1) Initially, I expected to learn about art origins, and how to appreciate art more...these goals were met and exceeded.
2) I thought art was just looking at paintings, now i realize art can take many forms, for ancient sculptures to modern abstract painting, to something as strange as drip-art . Art appreciation is in the eye of the beholder, based on individual value judgements.
3) I did not have a favorite artist before this class, never really though about it. Now, my favorites are the classics. The effort and beauty of Michalangelo's work, and the Greece and Roman sculptors, are still unmatched in my opinion.
4) This on-line class was much harder then i expected. A lot of work, but I also learned a lot that I did not think I would.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Week 15 Self-Portrait Blog
Went to the A-Knox museum to find some self portraits. The first picture is "Self-Portrait With A Monkey", by Frido Kahlo, from Mexico, 1938, Oil on Masonite. The second is "Monsieur X" by George Rouault, from France, 1911, oil on paper. The third picture, I thought I should include a famous Van Gogh self-portrait off the internet. The fourth picture is one taken of me at the dinner table. I selected my inspiration pieces at the A-K museum by finding and taking a pic of the famous monkey picture by Frido Kahlo. I selected simple pencil and paper to do my self-portrait, the biggest challenge is that I am not a good artist. Maybe I should have done abstract, but the way i overcame the challenge is to use my photograph as a guide. The elements I used were mostly lines and shapes, and shading. How are eyes and teeth made to look realistic? In the end, it was kind of fun doing this, and it came out OK.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Week 15 Criticism Reflection Journal
Written Reflection After Evaluating:
I enjoyed doing the critique. I looked carefully at each item in the exhibit, trying to find elements of art in each painting or sculpture. I wrote comments on about 2/3 of the paintings. I think the exhibit was excellent, with a few small changes that i mentionned. I am an easy grader, I give it an A !
Written Reflection Before Evaluating:
I took a look at 3 art projects to determine which one I wanted to download, then do the critical review of it.
The first one I opened is "Wildlife Encounters", by Willie Wimes. This is a pretty impressive powerpoint exhibit, all about animals. He used some nice background gray, I should have done that. The pictures all look good, with references, a nice job.
The second one I opened was "Gruppo Project #4". It was "Art in the Life of Trees". by Katie Gruppo. She looks to have followed instructions exactly, with references, and also Interpretation and Explanation. There is some old work, new work, abstract work. She does a real nice job with display and interpretation.
The third one is "Abate Project #4". , the title is "Youthful Innocence Caught In The Moment", by Abbey Abate. A very professional exhibit, with title, author, date, medium, style, and the interpretations included. Sweet dreams is appropriate as the final slide. A real nice job.
But I am going to select project of "Wildlife Encounters" to review. I like animals, and I liked looking at those pictures. I cannot get very excited about trees, or little kids blowing bubbles. So I will try to look close at the animal exhibit and apply what I have learned. I just made a value judgement to help decide and pick that exhibit. The challenges I face is that all the slides pretty much show the same thing...how do I make different views of each slide, or maybe I do not have to. I don't mind critique my peers work, I am am easy grader! I am not sure if I want to read anybody who reviewed my work, because I think they did a better job than me.
I enjoyed doing the critique. I looked carefully at each item in the exhibit, trying to find elements of art in each painting or sculpture. I wrote comments on about 2/3 of the paintings. I think the exhibit was excellent, with a few small changes that i mentionned. I am an easy grader, I give it an A !
Written Reflection Before Evaluating:
I took a look at 3 art projects to determine which one I wanted to download, then do the critical review of it.
The first one I opened is "Wildlife Encounters", by Willie Wimes. This is a pretty impressive powerpoint exhibit, all about animals. He used some nice background gray, I should have done that. The pictures all look good, with references, a nice job.
The second one I opened was "Gruppo Project #4". It was "Art in the Life of Trees". by Katie Gruppo. She looks to have followed instructions exactly, with references, and also Interpretation and Explanation. There is some old work, new work, abstract work. She does a real nice job with display and interpretation.
The third one is "Abate Project #4". , the title is "Youthful Innocence Caught In The Moment", by Abbey Abate. A very professional exhibit, with title, author, date, medium, style, and the interpretations included. Sweet dreams is appropriate as the final slide. A real nice job.
But I am going to select project of "Wildlife Encounters" to review. I like animals, and I liked looking at those pictures. I cannot get very excited about trees, or little kids blowing bubbles. So I will try to look close at the animal exhibit and apply what I have learned. I just made a value judgement to help decide and pick that exhibit. The challenges I face is that all the slides pretty much show the same thing...how do I make different views of each slide, or maybe I do not have to. I don't mind critique my peers work, I am am easy grader! I am not sure if I want to read anybody who reviewed my work, because I think they did a better job than me.
Week 15 Video Review Blog
Below are the reviews from 6 videos for week 15. I learned some things that can be used in my art criticism assignment. There is really an 'eye test' that must be passed to qualify art, that means personal value judgements can be used. I like that the way to be a critic is be properly trained, that is to write, write, and then write some more.
1. Greenberg on Art Criticism, and Interview With T J Clarke. Clement Greenberg says that "writing about visual art is much tougher than writing about literature or music". Greenberg thinks the best art in the last 50 years has been abstract art, ever since America's culture boom in the 1940's. Great past critics like Ruskin and Sylvester were not philosophical, but used value judgements, like using intuition. They discuss value judgements in modern criticism.
