The Power of the Image

(http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/?id=2504213&refnum=834388)

Our world is full of pictures to depict a quick and understandable meaning. These pictures are displayed in several ways. There is a sign which has an image to communicate an idea like a road sign that all drivers knows means yield and be wary of pedestrians. Then there are symbols which represent a word like & (which means and). Companies or teams like to use logos to identify and differentiate themselves like the one at& t uses below:

(http://design.weblogsinc.com/2005/11/22/at-t-rebranded-wait-no-reinvigorated/)

Or there are also icons which are images to epresent and communicate ideas like the energizer bunny representing the Energizer battery.

(http://familyo.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html)

While basically all 4 concepts have similar motivations, they each have a slightly different meaning. While researching the web on the concepts of logos I found many of them to be very simple. But simple images can hold very important meaning. I believe one of the most well known logos in the world would have to be the olympic rings:

I feel as though this logo really simply, but smartly sums up the Olympics. Many cultures and ideas coming together. t was a very creative way to communicate the ideas.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games)

I aso found that often logos are something that is easier for different cultures and countries to identify with. Another logo that can be commonly communicated through different languages is symbols from different religons, especially christianity's cross. Logos show the power of the image and the power of visual communication.

Gestalt

Gestalt is based on the theory that shapes and lines can help form likeness of figures. It is commonly used in psychotherapy and understanding others. This is similar to the project we had just completed because although we had only one shape, the shape helps create a figure.

This image is similar to the ideas of gesalt because while the shapes are nothing more than simple shapes, it resembles 2 faces to some or a vase to others. It depends on how one uses the positive and negative space. Often used in psychoanalyzes, it shows how powerful images can be and minds can interpret things differently based on genetics and previous experiences.
(Picture from the Gestalt Association web page)

Performance art is an interesting subject matter. One can make the performance very fun or very boring. My performance piece I created to be performed by 2 others was called the Flaming Flailing Phoenix. What was originally supposed to happen was they were supposed to stand across from each other. Then each took 2 incense sticks and they would light them. Then they would take one in each hand and wave their arms around to create designs with the burning incense sticks. This was to be done until the sticks burned out, or put them out in a cup of water. There was another piece, which was to incorporate incense as well. The piece was called Silent Sitting Senses. It consisted of sitting And watching the incense sticks burn. It would be very Zen like. Linnie Beard created this one. What was interesting by the performers who carried out each of our pieces is they decided to combine the two pieces. This I believe actually enhanced them. The pieces were combined so there were 4 people flailing their arms and sitting in the Safeway parking lot. Being in such a public place also enhanced the experience because it is always fun to see a stranger’s reaction. Mostly they were upset to be bothered by the artists. I guess busy grocery shoppers don’t have much of a sense of humor.

Performance Artists.

Performance art is when the artist and his work are publicly performed. The art form began with surrealists and Dadaists, but became popular in the 19060's and 1970's. Performance art can be created using sound, the human body, or the creation of art.

Dadaists begin a form of performance art in the 20's using mostly in sound. It was called sound poetry. They were called sound poets. Some even used objects to create sound, like Kurt Schwitters. Another part of Dadaists performance art consisted of what is know as Negro chants, which included theater and dance.

In the 1950's a group emerged know as Gutai Bijutsu Kyokai (Gutai Art Association). It was formed in 1954 by Yoshihara Jiro, Kanayma Akira, Murakami Saburo, Shiraga Kazuo, and Shimamoto Shozo in Osaka, Japan and had dissolved by 1972 when Yoshihara died. The group would do many public performances, which consisted of such things as rolling in mud, painting on layers of newspaper, or running through screens. "The art historian Yve-Alain Bois has said that 'the activities of the Gutai group in the mid-1950s constitute one of the most important moments of post-war Japanese culture' (http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=130).

(http://nezumi.dumousseau.free.fr/japon/j2/japarmurakami2.jpg)

Around the same time the Nouveau realists also accepted the performance art, also known as Happenings. Happenings were theatrical events and would take place in an installed environment with light, sound, and slide projections. The Nouveau Realists most associated with this form was Yves Klein.

George Mucunas founded another group, known for their performance art and influenced by the Dadaists, during the 1960's. The group was called fluxus (meaning to flow out or a flow of living art). They would have music and give performances at concerts and eventually would take their art to the streets.

One of my favorite contemporary artists is heavily involved with performance art. While these pieces are usually filmed, Mathew Barney will either jump, attach himself to a wall, trampoline, or use some other action that restrains him and makes it difficult for him to complete his drawing. While performance art is fairly new, it is not as commonly used. It is, however, still around.

