Ryan Mcginness Response

Ryan's lecture was very different from most artist lectures I have gone to. Most artists talk about their work for a majority of the lecture and then do a short question and answer session. This lecture seemed extremely question based and dealt less with concept. His work could be described as complicated, laid back, and design oriented because it seems heavily influenced by his early years immersed in the skater culture of VA Beach.

I found his work at the VMFA was the most interesting because it became a graphic design type piece that was directly influenced from art history. I found it extremely interesting that he successfully mixed work that had more commercial nature with a concept rooted in the fine arts. His quote "Art History is not linear" was extremely compelling because I felt it applied so well to this work.

My questions were not answered but I feel that the second one about if he was influenced by graffiti was somewhat answered. He seems very interested in icons, and logos rather than graffiti. The idea of identifiable icons is much more obvious in his work rather than graffiti.

Environment

Environment has become extremely important in my work because it is supposed to be this unrealistic event taking place in a mundane space. The spacing of objects and furniture in a room has become very interesting to me because the environment has become so important to my images. Feng Shui is all about how to arrange your room in order to have perfect harmony. I am interested in doing the opposite of this in my images. I do not want harmony, I want imbalance. 

Quotes:

"Feng shui manages five main elements which we should always have in mind when harmonizing our environment: water, wood, fire, earth and metal"


"Feng shui is an ancient and wise approach to the way our environment affects us. "


Feng Shui Tips & Tricks. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. <http://www.fengshuicrazy.com/>.
This article explained what Feng Shui is and how it can affect our day to day lives. It was very easy to read and understand. It also the map of Feng Shui which is a way for us to figure out where we need to place the furniture in our rooms. The article explained that this is based on the natural elements of water, wood, fire, earth, and metal.

Ryan Mcguiness Questions

1. Would you say that working as an intern right after college at the Andy Warhol museum influenced your work?

2. Does your work have a heavy influence from graffiti?

Jack Spencer

I find Spencer's work finds a way to set his ordinary subjects within nature and create fantastical images out of them. His use of soft focus is what makes his images so compelling. The way that he captures movement and pieces of a scene makes his images a mystery. My images are quite the opposite of these. They are in color and in sharp focus but i wonder if this style would work within my series.

Biography:
"Somewhere along the back roads of small towns dotting the Louisiana and Mississippi landscape is Jack Spencer, a self-taught photographer, searching for beauty. Driving through forgotten towns, lush bayous, overgrown cotton fields and visiting weathered porches filled with the sound of authentic country blues, Spencer watches and listens, always looking for that one moment, interaction or ray of light that inspires him to take a picture. His photographs illuminate a singular mood, person or place, exposing us to the raw beauty etched into the faces and landscapes in the South, as he returns time and again to his subjects, peeling away layers, offering us a glimpse at another facet of their character."- Catherine Edelman Gallery


Quotes:
" Throughout his travels, Spencer looks for the unexpected, waiting patiently for images to emerge." - Catherine Edelman Gallery


" It is here, among the ceremonies, festivals and sun drenched streets that Spencer has created his newest works, photographing everyday heroics prevalent in ordinary life" - Catherine Edelman Gallery


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Lauren Nakadate Reponse

I found the lecture to be extremely inspiring because her work deals so much with connected in with those outside of the art world by making them a part of her work. I would feel uncomfortable doing the kind of work she does because I do not like approaching strangers or going over to strange men's houses. Nevertheless I am impressed that she cares about her work so much that she was willing to do this.

I would describe her work as documentation, connecting, and gutsy. Her work is a constant documentation of connections that strangers share with her. Even her early series in college is a documentation of this by photographing these women she doesn't know as they party and live lives that are opposite of what the stereotype is. Many times she uses men that the average women would not want to go into an apartment with, let alone get in their underwear with. She says that being a stranger and going up to someone and asking them to have this experience with her was "heartbreaking and funny". She said that many these men in her early work did not have a female presence in their life so her connections with them was important.

Her most compelling work to me was the OPPS! video in which she danced with strangers that she approached in parking lots. The reaction that they men had were funny but also compelling because it was obvious they were enjoying the company. Watching the connection they shared through dancing to a pop song was extremely intriguing.

