Module 12 video discussion

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

I chose the two videos I watched because I thought they would be interesting to learn about.

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

Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the ’50s and ’60s: Abstract Expressionism was born from a joining of attitudes in American art and European avant-garde art. Abstract art is compared to figurative art. Klines uses shapes that show emotions. Uses of action painting reveals a process of constant discovery and brings us into a place of color and form. John's paintings undermine our assumptions and make us think. He seeks to make his common subjects visually seductive. Warhol and Rauschenber become art icons of the 60s by creating the path for pop artists in the use of everyday objects.

Isamu Noguchi: The Sculpture of Spaces: Noguchi creates sculpture gardens to "humanize space and sculpture." Noguchi's childhood holds many clues to his interest in sculpture. Young Noguchi is plagued by poverty. To make a living, he sculpts heads, including the head of Martha Graham. In 1980, Isamu Noguchi is commissioned to redesign Miami's Bayfront Park. A retrospective of his sculptures reveals his artistic versatility and vision. He experiments with different media such as water to create a new manifestation of an approach to sculpture. He explains the relationship between a human and the sculpture he or she observes. 

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

The videos relate to the reading in the text because the reading and video refer to Abstract expressionists, and the creative powers of the unconscious and its technique of automatism as a way to tap into the many sources of Surrealism. Also the videos relate to how western ideas about art were taken up and adapted by many cultures like Japan.

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

The videos were helpful because it helped add depth to my understanding of the artists and how the used their art to send messages, also how ideas about art were adapted into different cultures. 

Module 11 video discussion

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

I selected the two videos because they interested me more than the others, and wanted to know more about them.

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

Expressionism:  Edward Munch created an image that radically broke the norms of content and style. It showed the relationship problem between man and woman and sexuality. The piece is called “Ashes”. His uncompromising portrayal of emotion caused deep offense to the bourgeois mentality. Marc's "Rain" shows debt to cubism and Cézanne. The cubist influence is even stronger in "The Tiger". The year after "The Tiger", the forest became a place of menace in "The Fate of Animals", it was said to be a premonition of war. In one of his last paintings, he tried to predict the apocalypse to come.  Ernst Ludwig Kirchner painted a series of works featuring "tarts" on the streets of a busy city. They appear to be hurried and seem to turn the viewer into a voyeur. In the Museum Ludwig there is a sketch of "Five Women in the Street". A quote from Kirchner expresses his opinion that when viewing a modern metropolis at night, any attempt to objectively construct a picture is useless. Anselm Kiefer was born at the end of World War II. His work alludes darkly to the war. "Operation Sea Lion" depicts a famous naval campaign taking place in a bath tub. 

Dada and Surrealism:  Kurt Schwitters realizes the unlimited possibilities of collage. Schwitters includes many objects in his art. The artist includes rural objects in his art. Light reflects off the objects in Schwitters’ art. Hannah Höch, a Dadaist, uses art to attack the society she detests. Her photomontage, “Cut With the Kitchen Knife” (1919), contains chaotic figures. It makes a monumental political statement, it attacks the political figures of the Weimar regime. George Grosz paints "Pillars of Society," an attack on his enemies. He paints a wide social range of Berlin's subjects. Dali is a surrealist painter, He probes the darkest regions of the human subconscious. His imagination creates a world where nothing makes sense. He includes arid, barren landscapes in his work. In "La Fortune," single components of the painting are true to life. But, other elements are separate from reality. Familiar objects appear to be in an unfamiliar arrangement.

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

The videos relate to the reading in the text because they both show how the time period the artist lived in, their surroundings, and the events that were taking place at the time effected their art, and the message they tried to convey through the piece.

4. 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 would be that they were helpful in helping me learn something new about artists that I didn’t really know about. It added depth to my understanding because it talked about some of the “isms” for example an outgrowth of Fauvism. Also, how their everyday lives and the places where they lived significantly impacted their work. 

