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This immediately caught my attention simply because I have never heard of it. Houston host a Day for Night festival which celebrates sound and light. Coming together Curator Alex Czetwertynski has selected 15 international artists to contribute new media works that all involve light manipulations. Day for Night is held this year at the former Barbara Jordan Post Office. In a piece called Shoplifter “Nervescape” hair is the medium of choice. Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardótti, created this piece to show a “living, breathing interactive sculpture that feeds on sounds, growing inside a large cage.” Another piece by a media artist Golan Levin called “Ghost Pole Propagtor” is a project that focuses on the expressive potential of the most minimal of human forms. He developed this project in 2007 for an exhibition in Newcastle, England. He responds to its observers movements, with a setup capturing and translating gestures into simple but evocative lines. When shown in Newcastle, Levin projected these figures on the walls of an old 13th century castle. Another piece I thought was interesting was the Children of the Light, “Reflector Suits”. It was created by 2 Amsterdam-based visual artists Christopher Gabriel and Arnout Hulskamp. The interesting thing about it for me was the illumination of the suits and the fact that it sates the two men will be staging improvisational performances at the festival.

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If the ideas of snowflakes weren’t cool enough, being able to see their shapes and forms are even cooler. Thanks to Wilson Bentley who was a farmer in Vermont we were able to view 5,000 photograph.  In 1885, at the age of 19, Bentley captured the beauty of these wonders by catching the snowflakes on a metal pan and carefully photographing them in the matter of a couple minutes.

Bentley wasn’t a trained photographer or scientist but is fascination of  figuring out the natural forces of the world helped with his discovery. He would also study other things like clouds and frost, but nothing captured the public imagination like the snowflake photographs. Wilson Bentley claimed that no two snowflakes were alike but professional scientists were dismissed his ideas and research. 

Wilson Bentley said, “A true scientist wishes above all to have his photographs as true to nature as possible, and if retouching will help in this respect, then it is fully justified.” Now today Bentley’s work is seen and is appreciated as much as an artistic archive as a meteorological one.

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Art to me is a humanitarian act and I believe there is responsibility that art should somehow be able to effect mankind, make the world a better place

Jeff Koons

This quote holds a lot of meaning for me, especially as an artist. As an artist I strive to be like what the quote describes, a humanitarian. Art itself holds more meaning than some people give credit to. And us as artist we give life to those responsibilities that art shares with the world. Art helps to get a point across and a message heard that saying words is sometimes not strong enough to do. The responsibility that art posses is the the message it gives. For example, Marcel Duchamp sent the message about why is this art, that anything can be art, or why can’t it be art. Although this brought many controversy it opened up the minds of many people. Even myself because it made me think about what is art? Why is something so simple as a urinal with a signature on it considered art? But like Jeff Koons quote says that art should effect mankind I feel like it did. Because if you look at the art now and the movement one simple moment or piece created it had a strong effect on mankind. Even the works of many African American artist sharing their knowledge of their culture and the many conflicts about the civil rights movement sheds light on these issues and wake people up.

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I’ve been noticing these statues a lot on social media. And when I looked up contemporary art this is what came up. These statues are part of a project called “Guardians of Time”. They were created by an Austrian sculptor Manfred Kielnhofer who was and has always been interested in the human being as model as well as a potential source of danger to mankind. Kielnholfer uses his “Guardians of Time” statues as a symbol for some greater force that stands above human beings, regardless of the name different people might give to that “higher power.” These monk-like statues are dedicated to the belief that human beings are watched over and protected.

What I thought was so interesting about these “Guardian of Time” statues was that many of them appear for a single day, and are gone by the next day. This is cool for me because it almost makes me feel like I have the sense of someone watching over me, like the higher being protecting me is around. Seeing these statues are almost like a once in a life time kind of experience. Being able to be there and experiencing it in a way can be rejuvenating or liberating, and not many people can say they have had the opportunity to have this experience. I believe that Manfred Kienlnhofer’s intentions to allow his the viewer’s perception and understanding to naturally be shaped by their surroundings was a successful one.

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Culture Appropriation is a big thing that happens in our society and culture. A lot time people don’t think too deeply into these things, because for many it’s not a “big deal”. However, it is a lot of the things we appropriate means something of importance for another. But I think culture appropriation is only negative when used in negative content. Yea I understand it does strike the conversation of controversy but why does it all have to be seen in that light. I think that as artist when we do culture appropriate it is more to share a spread consciousness to the idea than a negative content. 

