Gladis Mason

For my Counterfactual Identity I created a Facebook of a Grandma that I haven't seen since I was in 5th grade. She lives in North Carolina, and is my dad's mom. We're not very close to his side of the family so I created the relationship I wish I had with her, like things used to be. I named her Gladis Mason and kept true to how tiny my real grandma is. I decided to make her current hometown Fullerton. On Facebook we are incredibly close and she is also really close to my boyfriend. I have been waiting to post about it on here so I could get more activity. I already have people that do not know it is me commenting on my statuses and updates which is strange to me! I just got a friend request yesterday from someone I don't even know. The fact that people want to connect with a really old Grandma whose user picture is her holding a gun shows that people just want to "connect". The internet is a place of just exploring and feeding your senses. I want to keep this up to see how many people are willing to interact and develop relationships to my "grandma". I never thought I would actually be dealing with activity on this page or anything and I am pleasantly surprised. It makes me want to create more Identities as maybe an outlet of feelings and to see just how desperate people are to have friends on there.

This is her profile page. I will update it with more exciting activity as time goes on, I think it's hilarious.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003213702555

Every Artist At First Was Amateur

For my painting experience I decided to create and paint a couple different little things. I typically paint outside under the beautiful sun which makes the work dry much faster. With the wind interference I painted in my garage with the door half open. It was so cold and windy but so far so good! I listened to mainly Jack Johnson and Imogen Heap. It took me a while to find some inspiration and bounced all sorts of ideas inside my head. I was hoping to create some Christmas gifts or new decorations for my new room. I wanted to make a painting about us all being "one". The canvases I bought turned out too small. I wanted to also include many people to make it more of an experience and to gain inspiration and creativity from others but schedules did not match up. I made a bird house, picture frame, and one painting so far. I only have a picture of the painting for now that I am calling "with support"

In my boredom I decided to also paint my face...

I will post the rest of the projects once they are lacquered and dried!

mOtHeR eArTh aRt

Laguna Wilderness Park 

Another project I loved was capturing art amongst nature. I really really wanted to find something undisturbed that resembled art. I looked around for shaped rocks or pebbles. I alway tried looking for curves or shapes in plants, flowers, and and the ground itself. I was hoping the wind somehow would have knocked something over or created movement among the habitat. What I found instead was equally as interesting though. I traveled to the Laguna Wilderness Park. I hiked with my boyfriend for over three hours in search of beauty and inspiration. We ended up finding several spots where people who were there before us made rock stacks. Some piles had 2 small stacks. Others were stacks in lines up the paths along the trails. I decided to photograph a couple of stacks that were at the very end of our hike since all I had was my phone. I was going to add a stack of my own to this pile but decided to leave the trio as it was (although I regret not contributing now). I plan on going back and starting my own art wall using washable chalk inside a cave I found. If I can get back down there this week I will post photos of that as well!

Beall Center of Art Museum

Last week I went to the Beall Center of Art Museum. It is located at the University of Irvine and is completely free. I witnessed the electronic art, interactive installations created by Golan Levin. There were about 8 installations that all required participation. The very first one we interacted with was called Eye Code. You stand on footprints that put your eyes in line with a camera in the wall. It then records your eyes after you blink a couple of times and puts them in a sequence with all the other eyes the camera has seen. My favorite one was a noodle robot art that recorded your image as a noodle painting and mirrored your movement. It was so much fun interacting with all the electronics. It is perfect for a fun art experience and can be enjoyed for hours by anyone, any age. I plan on going back when I have more time before his gallery is replaced with another one.

I took a photo of the outside because I wasn't sure if cameras were allowed. It is a really small gallery space.

This was an interactive pad that created explosions of electronic art by stroking your finger on the pad. This one created a bacteria effect. Once you touched the pad the points your finger hit started spreading this pretty green leafy paint.

This was a machine that used our vocal sounds to create imagery. This one created bubbles that floated up to the ceiling then with other sounds you created made them fall and bounce around!