Module 10 Mask Making

Mask Making:

Sketch

Painted cut out

3D painted mask front view

3D painted mask side view

3D painted mask side view

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

I used the principle of balance in my mask because I tried to make it look symmetrical on both sides. I also tried using form because I wanted spots on the mask to rise, like the tounge and the nose and eyes. I also used the element of color in my mask and I used solid colors because if I didn't want the mask to look to wild in appearance. 

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

My opinion of my finished mask would be that I think it looks cool and different, I like how i made certain features on the face pop out and I like the colors I incorporated into the mask. My thoughts on this assignment would be that it was different, but i really enjoyed being able to create this piece, I have never done it before and thought it was fun. 

Module 10 video discussion

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

I picked these videos because they seemed interesting to learn more about.

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

African Art:   Art is a part of their daily life, a strong aesthetic sense is expressed in dress, homes, everyday utensils, hair styles, forms of ornamentation, rituals and performances. Egyptian and Saharan art and architecture show influences of agriculture. Primitive Art influenced Picasso and modernist painters. There is a lot of diversity in African art. They repeat traditional designs, adding their own refinements.

Buddhism:    Buddhism split into two groups, "hinayana" and "mahanyana." Sanchi is a center of Buddhist art and architecture.  Buddha symbolism is represented only by the Bodhi Tree. There is a walkway around the Great Stupa where every step is a discovery of Buddhist art and architecture. Buddhism is a religion that began by repudiating rituals, questions, prayer, and the idea of a personal god, ends up embracing all of these. In India, Buddhism and Hinduism  share commonalities.

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

The videos relate to the reading in the text because the reading and the videos talk about African and Buddhist religion (and other religions) and how it connects/ impacts their architecture and art, also their everyday lives.

4.       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 would be that they were helpful in helping me understand some more about the religion, and how their religion impacts their art, architecture, and their everyday lives, and the meaning behind it. 

Module 9 Art Making/Material Exploration: Exploring Line

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

It was interesting but kind of difficult to draw. The shadows of my fingers/hand were harder to get down on the paper but I attempted to do it.

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

Pencil, because it was all I had to use, and I could erase if necessary.

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

It felt different, weird and uncomfortable creating a drawing with my non dominant hand.

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

Yes, the drawing with my dominant hand was easier and looked better than the drawing with my non dominant hand.

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

Yes I would consider using my non dominant hand to create another piece of artwork in the future because I would like to get better at drawing or even writing with my non dominant hand.

Module 9 Video discussion questions

Module 9

Video discussion questions

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

- I selected the videos because I was interested in learning something new about the artists.

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

            The Drawings of Michelangelo: The techniques Michelangelo used. Michelangelo had very good knowledge of the human body, which helped his drawings look even better. Michelangelo’s drawings reveals emphasis on the solar plexus of human figures. We see through the other drawings how he prepared the figures for the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. He was called by the Medici pope to design the Medici family church of San Lorenzo, it became a funerary chapel and family tomb. Michelangelo had conflicting forces of the male form and his intensely felt Christian faith, which were what inspired him in his art. He explores his conflicting feelings of hope and dread in his crucifixion drawings.

           Leonardo da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance: Shows Leonardo’s life and work from his birth in Tuscany to his last years in Cloux. He was an expert painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, etc. In his younger years he amazes his family and friends by his desire for understanding, and he only gets better over time. He is a master of perspective and proportion of man and animals, also becomes a good architect, and draws from life. He studies the machines of his day in order to improve them and to invent even more complex ones. He organizes entertainments and shows at the court of Milan and experiments with mechanical inventions and theatrical machinery. As an engineer he designs an excavator large enough to build canals.

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

The videos relate to the reading in the text because they both talk about how the role of the human body was held at such a high position during this time. Also about the artists and the techniques they used.

4.    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 would be that they helped me get a better understand of the artists and the techniques they used.