The Dark Night

When learning about art you come across people that take their talent they were given and use it to its fullest. One artist I have found this to be true for is Vija Celmins. Vija immigrated to the United States with her family when she was ten from Latvia. Celmins was awarded international attention early in her career with her creation of natural scenes usually created from photographs. Vija in every work she created used many medias such as oil paint, charcoal, pencil drawing, printmaking and sculptures. Every one of her works included black, white and gray in place of colors taking this from photos that did not have any depth. Celmins is now internationally known for her works involving little color and rendering details of the natural environment. By the 1960 she started using only graphite pencils. This is where she started on her most popular creations of the surface of the ocean and the night sky. Clemins would sit at her easel all day just shading out the night sky.  She even worked on a painting for a year making sure each gray mark was perfect. She could be considered to many as a perfectionist.

-Conner- 

Art around the World

When first hearing about Komar and Melamid I did not think that there idea of polling all different countries to see what the world saw art, as was a great idea. But it actually turned out to be very interesting seeing what different parts of the world enjoy and consider appealing to their characteristics and life styles. Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid both Russian born American graphic artists teamed up together to collaborate their unique art talents and take the world by storm. Komar and Melamid both teamed up to create a People’s Choice series, which took place from 1994 to 1997. This series considered the most wanted and most hated paintings polled from eleven different countries.  They polled all eleven countries from what there favorite colors were to what art they liked to show in their house. Born, raised, and educated in the Soviet Union where the government’s motto was in people or the citizen’s interest they decided to give the Russian people a chance to exercise their taste.  Another idea that helped create this series was while living the latter part of their career in America they saw Americas as an adequate judge of art in the historical precedence that the world was trusted with judging what President to elect that they also could judge art. They decided to poll ten other countries to see the vast differences in opinions people had on art. After finishing their polls and results they posted it on a website created and run by them where they showed all their findings and showed what each countries favorite and hated picture was. 

 

-Conner-

"Enter the Dragon: On the Vernacular of beauty" by David Hickey

In his essay, "Enter the Dragon," David Hickey declares the importance of beauty within artwork. Before discussing beauty, its definition must first be given. Hickey distinguishes between beauty and the beautiful. The beautiful is a culmination of aesthetics hailed by society as visually appealing. In contrast, beauty is whatever involuntarily catches our attention and excites our senses. Even the most grotesque pieces of art can therefore contain beauty. According to Hickey, beauty is a central issue of our generation, for beauty in artwork has slowly waned within the latter half of the twentieth century. I agree that beauty is important, because beauty holds power. As Hickey states, beauty within art will cause the viewer to take time to discern the meaning of the artwork. Thus, artwork can hold powerful political and ethical agendas and use beauty to push these agendas onto the viewers. Artwork without beauty "begs the question of art's efficacy and dooms itself to inconsequence!" However, Hickey argues, the modern institution distrusts images that are efficacious by virtue of their beauty alone. Modern artists strive to achieve a plain honesty free from efficacy and beauty. Such artists argue that beauty is idolatrous, a form of advertising that is sinful and lacking in truth. Hickey argues history's greatest art has always inevitably contained both idolatry and advertisement, and that "plain honesty" does not exist because "the truth is never plain nor appearances sincere." Hickey furthers his argument by presenting ""Madonna of the Rosary" by Caravaggio. He implies that Caravaggio’s painting would not have been so spectacular, nor survived so many generations, had it not had a political agenda that was successfully achieved.

           Though I agree that idolatry and advertisement are both forms of art, I do not believe the truth can never be simple. Hickey believes that an image has no reason to exist and be beautiful unless said image has the intention of reconstruction the viewer's beliefs. However, I feel that certain artwork has been created with the sole intention of creating visual pleasure. Not all art need contain political motives and the intention to create new beliefs. Furthermore, the history of art and beauty does not run parallel with the history of winners. Many, such as African-American and female artists, who created artworks promoting racial and gender equality, never lived to see their goals achieved but their artwork has flourished.

I differ from Hickey in my opinion of honesty within art, but I agree with the critic's belief in the powerful role of beauty. For example, Robert Mapplethorpe's pornographic photographs of men having sex are profoundly controversial not for their homosexual nature but for their beauty. The men within the photographs are depicted in a radiant, appealing light, implying that their actions are not sinful but rather positive. Beauty is certainly the issue of our generation, and will continue to be for generations to come.

