Week 13 & 14 Video Blog

The key concepts in the first video, "Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art" include the influences behind this style of art. Those influences include comic books, B-movies, rock n roll, surfing, hot rods, and Cold War images. Lowbrow is also known as "pop surrealism" and relates to Abstract Expressionism. Lowbrow also lead to the rise of female artists who contributed to the era of this art. This video didn't really relate to the theme of my project, which is Romance, but it did give me an idea on how to interpret the images of lowbrow. I thought this film was interesting and even though it didn't directly relate to my topic, it did help me understand different concepts of art that curators focus on to be successful. The second video, "Displaying Modern Art" focused on the intellectual and aesthetic issues associated with the display of art. This video also focused on the styles of exhibits, especially in museums and in the Tate Gallery. Modern Art is a very interesting style of art and does relate to many things in the modern world today. This video mildly related to the creating on my project because I need to connect all of the artworks I found to the theme of Romance and this video showed different approaches on how to do this. I learned a lot from this film about why curators do the things that they do and the reasoning behind why exhibits are set up the way they are. The third video, "Bones of Contention" focused on the remains of more than 10,000 Native Americans, found at archaeological sites across the U.S. They are now found in museums such as the Smithsonian. Tension between scientists, historians, and museum curators and Native American groups as the bones take on central role in war of alternative perspectives. The topic didn't relate to my project but the idea behind the curators "job" related to the creation of my project. I thought this video was interesting because I didn't realize things like this were happening and how discriminating it is to Native Americans. The last video, "An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and the Metropolitan" focused on the famous art curator, Philippe de Montebello. He was a director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 31 years. He guided the acquisition of more than 84,000 works of art, demanded innovation in conservation techniques and oversaw the doubling of the physical size of this cultural institution. This video helped me to learn and understand what I should be looking for when I am interpreting the art works for my project. This video was very educational and interesting because I got to see all the different areas in which art is examined and places around exhibits and it was informational to see all of the different innovations for art curators now.

Module 12 Video Review

The two videos that I chose to watch for this module were "Power of Art: Rothko" and "Uncertainty: Modernity and Art". I chose to watch the video called "Power of Art: Rothko" because the history of Western Art interests me and I wanted to learn more about Mark Rothko. The key concepts in this video were that life, death, heroism, and tragedy are the main subjects of Western Art. Rothko focused on all of these, plus he was also interested in showing human values in his paintings. Many timeless themes dominated Rothko's thinking Many of his works of art demonstrated irony, sensuality, and more importantly tragedy because those were based on human emotions. This video focused on two art works; "The Green Stripe", and "The Black on Maroon". This video related to the readings in the textbook because they both discussed the aspects of Western Art and how other cultures viewed and adopted Western Art tactics. I thought this video was very interesting because I liked learning about the ideas and way of thinking behind Rothko's art works. I learned that he liked when people would show extreme emotion when looking at his paintings, which was actually interesting to me. I chose to watch the video "Uncertainty: Modernity and Art" because I feel that uncertainty is a positive thing when it correlates with art. The key concepts in this video were that Modern Art communicates chaos, anxiety, and uncertainty. Just by looking at Modern Art, you will be able to see the civilization aspect behind it. Pablo Picasso, Paul Kee, Piet Mondrian and the architecture of Le Corbusier were all brought up in this video to demonstrate examples of Modern Art. Womanhood and fertility were also stressed during this time. It was also mentioned in the video that cultures tried to eradicate Modern Art with the rise of Abstract Expressionism and then with Pop Art. This video relates to the text in the textbook because they both go into detail about Pop Art and how the effects of this style came from Modern Art. I thought this video was extremely interesting because it demonstrated the mysteries behind Modern Art and to me, that is a good way to look at Modern Art. People enjoy it because its unpredictable and you can never be certain what the meaning is behind it. I've come to learn that people and artists like uncertainty because it makes life a little more exciting!

