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EXTRA CREDIT

I attended the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. The exhibition that was being demonstrated was called The Many Hats of Ralph Arnold Art, Identity & Politics. The pieces that I connected with the most were from the echoes reframing collage which was made for the porpose of expanding The Many Hats of Ralph Arnold Art, Identity & Politics. This was achieved by the works of seven contemporary artist.  The three pieces that I liked were Wardell Milan, Early Spring. The Charming Evening, 2014. I Would Dance With You but Your Teehl, Nathaniel Mary Quinn 2017. And Lastly She Taught Us How to Fight (I), Kristina Franklin 2017. 

The reason why I liked the art piece from above is becuase when you first look at it youre drawn to it because of all the colors being used. Once you look closer you start to notice all of the things that are going on in the piece. This piece is embracing sexuality. I feel that with so many people trying to hide their sexuality and this is a great piece that shows were all different and people should be embracing their sexuality

This next one was one of my other favorite pieces. I really liked the background they used for thie piece it really draws attention to the center of the piece. I think that this piece talks about identity becuase we are not always viewed as only one thing. We all play different roles in society for example Im a son, a brother, a friend and a student. Thats why I think Nathaniel Quinn uses veillum paper overlaping eachother and creates an Image in which were able to see multiple different facial features.

The last art piece that I was drawn to was the one above. She addresses race, gender, and class issues, pop-cultural, and historical imagery thats why we dont see any men on the collage. These women are from the civil right movement or before which we known it was a very hard time to be a woman and also someone of colored. These women however they didnt let other people define who they were which is why I believe it also falls under Identity. 

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EXTRA CREDIT

I attended the Opening Faculty Exhibition in the Cleve Carney. The exhibition consisted of some the work professors from College of DuPage have been working on. It was a great experience, I arrived right when it opened and shortly there were more people getting there. After a few minutes there were many people as well as the artist which we were able to ask questions about their art pieces they had on display. I think that all the work was unique its in own way. Something that I noticed was that all the artwork used different materials which I thought was neat. There was a piece that involed dirt. The art work was amazing but there were two pieces that really stood out to me because they were something that I really haven't seen before as art pieces the first one was Ear A, Ear B - Marina Kuchinski it was the first piece that caught my eye right as I walked in. I was told that this piece was made by hand with ceramic, and you might not be able to see it clearly in the picture but Ear B has an opening. The second was a painting that illustrates Trump speaking to an audience. The reason why I was drawn to this picture is because Trump is still a very big political topic that everyone is talking about. From what I saw it was one of the only political related pieces in the exhibition. The way Trump is seen dripping upon his audience it shows how he is influencing people through his speeches. 

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BLOG#5

In the beginning of the semester my knowledge on art was very minimal. I used to believe that art was just made up of paintings that it was just one form of art, and in order for someone's work to be considered art the person had to be a famous artist. Paintings like the Mona Lisa is something that I would have considered to be art and everything else was not. I used to think that art required someone to be a master and be extremely skillful. Throughout this course and the research that we had to do I learned that my view on art was in fact incorrect. There are many different forms of art and they are each amazing in their own way. One of the arts that I got to research for a project was social practice. I was astonished the many different types of art that were art out there and one in particular that I thought was amazing was social practice. Art is a word that is very hard to define. But if I were to give it a definition it would be something that someone makes that requires imagination that brings out an emotional response from someone. Art can be used for various things in the world whether it's to bring someone happiness. It can also be a way to share history, tell a story, bring attention to social/ political change. There are many misconceptions about art and being an artist out there. Some of the misconceptions are that art must be perfect/ artist are perfect in their art, more colors are better, painting is easy/ painting is easy for artist, quantity (Money) equals quality/ artist work must be expensive. Let's address each of these “art has to be perfect”. When we were kids we were told to draw inside to lines and to makes sure every color was perfect. This is a misconception art does not have to be perfect in fact some of the best artwork that I have seen are far from perfect. One of my favorite types of art is the Gutai and it follows no particular pattern.

Kazuo Shiraga's "Iizuminokami-Kanesada" (1962).

