Final Analysis

For my final work, I took inspiration from Louise Nevelson. She was an abstract expressionist sculptor who took inspiration from nature and cubism. Her work was very layered, monochromatic, and three-dimensional.
  Cascade by Lousie Nevelson

For my piece, I attempted to take her idea of environmental art, as well as the whole idea of three-dimensional. But instead, my layout was on paper and cardboard, as well as the inclusion of cardboard in the sense of recycling.

The focal point is the deepest cut with the most ridges. The eye follows a zigzag path up ad down the painting.
Some of the implied lines may be the space between each cutout, and the cardboard that comes outward. Looking at it from an angle does this best.
The implied texture is the cutout, but at the same time, there is actual texture since it is a different layer of paper at each color. This as well as the cardboard that comes out a couple cm.
For color schemes, it is mostly orange blue and yellow, which would make it mostly complementary as well as the dark edges black paint. It is rather small which makes more focused on detail rather than a bigger picture.

The connotative meaning is going after the same otherworldly feel or memory type of portal feel that Louise Nevelson goes for. This is the outward and inward feeling the image provides.
Denotative is the image is actually inward and outward. There is a deep color range going in, and a dark going outward.
Ideologically it could just mean to go past the darkness that comes at us in everyday life and find the color in life.

Post Modern

The Denotative meaning of my piece is kind of jumbled up, the prompt I used was innocence, and so my art focused on the loss of it more than the securing of it. I displayed this with pop cultural as well as mythological things. Some images I used were pandora's box, the garden of Eden, and Calvin and Hobbess. I tried to use more dark undertones and cut my images into pieces to show separation, as well as some distortion between the images.

The connotative meaning is just the loss of innocence for all people. I personally don't know anyone who is completely innocent, and most people have some stain. Not that it's a bad thing it's just the way it is. The ideological meaning is less sure, but I would say that is is probably how it's a never ending circle in most aspects of human life. Regadless of what you talk about chances are that it has lost some of it innocence or will.

Post Modernity

The readings on post modernism were a little bit confusing during the first reads, and I found myself having to reread sentences two or three times. The idea of art now in the current era of post modernity being so expansive and different than ever before is definitely interesting and relatable. It makes sense even on a personal level with how many aspects of each culture goes into one thing, opposed to what was the norm before with art being specific to an area. The example of Van Gough's painting of the shoes struck me since we looked at it, and I did not draw as much out of it as Jameson. But it still is clear that it does represent one solid idea rather than breaching across many different borders of culture. It is an interesting idea to think about.

TIme's Shape

The Shape of Time was interesting in how it displayed everything's interconnectedness. The whole aspect of everything being placed in extension of people around you and all based on circumstance is interesting and deep but at the same time it seems almost sad. That even though it is art and it is a self-expression, it isn't purely one person but everything else surrounding. And yet its reception is based upon the peers that surrounded it. It kind of downplays the magnificence of a virtuoso, but at the same time is shows just how amazing it is that there is someone with that talent at that time. The idea of an invisible chain as events that lead and follow from each action shows how deep the human connection of each person it.


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Greece Pottery

The Art Venue on Thursday featuring Greece pottery was interesting with all the art in something so small. The only modern day equivalent might be coffee mugs with any feature of art. But these don't even come close to the same level of intricacy or care in on each pot. Not only this but the fact that so many of them were so well preserved.

At the same time, the one that was in pieces featuring griffins was the most aged and personally resonated more with me. It was amazing to see how well preserved they were, but being able to see the effect time had on the broken pot was more interesting to me. It was still easy to tell it was a pot before, but the age was another form of art that added to it. Just the idea that the they were thousands of years old is mindblowing.

Data Visualization

The entire aspect of the Art of Data Visualization was a little hard to grasp at first but I think I started to understand further in. The entire idea of putting forth an image to convey a message to people who have not been exposed to said message is more complex than explainable it seems. But data visualization looks to be about being able to make something complicated approachable and understandable withing a short amount of time to everyone capable of recognization and recalling memories and thoughts. The whole idea of being able to share ideas and thoughts through images and collaboration in the hopes of inspiring some people to take it even further or jus to learn seems to be one of the most human things possible. The idea of Data visualization goes beyond the idea of just portraying an image in hopes of resemblance, but actually capturing a certain level of gravity of whatever topic with visual stimulation. At least that's what it seems to be to me.

Video referenced: Click here

White Balance

 White Balance

The top picture has a keyboard with the white backdrop of a bristol pad. On the top picture, the light is coming from the right is yellow which makes the two whites closer to an ivory or beige. The bristol pad personally seems more white, while the plastic material of the keyboard has a tiny amount of light gray (possibly from the shadow)

On the bottom, the light featured is a more is coming from above and is more white. The keyboard still seems less white, white an even more ivory tone coming through. At the same time, the bristol pad has a brighter more pure white coming through.

Original Asgn: click here

Buzzfeed advertisement

I've never been a big fan of facebook, and it seems like most people just use it to avoid conversation with people right in front of them. So I took probably one of the most successful facebook page's ad, buzzfeed, and tried to make it more clear what the message of their advertisement really was. So interpreted it the way I read it, and changed the text as well as inserting a picture of something most people would consider fun or adventurous. (The second picture inserted was supposed to be a man with virtual reality goggles on.)

