ciciiliu

[ciciiliu]

Another article that intrigued me-- thinking about references to childhood etc in pieces of Kurt’s artwork. I was inspired to make something that didn’t make sense but had symbols and little areas that tell stories that relate to me as well as others. 

May 9, 2021

[ciciiliu]

I recently watched a documentary on Kurt Cobain (Montage of Heck), and I thought the pieces of art he created were really representative of his mental state during his years. They look so scary yet welcoming to me, and express feelings that a lot of pieces of artwork do not evoke in me. His strokes are choppy and drafty, and represents humans in a more realistic and pessimistic light, and that feels refreshing to see sometimes. His pieces inspired parts of my animation, with people feeling bendy and animalistic. I am happy to have come upon this archive of his pieces. 

May 9, 2021

[ciciiliu]

An article that I loved reading. VR is something I have always been very interested about, and I have always imagined making my own gallery where other people can explore anywhere. There is a kind of difference between exploring pieces physically and through a screen, and VR makes an interesting blend of the two. You are exploring it through a screen, yet you are not. Rachel Rossin’s Lossy perfectly explored what I wanted to do, making your artworks virtual and beautifully explored. I am currently exploring code in Unity, and hopefully can code some simple spaces, and eventually upgrade to make something as wonderful as shel. 

May 9, 2021

[ciciiliu]

I have heard about PostCommodity before, and have seen videos of his art. I remember hearing about his pieces during Art Seminar and making connections about art in nature, and installations that are presented outside representing different topics. PostCommodity as well as others made me really think about how art can be presented in so many different ways, from indoor spaces to outdoor spaces to a blend of the two. I love the personal feelings that Postcommodity relates to the viewers, and how the land has its personal art history and is utilized for its own sake instead of for representation of a different topic. 

May 9, 2021

[ciciiliu]

I saw the Goya show this weekend at the Met. It was fabulous and it is amazing that we can preserve art and have future generations view them as well. The prints were fantastic, and exactly the kind of pieces that inspire me. It was interesting reading this article after and seeing other people’s thoughts on his artworks. 

May 1 2021

[ciciiliu]

On Losing my Phone

A couple days ago I lost my phone. I panicked, I was stressed, and I felt empty. I could no longer browse through Instagram and look at what everyone was doing, or going on Snapchat to see everyone’s “familiar” faces. I no longer had access to everything I ever wanted through a petty screen.

It was pathetic how helpless I felt. I could no longer rely on the quick navigation that Waze or Google Maps provided me, and I found myself lost, and having to read street signs and figure everything out myself. I am reverting back to hunter-gatherer. I am going to make connections instead of second or third or fourth or fifth hand connections. 

As much as I hated it at first, it was a good change. I was secretly happy that I had an excuse to be antisocial, to stay in and read, to disappear sometimes (incognito!!!) and to just completely not know what is going on. I felt kind of... happier? I walked myself to the AT&T store, disabled my number and got a new one. I got a flip phone-- I did have to contact my parents and other people, after all. I have always thought about locking my phone in a box, selling it, and getting a flip phone. Now, I had to. There was no excuse. It was painful, but enjoyable, and also nostalgic, to have to press every number a couple times to type the letter I wanted. 

If someone needed me, they can come find me. Or call me. It will just no longer through second-hand-invites because of a swipe up of a story, or scrolling through social media trying to feel like everyone else. 

May 1 2021

[ciciiliu]

An article I found really interesting to read--- how does restricting media make leaders gain more control, or less control? What are the pros, and cons? 

April 29, 2021

[ciciiliu]

I made this painting in painting class, and I hope to recreate this digitally, maybe into an animation. I found myself somehow kind of thinking about Otto Dix white painting. 

April 25, 2021

[ciciiliu]

Recently I was listening to John Lennon's Double Fantasy and was reminded of his wife, Yoko Ono. I remember watching this piece and feeling overwhelmed and in danger. Being surrounded by sharp objects and allowing yourself be the art piece/ having your audience cut pieces of clothing off you is a scary thought, and it was a very controversial piece at the time. This is a woman in new media, and she helped show that although some men were a bit hesitant on cutting pieces off her, they immediately got situated and decided to cut off pieces that were close to her private parts, purposefully exposing her and exposing a gross nature of how women were treated and still are at times. I am so grateful to be able to see pieces like this-- it triggers emotions in me and I think it is truly amazing that the media is able to preserve installations and video pieces so well so people can watch it in the future.

April 21 2021

[ciciiliu]

An interesting article I read about NFT and art, and how it offers a sort of hacker-resistant protection for the pieces you buy, and the artists have their own copyright. This way, they are able to be rightfully compensated. I have previously linked another article in my blog about NFTs, and I thought this would be an interesting follow-up. 

