blog3: NYC!! beccaa

The New York City trip we took on October 30th was my first trip to NYC. The first place we went to was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first exhibit that really interested me was one of old furniture. I wasn’t expecting to be so interested in it, but I was.
There was chairs, benches, tables, and all other kinds of furniture from all different time periods. I think the reason the exhibit interested me so much was that it was objects that I see and use everyday. Tables and chairs are objects that have been around, in one way or another since almost the beginning of time.
In the exhibit there were dozens of different chairs. They caught my attention the most of all the furniture. Currently there are millions of kinds of chairs in the world, and this exhibit were all chairs from the past. So to see so many of them from decades and centuries ago really caught my attention and interested me.
The second exhibit that I want to write about was also at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My favorite exhibit of all was the Pablo Picasso pieces. I’ve always loved Picasso and being able to actually see an original one completely blew me away.
When I was walking around the Modern Art exhibit, something blueish in a painting caught my eye, and when I walked over to look at the piece, it was an Original Pablo Picasso painting, The Dreamer. I wasn’t even aware there were original Picassos in the Met.
Needless to say the whole exhibit completely excited me, as well as astonished me. The paintings were all hung on the wall simply, like all the others, but had a much stronger impact than the rest of the museum

Blogging Assignment #3: Art:21 Structures

I watched the Art:21 video about Structures. Each artist approached their own works differently and I thought it was very interesting to see how the various designs were carried out.

The first artist was Matthew Ritchie. The way he worked fascinating because he used a small scale drawing he created and projected in onto a wall. He would trace his image and it would transform into a large piece that once had started off small. It was funny to see how many people would help him in painting his piece. He stated how he like people to help him so they could be involved in the making of his artwork. I really like his one structural piece that was a cell wall which represented the everyday imprisonment that people face. His reason for making his art the way he did was inspirational and I agree totally. He makes art that causes one to stop and think. You can make your own interpretations of it and it's not just something you look at and know exactly what the meaning is.

The second artist, Fred Wilson, I also really liked. It was cool how he did not actually make any of his figurines but put various objects together spatially to create art. I really like how he uses objects because it goes to show that you do not have to be a typical artist, which is someone who can paint, draw, etc. well. He just used his creative mind. I especially like his design with the black tear drops. The black color pops out against the white background and the shape of the tears is very appealing.

The last artist I also liked a lot as well. Roni Wilson was fascinated by water and am I. She took pictures of the same subject (water), but each picture the flow and movement of the water is different. I just really like the pictures of water because they were calming and relaxing. You get to capture the beauty of mother nature at that specific moment in time. I also like the pictures she took of the Iceland women in water. The composition was carried out well and it was breathtaking to see the woman with water dripping off of her flushed cheeks.

Emily Lyons- Fantasy Blog 3

There were four different artists in the Fantasy video. All of the artists work was unique and interesting. They all had their own style and techniques of how they made their artwork. It amazed me how the first artist, Jeff, would draw up everything and he had specific people to mix the paint for his work. When the video was over my favorite artists was Mary Heilmann.

Mary started with pottery which I found interesting. But later she switched over to pottery. The reason I really like her work is because they look simple with the simple lines and shapes. But even though it seems like it is very simple it has a deeper meaning behind it. I also thought it was interesting how she said that after she started writing about her work people started to like her work more. Many people like to look at a piece of artwork, then figure out what the piece means and read what the artist really wants the piece to say.

The entire video was interesting and I enjoyed all of the artists. It is interesting how Fantasy works in with all of these artists. They all make works of art that have a fantasy quality to them. When a person looks at all of the works of art there is a whisical feeling especially in the last artists work. He takes photos and then uses different techniques to make the piece his own. This video very talented artists they love what they do.

Joey Nebiker ------Blog 3 - #5 (again)

Using the same website as before to find printmaking artists, I stumbled across the work of Valori Fussell. On her website, Fussell includes an artist's statement that gave me a little insight into her world. She says "My work is described as intense and alive. I would add authentic." She goes on to discuss the fact that she is basically an anti-control freak. She loves the idea that art can just happen when you don't try too hard or force the process. This is totally a concept I can relate to when it comes to my art, because the more I try to think of an idea, the more empty my thoughts become.

When it comes to Fussell's work, I was really intrigued at first glance. Her pieces have a lot of depth and each separate work seems to have it's own personality. For example "Southern Man" (pictured on the right) was her first piece that really stood out, for me atleast.

