Quiz Make Up

The first thing that I found very interesting was when El Anatsui said, “I do not provide installation instructions for my works of art as a matter of principle.” This seems to say a lot about the flexibility of his mind as the way he envisioned the piece put together may be completely different from the way it is constructed as his client’s site. The ceramic arts of work seemed to have a deep meaning for him as they were all done at a time when Ghana's economy “was at its lowest point” as El Anatsui described it. The fact that these destructive pieces give rise to hope and new possibilities seems paradoxical, but at the same time a unique perspective to the suffering of the people of Ghana.

Probably, one of the most powerful pieces I have seen on this website is El Anatsui’s bottle cap artwork. At a first glance the piece looks very colorful and appealing to the eye. However, as he starts to describe the significance of the bottle caps and that they are from liquor bottles and how liquor relates to Africa, the piece really comes alive. Essentially, the Europeans brought liquor to Africa and traded it for slaves where the slaves were then transported to the Americas to harvest more sugar cane and produce more liquor. After, that realization and looking at the tiny metal hooks that linked all of the bottle caps together it was easy to see how small links between people and objects could have a significant effect on history. The one piece I didn’t find that interesting by itself was the one which represented the river made of ceramic bricks, but as a metaphor for the constant change and for El’s work it seemed very appropriate. 

Quiz Make Up

The episode “Change” was very representative of the artist Catherine Opie and her work. Catherine as an artist seemed to have gone through her own transformation of what she thought was important to represent in her photographs. She described herself as a street photographer in the beginning of her career which transformed to more aesthetic landscapes in the mid to late part of her career. Now, it seems that she is returning back to her street artist roots and trying to connect more with the community and other people.

The first set of photographs of different people with tattoos and strange clothing was very interesting because seemed to record the non-mainstream population representing themselves to the world. However, I enjoyed the photographs she was commissioned for by the hospital because it seemed to represent the passage of time and different states of the same location. For example, she took a series of photographs at Lake Erie at different times of the day and under different lighting conditions such as sunrises and sunsets. It seemed appropriate for a hospital setting to show the changing states on a lake as if it represents the natural cycle of life. The one thing I didn’t like about her work was how she was upset that the birds were flying in her photograph. I understand she was trying to make a consistent image, but it seemed unnatural for an artist photographing a landscape to react this way. Finally, I also liked how she was taking pictures of local shopkeepers in her neighborhood which again seems like her attempt to create a historical record of our time.

Cultural Values, Beliefs, Fashion and Interior Designer reflected through Art

The underlying theme connecting all the works of art I chose is that they all represent the values of the culture from which the artist came. In other words, all of the works of art observed have a strong connection to the culture which created them. All of these works of art were not before or ahead of their time, but of their time. Looking at the art from different time periods is a small snapshot into the psyche of the culture that created it and what this culture valued.

 

The first artwork by John Henry Butler, “Sofa” seems to reflect our own time and values through the industrial revolution of high quality products. Art was no longer art in the traditional sense because some art became products and products became art. I think before the industrial revolution most art was created for the sake of the art itself as will be illustrated with the other two artworks chosen. John Henry Butler was probably originally just trying to create a high quality product and because of his detailed craftsmanship our culture has turned his creation into a work of art.
 

The second artwork chosen, “Marble Capital and Finial in the form of a sphinx”, has much more spiritual and even religious significance than “Sofa”. First, of all this artwork was estimated to be created around 530 B.C. which was a time when mankind explained many different natural phenomenon through the gods. I think this work of art simply reflects a long and rich mythological culture which is even very beautiful.
 

The last artwork, “Mask Dagak”, created by the Kanak peoples relates strongly to the “Marble Capital and Finial in the form of a sphinx” artwork because they both hold religious and spiritual significance. The “Mask Dagak” wood sculpture is very interesting because it was created around the same time as the “Sofa” artwork, but reflects more of the mythological ideas of the the “Marble Capital and Finial in the form of a sphinx”. This is probably due to the fact that the Kanak peoples were very isolated from the rest of the Western world and were still very tribal and in touch with nature and their historical values passed on through the generations.

John Henry Belter

“Sofa”
1850-60
American Decorative Arts

Greek Attica

“Marble Capital and Finial in the form of a sphinx”
Ca. 530 BC
Greek and Roman Art

Kanak peoples
“Mask Dagak”
Mid to late 19^th century
Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas

Ptolemaic Dynasty (Egyptian people)
"God's Wife Tagerem"
300-250 B.C.
Egyptian Art

Duncan Phyfe
"Work Table"
1810-20
American Wing

Severin Roesen
"Still Life: Fruit"
1855
American Paintings and Sculpture

Louis Comfort Tiffany
"Necklace with Pendant"
1910
American Decorative Arts

Frederick Wellington Ruckstull
"Evening"
1887
American Paintings and Sculpture

Janet Scudder
"Frog Fountain"
1901
American Paintings and Sculpture

Roman
"Marble Head from a Herm"
1st to 2nd century A.D.
Greek and Roman Art

Greek
"Marble Statue of a Woman"
Late 4th Century B.C.
Greek and Roman Art

Roman
"Marble statue of the so-called Apollo Lykeios"
131-160 A.D.
Greek and Roman Art

Roman
"Marble sarcophagus lid with reclining couple"
ca 220 A.D.
Greek and Roman Art

Greek (Hellenistic)
"Gold strap necklace with seedlike pendants"
ca. 330–300 B.C.
Greek and Roman Art