Beauty and Presenting

Last week in art 100 we started off the night discussing what the definition of beauty was. A lot of people had a lot of different definitions that all seemed to fit in different circumstances. We watched the dove beauty campaigns which I love. I think that now, more than ever, it is so difficult to be a female. The standards for beauty are unachievable. Young girls are fed so much different information about what you're "supposed" to look like. To me beauty in mass media changes as much as every year. What was beautiful in the 1920's was drastically different in the 50's, and now beauty has a completely different image. The horrible thing about beauty in media today is that technology is making it impossible to look like supermodels on billboards as one Dove video showed. To me beauty is something that speaks to you the second you see it. You have an immediate, natural reaction to it. To me beauty never fades and can't be altered. The most beautiful things to me are the most raw and honest things. People that are honest, kind, and open are the most beautiful. Others think that beauty is pleasing to the eye, which of course when something is beautiful it is going to be pleasing to you, however what makes something beautiful. One persons trash could be anothers treasure. Even in my own family we all have drastically different ideas of who's beautiful, what cities and animals are beautiful. I think what makes beauty so interesting because is that it cannot and will not ever be concretely defined. Abstract ideas are the best kind and leaves it open to let everyone be an individual. I also got to present Banksy last week. I was so so nervous, I absolutely have public speaking. I think over all it went really well though and I am happy about the way everything turned out although I wish I had a few sound bites or videos. Everyone else did a good job and I am excited for the rest of them tonight!

BANKSY

                     His method, message and mystery has given him the notoriety he deserves.

  "The people who run our cities don't understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit"

Window Lovers

Bristol, England

Stonehenge using Port-o-Potties

Glastonbury Music Festival 2007

           "People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible, and childish. But that's only if it is done properly"

The death of the Phone Booth

Pink Angel

Exhibition in Bristol

West Bank Wall Barrier 

Created 9 images regarding the illegal separation of Israel and Palestine

 "Prehistoric" piece snuck into the British Museum

Buried British Phone Booth

Created Pounds using Princess Diana and his name

One Nation Under CCTV

Banksy's "Self-Portrait"

 

Maid in London

"A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with"

"Self-Portrait" using yellow street lane lines

"Graffiti will ultimately win over proper art because it becomes a part of your city, it's a tool"

"Laugh Now"

presented at Warhol vs. Banksy Exhibit

Art Presentation

Last week we saw 4 totally different presentations in class. I thought they were are pretty good. My favorite was definitely Damien Hirst. I thought his diamond skull was incredibly beautiful and different. I wish I could see that in person. His art was something I haven't experienced yet and I loved learning about him. I was also really excited about the Japanese artist Ikeda. I did have a really bad headache in class so listening to those sounds for that long was starting to get to me but I really loved it anyway. I had no idea one could actually make music using such emotionless and statistical sounds but I want to explore it more. I am fascinated by light as well. I think it's beautiful and it triggers something really emotional in me for some reason. I wish I could experience the light show he did outside with all the beams pointing into the sky. It looks like such a special experience. I am so glad people have presented such unique artists, and have opened my eyes up to new worlds. I present Banksy tonight and I am really nervous as I hate public speaking. My fascination with Banksy's art and the world as he sees it makes it worth sharing though. I hope everyone enjoys!

Happy November!

Last week in class we learned about literacy. We opened with the movie The Reader. It really opened my mind about how the image of her being literate meant so much to her. Living in such a free and educated culture, we tend to take the "simple" act of reading and writing for granted. I learned that there are 4 different kinds of literacy. Text, visual, networking, and educational literacy are actively used by all of us. We watched video of Gerbner who talked about the influence of visual literacy on our generation. Today everything is being replaced with images, sound, and technology. Hardly any reading or physically writing is necessary. Interaction and speaking verbally is rarely needed either. Literacy is something that we are all lucky to have and don't put it to use until we are asked to. Reading and writing is becoming more and more abbreviated everyday. Our minds are too full with media and images for them to be thirsty for novels, poems, or fantastical stories. The other night I decided to turn off all the noise and busy stuff that usually distracts my multi-tasking brain and read a bunch of poems by Shel Silverstein. I realized how absent imagination and wonder has been from my head. I used to read so much more and now feel inspired to get back in to it. It led me to drawing a wonderful picture that I will post! So great class! I feel recharged!