I stared at it for a while before I realized, it kinda scared me a little bit. It has this haunting feeling to it, where you feel like this man is sitting in the shadows staring at you for some reason. You can't really see his whole face and there's not a lot of detailed work, but that's what I like most about it. The way the lines were formed to create this piece, the southern man looks as if he was composed of smoke and ash. The work really has the ability to portray a lot of feeling in such a simple way, and I really like that aspect of Fussell's pieces.

While a liked a few of her other pieces, including "southern man" ofcourse, my favorite was titled "bacon"(pictured on the left).

First I have to admit that at first glance, it looked just like Health Ledger's depiction of the joker in the newest batman movie. Of course that has nothing to do with the reasons why I like this piece, I just wanted to share that.

I think if I owned this piece I'd put it in my kitchen. Or maybe purchase it for a friend of mine who isn't the biggest fan of the carnivorous life. I'm not sure what her intentions were with the piece, but I'm not as creeped out by this as I was with "southern man". Yeah "bacon" might be a little bold and blunt, but I like that about it. My guess would be that this man holding up two halfs of a pig is a butcher, but I could be wrong. He could just be an everyday man that likes to slaughter pigs for bacon. Which if that's the case, obviously it becomes a little more creepy. However I really just find this piece to be incredibly interesting to look at. The man holding the split pig is partially concealed in darkness, but not too much where you have to strain to see him. The work gives you just enough detail where you don't walk away confused and if you knew the whole story behind it, it might become less interesting.

I guess that's the theme I found in Valori Fussell's work that drew me to her. It gives off this vibe where you have just the right amount of information, but you don't want any more than she gives you. It seems that she's chosen the right amount of darkness and the lack of color helps to affect the mood as well. Overall I think if I wasn't a poor college student and had money to throw around, I'd probably purchase one of her pieces, clearly it would be "bacon".

For more info on Valori Fussell, go to her website.

Joey Nebiker ------Blog 3 - #5

I found a website that has an archived list of printmaking artist's. From there I just searched until I found work that was interesting or that I liked because I related somehow. The first artist I found was William B. Montgomery. His work is comprised of hand-pulled etchings and lithographs.

His claim to fame is reptiles. More specifically his portrayal of them as biologically correct and artistically stunning simultaneously. However it wasn't the perfect depiction of the reptiles that interested me in his work. There were a number of his pieces that confused me at first glance, and second, and third. For example in this piece, I look at it and wonder why there is a giant lizard attacking or scaring this woman? And the more I look at it and try to figure out it, the more I realize that I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. It's that confusion that attracted me to the work. It's titled "encounter with a lizard man", and it's just that, nothing more nothing less. Simple yet confusing. Not a million different things going on at the same time in order to confuse you, but a lizard man and a woman in a bathrobe. She's not looking at the lizard man, but it looks like maybe she want's him to stay away. It almost looks like she is avoiding him, and he is just trying to hug her. There's nothing overly scary about the lizard man and I wouldn't say he's attacking her by any means. The more I dive into it, the more I realize this work is so strange and unusual. This piece just makes me think, "I have no idea what's going on, but I like that".

Another piece that I had the same encounter with had no lizard this time, but was similar in that it had the same effect on me. This piece was titled "Limulus Christus". It reminds me of the qualities found in the Mona Lisa, the mood, the colors and the atmosphere to an extent. There's this lady in a strange hat, she appears to be from some previous time period, and probably royalty of some kind. It looks like maybe she was just sitting there getting her portrait painted with the background from the window to her left(your right). That all seems fine and then you realize, there's a horseshoe crab sitting on the table in front of her, and you wonder where the heck it came from and why it's there? Again its Montgomery and his ridiculous and ambiguous style. I stared at this one for a while just like the other and thought, how could those two things be related? Maybe they do coincide and I just have no idea why, but if my lack of knowledge is what draws me to this piece, then so be it.

There were a few others in his online collection that I found just as strange as the two pictured above. Montgomery has all of his art on sale for anyone interested in making a purchase.


Joey Nebiker

nyc;; kolleen.

The first museum I went to in New York City was the MOMA, or the Museum of Modern Art. There were six floors, and each floor had different types of galleries. The first floor contained the lobby, and there was also an ouside part called the Sculpture Garden. The second floor had Contemporary Galleries, Prints and Illustrated Books, Media, and some special exhibitions. The third floor had Architecture and Design, Drawings, Photography, and some special exhibitions. The fourth and fifth floors had Painting and Sculptures, then the sixth floor just had some special exhibitions. We started on floor two, which we werent intrested in, and quickly moved on to floor three where we got stuck looking.

