blog post #6

In the past couple classes you have been introduced to the basic art elements and the principles in which they are composed, structured or organized into a work of art. We have seen that these concepts within the language of art are arranged into a composition so that they can make sense to the viewers. These elements and principles are the visual tools that an artist uses to lead the viewer's eye around an art work. Looking at art through this particular framework is called Formalism. In Formalism you are concerned with only the visual elements of a work of art. Although contemporary art relies on frameworks that are attached to much more conceptual issues, it is still valid (and a great place to start) to recognize the strictly visual elements and principles that the artist has employed. There are many artists who believe that understanding the formal elements leads to understanding the content and other deeper conceptual ideas about a work of art, like in the art21 episode we saw today with Matthew Ritchie.


In your text book, on page 53, under the heading "Food For Thought", you will find 6 questions that I want you to use to help you respond to one of the pieces of art posted below. Ask yourself one or more of these questions and respond to how the artist has used certain elements and principles. People are bound to see things differently so it is ok to respond differently to the same question that another has responded to. Sometimes, as I have seen from your many comments, it is easier to sit and think first, then answer the question in writing...this format allows that to happen...and in turn helps strengthen your ability to verbalize your ideas. Keep your list of elements and principles handy and visually observe the compositional structure of one of the pieces...comment by using one or more of the questions from the book or make your own observations. Be brave...help yourself as you help others through your comments. The images can be seen larger by clicking on them.



















Starting from the top left: Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ryan McGinness. Bottom, Frank Stella, Wendy Walgate...google for more images of these artists if interested.

blog post #5

The following is an excerpt from Christo and Jeanne Claude's website. It is an explanation on how they view the work and was also written by them. The website is very in depth and covers their entire career. Take a few minutes to browse their site and then respond to the questions at the bottom in bold print.

The temporary large-scale environmental works (both urban and rural environments) have elements of painting, sculpture, architecture and urban planning.

For instance the Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida,1980-83. could be seen as giant flat paintings (shaped canvases).

The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-85. could be seen as a very large sculpture, in a traditional sense of antique folds and draperies, however the bridge, while wrapped,remained a bridge, a piece of architecture. Cars were rolling on it, boats were passing under the wrapped arches, the public was crossing the bridge, walking on the fabric.

The Umbrellas, Japan-USA, 1984-91. has to do with urban planning. 3,100 umbrellas, each two stories high, 59.3 square meters (638.17 square feet), spread on a total span of 49 Km. (30 miles) by a width of 4 Km. ( 2.5 miles) along roads and highways, adjacent to barns, temples, churches, gas stations, schools, habitations and cattle.

Once the work of art has been read for what it really is, then the process preceding the completion is easily understood.

Nobody discusses a painting before it has been painted.
But architecture and urban planning are always discussed before completion. People discuss the possibility of a new bridge, a new highway, a new airport before those are built.
One of the numerous permits to be obtained from various government agencies, in addition to the 25 ranchers in California and the 459 rice field farmers in Ibaraki, was the 200 pages book from the Ministry of Construction in Tokyo. They worked for one year, together with our engineers, to finally grant us a Permit to build 1340 houses (shaped canvases creating settlements as houses without walls).
Our projects are discussed and argued about, pro and con, before they are realized.
To understand our work one must realize what is inherent to each project
However there is an important difference between our works of art and the usual architecture and urban planning, we are our own sponsors and we pay for our works of art with our own money, never accepting any grants nor sponsors.

Their monumental undertakings have always been controversial. This controversy stems not from the subject matter, but because of the encroachment into public space. After viewing some of the projects by these two, would you be opposed to a large scale Christo project happening on our campus?...In your hometown? Would you be concerned about the temporary disruption of your daily activity? Is all this spectacle really not worth it considering the very limited time that the actual piece will be around? Does the work really enhance or change for the positive the environment that it is in? Would it be better to just erect a permanent statue?

Blog Post #4

Media, materials, and the marketplace...three areas of our most recent concentration in class. We have been discussing different types of media in the art world as well as the great change in the use of types of materials. Like I have been saying since the beginning of this class, the marketplace and those people that are players within it, are integral to how "value" is placed on art works. We have looked at people like Jeff Koons that seem to be all about creating a luxury product and playing up the concept of consumerism and we have most recently looked at artists like Trenton Doyle Hancock who make artwork that is about creating a personal mythology derived from his experiences as a child. It seems we have gone to extremes to illustrate certain ideas. So, what I want to explore in this posting is the question...Which type of art is more valid in your mind...the art that is personal and created with fairly traditional materials or is it the art that is about much broader concepts and is created with materials that are not always considered to be part of the art world? Is there a happy medium between the two for you?

Before you begin thinking about this question, consider this big event that took place just this week in the art world... Artist Damian Hirst just sold almost 60 pieces of his work through Sotheby's, which is one of the biggest and most high end auction houses in the world, instead of using a gallery. His first two days of the auction netted 160 million dollars and there is still more than a hundred smaller pieces to be auctioned. Hirst is best known for his use of actual animals that are preserved and floating in giant tanks of formaldehyde. Click on the links built in to this post to find out more of this almost historic happening.

After taking all this in, respond to the above question or one of the below.

Why do artist today often use non-traditional materials to create their artworks?

