module 8 video blog

More Human Than Human

               I think it’s only natural that art and the human form are connected. Artists are human and therefor it spills onto art. As a culture we are obsessed with it aesthetically as well as functionally.  In art it can be distorted or colorful or blank or exaggerated. And yet it is still identifiable. Even in 1,900 b.c. the Egyptians were drawing the body and it continued over 700 years in their culture and in actuality lasted for over 3,000 years. There was only one way the body was drawn and it descended down the generations. It is thought that the form of the body didn’t change in Egyptian culture because of a grid like structure used to create all of the images. This created the pattern of it being unchanged and uniform for thousands of years.

Cairo Museum

               30 dynasties of Pharaohs. 5,000 years of history.  All housed in one astounding museum! Spectacular isn’t even a good enough word to describe what this museum holds within its walls. I never would have thought about what would be in the basement of the Cairo Museum. The Egyptian Museum contains 160,000 artifacts, but only half of them are actually on display. The rest is stored below in the basement. Many of the artifacts in the basement of the Cairo Museum have been there for 100 years  and still have not been opened! One artifact that was opened up for the first time was an actual human foot fitted with an artificial toe. It is said that the Egyptians were the first to perform a type of plastic surgery. It’s unreal to think that that has been sitting in the basement for years and years and years. It seems almost wrong to me though, to be in possession of such things and they are in boxes.

               I thought the quick view of the queens bracelets were sooo pretty and to get a glimpse of the undone Queen’s throne shows just how much work goes into restoring it. She is devoting a huge part of her life to this. It was also amazing to see Dr. Nadia sitting in her office and then have the camera pan over to a wooden box.  My office is just filled with boxes of paper. I can’t imagine to be in possession of so much history. The jewelry and caskets to be put on display for the centennial celebration were amazing to view. I just wish we had something like this in Buffalo. It was so amazing to view through video I can only imagine what its like in person!!!!

The Measure of All Things: Greek Art and the Human Figure

This was the turning point in that the human form was starting to be displayed in a more realistic way rather than a stylized one. Many of the Greek sculptures are glorifying the human body, most especially that of the female form. Many of the female forms used were representative of actually being pregnant or remnants of giving birth were present. I feel this shows how much the Greeks value life and that it stems from the woman. Eventually this lead to a humanism of the Greek arts according to the narrator. There was a transition from sixth century b.c. in where the Gods were replaced with a more classical theme of where the sculptures were of humans and not Gods.

Module 6: peer blog review

http://dasiamorman.blogspot.com/2013/02/project-1-elements-and-principles.html

For project number 1, while I couldn't see the pictures I did enjoy her explanation of them and felt that it was very creative.  For color  she chose to take a picture of her strawberry lemonade and said she liked how "the light reflects off the ice cubes perfectly". You can tell just by her written responses how much thought and time was put in. I liked the fact that she used her drink, its something that never would have dawned on me. I love lemonade so I immediatly connected with it.

Project #2 Art Gallery Visit #1- Responding To Artwork
I enjoyed her view on the pieces she chose. I especially liked that she was able to connect on the pieces in such a personal way whether it be by music, her heritage  or her own childhood experiences. I especially connected to the bath painting. My sister and I spent so much time in the bathroom with our mother, watching her put on her makeup, or doing her hair. It was our time with her to do what girls do. It is something my sister and I cherish until this day.

Stone, Glass and Space

“A sculpture comes alive in clay, dies in plaster, and is reborn in marble.”