My friend and I became very interested with the things on the second floor of the museum. They displayed things that we use in our every day life from how they look now, to what they started out as years and years aog. There were tons of different chairs, all styles, colors, shapes, and sizes you could think of. They were so intresting, especially the way that they were displayed with the other objects around them. There were different types of tables, there was a helicopter, a few baby strollers, bikes, and many other things. The way that the galleries were set up, colored, and displayed were very well because they caught your attention and made you just want to stare at them or try them out. ( even though you couldnt, obviously.)

As we moved up to the fourth and fifth floors, only some of the art displayed was interesting to me. Most of the paintings didnt interest me because they were plain, boring, and I felt as if I could have easily made the same things. Though, there were certain things that caught my eye. I enjoyed the very abstract, busy, and colorful paintings. There was also one specific peice of art that sticks out in my head, and that was a 3D painting of a kitchen. There was a small pink refridgerator that stuck out of the painting, and beside that was a table with food on it. The painting wasn't very big, but it caught my eye and grabbed my attention well.

The second museum I want to was the National Center of Photography.There was only one thing that I really didnt like about this museum. That was that I payed eight dollars to get in, and as soon as i went in it was over. There was pretty much a floor and a room and that was about it. Even though it was very short and there was not many photos, the photos that were in the museum were all very interesting. I really enjoyed the whole museum, especially because I absolutely love photography. A majority of the photography was sexual, but in a way that it didnt make you offended. There were two specific galleries that i enjoyed the most.

The first gallery that i enjoyed looking at was at the very beginning of the museum. It was a small room and all of the photos in the room were of people partying and having a good time. There were two very enlarged photographs that looked amazing! The colors, sharpness, and quality were awesome, and all of the detail was captured. There was also a large portion of the wall covered with small square photos, probably about 5x5 sizes, made into one large rectangle. It looked like someone went to a very hoppin party and took millions of random pictures and caught every embarrassing moment for each person on camera. People were in costumes, drinking, naked, and everything else you could think of.

The other gallery that i enjoyed looking at was a group of work done by one photographer. This man photographed people with some sort of object over their head. The specific photos in the gallery were of people with different colors or styles of lampshades over their heads. The photos were so plain yet so interesting. After we went through the museum, we went into the store and looked for the book of the photographer that had so many more of his photos in it. That is wehre we saw that not only did he photograph pepole with lampshades on their heads, there was other weird objects he replaced their heads with also.

Blog Assignment #3: Art:21 Transformation

I watched the Art:21 Transformation video which showed three different artists who in their own creative ways made fun of something in society. Each artist had done something creative that I have never before seen in art in both good and bad ways.

The first artist was Yinka Shonibare MBE. His artwork dealt with race and class in a way I've never seen before. He incorporated historical events and his heritage into his pieces which I thought was interesting. One series he did contained sculpted headless figures that were elaborately dressed in what we think of as Victorian styled clothing. The clothing was nicely designed because there was a lot of movement and patterns draping over the figures. The clothing in itself I thought made the piece wonderful. The headless figures were of no particular race and I think he did that to show the importance of how race is insignificant. There is also no facial features which would give away any racial identities. The one piece (shown above) with the two headless women holding a gun to each other's head I thought was interesting because he is making a joke about the French Revolution and how the aristocracy got their head's guillotined. I also like his other piece (show above) with the headless figures sitting around a table with Africa printed in the middle of the table. This piece dealt with the scramble for Africa when Europeans held a meeting in Berlin and decided to cut up Africa to each country. I overall like all of his works but particularly the headless figures. I enjoyed this series because they dealt with historical events and demonstrated how ridiculous some were.

The second artist was Cindy Sherman and her art was all about society portraits. I also really liked her work because it was so theatrical. For each piece she would transform herself into a different character by using different make-up, wardrobe, and etc. She would take pictures of herself as these characters and show them in backgrounds where you would think that they were from a movie you had once saw. I thought it was funny how dramatically she could change from one character to the next. Her career seems like it would be really fun when you got to see her shopping at thrift store for ridiculous accessories that she could later use to display a certain character. He job just seems to me like an adult form of playing dress up. Each artwork you would get to take on a new role and get to live as someone else temporarily. I would love to do what she does because I love pretending to be someone I'm not. It's like Halloween everyday, dressing in things that you wouldn't normally wear!

The last artist was Paul McCarthy. I honestly did not like his work at all. It was strange and confusing to me. It was random and I didn't understand what his motives were behind his artwork. The only thing I agree with his on is his one statement, "I'm not trying to satisfy audience". He talks about how his artwork and how it is not like a movie where you make it so people enjoy but rather make it to communicate a message. I completely agree with this because art should not be made to please everyone. If everyone likes your art great, but if not then too bad.