October 4th Art class

I myself think that this class day was very interactive. Since we cant have any field trips, being outside and having a sorta lecture outside is fun. The whole class split up into groups of three and we were handed a roll of tape. With this tape we had to tape something that we thought was interesting to our group. My group chose the main Cypress College Structure located next to the Admissions Building and Bookstore. I cant remember the name of it to save my life haha. Nonetheless we chose that and gave our reasoning. It is interestesting to see differnt critiques from people to see what they see. Critiques are important to art since everyone has a different opinion of what a peice of art actually represents. It can be completely obvious, or it can by something so well symbolized that only some people can comprehend. Regardless, i thought that this lecture was fun, and I think we should have class outside more often :)

RIP Steve Jobs

If it wasnt for an iPhone 4 i wouldnt have found out any sooner then it was immediately announced.

Lecture Summary September 27th

GRAFFITI

 

GOOD or BAD? Well that depends who you ask, and what the circumstances of where it is placed. Glenn started off the class by asking us for our input on this topic. It is a debatable topic since it has both good and bad parts to it. We can argue that it is a great way to express art, but at the same time argue that it is a bad thing to do on public property. Then again what really is public property? If way pay taxes on the roads and walls the city builds, does it not technically give us the right to deface it given that we pay for it? There are many great murals that are painted by graffiti artists, and depending where you are in the world the styles change. Although graffiti does get a bad reputation by these "artists" and "gangs" who feel it is cool to write gibberish on property to represent that it belongs to them. These type of people i do not appreciate, but i do appreciate the actual artists who take days to complete a mural that is planned out freehand on the spot most of the time. I feel like graffiti is a great way to express yourself as an art, but only if it is done in a spot that has the permit to do so.  Although some people dont have access to it, they still like to express themselves through way of a spray can. The world may never have one PROFESSIONAL graffiti artist, but many of these artists have talent and go unrecognized since some might be breaking the law. All i know is that graffiti is very expressive and i enjoy taking pictures of actual vibrant colored graffiti.

Art Project No Electricity

I must say this was not an easy task to do. Given that in todays society we nearly use it for everything. So on October 1st i attempted to go without electricity. I got out of work at 5pm and didnt have that much time to prepare. Regardless the sun was going down and the clock was ticking. Phone was turned off, my house was empty with noone here, so i unplugged my phone and started the difficult task. i didnt get all but 3 hours into it til my mom go home and asked why i was doing this. she understood and so i continued to be without water. i decided to light a few candles since it was getting really dark and i kept stumping my toes. i tried reading and doing watever to keep myself entertained but i just couldnt keep focus since the boredom was killing me. i ended up falling asleep. Woke up and realized it was 8am sunday morning, and i had to be at work. What i have learned is that we dont take our electricity for granted, back in the day before all this new technology, people didnt really do much. if i were alive back then i would have been bored out of my mind. Nowadays we rely so much on it that we cant complete day to day tasks without it. Seeing as how some artists only had the daytime to really work on their painting or whathavethem, i learned i should appreciate what they could accomplish over a course of time that only involved daytime. Even though i use some sort of electricity day to day, i realize that without it our world wouldnt be where it is today. I must admit that i cannot go very long without some sort of technology, but its only growing around the world and an exponential level.

Chapter 4 Artist Comparison Part 2 Theodore Gericault " The Raft of Medusa" vs Jean- Antoine Watteau " The Embarkation for Cythera"

Now these two artists are pretty good at getting my attention to focus on a certain path on each art canvas respectively. In " The Raft of the Medusa" there is strong saturation and lighting that makes my eyes scan the picture in a certain way. It all leads to the man that the rest of the people are reaching out to. This is strong linear movement that he uses. In a way it is not intentional, but since the human mind is curious to see what they are raising their hands to we follow it up to that man. You focus on the pain and death in the beginning and follow the bodies and then you see the reaching hands towards him. His linear movement is very effective and is by far very strong. Watteau has a similar linear movement in her portrait. You focus in on the kids to the right and follow the curvature lines that lead down the hill and into what looks to be a boat in a pond or ocean. The fact that she uses dark colors on the right side draws us back to view more since we are expecting something to be there. Its a good effective trick to use so that the viewer can see the whole portrait and not just one part of it. At one point you want to examine all that is going on by the boat, and at the same time you want to focus on the people around the Venus statue. It flows so greatly together. Both these artist can use linear movement effectively and it is fascinating to see that. Whether its intentional or not, it is amazing how some simple lines can lead you to explore the whole portraits.

Chapter 4 Artist Comparison Part 1 Keith Haring VS Jennifer Pastor,Winged Merman vs The Perfect Ride

Keith Haring and Jennifer Pastor both have a similar style of art in these paintings. They both use some type of line to attract attention to their art. Keith Haring used strong thick lines to make the viewer focus on the winged merman. He used different types of lines to symbolize certain points in his art. In Haring’s case wavy lines can symbolize energy or some sort of heat radiation. Wavy lines can symbolize waves or sounds coming from an object. The perspective of the viewer can change the meaning of a picture since no two minds see a picture the same. In Jennifer Pastor’s case, she used outlines and contours to draw the viewer into the picture. Using contours and outlines in art tricks the brain into seeing a three dimensional drawings on a two dimensional object. Both artists can use lines so differently but can attract a viewer into what they are trying to symbolize. I feel that Haring’s art takes a bit more to understand since his interpretation of certain lines varies depending on the viewer. To me, Pastor’s art is a lot more fun. You can see an animation happening right before your eyes and it flows so smoothly with the contours she uses. Tricking the brain into seeing these 3 dimensional objects takes a lot of planning. Both artist’s use lines effectively but I feel that Pastor’s are easier to understand.

September 20th lecture- NONE

Sorry i was not able to make it to class, im sure it was quite fun since im reading the blogs of other classmates! I now know that for a fact i cant miss any more days because this class is just too fun. sorry :) but i will be doing my chapter 4 artist sets :)