Upside Down

Last week in class we discussed how the class should be run, and the lack of discussion we've been having. I agree that there is way too little discussion. Personally for me it is hard to pay attention in an art class that is mainly about reading and discussing. I thought it was going to be an art class where we were learning to draw or paint, and not write about art. Also meeting once a week tends to put the class in the back of my mind as hard as I try to not let that happen. Blogging is also something very new to me and remembering to do that isn't very natural. For the art projects I think we came up with a good amount of expectations and a good rubric to follow and totally approve of us grading each other. I think this will get us to focus a little more. As far as drawing last week, I loved it. I got a kick out of realizing how hard it is to draw once you realize you're not just drawing a series of lines in a row of boxes. I actually loved the way my drawing turned out and so did my friends. I really do wish this was more of an interactive art class. It's hard to read this art book because it vaguely talks about artists and we are supposed to compare and contrast them based on a few paragraphs and it's boring. As much as I have a passion and intrigue to art I am finding it harder and harder to sink my teeth into this book. I really need to get back on track with the readings, but I am curious to know if anyone else is having this problem.

Life Sin Electricity

Our first and last art project was assigned last week to challenge us to go from dusk to dawn without electricity of any kind. Living in a world where everything is powered by electricity this seemed much more daunting than it actually was. I got all of my studying, texting, facebooking, and driving out of the way before the sun set. I stayed so busy and went on a long run to ensure that it would be easy to fall asleep. To be safe I lit a few candles I found around the house to give me some light to draw and read. Not only was my cozy room filled with the scent of autumn harvest and vanilla orchids, the romatically dim area inspired to draw freely. Sitting in such beautiful silence allowed me to doodle whatever images or thoughts popped into my head without the scrutiny of bright lights. I am all about some alone time but with the use of so much electricity this was really alone time. Time to be completely submerged in my own feelings, ideas and imagination. I had a great time and was shocked that I didn't just sleep for 12 hours. This project made me feel inspired enough to consider doing this more often with changing variables and posting the artwork, writings, etc. that I come up with during that time. I might have to use electricity just for music though because that would create a whole other experience that I feel would be incredibly healing and fruitful. For anyone who just slept the entire time I would really recommend trying to meditate or draw by candle light in the silence. You will be surprised what comes up when you silence everything around you.

Mad Love for Graffiti

The graffiti movie last week was rad! I love graffiti art and have a few friends that are artists out in LA. I think it's a magical thing to be able to color the black and while urban world we live in using something as simple as spray paint. The documentary we watched was fascinating. I have watched other documentaries that highlighted artists that were in this video. I loved the color schemes of the graffiti and the acceptance of it in Sao Paolo. I thought it was all so beautiful and truly "wall art". I am not as interested in just looking at tag artist work because writing a name over and over is so repetitive. Artists adopt characters and little stories with their work to cover up the blandness of broken down buildings and walls is much more impressive to me. I really wish in Southern California we were more tolerating of graffiti art, living in such a cement society. I view the world as a canvas and all who inhabit it should be free to color it however they choose, be it with architecture, music, billboards, or graffiti. I do not agree with vandalizing personal properties or places of authority and meant for privacy but the areas the public pays taxes on to keep running are technically "ours" so who is to say we cannot paint some life into it?

The Razor's Edge

Last week we watched a large portion of the movie The Razor's Edge and I feel simply inspired. I have been wanting to take a journey of self discovery and say F&$# the "blue print" of the typical American dream. I loved what party of the movie we watched and made a netflix account just so I could watch the entire thing. Performance art really intrigues me and Marina Abramovic took my breath away. Her mental and spiritual freedom is something that I admire and wish I could acquire. I was fascinated by her interactive performance with the weapons and forms of pleasure/pain as well as the level she was willing to go to to test real people. I find week by week I am relating more and more to the art we are learning about and it is exciting to be in a class I feel so connected to. I am looking forward to the next lesson, and watching the Razor's Edge in full!

Missing the Potluck

Unfortunately I was sick for class last week. I so wish I could have been there for the potluck but even more so for the video blogging. It looks like a fun way to get your ideas out there and connect with people in a more personal way than always writing. Reading through Chapter 3 has opened a whole new interest for me in art. I love reading about the different ways to create detail in art besides just drawing on paper or painting on canvas. There is so much art that fascinates me, it's overwhelming to keep track of all the favorites. I love the work of Jacob Lawrence and Kathe Kollwitz because of their stories and motivation for expressing their struggles through beautiful art. To me that is what art is all about. I am excited to watch all the videos from last week and hopefully get some tips on how to do one on my own!

The Styles and Beauty of Chapter 3

Chapter 3 is my favorite so far. Learning about all the styles of art is truly fascinating. I have realized what an interest I have in paper drawings and etch work. To get more involved with specific examples I analyzed the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Durer. 