Another misconception is the more color a painting has the better it's considered. Which is not true at all, because the art world has a variety forms of arts there are some famous artworks that does not require lots of color.  A well known artist in the art community that goes by the name Banksy’s has a art piece called  Girl with Balloon that has is made simple colors red and black. It is a very famous art piece and was sold for one million dollars. (BOWMAN)

(Banksy)

People believing that painting is easy is a misconception. Painting can sometimes be easy but that's not always the case. A friend of mine once told me quote by  Edgar Degas  that goes like “Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.”. The last misconception that I will be talking about is quantity equals quality. This means that people believe that if a work of art is expensive its must be art (What I used to think). From doing research we came to the conclusion that for something to be considered art it does not have to be expensive at all. It can be something that was made by anyone. Someone can be at home and make a great piece of art there's no price tag on art. I'm sure there are many good answers for what role art plays in our society and I will give you my opinion on the role art plays in society. What I was taught by my grade school teachers is that art allows people to still see the beauty around them. That would be a very simple answer to the question that everyone is thought when they are younger. Another role that art has in our society that I learned in this class is that it allows society to express values that are important to them and it's something that will allow people from different communities to come together. It can also be used for social change. Art can call into debate an establishment or some other valued ideal. Art plays a major role in our society, it defines us as individuals and help us to become a better people as a whole. As we know art is way to express one’s feelings, creation of something beautiful that reaches others. The world of art creates another reality. For example social practice is an art form that involves society/ communities. It takes social issues and creates a solution for those issues and challenges the artist to help people. Which is something Rick Lowe accomplished with his twenty two shotgun houses project in Houston. (MacArthur Fellow).

References

Public Artist Rick Lowe, 2014 MacArthur Fellow

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/06/655252676/we-just-got-banksy-ed-girl-with-balloon-sells-for-1-4m-before-self-destructing

https://www.macfound.org/fellows/920/

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ART BLOG #4

What is Institutional critique?

Institutional Critique is the systematic inquiry into the workings of art institutions, such as galleries and museums these Institutional critique started to show up more by the early 1970s and have continued to show up more.(ARTSPACE)

Who are some key figures/writers in this discussion today What are their viewpoints?

Michael Asher

Andrea Fraser

Hans Haacke

Some of the key figures associated with Institutional critique the most are artists like Michael Asher, Andrea Fraser, and Hans Haacke. Fraser believes that these art institutions are in a way defining our society in the way that they divide everything in the museums. Thats is why she's doing everything she can to show people that. Asher, Fraser, and Haacke believed that they needed to shine a spotlight on the different variety of contemporary issues that is from the rise of a speculative art market to cutbacks in public services.(ARTNEWS)

Research John Dewey’s complex views on the museum for a more historical point of view.

John Dewey illustrates museums to life experiences and in education. Dewey consistently described the ideal school as an institution that includes libraries and museums in which life-experiences are the foundation of both museum. The experience in museums is valuable thing to have but by itself it isn’t enough it will not be a complete life-experience. Like knowledge that are in books, it may be harmful in some circumstances as a substitute for experience. For example if a Doctor were to not have any actual experience but just knowledge he got from a book. John Dewey view on museums is that museums should be part of the active learning network every school.Dewey referred to his efforts to avoid certain dualisms and emphasized using museums among other educational resources. (WIKI)(ARTMUSEUM)(HEIN)(HYPERALLERGIC)

What are the advantages and drawbacks of traditional art spaces such as galleries and museums?

Some of the drawbacks of art spaces such as galleries and museums are that they are not open all the time. Their hours are not as good. For example most museums and galleries are open from 11am-5pm which is only six hours and some of them are closed on Mondays. They show art and history for people but they are still subject to the bias and restrictions of particular donors/curators although it isn’t exactly censorship. Works on display in the museums and galleries can be subject to damage by visitors. Some people that go to these places make it hard to really enjoy the art that is displayed because anyone can just go in. To really enjoy a piece and let it work in your mind people have to do a lot more than just walk by the artwork and nod at it. Walk by and nod is how museums are set up, and not for the sit down and just admire. Most places don't have seating accommodation you have to be on your feet and walking around. Some of the advantages is that you get so see beautiful art pieces. You're able to go to places were they have a variety of art styles and not just one. They often have free days for people and have student go in free most of the time. It's a great place to spend free time that will help you learn more about artist and history.

