Week 14 Video Review

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

The Lowbrow video taught me about the genre and its history.  It also was interesting to see how much the artists are making for their paintings.  For the Tate video I learned about the conflicting approach between the MOMO and the Tate approach.  For the Native American video I learned about their ancestors bones, eating habits, and diseases.  For the George Eastman video I learned about his collection of photography and also his Motion Pictures archive.  

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.  I think that the Tate video and the Eastman video both relate to the creation of the project because they relate to directly to museums and exhibits.  The other two videos relate to the project in a different way.  They are more like topics that could be used for the exhibit.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?  Yes they do.  I found the videos very interesting this time.

Week 13 Video Review

1. Explain why you selected each of the FOUR videos you choose from the selection listed above.

The first video, Uncertainty: Modernity and Art  I chose because I wanted to learn more about the affect the nazi's had on art.   The second video, Hockney on Photography I chose because I wanted to learn more about the affect photography has had on modern art.  The third video, The Power of Art: Rothko i chose because I wanted to learn more about the artist.  The fourth video, Isamu Noguchi: The Sculpture of Spaces I also 

chose because I wanted to learn more about the artist.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

For the Modernity and Art video I learned that Hitler held annual exhibitions and their most recognized artists were patriots that rejected modern art.  For the Hockney video I found it interesting that he used many photographs to observe a large object like the grand canyon and then make a painting out his observations.  For the Noguchi video I learned about his use of gardens, stones, and water around his sculptures.  For the Rothko video I learned about his upbringing in Russia, his growth as an artist, and his darker days when alcohol and tobacco use started to destroy his life.  

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?  They focused on specific artists of the 21st century, their lives and work.  

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

 They were very informative.  I think that they add a lot of depth to the book, which touches on many topics but rarely gets into great detail.  

Week 12 Gallery visit

Exhibit 1

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:
1. What is the title of the exhibit?  The more things change, the more they stay the same.
2. What is the theme of the exhibition? Political cartoons that were mostly published in the 1960's.  They were about the U.S. and our relations with the Middle East.  

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:1. What type of lighting is used? Slightly dimmed lighting.
2. What colors are used on the walls?  Grey.
3. What materials are used in the interior artchitecture of the space?  Drywall and paint.
4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?  It is a long alley with pictures on each side of the wall.  You follow the cartoons in a timeline as you walk down the hall.

Step 3: The Artwork

 Questions about the artwork:1. How are the artworks organized?  Chronologically.
2. How are the artrworks similar?  They are all about similar topics.
3. How are the artworks different?  Different drawings in each one.
4. How are the artworks framed?  They are matted with gray then framed with a black frame. 
5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?They are titled and dated on top  of each drawing.
6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other? They are about 2 feet apart from one another. 

Step 4: Art Criticism Exercise

Select three of the artworks from the show and use the Art Criticism worksheet to desribe, analyze, bracket and interpret the work using the 5-step Art Criticism Process described.

Take pictures of the images you are interpreting. If this is not allowed, make quick sketches of the pieces.

1.   Be receptive - Keep an open mind.  Look for what is good.  No put-downs allowed.   This was a nice exhibit. 

2.   Description – Describe what you see.  (subject matter)?  They are cartoons that were published in the buffalo news in the 60's and 70's about political themes.  Although it is about 50 years later, the themes are still very relevant today.

3.   Formal analysis – (form)  What principles and elements were used and how are they used?  Line, balance, value, and shape were used.

4.  Bracketing - Is there anything in or about this work that reminds you of anything else? Do you see any symbols, metaphors, or allegories?  (iconography)  Yes, the point of the gallery is to remind us of todays political environment.  

5.  Interpretation - (content)  What do you think the artist was trying to say?  Each drawing had a different message.  Many were about the city of Buffalo's government or the U.S. relations with the Middle East.  He was trying to show how the government can't seem to get much done around the waterfront, which is still the case today.  He was also trying to show the dislike between the U.S. and the Middle East, which is still the case today.

Step 5: Document Your Visit

Take some pictures (no flash) if it is accepted at the Gallery you are visiting.

Make sketches if you are not able to take photographs.

Bring home brochures and other materials for reference.