My question about if she tries to have a narrative in her still work since she also working in video was answered. Her work does not really have a narrative in her photographs, instead they are a documentation of reality or like with her pin up pictures, they are a statement and also about connections due to the finger prints. My other question had dealt with if her work had any feminists undertones since she was in her underwear for most of the pictures. For the most part she is in her underwear for reasons other than a feminist attitude. She seems to see nakedness as another connection between two people.

Anderson Gallery Submissions

Discovery

Discovering an idea or an object can be very exciting to its keeper. It makes this person feel special. But these discoveries can sometimes have a detrimental effect. With looking at what's going on in the news lately, one beings to wish no one had ever discovered how create nuclear power or weapons. Something that is seen as so important has such a terrible effect. The object in my series eventually has this effect. Although the subject loves this object and wants to spend time with it, in the end it has a detrimental effect.

Quotes:

"TEPCO is now battling to avert a catastrophic meltdown at three of the six reactors at the Fukushima facility­, with a second hydrogen explosion early Monday morning signaling the difficulty of that effort."

 "At the Fukushima plant, a suspected hydrogen explosion early Monday blew the roof off the building housing the Number 3 reactor. A similar blast damaged the outer building of the Number 1 unit on Saturday. And at the Number 2 reactor, officials have indicated a complete failure of the cooling system caused the water level to fall, leaving the fuel rods fully exposed. The situation means that the rods will heat up, and increases the risk of an uncontrolled meltdown."

Chernobyl aftermath today

 "Japan Battles to Avert Nuclear Power Plant Disaster." Daily Nature and Science News and Headlines | National Geographic News. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/03/110314-japan-nuclear-power-plant-disaster/>.

This is a very interesting article explaining why the nuclear reactors were damaged and why it is so hard to cool them down. The article explains that the site was not built to withstand an earthquake as large as the one Japan experienced. Most of the damage though was done by the tsunami. All residents in a 12 mile radius are being evacuated due to radiation leaking out.

Laurel Nakadate Questions

1. How would you say your films affect your still image works? Do you try to have a narrative in each photograph?

2. Your photographs deal with very sexualized women, and many of you videos seem to revolve around women unconcious on the floor surrounded by men. Are these two themes connected in some way or are they simply two different concepts?

Alyssa Salomon

I love the way the technique Salomon uses works well with her subjects. She turns her work into something small and delicate. Her work has a very illustrated feel to it due to the contrast and painterly feel that her techniques use. Like my work, most of her environment are in nature but are more of a documentation of it, it is more of an interaction.

Bio: 

Salomon was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Kenyon College for her BA. She has been in many solo and group shows in the Richmond area and also has work that is part of the permanent collection for Capital One. She also received a VMFA fellowship in 2000.

Quotes:

"Alyssa C. Salomon is a photographer and sculptor who explores the use of photographs as objects through which we narrate our everyday lives."-Newdags (review link)

" She came to daguerreotype making in 2000 in her quest for the ultimate photographic object. Daguerreotypes are physical: you hold the weighty thing in your hand. Daguerreotypes are precious: made with pure silver, sheets of copper, and gold chemistry. " -NewDags

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Whirlpools

I realize that this has nothing really to do with my series but after seeing the video about the whirlpool that has developed off the coast of Japan, I have become extremely interested in the idea of whirlpools. They are always something that you hear of in medieval and fantasy stories or in movies about pirates. The idea of an actual whirlpool has a fictional feel to it, so it becomes terrifying yet fascinating when one hears about them occurring in real life. I feel therefore this connects with my idea of taking things that actually exist in the world but making them become part of the subject imagination.

Quotes:

"It is merely a matter of size. If the maelstrom is large enough and the boat or other object is small enough, the object will be drawn down through the vortex along with the water. It is understandable then, that fables exist about large ships being sucked down and eaten up by giant whirlpools, but actual documented cases that we would consider trustworthy do not exist"

 "But most people are more familiar with smaller less dangerous whirlpools that occur in streams or at the bottom of waterfalls. To be sure, these whirlpools can cause lots of problems for watercraft, and they can pull people down and not let them up. So they are dangerous, but not to the scale of a maelstrom whirlpool that can swallow a boat."