The denotative message of the advertisement seems to promote laziness, and instead of doing things that are important, just sit back and watch videos instead. It does this through a white texts that pops with a colorful gradient that has a feeling of relaxation.

The connotative message is that whatever you're doing isn't actually that important. Since it doesn't really matter you should do whatever we're saying to instead.

The ideological message looks to be one that maybe aims to keep middle to lower class people in the same financial class by keeping them in a bubble of anti-productivity. Maybe even to hinder the social aspect of being a human, being everyday conversation with people around you.

Art's Authority

Benjamin's proposition that the authority of art is lost seems true. It resonates with me personally as well. I know I would rather see something that people are crazy about than hear them describe it to me with words or letters. And now that images of everything are available it seems like everything is over saturated. Personally, because art is so available I know that I don't tend to be excited when I'm in its presence. It's like living in a city your whole life versus visiting a city for the very first time after living on a farm your entire life. Reproduction does seem to be a good thing for the means of exposure, but it does seem to make people less inclined to appreciate art. I think it takes away a huge part of the experience or rarity of art pieces.

http://arthistoryworlds.org/3-the-standing-stones-in-england/

On the link above there are pictures of Stonehenge and then later photos have people next to them. Just as an example it shows how large they actually are, and even seeing these pictures you can't quite appreciate the megalith.

BMA Trip

 The three works of art that stood out to me were Moonlight on the Canal by Johan Barthold Jongkind, Moon Reflection by Louise Nevelson, and finally Nude by Henri-Edmond Cross.

 (above and right) Moon Reflection

(left) Nude

 Moonlight on the Canal (right)

Moonlight on the Canal was my favorite out of the three artworks I chose. It stood out to me for a list of reasons. The first being its somewhat hidden complexity. Although it appears to just be shadows and rather dark there is a quite a bit of detail in regard to the shade of each shadow. This is what allows the piece to have a good field of depth and not appear flat. All the particularities with how the light hits on the trees, water, and the windmills presents a more realistic image of the night than is usually portrayed with just dark blues and purples. Even the presentation of the man in the moonlight stimulates a more realistic eye view of being able to make some characteristics than a simple shadow of a man. All these reasons tied in with a smaller size painting really shows the care put into the portraying a certain image of nighttime. For me this painting was rather calming and reminded me of all the late nights outside with my friends by the water. At a certain point of the night, when there is no light except the moons and stars, your eyes adjust, and you can make out everything around you. Jongkind's artwork portrays a nostalgic image for me.

Here are some similar works by Jongkind:
 http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=27872
http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/detail.php?ID=106078

Hazy Vision

"Visibility" by Calvino is about how imagination is its own world entirely, that occupies each person's mind. He goes on to explain how the inner-mind and thought of each person can be displayed through words and images. Though this piece wasn't necessarily an easy read, there are a few ideas and lines that capture the essence of what Calvino is trying to express. ""but in middle there opens up a field of infinite possibilities in the application of the individual imagination, in how one depicts characters, places, and scenes in motion."
Calvino speaks about how St. Ignatius opens ups the interpretation instead of the prior route of the Church to give a firm idea and outlook on each subject. Rather than having an image that is forced upon the recipient, it is open for the imagination. This ties in with what we've discussed in class some. That even though there is deliberate symbolism in art pieces, there does seem to be a gray area of interpretation that is open to all. And the same in regards or representing the mind with art, it is completely up to the artist to display all the feelings and ideas behind each art piece.

Taboo Tattoos

While attending the Julio Gallery the display that struck a chord with me was "Ink Bias: Seven Portraits" by Rob Moore. Moore explained how he saw tattoos as an art form, although people with tattoos often suffer from prejudice. Moore stated that he has personally received judgemental looks when he displays his body art.

Personally, I don't have any tattoos and haven't given much thought to getting one. But I can relate to the feeling of being judged because of appearance for whatever reason. It is ridiculous to think that a tattoo which may signify such a spectrum of different things would cause other people to judge or think poorly of you. Though I can understand why it may be intimidating, I do agree with Moore that tattoos truly are often a work of art. Moore mentioned towards the end of his explanation that each tattoo does not necessarily line up with the corresponding picture on the wall. It does come back to possibly the most cliché sayings, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

 The faces that each tattoo belongs to The left display of tattoos

"Art is a Cat"

After reading "The Whole Ball is Wax" by Jerry Saltz, the idea of art being an experience and not something simple or mundane was clarified. Before reading Saltz's article, I already had a similar opinion to the argument being made. But through Saltz's articulation, it was clarified how art does have such a significant role in human life. Art is one of the things that truly set humankind apart from the rest of nature, the ability to portray and provoke so many thoughts and emotions through purposeful imagery is exclusive to man. The line that stuck out the most was, “Art is a bridge to a new vision and the vision itself, a medium or matrix through which one sees the world,” I have felt seen the world from such a multitude of perspectives through the immense types of art.

Being able to see outside of the rigidity of society and its tendency to simplify or be direct, is a challenge to all people. Being able to find the various nuances in a piece of art is a skill every person should have. The world of art is so immense and full of expression; it does indeed change and influence the world in such a specific way that it is impossible to ignore. Through Saltz’s clarification it is shown how art is a part of “The whole ball of wax”, which is to say it is found in everything.