Final Project

For my final project, I studied the work of Bruce Nauman. He is a post-minimalist artist who works mainly with neon light. Language and words are an important aspect of his art. He challenges he viewers to interrupt the meaning of his work.  When deciding what to do for my final project, I decided to focus on language and the use of colors. One piece that really interested me was Nauman's piece 100 Live and Die. I decided to recreate this piece, by repeating a quote. I also then created a piece that just emphasize the quote I chose.


Visual Analysis
1. Focal Point/Eye path: The focal point is the large quote "Little by little" on the black piece of paper, then your eye travels down to the next picture with "little by little" painted in 3 columns. Your eye travels down each column and up the next.
2. Implied Line: The implied line is formed by the 3 columns in the second painting.
3. Actual and Implied texture: I tried to use glossy paint to give the painting the implied look of glass.  I also tried to make the black and white painting look like the white was illuminating off light.
4. Color Schemes:Both paints contain an monochromatic color scheme. One contains, different shades of black and white, and the other is different shades of red.
5. Format: painting
6. Composition: The first piece has a center focal point, where the second is split into rule of thirds vertically. It is made of paint and string to attach the 2.
7. Scale: Bristol pad paper
8. Connotative, Denotative, and Ideological Meaning: The denotative meaning of this picture is repetition and the interruption of little by little by the viewer. The connotative meaning and ideological meaning is supposed to be over whelming and create a eerie feeling to the viewer. It is intended for the viewer to question the meaning of little by little.


Final Thoughts:
I thought this class was very interesting. This class helped me learn how to interrupt artwork and determine the meaning of the work. It also made me realize everyone has a different perspective about art and sees things differently. One person may notice something or focus on something someone else does. I enjoyed learning some of the basic kinds of art. I also enjoy working with photoshop, although I was not very good at it.

Art gallery

These are two art works from the student art show. The first one is a picture of the Ridley Athletic Complex. I enjoy this piece of work, not only because it was made by one of my teammates, but this is a image of a place that I spend a lot of time at. I think the focal point is the walk way to the field and the eye path starts in the center of the page then goes up to the words Loyola and then finally to the moon at the top of the page which brings you back down to the gate and path. 

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The other piece which I thought was interesting from this show is the girl which appears to be levitating in a field. I was unable to hear the artist talk about this work, but it appears to be created in photoshop. 

light show

These are two images from the Light Show. I found this event to be particularly interesting because it was a unique form of art. It took something that we see everyday on campus and transformed it into artwork. The lights on Sellinger was one of my favorites because I see this building every day as a I walk to campus and never really pay attention the the architecture. The lights emphasized the windows to be the focal point of the structure. The color scheme is analogous with the blue, green, and yellow, and then with the purple and different shades of blue. The work also relates to my artist Bruce Nauman. The work is modern and simple and adds a twist to something which is part of everyday life.

Visual Analysis

The quote I chose to paint was "Americans may have no identity, but they do have wonderful teeth." This project's denotative meaning could be described as chaotic, yet it has a sense of balance and symmetry. The printed flags and blue swirls create balance, but the overlying ink makes the project appear chaotic and messy.

The connotative and ideological meanings derived from the design could be expressed as confusing or perplex. Without knowing the quote this project is based on, the project loses meaning and is just confusing. At first glance the project appears to have no meaning. However relating the quote to the project, the symmetry represents the identity of the American being the same.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism introduction

• old and new tradition 
• contrast between past ideas and modern thinking 

Jean Baudrillard

• illusions and phantasms 
• reality vs fiction 

Frederic Jameson - Postmodernism 

• a play on realism 
• double-level process 
• raw materials 

Kubler

Kubler explains the lives and biographies of artists in history as a genre; the life of an artist is study in a biographical series. One artists’ work sets and is the building blocks for another. In this writing, Kubler explains the “entrance” of artist, this is how an artist manipulates the tradition of art to make it their own. Kubler continues to explain how it is difficult to judge an artist based on their talent, because every artist has a different style. He continues to explain that many artists are equal as talented, but some artist just came about in the right time period, making them more well-known then others.

Whitescapes

The first image was taken with no overhead light, where the second image there was a light shining directly on the objects. In the top photo the white paper and white charger cable have a cream/gray tint to it, whereas in the second photo with the extra light, the objects appear to have a blueish tint to them.

Escaping Flatland

This article was difficult to comprehend at first, however I found it to be very interesting. It gave perspective on much of art is lost viewing it on a two-dimensional screen. We lose the connection that the artist intended between the art and the viewer. The art work in a way is distorted because it is viewed in pixelated form rather than how the artist really intended it to look. There may be slight differences in color, texture, and composition. This article made me think about how often I view things through two dimensional whether its on social media, on a tv screen, or in a book rather than in its natural form.

advertising project

Advertisement (phase 2)

   original advertisement (phase 1)

 Two insights that I gained from the reading are that the human eye is the origin of perspective and the other is that cameras, images, and artwork gave us the ability to distort original perspective so that an imagine can be seen the same by everyone.

I found it interesting when the author was describing the sense of seeing and said that we must use words to explain what isn’t seen, but the sense of seeing came before words. Each person views the image differently through their own eyes. How people than interpret that image and recreate it, is what gives us perspective.

Cameras take away our ability to recreate the image we see with our own two eyes. The picture that the camera produces is its own unique perspective and the camera could have captured every image in many different ways. Cameras also give us the ability to share perspectives and images with the rest of the world.

Although I was unable to attend BMA with class, I found the pictures that my friend took to be interesting and unique. My favorite of the pictures and artwork is the sculpture done by Jimmy Joe Roche. I think this piece is unique because it was used for psychological tests and then turned it into an art work by adding colors. The lines, symmetry, and color in this sculpture are aesthetically pleasing. The complexity of the pattern resembles a brain and what ones thought process may be.

I found this article to be very interesting. One part that I found particularly interesting was when Calvino talked about that two different imagination processes. The first is through reading and transferring words to images and the other is through images that produce a verbal conclusion. Imagination plays a large role in my life, especially in sports. Before a big game or run test, I imagine myself succeeding before doing the real thing and often times it is beneficial. Imagination is unique to each individual in that everyone produces a different image through verbal words and vis versa.

Art is an unique way to express feeling, emotion, and perspective. I thought the question, 'Can art change the world?' was particularly interesting. I believe that art can change the world and is necessary. Not only does art add beauty to the world, but it also allows people to express themselves. In the article, The Whole Ball of Wax, Jerry Saltz discusses the meaning of art through philosophy and how it impacts the mind and other peoples thoughts. I agree with this statement. A single painting can be viewed by many different people in many different ways. Different people get different emotions for artworks and have different viewpoints and perspectives about the work. Art has a way of explaining things through unique interpretations. It can be abstract or realistic; it can be simple or complex, which makes art complicated and intriguing.