How have you personally interacted with these spaces and felt these advantages or drawbacks?

When going to museums and galleries for this class I have experienced both the advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that I live about an hour away from the city so I had to take the train to get there, and having my schedule fit the hours of the museum/ gallerie was not impossible but it was annoying nonetheless. Another disadvantage was that I had to be standing the whole time I was there because there was hardly any seating areas. The advantages that I did experience was that I got to learn more about specific Art periods and as well as some o the history behind the art pieces.

What viable solutions might there be to these problems?

Some solutions to these problems might be having more seating accommodation. Also no babies because their crying could be a distraction but realistically  I don't see that happening. Having a more broad hours would be a great thing to do more people would be able to visit the museums. If you think about it all the people that work 9am-5pm jobs most of the time are not able to visit these art institutions due to the hours they have set. Another thing that can be done is having a full background of the history or meaning behind the art pieces. Most of the time the art pieces don't have a background or anything so we dont know thats was going through the artist mind while he was working on these or what their intentions were.

REFERENCES

https://artmuseumteaching.com/tag/john-dewey/

http://www.george-hein.com/downloads/Hein_DeweyMuseumEd.pdf

http://www.marginalutility.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Andrea-Fraser_From-the-Critique-of-Institutions-to-an-Institution-of-Critique.pdf

http://www.artnews.com/2017/01/18/inside-job-in-the-tradition-of-institutional-critique-artists-are-throwing-wrenches-into-the-art-worlds-works/

https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/history-of-institutional-critique-54384

https://hyperallergic.com/67081/reconsidering-john-deweys-art-as-experience/

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Ming & Qing Dynasty

Ming Dynasty:

The Ming Dynasty which was around 1368-1644 A.D. Before this time there was a lot of war over who was gonna have control over China. The leader of the Ming Dynasty was a man named Taizu. He was very cruel and ruled by an iron fist.  

Ming Ceramics:

The Ming Dynasty however was known and famous for its trade which was  porcelain. At this time pottery was really popular “Ming porcelain was white and blue”(History) Everyone around the world was interested in the porcelain. That's why today we hear some people refer to their expensive table sets as “China” people are usually gifted these in weddings. Although the craft was booming in the Ming Dynasty the process of making it “was developed during the Tang Dynasty”(History)

(Ming Dynasty Ceramics)

Painting:

During the Ming Dynasty was when the culture was booming. Besides the ceramics there were forms of painting that emerged during this era. They were, “the Che, which focused on the,  the Wu, and the aim of the Eccentric group was freedom of expression and spontaneity. Narrative painting, with a wider color range and a much complex composition.”(History)There were a few known painters during this are as well two that I found were Ni Zan and Dong Qichang

(Ni Zan)

(DongQichang)

As we can see the two paintings are very similar they are both views of landscapes. We can also notice that there's a bit of color for Dong Qichang  painting but for Ni Zan there's no color most of the paintings during this era from what I could tell from my research were mostly black and white. Which is different to chinese contemporary art that has been done recently. A Chinese artist named Su Xiaobai born in 1949 in Wuhan China. Is well known and his paintings have more color to them compared to the paintings done in the Ming Dynasty. Although some have color sometimes it's just one solid color and it doesn't have anything else. You also don't see people painting landscapes as much in contemporary art.

(Su Xiaobai “The Genesis”)

(Su Xiaobai- Untitled)

Qing Dynasty:

Right after the fall of the Ming Dynasty the next Dynasty to take over china was the Qing Dynasty that lasted 1644-1912. In this time there were wars over opium that involved the british and the french (History). Emperor Qianlong that ruled from 1735-1795 was known to be artistic(History). Under the Qing Dynasty there was a ban in literature arts which was a way for the dynasty to have everyone under control. The Qing Dynasty ultimately fell towards the end of 1911 there were a few attempts to reinstate the Qing Dynasty but it failed(History.

Crafts:

After the Ming Dynasty the Qing Dynasty took on the mantle and continued to trade porcelain.

