Week 16: Reflection of AED 200

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

My expectations for this course was to learn a lot more about art than what I previously had already known. I didn't really know what to expect at first when I began this course, I thought it would be a lot of reading about the history of art and just doing written assignments, but it was much different, as we were able to create art and display it on our blogs for everyone to see. I thought my expectations were met, as I was able to get much more out of this course than I thought I was going to get, being that we did so much more than I was anticipating. So overall, I have to say that my expectations were definitely met for this course. 

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your initial posting?

Now that I have been through this course, I still would define art the same, as art can be anything and everything. I would still define art as the same as I did in my initial post because my view hasn't changed on it, being a former art major I had a pretty good idea already what art was and how it was defined to me, so I will continue to stick with my definition of art as, everything you see in the world because it takes skills and knowledge to create art, as it also takes skill and knowledge to create just about anything else in the world as well.

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?

My favorite artist in my original posting was Joseph Whalen, a local artist to the buffalo area. He is still my favorite visual artist now as well, mostly due to the fact that I really like his work, he is well known in the town that I was born and raised in, as well as the fact that I know and am friends with the majority of his family. I think, as impressive as all other artists work is, Joseph Whalen will always remain my favorite visual artist, as I hope to one day own a piece of his artwork. 

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?

Although this is not my first online course, as I have taken others in the past, along with also taking another online class alongside this one this semester, I feel perfectly comfortable taking online courses, as I know what to expect, learning and technology wise, as well as the fact that it adds a large amount of flexibility to my schedule. My answer is the same as the one in my original posting, mostly due to the fact that this is not my first online course, as I also know how they work, so I wasn't really expecting anything special or different. 

Week 15: Self Portrait and Art Gallery Visit

For this project I was unable to visit a physical art gallery and was not very successful in using the art gallery website provided, but I was able to find a really good online art gallery, which had a very large collection of self portraits called Art Gallery NSW, which can be found at this link: http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/?q=self+portrait+&page=1  

Artwork #1

Name: James Gleeson

Title: Self Portrait 

Media: Drawing

Size: 36.2 x 26.8

Year: 1938-40

Artwork #2

Name: BE Minns

Title: Self Portrait 

Media: Watercolor 

Size: 45.5 x 35.5

Year: 1928

Artwork #3

Name: Charles Blackman

Title: Self Portrait 

Media: Oil and synthetic polymer paint on paperboard 

Size: 45.5 x 47.5

Year: 1952

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

Overall, I selected these specific inspirational pictures because they were so unique with their design and I particularly loved the colors they used in the paintings themselves, to me, the colors gave the painting the wow effect and made them so interesting to look at. To go through why I chose each painting separately, for the first self portrait by James Gleeson, I chose this painting because of how unique it looks, the painting itself almost looks unfinished and the colors are sloppy and speared on in unique color tones, I overall thought it was very unique. For the second self portrait by BE Minns, I chose this paining because it looked very realistic but also cartoonish at the same time, I also really liked the color choices in this painting as well. For the third self portrait by Charles Blackman, I chose this painting because it was very abstract and out of the box in terms of color and design, one of the reasons I chose this specific painting was due to the fact that I really like self portraits that are abstract with unique out of the box color choices that don't really look realistic. 

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

I selected paint as my media to create my self portrait because I wanted to use something that allowed me to blend unique colors together to have that unique creative effect like the three inspirational paintings I chose. I really wanted my self portrait to be somewhat abstract, especially with the unrealistic color choices I chose, which is the main reason I chose paint. I originally wanted to use oil pastels, as I am very good at blending those colors together but I thought it would take too much time to complete this project, so I went with paint as my second choice. 

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

The main challenges I faced in this project was actually drawing my face on the paper, I have not done any drawing projects, especially faces, in a long time so I was a bit rusty when it came to that part. Another challenge I also had was the painting, being that I have never really been a strong painter, I found it kind of challenging to not mess up as you can’t erase paint. With both of those two previous challenges, I did find it very difficult to draw and paint my nose, as I just could not get it to look right. I was able to overcome both these challenges by pushing through it and not giving up, even if I made a mistake. As for the challenge of making my nose look right, I overcame this challenge by just keeping in my mind that the goal of my painting is to make it look abstract. 

4. How does this piece represent you?

This piece represents me because it is so unique, as I am a creative out of the box person,   which is why I wanted to use abstract, not ordinary colors, in my painting to describe my creativity. Overall I think the way a painting is done in terms of color and design can really describe a person and the way mine is so colorful and creative, I think it does a good job describing me as a person, being creative and always positive. 