           One of the things that struck me was during the Through the Eyes of the Sculptor was that the sculptor has to use his feelings to carve "life back into the shape". It seems to be a very intimate process between the artist and the piece. It is such a painstaking process there is no way you could do work like this if it wasn't something that you loved. You can't fake something like this. Carving comes from within. So many things go into making a sculpture that I never even thought of, like if the piece of stone is good or not. Emmanuel Fillion (who is quite handsome) can tell the difference between the sound of a cracked stone or one without a crack.  He talks about how shape, modeling and aesthetic are all important and that he has to make sure they all interact together to make his sculpture come alive. Even the transfer of the sculptures from his studio to where they reside takes a lot of thought process. "Bridges" have to be put on the portions where the sculpture is liking to crack. The bridges add stability to the pieces of sculpture that are jutting out and allow for safe travel of the piece. Once its put in place, the bridges are removed. He said that if he can't envision the sculpture in his head first, he can not create it. This shows the connection between sculptor and sculpture. They have to feel it and see it and connect with it. Otherwise it doesn't get created.

 

          Glass and Ceramics  video made me laugh immediatly when she said "You are at home, glasses on your head"...so very true as I am wearing glasses. I like that she used the word viscous when she said that glass doesn't come as a solid but rather a viscous solid. Most people do not realize that. I enjoyed the scientific aspect of this video since I am a biology major and have had to take plenty of chemistry. This brought the realization that science and artistry are intertwined in a way. More so than I orignally thought at least. The firing portion of ceramics is so important because it is what determines how the glass will look and what its finish will be. That would be too intense for me to know that your final outcome could be ruined by just one degree!!! I couldn't believe that the glazing process was done by a man actually dipping the pieces into the glaze, swirling it around and then putting on a conveyor belt. I just assumed a machine would do it like all the other processes. Laminated glass has become such an important and vital requirement in Architecture so has to to harm anyone when the glass is broken. It was neat to see the glass being folded and refolded when adding the strengthening element.

        Installation Art   is large and alive and.....controversial. It over takes whatever space its being developed in. It is in a way a form of sculpture in a way. Installations are three dimensional and its up to the artist to decide how much space it will take up depending on the concept. I think its controversial because of the lack of understanding as to actually what it is. I think its harder for an audience to connect with these types of pieces because they are life-like and in your face. I can't say I actually like Richard Wilson's pieces but they are amazing. It broke my heart to learn that the installation artist Yayoi Kusama has lived in an insane aslum voluntarily, and only coming out to introduce her art!!!!!! She was obsessed with "dot's". It's as if her life is only in existance when it comes to art. It's her only sane form of communication with the outside world. That is just so unreal to me. Susan Hiller described installation art as the relationship between the "images, the space and the viewer" coming together to make the piece/pieces work.

I feel so Blue or Green or Pink!

1. Describe Color and it's effects on emotions. Use the appropriate vocabulary of color in your posting.

 As the video states color is an extremely powerful gateway to evoke emotions but it is also unpredictable. It is unpredictable in the sense that you can never be sure how a person is going to react to it. I would assume the bold, saturated colors would create stronger emotions than lighter, pastel colors. The lighter colors would be more peaceful while the bolder colors would spark intense emotions like passion or anger. We also equate how we are feeling emotionally by tying to a color: Im feeling blue (Sadness), Im feeling green (queesy).

 

2. What is a theoretical aspect of color that most intrigues/fascinates you? Why?

I find it fascinating that color can make you happy. And that it can make or break a painting. I have never really thought about how important color. We even pick out toothbrushes with the colors that appeal to us! A room could be filled with the most beautiful furniture in the world, but if the walls of the room are a color that doesn’t appeal to you the whole room will be thrown off. A single line in a painting of a certain color can become the focal point. Color is found in nature and is carried over onto our everyday life.

 

3. In the Color video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and it's effects on emotions?

The biggest impact for me was just how precious pigments were before there were art stores and paint in tubes. The process of making a pigment, especially the blue made from a semi-precious metal and then soaked and needed in water for two weeks is amazing. Color was treated as a valuable commodity. The more expensive the color, the artist would reserve for the most important part of the painting.

 

4. In the Feelings video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and its effects on emotions?

I find it amazing that people are in love with the famous painting "Mona Lisa." To me the colors are depressing and not vibrant. But I get the emotional pull that people feel towards “her”. She is mysterious and people are always trying to solve the mystery of who she is and why she came about.

