Pen and india ink.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Mapping the Semester
For our last project, we are being asked to create a piece that "maps" our semester and our experiences in CFC I.
I really enjoy those old, inaccurate diagrams of brains that show how different areas correspond to different emotions, actions, and skills. See here: http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/Sivartha/01.017.html
Over time, scientists have made many advances regarding the location of different brain functions, but they are still very far from perfecting the diagram. The boundaries between the different areas are very blurry, and new discoveries are being made that show how the functions can overlap under certain circumstances.
I'm going to model my mapping piece off of these old brain drawings. I wrote out all of the different emotions that I have felt at different points of each project this semester (there was often a common progression), and I'm going to place these in different areas of my brain to show the complex process that goes on in my head throughout each project.
It's going to be in pen and ink to correspond to the look of the original maps.
I really enjoy those old, inaccurate diagrams of brains that show how different areas correspond to different emotions, actions, and skills. See here: http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/Sivartha/01.017.html
Over time, scientists have made many advances regarding the location of different brain functions, but they are still very far from perfecting the diagram. The boundaries between the different areas are very blurry, and new discoveries are being made that show how the functions can overlap under certain circumstances.
I'm going to model my mapping piece off of these old brain drawings. I wrote out all of the different emotions that I have felt at different points of each project this semester (there was often a common progression), and I'm going to place these in different areas of my brain to show the complex process that goes on in my head throughout each project.
It's going to be in pen and ink to correspond to the look of the original maps.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Space In-Between Self & Others: Metamorphosis
We are currently working on a project in which we must transform ourselves into an Art and Design faculty member through a series of five images. Any medium can be used, as long as the final project illustrates a metamorphosis from one person to the other.
I chose to morph myself into Nick Tobier. Nick is a performance artist who teaches my Art and Design Perspectives: Society class this semester. I really enjoy having Nick as a professor, and I am very fascinated by his “Situational” art.
I struggled a bit thinking of ways to produce the metamorphosis from me to Nick. I began by doing some research on Nick’s background and his artwork. This is a great video of Nick speaking about himself and his work on A&D’s Play Gallery:
On a less serious but equally entertaining note, this is Nick responding to comments made about him on MTV’s “Professors Strike Back” series:
Taking the information I gathered about this artist and professor, I decided that it would be interesting to compare and contrast mine and Nick’s personalities and types of artwork. Nick is a fairly outgoing guy, as he tends to perform his projects in public; I, on the other hand, am considerably more reserved and prefer to do my art in private. Also, while he tends to work in time-based media and performance art, I am more prone to create 2D artwork. So, my initial idea was to create the image of myself using a 2D medium, and then slowly incorporate video or performance into the 2D image until it became an entirely video-based representation of Nick. However, as I have virtually no experience with video art, and I was crunched for time as usual, I decided against this idea.
Then, taking a cue from Nick’s Penny Stamps lecture, in which he talked a lot about his childhood and how he has changed over time, I thought it would be interesting to contrast images of him as a child growing into an adult with me as a child growing into a college student. I wanted to somehow juxtapose these images of us at different ages on top of each other so you would be able to see 2 metamorphoses at once: one between the two different people, and another between our increasing ages.
But alas, as often ends up happening, time got away from me and I found myself having to simplify my idea. I decided to stray away from doing a simple transformation in 5 images, and instead chose to depict two rows of images of our faces, using one of my preferred mediums, watercolor, to create the faces and allow the watercolor to drip down into the face below.
In class on Wednesday we had a critique of our progress on the pieces so far. The people that commented said that they would like to see the faces bigger, and Endi spoke about the implications of the “dripping” paint in different contexts. Regarding the size issue, I prefer to use watercolor on a smaller scale, because the nature of the medium is so delicate. As Endi noted, this choice of media might also reflect the character of my professor, as Nick is a kind-hearted and considerate person both in his life and his artwork.
Enough. I will post images of my progress and the final piece when it is completed. Which will be soon.
I chose to morph myself into Nick Tobier. Nick is a performance artist who teaches my Art and Design Perspectives: Society class this semester. I really enjoy having Nick as a professor, and I am very fascinated by his “Situational” art.
I struggled a bit thinking of ways to produce the metamorphosis from me to Nick. I began by doing some research on Nick’s background and his artwork. This is a great video of Nick speaking about himself and his work on A&D’s Play Gallery:
On a less serious but equally entertaining note, this is Nick responding to comments made about him on MTV’s “Professors Strike Back” series:
Taking the information I gathered about this artist and professor, I decided that it would be interesting to compare and contrast mine and Nick’s personalities and types of artwork. Nick is a fairly outgoing guy, as he tends to perform his projects in public; I, on the other hand, am considerably more reserved and prefer to do my art in private. Also, while he tends to work in time-based media and performance art, I am more prone to create 2D artwork. So, my initial idea was to create the image of myself using a 2D medium, and then slowly incorporate video or performance into the 2D image until it became an entirely video-based representation of Nick. However, as I have virtually no experience with video art, and I was crunched for time as usual, I decided against this idea.