-Tina

Clown Torture

Upon first viewing “Clown Torture,” I was profoundly unnerved. In the piece, by Bruce Nauman, five videos simultaneously display clowns in disturbing situations. Some of the videos are displayed within monitors flipped upside-down or sideways, with the same scene playing endlessly within each monitor. In one video, a clown uses a public toilet and appears to be taped from a surveillance camera. In another, a clown screams at an unseen antagonist, while in the third monitor a clown repeats a confusing tale with increasing frustration. In the final two videos, one clown is splashed by water each time he opens a door and another unsuccessfully attempts to balance a goldfish bowl. Each video alludes to controversial topics, such as insanity and public surveillance. The painted expression of happiness ironically contrasts with the agony each clown undergoes. The painted faces provide not only irony but also anonymity. Because of hair and makeup, each clown’s identity is unknown, implying that any individual, regardless of age, sex, or ethnicity, could be suffering the torture felt by each clown. I interpret such anonymity as necessary to reflect the universal scope of the controversial topics the videos hint at. For instance, the video of a clown within a public bathroom reflects the global issue of breaching of privacy.

Each clown suffers repeatedly, yet none is unable to change the outcome. This helplessness is extremely relatable. Many victims around the world are powerless to improve their situations. Though each video is disturbing and depicts pain, Nauman’s “Clown Torture” is extremely popular and has had many viewers. Such popularity raises the question, do we as humans enjoy watching misery?

The torture of the clowns may well be a symbol for global suffrage, or simply a symbol for Nauman’s own plight. Nauman, an extremely private person, may have felt that the art world was encroaching on his personal life, as viewers encroach on the clown within the bathroom stall. Overall, Nauman’s work has multiple layers of meaning, and can create a range of reactions and emotions from its viewers. Its universal appeal and disturbing nature have cemented its place within art history. 

-Tina

Art in progress

Thus far, I have never viewed art as anything but a final object. Whether a painting, sculpture, photograph, or some other medium, art is generally viewed as individual pieces that are the culmination of an artist’s hard work. Bruce Neuman, an innovative American artist, believes art is more than just the end product: “If I was an artist and I was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art.” Neuman is the first of many contemporary artists to broaden the definition of art to include not just a finished product, but also the entire process of creating such a product. For Neuman, and many other artists, each process is as unique as the final piece. The final artwork does not reveal the endless hours within the studio, the list of ideas dismissed before settling on one final plan, or the sweat, tears, and love of the artist who created the piece. The process of creating art, the work in progress, is art itself.

-Tina

The animal man

The artist we learned about today was a guy by the name of Jeff Koons. Jeff is an American artist that specialized in balloon animals that were made out of steel with a mirror finish. Throughout his career he has made objects that refer to the world that it is around him and the things he encounters.  Jeff has made a wide range of things from vacuum cleaners to advertisements to cartoon animals. One thing Jeff has tried to accomplish while he has been an artist is for his art to communicate with a broad range of people. After college he moved to New York and bought a studio in the Soho area of New York where he employed thirty people all which worked on different parts to create his work the way he wanted it.

“Puppy

Jeff Koons biggest and tallest piece came into realization in 1992 when he was paid to create an art piece for a museum in Germany. This idea resulted into a forty-three feet tall dog called “Puppy”  The puppy was a tall sculpture of a White Terrier made out of a variety of flowers on a steel structure. The piece was bought in 1997 and was moved to a museum in Spain to sit out front to bring in art enthusiasts. The structure had to be dismantled and re-erected to its new home while being built back up it was added on to a more stable steel structure to hold up the millions of pounds of flowers. The best part of the new structure was the irrigation system that was planted into it to keep the flowers fresh and blossoming.

Conner

Clown Torture

If there is one man that takes art and runs with it and creates his own identity while doing that it is Bruce Nauman. Bruce Nauman is a contemporary American artist that creates art by using photographs, video and human performance. His way of creating art was by using himself and his unique brain to think of any invention of art that would set him ahead of others. Since the 1970s Bruce has been known as one of the most innovative artists in the world. Something that is different from Bruce and the rest of artists during his time was that he took activities, speeches and topics of everyday life to create his masterpieces. During his prime Bruce worried less on the development of his work but instead would try to find a way to transform his idea into a work of art. The biggest development and helper to Naumans success is that of video which has helped to blossom him into a world known artist. Many of his works in the 1960s were created with the involvement of film and video. But after 1973 he no longer used video he then started working on other areas of the art world. Not until 1985 did Nauman get back into video when he created his “Clown Torture" known as his best achievement to date.