(http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/original/12.Barney.DR6_web.jpg)

Performing Kaprow's Activities

When performing Kaprow's activities, I was actually pleasantly surprised. Linnie and I chose to do tail wagging dog which consisted of one partner following the other while stepping on the partner's shadow. When the follower stepped off the shadow they had to clap two rocks together and switch rolls. Originally I expected it to be uneventful. Once Linnie and I got started though. we made it some more fun. It was kind of difficult to step on the shadow. The sun was high in the sky when we performed our activity at 2 pm making the shadows smaller. We also thought it would be more fun to do the performance in a more publicly place so we followed each other to Starbucks where the dim lighting still allowed us to follow our shadows. The cashier was ignoring us or he was busy, but either way he did not react to us strangely, unfortunately. In the end, this activity overall was not as easy or boring as I had originally expected.

Museums: Past vs. Present vs. Future

Technology has the fascinating ability to create a new path for us in the blink of an eye. Up until the 1960’s the world had to listen to their music on vinyl of the radio. Then we evolved from vinyl to 8-tracks to cassette tapes to CD’s and now most of us download are music off the Internet in the form of mp3 files. Technology has also advanced changes in nuclear weapons, cars, the food industry, and so many others. It is scary to think of how fast our society has progressed and changed our world in such a short period of time. With access to the Internet, our knowledge and communication of information has been increased faster than ever and technology is constantly able to moved us into new worlds.
Another benefited/victim of the ever-changing technology is the museum business. These effects are discussed in the two articles “Is There a Future for Old-Fashioned Museums?” by Joel Garreau and “Art Museum Expansion: A Constructive Trend?” by Blake Gopnik. The biggest similarity between the two articles is in relation to the internet. With the first article, Garreau explains how the museum might move to being internet based so to increase people's interest in the material. Gopnik however discusses how the internet is increasing people's interest in large museum's and makes the museum's overcrowded, therefore they have to increase the building to accommodate more people and larger collections.
It will be interesting to see what will happen to museums with the approach of the 21st cetury. Most likely they will start having internet museums, but I believe large weekends will only continue to grow as more people learn and here about them with the spread of knowledge through the internet. I believe with the increase of internet knowledge, museums will become more interesting to society again because people will want to become more cultured.
Because of this, technology will largely influence museum expansion because the buildings will need more area to fit the larger masses. I personally feel that museum expansion has good and bad effects. Larger museums means larger collections of works, and I believe our society would benefit greatly from being more cultured, which larger museums will allow. I feel that larger museums do not dilute the quality of work, but does however does help spread the crowds out to help not dilute the museum experience. One can not fully appreciate the subject matter when they are surrounded by groups of people or feel like they are in they way. Larger museums mean though that people might not be able to experience all of the work. Therefore they have increased their chances of missing things they would really like. Larger museums and internet museums have both positive and negative side effects, but either way I think they are unavoidable and both will increase in numbers during the 21st century.

La Mariee mise a nu par ses celibataires, meme (or The Bride Sripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even)

In La Mariee mise a nu par ses celibataires, meme (or The Bride Sripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even), also known as The Large Glass, Duchamp takes abstraction to the next level. The two large glass plates are a collection of media which includes paint, wire, mirror plating, and even dust. He uses these to create the image of a single figure in the top image, and 9 figures in the bottom. While Duchamp claims that the title is not meant to be taken as lierally what he desired the images to be depicted as, one cannot help bt associate the single fiure as a women and the 9 bottom figures to be 9 males waiting to win over the lady. The figures appear to be in two separate rooms.
If I had to guess at first would think all the images were placed in different areas of an attic. After having read the excerpt on Duchamp's piece by Calvin Tompkin, I begin to look further into the piece. I was able to see the tension between the male figures and female figure. She obviously has some power over them, based upon her placement in the upper part of the piece. I also could see why feminists could be offended because of the portrayal of the woman beingg chased by 9 men like she was an animal.
While typically I am a fan of DuChamp's work, The Large Glass is not one of my favorites. I find it to be just too abstract for my taste. I find the mix of mediums to be interesting, but the presentation to not be at the same level in quality.

A World of Patterns

When talking about designs, patterns are of major concern. Walking into my room, one can find on my wall sheet coverings of a repetitive pattern, the carpet is a pattern, my bed sheet is a pattern, the floor tiles are a pattern, everything is a pattern. According to my room, it appears as though the general consumer enjoys repetition and symmetry. But why is their such an abundance of patterns in our society? We are a society that enjoys traditional beauty. I guess patterns are almost predictable. Maybe we don't like things to be too inconsistent.