Greek
"Fragment of a Gold Wreath"
ca. 320–300 B.C.
Greek and Roman Art

Quiz Make Up

I watched the Balance video from the Art21 website and really enjoyed Rackstraw Downes art work because he made a very honest effort to depict his paintings as close to the reality he saw as possible.  Rackstraw seemed to be attracted to certain locations for different reasons which he doesn’t always explicitly say, but after he chooses a location the original reason why he chose it fades away and depicting the site he chose as accurately as possible becomes his main motivation.  I liked most of his paintings, but the only one which I didn’t like was the painting he made of the power plant.  Most people might think that he chose the power plant location for political or social reasons which may be true to an extent, but he really just liked the unique location for his painting.  I just think that the power plant location has some many other ramifications as a painting and he is missing the major political and social undertones.  However, he is an extremely talented artist because looking at his paintings almost transports you to that location at that specific moment or moments.  While some might say that one can do the same thing that he is doing with a high resolution digital camera and taking a photograph they could be missing something that the photograph can’t capture.  Ultimately, in art the medium or what the message is conveyed through makes a difference and paintings of the real world have a very unique texture and personality.

Chelsea Galleries Reaction

I find Rachel Harrison’s work to be very abstract and lacking any real substance.  Of all of her pieces I looked at I couldn’t understand what the underlying theme could have been or maybe it doesn’t exist at all.  In terms of abstract art, I prefer works of art which represent something more significant and more important than just the art itself.  However, I do appreciate art which represents something beautiful, but abstract art should represent something more because I usually don’t find it to be beautiful.  I don’t think her art work such as “The Help” is a good investment because I don’t see how this artist will become so popular to the extent to increase this artwork’s value in the future.  Again, I would not want to display the artist’s artwork at all.

I really did like Ernesto Neto’s work because I found it very unique and beautiful.  I suppose I still would consider it as a form abstract art, but it makes me think of a whole new magical and imaginary world.  I think some of his large pieces such as “The Island Bird” put me in an almost daydreaming like state because of the material used to construct them and their unique texture.  I think his artwork would be a good investment because of their intricacy and beauty, but I do have one concern.  The only concern that I would have before investing in Ernesto’s work is: how easily can his artwork be maintained and is there any risk of it falling apart because of the delicate material which it is made of?   I would like to display “The Island Bird” artwork as long there were not any significant risks to it being damaged where it was displayed.

Rachel Harrison

"The Help"
2012

Rachel Harrison
"Lazy Hardware"
2012

Ernesto Neto

"The Island Bird"
2012

Ernesto Neto

"Sorry, I Don’t Know Exacly Where to Go"
2012

Sculpture Center Reaction

             The history of the Sculpture center is unique and the fact that it used to be a trolley repair shop has implications to the artwork housed there as well.  Trolley cars are an obsolete technology so the fact that this site was chosen as a platform to display art could have a deeper significance depending on the art work displayed.  The art work of Bill Bollinger seemed to be chosen as a centerpiece of the center because his art was a good fit for the space. 

Bill Bollinger used industrial materials to express his messages which all have one strong theme in common.  The common theme is that we as a society create these materials to help achieve specific goals and meet certain ends, but what if our creations transform into something beyond what we originally intended and beyond our control.  This seems to be the message of the “Cyclone Fence” because what if what we create transforms itself into a destructive force such as a cyclone and has a power and life of its own.  An example of the “Cyclone Fence” in our world today might be global warming.  Our globalized economy is basically driven by fossil fuels, but there is a large ecological cost to pay to keep this possibly shortsighted model running.  

                The “Waterpipe” art work seems to hint a something more organic such as an imitation of life through industrial materials.  The piece makes me think of a ribcage which is something human, organic and alive.  Maybe Bill could have another general message that the networks we build through water pipes or other industrial materials mimic biology to a certain degree.  While this is definitely true with computers, circuit boards and the internet that there is a certain bio-mimicry happening, Bill could be pointing to a more primitive or non-electrical form of this idea.

                Bill Bollinger’s work fits perfectly into the Sculpture center space because there is an industrial tone to it which his art work is able to turn upside in a way.  If, the art work was housed in MoMA it would not have such a powerful effect because he is essentially attempting to undermine the Industrial age.  In other words, he seems to want to say something like, “Hey are there any negatives here?”  He needs the viewers of the art work to be in a malleable mind state by luring them into this industrial setting and then presenting them with a new perspective of this object they are familiar with, but which he makes unfamiliar. 

Bill Bollinger

“Untitled”

1970

Bill Bollinger

“Waterpipe”

1970

Bill Bollinger

“Cyclone Fence”

1970

Quiz Make Up

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle is a very interesting artist because he thinks of art as occurring in the mind of the consumer of the art.  He is less interested with the object and more concerned with creating a platform or dialogue between himself as his audience to debate the issues his art represents.  He seems to have a strong connection with the current state of our Western culture and its reliance on technology. For example, he has one piece which is a Kevlar umbrella which he developed with the help of designers of military aircrafts.  He speaks about an umbrella having ‘complex curves, parabolic equations and being very much like a flower’ which is my favorite line of the video.

What I like about this artist is that he understands what his message is and communicates it subtly through his work.  He doesn’t explicitly say what his position is, but it is there for the viewer to discover.  Many other artists on this site have only a vague idea of what their art represents and they create their art more organically and with less thought.  While this may be the whole point of their art I feel it is inferior to works of art which are well thought out and has specific messages to be discovered.

He also collaborates with other specialists and artists to create broader artistic horizons which he could not reach by himself.  Another example would be Random Sky which is a computer simulated representation of weather patterns.  The art work seems to convey that some things in our world, no matter how much we try, are out of our power to control.