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?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
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.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
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.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
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
Since she is not an american artist I found it impossible to find a website, interview, or review of her work.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
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.
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.
Trevor Paglen Response
I thought that the lecture was extremely interesting because of how he presented the thought process behind his work. He is extremely dedicated to his research and instead of creating projects about his research he creates projects using his research. I would describe his work as daring, complicated, and symbolic. First off his work is daring because it is based on exposing parts of the US government that are secretive, and also reveals operations that are going on that our country likes to think doesn't happen, such as with the kidnapping planes by the CIA. His work is complicated because he has to go through pages and pages of research in order to find one little clue and then use that clue to look through more pages of research to find another clue. I found his connections with the suspected front airline business' travel and the story of the man who claims he was kidnaped and taken aboard that plane. His work is symbolic because he presents this evidence that he finds, whether it is in text format or pictorial, and presents it to an audience, but leaves it up to his viewers to draw conclusions from it.
I found the work I was most interested in dealt with the story of the man who was kidnaped on his way to Macedonia, taken aboard a CIA plane and then brought to a prison in Afghanistan where he was kept for five months and tortured, until his captors realized they had the wrong man. This kind of story many people would have trouble believing, but through Trevor's research he was able to dig up that this story could be very truthful. The second work I found myself drawn to was his work in which he takes pictures of hidden government sites from 20, 40, or even 60 miles away. Though his photographs become difficult to make out at this distance, the images still have a startling symbolism.
I found that most interesting quote of the lecture was not something that he said, but something that was written on the back of a t-shirt in a picture in his slide. It said: "Democracy is not a spectator sport". I felt this quote explained everything that his work deals with. Instead of making work that abstractly has to do with the government, he creates work from his findings, and is much more straightforward about his concept.
Both of my questions were answered during the lecture, the first about whether or not he has gotten in trouble with the government for what his work is about. He said that this is a unique country in the fact that he was not immediately imprisoned for what he does. All the research he used was from public record and he is not making any assumptions about his research, he is just presenting what he finds and coincidences he comes across. My second question dealt with if he would consider himself more of a photojournalist than a fine art photographer. Above all else I think he considers himself a researcher who uses the art work to communicate his findings.
I found the work I was most interested in dealt with the story of the man who was kidnaped on his way to Macedonia, taken aboard a CIA plane and then brought to a prison in Afghanistan where he was kept for five months and tortured, until his captors realized they had the wrong man. This kind of story many people would have trouble believing, but through Trevor's research he was able to dig up that this story could be very truthful. The second work I found myself drawn to was his work in which he takes pictures of hidden government sites from 20, 40, or even 60 miles away. Though his photographs become difficult to make out at this distance, the images still have a startling symbolism.
I found that most interesting quote of the lecture was not something that he said, but something that was written on the back of a t-shirt in a picture in his slide. It said: "Democracy is not a spectator sport". I felt this quote explained everything that his work deals with. Instead of making work that abstractly has to do with the government, he creates work from his findings, and is much more straightforward about his concept.
Both of my questions were answered during the lecture, the first about whether or not he has gotten in trouble with the government for what his work is about. He said that this is a unique country in the fact that he was not immediately imprisoned for what he does. All the research he used was from public record and he is not making any assumptions about his research, he is just presenting what he finds and coincidences he comes across. My second question dealt with if he would consider himself more of a photojournalist than a fine art photographer. Above all else I think he considers himself a researcher who uses the art work to communicate his findings.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Michael Schunke Questions
1. Are you interested in having your glass blown pieces be used solely for aesthetics or also for practical use such as consumers using the goblets to drink out of?
2. Would you consider yourself more of a fine artist or a product maker?
2. Would you consider yourself more of a fine artist or a product maker?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Trevor Paglen questions
1. Have you been confronted by any government official for your work since it is of sites the general public is not supposed to see?
2. Would you consider yourself more of a photojournalist or a fine artist?
2. Would you consider yourself more of a photojournalist or a fine artist?
Lauren Simonutti
I find Simonutti's work to be extremely interesting due to the strange nature of her images. They are truly thought up in moments of insanity. They take place in mundane places yet the images are not taken of realistic life. She successfully makes the mundane interesting and even scary. I want my work to have this same effect. This idea of taking everyday places like the kitchen and my bedroom, and turning it into part of a fantasy novel.
Biography:
"Imagine being diagnosed with “rapidly cycling mixed state bipolar with schizoaffective disorder” (hearing alien voices in your head ), being a photographer, being on meds that allow you some clarity, isolating yourself in your digs, and recording your responses to your condition in straight toned scenario shots; and you will grasp Lauren Simonutti’s amazing project of projecting subjective images of mental disease into small-format silver gelatin contact prints," (Newcityart.com).
Quotes:
"The problem with madness is that you can feel it coming but when you tell people you think you are going crazy they do not believe you." - Lauren Simonutti
"I am aware enough to know the things I see and hear are not real, but that does not mean I do not still see and hear them. " - Lauren Simonutti
Website
Gallery
Review
Biography:
"Imagine being diagnosed with “rapidly cycling mixed state bipolar with schizoaffective disorder” (hearing alien voices in your head ), being a photographer, being on meds that allow you some clarity, isolating yourself in your digs, and recording your responses to your condition in straight toned scenario shots; and you will grasp Lauren Simonutti’s amazing project of projecting subjective images of mental disease into small-format silver gelatin contact prints," (Newcityart.com).
Quotes:
"The problem with madness is that you can feel it coming but when you tell people you think you are going crazy they do not believe you." - Lauren Simonutti
"I am aware enough to know the things I see and hear are not real, but that does not mean I do not still see and hear them. " - Lauren Simonutti
Website
Gallery
Review
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