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Megan Lewis Assignment #2

Townsend’s work is original to say the least. It’s whimsical and eye catching sculptures and wall hangings really had me looking all over the place trying to decide what I wanted to look at first. His incorporation of different shapes and colors also intrigued me. I also loved his use of regular items to make a bigger picture. It was almost like looking at an eye spy book, trying to figure out what everyday item I would come across next. One of the small details I loved best about Townsend’s work was the dead birds. The first one I saw when I realized what it was made me smile, and then when I noticed that he also incorporated them into his other works I was extremely pleased. My favorite work though was definitely “Gathering/Blocked Cloud.

It is clearly the simplest of his pieces but it was the one that kept my attention the most. First walking into the gallery I almost overlooked it, so when I did finally notice it, it was like finding a surprise. It was only constructed with wood and charcoal but it was like stumbling upon a miniature world. I loved the 3D chairs and ladder versus the 2D drawing it lead up to. It was a really imaginative idea and I loved the contrast between the real life objects and the imaginative drawing.

Overall the entire show was amazingly creative and well thought out. All the pieces were placed exactly right so that they all flowed together. I greatly enjoyed spending time examining each piece and finding new and amusing things each time I studied them. I also love how the artist’s creative works really made you pay attention to the detail but the big picture as well. All the items involved worked together to be an intriguing and extremely unique experience. I loved the entire show and would definitely be interested in seeing future work.

Eric Gustitus Assignment # 2

Travis Townsends exhibit was quite interesting to say the least. It had many attributes which caught my attention the second i walked in. It had great sensibility, awareness, and a knack for catching peoples attention. Everything seems to flow along with one another. The way everything was presented was different than anything i had seen before. There was a sense of mobility throughout the pieces of art

My favorite piece was the gathering blocked cloud. It was very small compared to the others which was different but it had caught my attention the most. The colors were plain but it represented a strange feeling. The small chairs were an outstanding fixture to it. The brick layers added a sense of structure to the piece also.

This show was a great sight for sore eyes. I believe the overall meaning was to show that in everything theres art. Also that everything in the world has a meaning or has had a meaning to it. His lecture really answered a lot of questions that were put in my mind when i was wandering around looking at each piece of work. He had a neat way of describing what he was inspired by saying that it was of good and evil. This exhibit was one that i will surely never forget.

Rachel Harris Assignment Two

Walking into Travis Townsend's exhibit titled "Ideas Rebuilt in My Garage While Contemplating Good and Evil"; I was immediate wowed by the extent of the work put into the works of art. The sculptures caught my eye with their intricate pieces and obvious tedious construction. The pieces themselves had hidden areas that held smaller pieces of work such as tiny chairs and tiny ladders. There were a few two dimensional pieces that went well with the three dimensional pieces. Together they showed a mathematical ways to the artist’s thinking and work.

The piece I was most interested in was “Another Tankard”, the largest piece in the gallery. It seemed meticulously and almost obsessively composed. The piece consisted of wooden pieces, string, and many other objects such as paint cards from hardware stores. I was drawn to this work because there was no one thing that had just caught my eye with the piece. I was constantly looking and finding new things to observe.

Travis Townsend’s lecture intrigued me in the beginning as he spoke of things that inspired him: creations, satellites and tanks. I enjoyed hears about how his work was never finished. He would constantly work on his pieces, sometimes taking things apart and putting new things together. I was also interested in how he said he had “stolen” his wife’s color palate for her jewelry, and how the colors seemed to fit in very well with the natural feeling of the wood that Travis worked with. As he was talking, however, Travis would mention things like how the titles of his works, and the works themselves were “stupid” or “dumb.” I never really understood why he would say those things about his works that he seemed passionate about making but his words seemed to turn me off to his works. Even though I thought his works were still fun to look at, the wow factor seemed to have disappeared at his words. Overall, I did enjoy the exhibit and would enjoy seeing the evolution of his pieces over time.

Deanna Barnes Blog Assignment 2

The exhibit entitled "ideas rebuilt in my garage while contemplating good and evil" by Travis Townsend was interesting and thought provoking. As a whole this exhibition was very cohesive all of the individual pieces worked very well together. The pieces are arranged in an organized manner with the largest pieces in the beginning and end while the smaller pieces are in the center of the exhibit. Similarities can be seen in all of the works, they all have bright vivid colors against the rich colors of wood. The artist has chosen to display the works in very creative and different ways. Most of the two-dimensional works do not have frames though some do have frames that are hand drawn on the wall. Some of the sculptures are mounted on blue blocks while others are laid on the floor. The artist uses string to link some of the sculptures that are on the floor to pieces that are mounted on the wall, which was a very original idea.

The piece that was most interesting to me was titled “Gathering/Black Cloud”; this piece was so interesting to me because it was so tiny. When I first saw the exhibit I did not even notice this piece was there. It was also interesting to me that the artist chose to put such a small piece into a collection of works that are so much larger. Even though it is so tiny is was so intriguing and I spent more time analyzing it than I did on any of the larger sculptures. This piece is almost void of any color except for the color on the wooden ladder. This piece seems to tell a story of a bird that was at the base of the piece but eventually climbed the ladder and has now found a safe haven in the clouds. The drawing in pencil of this bird on the wall was very creative and different from anything I have seen before. This bird can be seen throughout the entire exhibit though I do not always understand its purpose.

When I first looked though the exhibit I did not understand the concept at all but when I read the artist’s statement I understood his intentions and the exhibit very well. I related to the artists ideas about a commercialized world and I like that his pieces are telling a story though all the layers of each piece. When I analyzed some of the sculptures I noticed that each piece has so many random objects on it, like tools or maps or notes these random objects tell the viewer a story about the people who would have used them. The way that the artist expressed his ideas was very creative and thought provoking.

Amber Weaver: Assignment #2

The current exhibition at the Haas Gallery is interesting. The display is by the artist Travis Townsend. The exhibition consists three dimensional pieces with a few works complimented by two dimensional pieces. All of the pieces seem to interact with the rest. And in some cases, the three dimensional pieces even connect with the walls via string. Each piece seems to be related to the next. For example all of the selections contain similar colors, similar materials used, similar details such as doodles and little chairs, and the construction process.

All of the pieces in the exhibit are interesting to look at. I really enjoyed the two dimensional pieces over most of the three dimensional selections with the exception of the one titled Another Tankard. This piece is a gigantic conglomeration with multiple layers of wood, random splashes of paint, doodles, ladders, little chairs, string, and other little elements mixed in to create this thing that in a way looks like a tank or an odd shaped barge. It’s really obscure looking. It makes you wonder what exactly it is. I like how there were little chairs inside of this construction and miniature ladders on the outside. The addition of these little objects make you want to shrink down and go inside the contraptions. Which is what the artist was going for, I think.

I was fortunate enough to go to the artists presentation about his work. Before I heard the talk about the work I thought the works were quite nifty to examine. But after hearing what Travis Townsend had to say about the work and his opinion of it made me just shrug it off. In his presentation, he mentioned that his work was about warfare, satellites, and creation. He also mentioned that his work was more about the process of creation. For example, Another Tankard was changed multiple times. He cut pieces off and added other pieces to make it better. He liked the fact that he can go back in and change things and that he is never really done with a piece. But the thing that really turned me off to his work was the fact that he thought his work was “stupid” and “dumb”. This statement leads me to believe that he really doesn’t care about what he was creating and that he wasn’t passionate about his work. This changed my whole perspective on the exhibit. I went from “wow these things are kinda cool” to “eh, okay those things are just things” all in a matter of a few minutes.

Lee Patton Assignment Numero Dos

When I first walked into Travis Townsend's exhibit titled "Ideas Rebuilt in My Garage While Contemplating Good and Evil", I didn't know what to look at first. The works had a very craft-like and made at home feel to them, however many were much more complex than your average craft project. I really enjoyed the sculptures that had interior spaces that you could look into. They definitely helped to make the work much more interesting as you got closer to it. I also really liked the "Target on the Wall" piece, because I really enjoy the simple and abstract quality of it. As a whole, I think the works go well together, and the wall pieces help to keep things interesting instead of having only the jumbled sculptures. I also thought the pieces that were connected to the wall with a string were a nice touch to the exhibit, and gave those pieces much more dynamism than if they didn't have the wall attachment.

While the works I found excited me the most were several of the sculptures, I decided I wanted to write about the small and fairly simple piece titled "Gathering/Blocked Cloud". That piece just seemed so strange to me in context to the others, although the other pieces individually were much more complex. It had such a simple structure with several tinytown chairs and a slightly larger scaled ladder leading to a brick cloud with a deceased bird on top. I think I found this work so interesting because of how simple it was, but still made me scratch my head when trying to figure out a meaning. The ladder and chairs were pretty crude in their design, which gave a child-like feel to them. However, the pencil drawing on the wall with the dead bird made it slightly erie and farther from the youthfully constructed chairs.

I enjoyed hearing Travis talk about his work, even though it was a slightly disorganized lecture. I found it interesting that nearly all of his works are never really finished, and that they are as he put it "constantly evolving". One of his inspirations for his work is a man named Martin Purier who creates really interesting sculptures out of wood. He also draws inspiration from his wife; especially colors she uses in her jewelry, and his collaborative partner Brandon Smith. He had a fun and positive attitude which complemented his almost childlike work style.