Exhibit 2 

Eyes of the skin.  Art and senses: Sound   Stefani Barden

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:
1. What is the title of the exhibit?  Eyes of the skin.  Art and senses: Sound   Stefani Barden
2. What is the theme of the exhibition?  The theme is 

Sound.  It is an investigation into what Marshall McLuhan calls the re-casting of technology with which to understand and act on the world. The three artists: Mark Shepard, J.T. Rinker and Alexandra Spaulding utilize different aural modalities but also different lenses through which to cultivate and express acoustical

information.

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:1. What type of lighting is used?  Very little lighting is used.  It was very dark.
2. What colors are used on the walls?  The walls are grey.
3. What materials are used in the interior artchitecture of the space?  There are umbrellas, a booth, and a wooden instrument with a piece of metal running down the middle of it.
4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space? Each wall has a different piece that can be used to hear sound.  There wasn't much movement, it was a standard set up.

Step 3: The Artwork

 Questions about the artwork:1. How are the artworks organized?  One piece per wall.  The room was a in a square shape.
2. How are the artrworks similar?  Two of them included umbrellas.
3. How are the artworks different?  One was a booth and another was an instrument used to make sound.
4. How are the artworks framed?  They were not framed.
5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?  Yes, they were.
6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?  One per wall.

Step 4: Art Criticism Exercise

Select three of the artworks from the show and use the Art Criticism worksheet to desribe, analyze, bracket and interpret the work using the 5-step Art Criticism Process described.

1.   Be receptive - Keep an open mind.  Look for what is good.  No put-downs allowed.  It is an interactive gallery.  You can listen to sounds through headphones and make noise by touching an instrument.

2.   Description – Describe what you see.  (subject matter)?  On one wall there are three umbrellas hanging.  Above them there are headphones.  The next wall has some sort of wooden instrument.  The third wall has a booth, and the final wall has an open umbrella hanging from the ceiling.

3.   Formal analysis – (form)  What principles and elements were used and how are they used?  Space and form were used because they are 3-dimensional.  Value is used by the umbrella hanging and the shadow it projects on the wall. 

4.  Bracketing - Is there anything in or about this work that reminds you of anything else? Do you see any symbols, metaphors, or allegories?  (iconography)  The umbrellas are meant to be instruments because they create sound when the rain hits them.

5.  Interpretation - (content)  What do you think the artist was trying to say? I think she is trying to explore the dynamics of the human sense of sound.

Take pictures of the images you are interpreting. If this is not allowed, make quick sketches of the pieces.

Step 5: Document Your Visit

Take some pictures (no flash) if it is accepted at the Gallery you are visiting.

Make sketches if you are not able to take photographs.

Bring home brochures and other materials for reference.

Hertzian Rain @ Burchfield Penney

Hertzian Rain @ Birchfield Penney

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:  
1. What is the title of the exhibit? 

Time Share:  An historic art collaboration

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?  These are all paintings about Niagara Falls before World War 1.

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:1. What type of lighting is used?  Normal lighting is used.
2. What colors are used on the walls?  They are grey.
3. What materials are used in the interior artchitecture of the space?  Dry wall and paint.
4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?  There are many paintings spaced perfectly apart.  The gallery winds you through a few rooms.

Step 3: The Artwork

 Questions about the artwork:1. How are the artworks organized?  They are spaced perfectly apart throughout the gallery.
2. How are the artrworks similar?  You can tell that they are from the same era.  Many are portraits or paintings of the falls.
3. How are the artworks different?  Many are looking at the falls or Niagara river, but all are very different.  I couldn't find two that were looking at the same angle.
4. How are the artworks framed?  They have a golden frame in a classical style possibly purposely to age the painting.
5. How are the artworks identified and labeled? Labels are right next to the paintings.
6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?  About two feet apart from one another.

Step 4: Art Criticism Exercise

Select three of the artworks from the show and use the Art Criticism worksheet to desribe, analyze, bracket and interpret the work using the 5-step Art Criticism Process described.

Art Criticism: Describing, Analyzing, and Interpreting Artwork

1.   Be receptive - Keep an open mind.  Look for what is good.  No put-downs allowed.  I like this gallery a lot.  It was neat to see paintings of the falls before there was industrial development around it.  

