My Trip to the Albright Knox


Yesterday, I visited the Albright Knox Art Gallery. During my visit I did not focus on one exhibit, I walked the entire museum and chose to focus on artwork that interested me. I found it interesting focusing on the architectural aspects of the museum because the museum seems to be designed so that you do not focus on the archetectural design. The museum is set up for the viewing pleasure of the art only. Even the resturant seems to be hidden or disconnected from the exhibits. Upon entering the museum the first thing you notice that everything is clean and white. The interior is simple in design and there are no decorative colors on the walls or floor. There are minimal details. This makes the museum bright without the use of a lot of flourecent lighting. The lighting is pointed downward toward the artwork, but not directly on each piece. When you enter the artwork that you see at first is the older classical art and as you move through the art becomes more abstract and contemporary. Each piece is about 10 feet apart to give you the opportunity to view it with no distractions. The more classical art that is on canvas is framed in gold "antique looking" frames and the modern artwork is either mounted or matted. The artwork seemed to be generally categorized in the museum: classical, abstract, drawings and sculptures. They are all labeled with a small white card to the right of the piece. I noticed the more contemporary art had a small amount of information written about the artist and the work.


My Three:

1. Numbers in Color (1958-9) By Jasper Johns - American Born in 1930
Encaustic and Newspaper on canvas
This piece is a part of the abstract expressionist period in time. By looking as the repetitive nature it is obvious that he is a contemporary artist that uses printmaking in his technique.This piece is representational rather than realistic. It represents a time in America when many products were being mass produced. Color is definately an element that he uses. He draws in the viewer by using bright colors and complimentary colors such as blue and orange. He uses the principle of unity and variety because it is an assortment of the same numbers but in different colors. This piece reminds me of newspaper print because of the style of the numbers but because he makes it so abstract it is like he turning something that is very simple into something that is very extreme. We look at numbers so much that they loose their impact. I think he is trying to say that you can take something that is very mundane and turn it into a powerful work of art.


2. Convergence (1952) by Jackson Pollack American born (1912-1956) Oil on Canvas
This piece is one Jackson Pollack's splatterpaintings. What we see in this painting is the use of many colors and extreme variety and movement. It is almost as if you can imangine Pollack painting this. The size of the painting also invites the viewer into Pollack's world of tangles, twists and drips of paint. Pollack is representing his non acceptance of traditional forms of paintings. The title convergence suggests that even though the painting is chaotic, you should see how it all fits together also. This painting reminds me of heavy metal music. In your head you are trying to keep up with the patterns but rather than try to understand the patterns, you should just enjoy the output. I think Pollack is suggesting that we step away from how we try to rationalize art and interpret it and see the beauty in the creativity of his method.


3. Kill Yourself (1989) by Nancy Dwyler American born in 1954 - vinyl paint on canvas
This piece is a play on words. There is a major contrast in what is being said and how it is depicted by the artist. The words "kill yourself" are negative in nature but the style of lettering, the colors and the bubbles painted on them seem to represent a happy mood. Dwyler uses space in suspending the words in the middle of the painting and leaving a large amount of space around it to give emphasis on the phrase. Her use of color is also interesting because had she used darker colors the painting would have depicted a different mood. This painting reminds me of font that one would see in a cartoon. The lettering seems almost childish yet she plays with your mind by putting ice on the letters to the word kills and painting bubbles in the background. I believe she wants the viewer to make light of a serious statement by either being confused or amused, either way, you may or may not laugh when you see this.

Videos

The Drawings of Michealangelo
This video explores the sketches and "roughdrafts" of some of Michealangelo's best work. I chose this video because I thought it would be interesting to see the brainstorming of such an artistic genius.During the time of his masterpieces, he would have never wanted anyone looking at his sketches. Many of his drawings were destroyed because he did not want people to see his hesitations. By looking at his work, one can see that he seeks to find the core of the figure and the mass of the body. In doing this, he masters the human body. As a child he was very talented. He was the 12 year old talented apprentice of of Ghirlando. He became infatuated with the Roman and Greek sculptures and their depiction of the perfect man and for 60 years he used the male figure as his model. His sketching showed where there is pressure and mass by his extreme talent in hatching and dense cross hatching. (hatching and cross hatching as seen in the text) He made the body in poses that were actually impossible for the body to move into but because of the realness of the drawings it did not seem impossible. In his depiction of Christ's Risen Body, Jesus is weightless but dense at the same time. His most interesting sketch was of Adam from the Sistine Chapel. This was his depiction of the perfect man, Adam, before God gave him life. I found it very interesting that he focused on the male body instead of the female body. His technique of perfecting the males muscle mass became an obsession for him, such that he did not attempt to perfect drawing females.