Leonardo with a genius mind, and brilliant imagination was an introverted artist. There was not a whole lot of finished work done by Leonardo. The Last Supper being the most famous done for King Louis of France, he focused primarily on drawings. He sketched often of natural science, and used a lot of movement. While Chapter 3 discusses different forms of drawing he drew on paper. He sketched free hand and wrote a Treatise on Painting. He took hundreds of notes on things he saw in the natural world, simply walking around. In his treatise he suggests approaching art with a scientific mind,“... there is such an infinite number of forms and actions of things that the memory is incapable of preserving them...”. 

Being from almost the exact same time period, Albrecht Durer, had the same upbringing and scientific mind of Leonardo, however was a print artist and less of a drawer. Durer was not as introverted as da Vinci, and was prideful in himself as an artist. Albrecht emphasized in wood engravings and etching. His detail, and fascination with perfection and ideal beauty makes the prints exquisite. Like his fellow artist he ended up teaching art in a scientific way.

Both artists living during the same time and having very different personalities enjoyed the perfect and beauty of natural art in the same way. Their genius minds made art especially interesting. They both found a way to take their complex minds and put all their thoughts and ideas into very different art. “For from many beautiful things something good may be gathered”.

Two very different artists in Chapter 3, are primarily oil painters. Their styles are much more contemporary than the previous two painters. Living much more recently than both Durer and Leonardo, Jacob Lawrence and Kathe Kollwitz have many more differences than just their eras. 

Jacob Lawrence in a Harlem Renaissance artist that blossomed just as that period had reached its peak. Coming from a very poverty stricken family, Lawrence’s paintings had very deep themes. He painted in more series than single paintings using tempera which is a mixture of oil paint and water color. He surrounded his paintings with his personal experiences growing up in Harlem and his hardships being African American. They typically had very lengthy titles and a lot of narrative content, with very powerful violent images. He was a pioneer in the social protesting or reporting as fans would call it. Rather than a normal sketch or perfected drawing he had a contemporary spin to his figures.

Kathe Kollwitz, a female artist, was a pioneer of her own in the art world. She was less of a color artist and loved black and white. Like Lawrence, Kollwitz focused on specialized struggle between mothers and their children, cruelties of war, death and hardships for women during the civil war period. Unlike Lawrence, she was much more of a draftsman and focused on etching and woodcuts. She had much more of a political reason to do art. “I felt that I have no right to withdraw from the responsibility of being an advocate”. She spoke out for women during a male dominated time, just as Jacob Lawrence spoke out for impoverished African Americans during the same time. 

While having different motivations both artists had similar looking works of art with the same messages. With less precision and more meaning these two artists took more of my interest than both Leonardo and Durer

~Art History~

Last week we spent the class period discussing art that dated back to 3 million years ago. Art that was made by creatures that aren’t even considered humans. The lecture broke boundaries for me, however, it was so much information in such a short amount of time. It is hard to really soak up the details of a period of time and all the incredible art and people from that era. I was first fascinated by the Egyptian art and their beautiful abilities to carve such detail. It was interesting to think about the fact that most of the graceful statues and wall art was most likely covered in paint. It creates such a different aesthetic to add color. It is amazing to also think about their awareness of the form of the body being so long ago. The next art that really grabbed by attention was done by Hildegard. I related most to her designs and can appreciate it so much because I suffer from migraines and the aura, while not seeing the kinds of creatures she seems to have witnessed. I am hoping to learn more about her, even if it is just on my own time. I am not as into classic European art. While it is beautiful and skilled I like art that is more unconventional, and more absurd than that of portraits. The lecture from last Tuesday just went to fast for me to really retain much of the detail that was being expressed and hopefully we spend more one on one time with certain types of arts and artists. I appreciate the overview to demonstrate the vast differences in art and culture over such a long period of time, however crave way more detail!

Bourgeois/Rauschenberg

Following my instant interest of both Hokusai and Van Gogh, Louise Bourgeois and Robert Rauschenberg made me do a double take. They both have much more contemporary style of art and are in no way conventional or traditional. While I love the beauty of the first two artists I discussed, I can relate more to the work done by Rauschenberg and Bourgeouis. 