"Spiral Wishing Wells." Spiral Wishing Well Coin Funnel. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.spiralwishingwells.com/guide/whirlpools.html>.

This article was extremely informative and easy to read about the actual facts of whirlpools. It admits that there are whirlpools that can suck down a boat, but that these are rare. The average whirlpool can suck down small objects like people and rowing boats, but now ships. It also explained how whirlpool form, and why a vacuum occurs.

Keith Carter

I love the distorted realities that Carter creates with his work. His images have a surreal effect despite the fact that they take place in ordinary settings and of ordinary subject. The way he uses shadow, blurring, and vignetting creates a new world. I find this is an interesting approach to distorting reality in comparison with how my series' interpretation.


Biography from website:
"Keith Carter is an internationally recognized photographer and educator. Born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1948,he holds the endowed Walles Chair of Art at Lamar University Beaumont, Texas. He is the recipient of the Lange-Taylor Prize from The Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and The Texas Medal of Arts. In addition Keith Carter has been the subject of an arts profile on CBS Sunday Morning, and Anthropy Arts produced a documentary DVD of his work. He is the Lamar University Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, as well as being named the 2010 TSUS Regents Professor."


Quotes:


"I don’t think science is necessarily incompatible with mystical or spiritual sensibilities.  I often weigh them equally in my thinking, which sometimes finds itself into the work" - Keith Carter


"I like to work in the real world, so I do a lot of searching or just simple looking.  But I’m not above tweaking reality and making something up. I don’t think there are any rules in art. It’s not so much what you see as it is the significance you, the artist, see in it." - Keith Carter

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Interview

Precious

Precious possessions is a running theme in my series. It is represented as a material object but in concept it is actually an idea, a want, sometime that cannot be touched. It is interesting to see thought how the value of a material precious possession changes constantly. Owning sometime considered "precious" has become a business transaction, a way for people to make money. I find this affects to the way that my subject views their "precious" object.


"Gold had gained 2% from Friday through Wednesday's record settlement of $1,437.70 as tumult in the Middle East and North Africa boosted the metal as a so-called safe-haven investment. A surge in oil prices on the news also helped lift gold as an inflation hedge."-WSJ.com


"the dip in gold prices may provide opportunities for bargain hunters, said Haberkorn, who expects prices will resume their uptrend."- WSJ.com

"PRECIOUS METALS: Gold Pulls Back From Record As Haven Need Wanes - WSJ.com." Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com. Web. 03 Mar. 2011. <http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110303-709905.html>. This was a very informative article about how the value of gold has gone down somewhat. Due to the economy and current affairs, the cost has gone down which means that this is the perfect time to buy gold. I found the article was very easy to read as someone who does not know much about the gold business or economics.

Kathy Rose response

I was not a huge fan of the lecture today for Kathy Rose. I found it odd that she barley spoke about her work during the lecture, and did not mention concept or much about inspiration. her work has definatley evolved with the changing technology due to her early work dealing with hand drawn animation and her later work being extremely digital. I feel overall I would describe her work as vibrant, moving, and intentional. Due to the performance aspect being such an important part of her animations, she must make sure that everything is planned out. Like I had wondered before the lecture, she does plan out each part of the performance, but whether the movement or the animation comes first, all depends on the project, and changes constantly.

Her earlier work I found the most interesting due to the mixture of animation and dance, and the polished look due to the cohesiveness of the two. I did not know that she had dance experience which obviously inspired her work in the 80's. I feel the fact that she merged two art forms into one performance made her work very interesting. I find this body of work to be the most compelling because everything has to be planned out, yet the performance looks like an improvisation, due to her movements.

Rose's most recent work I was not as impressed with as her early work. I found it seemed too digital and the overall effect did not have the finessing that her earlier work did. The videos were awkward and became boring to watch. I also did not like many of the special effects because they did not seem to work well and the technical downfalls overshadowed the overall work. I wonder why she has not considered going back to less computerized approaches since those worked much better with her vision.