Then, taking a cue from Nick’s Penny Stamps lecture, in which he talked a lot about his childhood and how he has changed over time, I thought it would be interesting to contrast images of him as a child growing into an adult with me as a child growing into a college student. I wanted to somehow juxtapose these images of us at different ages on top of each other so you would be able to see 2 metamorphoses at once: one between the two different people, and another between our increasing ages.
But alas, as often ends up happening, time got away from me and I found myself having to simplify my idea. I decided to stray away from doing a simple transformation in 5 images, and instead chose to depict two rows of images of our faces, using one of my preferred mediums, watercolor, to create the faces and allow the watercolor to drip down into the face below.
In class on Wednesday we had a critique of our progress on the pieces so far. The people that commented said that they would like to see the faces bigger, and Endi spoke about the implications of the “dripping” paint in different contexts. Regarding the size issue, I prefer to use watercolor on a smaller scale, because the nature of the medium is so delicate. As Endi noted, this choice of media might also reflect the character of my professor, as Nick is a kind-hearted and considerate person both in his life and his artwork.
Enough. I will post images of my progress and the final piece when it is completed. Which will be soon.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Response To "The Five Obstructions"
In 1967, Jørgen Leth, a Danish filmmaker, created a short film called The Perfect Human. You can view it here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8341864322805018162&hl=en. The Perfect Human presents a man and a woman, both supposedly “the perfect human,” doing things that humans do, in a white, neverending room while their actions are narrated in a rather poetic fashion.
I loved watching The Perfect Human. I loved how, in the same breath, it simplified and dramatized the daily actions of human beings, and reduced the characters to specimens in order to scrutinize their characteristics and tendencies. I also think that Jørgen Leth did a magnificent job with the artistic aspects of the film: he draws attention to certain concepts by changing the placement and depth of the camera in relation to the characters.
In class, we watched a film by Lars Von Trier and Jørgen Leth entitled The Five Obstructions, which is a response to The Perfect Human. Von Trier decides to pose a challenge for his friend and mentor, Jørgen Leth, by asking him to remake The Perfect Human five times, each with a different “spin,” or obstruction, from Von Trier.
I really enjoyed how Leth and Von Trier obscured and transformed the original piece with their collaboration in The Five Obstructions. In each one, Leth takes parts of the original film and transforms them based on the instructions (obstructions) given to him. In the first obstruction, Leth has to remake the film in Cuba with no shot longer than 12 frames. I thought it was very interesting how the mood of the entire piece was changed due to the different location. The clothes, the décor, and the appearance of the characters was very different than the original film, so it was interesting to make connections between the two. I think Leth succeeded in creating a compelling piece using only 12-frame shots, and although its tone differs from that of the original Perfect Human, I think it proves the universality of the original film’s theme.
The second obstruction had to be filmed in the worst place in the world but not actually show that place, and Leth had to play the role of the man. Leth decides to shoot the film in the red light district of Bombay, with only a translucent backdrop separating him from the impoverished citizens of the city as he jumps around and eats his luxurious meal. For me, this was almost painful to watch; the irony that the everyday actions of the “perfect human” are not attainable by everyone is both disheartening and unsettling.
Because Leth didn’t complete the second obstruction perfectly, Von Trier tells him to either remake the film in any way he chooses or redo the one in Bombay. Leth decides to remake the film in Brussels using split-screen effects. I personally liked this obstruction the least, because it closes the detachment between the people and real life that is found in the other films, and places the characters in realistic situations and even has them talk themselves. I thought this took away from the conceptual nature of the piece.
The 4th obstruction is an animation. I found this one fascinating because it borrowed elements and sections from all of the previous films and combined them in animated form. I think it was aesthetically appealing, but because it was animated it had less of an emotional impact on me.
The fifth film was created by Von Trier but narrated by Leth. I think this brings up a very interesting issue related to art, that of ownership.
The Perfect Human and The Five Obstructions prove that challenging yourself or being challenged by others while making art can be both frustrating and extremely gratifying. It can also allow you to discover solutions that you never knew existed. I think this is an incredibly valuable lesson that should not only be applied to art-making, but to life-living in general.
(SORRY THIS IS SO LONG. Apparently I am unable to write anything "brief")
I loved watching The Perfect Human. I loved how, in the same breath, it simplified and dramatized the daily actions of human beings, and reduced the characters to specimens in order to scrutinize their characteristics and tendencies. I also think that Jørgen Leth did a magnificent job with the artistic aspects of the film: he draws attention to certain concepts by changing the placement and depth of the camera in relation to the characters.