2. Greenberg on Pollack, an Interview with T J Clarke: Greenberg and Clark discussed Pollack 25-years after his death. Greenberg likes Pollack's practical approach, even though it was greakish, from the mid-40's on. Pollock claimed his technique of drip-art the the "end of easel painting", but it was not actually true. Pollack moved away from containment and orderliness. Greenberg says that some of Pollack's works indeed failed the "eye test", a value judgement. Pollack ultimately realized his work would not be accepted as true painting by the historical view.
3. An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance, by Giorgio Vasari: Giorgio Vasari wrote "Lives of the Artists" in the 16th centruy, probably the first actual art criticism. All the great masters developed techniques passed on to them from the work of previous artists. Vasari reveals the innovations of old artists Griotto, DaVinci, Michalangelo, and others. Vasari did a lot of interpretation of the works of the artists in his criticism.
4. The Critics: Stories From The Inside Pages: Dr. Dwight DeWerth-Pallmeyer took an in-depth look at art criticism as an art form, including social value, and their individual careers. He interviewed famous critics like Joel Siegel, Richard Schickel, Bill Friskies-Warren, Maureen Corrigan. Critics are supposed to get us to think, and to 'light the way', for books, movies, art exhibits. But effective art criticism takes logic, emotional support, and personal credibility. The key to training to becoming a good critic is the write, then to write, and then to write some more.... a good philosophy.
5. The Colonial Encounters, Views of Non-Western Art and Culture: The 1900 Paris Workd Fair was an example of how the Western world was prejudice against underdeveloped countries. They did not seriously include art from anywhere outside European culture. The African Dahome art was not taken seriously, and mostly French art was on display for the exhibit, even though it was a "world fair". Colonialism in Africa was portrayed as justifed with the images shown in the exhibit. Racism and colonialism was running wild in those days, for both black Africans, and also northern Africans, like the Algerians.
6. Jackson Pollack: Michael Fried and T J Clark in Conversation: Fried and Clark have argued in the past about art criticism. They discussed two of Pollack's works, and tried to find some common agreements. They reviewed "Lavendar Mist" and also "Autumn Rhythm". They both agree that Pollack is an important artist, but with a lot of negatives about him. They agree on his value for different reasons. They argue about action in art, value in art, and optical and tactical aspects. But they both are committed to a historical way of looking at art, but Pollack's work, unfortunately cannot qualify as historical art. There lies the problem with judging Jackson Pollack.
1. Greenberg on Art Criticism, and Interview With T J Clarke. Clement Greenberg says that "writing about visual art is much tougher than writing about literature or music". Greenberg thinks the best art in the last 50 years has been abstract art, ever since America's culture boom in the 1940's. Great past critics like Ruskin and Sylvester were not philosophical, but used value judgements, like using intuition. They discuss value judgements in modern criticism.
2. Greenberg on Pollack, an Interview with T J Clarke: Greenberg and Clark discussed Pollack 25-years after his death. Greenberg likes Pollack's practical approach, even though it was greakish, from the mid-40's on. Pollock claimed his technique of drip-art the the "end of easel painting", but it was not actually true. Pollack moved away from containment and orderliness. Greenberg says that some of Pollack's works indeed failed the "eye test", a value judgement. Pollack ultimately realized his work would not be accepted as true painting by the historical view.
3. An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance, by Giorgio Vasari: Giorgio Vasari wrote "Lives of the Artists" in the 16th centruy, probably the first actual art criticism. All the great masters developed techniques passed on to them from the work of previous artists. Vasari reveals the innovations of old artists Griotto, DaVinci, Michalangelo, and others. Vasari did a lot of interpretation of the works of the artists in his criticism.
4. The Critics: Stories From The Inside Pages: Dr. Dwight DeWerth-Pallmeyer took an in-depth look at art criticism as an art form, including social value, and their individual careers. He interviewed famous critics like Joel Siegel, Richard Schickel, Bill Friskies-Warren, Maureen Corrigan. Critics are supposed to get us to think, and to 'light the way', for books, movies, art exhibits. But effective art criticism takes logic, emotional support, and personal credibility. The key to training to becoming a good critic is the write, then to write, and then to write some more.... a good philosophy.
5. The Colonial Encounters, Views of Non-Western Art and Culture: The 1900 Paris Workd Fair was an example of how the Western world was prejudice against underdeveloped countries. They did not seriously include art from anywhere outside European culture. The African Dahome art was not taken seriously, and mostly French art was on display for the exhibit, even though it was a "world fair". Colonialism in Africa was portrayed as justifed with the images shown in the exhibit. Racism and colonialism was running wild in those days, for both black Africans, and also northern Africans, like the Algerians.
6. Jackson Pollack: Michael Fried and T J Clark in Conversation: Fried and Clark have argued in the past about art criticism. They discussed two of Pollack's works, and tried to find some common agreements. They reviewed "Lavendar Mist" and also "Autumn Rhythm". They both agree that Pollack is an important artist, but with a lot of negatives about him. They agree on his value for different reasons. They argue about action in art, value in art, and optical and tactical aspects. But they both are committed to a historical way of looking at art, but Pollack's work, unfortunately cannot qualify as historical art. There lies the problem with judging Jackson Pollack.
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