Final Blog, Reflections

1. What were your expectations for this course and where they met?

The expectations for this course were to learn a little about the fundamentals of art inquiry, they were met, I actually learned a lot more than I thought that I would. I thought I wouldn't like some of the projects, however I actually enjoyed some of them. 

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?  Art can really be anything, it just depends on who is looking at it. was my original definition.  I think that art still can be anything and it depends on who is creating, or looking at it.  Art can come in many different forms, and artists use many different elements and principles to create art. 

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so? Pablo Picasso is still my favorite visual artist, he is because he has some really interesting work and he has a lot of it. 

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?  Like I stated in my first blog, I usually love online courses. I still like taking online courses, but when a class is online I don't believe that you should have to go anywhere other than your computer for information, or to do a project.  That is just my opinion.  I think my opinion of online courses is the same.  I still like taking them because it is much more convenient for me. 

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

I actually didn't have a chance to get to an art gallery. 

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

I used pencil and some charcoal, I used the charcoal to make it really dark and to get the better shading. 

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

I faced some challenges with the shadows that ended up in my picture but i thought they would be kind of neat so I stuck with that image and just kept drawing. 

4. How does this piece represent you?

It represents me in a serious manner, usually I am not very serious but I figured it would be easier to draw a serious picture rather than one where I am smiling or showing my teeth. I thought it looks pretty similar to what I look like. 

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

I used many elements and principles such as: Emphasis, value,color and space. 

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

I did actually enjoy working on this project, it was very interesting to see how well I could draw. 

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

I think my final artwork kind of looks like me and I am pretty proud that I could draw as well as I did. 

Week 13 and 14 Video Review

The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art: Some of the key ideas of this video were that lowbrow is something that someone can use. A lot of people don't really know what lowbrow art means. But some of them say that it is reactionary to highbrow art. Some people don't really know where the term lowbrow art came from and the guy that said he created it doesn't really care for the meaning. West coast pop art has spread all across the world. Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach: This video talks about the most visited museum in the world, there were 4 million visitors in the first year. The art is on display in themes. This is where the videos tie into our art exhibit, because we had to place art into a theme. One of the themes in the modern art museum is that of landscape art. There is a lot of realist art in the museum. Some of the artwork is spiritual. An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art: This video talks about some artwork from 5,000 years ago. They talking about moving a giant statute in 2003 into a new gallery. Some say it lost some of its value.  They also talk about the only temple in the Western Hemisphere.  This temple was a gift of the Egyptian government.I thought these videos were very informative and very interesting.   However I thought they were very time consuming and a little too long for my liking.  The videos definitely related to the art exhibition project. They gave me some good ideas on what to look for in images, and how to tie them into my theme. I thought the videos were very useful and added a lot of depth to my understanding of the art concepts that I practiced while creating my art exhibit. 

Art Curation Exhibition

I had a very easy time deciding on a theme for this project, I chose to go with a Hunting Exploration theme.  I love to hunt and have been hunting a lot lately, I love that we did have some snow for the deer season. It makes it a lot easier to track deer if there is some snow on the ground.
I first began by choosing my theme for this project, then I went to the course resources and tried to find some images for my exhibit.  I found a lot of good images that would fit my theme on the Google art project page.  They had an endless supply of images that would fit my theme.  I then placed the images into power point and wrote about each of them.  I chose some paintings, sculptures, and prints for my project. I thought this project was actually kind of interesting and a little time consuming. It was overall pretty fun.

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I chose the Andy Warhol: Images of an Image and Uncertainty:Modernity and Art because I thought they would be the most interesting, and the least time consuming. I thought that would be the easiest ones to understand.  

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image: Warhol put most paintings that he did in horizontal rows. Warhol did many images of real life events and things such as magazine articles and newspaper headlines. He used a lot of drama to do his artwork. I thought it was interesting how he did so many pictures of the Mona Lisa in one image. Did most of his work on canvas. In the second video Uncertainty:Modernity and Art: Some of the artists in Greece created idealized statues of themselves. They don't have to make cuts into the materials to make them sculpture, and the materials themselves can be made into sculpture.  The bricks were a phase of modern art. They didn't use much religion in their art. The video hit on how expressionism and pop art took over the modern art world. 

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

These videos both relate to the readings in the text because the book talks about Andy Warhol and his Pop art paintings. It also talks a lot about Modernity and art throughout the chapters. 

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I thought that the films were very interesting and they gave more insight into these topics than what I gained just from the book. I thought that the were a little long and dragged out but overall they were pretty interesting. 

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I chose The Impact of Cubism and the Dada and Surrealism videos to watch, I thought they would be the most interesting videos on the list.  

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

The Impact of Cubism- Cubism was the most influential art style of the early 20th century. They used many different textures and shapes to imitate different things. I liked the Eiffel Tower painting and how they talk about it. They have special details in the paintings that you wouldn't normally see but the different simple geometric forms allow us to see these. Some of the forms provide distractions and take away from other details. Some of the artists used lines to split objects to show how one is impeding on the other. 

Dada and Surrealism- The Dada movement, was a reaction to WWI, and Surrealism followed it and opened up artists creations by taping into the unconscious mind. There was no limit on the materials Dada artists could use. Schwitters’ was the most material artist of this time period. Some considered Dada as a public execution of false morality.  Mockery and Character are what performs that execution. Some artists used some weird ways of portraying things. They portrayed madness of people towards the war and the reasons behind the war. 

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

 These two videos relate to the text because the text talks about how Picasso and his partner Georges Braque created the movement of cubism.  They also relate because they talk about how cubism is still used today in some artists work and how the movement was founded and used by using cubes, cylinders, and cones. They also used some circles, squares, triangles and lines.  The Dada and Surrealism video relates to the text by talking about how these two movements were used during the war.  The book hits on many of the points made in the video about Dada art or anti art.  

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I thought the films were a little long and a little boring.  They do provide some great insight into these art movements, the type of art used during these movements and how they shape art today.  Overall they were kind of interesting and gave some good details that I didn't pick up from the book. 

2. Include the analysis and description (art criticism steps) of the three (3) inspiration pieces.

I chose these three masks because I love LeBron James and thought when he wore the all black face mask to protect his nose it was cool, his black mask was made of patterns and used black as the color, he got in trouble for wearing the black one instead of the clear. The second image of a mask I chose was the camo hunting mask which I chose because I love to hunt and I can't wait for shotgun season to open up on November 15th.  The third mask I chose was the antler/skull mask that was a gold color and looked pretty cool, I chose that one because I want to shoot a deer bigger than that one this year and get the antlers mounted. 

4. Explain how you used the Elements and Principles in your finished mask.

I used many elements and principles in my finished mask, I used patterns because I used collage and chose a camo pattern and cut many different camo patterns out. I also used color, space, shapes and many other elements. 

5. Share your opinion of your finished mask and what you thought about creating the mask.

I think my finished mask could have been better, however for the amount I spent on materials I would say it was pretty good for not spending a penny.  I thought that it was an interesting assignment and it fit well for the week of Halloween. I also think that my mask is interesting because it could be worn on anyone with a little adjustment.