2.   Description – Describe what you see.  (subject matter)?  Paintings were of the falls, Niagara River, the city of Buffalo, and of prominent figures of this time.

3.   Formal analysis – (form)  What principles and elements were used and how are they used?  Space was used in many paintings that had a background.  Color was used by the blue water and the green trees.  Texture was used in many paintings to show the rough waters of the Niagara river and falls.

4.  Bracketing - Is there anything in or about this work that reminds you of anything else? Do you see any symbols, metaphors, or allegories?  (iconography)  Not really.  I think that this was just an exhibit of paintings of Niagara Falls before WWI.

5.  Interpretation - (content)  What do you think the artist was trying to say.  This was a collaboration gallery.  I think the person that set up the gallery was just trying to show what the falls looked like a long time ago.

Take pictures of the images you are interpreting. If this is not allowed, make quick sketches of the pieces.

Step 5: Document Your Visit

Take some pictures (no flash) if it is accepted at the Gallery you are visiting.

Make sketches if you are not able to take photographs.

Bring home brochures and other materials for reference.

Chapter 21 Videos

1. Explain why you selected each of the FOUR videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I picked the Dada video because the Dada movement is very interesting to me.  I chose the video A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884 because it is an interesting painting.  I chose the spanish art video to learn more about that time frame.  I chose the Matisse and Picasso video to learn about the comparison between the two artists.  

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

For the Dada video I learned about George Grosz and his interactions with the Nazi Government.  I didn't know that they burned all of his works after he left Germany.  The second video,  A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884 taught me more about this piece.  I learned that the monkey was a late addition to the painting.  The Spanish video was a nice chronological history of some of the countries most famous artists, their works, and their beliefs.  The Matisse/Picasso video taught me about their relationship and their differences.  

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?  They go into more depth and detail.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts.  Yes, they add more detail to many topics that are just covered briefly in the book.

Week 11 Masks

Use the steps of Art Criticism to analyze and describe the masks. Be specific in how the elements and principles of art are used


The three masks that I have chosen can be seen at the following links:


http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~bcr/African_Mask_Faces.html (titled Youthful Spirit)


http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~bcr/African_Mask_Faces.html

http://www.masksoftheworld.com/SoAmerica/Bolivian%20Tacana%20Mask.htm

The first mask is a very simple wooden mask with an oval shape, big and horns. The eyes have rings around them which make them look like they are in a trance, or kind of crazy.  The mask is worn by young African men during their dance.  The young men act mischievous and chase women around.  I like this because it is very simple, yet it stands out because of the eyes and the horns.

The second mask is a wool mask from Peru.  These masks are worn at religious festivals, carnivals, and private celebrations.  This particular mask is white with a rainbow wrapped around the head.  It has a unique mustache that is very thin and curls at each end.  The mask also has very thinly drawn eyebrows and red ears and a red nose and mouth.  I think that the artist has tried to create a very unique and distinguished character based on its features.  I like the mask because it is very different from the other masks.

The third mask is by the Tocana indians in Bolivia. I'm not sure what it is made of, however it does say natural wool on the web page.  This mask is of an older person smiling with their tongue hanging out.  You can tell that the person is older by the wrinkle lines above the eyes and in the cheeks.  I like this one because the person looks like they are having fun and might even be an old crazy person.

Here is the mask that I created.

Week 11 Video Review

1. Explain why you selected each of the FOUR videos you choose from the selection listed above.
I decided to choose one Islamic art video, one african art video, the chinese art video, and the hinduism video because I felt that I would learn a little more about each culture/religion.
2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
For the Islam V & A video the key concept was the importance of poetry in Islamic art.  For the African Art: Legacy of Oppression video I learned about Belgium's oppression and their frightening masks.  I also learned about the mass killings and how they lost half of their population.  For the  Hinduism video the one thing that I learned was about the symbolic cremation process and that it supposedly gets you directly to heaven.The Chinese art video showed Chinese art over a period of 5000 years.  This was very impressive that they were able to maintain these pieces over such a long time, especially since this was once a war ravaged country.  They even had art from an exiled artist.  Many cultures would have destroyed this a long time ago.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?  They go into much more detail.  The African Art video went into great detail and told of a very sad story. 

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?  They really added more depth and covered a broad range of societies and cultures.