Assesment of the Course

1. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the best? Why? I loved working on the final project because I liked the freedom it gave where you got to choose the theme and you were in control of what pieces you chose. It was fun to come up with a theme and then play around with fonts and backgrounds and look at different art pieces.

2. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the least? Why? I least enjoyed the readings of the book. I feel like the modules should allow for more times like 10-14 days rather than one week or have the readings everyother week. Only because I felt like I was usually rushing through the chapters and only trying to find the answers to the questions rather than actually letting the information permeate my brain. I know a lot of other students in the class felt the same way as well. I learned the most from doing the projects than the actual readings. But on the plus side this is the ONLY class I have ever actually utilized the ENTIRE book.

3. How did you like using ANGEL? I really like using angel, its not anything new for me.

4. If you had the opportunity to change this course:

What would you keep? I would keep all the projects, I feel that is when I learned the most about art.

What would you remove? I don't think anything needs to be removed if a little more time were added to the modules.

What would you add? More time to the modules.

5. Would you recommend this course to your peers? Yes and no. I think its just the amount of time is what would stop me from recommending it. I would just have to make it very clear that this class would take up A LOT of time. A LOT of it. And if you are not an art major it can sometimes be cumbersome to work on the modules, especially all the readings.

6. Please list any other comments you would like to share. I think there should be more projects and less of the readings. I know it sounds like a cop out, but I truely benefitted more from the projects than the readings.

Aed 200

1. What were you expectations for this course and where they met?My expectations were that I would be looking at A LOT of different pictures and learning about all the different genre's.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting? From the first class discussion I defined art as "something that comes from the soul. People will connect with it on whether or not it "speaks" to them. Art is as diverse as the human body. There is no right or wrong." I still agree with my original definition. I feel even more strongly now that it is something that comes from deep inside. The artists we learned about some of them we recluses and didn't enjoy the actual life around them, but were able to paint it or sculpt it. There are so many things/themes an artists hides within their work. It's like a mystery and it never gets boring. I love that when you look at a painting you are looking into the eyes of that artists.

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so? Well my favorite artists were my nrother and sister. They still are but I have also added Picasso (whose works I did not like before).

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different? I feel that an online course works if you want it to. Sometimes though things happen and it's impossible to stay on track. I wish that I hadn't had certain things happen throughout the course, because I feel like I missed out on a lot of what I should have gained and had to rush through things that I would have enjoyed spending lots of time on.

Self Portrait



Create a reflection journal on your Blog and answer the following questions:
1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces? I selected the Frida Kahlo portrait because I just love how real she was and didn't try to hide shy of her imperfections. I think that she is just so beautiful. I chose the Andy Warhol portrait because I felt it mimicked the media that I used for mine. And lastly I shose Savannah Storm's picture because I liked the plafullness of it and the fact that she was still beautiful even with a mustache.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait? I chose to use digital media because I could in no way what so ever draw or paint myself. I liked the fact that I could experiment with special effects and colors and in a way "hide" myself but still be visible.

 3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them? The challenge I faced was that I DO NOT like to take pictures of myself. But the fact that I could masquerade the picture to not be a real view made me feel better. I also had to retake the picture several different times and with different lighting so that my scar wouldn't be visible.

4. How does this piece represent you? This piece represents me in that it is an actual picture of me. I also had to change everything about the way I look over a year ago. I live my life pretty much always tring to be in disguise with different hair colors, makeup and glasses. So by creating the effects on the picture I felt like it was what I do in my everyday life.

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work? I used different special effects and layered them until I got the picture how I wanted. I like the gradient of color and the at first I put it in black and white and then layered it with the different colors. I also played with the lighting and sharpness of the picture.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project? I would enjoy this art project more if we had the choice to use a self portrait or something we felt represented us.

7. What do you think of your final artwork? I actually really liked the final outcome and I am def going to use the digital program with other pictures since its so uncomfortable for me to take pictures.