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

Some of the elements and principles of art I used in this painting were color, balance, and emphasis. For the first one, being color, this can be evident in the fact that I used such a variety of rich and dull colors throughout the painting, which really draws the viewers attention into the piece. For the second one, being balance, this is evident in the fact that my face is nearly symmetrical and everything you see on one side of the painting, you well see on the other side. For the third, being emphasis, this is evident in all of the bright colors, but were I find it most noticeable is in my face, as a bright orangey red face is not realistic and really draws the attention in of the viewer.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

I did enjoy working on this project a lot, overall I thought it was very fun and interesting to paint myself, and the part I enjoyed the most was, we were able to do it our way and choose the media we wanted to work with. I definitely thought this was one of my favorite projects to work with so far this semester, but it still does not beat the photography project. 

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

I think my final artwork was good, as I was able to accomplish everything I was looking to do, being abstract design, unique out of the box color choices, and my work looking sort of unfinished but finished, as all of these things I did related very well to the three inspirational pictures I chose for this project. Overall, I think my painting represents me well and I was able to create something unique and interesting, even thought it might not be the best looking painting, I am pleased with it, especially how good my hair turned out in the painting.

Project #4: Art Curator Exhibition Slideshow

Reflection on the Creation of an Art Exhibit: 

“Flashback to Harlem” 

Curated by Ryan Stockton

Creating an art exhibit and a theme for an exhibit was a lot more work than I thought it was going to be, the most challenging part of the whole process was coming up with a good name and theme. To start with my title and theme, I have always been interested in the Harlem Renaissance and remembered that there was so much interesting artwork that was created during that time period, which is why I chose the Harlem Renaissance and 1920s time period for the theme of my exhibit, which led me to think of the title “Flashback to Harlem. Moving past the title and theme of the exhibit, the actual process was very time consuming, especially finding quality artworks to display in my exhibit, as well as finding all of the additional information needed, such as media, size and the date the artwork was created. I think the whole process was made a lot easier due to the fact that a lot of the previous projects helped me a lot in the creation of this exhibit, such as the knowledge on how to properly describe the artwork, give an interpretation and explanation. As for the process of creating the exhibit itself in powerpoint, I thought this process was very easy as I am very familiar with powerpoint and I think it is fun to experiment with different designs and fonts to make sure the theme of the physical powerpoint fits well with the theme of my exhibit. For my powerpoint, I was able to find the perfect background design and fonts that went great with my theme as they were an old school design, very similar to something that you would find in the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. Overall I thought this was a fun project to create my own art exhibit, and the part I liked the most about this project was that fact that I was in charge of the whole process, as the exhibit could be created and organized my way, with my ideas.  

Module 13 & 14 Video Review

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

For the first video, The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art, the key concepts I learned from this video are just exactly what lowbrow art is, being that I have never really heard of it or seen it before. The video describes lowbrow art as outcast art, being more cartoon art and pornography, while they also didn't want to be categorized with traditional artists. When I see the artwork that they display in the video I don't think of it as traditional art that would be displayed in an art exhibit, I see it more as comic book or graffiti art. When looking at lowbrow art, it is very different, as it contains graphic images, naked women and very out of the box drawings of creatures. Overall I see how this style of lowbrow art can create a theme on its own and has the ability to create its own art exhibit for people who like to make or view this type of artwork. 

For the second video, Tate Modern (four part series), the key concepts I learned from this video are, what Tate modern art is and how it is displayed in exhibits. Before watching this video I didn't really know what to expect from it, but I was able to learn about Tate modern art and how modern it is compared to the traditional painting of objects and people. Some of the things I saw while watching the videos were, a video screen displaying some sort of art-like video, a variety of abstract artworks and the most interesting being a pile of bricks, which some people said in the video that it confused them and they didn't understand the meaning of a pile of bricks. They said in a later video how Tate modern art is an experience, I think this video does a good job showing how all of this unique artworks comes together to create a theme of modern art. 

For the third video, An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan, the key concepts I learned from this video are, how all artwork in the museum is not on display all of the time and all of the processes that are involved before they even display a piece of art. In the video they describe the large amount of artworks the museum has acquired over the years, but they also stated that while someone can go into the museum and find just about anything they are looking for, not all of their artworks are on display at all times, with a large amount being in museum storage. The other key concept I learned about was the great deal of prepping that has to take place before they display an artwork in the museum. In the video they describe how not every piece of artwork comes into the museum in perfect condition, the museums art conservation center is able to restore and preserve the artworks that come into the museum. Overall I thought this video was very interesting, learning about the history of The Met and the processes they take to make sure their artwork and exhibits are well taken care of. 

