Self Portrait and Blog

I selected these inspiration pieces because they were 3 of the 4 self portraits I found at Albright Knox Art Gallery on Sunday.

I select this media to create my self-portrait because the photograph of Corwin gave me some idea and it seemed like fun to play around with on photobucket.
 When creating the self-portrait  I had a hard time finding self portraits, but found 4 of them, one of which came from the store and not the display. I could not log in to photobucket because I could not remember my password. I tried many times and finally figured it out. I then could not attach the slide show to blog because the ad kept popping up and I could not figure out how to remove it.
This piece represents me by revealing the mood I have been in trying to complete this course and fighting allergies, giving the puffy eyes that look almost closed. I also was in my pajamas as I have been so much, working on these projects the last two weeks.
The elements and principles of art did  in this work is value (the black and white mood), circle shape, center photo emphasized, balance with even amount on all sides of the middle.
I did enjoy working on this project except for the lack of more time to experiment longer.
I think my final artwork is pretty good considering I have never done anything like this before. I always like oval and circle frames verses square ones, hence the circle photo.

AED reflection

It is not just paint and paper, it is music, dance, fashion, and anything else someone does to create and display their emotions is what I said in my first blog about art. I feel the same way only I have seen more ways to express these emotions after taking this course. I also learned the reasons why the art works look like they do and are able to analyze them more like a critic and not just a passerby.
My favorite artists in the beginning was Thomas Kinkade and Monet, now it is not necessarily them, but many others. I have been exposed to so many styles of art that I enjoy more of a variety. I still steer towards the more subtle colors like Monet, and outdoor scenes like Kinkades, but do appreciate other artists like Renoir.
I feel the same way about taking an online course as I did at the beginning. I do enjoy them for the convenience, just miss the camaraderie of student and teacher interaction.
I am signed up to take three online courses this summer to finish my path for a Bachelor Degree.

Peer Criticism on Art Curator Project

Viewing several of the classmates art curator projects was fun and educational. I realized how much people relate to nature, the most popular theme for the power points. I narrowed it to these three to review; KROLEWICZ_Project5.pptx, about nature, project_4.pptx, about cool blues and WHITE_Project4.pptx about shoes. I chose the Soles for Souls, done by curator, Monica White, because of the unusual yet popular theme. I enjoyed evaluating this one.
 The challenge I endured was not saving the previously viewed projects the first few days. When I went back, they were no longer available on the submission page. I then just made my choice from the new ones and saved the downloads. I like critiquing a classmate’s work. It enables me to compare my work to theirs and check if I am putting enough effort or too much into the assignment. It also shows me the thought process of others and the creativity out there. I would very much like to read what someone else had to say about my project for the same reason and it might bring an idea to mind, I might not have thought of using. I would rate my article about a 9 because I condensed my wording and it was not quite 2 pages. I did not think it was necessary to give too many details, and not be too long. 

Art Criticism Videos

I first watched the Greenburg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark video. It was hard to understand, his slurring and the sound was not very loud. I learned how much he drinks and smokes, in between each inhale came a sentence or two. All I heard was about how one has to argue the point to critique art. The Greenburg on Polluck: An Interview by T.J. Clark was a little better. I learned about the “death of easel painting” and murals and they were away from containment with boxed edges.
An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance was my favorite. it explained most of the artists we had learned about and their contributions to the art world in a brief and entertaining way.
The Critics-Stories from the Inside Pages was about how critics get media artists to think. They keep the artists on their toes. The subjective (criticism) and objective (reporting) is what it is all about. This requires logic, emotional support and personal credibility. The theory; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis , synthesis, and evaluation were all explained in this video. To become a critic one must learn to write and start at the bottom.
The Jackson Polluck: Michael Fried and T. J. Clark in Conversation video went into depth of the historical role of modern art and the independence of its aesthetic meaning. One would have to agree on the description in order to agree/disagree on the characteristics to criticize fairly.
The Colonial Encounter: Views of Non-Western Culture was about Dahome Art and Barbarism. The shark was the symbol to protect the shore and mud houses were of the African culture. This video explained the Algerian exhibit at the 1900 Worlds Fair and used the word “indigenous” many times.
The video on "stories from the inside pages" may help and be useful in my criticism, but not the others. I may somehow use the information and not realize it until I am actually writing my critique.

Art Curator Project #4

Art curator blog

After I tried to log in to Art stor with no success, I surfed the AskArt site. I decided on women artists as my theme, with “female artists making history” as the subject matter. Hours later I now have a few art pieces for my first blog. 

I attempted to again log on to the ArtStor, only after I contacted them by email. The webmaster advised me that I needed to first click on to Butler Library, then register on the ArtStor link. I did it. Now, I searched my topic with endless possibilities. I put several art works on a power point from the VDS resource site and the AskArt site, the only problem, the year was not provided, more research. The ArtStor link gave the year and other information I needed but, I could not figure out how to copy or get the image from that site to my power point, more research.

 After I read the discussion forum, I searched a site on one the classmates used, Artchive. I found some information there, which led me to the National Museum of Women Artists in Washington that I did not know even existed. More time and research.