A form of culture appropriation I see is of the Indian culture. From the ritual they perform to the way they dress, I see it a lot. I know many times I have been guilty of appropriating they’re culture, not because I am mocking it, but because I find a beauty in it. So for as an artist I feel as If I am glorifying their culture.

I had a conversation with a friend before about how she was offend that she felt people were “making fun” of her culture. She was Buddhist and we were shopping. We came across a sculpture of Buddha and she told me “it’s sad to see people taking what I believe, and who I worship as a joke. How would a Christian feel if I took a statue of their higher being and put it in my home?” Although our action may not be meant to harm anyone I feel sometimes as a society we should stop and think about how it is effecting others around us. 

Cultural Appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another culture. As a student studying art I only find it suiting to take a few minutes to discuss an issue that has been present in art and our world of popular culture for some time. In art, culture acts as a definer for many choices of style, aesthetics and tradition. In art we tend to forget the aspects of other cultures when in the creation of our own works. Culture appropriation is most definitely an issue that many artists run into or even use to spark up controversy in their work.

When in the beginning stage of the creation of art, it is sometimes easy to over look the opinions of others. Cultural appropriation is most definitely a touchy subject to say the least. An artist must make sure that when creating work in ordinance with certain aspects of a culture to not offend anyone whom practices.

A perfect example of culture appropriation is the use of Native American culture as a whole. The images above feature Native American traditional wear worn as fashion statements rather than their sole intention during their ceremonies.

The author of Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law defines cultural appropriation in such a way, “Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expression or Artifacts from someone else’s culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc.”

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Terry Smith's chapter 'Becoming Contemporary in EuroAmerica' provides an overview of the new ideas and contexts around art making that emerged in the 1950s, 60s & 70s.  In different ways & in different contexts, many of these new approaches were developing in reaction to the Modern art celebrated by critics such as Clement Greenberg. Citing a specific artist & artwork as an example, identify and briefly explain 5 specific new concerns for artists during time.  (TIP: If you're new to 20th century art history, this overview might seem a bit overwhelming; you can address this question by asking yourself 'during the time period discussed in this reading, what types of things did specific artists start caring about, thinking about, saying about or doing in their art?'). With the inspirations of Pablo Picasso’s late work a lot of the younger artists began to venture and becoming more curious about where they could potentially take their art. With the piece called Three Figures it essentially set a tone to the transformation between the late Modern art and contemporary concerns. Of these contemporary concerns 5 different aspects evolved; situationism, pop, minimalism, earthworks and conceptualism. Situationism was just as simple as it seemed, art that concerned itself with current situations and about life that dealt with the artists. “Art into Life\ Life into Art”. The artist, writers, anarchists, and intellectuals were encouraged to live life to its fullest potential in hopes of it reflecting in their work. Their personal desires and passions were being fulfilled, and in my opinion if I had to describe them in a specific why I would can them creative nomads. Simply because of their non-restraints mixed or tied in with their artistic abilities. Another aspect would be pop. Pop art was a more involved with the modern culture. It focused on the media forms of art, but still stayed connected to the fine arts ideas. People such as Andy Warhol is an example of artist who worked with in this style of art. His painting were very iconic and represented this time period very well. Minimalism was an art form created of during the 1950s and 60s that showcased mainly paintings and simple sculptures. Earthworks were inspired by the late modernist art. It created the realities of everyday life. Earthworks gives us a better understanding of our environment and life around us. Last but not least is conceptualism. Conceptualism was an art form that was more concerned with the process of the work more than the reaction of it. It was more concerned with the ideas behind why a piece was done rather than what was used to make it, and the aesthetics of it.

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Identify the ways in which two specific artworks from your textbook make use of the abject, grotesque, carnivalesque, or otherwise 'deformed' body. How and why do the artist choose to engage these themes and experiences?

In Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #258 it features a doll that could represent many different scenario like rape or in the opposite side porn. The way the doll is position can show signs of helplessness or distress. Especially since the head of the doll is covered it can show embarrassment. Also on the other hand the image pornography can be seen because of also how the doll is placed. I think the artist may have did this to how one image can have different meanings and all though people may not want to believe these events happens more often than you think. She may have wanted to bring awareness to the situation although it does come in an uncomfortable way. In Kiki Smith’s work Tail I thought it was such a clever way to show the stereotypical idea of “being” a woman. Although a little intense and extreme it captures that idea of the woman doing what she is told by the man.

 Following your reading of Michael Wilson's essay (and/or Jack Bankowsky's and/or Rhonda Lieberman), what are three specific attitudes, approaches or concerns of contemporary "slacker" or "abject" artists? In what ways do artists associated with this trajectory adopt a 'slacker' or 'abject' position and for what reasons?

An attitude the slacker or abject artist portray was somewhat of carefree kind of attitude from what I understood. For example, they did what they wanted and didn’t care. Like mentioned in the reading the example they gave with the jaded slackerdom of Kevin Smith’s 1994 movie Clerks. Another attitude I feel that was portrayed was a very passive blah attitude. “Just Pathetic” was like they said a no-win situation. The last attitude I can find was a very vulnerable and doubtful attitude.

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When it comes to art I believe politics has a lot to do with it. In my opinion without politics there isn’t any art. I think that the some of the best artist paint and create how they see the world around them. In this piece Interrogation II Leon Golub creates works that address humanitarian issues. This piece specifically belongs to a series of paintings that represents human rights violations in Central America. By adjusting the gaze of the grinning bad guys directly on the viewer, Golub makes it difficult to look away. The artist tries to compel his viewers to examine their own relationship to the brutality depicted. In Leon Golub’s work he questions a lot about aesthetics. A lot of Leon Golub’s paintings veer between the immediacy of the newspapers from which his subjects were sometimes drawn and a sense of ancient and eternal tragedy. In the book it says the interrogators dress in T-shirts, camouflage and pants to kind of locate them in the present day, but the other aspects of the painting gives them more of a timeless quality. The dark red of the background of the painting mimics murals of Pompeii, while the composition themselves invokes the flatten space of the Roman friezes. Leon Golub has been known to frequently scrape his canvases with a meat cleaver to create that visual corollary to violation, thus, making these paintings surfaces are just as tortured as the subjects in them.

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Art has the ability to help us imagine that the world we live in is just today’s condition.

Theaster Gates

http://www.art21.org/videos/episode-chicago

Check out this video on Art21 about Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates! He is an incredible artist working with found materials such as pieces of houses, tar, and baby doll heads to create his work. He is taking these materials and using them to encourage a new way of thinking in his audience. A new way of seeing these objects and the world around us. He links his interest in music from the Black church as well as his degree in urban planning to everything he creates. He has a nonprofit organization where he raises money for many projects in his community. One, in particular, is the Stony Island Arts Bank. He focuses on bringing African American culture to the forefront and says that the world is waiting to be changed, and art is a way for us to change it.

(via merlotandart)

When I saw this quote it immediately took to me. Art to me is emerging from your environment and portraying your views of the world for others to see. Nothing is forever and the world is constantly molding and changing. And it is our job as creative people to shed light to others who are not able to see it from a different perspective. Our work is a snapshot of a moment. It a glimpse into time. If you look back to the days of renaissance paintings or even when photography was first an idea, none of which we look back on is the same as it is today. We don’t dress the way they did, speak like them or even how we feast isn’t really the same. So those artworks helps to give us those abilities in which the world could have been like in that moment in time.  It gives us that understanding that we need and the knowledge to progress. It sets the example of we can set examples for our future artists and creative minds to come. Art also helps us to evoke change and the understanding of change. It is our voice unwritten and the voice for others who are not able to express what they feel or want to say.

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Art Basel is one of the world’s most modern and contemporary art shows. This annual art showing is held in three major cities: Basel, Hong Kong and Miami. And every year it gets more and more interesting to say the least. Just a few weeks ago Art Basel Miami came to town a from the looks of it, it was pretty exciting. From the convention center to the streets of Wynwoond creativity was flowing through the air. This year Miami Art Basel had over 77,000 attendees, and if you ask me that’s a lot. This year there were 269 galleries from 29 countries who participated in this event. According to many different sources Art Basel’s goal has been to connect the world's premier galleries and also to serve a meeting point for the international artworld.

During a mini interview that I saw was an interesting idea to me. Hank Willis Thomas spoke how he he felt about the political issues he tackles in his work. What was the most interesting part about was when says “ artists need to imagine a better future for society, even if part of the present deal here is lucrative... What I’m really most interested in is how we can use the system to improve it. And it’s always a positive improvement. I don’t want to alienate myself from anyone.” And in my opinion I believe that’s what Art Basel is about. Or at least one of the main things it should be about.

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How amazing would it be to take a trip through the United States to photograph Native American tribes? Matika Wilbur did just that. She wanted to be able to change the way the world views Native Americans. I think what she has done was such a noble thing to do simply because says “Our children deserve a better narrative”. Growing up she had a strong sense of her Swinomish identity. Much of the credit Wilbur gives for shaping her understanding of her indigenous heritage, is two women, her mother, Nancy Wilbur and her great-grandmother, Laura Wilbur. Both of these women did incredible things. For instance her mother was a Native American rights activist and art gallery owner and her great- grandmother fought federal jurisdiction over tribal lands and worked to help form the National Congress of American Indians. Matika Wilbur began this journey of photographing Native Americans was while documenting indigenous life in South America, she had a dream pf her great grandmother telling her to return home to photograph her own people. She started a project called Project 562. The inspiration for this came while Wilbur was teaching at Tulalip Heritage High School. She wanted to tell the honest stories of what Native Americans had to go through. With Project 562 she hopes to set the record straight and break those stereotypical ideas about Native Americans.

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I  am much more interested in images that don't necessarily speak for themselves, images that ask questions and, in many cases creates paradoxes

Trevor Paglen

I have just recently went to a talk the Trevor Paglen has spoke about his work. To be honest I did not immediately become interested in what he was saying because I didn’t understand what he was trying to communicate. However, after watching his talk over again I grew an appreciation for his work, especially after seeing this quote. I felt like he wanted to capture things that many people don’t notice or they over look. Also he wanted to push boundaries and also help to push people to also push those same limits. So in his work I really believe he allows the images to speak for themselves. Looking at his images it creates your mind to wonder, at least it does for me. It makes me question what is going on, what was he thinking when he chose this specific space, and even what may have been happening during the time while he was taking these photos. During his lecture I learned about the under water cables running through the middle of the ocean floor. Him being able to record such a thing I thought it was amazing after learning about it because that isn’t something that isn’t of the norm. So for me it is almost as if he unlocked another world and bigger ideas. He in a way expanded my sense of wanting to explore different ideas.

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1. Helen Molesworth is concerned in this essay to complicate the typical categories used to talk about Feminist art from the late 60s & 70s.  Why does she think this is necessary? What new insights does she think this perspective might open up?

I wasn’t really sure of how to answer this question, but why I believe Helen Molesworth felt complicating the typical categories used to talk about feminist art was because it wasn’t shown as much appreciation as it should have been. Many of the staging have continued to consolidate a logic of “us” and “them”. I was either seen on one side of the spectrum or the other, there was not really a middle area. Feminist work was based on theory and social constructionism which made it hard for the so called principles of essentialism to set the record straight. And with feminist art having in depth complexities, interpretive blind spots created perception of antagonism. I think she believes this will open up an appreciation and understanding for the feminist art.

2. In the discussion of 'feminist art' and 'conceptual art' from this period, what are 3 specific overlaps in the concerns and strategies of either 'camp'?

The 3 specific overlaps in the concerns and strategies of either 'camp' would be the language of progress, the logic of progress, and the tenacity of the division. The language of process is used across the board and as mentioned in the text with Lisa Tickner stating that "adolescent vitality of 1970s feminism matured successfully into a body of rigorous 1980s art and criticism.” The logic of process would have to do with pairing of post 1960s art into a stale binarism.

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Select 3 artists discussed in this chapter and explain the specific ways in which they use the body as a media and/or subject in their practice.  To what ends do they reference of otherwise make use of the body?

One artist that I found to be interesting is Tania Bruguera. Bruguera is known for her work that uses the body as a confrontational medium. According to the text, Bruguera draws her inspiration from artists such as Ana Medieta, who used an earthy theme in displaying the body and Abramovic, whose work was a bit edgy and intense. Combining the elements of these two artist, Bruguera’s work uses the body as an instrument to explore social, political and religious restraints. One of the works which stand out is el peso de la culpa (the burden of guilt), a performance in which Bruguera ate Cuban soil and water, while hanging the carcass of a lamb around her neck to pay homage to Cubans who did the same in ritual suicide to defy the Spanish conquistadors. The political aspect is clear and the elements of Mendieta and Abramovic definitely stand out in this display. Another artist whose work evoked some sort of feeling in me is Robert Mapplethorpe. His work is intense and grotesque, with many of the images being cringe-worthy for many. Mapplethorpe’s work uses the male body as a feminine model, with gay men posing in what are traditional women poses. Mapplethorpe belongs to the gay community and plenty of his work has some images that elaborate on gay culture. Mapplethorpe sexualizes the body in his work in ways that may make people uncomfortable. Zhang Huan’s work is also noteworthy. Zhang used his body in performances that would cause him to endure mental or physical pain. Coming from China and attempting to adapt to the American culture, some of his work dealt with the trouble of assimilation or fitting into the American culture. My America was one performance done by Huan to express his feelings as an immigrant. In this performance, he has a multitude of white American men and women surround him sitting in a chair as they pelt him with bread. The message of this work is that Huan felt he would never truly belong in America. These artists all used the body to display different messages and provoke different feelings.

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When I first saw this piece by Jeff Koon I didn’t realize that it was a sculpture. I thought that it was a photo. Usually the sculptures that Jeff Koons creates are not of the color pallet that is shown in this image. I think that “Bouquet of Tulips” concept is such a beautiful one. Koons meaning behind this wasn’t relating to current events but more about the American Values. Jeff Koons mentions in this article that, “We are living in a time of rupture. I think that ‘Bouquet of Tulips’ transcends the present moment and reaches back to older times...” and I can agree with this. The world we live in today a lot of people tend to get so caught up about what is going on and what’s happening that they forget about the little things. I believe people need to be taken back to earth once in a while to remember and appreciate where we have come from. But we as Americans and humans tend to forget that. The reference to to the hand in this is an ode to the statue and liberty holding the torch. He did this because he wanted to show friendship between France and the United States because of the issues each went through with each other.

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I recently learned about this artist and I thought that his work and the way he works was interesting. This photographer is Gregory Crewdson. The way he works is almost as if her was producing a movie. His photos look like they were a scene out of a movie and it was surprisingly refreshing. In this particular photograph he created a scene where he put a garden in a women’s living room. He did not personally know this women, he just asked her she was open to doing it. He stated in his interview that he doesn’t usually know what kind of photo he is going take or what he wants to do, but he explores different places until he finds somewhere and he sets up. 

While studying photographers and various other contemporary artists in other classes I came across this particular photographer named Gregory Crewdson and his photographs completely caught me by surprise. This particular photographer goes through elaborate stages in deciding on his subject matter, the production and the printing itself. His typical style of photography is very ‘Hollywood’ for the sense that a large majority of his projects look very cinematic. From the lighting to the materials and/or subjects being photographed in the works. While studying him and his work a little more in depth I found this respect for him and his work. He tends to have crews of up to fifty people assisting in the making of his images. Just like from a movie set, he sets up the 'stage’, has crew handling the lighting and then sets off the model to begin to pose and act the way they feel comfortable. He doesn’t have a set idea on his images, he has no direction for his subjects, he lets them go about their business to allow the natural stances in his images. This particular image I chose has a slightly funny story behind it. While searching for a new location for his new project he came across the woman you see and blatantly asked if he can set up a garden in her home and she said yes! It’s evident that the rest is history. Here we have a beautifully produced product of a manned crew, studio lighting and wonderful adventurous volunteers.

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My America by Zhang Huan was such an interesting performance piece simply because I felt as if I had a look through the artist’s life. This performance was done in the Seattle Art Museum. What is so interesting about this piece to be is that it shows an emotion that he felt when he moved to America. As weird as it is to say it shows an emotion it is exactly how I felt it. It showed me the loneliness he felt and the how much of a culture shock it was for him. A lot of time many people feel the same when coming into need new places but never express it. Also what I thought was cool was the fact that he made all 50 Americans and himself nude in this performance, for it created a vulnerability. What is mention in our textbooks is that Zhang led the group of naked Americans through a set ritual action which reminded him of when he was asked if he was hungry while he was walking to get food for his wife, He wanted to portray an over dramatized sense of him not fully being able to fit or belong to this alien world (American culture).