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.  

African Art and African Art: Legacy of Oppression reviews

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above:  
    
    I chose the African Art and the African Art: Legacy of Oppression videos because they seem like they would be similar and give me information on the same things. Also to be honest they are the shortest videos so I thought that would be the easiest to fit into my busy life style. 

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

     In the African Art video they explain how important symbolism is in African Art.  They use masks and clothing that represents art from their ancestors, that is passed on generation to generation. A lot of African art is created in durable materials. The oldest African art is painting and carvings on stones, and they typically represent animals.  About 1000 years ago artistic achievements sky rocketed and they made sculptures out of bronze casting. They use symbolism to give resemblance to places, things, animals, ancestors, and humans in general. Their art is very different through out Africa, because Africa is so big. Some of their ritualistic art is naturalistic or stylized and some of the most spectacular African art. They have wooden masks that have feathers, metal, fur and other materials on them. This art is on display at their dances and their masks combine theater and ritual. These art masks are designed to be seen at a distance.  Their wearing of a mask can guarantee good hunting. Some animals are valued as courageous and are created into masks. The African Art: Legacy of Oppression video states that Belgium's Tervuren Museum contains the world's largest collection of Central African art, which consists of approximately 250,000 pieces.  Most of the western African art is more dramatic. The video also states that the emotionally riveting abstracts, with their modernistic qualities and generalized forms influenced Picasso and other European masters. They say that western Africa won all the battles but their art shows central African characteristics. 

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

    These two videos relate to the readings in the text because they both talk about African art and the influence of symbolism on the art work. They also talk a lot about masks in the videos, this relates to the text because the text talks about masks and different types of masks for different things, whether it is for hunting, or for ritualistic dancing.  They also relate to the text because they speak about the history of the artwork in different portions of Africa. 

3. 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 very interesting. I now know a lot more about African art and mainly African masks, and how they used them to symbolize humans, ancestors, animals, places and things. I thought they were very interesting in the fact that they had so much of the artwork to show us and explained what each little element and principle meant. 

Hand Drawing

Drawing with dominant hand:

 Drawing with opposite hand:

1. What was it like using your hand as subject matter for a drawing?

      It was weird because I couldn't really hold the paper and draw the details that I wanted to. It was also pretty interesting because its how I think my hand looks, or my eyes perceive my hands, when in reality they could look way different to someone else. 

2. What media did you select - pencil or charcoal? Why?

     I chose pencil because I had a pencil handy and didn't feel like getting my hand all black from holding the charcoal. 

3. How did it feel to create a drawing with your non-dominant hand?

    This was the really weird part, I have decided I'm not very good with my non-dominate hand. It was soo hard to get the lines and the right shading with this hand. 

4. Compare and contrast your final drawings. Do you think they are successful studies?

    Yes, they are successful studies, they are very different drawings and very detailed. I think the use of the non-dominant hand is unique because it looks like a little kid drew it. 

5. Would you consider using your non-dominant hand to create artwork in the future?

    I would consider using my non-dominant hand, because I like a challenge and I thought it was interesting to see if I was any good at using it to draw. It was very interesting to see my finished product.