blog post #8

Recently in class we have crossed over from Modernism to Postmodernism and discussed the fundamental differences in each. The subject of our last blog post had to do with the current exhibition in Kipp Gallery...a good example of Postmodernism. As I concluded the comment run on that post by using examples from the essay in the catalog to the exhibition, I realized it was rife with buzz words of postmodernism. If you did not pick up the catalog or read the essay included...please take the time to do so.

A couple classes ago we also watched the art21 episode on Jenny Holzer. I felt her, work being almost completely text based, would be a good compliment to Mr.Noble's installation in the gallery. In this post, I would like to continue to explore the idea of text as the artwork. In comparison, Alastair Noble and Jenny Holzer share very different concepts on how their works are presented and the only thing that is similar is the fact that text is the basis of their works...other than that all similarities are out the window. Many of you had strong feelings about the fragmented bits of language in the installation...not being able to understand it...wanting something more than just the text...wanting images.

It is from the concept of Postmodernism that gives validity to work that is just text based...words are powerful and loaded with meanings other than what a word might be saying at a given time. That is why the frameworks of theory that we apply to visual art now, were once applied to writings and language. Language became huge and important in the art world in the early 60's, and through critics and writers on art, helped to change the way in which people thought about what art was at the time.

Take a minute to check out a few links that I have built in below and above, and then respond to the questions...

more Jenny Holzer from art21

more artists with text based work

Joseph Kosuth

After checking out some of the links...please comment.

Do Jenny Holzer's brief "Truisms" in the first link in the post, function as art in your opinion, is it enough to have a provocative statement over a provocative image?

Is it better to have full statements that speak directly and do not leave room for the imagination, in comparison to fragmented texts?

Both Alastair Noble and jenny Holzer use text as the basis of their work,which functions more as an image and why?

What about graffiti? Does graffiti have similarities to either of the artists that we are referring to? Would graffiti fall under the contemporary term, "text based art"?

Joseph Kosuth helped to start the Arts and Language movement that believed in the conceptual over the actual object...click on the images below to enlarge...although these works date back to

the 1960's, compare and contrast them with Holzer and Noble.

hands on...

Your Project:

The student will use an existing artwork that is well known and change the context and/or the content of this work. Making it a “new” artwork.

This can be accomplished through:
use of the computer (photo shop, paint)
collage
hand drawing
photo copier

Due: Next Tuesday…10/28

Blog post # 7

Up to this point we have looked at mediums, material usage, artists, Formalism, and a broad understanding of our current perception of art and how it is defined. The second half of this course will deal with more complex and specific frameworks that involve contemporary art. We will also be reading chapter 4 of your text to further help us understand how we, the viewer, come to derive meaning from works of art.

Today we watched Janine Antoni on art21 and she wondered if the viewer would be able to pick up bits of the stories, that she felt were embedded in the materials she used. She talked about her work and the underlying ideas and symbolisms behind them. When we see objects like Ms. Antoni's "Eureka",which is actually a bathtub filled with lard that she made an impression of her body in, we often wonder...what is this?...why would anybody do this?...and is this really art?! But, hearing her explanation and how it is related to a story about Archimedes, we understand the piece more and also accept the piece as what constitutes art.

Currently in Kipp Gallery, just outside our doors, we have an installation by Alastair Noble. The work is unconventional by many peoples standards, but fills the gallery for the viewer to walk through and ponder. During my installation of this piece with Mr. Noble, I came to understand that almost everything about this installation is tied directly to the content. I would like all of us to explore this exhibition, think about all the elements that make this work up, and use it as a point of discussion on the blog and also for some carry over into our class. As we talked about today, meaning changes by the way we encounter art work, and for many of us, we only see art as images on pages or computer screens, so lets take advantage of this exhibition...please take the time to visit the gallery and look at the installation yourself and then respond to one or more of the questions below.

When you visited the gallery did you understand what the artist was trying to communicate, or what the art work was about...the content?

Does the written word add to the public's experience of art? What helped you in this specific installation? Is something written that accompanies the art work necessary?

Do writings, like an artist statement or explanation on a wall, limit our experiences in an exhibition? How?

Once you understood the content of the installation were you more interested?

What aspects of this installation did you find interesting...formal qualities?...content?...material use?

Did the exhibit appeal to you in an aesthetic way?

almost there...

Midterm Blog Break!

We will resume the class blog next week.

So... study!

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"?