"Clown Torture"

The work I have decided to talk about is one of the most bizarre scenes Nauman created called “Clown Torture".  This scene that Nauman created explores the identities of confusion, boredom and frustration. Nauman created these identities by involving monitors, projection screens and enhanced audio in the room. The scene was installed in a darkened space and consisted of two pairs of stacked monitors. Nauman in his odd ways decided to turn one of the monitors upside down and the other on its side to help confuse the viewer and leave them in state of panic. Also in the room were two large video projection screens every one of the displays had sound coming out of them which helped Nauman to portray his scene. The monitors on the wall and in the cases play four different narrative sequences each one showing a different adventure of a clown.  Each one of the scenes is said to be played out brilliantly not only by the plot of the scene but also the actor. The Clown Torture was known for playing tricks on the people that came to see it and left them wondering if they had just seen what they thought they did. This was a building block for Nauman starting up a new direction for him involving art with monitors, projections and acting elements.

Conner

The beauty of Art

When someone hears the word art one artist that always comes to the mind is Michelangelo. He is said to be the best documented artist of the 16th Century. That is an outstanding honor to be considered as he really took his talent as far as he could. Two of his most famous pieces "the scenes from Genesis" and "The last judgment" are both known as two of the most influential pieces of art of all time in Western art. Both of these amazing pieces were created by him before he was thirty years old. One of Michelangelo's paintings I found very meaningful and interesting was his "Pieta". The Pieta portrays Jesus lying across his mother Mary's lap after his Crucifixion. This statue was created for a Cardinal Jean de Billheres for his funeral monument, but ended up being moved to where it is now in the St. Peter Basilica in the Vatican City. This statue is very interesting in which the length of Mary drapery takes up half the statue under Jesus. That was probably easier to create in only having to carve out drapery instead of having to go into detail on her legs. This statue is also out of proportion with Mary being noticeably bigger than Jesus. However, I have to give credit to Michelangelo it was probably not easy to create a full length man in her arms.

" Saturn Devouring his Son"

“Saturn Devouring his Son" which was painted by a Spanish artist Francisco Goya. This painting shows a very angry man ripping his baby's arm off. from the picture we can already notice that the baby's head is already completely off as is his right arm. The painting is depicted from a Greek myth of Titan Cronus who is afraid of his kids trying to overtake him and take his power he in turn decides to eat every one of his children upon their birth. It had been foretold that one of his sons would overthrow him just as he did to his father. It was known that this painting was one of six paintings that were put in his living room as decoration. Looking at this picture there is not a lot of color throughout this picture. The color that is most recognized is the blood coming off the baby's body along with its pale skin and Saturn’s knuckles. The Saturn's eyes also bulge out in a rage of madness as is his grip that he has on the baby making sure it cannot go anywhere. Even though I believe it is hard to go somewhere when you are without an arm or a head. Upon Saturn's last sons birth his wife hid him on an island and put a stone in a blanket in his place which in turn deceived Saturn.      

Conner

Pissing on Art

When most individuals hear the word art, they envision grandiose statues, vibrant paintings, pieces of human creation that reflect the depth of our minds and hearts. Those unfamiliar with Marcel Duchamp would not hear the word art and think of a simple white urinal signed with a pseudonym. Duchamp’s “Fountain,” one of this centuries most influential art pieces, and a centerpiece of the Dada movement, is nothing more than a urinal signed R. Mutt 1917. Upon first viewing this art piece, I questioned whether Duchamp’s fountain is truly art, or just a mockery of art itself. After all, Dada is known as an anti-art movement in which prior definitions of art have been rejected. I pondered whether Duchamp created the piece to symbolically “piss” on traditional standards of art in his time by displaying his “fountain” next to some of history’s most cherished art works. Upon closer inspection of the piece, I realized Duchamp’s urinal is art at its finest. Great art works are great because they force viewers to contemplate their meaning, to stay up at night wondering the reason behind each detail of the work. Duchamp’s fountain certainly accomplishes this task, as can be seen in the attempts of numerous critics to decipher its meaning. Art not only stirs the viewer’s mind, but also contains a degree of originality. Duchamp compelled viewers to see an everyday object in an entirely new light. Duchamp may have created his piece to deride classical art and cause controversy, or to open people’s minds to the beauty within everyday objects. Regardless of its purpose, and despite its unconventionality, Duchamp’s fountain is a true piece of art. 




