Installation Art

Installation art really interest me, I thought this was one of the cooler art forms because it is three dimensional designed to transform the perception of space. It almost serves as an illusion which makes the artwork fun and stand out. This was one of my favorite art forms, and i have a lot of respect for it's artists because the level of difficulty and the amount of time that must go into these pieces are incredible. There are many artist that we talked about in class each who had amazing art pieces. However I did my own research and found a artist I really liked because of the degree of difficulty of her work. The picture shown in this blog is by a artist named Rachel Whitread. Her art has a extreme level of difficulty and the amount of time she puts in her pieces really pays off. I respect her art work and artistic abilities her work is def. considered work to me.

-Alex Franklin~

Marcus Coates

In our class discussion about Altermodernism, which is defined as an attempt at making art in today's world as a reaction against regularity and commercialization. We were introduce to one of the craziest, boldest, weirdest, people I have ever witness on film Marcus Coates. In the video we watch on him we discovered his rare gifts and abilities. This was shocking to me when i saw it but he actually uses his skills to bypass his humanness to experience the world through the mind and body of a animal. Now sounds weird enough right? Well its even weirder watching a film on it. I couldn't help to laugh at the reactions he got from people watching him perform his rituals. He is a very unique and interesting man and he gets a lot of respect in my book because i don't know how he has the courage to go out and do what he does. He says that he translates the actions of animals and compares them to human experiences. Seeing it I didn't consider it as art, I just felt like this guy needed help but many people enjoy his work and skills and consider it art.

-Alex Franklin

Collections

In our one class discussion the topic of collections was brought up. This discussion brought back many memories, especially when my fellow classmates brought up childhood favorites such as pokemon cards, poggs, (one of the best things ever created) baseball card and so on. When I was growing up my dad and I used to collect coins, it all started when I found a very old penny and I thought it was the greatest idea to collect coins from every year. So my dad bought me collector folders with the years of each coin I need and my search began from there. My goal was to get every coin and one day sell them so I could make money. I still have the folders at home and its funny how things change over the years because I slowly stop collecting coins and moved onto basketball action figures. It safe to say that the basketball action figure collection was more my style and to this day I still have a passion for it. -Alex Franklin

Jelene Morris: Pop Art

Jelene Morris' art is contemporary pop art. Her art pieces are all very colorful and abstract. The picture that I included in this blog is an unititled piece by Jelene Morris. Personally, when I first saw this piece of art, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. The painting seems almost like a young child painted it, not only because of the simple lines and figures that are the characters, but because of the randomness of the images. In this painting alone, there is an elephant, a whale with a beret, a Campbell’s soup can, a cup, what looks like an octopus, a goldfish, and other unrecognizable shapes, all with faces. As I began to scroll through the thumbnails of Jelene’s paintings however, I began to like them. They are completely different than any other artwork that I’ve seen. Her artwork has an effect on your mood, making you smile without even realizing it. The bright colors and the randomness of the objects in the painting really make it a piece that you can’t just look at once and forget about it. You want to try to figure out what each object is and what significance it has in the piece. After researching the artist a little bit, I realized that the images that she paints really aren’t all that random. Jelene Morris’ paintings are all based on cartoon characters and some are based on her actual pets, including her dogs and her goldfish. I think that this brings a personal aspect into her art that proves that there are still artists in the world that love what they do and aren't just in it for money and fame, as Robert Hughes believes.

-Steph

"The Mona Lisa Curse" - Robert Hughes

Robert Hughes' main point in his documentary rant against the contemporary art world is that art is no longer just for viewing pleasure but more for financial gain. He blames this problem on Leonardo DiVinci's painting, The Mona Lisa, which made it's way to New York from the Louvre in Paris, for a short stay in the 1960's. Hughes claims that when The Mona Lisa came to America, people began going to see art work just so they could say they saw it, not because they were actually interested in the art. He states in his documentary, that art quickly became more celebrity than art, and that art collectors stopped collecting art because they liked it, and started collecting art because they thought that they could make a lot of money quickly. While I think that Robert Hughes definitely has a good point, and being an art critic, he's obviously well educated on the topic, I feel that his documentary was a bit dramatic. He acted like great art is non-existent in the contemporary world, and although there are artists, like Damien Hirst, who don't create their own art and who are seemingly in it for the money, there are artists that create art because it is what they love to do. There are also art collectors who still collect art because they love it as well.

-Steph

20x200: Sean Greene "Try Letting Go"

Only one painting in particular stood out to me on the 20x200 website, and it was a painting by Sean Greene. The painting is entitled, "Try Letting Go." The image is very abstract and can seemingly be interpreted however the viewer wants to interpret it. The bright colors flow with each other and compliment each other very well. The image appears to me, to be random letters, and the artist himself states that is what he was going for when he created the piece. I think that although this piece seems quite chaotic, I love the colors and the way that everything seems to fit together perfectly. If I had the money, I would absolutely purchase this piece.

