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!