Paintings:

Paintings under the Qing dynasty were also extremely popular. The painting styles were not that different from the Ming dynasty you would see a lot of paintings of landscapes. According to the History website there was an artist named Shi Tao that was involved in surrealism. There were also a few other ones the traditionalists, who sought to revitalize painting through the creative reinterpretation of past models; the individualists, who practiced a deeply personal form of art that often carried a strong message of political protest; and the courtiers, the officials, and the professional artists who served at the Manchu court.

(Shi Tao 1674)

We can see this painting by Shi Tao has some surrealism characteristics and its new and different from your traditional paintings of landscapes. The reason why I like this picture is because most of the paintings done before this time and during were done in black and white as well in hanging scroll which is why some of the painting papers look almost a deep yellow color.

(Traditionalist Wang Hui 1632-1717)

(Individualist Fan Qi 1616-1694)

(Courtiers, Officials, and Professional artist)

Although some of the paintings look similar you can tell that in the last painting done by the Courtiers, Officials, and Professional artist have buildings that are colored which you would not see that in the traditional form of painting which focused on the beauty of nature. I'm curious to know what the political message the Individualist painting has although it doesn't necessarily has to have a political message. You can see a small house at the top of a hill or mountain which is something that it has incommon with the Courtiers, Officials, and Professional artist.

Ming and Qing Dynasty:

Because the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were right after eachother we don't see a huge shift in the arts and crafts. However in the Qing Dynasty we saw the emersion of the three forms of paintings both still worked on and traded their ceramics crafts because the chinese porcelain was in high demand all around the world.

Reference:

“Ming Dynasty.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 10 Jan. 2018, www.history.com/topics/ancient-china/ming-dynasty.

“Qing Dynasty.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 May 2018, www.history.com/topics/china/qing-dynasty.

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Art & Craft

I think that  Arts and Crafts are different however they can be brought together as on. The way that they're different is that Art is more expressive you can say. It doesn't have a fixed use (not that it's not useful because it is. I mean like a hammer its use it to hammer nails) People do art and its very broad term it can be used to tell a story or just for fun it doesn't have to mean anything most of the time they don't know how its gonna end they just go with the flow. On the other handcrafts is a specific skill, for example, a welder or a carpenter they make stuff that people can use in their everyday lives he might make a chair or other objects. Some people would say that crafts might have something to do with the materials that people use.  Crafts follow a strict guideline or set of rules. For example, people in the past that made shoes or tapestry before all the mass production were considered craftsmen because in order to make whatever it was that they were making followed a set of rules to make each item.  Art is formed from how peoples feelings and they put their emotions and heart into it when crafts use more mind and it comes out of a need for example if someone needs a bed frame or a chair to sit on.

The way that crafts and art are changing is by intertwining together. There was an artist or a museum that used crafts in order to create art. I think that's one way both art and crafts can be related. Another way is that over time crafts become art. For example, a Navajo rug will be viewed as art after years. So we have talked about how crafts follow a strict guideline or can also be viewed by the material that they use. Art is expressive and has no real or helpful purpose. That's how some people view it. I don't think that today crafts and art are different. We can see many artist using materials and objects that craftsmen would create to make their art. A craftsman of pottery would make a pot/vase so people can use it. But now we can also see an artist making decorative pottery just for art and they are not used for their intended purposes. An artist that has blurred the lines between art and crafts is Aasim Akhtar he has a display titled “Vanishing Worlds, Enduring Threads”

The way she did this was by using objects that would be considered crafts and having people look at their “embroidery texture, fabric, and embellishments. {...} Ethnicities possess a textile heritage of incredible abundance.” (Usman). Like I said before crafts are items that are made for an intended purpose but people now are starting to view them as art as well it might be because the crafts are usually decorated so that's what gives it the art quality. At Zane Benette  Contemporary Art is not necessarily a person but it is a museum that has tried to blurred the lines between art and craft with multiple artist pieces. One of the pieces that I found most interesting is a piece done by Vanessa Michel in 2009-2012 called “Walk like Thoreu”.

