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.

Module Ten Video Reviews

The two videos that I chose to watch were "African Art", and "Buddhism". I chose to watch the video "African Art" because this kind of art is interesting to me because of the meaning and culture that is behind every piece of art. A lot of the art comes off as "exotic" in a way and that interests me. Some key concepts of this video were that art is a part of daily for people in Africa. Sculptures, masks, architecture, ornaments, clothing, and utensils are all forms of art that are created and used on a daily basis. Also, religious beliefs in Africa are explored through the use of rituals, which is a performance art. Prehistoric rock art is also a form on African Art because of the nature behind it. This video relates to the text because they both stress the importance of the Nile River and the importance of sculptures and masks within the African Culture. I thought this video was very informational and it helped me to visualize and learn more about the African culture and how art was played into it. The other video I watched was "Buddhism", and I chose to watch this video because after reading a little about it in the textbook, I wanted to know more. Some of the key concepts in this video were that the birth of Buddhism was seen through architecture and art. Buddhism eventually spread throughout other lands and many people were beginning to follow the beliefs behind Buddhism, The Bodh Gaya represents the fact and legend of Buddhism and is the largest Buddhism shrine available. This video related to the text book because they both went into detail about how influential Buddhism was, especially with its relevance to art. Buddhism enlightened many people. I thought that this video was extremely interesting because I think it's important for people to know about the different belief systems that were around in the past. It was also a good representation of how important the use o f certain art influenced the Buddhist people and followers.

Exploring Line

I thought it was a little difficult to use my hands as a subject matter for drawing. Even though the actual shapes used to draw a hand are pretty easy to construct, I still felt like all of my trail drawings didn't turn out so good! I used a pencil to do my drawing because I felt that it would be a little easier than using charcoal because charcoal tends to smudge more than a regular pencil. Creating a drawing with my non-dominant hand was actually really uncomfortable! It just didn't feel natural, however the drawing came out a lot better than I thought it would. I think that the drawing using my dominant hand actually came out really nice. I even included details such as the acrylic nails that I currently have on, and the lines of my knuckles. I am a little impressed with how the drawing using my non-dominant hand turned out, but I don't think I would consider using my non-dominant hand to create art work in the future simply because it was just uncomfortable to do.

Module 9 Video Reviews

The two videos I chose to watch were "The Drawings of Michaelangelo" and "Leonardo Di Vinci: Mind of the Renaissance". I chose these videos because I find the works of Michaelangelo and Di Vinci to be very interesting and the time period of the Renaissance has always been an interest to me. The video about Leonardo Di Vinci demonstrated that he was a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and student of anatomy, physiology, botany, architecture, hydrodynamics, aeronautics, and other disciplines. Leonardo Di Vinci started out painting when he was very young. He incorporated many philosophical thoughts and beliefs with his masterpieces. Symbolism was an important factor for Leonardo Di Vinci also. It was stated in the video that Di Vinci and Michaelangelo were rivals, which is another reason why I chose to watch these two specific videos. This video relates to the readings in the book because the concept of beauty plays an important role in the Renaissance and also in most of Leonardo's work. Also, the human body was looked at differently and started to become important to people during the Renaissance. I think that this video was very informational and helped me visualize more of what the art works were like during the Renaissance. The main concepts discussed in the video about Michaelangelo was that he always second thoughts about his drawings and was a perfectionist about them before he allowed anyone else to view them. This video focused on art students comparing his preparatory drawings with his finished masterworks. The pieces that were analyzed throughout the video were "Pieta", "Colossal David", "Sistine Chapel", "The last Judgement", "The Medici Tomb", and "St. Peter's Basilica". This video also went into detail about the tools, techniques, stylist evolution, and sexuality of Michaelangelo. This video related to the readings in the book because it went into detail about the materials that were used to create all of the works. For example, the use of charcoal, pencil, plaster, paint etc, were all mentioned in the book and in the video. Also, the readings discussed how Michaelangelo focused on perfecting human body parts and making them beautiful, and the video showed a visualization of that concept. I also thought this video was very informational because we got to see how other students view Michaelangelo's works and the process of how they were all created.