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

For the first video, The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art, this video definitely related to the creation of my art exhibition project because it showed me exactly what a theme is, as their theme was lowbrow art of cartoon and pornography, being outcast artwork to traditional art. Overall I thought this was a very different video compared to the traditional ones we usually watch in this class, but it was a good video describing how a theme can be created for an art exhibit by putting together artworks that relate to each other. 

For the second video, Tate Modern (four part series), this video definitely relates to the creation of my Art Exhibition project due to the fact that the videos did a good job displaying how an art gallery is set up. But another thing this video was able to show is how all of Tate modern art, being this unique modern artwork, works together to create an interesting experience for the viewer, being that there is a variety of things to look at, but as a whole, this exhibit creates a theme of modern artwork. Overall I thought this video was very useful to show how unrelated subject matter can come together to present a theme as a whole in an art exhibit.  

For the third video, An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan, this video was able to relate a little in the creation of my Art Exhibition project because the video went into great deal about the history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and all of their processes. They described how art exhibits are set up at that museum and how they are able to separate them by their themes. For example, you can go into one exhibit with an Egyptian theme and next walk into another exhibit relating to France, it shows how they like to keep their themes and subject matters that relate to each other together and not in some random order. I personally have been to The Met in NYC about 4 different times and every time I have been there it has almost been a completely different set up, so I know from experience that this museum does a good job with the set up of their art exhibits. 

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?

My opinions of the films were very good, as they were very helpful in understanding how a theme works, when creating an art exhibit, while also giving some history behind different types of artworks and exhibits. Overall I do think the three videos I watched added depth to understanding the art concepts I practiced while creating my curation project because it gave me a better understanding about how art exhibits work, how the work that is placed in them and how the works all relate to one and other. Overall I did find the three videos very helpful for this project because they all related to different themes of art, which was helpful because it gave a better understanding of how theme actually works and how artworks should be organized in an exhibition.  

Module 12 Video Review

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

The two videos I chose for this assignment are Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ‘50s and ‘60s and Andy Warhol: Image of an Image. For the first video, Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ‘50s and ‘60s, I chose this video because I learned about art of the 50s and 60s in a history class along with a huge project, which also involved the art from that time period and I really enjoyed that class and the project so I thought it would be interesting to watch a video that related to that subject. For the second video, Andy Warhol: Image of an Image, I chose this video because I am familiar with the name Andy Warhol, but I was also interested in finding out what was meant by image of an image in the title. 

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

For the first video, Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ‘50s and ‘60s, the key concept I learned in this video was how differently artists are starting to express themselves in this time period, especially with abstract and unique pieces. One of the key concepts I learned in this video, which I have always thought was strange, was how the artist piles on paint in blobby messes all over the canvas, I never thought of this carefully enough before watching this video, but I was able to learn that it creates a unique aspect to the painting, which draws the viewers attention in to the painting while still having the viewer look at the piece as a whole as well. I thought the way they talk about abstract art and piling on the paint in this video was very interesting as I have never really thought about it before. 

For the second video, Andy Warhol: Image of an Image, the key concept I learned in this video was literally what I was hoping to learn, which was the meaning one the title of the video, being silkscreen when referring to image of an image in the title. The key concept I learned was that silkscreening was used for artwork and photography, I thought this was interesting because when I think of silkscreening something, I think of only doing it on clothing and not for artistic purposes. Silkscreening is something that I have never done or really seen done before so I thought it was interesting to watch and learn about the processes of it. Something new I learned from it was before an image can be transferred to a silkscreen it must be enlarged several times and nowadays silkscreens are made of mesh instead of silk. I thought altogether silkscreening is a very interesting and unique process. 

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

The videos do relate to the book very well, especially with the second video I watched on Andy Warhol, being that the book went into great detail about him and his personal life. As for the first video I watched, the book didn't seem to relate as much with what I watched in the video, but I did finish the book well before watching these videos. Overall I did think the videos related well with the book on related topics as they have all semester with each chapter we read and I do think they do a good job in enhancing the learning experience, especially with people who are not strong readers.

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

My opinion of the films were very good, as I particularly liked the second video I watched on Andy Warhol and silkscreening, I also liked that it was more of an appropriate length being around 30 minutes rather than an hour long video. But I did like both of the videos, as I also learned a lot from both of them, and very interesting things that I am glad I got the opportunity to learn, with my favorite thing being the silkscreening process. Overall I to think the videos assed depth to the understanding of the readings and art concepts because it gives an added amount of learning, with different approaches of teaching it, with the videos giving more of a visual aid and the book going more in-depth with information. Altogether I do think the videos are an interesting part of the learning process for this class as they are helpful to people who are not so strong readers like me.