Art Gallery visit #2

Step 1: The Exhibition Questions about the exhibit: 1. What is the title of the exhibit? "Let There be Light" 2. What is the theme of the exhibition? The theme of this exhibit was photography and interactive installation. There were neon colors all over the room, and video connections showing pictures of people's faces reflecting and changing configuration as the lights shined on them. It was very interesting to be in this exhibit and to experience the effect of the lights on the photography. Step 2: The Gallery Questions about the physical space: 1. What type of lighting is used? The lighting in the gallery was light, and shadowy. Certain areas were darker than others depending on which type of art was on display in each area. 2. What colors are used on the walls? The walls were light colored, white and a light tan. 3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space? The materials used were tile, paint, and water color. 4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space? The movement throughout the gallery space was rather slow because the viewer needed to take time to view all of the art work and focus on what they found to be the most important and interesting. Step 3: The Artwork Questions about the artwork: 1. How are the artworks organized? The art works were organized by theme, and by the medium used. 2. How are the artrworks similar? The art works were similar because they all had a specific meaning behind them. Also, the shapes, colors, and textures of certain art works were similar to the art works that surrounded them. 3. How are the artworks different? Some of the artworks were paintings, diagrams, sculptures, architectures etc. 4. How are the artworks framed? Some art works were displayed , some were framed, some were behind glass, and some art works were out in the open. 5. How are the artworks identified and labeled? The artworks were labeled with plaque stating their name, artist, year, and medium. 6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other? I noticed that most of the paintings were located close to each other and the sculptures were more equally spaced out. Answer this question: What did you think of visiting the Gallery and purposefully looking at the exhibition from a different perspective - the physical space, the architecture, theme, etc.? I thought that visiting the art gallery for the purpose of this assignment was very educational. Usually, people go to art galleries for pleasure but when I actually took the time to analyze the exhibits and the space I learned a lot about the reasoning behind which art works were there. This art work is created by Charles E. Burchfield, called "Nightfall". The medium used for this art work is gouache on paper. When I looked at this photo I saw dark skies and a peaceful atmosphere. I felt that it was very relaxing to look at. This work of art is very balanced and emphasizes the shapes used throughout the picture. This art work was created by Allison Hoag, called "Inhalation", in 2012. The medium used for this work is blown and cast glass, mixed media. This work of art stuck out to me because it was really intriguing to look at. The shapes used and the texture and pattern really made it pleasing to look at. Looking into this glass pieces of this work of art allowed you to see your own reflection which was very interesting to me. This art work was created by Nancy Valle, called "Push-Pull" in 2013. The medium used to create this was terra cotta ceramic and glaze. When I first looked at this sculpture, I didn't really know what to think of it, but it did interest me. Color, texture, emphasis, and balance were all used when creating this work of art.

Module Eleven Video Review

The two videos that I chose to watch were "Expressionism" and "The Mysterical North: Spanish Art from the 19th Century to the Present". I chose to watch the video "Expressionism" because after reading a little bit about it in the textbook, I wanted to learn more. In my opinion, this form of art is the perfect way for artists to be creative and create meaning behind their paintings. Some key concepts pointed out throughout the video were that expressionism emphasized color's emotional properties. Contemporary Neo-expressionism has developed this artistic approach. Overall, this style of art was technically breaking norms, which made the works of art more interesting and "wild". This video also discusses art relating to the sexuality of men and women and how colors can demonstrate the differences. This video relates to the readings in the text book because they both discuss how fauvism relates to expressionism and how it eventually led to the creation of expressionism. Also, the book and video both stressed how there was less of a concern than the Fauves had with the formal and informal composition of color. I thought this video was very informational and interesting. I enjoyed learning about how expressionism allowed different artists to express their feelings with using different colors to portray objects. I chose to watch the video about Spanish Art because to me, Spanish art and Spanish culture seems to be exotic and I wanted to learn more about the art aspect of their culture. Northern Spain has some of the world's most celebrated artists such as Picasso, Miro, Dali and Goya. Violence, revolution, and war were major influences of the art that was originated in Spain. The art during this time demonstrated artistic and social turmoil that engulfed Spain as the 20th century began. The video mentioned how Goya was known as the Father of Modern Art. The video and the text book related to each other in the aspect that they both describe how art is constantly changing and how location is a big factor on the styles of art that you will find. I thought this video was also interesting because I thought it was enjoyable to watch how intense the styles of art were in Spain during these times.