Module 8: Video Review

The two videos I watched were "More Human than Human", and "The Measure of All Things: Greek Art and Human Design". The first video, "More Human than Human", focused on the discovery that art history reveals that we prefer images that actually don't look like us. Venus and Willendorf created one of the oldest representations of the body ever found. All of these discoveries have shown that the brain is hardwired to favor exaggeration. They are so many ranges of the human body that artists have created during this time. This video relates to the readings in the book because the same statue found in the book was also used in the video. It was the statue that was found of the women and the reason why it is important is because it shows that the world is so prominent on unrealistic images. The different styles of the human form from the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were mentioned in both the video and readings. I chose to watch the second video about Greek art and the human design because I have always thought that Greek art was fascinating and very interesting to look at and learn about. This video went through and demonstrated the cultural transformation of Greek Art from religious functions to human-centered form. The Greeks began to create human forms for Gods, people, and even animals. Realism began to evolve in the process of creating these sculptures. It has been said that the Greeks were "obsessed" with the human body and humanity's place in nature which is why there was so much emphasis on creating these forms. The type of realism changed art forever. The sense of ideal beauty became more important rather than real beauty.

Module 7 Video Review

The two videos I chose to watch were "Architecture: Science of Design", and "Imperial Rome, Ostia, and Portus: Ancient Architecture and Technology". The key concepts of the Science of Design video started off as explaining that Architecture is not only an art, is a science. Another key concept is that concrete, which is a construction material, because the symbol of modern architecture and is undergoing improvement. The video spent a lot of time going through the process of creating sky scrapers. There are two parts of a skyscraper which are the super structure, and the underground substructure. This video related to the readings in the book because it went into depth about how the environment affects architectural structures. The video gave a clear explanation of how sky scrapers are built due to being able to survive in certain weather conditions. It's important that all buildings are made this way and that's why the science behind architecture is so important. It was interesting to learn about the "intelligent home". It's kind of crazy to see that a lot of household features could be programmed and executed automatically. Sooner or later, before we know it, many people will be having houses like these ones! I chose to watch this video because I wanted to learn more about the science aspect of architecture as well as the art aspect. The Imperial Rome video went into detail about Ostia and Portus, which are the 2 main centers. The architecture that went into these are extraordinary and very interesting to learn about. The use of brick-faced concrete is the main building material used during these times. Ancient Roman architecture is interesting to me because it is so detailed and beautiful and you can really tell how much work went into creating constructing them. The Pantheon is such a historical and interesting structure. Many different types of structures went into this building. The body of the building is round and there are many statues of Gods placed throughout the building. I chose to watch this video because I wanted to learn more about ancient architecture. Looking at historical architecture is interesting because you can see that a lot of the same procedures and materials used back then, are still used today.

Video Review

The main focus in the Eyes of the Sculptor video was that Sculptor Emmanuael Fillion created a figurative clay model to a life-size marble sculpture. Some key concepts that I got from this video was that sculpting is a very time consuming, prestigious process that stems from earlier centuries. Fillion traveled and visited many historical monuments to learn about different techniques for sculpting. He compared present-day carving and sculpting with other methods that have been used for centuries. Some key concepts in the Glass and Ceramics video was the ideas being the two techniques of Glass Blowing and the art of stained glass windows. This video also went into detail about the production of ceramics, which is now very commonly being used in new applications. Next, the Glass and Ceramics video went into great detail about the use of glass architecture and how important it has become. The videos both showed a visual explanation of the processes that we read about in the book. Sculpting is a fine art/craft because you need to be highly skilled and be able to create and emphasize detail while sculpting. The book and movie went into great detail about what really goes into these fine arts and crafting. The Glass video demonstrated the use of ceramics in the real world, which the book also went into as well. These new techniques are becoming more and more useful for people these days. I thought that both of these films were very informational. It was interesting to see how important the process of sculpting is. Sculpting is a craft because you have to take the time to create it, using your skills and your creative mind. I thought the glass video was extremely interesting because I enjoyed learning about the art behind stained glass windows. You see these types of windows around but most people don't really take the time to think about the process that went into actually creating them. It's actually a very fascinating process. It was also really interesting to be able to see how glass architecture is increasingly replacing wood and stone architecture. All of these new techniques I viewed in these videos gave me a better understanding of how important the use of sculpture, installation and craft really is on our daily lives.