Vanessa Michel wanted to use an item that could be considered a craft such as a quilt. This quilt, however, is different than your traditional quilt. The one made by Michel has a lot more patterns that all come together it also has a variety of colors that makes it very bright. I think she took the quilt and added pattern and color which would be considered the “art”. We can see from these two artists Akhtar and Michel that they use parts of what makes art and transfer them onto crafts. However, this is not the only way of doing it. Back in week two in one of the videos we see Cornelia Parker using crafts to make installation art. I believe that's another way that artist nowadays have been able to merge the two together (arts and crafts) its very new people has been starting to experiment with it but its something that we wouldn't have seen a few years ago let alone 200 years ago. I think one question people would have is when does it stop becoming a craft and when does it start becoming art? If we just put art qualities on a craft does it stop being a craft and become art or will it stay being a craft? The answer to that is very complicated I would say that it if it has the quality of both then it depends on the person that's viewing the art or even what the artist intended.

Reference:

Artsy. “In Santa Fe, a Forward-Thinking Gallery Blurs the Line between Art and Craft.” 11..Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy, Artsy, 31 May 2016.

“Cornelia Parker RA at the Whitworth Art Gallery.” Vimeo, 22 Sept. 2018, vimeo.com/119863746.

Usman, Maryan.“Exhibition: Blurring the Line between Art and Craft.” The Express Tribune, The Express Tribune, 1 Nov. 2013, tribune.com.pk/story/625464/exhibition-blurring-the-line-between-art-and-craft/.

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Blog #2

I haven't been to a museum in a long time so it was a weird experience for me. As I walked in I noticed that there was a lot of people from all different backgrounds walking around looking at the art. I thought it was nice that they all come to one building to and experience art work together like it was like the artwork was something that brought them together. One of the first rooms I walked into was a room that had religious artwork. After walking around for a bit  I spent most of my time in the modern contemporary art section. That's where I found one of the pieces that I really liked. The first art piece that I was attracted to was one by Benny Andrews “Flag Day” (1966).  The reason why I was so interested in it was because even though it was made in the 1960s I feel like it's something that's still relevant. With the black lives matter movement and the Nike and Colin Kaepernick controversy.  The other art piece was an Indonesian piece that was called “Battle of the Gods, Demons, and Monkeys” I found it fascinating there was so much going on and i feel like it told a story and it looked kinda chaotic. I kinda felt that's how some of us might feel like were battling our inner demons or something some people are at war with themselves. The artwork that I found least interesting but amusing because it was in an art museum and didn't expect it to be there was a piece by Charlotte Perriand and it was a bathroom.

Complete the Responsive Time Exercise with one of the works above by sitting with a piece for 15 entire minutes and recording how you feel during this time and how your experience with the artwork changes over time. Include these reflections in the post.

Responsive Time Exercise:

“Flag Day” When I first saw this painting I was attracted to it because it had the American flag and i thought that was neat. After standing and observing the painting for fifteen minutes I realized there was much more to it. In the painting you could see a black man coming out of the American flag. At first I interpret the painting thinking that it meant that it has people of color coming out of America. After a closer look you can see the can gripping the lines in the flag kinda like they were bars. This painting was created in the 1960s which was during the civil rights movement. The painting was showing how people of color during that time were in a way caged or still enslaved. Which made me feel horrible and sad that humans felt like they were caged in a country that's supposed to be free.

Art Criticism Analysis (Describe, Analyze, Interpret) for another of the pieces listed above. For Art Criticism Steps, see DB 5 Part 2.

One color that is used alot is red. Its about 4 ft x 2ft.  Starting from the top to bottom there background is a beige color. There's arrows all over the sky that are going in all directions. Below the arrows there ae gods and demons that are battling. Both are wearing read clothing with no top. There's also monkeys that are a grey/blueish color that also are part of the battles and they only seem to be attacking the demons. At the very bottom the floor is red and has wavy lines . At the center of the painting theres what seems to be a white demon.

