Chelsea Galleries Reaction

When choosing a work of art I would want to collect, I tried to look at it as an investment and something that I would enjoy.  I looked for a work of art that seemed to me like it could be timeless, something that was not too trendy that would retain value.  To do this I tried to figure out the historical identity and the cultural identity of the art and how those respective identities fit into the world moving forward in time.  I believe art that has a high level of historic and cultural value has a better chance of retaining value.  For the art that I would want to collect, I chose works from the exhibit by Charles Freger entitled "Wilder Mann".  This exhibit contains portraits of people dressed in fantastical and primal costume.  They dress up in these costumes for different festivals throughout parts of Europe.  These works of art have a very strong cultural and historical identity.  The have influences from pagan traditions and Christian traditions of the past.  I think these aspects will give Freger’s work more value moving forward into the future.  As the forces of globalization continue to generate a more singular, monotonous culture worldwide, art like this with its historical and culture value will become more valuable; especially if the festivals where these costumes are worn begin to dwindle in number and significance.  I also really like this art.  I love the monstrous, shamanic costumes.  They strike in me fear and curiosity.  

On the other hand, for art which I would not buy as a collector, I chose work from the British artist Richard Hughes.  To me, this art does not have as valuable a historical and cultural perspective.  The cultural perspective of this art is very modern.  The pieces of art are made up of industrial material such as concrete or plastic.  This art seems to almost be factory made.  The historical perspective is very much rooted in the present, which, in my mind, will not add to its value moving forward.  The industrial nature of our global culture is growing, so, while Richard Hughes' art may remain relevant moving forward, I do not see it growing in value as much as the work by Charles Freger.  Another reason that i would not by Hughes' art as a collector is that the work is large and heavy and would be difficult to store and would be expensive.  

LIB 110 Picasso Imitation Project

For my Picasso imitation, I tried to try to recreate one of his drawings.  This was because I enjoyed the drawings by him done in pencil, and because pencil and paper were what I had at my immediate disposal.  The drawings of his which I enjoyed generally had a central subject like a person or an animal.  I found a lot of his drawings to be simple yet still abstract.  In these drawings, Picasso utilized simple contour lines and limited hatching and shading.  Because of these features, the drawings generally appeared very flat.  My drawing also uses simple contour lines and limited hatching.  I noticed in some of Picasso’s drawings he would establish a focal point by using bolder lines, and hatching and shading in a condensed area and then using thinner lines on the periphery of this area.  I used this technique in my drawing.  The focal point is meant to be the eyes and nose.  That is where I used the boldest lines and where I employed hatching and cross hatching.  The other parts of the subject surrounding the focal point, like the neck and ear, are done with thinner lines.   

Some of Picasso’s drawings seemed to have a sense of incompleteness.  There would be lines that did not connect or anatomical features, such as an eye or nose, which were missing.  It almost seems as though a full and complete drawing of the subject was on the paper in invisible ink and Picasso merely sketched a rough outline over the invisible form which only he could see.  In my drawing, the man only has one ear and I decided to completely omit the mouth. 

Illustrate a Story

This story is one of nostalgia for a time when people were more genuinely connected than they are today.  Despite all our technology and social media, in some ways we are less connected than we were in the past.  The narrator of the story laments that lack of the human voice in our society today.  I tend to agree with him.  The human voice is a powerful thing and is truly the best way for us to communicate and make connections with each other.  In my illustration, the human voice is represented by the forms which issue forth from the mouths of the old man and the infant.  These forms combine together to represent the connection that the old man and the baby are making through the human voice. 

http://storycorps.org/listen/studs-terkel/

Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

For our second trip to the MoMA, we viewed works of art that had a function other than just being a work of art.  These works of art could serve to entertain the viewer through interaction or serve to display valuable data.  Some of the works of art had higher functionality than others.  

The first design I chose to represent a work of art with high functionality was a architectural drawing by Henri Labrouste titled "Hypothetical restoration project of an ancient city (thought to be Agrigento)".  The drawing depicts a walled city with massive ramparts and multiple turrets.  A city like this is typical of the time period.  In the ancient world, war was very common between rulers so the ruling class often built castles and large fortifications to protect the land to which they lay claim and to deter their enemies from invading.  Large walls like the ones portrayed in Labrouste's drawing served to protect the Ruler's city and subjects and to display the power of the Ruler.  A city like this is not common in our time.  Enclosing walls would prevent a city from expanding and make travel in and out of a city much more inconvenient.  This is because we are fortunate enough to live in a time where we do not have to worry about being invaded by neighboring countries like the people of ancient times did.  Their need for protection is why a city with high walls would be very functional.  

For my second design of high functionality I chose a piece by Massoud Hassani.  The work of art is titled "Mine Kafon Wind-Powered Deminer".  The function of this design is to detonate land mines safely and efficiently so that the mines are not detonated accidentally by an innocent passerby.  Land mines kill numerous innocents every year.  There are other ways to clear land mines but what gives Hassani's design a very high functionality is how efficient it is.  Other mine clearing methods are often very expensive or time consuming.  Hassani's design is powered by the wind and is low-cost.  The wind pushes it across mine fields and once it has detonated a mine it can be reassembled for further use.  The design is extremely efficient and serves the important function of saving the lives of innocent people.  

