen, or buy any to put on. It was cloudy with spots of sun for awhile, but still really warm and we thought we would be fine without any sunscreen. After awhile all the clouds were gone and it was just clear blue sky. We spent the whole afternoon out on the beach until it was dark. We did end up putting sunscreen on later in the afternoon, but it must not have helped because we got burnt crisp. It was the worst burn I have ever had. We both usually don't burn in the sun, or if we do it will be gone by the next day. So this burn was so incredibly painful I couldn't stand it. We had to get tylenol because the pain was so bad I couldn't sleep, and it hurt to do anything else. I was so mad at myself for that first day because it ruined our time in the sun for the rest of the trip. I spent my time with clothes on and in the shade. Today is Sunday, I got burnt on Tuesday and I am still burnt. My chest is still bright red, and i'm just now starting to peel..it's gross. It definitely taught me to never not wear sunscreen again! (or at least go tanning before like our friends did).
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