Born the daughter of two tapestry restorers in Paris, Louise Bourgeouis began with art as a teenager. She helped her parents at their business by drawing the missing portions of antique tapestry so they could be rewoven. She had a very prestigious art education after getting a degree in philosophy. She studied at the Louvre, in a school behind the world famous museum. This however did not satisfy her style and fire for art. Not until Bourgeouis moved to the United States, New York to be exact, did she find herself and her own expression as an artist. She is most known for being a painter and sculptor. She created art based off of memories and feelings from her childhood and adolescence. She really bloomed as an artist later in her years as she matured and was the first female to have an exhibit devoted to her in the Museum of Modern Art.

Much like Bourgeouis, Robert Rauschenberg was a very expressive, almost rebellious artist that had a formal art education. Likewise he was exposed to art and took interest in it during his teen years. Even though he started out trying to get a degree, his true passion was art. He began by designing the layout for store displays at exquisite places like Bonwit Teller and Tiffany’s. He differs from most in his variety of art he created. He not only painted and made prints and graphic design, but alsot did costume and performance art. He was an honest, and unconventional artist. In a way he was a sculptor, but not in the typical sense. Rauschenberg assembled art and paintings with real objects like animals, bathtubs, etc. He blurred the line of what was and was not art. He was quoted saying “the strongest thing about my work is the fact that I chose to ennoble the ordinary”. 

Being classically trained is obviously not was creates a traditional styled artist. In both cases, school is what pushed these artists toward breaking boundaries of art. Their contemporary styles let them express honesty whether it be many different emotions or even dark, angry feelings from the past. Art is what we make it and cannot be clearly defined, and both artists show how beautiful that is. 

Hokusai/Van Gogh

In Chapter 1 of Living With Art there are many incredible artists, and countless pieces of art to discuss. The stories and art of Vincent Van Gogh and Katsushika Hokusai were the first two that sparked my interest the most. Their skill being so advanced is impressive considering being artists in the 1800's. Van Gogh and Hokusai have completely different backgrounds and style of painting but are both self taught. 

Katsushika Hokusai lived from 1760 to 1849, almost reaching 90 years old, even though he wished to live past 100. He not only painted, Japanese style, but also carved wood as a designer. He was a disheveled artist and had to move frequently because he would not clean after himself. He created so many paintings that he never threw away; and instead scattered about the houses until they were unlivable. His paintings were most often scenery throughout Tokyo which was Edo when he was alive. Even though he was a very accomplished artist he did not see wealth in money. His fame led to live public demonstrations for different groups of people and fans where he would make different kinds of art for everyone. He had a sense of humor and faked being modest. He knew he had incredible talent.

Vincent Van Gogh appeared just years after Hokusai’s death. Van Gogh is easily described as a world famous oil painter that was a tormented soul and had an extremely short career. Dying at the young age of 37 he had only taken an interest in art when he was 27. Like Hokusai he was self taught and had a very particular style of painting. Unlike Hokusai, Van Gogh used a lot of light and color in his oil paintings. His most well known work was done in his last two to three years of life which were spent in an insane asylum where he continued to paint feverishly. He was devoted to art in the same obsessed way Hokusai was. He was quoted saying “...but rich because I have found in my work something to which i can devote my heart and soul, and which gives inspiration and significance to life”. 

Artists this devoted and passionate about creating art are much more likely to be estranged from real life. The love expressed through their paintings was worth moving moving once sometimes twice a year, or even prolonging a miserable existence because what was made was inspiring and beautiful. Hokusai and Van Gogh may not have been understood by most but are famously respected. 

First Day of Art 100

The first day of class we watched a lot of videos portraying different perspectives on the remix of Brat Pack movies into dance sequences. I love the way old movies and their idea of art and dance are related to by people of all ages all over the world. It shows that art really is universal.
The one video that really spoke to me was the Grand Rapids lip dub. I have family in Grand Rapids and it was beautiful to see an entire community come together in such an artistic way. I got goosebumps seeing the range of personalities and ages interacting in the video. I want to have one for Cypress college or just our art class even. Being involved in something like the American Pie video is an eternal bond and would be unforgettable for any of us.
I believe that remixes being considered violation of copyright laws is definitely extreme. While they are using the moves from a specific scene it means something different to everyone and is interpreted different by others. That is what I believe makes art so great. You should be able to recycle ideas from others and turn it into your own version as long as credit is due. Self expression is so important today and should remain as open as possible. Being able to express ourselves in these blogs for school is a great opportunity to grow closer and learn more, not only about each other but ourselves.