There was plenty of information on one artist in particular, Georgia O’Keeffe, that I enjoyed reading about and could not decide which piece to exhibit. When I tried to click on a few of the links or images in Google of her works, it would lead me to links or sites that are of sexual references. One page could not be connected by Safari. Then reading  more about her and reanalyzing her art, I realized the intention by the artist, very sexual innuendos.  I included a plate by O’Keeffe that is used in the installation work of Judy Chicago that I also have in my display. Much to my surprise when I read the excerpt about Chicago and the representation on the “butterfly” plates representing the female genitalia. http://www.throughtheflower.org/page.php?p=10&n=2 tell the story of the impact of this historical installation.

I now have to do more technical issues with the hyperlinks for each source. I did not do it right and had to re find them all. I know I put more into it than necessary, it consumed every nite four or five hours, because I would read about each artist to decide which one to use, than search for the right art work. I like variety and wanted one of each genre of art in this display. Time consuming to find a woman artist in stained glass that made history. All the images are not on all sites.  I learned so much creating the power point, not just the technicalities of completing it on a Mac with Keynotes, but the lives and works of 20 women artists. 

Videos on Art Displays

I viewed the required videos in preparation for our project as a curator. The Lowbrow Art video piece was interesting to me on how this term came about and showed the various artists responsible for making this type of art popular. The production of album covers really put this movement out there along with the help of the internet. I learned how unacceptable this kind of narrative art was until about 10 years ago. Juxtapoz magazine gave it worldwide exposure as well. The Pop Tarts knew they can create nude women better than any man can, making lowbrow art famous in Canada and eventually bringing it to the US.
Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach explained the method used by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, white walls and chronological order of each art movement, and the 1970’s busy and noisy display. It then revealed The Tate Method of 4 sections used: Landscape/Matter/Environment, Still Life/Object/Real life, History/Memory/Society and Nude/ Action/Body to display the artwork. The biggest controversy being the Monet art piece in the same room as 3 of Richard Long’s work. The Joseph Beusy’s room was a church like atmosphere and the next room full of waste and junk,  showing abrupt transition between displays. Half way thru this video, it went black and I tried clicking onto individual segments with the same result.
The Bones of Contention: Native American Archeology video was informational about the repatriation issue that The Lakota Sioux were always here and did not want scientists history. They did not want any digging up of graves and demanded return of bones to the ancestors. Construction must even be redesigned if it is involving Indian burial grounds. After some changes, studies not only revealed what we know is true with all Americans that the diet and inactive lifestyle leads to diabetes, but skull size indicated amount of intelligence. In the end, it is evident that we all must work together to get results.
The George Eastman House - Picture Perfect video was the most interesting. I did not realize how many artifacts were on display there or just how significant he was in the art world. The video showed the beautiful home here locally in Rochester, N.Y. that is the museum, that also displays the Daguerrotype collection, the first to use light reflective technology. I learned he had 32 patents in his name and discovered 35 mm film with Thomas Edison. This also houses motion picture archives that I was unaware of and the restoration that takes place. I remember the brownie camera and flash cube cameras from the past and always enjoyed photography. I would like to now attend this museum in the near future.
I have not decided on a topic yet for the project and do not know how these videos will play a role in creating the power point until I move along. I am sure somehow this information especially the Tate display will help.

Videos on Abstract and Modern Art

I chose the first 4 videos to view because They seemed to be the most interesting to me. The first one Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of 50”s & 60”s showed the work of "Action Painters”, and their concepts. Abstract art is physical, sensual and intellectual. The figurative art’s filled space is different than non figurative that is egocentric. Kline did black and whites in the 50’s , Helen Frankenthjaler’s work was feminine and mystical. This video also showed Andy Warhol in depth with his works and posters and badges gave him the name “Father of Pop Art”. I liked the work of Ray Lichtenstein best. The dots used to create the comic book like characters were emphasized and how he did the black outlines with lips half opened to show seduction was very informative.
The next one,  Power of Art:Rothko, explained his work in the Seagram Building, using expressionism, stemming from his childhood, using feelings of human tragedy. His paintings showed assault on rich patrons. He even offered to paint for free if German curator built a chapel explaining the Holocaust.
Uncertainty: Modernity and Art  video was about the abstract expressionist. The Industrial Revolution changed from focus on religion, because there is not one God in our culture anymore,  to work and science values. The response to modern life, uncertainty is the message in modern art. Pop Art used disillusionment, the opposite of what was happening in life to create art work. The Chinese art was among those that changed from their representation to more of the western civilization influence.
Hockney on Photography went in to depth of David Hockney’s life as a painter and photographer, He discovered the Polaroid  camera. To him it is the chemical process of a painting. In the video, they compared a picture of flowers next to the painting, to see which one was more real.
It was very hard to view these videos, they kept crackling and I even tried to replay them. I tried to listen as close as possible to get the facts as I viewed them. They really gave more insight than the text as far as information on the individual artist as well as the modern art in it’s purpose.