In class, we watched a film by Lars Von Trier and Jørgen Leth entitled The Five Obstructions, which is a response to The Perfect Human. Von Trier decides to pose a challenge for his friend and mentor, Jørgen Leth, by asking him to remake The Perfect Human five times, each with a different “spin,” or obstruction, from Von Trier.
I really enjoyed how Leth and Von Trier obscured and transformed the original piece with their collaboration in The Five Obstructions. In each one, Leth takes parts of the original film and transforms them based on the instructions (obstructions) given to him. In the first obstruction, Leth has to remake the film in Cuba with no shot longer than 12 frames. I thought it was very interesting how the mood of the entire piece was changed due to the different location. The clothes, the décor, and the appearance of the characters was very different than the original film, so it was interesting to make connections between the two. I think Leth succeeded in creating a compelling piece using only 12-frame shots, and although its tone differs from that of the original Perfect Human, I think it proves the universality of the original film’s theme.
The second obstruction had to be filmed in the worst place in the world but not actually show that place, and Leth had to play the role of the man. Leth decides to shoot the film in the red light district of Bombay, with only a translucent backdrop separating him from the impoverished citizens of the city as he jumps around and eats his luxurious meal. For me, this was almost painful to watch; the irony that the everyday actions of the “perfect human” are not attainable by everyone is both disheartening and unsettling.
Because Leth didn’t complete the second obstruction perfectly, Von Trier tells him to either remake the film in any way he chooses or redo the one in Bombay. Leth decides to remake the film in Brussels using split-screen effects. I personally liked this obstruction the least, because it closes the detachment between the people and real life that is found in the other films, and places the characters in realistic situations and even has them talk themselves. I thought this took away from the conceptual nature of the piece.
The 4th obstruction is an animation. I found this one fascinating because it borrowed elements and sections from all of the previous films and combined them in animated form. I think it was aesthetically appealing, but because it was animated it had less of an emotional impact on me.
The fifth film was created by Von Trier but narrated by Leth. I think this brings up a very interesting issue related to art, that of ownership.
The Perfect Human and The Five Obstructions prove that challenging yourself or being challenged by others while making art can be both frustrating and extremely gratifying. It can also allow you to discover solutions that you never knew existed. I think this is an incredibly valuable lesson that should not only be applied to art-making, but to life-living in general.
(SORRY THIS IS SO LONG. Apparently I am unable to write anything "brief")
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The Human Condition
For this assignment, we had to pick a work of art from the 20th century and write a description of it without mentioning the artist or title. These descriptions were then distributed throughout the class without us knowing who got whose. Next, we had to interpret the description we received in 2 ways: one, by simply replicating the image from the description, and two, by creating the same image using only text.
In the paper I received, the work was described as a pencil drawing of a human eye, realistically rendered, with a faint image of a skull reflected in the pupil. It included details about the light source, the inclusion of areas around the eye, and other specifics.
This is my text piece. It is entirely made out of words and phrases, and they were applied using two methods: printing stamps carved out of erasers, and acetone transfers of typed words.
In the paper I received, the work was described as a pencil drawing of a human eye, realistically rendered, with a faint image of a skull reflected in the pupil. It included details about the light source, the inclusion of areas around the eye, and other specifics.
This is my text piece. It is entirely made out of words and phrases, and they were applied using two methods: printing stamps carved out of erasers, and acetone transfers of typed words.
(click to enlarge)
For the other piece, I decided to depict the context of my artwork, rather than the artwork itself. I imagine that for a skull to be reflected in someone's pupil, they would have to be looking at a skull. Therefore, I did a charcoal drawing of a girl looking straight at the head of a skeleton:
For the other piece, I decided to depict the context of my artwork, rather than the artwork itself. I imagine that for a skull to be reflected in someone's pupil, they would have to be looking at a skull. Therefore, I did a charcoal drawing of a girl looking straight at the head of a skeleton:
I later found out that the piece that my description referred to was a mezzotint by M.C. Escher entitled Eye. Here an image of the work:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Progress:
The structure of the cones is built from wire mesh and covered in paper-mached strips cut from a phone book. I chose this material on purpose, to represent all of the people outside the realm of the cone and the conversation that the user wishes to block out. I am going to paint the inside of the cones a solid color - perhaps different colors to match the character of the person wearing it.
After adding velcro straps, neck padding, and painting the inside:
The structure of the cones is built from wire mesh and covered in paper-mached strips cut from a phone book. I chose this material on purpose, to represent all of the people outside the realm of the cone and the conversation that the user wishes to block out. I am going to paint the inside of the cones a solid color - perhaps different colors to match the character of the person wearing it.
After adding velcro straps, neck padding, and painting the inside:
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