(http://www.sunna.info/souwar/data/media/6/islam11.jpg)



(http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070224/f8196_6249.jpg)


While looking up floor tiles, wall coverings, fabric prints, and genral ornamentation, I found most items to have a symmetrical and to be in a pattern. By my 10th page of google images I found much of it to be quite boring. However, when I looked up Islamic Architecture, I once again found interst in patterns. Perhaps it is because I am not as used to the colorful Islamic patterns, but I did find it to be quite beautiful. The patterns produced a magnificent, endless effect that would make building look grander and larger than they truely are. Perhaps the best way to summarize Islamic architecture said by Grube:

"Its effect is extraordinary and its function quite unmistakable. It goes hand in hand with the non-directional plan, the tendency to an infinite repetition of individual units (bays, arches, columns, passages, courtyards, doorways, cupolas) and the continuous merging of spaces without any specific direction or any specific center or focus. And if a definite spatial limit is reached, such as a terminal wall, the surface that should stop the progress of anyone moving through the building will be decorated with patterns that repeat themselves, leading on visually beyond the given limit of the wall, surface, vault or dome (http://www.islamicart.com/main/architecture/intro.html)."

These patterns were often found in important buildings, but it really helped add to its grandeur. While patterns can sometimes be too repetative and familair in our society, I was able to find Islamic patterns to be able to capture my interest.

(http://www.travel-earth.com/iran/isfahan-imam-night.jpg)

Scale of Values

(Scale of Values)

For my scale of values, I decided to display it as a fan. This is because I see a fan as being many parts to make up a whole. I understand the concept of making the value scale slowly increase from white to black by dividing it into 10 different pieces, but I found this project to be quite difficult. This is for two reasons. One is because it was so hard to make the darkest value to be black. This is because we had to draw it grey charcoal. I had to layer the graphite until I realized it would not darken anymore, and then I decreased the values from there/ The second reason the project was difficult, is because it was hard to decrease the values enough from the darkest square to make it white. I probably could have decrease the values in 7. Instead I had to manipulate the values until they equally decreased within 10, which I eventually was able to successfully do eventually, but it took many trials and errors and making each area either darker or lighter. In the end, I feel my fan successfully completes the assignment even if it took awhile to get there.
(Composition of Value)

Value

Eventually I would like to be a freelance photographer, but I need people to value my work enough to purchase it so I can fund my trips and equipment. I'd never give up any of my morals or personal values to get there, but it is necessary in my life to be valued so I can continue to do what I love.
Value plays an important part in the art world. Whether we like it or not, we cannot avoid the desire to have our own art valued. We all want our work to be valued, but how do we get there? I guess now a days, the best way to add value to our art is to network and get our names out. In fact, it is probably the easiest way to break in to the art world. It is kind of sad though to think that it does not matter how good your art is, but who knows your name. So I guess that leads me to wonder what good art really is and what art is valued in our society just because they are well known.

String Maze

I found the string assignment to be quite amusing. We did not really think to hard about the composition, just decided where we wanted to place the string, which was on people. So we simply set to work tying people up within our string. Later, the whole class ended up collaborating, making the room look like a laser beam security system. While it was not planned, it was fun to see what shapes the strings would create when tension was put on them. It did not seem like a lame activity because we had fun and it helped prove my theory that shapes were made up of lines. (Pictures thanks to the fabulous Brian Corrigan!)

Lines and Shapes

It is very easy for lines to look like shapes and vice versa. I believe with these four images, that shape c could be a line, while point a,b,c, and d are/could be shapes. A line is an object who's opposite sides are equal distances apart. A shape, however, is typically an enclosed area of space made up of lines. Lines can be shapes, but shapes can not necessarily be lines.

Titian

For my first assignment, I chose this piece of the Roman goddess Venus. It consists of a lady on a bed with a dog in the foreground, and two ladies in the background. The scene takes place in a luxuriously finished room. While the naked lady in the front is obviously the key figure in the piece, your eyes are easily dragged to the ladies in the back. Their surroundings are easy to over look due to its slight blurriness and lack of detail.
The lady in the front appears to be Venus, which can not only be told by the name of the piece, but as well because this is a common pose for Venus. While it is a traditional pose, it is not so common for Venus to be seen actually in the bedroom. Venus is the Roman Goddess for love, beauty, and fertility. I believe this piece is depicting fertility. Venus is giving her classic seductive look, but it is toned down to make her look more mother by having a puppy on the bed. The two ladies though help raise a larger curiosity about the piece. They appear to be gathering materials, like sheets, so they are probably preparing the bed.
I am pulled in multiple directions on how I feel about this piece. I find the portayal of Venus more interesting then her usual depictions, but then it begins to bore me. The colors are slightly flat and the background does not have a lot of detail. While I may not desire to buy the piece, I find it interesting for a short period of time.