Module 11: Art Gallery Visit #2

The museum I visited for this assignment was the Burchfield Penny Art Center.

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:

1. What is the title of the exhibit?

The title of the exhibit was “Jack Drummer, The Effects of Time”

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?

The theme of the exhibit was abstract and minimalist paintings, all created by John E. (Jack) Drummer. 

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:

1. What type of lighting is used?

The lighting that was used in this exhibit was both natural and artificial light. For the natural light, some but not much is used, mostly lighting seeping though a few windows that are off in the distance on the second floor. For the artificial lighting, they had a unique lighting system that was very high up on the ceiling, about 2 feet from the wall, spaced about another 2 feet apart from each other, where dull light fixtures that ran the boarder of the entire room, but only casted light at the walls. There were also a few lights in the middle of the ceiling that were all angled differently, casting the light onto the floor.

2. What colors are used on the walls?

The colors of the walls were all white, from floor to ceiling, along with the ceiling. Everything was white and their were no accent walls in this specific exhibit that were anything but white. 

3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space?

The materials that were used in the interior architecture of the space were, light wood floors, with a black baseboard, along with white walls, which were either curved exterior walls or shorter flat walls that stuck out of the exterior walls, making for a maze like effect. Other than those details there were not much other architectural features other than a large open staircase to the second floor and simple benches scattered around so you can sit and face the artwork. The overall architecture of the room was very open and cold, with little to no furniture and other decorative elements.

4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?

The movement for the viewer through this gallery space was a little different compared to a lot of art galleries I have visited. at the starting point of the gallery entrance, you can either chose to go in one of two directions, with both still ending up in the same place. The exterior walls guided you in a cured fashion, while some wall stuck out making you turn and continue on, as this gallery is set up in sort of a maze like fashion. Overall if you started at the first painting and continued on to the next painting in an orderly fashion, you would be able to see every piece of artwork without having to leave the wall you are following.

Step 3: The Artwork

Questions about the artwork:

1. How are the artworks organized?

The artworks are organized in some what of a random order, with no meaning to the specific way they are organized when looking at their characteristics. All of the pieces of art are spaced generously apart from each other, with one or two artworks taking up a single wall space. 

2. How are the artworks similar?

The artworks are similar because they are all the same media, concept, shape, and are relatively similar with the same color choices. 

3. How are the artworks different?

The artworks don't really have many differences as they are all the same concept thought the entire exhibit, the only noticed difference would be the sizes of the artwork, as some are small and others are huge, they also are different in content as well. 

4. How are the artworks framed?

All of the pieces of artwork in this specific exhibit are not framed at all, as the artwork itself is carried over the edges of the canvas.

5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?

The artworks are identified and labeled by little cream colored plaques with black writing, which are placed to the right of all the artworks at about 3 to 4 feet up from the ground.

6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?

The proximity of the artworks to each other varies thought out the exhibit, generally with this exhibit, the artworks are placed generously apart from each other, with one or two artworks taking up a wall space. If I had to give a rough estimate as to how far apart they were, I would say about 8 to 10 feet apart. 

Step 4: Art Criticism Exercise

Artist: John E. (Jack) Drummer

Title of Work: Untitled

Media: Stretched and dyed rubber, 21 panels 

Date: 1995-97

Size: 102 x 300 inches 

Source of Picture: Taken on personal iPhone camera

Description - What I see in this piece of artwork is 21 square panels of a variety of colors ranging from purples on one side, blues in the middle, and moving to greens on the far side. Each panel displays a different shade of color along with different brush strokes.

Formal Analysis - The elements and principles that are most noticeable in this piece are color and value. For color, the bright colors of blue draw the viewers attention into the piece as for value, the variety of colors from light greens to dark purples shows the value in the piece. 

Bracketing - This particular piece of artwork reminds me of a boarder between land and sea. When I look at the right side of the painting I see dark purples and blues, which would represent the deep ocean, while as your eyes move to the middle of the painting you see lighter blue colors, which would represent the shore, and to the left side of the painting it shows greens which would represent grass and land.

Interpretation - Since there is no title for this piece of artwork it makes it a bit harder to figure out what the artist is trying to say, but what I think the artist is trying to say is, how the colors transition so well with each other, especially if he is talking about land going into sea. 

Artist: John E. (Jack) Drummer

Title of Work: Untitled

Media: Stretched, stitched and dyed rubber

Date: 2006

Size: N/A

Source of Picture: Taken on personal iPhone camera

Description - What I see in this piece of artwork is a single black square panel, which has a series of stretching going in just about every direction. The black background with seam like stitching looks like leather with the seam stitched though it.