If you were a very wealthy person who collected art, what type of art work would you invest in?...would you invest your money in tanks of dead animals?

It is very possible that people of the late 1800's would have thought that the use of steel in large public sculptures (ie., Nevelson, Picasso, Calder) was "non-traditional" and strange. Do you think that Hirst is just ahead of the times with his material usage and that possibly in the future, we will think of his work as "traditional"?

Research Assignment!!!

1) Find 5 works of art that interest you. These pieces can be any type of art work . 2-D, 3-D, Technology based, Nature based…the important part here is that these are 5 works of art that some how you identify with or react to in some way…This is a research based project.

2)Write a brief paragraph about each.

3) Also include a picture of each piece chosen.

The following information must be included within each paragraph:
a)Artist name
b)Medium
c)Material used in the work
d)Time period work was created in and or style
e)What makes the work interesting to you; explain why you chose that particular piece.

Due Date : Tuesday, 9/23

Blog Post #3

Chapter six in our text explored all the different venues related to "what we do with art". At the end of that chapter under the caption "Food For Thought" the addition of censorship was added as another thing that happens to art. Censorship is a highly controversial subject matter when it comes to art and throughout history it has happened over and over. From the "fig leaf campaign" in the Renaissance to Serrano's 'Piss Christ' in the post modern era, people have censored art, artists, and exhibitions for a variety of reasons.

In class today we talked about Kathe Kollwitz and how she, like so many artists during the time, had to leave Germany due to the type of art work she was creating. We have also talked about the Taliban in Afghanistan destroying timeless and precious works of art because the works challenge their religious beliefs. In the Cultural Revolution in China led by Mao Zedong, people tried to erase their cultural history by destroying great works of art. All these are forms of censorship on a huge governmental scale.

Think about the artist we watched today on Art21, Barry Magee, and how he created graffiti based works in spaces that were public. Graffiti has always been seen as a crime of vandalism; is it right for him to freely create his images where ever he wants? What is the difference between the work he creates in the gallery and the images on walls and trains that eventually get covered or painted over? Is that a form of censorship?

There are many types of censorship and your text brings up a number of tough questions with no real or clear answers. Please take the time to respond to one or more of the questions listed and use references to artworks when possible...believe me, there is no shortage of controversial works of art out there.

Who defines what is obscene or vulgar?

Are there other reasons why art works have been censored besides being deemed obscene?

Should individuals decide for themselves what they read, look at, or listen to?

Should art be strictly uplifting?

Should art be moral, or concerned with morality?

Does art in public spaces have to meet certain moral criteria? Should it?

Caravaggio...

OK...my bad...Caravaggio...born 1571...died 1610. That makes more sense...Sometimes I get a little goofy with my dates.

Thanks.

blog post #2

At the end of last class I touched on the fact that so many contemporary artists use outside help to complete their art works these days. Fabricators, technicians, artisans with special skills, assistants...all these people factor into our current culture of art production. We watched how artist Maya Linn works closely with collaborators in order to achieve public, architectural endeavors but still has the need to work alone and with her own hands to complete certain art works. I also mentioned artist Jeff Koons and said how he runs a factory like studio where he personally doesn't really make the work. That he has a large team of people who work for him to manifest his ideas. There is an excerpt from a series on the Sundance Channel called Iconoclasts on Koons currently on You Tube...it is where one type of celebrity(mostly in a creative field) interviews another, it is worth checking out...also worth looking at is his myspace page... www.myspace.com/jeff_koons. The video with him talking in front of people working in his studio is interesting. I would like everybody to take a look at this and give me your honest opinion on what he is saying and what is happening around him. Also this brief article talks directly about Koons's most recent exhibition ttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92873040

This practice raises questions about art, artists, and their practices. Questions like: If an artist doe not actual physically touch the work that is called his own, is it really his work? Is the actual art, the idea, or is it the object? Does the artist that has fabricators create the physical work have work that is in some way diminished because the artist did not use his own hands to create the work? Historically, did artists rely on others so much...if so how does that vary from how artists work with collaborators today?

Please address one or more of these questions and comment...

Blog post 1...

Hello and welcome to art101iup.blogspot.com. This is an interactive space intended for ongoing discussions from class, a place to find key concepts, and a place to interact, in a professional manner, with your peers and your professor. Weekly, I will post a topic related to what we are covering in class. I am looking for statements, comments, and questions to be posted by you, the student, under the appropriate comment space. This will allow others to see your comments and for them to respond or expound on them. I hope this creates a thread of comments that others may find useful in some way related to our class. This blog will also serve as a posting board for arts related happenings in and around the Pittsburgh area. Be on the look out for gallery openings and other events that you can attend.

First step: You must create a Google account...its free and easy. This can be done when you click on the comment link. Then you are in.

Also, I will be posting links that are relevant to this class in the margin...there are already a couple there now. If you have interesting art links, post them in the comments page and I will review them before deciding to make them a permanent link.

I do expect EVERYBODY to log into this blog and to also to leave a comment at least 2- 3 times this semester. Please use this blog as a tool to keep up with class, ask questions for people to respond to, find out things missed, and to further deepen the concepts from class. This is designed to help you and keep you connected to each other. In a large lecture based class having a blog type component can be helpful and informative...so USE IT!