To illustrate low functionality in design, I chose a piece of art by Didier Faustino entitled "Stairway to Heaven".  This work of art is a stand-alone, three story, concrete staircase that appears to be ripped out of an apartment building. At the top of the staircase is a caged basketball court for one.  This is a design of low functionality because the basketball court does not need to be there.  The artist is trying to say something about solitary play with the placement of the court but in terms of acting as a fully functional basketball court it comes up very short.  If one is looking for a good place to play a pick-up game, a normal, ground level basketball court would be much better.

The second design of low functionality I chose is titled "Babel Blocks" and is by Constantin Boym and Laurene Leon Boym.  The work of art is several figurines of people.  Each person represents a different culture or religious denomination and they appear very different visually, however all the figurines are the same size and shape.  The similarity in size and shape is meant to represent the a message of understanding and tolerance.  That is the function of this work of art; to represent an idea.  It does a good gob of doing this but the reason I designated this work of art as something of low functionality is because the function of delivering a belief or idea is not as practical as other functions.  Hassani's work of art detonates land mines and that seems to me to be of a higher functionality than just provoking a thought.

All of these works of art have a function that is useful.  What separates the designs of high functionality from the designs of low functionality is the real life application of their functions.  The designs I chose to represent high functionality are able to complete a real life task, whether it be preventing unnecessary deaths from land mines or keeping out hostile invaders.  The others designs I chose are more used to serve the function of representing an idea.  They do a good job of this but compared to the designs of high functionality, they seem  more to be merely works of art rather than highly functional designs.  

Henri Labrouste

"Hypothetical restoration project of an ancient city (thought to be Agrigento)"

Pen, graphite, and watercolor on paper

1826-31

Massoud Hassani

"Mind Kafon Wind-Powered Deminer"

Bamboo and biodegradable plastics

2011

Didier Faustino

"Stairway to Heaven"

Photograph

Model: extruded PVC, plaster, and paint

2002

Constantin Boym and Laurene Leon Boym

"Babel Blocks"

Wood

2007-12

Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

In all art the artist strives to make a connection with the viewer by communicating an idea, an emotion, or an experience through their work of Art.  What an artist is trying to communicate to the viewer can generally be identified into three categories; individual identity, cultural identity, and historical identity.  I chose three works of art from the MoMA that each represent one of these identities.

The work of art I chose to represent the identity of an individual was a piece by the renowned Frida Kahlo.  It is a self-portrait of Frida with one of her pet monkeys.  Frida paints a very personal and honest depiction of herself.  She includes her uni-brow and the relatively unattractive facial hair on her upper lip, which, although not making her appear beautiful,  shows that she is being completely honest with herself and the viewer.  This in turn reveals more about Frida Kahlo's individual self than an embellished or altered self-portrait would.  From the description on the wall I found out that she and her husband, Diego Rivera, adopted monkeys to make up for the fact that they were unable to conceive children.  This adds even more of an individual identity to the piece.  Although I'm sure Frida cared very much about her primate pets, the impossibility of becoming a parent must have been extremely sad for Frida and the viewer can see this through the painting.  This is a work of art that must speak to many people on a very personal level.

I chose a work of art by Rosemarie Trockel to represent cultural identity.  It is a work of art made of wool with the words WEST GERMANY stitched repetitively across the whole piece.  The plaque next to the piece claims that this stitching is, "An allusion to the artist's background and to the commodification of artists and art in a capitalist society".  Trockel wants to say something with this piece about living in a capitalist culture.  It is especially interesting when one regards the situation in central Europe at this time in history.  Germany was split into the capitalist state West Germany and the communist state East Germany.  It is one of the most significant examples in history of where the two radically different ideologies of Capitalism and Communism came into conflict with each other.  Rosemarie Trockel also seeks to express her feelings of the female's place in a male-dominated culture.  The plaque on the wall describes how she expresses this.  It states, "By using traditionally feminine resources and techniques, she calls into question an assumed hierarchy of materials, which places painting at the top and craft at the bottom".  It can be said that this work of art actual contains cultural identity and historical identity.

To represent the historical identity, i chose a painting by Frantisek Kupka.  This work of art has a historical identity to it because it is one of the first fully abstract paintings in modern art.  It is more concerned with Art History than with world history.  This painting must of been very unique at the time it was painted and I am sure it has influence many artists throughout the years.  What i found interesting about this painting was the flatness of it.  at first i couldn't tell which of the different shades of blue were the foreground and which ones were the background but then I realized that this painting was not meant to have a foreground or a background.

Learning about the different types of identity in art has been very interesting for me.  It has helped me to see art in a new light and to organize my ideas about a particular work of art.  I feel that i can now now see deeper into a work of art and understand what the artist is trying to communicate to the viewer that much easier.