Formal Analysis - The elements and principles that are seen in this piece are lines and texture. For lines, the stitched leather looking seams act as lines going throughout the artwork, as for texture, the stitched parts of the artwork acts as a rougher and bumpy feel if you were to touch the artwork. 

Bracketing - This particular piece of artwork reminds me of leather with the black background color and material, with all of the stitching looking like the stitching at the seam of a leather product.

Interpretation - What I think the artist was trying to say in this piece of artwork was, something can be easily stitched together and repaired, or if something is damaged try and fix it first before going an replacing it.

Artist: John E. (Jack) Drummer

Title of Work: Untitled 

Media: Stretched and dyed rubber, 2 panels 

Date: 1998 

Size: N/A

Source of Picture: Taken on personal iPhone camera

Description - What I see in this piece of artwork is two square panels, both containing the same concept of a white background with a blue boarder, with a tire like track of blue going through the middle of the painting. 

Formal Analysis - The elements and principles that are seen in this artwork are lines and balance. For lines, the white background behind the blue creates a line effect, as for balance, the two panels display nearly the same design, creating an almost mirror image.

Bracketing - This particular piece of artwork reminds me of a tire track, which is running though the painting in blue over a white background. 

Interpretation - What I think the artist is trying to represent is, to just keep moving, if the artist is trying to represent some sort of tire tracks, then I would guess they are trying to tell the viewer to not give up and keep on going. 

Step 5: Document Your Visit

What did you think of visiting the Gallery and purposefully looking at the exhibition from a different perspective - the physical space, the architecture, theme, etc.?

I thought visiting the art gallery was very interesting because I have not visited the Burchfield Penny Art Center since I was in 7th grade. I also thought it was an interesting experience purposefully looking at the exhibition from a different perspective because it is something that I have never done before or ever thought of doing, as I also thought it was a little bit easier than looking at the artwork because you don't really have to put a lot of thought into looking at the physical space and architecture of the museum.

Module 11 Video Review

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

For the first video I chose, Matisse and Picasso, I chose this video because I am familiar with both the names and some of their work, as I have also seen some of their work in person at the MOMA in New York City. I thought it would be interesting to watch this video because it would allow me to learn a little bit more about the artists. For the second video, Expressionism, I chose this video because I didn't really know what to expect from it, as I was not that familiar with expressionism, but I did think it was going to be about expressions and showing emotions in art work, which is another reason why I chose this particular video. 

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

For the first video, Matisse and Picasso, the key concepts I learned were how both Matisse and Picasso both liked to paint women, but both had different ways of doing it. For Picasso’s paintings of women, the models basically did not exist. For Picasso’s paintings, they were done from memory or observation, they say in the video that it is a very particular trait of Picasso, as he very rarely asked people to sit for him. Now for Matisse, his models are flesh and blood, being that they are in front of him while he paints, rather than doing the paintings by memory. I thought this was a very interesting characteristic, as both painters paint women but each has there own special way of doing it. 

For the second video, Expressionism, the key concepts I learned were how emotions are expressed in paintings. In the video they talk about one artist where their style and expressionism changed overtime, the artist Max Beckmann started out with norman self portraits of an average expression. But his style changed drastically as a result of the first world war, with noticeable signs of anxiety and terror seen in his paintings. They also talk about another painting in the video done by Beckman titles “Actors,” where the king is on stage attempting to commit suicide by shoving a sword in his chest and the rest of the actors carry on what they are doing, showing no expressions for the king dying. I thought this was interesting because I never really think or look for expressions and emotions when I am looking at a painting.

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

The videos related to the reading in the text a lot with some information and little with other information. For the first video I watched, Matisse and Picasso, the book really went into great detail about both artists, even talking about their life and background, along with their works as well. As for the second video I watched about Expressionism, the book did talk about it a little bit but I did not think it really went into as much detail as the video did about the topic. Overall I think the videos I watched were able to relate to the reading in the book, as it does provide a listening and visual learning experience, opposed to reading, which I am not very good at or fond of doing, so it is great to learn in other ways than just reading the book.

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

My opinion of the videos were very good as there was a lot of interesting things presented in the two videos I chose, the only things I wasn't really pleased by was the lengths of the video as it is hard to remember all of the information watched. I do think the videos add depth to the understanding of the readings and art concepts because it is adding onto the learning experience, providing both different information at times, as well as providing a visual and auditory learning experience. Overall I do think the videos are a good learning tool to go along with the book because it can add information that might not be presented in the book or allow for further learning of topics a person might be interested in.