-Tina

The beauty of ugliness

For centuries, art has been a means to depicting the beauty of society. In art, human flaws can be removed with a simple brush stroke or piece of clay, and suddenly perfection is attained. However, recent horrific events, such as nuclear war and genocide, have made it near impossible for artists to continue ignoring the disgrace and ugliness ubiquitous in this world. Artists such as Freida Kahlo, Otto Dix, and Lucian Freud have realistically represented the human condition within their works. For instance, Otto Dix’s “Modern War” portrays the gruesome nature of war. Dix, a World War I veteran, was haunted by the brutality of battle, and his memories came alive on paper, in vivid color. This particular painting shows mutilated bodies strewn across a military trench. All humans are covered with helmets and gas masks, making each individual indistinguishable; such anonymity reflects the impersonal nature of war. 

"Modern War"

His other painting, shown below, accurately exposes the pitiful state of most veterans following war. In the painting, a wounded veteran sells matches on the street as a dog urinates on the stumps that were once his legs. This painting contrasts with other paintings of the time, which depicted war veterans as heroes of society.

While Dix focused on truthful portrayal of human nature, other artists, such as Lucian Freud, focused on the truthful portrayal of the human body. Traditional art works give a picture of humans as godlike and radiant, as within the “Break Girl” paintings and classical Roman statues. Freud chose to depict his subjects in their true light. For instance, his painting "Lying by the Rags" exposes every crevice, wrinkle, and blemish of the naked human body.

"Lying by the Rags" 

Many viewers find the genuine nature of the works of Dix, Freud, and other artists ugly. In my opinion, beauty has not left these art works, but rather transcended superficial aesthetics to honest portrayals. Beauty has been described as whatever stirs the viewer, as a “hammer to stamp out complacency.” The horrific nature of some paintings certainly catches the viewer’s attention, causing an array of emotions. True beauty is not perfection, but rather the ability to create such raw emotions within the viewers, to cause them to connect with the piece of work on a personal level. After all, humans are more able to relate to weaknesses than they are to flawlessness. Thus, beauty hasn’t disappeared from art. Instead, the “beauty of ugliness” has finally been established.

-Tina

Warhol and the Shark

Warhol just like Duchamp decided he wanted to make a unique type of art by using something already created. Warhol’s photograph, titled "Brillo Boxes," depicts stacked boxes. Nothing about the photograph is unique, yet the photo is considered a piece of art. People stack boxes for the dumpster or for their kids to play in, but few would consider these boxes art. Thus, Warhol’s boxes are a unique way to show off his creative background.

Another unique art subject I had never seen before was Damien Hirst's "Shark". I believe this kind of art piece should be used in an animal museum or some other facility dedicated to animals. With the growing fear of sharks these days, I think Hirst’s piece would strike fear within its viewers. In fact, Hirst stated he wanted a shark big enough to eat people. Fortunately, I have my own opinions on things, seeing the world differently than others. Hirt’s shark is unique, and deserves credit for the amount of money he spent to preserve his piece. Though Hirst deserves recognition for his shark, I hope when people come across this animal, they do not wish to preserve their own animals. Such action would turn an art museum, which is filled with unique paintings, into the animal planet. 

Conner

First Class

One of the first topics we discussed in class that caught my attention was the question, is everything that is done by someone a work of art? I consider art to be something an individual or group makes that is unique. I also believe that regardless of one’s skill sets, he/she can create art through hard work and creativity. Art is defined as something that satisfies your emotions and senses. Everyone is born with emotions and senses, but each individual will portray such emotions in different ways. 

The first piece of art we looked at this semester was Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain,” known as a readymade piece of art because the artist took an object that had already been made, a urinal, and turned it into art. The title of this piece really fits the object because on display, the urinal does not appear as it would in a bathroom, but rather as a fountain to be placed in a park. I believe Duchamp’s urinal is a unique piece of art in that he took an everyday used object and represented in a way not seen before. I am very surprised few artists I know have turned such everyday objects into art. Because I was not born with the best hands for drawing or painting, I would be most skilled at turning readymade objects into original pieces of art.

Conner