-Steph

Aakash Nihalani - Tape Art

Although Aakash Nihalani is not an artist that we discussed in class, I wanted to include him in my blog. Aakash's art is very modern and interesting, bringing a new form of pop art to us. The medium that he chooses to use for most of his art work is tape. He uses the brightly colored tape on buildings in New York City and Brooklyn. All of his pieces are cubes placed together to form other shapes, creating an optical illusion-like piece. In his biography on his website, he claims that he doesn't ever really plan what he's going to do, he just creates his designs on the spot. His website is http://www.aakashnihalani.com/. On the website there are tons of pictures of pieces that he has created for both street art and gallery art. My favorite piece doesn't have a title, but it's one of his gallery pieces. It is pictured in this blog post. I think that Aakash is very talented because he has basically created a whole new art form on his own. His use of bright colors and his creative ideas really make him stand out in the art world.

-Steph

Song Dong from March 4, 2010

In class on March 4, we were introduced to Song Dong, an artist from Beijing, who created "Waste Not." "Waste Not" is an installation piece which was created with all of Song Dong's mother's possessions that were collected over fifty-some years. The contents that make up this piece are all so random. From his mother's pots and pans, to empty soda cans, to the frame of her house. The way that Song Dong set up the items is a sort of organized chaos. There is garbage and cooking utensils, blankets, and empty egg cartons, but it all somehow sort of fits together, creating this dump-like masterpiece. Everything in his creation seemed to have its place, even though it was very cluttered. "Waste Not" is a piece of art, out of a hoarder's dream. Meaningless items, collected over time, all coming together to form this piece of art in memory of Song Dong's mother. This piece is housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The picture I chose shows a great overview of the piece. It clearly shows how much space that the museum allowed Song Dong to use, and the amount of items that made up this piece.

-Steph

Martin Creed from March 2, 2010

A piece that stood out to me in class on March 2, wasn't any ordinary piece. This piece entitled, "The Lights Going On and Off" by the artist, Martin Creed, was simply an empty room with the lights on a timer, turning on for five seconds and off for five seconds (this cycle repeated itself over and over again.) It seems to me, that this isn't really art work, but instead just the use of electricity. However, someone thought it was genius, because Martin Creed won the Turner Prize from the Tate Museum in London, England for this piece. This is related to the question that Dave Hickey brought up in on of my earlier blogs. If an average, everyday, person came to the museum with this idea off of the street, would the museum directors really think that this piece was worth their gallery space? I personally don't think so. It is so interesting to hear about these pieces during class, because you wouldn't ever think that something as simple as turning a light on and off could win an award, since it is something that everyone does multiple times a day on a daily basis, but it happens!

-Steph

Paul Pfieffer from February 11, 2010

During class on February 11, we discussed videography as an art form. The one artist that we talked about, that I found very interesting was Paul Pfieffer. All of his artwork incorporated or was completely made from video footage to draw in his viewers. He re-created a scene from "The Poltergeist," so that people that came to see his showing, could almost feel as if they were a part of this well known horror film. Paul Pfieffer takes real videos and uses a computer to erase certain images to enhance his pieces and give them a sort of "haunted" feeling. Besides "The Poltergeist" piece, he also created many sports videos, featuring greats like Michael Jordan. A sports piece that stood out to me was his video of the Stanley Cup. In this video, he erased the hockey player that was skating around with it above his head, so it appeared as if the trophy was floating in the air by itself. Paul Pfieffer's videos create a ghostly and interesting image that makes the viewer look a little bit closer than they normally would to see what's missing.

-Steph

Dave Hickey's Theory on Beauty from February 4, 2010

In class on February 4, we discussed Dave Hickey's theory on beauty as a whole concept. Dave Hickey questions whether an object is beautiful from the moment it is created or when the object is placed in an institution. He wonders - is it beautiful because it is placed in a gallery? Dave Hickey sees beauty as a means, not an end. And, in his essay, he explains that the loss of a decent regard for beauty has shown itself in contemporary art. I agree with Dave Hickey's ideas. I think that art is beautiful, however sometimes it is questionable whether people think pieces are beautiful just because a certain artist created them, or a certain gallery labels them valuable. For example, Damien Hirst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.." I personally do not find this work to be as beautiful as it is grotesque, however, some people consider this piece invaluable. Leaving the question open, is this piece considered beautiful just because the Damien Hirst is so well known?

-Steph

Andy Warhol from January 28, 2010

I really enjoy viewing the pop art of Andy Warhol. He is known for his colorful pieces and is known as the true creator of what we now know pop art to be. His most well known art piece is the Campbell's soup print, however he is also known for his prints of celebrity icons, for example, Marilyn Monroe. My favorite thing about Andy Warhol's work is his use of bright and vibrant colors. I think that bright colors really make things stand out and neon colors seem to be his favorite colors to use in his artwork. His pieces really stand out an are attractive to onlookers. I feel that if he painted his pieces in bland and usual colors, the pieces would just be ordinary, but he turns simple, everyday items into his own works of art with his creativity.

-Steph