April 20 2021

[ciciiliu]

Otto Dix-- Digital?

I think it is interesting to think about how art is now able to be seen on the internet, and how everything is now digital. Sometimes people choose to just look at pieces online instead of going to a museum. I don't know exactly how I feel about it, since seeing art in front of you, physically, is a completely different experience. It is inevitable for colors or proportions to be altered in a photograph. When I discovered this link, I thought about how sometimes you can take a digital, virtual, tour of a museum. You are able to look at an image through a phone, and hear someone speak to you instead of interacting with the actual piece of artwork. Otto Dix is one of my favorite artists, and I personally feel like I would want to see the pieces myself instead of exploring them through a webpage.

April 15 2021

[ciciiliu]

Uzumaki- Junji Ito

Junji Ito is my favorite horror comic artist. He is fantastic at creating worlds so far from reality yet still close enough to wonder. I remember reading his stories in Chinese when I was younger and being scared to sleep-- I recently reread all of his novels in English and re-experienced some of my childhood. It really shocked me and excited me when I realized that my favorite series, Uzumaki, was going to be turned into a series in 2021. It is interesting how something so still in a comic book can be digitalized in media-- I am excited to see whether it makes it better or not. There are definitely ways to make it successful and ways for it to be unsuccessful.

April 13 2021

[ciciiliu]

Fitter Happier Inspo

I did not want to be moved by any kind of inspiration before creating my own version of "Fitter Happier". I went with my own adaptation of the song, taking my own pictures and making everything in black-and-white. After being able to create my own project and present, I decided that I wanted to look at other people's adaptations of the project. I liked the vintage/ choppy / blurry feel of this piece, and how they made every lyric's representation very literal. For my piece, it was more abstract and shown through close ups and expressions, but this piece very much tried to embody the meaning of the different lyrics in images. I really enjoyed how everyone thinks differently when it comes to creating, and I am glad I didn't look at anything else before starting my project, because I might've gotten swayed.

April 11 2021

[ciciiliu]

Spirited Away was one of the defining movies of my childhood, along with a lot of other Miyazaki films. I recently remembered this quote from Miyazaki, where he talked about wanting to make one proud film in his lifetime. It saddened me to think about that, since all his movies were so spectacular and fantastical to me. I guess that’s how artists think sometimes, constantly hoping for improvement and nitpicking at their flaws and never being completely “proud”. I came upon this little snip-bit of the behind the scenes of making the Spirited Away animation, and was reminded at how difficult it is to make something physical and transform it to something digital, shown to everyone around the world. I remember trying to make a 10 second animation and it completely draining the life out of me-- I cannot imagine making an animation longer than an hour and a half. It is so much work to design every character meticulously and make the characters blend into the different scenes. I wish to learn more about the techniques of being a better illustrator, and Miyazaki’s work can definitely help me with that. 

April 9, 2021

[ciciiliu]

Favorite Shots From La Jetée

Some of my favorite shots from the film La Jetée. This film really showed me how black and white Images can show a lot of intention in a film, and can at times be more powerful than color. Personally, black and white evokes more feeling for me than color. This is my first time watching a film in still images, and it was an interesting experience because you are truly experiencing each image by themselves and not getting distracted. 

April 3, 2021

[ciciiliu]

Over the weekend, I watched “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles with one of my best friends. I remember watching and remembering glimpses of this movie when I was younger, and being mesmerized by the animation and the bold colors. It’s so interesting going back to a piece of art and feeling different about it, especially throughout a timeframe of growing up from a child to a full adult. I found myself to analyze every scene, even scrolling back so I don’t miss important detail. At times, I was reminded that I am now grown-- I was more obsessive about finding the exact meaning of the pictures instead of letting loose and enjoying the piece of art. After watching the film, I found myself wanting to learn more, and came upon this video-- the director of the film actually wanted to quit during the movie. I was finally able to understand the kind of stress that directors go through when producing a movie/a piece of art. I once made a 10 second animation, and it destroyed me-- although you love the art, it drains you sometimes and it takes a lot to completely pull through. I am glad he did, because this is truly a beautiful movie that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

April 2, 2021 

[ciciiliu]

Vivan Sundaram-- Remembering Amrita

After hearing Professor Vadera’s suggestions of making a good collage, I looked further into Vivan Sundarem’s works and found myself mesmerized by the simplicity yet coherent-ness of it all. 

Sundaram was able to remember the past yet document the future with this piece. Taking photographs from different photos, she was able to collage them into something that looks like it’s from one image. Her images have a dreamlike quality that I wish to learn to do myself in my future collages.

I like the familiar feelings that the images give the viewers-- they are able to feel some sort of familiarity with the characters even though they have no personal connection to them. I wish to convey those kinds of feelings in my artwork and relay images into my viewers’ minds. 

March 28, 2021