The first thing ur eye looks at is the center. Your eyes and mind is first gonna see a bunch of scribbles but at ur eyes adjust you start seeing all the detail and figures in the painting. Its kinda hard to focus because there's a lot of red being used. The principle of art that is the strongest  in this piece is Rhythm how the Gods and Demons are place it creates movement and chaos in the painting. The strongest elements of art that is the strongest is space. The artist focus on the center space of the piece by bunching the figures in the center and leaving the outer top space mostly empty so it creates a positive and negative space sorta. It made my eyes travel from the center to the outer space.

I believe this piece to be a religious. There's Gods and demons the floor is what I believe to be a river of blood. I think what this artwork is trying to convey or portray is that the Gods are fighting for us, they care about our safety from the “Evil” in this world. They battle for us so we won't have to. This reminds me of the artwork of the painting of the christian depiction of Gods angels fighting the fallen angels. I feel like every form of religion has their own version of this painting.

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Aesthetics has to do with the nature of beauty and art or the appreciation of beauty. Beauty and art go hand by hand throughout history. I think that the term beauty can be used as a broad term because as we all know beauty is different for everyone. I really couldn't find a lot of articles that talked about the beauty of art over time it seems that when you google beauty and art over history it mostly talks about what makes someone beautiful. To be completely honest from what I read I don't think that the relationship between beauty an art have changed or will ever change. People throughout history have painted what they think is beautiful. What I believe that changes over time are the idea and standard of beauty. another thing is that most of the paintings that people look at right now in the museums and describe it as beautiful at the time when the artist created the artwork it wasn't considered beautiful or anything until the artist died or people from our time found the pieces and called it beautiful. One artist that I will be talking about on my blog is Pablo Picasso. Instead of seeing and talking about art from a different artist I think it will be easier to talk about one artist so we can see how their art changed over their time period.  We will see his artwork from his early years to his last pieces of artwork and how it changed over time.

His first artwork pieces style was realism his technique for realism, so ingrained by his father and his childhood studies, evolved with his introduction to symbolist influences. It led Picasso to develop his own take on modernism.

Portrait of aunt Pepa (1896)

Picasso’s then turned to another from or art which is called the blue period. Picasso's works during this period depict malnutrition, prostitution that I assume this was an issue that he was trying to inform people about. the gloomy allegorical painting La Vie. La Vie (1903) portrayed his friend's inner torment in the face of a lover he tried to murder. We can also see the change in color from using multiple colors to cooler colors(tones).

La Vie (1903)

During this surrealism period, the style Georges Braque and Picasso developed used mainly neutral colors and was based in they're taking apart objects and analyzing them in terms of their shapes. WHich was really interesting in his time period. His early pieces are different from his later artwork from Surrealism a hectic and commanding combination of a style that embodies the despair of war. Guernica is considered as the most powerful anti-war statement of modern art. It was done to showcase Picasso's support towards ending the war, and a condemnation of fascism in general. From the beginning, Picasso chooses not to represent the horror of Guernica in realist or romantic terms. Key figures - a woman with outstretched arms, a bull, an agonized horse - are refined in sketch after sketch, then transferred to the capacious canvas, which he also reworks several times. Dark color and monochrome theme were used to depict the trying times, and the anguish which was being suffered.

Guernica (1937)

I don't necessarily think that art has to be beautiful or be up to our standard of beauty. Art is used in order to express yourself and to have people think and talk about. Accodring to Fred Wilson, “Beauty  is complex” he also talks about beauty has to have some sort of meaning. If someone was to paint a picture or snap a photo or a gory war I think in my opinion people or at least some will still view it as amazing art and will call it beautiful. Even though it might not be pleasing to the eye. The reason for that is because sometimes people don't really associate the normal standard of beauty. They will say the art piece is beautiful because of the message it's trying to convey. What makes a piece of art beautiful and amazing also has to do with the message the art is trying to convey. Although for the most part people will always make their art to be beautiful. Today I think art has changed because it's not what it used to be let's say 200 years ago. At that time I would say that paintings were the standard form of art. Last week we saw a couple of New York artist create art out of their trash and belongings and it was considered art if you were to do that 200 years ago it wouldn't. In other words, the art forms have been changing over time as well, not only the definition of beauty.

Refrences:

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=aesthetic

https://mymodernmet.com/pablo-picasso-periods/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=323&v=5BZMiS0XQYs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEPTJKLSpRo