Module 6 - Video Reviews

1.    For each video discuss the key concepts you learned?

          In the video Through the Eyes of the Sculptor I learned that many sculptors because carvers before they because sculptors because of there love for stone. It is very important for an artist to know who they really are, so most artists leave there home countries so they can find out what there culture is truly about. A sculptor must use there use of feelings to carve meaning into the shapes.

In the video Glass and Ceramics teaches the process to blowing glass and the materials used to make this glass come out so perfect. The video also talks about how stained glass windows have very strong stories or meaning to tell in each window. It also talks about the process of ceramics and how each step is built off of raw materials

2.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

          The videos relate to the text because they are going in depth with the process of sculptures and how they are formed and there purpose. The artists in the videos take the time to show the audience exactly how things are made and how important each part to the process is. The second video teaches the process of glass sculptures which is part of the fine arts that we learning about in our text for the assignment chapters.

3.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understand of the topics: sculpture, installation, and craft?

            In my opinion Through the Eyes of the Sculptor was a very good video to grasp my understanding of sculptures and the process that sculptors go through when building or carving there stones. I learned that all sculptures have meanings even if they are the sculptures that are located on the sides of buildings. The second video Glass and Ceramics teaches the installation process for stained glass windows and how the led technique is important to making the windows. All of these different forms of glass are fine arts that have very delicate looks to them.

Module 5 - Art Gallery

Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

Julio Le Parc, Serie 14 No. 2, 1970. Acrylic on canvas made a huge impression on me as soon as I walked into the gallery because of the use of colors. I have only been into an art gallery one other time prior to this assignment and everything in the gallery that we looked at seemed so dark and I was afraid to talk loudly. This piece of work jumped out at me as soon as I walked up to it because of the elaborate colors used within every ring of the circle. It made me realize that art galleries do not have to have a quit atmosphere and sometimes it makes viewers come alive instantly. 

Julio Le Parc, Serie 14 No. 2, 1970.

Lee Bontecou, United, 1960. Welded steel, canvas, and wire made an impression on me because of the different materials used in the artwork. I do not have much education on art so when I think about pieces of art that are hanging on the wall in a square or rectangular shape id assume they would lie flat of the wall. This piece of work is the exact opposite of that and it really intrigued my interest as to how the artist decided to make this work of are two dimensional. The materials used in this artwork gave me a feeling of construction of factory materials and the fact that it is raised off the wall makes it seem like a sturdy piece of art.    

Lee Bontecou, United, 1960.

Which artwork do I feel like I connect with? Why? 

Giacomo Bella. Dinamismo di un Can al Guinzaglo. 1912. Oil on canvas is a piece of art that I believe I can connect with for two completely different reasons. The first being my best friend had a wiener dog growing up that she was absolutely in love with and he died last year. I helped her cope with the death of her dog while she was devastated. Whenever I see a wiener dog I instantly think about my friend and how much she adored that dog. The second reason I can relate to this work of art relates to how fast the dogs legs are moving. The last couple of years I feel like my life has been going by so quickly and that's what I think about then looking at this piece. 

Giacomo Bella. Dinamismo di un Can al Guinzaglo. 1912.

John Pfahl. Viewfrom the Bone Marrow Transplang Unit (#4) 1993-2003. Chromogenic color prints, edition 1/6 is a piece of art that I can connect with because last year my sister passed away and that feeling of loneliness comes back when looking at this piece. I remember being in the hospital knowing there was nothing else my family could do and how everything just seemed so fuzzy like it wasn't real and I was going to wake up from a bad dream.

John Pfahl. Viewfrom the Bone Marrow Transplang Unit (#4) 1993-2003.

Which artwork would I like to know more about? Why? 

Yves Tanguy. Divisibillie Indefinite (indefinite Divisibility).  1942. Oil on canvas is a piece of art that I would like to know more about because of the vibrant colors that are used. I do not understand what the artist is trying to tell the audience but I think that the use of bright colors has to stand for something and I would like to know there meaning towards the piece. Thismechanical objects in this piece also make me wonder what the significance is and why all of the objects are stacked on top of each other. 

Yves Tanguy. Divisibillie Indefinite (indefinite Divisibility).  1942.

Roberto Matta. Card Players, ca. 1957. Oil on canvas is a piece of art that I would like to know more about solely because of the title representing this piece. Card Players is an interesting title that I would like to know why the artists picked and how it is incorporated in the work of art. I would like to know if the artist had a personal connection to this piece that has a story or if it was just designed. The piece of art has these white boxes on it that may or may not represent playing cards but they do not have anything drawn on them. I wonder if the artist wants the audience to try and interpret what those boxes mean. Also, those mechanical objects in the painting really confuse me and I would like to know how they are incorporated into the meaning of the piece. 

Roberto Matta. Card Players, ca. 1957

Module 5 - Logo

1.    When creating my logo I thought about what is really important to me and what I represent. My heritage is one of the main things that describes who I am and where my family comes from. Being Irish is something that my family is very passionate about and likes to be acknowledged. Growing up my family all lived in Buffalo and we would always have huge family parties on St. Patrick's Day at one of the family members houses. Some of those parties are the greatest memories that I have with my family and I hope that once I start my own family I can keep the tradition going.

2.    For the process on creating my logo I knew I wanted it to represent something Irish so I thought about familiar things that I knew something about. The two most important Irish symbols that I could thing of would be the the Claddagh, and the Celtic knot. The Claddagh represents love, loyalty, and friendship. The hands on the ring represent friendship; the heart represents love; and the crown represents loyalty. The Celtic knot is a symbol the eludes to beginnings and endings.When looking at a Celtic knot you cannot see a beginning or and ending, and therefore we are reminded of the timeless nature of our spirits. I decided to incorporate both of these Irish symbols because they both have such strong messages in regards to myself and my family. Not only is my families heritage represented in my logo but it also shows such strong meanings to what my family means to me.

3.    The most important discovery that I made in my logo would have to be the per proportion of the image. It was extremely difficult for me to make sure that all sides of my loge were proportioned evenly so when someone looks at my logo it does not look off balance. I also realized that it was very important for me to use green colors when finishing my logo to represent the Irish heritage. The words that I put inside of the Celtic knot were difficult to proportion evenly because some of the words are longer than others and it was hard to make them fit in the empty holes evenly.

4.    In the video, Bottled Up: Repacking the Brand I learning that it is extremely difficult to design a logo based on the surface area you are given to work with. In the video they were switching the logo onto a smaller bottle and they had to form the new logo perfectly to fit on this bottle. I did not realize that the amount of surface area given depends on if a logo will work or not. I learned about primitive symbols and how they can be put to good use when designing such as spiral, circle, dots, and cross. I learned that character or glyphs with an agreed meaning. I used this in my symbol with my Celtic knot and the words love, loyalty, and friendship. Using the idea of emblem to symbolize group membership, clubs and societies and different organizations. I used the combination of word and figurative image in my logo to represent all aspects that I wanted noticed.

Sketch #1

Sketch #2

Sketch #3

 

Final Logo

Module 4

1.    I thought making the value scale was a little difficult because the inside boxes 4-7 are hard to make different shades. I wanted to make sure that each box represented a different shade on the scale but it was hard for me to press down on the pencil harder or lift up to make it lighter. The color wheel was much easier for me to create compared to the value scale. I just needed to make sure I proportioned the paint amounts out for each color before mixing them.

2.    I enjoyed watching the YouTube video and watching the person creating the color wheel because it showed me exactly how to do it so that I was doing it correctly. I did not have to worry that one color wasn't going to turn out right because I just followed what the video did.

3.    The most important discovery in making the value scale was making sure I had a gentle hand with the pencil. I did not want to press down too hard on the paper for a box because then I would have ruined my scale. It was important to always start lighter and then gradually get darker if needed. For the color wheel the most important discovery was making sure I portioned my paint out when mixing the colors. If I did not have the same amount of paint for each color the secondary color would not have turned out correctly.

4.    From the video I learned that blue and red are too dark to be primary colors, light colors like magenta are missing from the color wheel. The combined color of brown helps demonstrate this imbalance. The "real" primaries are: cyan, magenta, and yellow.

Elements and Principles of Design

Line is the most basic building block of formal analysis. Line can be used to create more

complex shapes or to lead your eye from one area in the composition to another.

For this photo I used the black line on the bottom of the pool because this dark line

leads the viewers eye to the design or focus on the bottom of the pool. The rest of the

space on the bottom of the pool is blue, so this line focuses the viewers eye right on it.

Value is the degree of light and dark in a design. It is the contrast between black and

white and all the tones in between. Value can be used with color as well as black and

white. For this photo I used towels hanging on the wall to show the degree of light

and dark within the picture. The towels are all different elaborate colors so the tones

between each towel color really stand out.

Shapes are created when lines are combined to form a square, triangle, or circle. For

this photo I used the a square tiling pattern that was found on a high wall in a pool.

These squares show the definite shape and help the wall come to life a little.

Forms are three-dimensional shapes with length, width, and depth. Balls, cylinders,

boxes and pyramids are forms. For this photo I used a traffic cone that is placed on the

end of diving blocks in the pool. This traffic cone photo shows the shade around the

cone to show the viewer that it actually is a three-dimensional shape. The whole at the

top of the cone also allows the viewer to see its dimensions.

Space is the area between and around objects. Increasing or decreasing the amount

of space around an object affects the way we view that object. For this photo I took a

picture of a cart full of water weights. The little to no space I between each water weight

shows you how full the cart is.

Color differentiates and defines lines, shapes, forms, and space. Even black and

white images have a huge number of different shades of gray. For this photo I used

backstroke flags that are hanging in the pool. The majority of the empty space around

the flags is blue and green. The bright coloring of the blue, yellow, and red flag show the

exact line the make the flag have triangle shapes.

Texture is the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or

smooth, soft or hard. Textures are often implied. For instance, a drawing of a rock might

appear to have a rough and hard surface, but in reality is as smooth as the paper on

which it is drawn.For this photo I used the tile flooring on a pool deck which showed the

raised edges from each side on the tile.

Balance is created in a work of art when textures, colors, forms, or shapes are

combined harmoniously. For this photo I took a high angle shot to balance the

difference between the water, the edge of the pool, and the pool deck. It is clear in this

photo that the water and the tiling on the pool deck have two complete different textures

and color.

Contrast is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to

guide the viewer's eye through the artwork. For this photo I used stability pillars on the

pool deck. Each pillar is painted a different color so although there are many on the

same object in the picture the colors allow the viewers eye to travel looking at the entire

picture as a whole.

Movement is the way a viewer's eye is directed to move through a composition, often

to areas of emphasis. Movement can be directed by lines, contrasting shapes, or colors

within the artwork. For this photo I used a lifeguard bouncing a basketball. You can

clearly see that the basketball is in motion in the picture, as well as the definite circular

shape on the ball coming of the ground bouncing back into his hand.

Emphasis is created in a work of art when the artist contrasts colors, textures, or shapes

to direct your viewing towards a particular part of the image. For this photo I used the

water mushroom in the pool. The mushroom is extremely larger than all the other things

in this picture. The size of the mushroom definitely directs the viewer toward it as a

particular part of the image.

Pattern is the repetition of a shape, form, or texture across a work of art. The light

reflecting off of the waves in the water creates a pattern in the bottom half of the image.

For this photo I used the lifeguard fanny packs that are hanging on the wall. Every

single one of there fanny packs are the exact same but the way they are hung show a

difference between each one.

Proportion is created when the sizes of elements in a work of art are combined

harmoniously. For this photo I used a lifeguard up close to the viewer can focus there

attention primarily on the guard. You can notice in the background another lifeguard

climbing down from the guarding chair and how little that person looks in the photo

compared to the lifeguard up close. Also in the pool you can see how little all of

swimmers look which makes the focus on the lifeguard up close much more important.

Unity is created when the principles of analysis are present in a composition and in

harmony. Some images have a complete sense of unity, while some artists deliberately

avoid formal unity to create feelings of tension and anxiety. For this photo I used three

patio chairs to show harmony. You can see in the photo that the chairs are evenly

spaced out in the picture and each chair is the exact same. Having the picture taken like

this shows the balance within the picture.

Color Theory and Emotional Effects

1. Color is the one visual elements that gives us as the most pleasure. Color is perhaps the most powerful artistic element, but it is also the most difficult to control. Color has a powerful but unpredictable effect on our emotions which makes it rather difficult to control. Colors that a vibrant make the viewer intrigued with the story that the artist is trying to tell. Colors make the artist have a lot of decisions that they have to make because the write color tells everything about the picture.

2. Various studies have suggested that color affects wide range of psychological and even physiological responses. Restaurants often are decorated in red, which is beleived to increase appetite and therefore food consumption. This fascinates me that color has such a strong impact on the human eye at all times.

3. The most interesting thing from the video Color is that June Redfern uses speed while she is painting to make sure the picture is coming along exactly as she wanted. She keeps the paint thin to cover the canvas quickly, and she uses paint straight from the tube. She says, "if the paint moves for you your hands will continue to move without stopping".

4. In the feelings video the biggest impact would have to be when the speaker was talking about the ritual that the gladiators do with the swords, and how the empty space behind the men in the painting represents life and leadership. The empty space that is behind the men in there elaborate red costumes means nothing to me, but once the speaker indicates what those dark pillars represent the story that goes along with the painting makes the viewer intrigued.

Module 2

1.For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

The video on aesthetics talks about all the different philosophers and their views on aesthetics and how they came up with the ideas that they did. One philosopher says that beauty is harmony and perfection. When looking at a piece of art the viewer must see the perfection of the work to understand the true meaning. Another philosopher developed the aesthetic laws that govern art, these consist of “portion, symmetry, harmony, and order". These four aspects are crucial for the viewer to have any connection with the piece of art or any understanding. Aesthetics was formally developed during the 18th century in England. One art of the video mentions that feelings can be felt by more than one person. The philosophers during this time believed that with beauty and harmony those feelings could be developed amongst viewers. Another interesting point from the video dealt with the question, what will happen when you look at this object? For aesthetics do the nature of art and beauty evolve in this object? Philosophers wanted to prove that seeing the art for what it is meant to mean could be difficult if not done correctly.

The Article discusses what humans recognize in art and how familiar we are with the concept. It talks about how lines and faces play a very important role in placement and interpretation to a piece of art. The article talks about why people like art and how we make our interpretations.

 

2. Which philosopher's theroy on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention the philosphers name, era (time in history), and contribution to the aesthetic theory in your response.

Plato taught that the true nature of things in the world was there idea. Ideas are beyond the senses they can only be grasped by reason. Plato said, “There is a beauty by which all things are beautiful.” Plato argued that the manifestation of something beautiful attracts the person who sees it. He also said, “What is beautiful in itself is not this object or that one, but they which convey its own nature.” Plato made these connections during the 4th century B.C.

 

3. What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speakers lecture?

Ramachandran’s beliefs were that there are certain aspects of art that seem universally appealing, regardless of the environment or culture in which you grew up. The aesthetics of art are the beauty and harmony within the object and how one might feel after looking at a work of art. When looking at the seagull experiment, Ramachandran said, "I think you're seeing the same thing with all kinds of abstract art," It looks distorted to the eye, but pleasing to the emotional center to the brain." This intrigued me that the human eye may find art pleasing based on what they are familiar with. If someone looks at different forms of art that they have never been exposed to in their lives they may be unwilling to make interpretations of what the artist is truly trying to tell. While if you give that same person familiar works of art they know something about the interpretations will come off quit easier.

Cavanagh states, “"Artists do the discoveries, and we figure out why those tricks work." This was interesting to me because it shows how important the views are to an artist and their artwork. I also find it interesting that he talks about how a line drawing can have the same imprint on the eye and a detailed sketch. Humans can see those dark outer lines that show the shape of exactly what is expected whether there is more or less detail.  

 

 

4. How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?

The video related to the text in terms of how philosophers defined art and aesthetics and how living with art today have commonalities. The philosophers from the video all defined aesthetics and how art should be portrayed and the text elaborates on more modern art with examples for the reader to understand the material with. The topics in the text, what do artists do?, or looking and responding have connections to what the philosophers mentioned in the video. For example in the text is states, " artists create places for some human purposes" (pg.7) where in the video the question is asked what will happen when you look at this object? Artists have purpose to their artwork and it is important to make it known what the message is that they are trying to deliver.

The article states, “There's now a whole field called neuroesthetics devoted to the neural basis of why and how people appreciate art and music and what is beauty”. This line deals with aesthetics and how humans develop art and what it is supposed to mean.

 

5. What is your opinion of the films and article? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading in the text?

In my opinion the film definitely helped me understand aesthetics more clearly and how it originated. Learning ideas from many philosophers helped me understand how art should be portrayed. Even though these words were given such a long time ago by those philosophers I think they still apply when interpreting art. The article states, “It goes without saying that most paintings and drawings are, from an objective standpoint, two-dimensional. Yet our minds know immediately if there's a clear representation of familiar aspects of everyday life, such as people, animals, plants, food or places”. This helps me understand exactly what the objective is with art and how people develop understanding.