Julian Schnabel response

The lecture was not quite what I had expected. I though it would be a question and answer session about his work, with a large focus on his films since that is what he is most known for. However, the lecture was more about Picasso. The lecture revolved around making far fetched connections between Schnabel's paintings and Picasso's. There was only a brief conversation at the very end about his films.

To me his most compelling work was his film the Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This could be because I was more aware of why he made this film more so than his paintings because the discussion of the film was more about him than Picasso. His talk about how he came up with the scene in which the man looked like he was floating in the water was very beautiful. He showed us a picture of a piece of a pier floating in the water and how when the tide came up high the pier dissapeared. I found this to be quite beautiful.

My question about if he planned to make anymore mainstream films was answered. He will most likely continue to make films but not with the intention to make them mainstream. His films are already widely accepted but not blockbuster hits. He did not go into the making the film with the intention that it would be nominated for an Oscar but made the film to tell the story of this exceptional man.

Julian Schnabel Questions

1. After the mainstream success of your film The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, do you plan to make more films that will become popular outside of the artwork?

2.What made you decide to use plates to make your early images?

Final Contest Submission

I submitted to the Center for Fine Art Photography show: Dreams

Display

I now need to focus on how to hang my work for the show so i can figure out how many prints I want to make and if I need to create any more images. I've been looking at ways that I can hang my work and have many options. I could hang my pieces side by side with a few inches apart which will give my work a nice clean standard look. However, if I want to show more work I could display my work at different heights so there is more of a collage effect. This could give more of a narrative feel, but make the flow of the work less temporal.

Quotes:
"The eye gravitates more naturally towards framed pictures and representational pieces"


"If you're hanging multiple pictures together on one wall, pick one to go in the center. Kamps gives the bull's-eye location to the most important piece, regardless of its size. You can pick your favorite. Then he radiates the rest of the works out from that focal point, always separating two same-sized pieces with a smaller one."


Source:

Wagenberg, Melissa. "How to Hang a Picture Frame: Skill Set - Popular Mechanics." Automotive Care, Home Improvement, Tools, DIY Tips - Popular Mechanics. Web. 11 Apr. 2011. <http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/skills/4215826>.

This article gave some great pointers on what I should do when hanging artwork. The article got advice from a curator who has hung hundreds of pieces so know a lot about hanging work. It also is making me start to think about not only arrangements but also how I will literally hang the work. The article noted different tools needed in order to easily hang the work. it suggested not using wire because the work can easily go off balance.

Confinement

My project deals with how although one is free, in truth they are confined by their burdens. The light at first seems like a way for the subject to be free yet it confines the subject because of a struggle for power. The article on the Stanford Prison experiment deals with the same idea of a power struggle. Those is power  use fear and violence to keep those they oppress down. In turn the oppressed become angry and turn violent in order to gain power.

Quotes:

"The prisoners began to suffer a wide array of humiliations and punishments at the hands of the guards, and many began to show signs of mental and emotional distress."-Experiment Resources

"On the second day of the experiment, the prisoners organized a mass revolt and riot, as a protest about the conditions. Guards worked extra hours and devised a strategy to break up and put down the riot, using fire-extinguishers."- Experiment Resources

Bibliography:

"Stanford Prison Experiment - Roles Define Your Behavior." The Scientific Method, Science, Research and Experiments. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. <http://www.experiment-resources.com/stanford-prison

experiment.html>.

This article described the reasoning behind the experiment as well as the methods for carrying out the experiment. The article described what the prisoners went through in detail and explained well why these deeds had been carried out. The experiment wanted to document a tear down of humanity through the use of a severe difference in power between guard and prisoner. It was amazing to read about how easily the guards abandoned their humanity and became extremely brutal. The experiment though cannot be seen as sufficient research data because it cannot be duplicated due to ethical reasons. 

Alicia Suarez

I find although my work is very vibrant in colors, I keep being drawn to artists who use black and white in their images. Somehow I seem to associate colorless images with a distortion of reality. I wonder then, if my use of color in my images is hindering my attempt to distort reality, or if it is helping it by staying in color. I feel I am pushing the light enough to make the images unrealistic, but I wonder if the colors are too close to those in reality. 

Biography:

Suarez was born in South African and recvieved her BFA in printmaking there. She later got her MFA in Spain. "Suarez was educated and has exhibited widely in Spain (where she received a number of prestigious awards) and since 2004, in New York, Berlin. Johannesburg, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Brooklyn and Strasbourg." - Ghostprint Gallery

Quotes: 

"...her origins are quite apparent in the exquisitely detailed portraits of people and animals she creates. " - Ghostprint Gallery

" Her work combines graphite with African and coffee-based pigments, producing an elegant amalgamation of delicacy and strength."- Ghostprint Gallery

Gallery

Since she is not an american artist I found it impossible to find a website, interview, or review of her work.

Michael Shunke Response

It was interesting to go to this lecture because I am so used to lectures in which the concept is usually much more important than the design or visual quality. For Shunke though, the overall look of his products is what he is going for, over concept. His work can be described as process focused, relaxing, and design. To him the process of making his pieces is central to the outcome of his work. He told his audience that "when I'm making goblets I'm thinking about something else". Through doing this he says that is relaxes him and makes him less concerned with how the piece will come out, which means that he makes less mistakes because he is less tense. I find this could be an interesting approach to making my artwork, because I tend to run into a form of writers block due to my intent focus on trying to create good work.

The quote that stood out to me most was when he said that "the function of art is to remind us that what we see every day is beautiful". Although many of his works are design oriented rather than conceptual, he still pulls inspiration from every day life. He says the key is to "find beauty in the mundane". I find these ideas are central to the direction that my work is going in.

His piece that I find myself is so drawn to is his goblets that he makes for himself and for sale. These simple objects have such an interesting design element to them, and they become much more than something that one simply drinks out of.

My questions for Shunke were answered. My first question dealt with weather or not his goblets were used for aesthetic purposes or for conventional methods. To him they are more for aesthetics due to how to designs and crafts them but since he sells them through his business, they must be used to practical use. My next question asked if he considered himself a fine artist or a product designer. Although he uses his design skills to make a living, he sees himself as a fine artist first and foremost.