Leonardo DiVinci-The Renaissance
I chose this video because I wanted to learn more about an artist that I only associate with the Mona Lisa. Leonardo DiVinci was born in Tuscany and was thought to be very intelligent at a very young age. As mentioned in the text, the Renaissance began in Italy,so DiVinci lived in the midst of the splendor of the arts. He proved his brilliance by mastering many arts and moving from one expertise to another. One interesting part of the video was the discussion of his homosexual tendencies. He was even accused of sodomy and used his accusers as the subjects of his work. He depicted their grotesque angry faces and made fun of them. He also became very isolated at this time. During this time, he also faced rejection over and over while Botticello was chosen to paint many famous paintings. As time progresses he becomes a master in his skill and focuses on color, distance and proximity. He became the official court painter. He also ventured into science and mechanics. He was one of the first to secretly carry out a dissection. He even studied artificial flight. His studies helped him to have a vast knowledge of proportions of man and other objects. This enhanced my knowledge of art because great art is created by creating realistic proportions. This is interesting because he approached this through a knowledge of many things, not just art.

Botticelli- La Primavera
I chose this video because the painting of The Birth of Venus on p 383 in the text caught my attention. I did not know much about Botticelli, but after watching the video I noticed that he used the Greek gods as his subject matter. La Primavera, which means Spring in Italian, is a picture that depicts the god Mecury (messenger to the gods), the three graces and cupid in a fertile garden. The garden also shows hundreds of different flowers that represent different species. It was said that the subject, Mercury, was a version of Lorenzo Magnificent. Lorenzo was a very wealthy and intelligent but was not very beautiful like Botticelli presents him in La Primavera. Botticelli was an artist during the 1480's, which was the peak of the Renaissance and perfect timing for his talents. There was a high demand religious imagery. Everyone owned religious paintings that could afford them. Botticelli took advantage of this and became an opportunist and artistic entreprenuer. What was interesting to me was how talented Bottecelli and DiVinci were equally talented but since Botticelli was more business savvy he was chosen to paint more.

Rembrant- the Night Watch
I chose this video because I am somewhat familiar with his work. The Night Watch is a massive (11ft by 14 ft) painting, which means it is not meant to be taken lightly. It is a piece of iconic Dutch art. Its viewers feel as if they are a part of the artwork because of the extreme detail and attempt to make the space seem 3 dimensional. X rays show where he worked and reworked the painting until it reached perfection. Rembrant painted action and drama in this painting. The painting has been slashed, splashed with acid and had water thrown on it. He painted during a time when the genre of group portraits were painted to depicted militias. He added addtional figures that gave the painting a story: a young boy, faces in the background and an unexpected small girl that seems to be supernatural. His use of lighting is magnificent and gives meaning and emphasis to certain parts of the painting. The most important part of the video was how the paintings massive size interfered with moving it and the trouble the Dutch went through to keep it secure. I have learned in many of the videos I have watched in this class that artists have to worry about preserving their art and traveling with their artwork. Some of the artwork that is hundreds of years old has to be carefully preserved and inspected. When the night watch was unrolled after five years, it was in remarkable condition.

Video Review

Through the Eyes of a SculptorIn this video, one of the important factors that I noticed right away was Emmanuel Fillion's connection with his history and culture. He points out that it is important to know where you come from and who you are. It was very interesting to see the process of how the limestone is taken from the quarries. Limestone is a sedimentary rock that forms under the sea so at first it is heavy and wet. Another part of the video discussed the restoration artist. The process of restoring the old sculptures is very intricate. Before the old stone is removed it is molded and the duplicate is carved using the mold as a guide. This is similar to Fillion's process when he creates his sculptures. First he visualizes it, then he draws it, next it comes alive in clay, then plaster and finally marble.As mentioned, the clay is familiar to us because we all used clay as a child. It is the material most used for modeling. Plaster is done by casting.which the book calls an "indirect" form of creating a sculpture. One interesting fact was how marble was moved down the mountains with sleds which to be an arduous task. The most interesting aspect of the video was how time consuming the entire process was. It took Fillion 8 months to complete his masterpiece.
Glass and Ceramics-
Glass is made from sand. A viscous liquid is used that stiffens when cools. It is 60 to 75 % sand that can be mixed with limestone or pot ash. Lumps of the molten silica is gathered on a rod and blown until it inflates then it is shaped with a marver heated again to finalize the process. It also can be shaped with a torch. Cementation allows the paint to adhere to the glass so that it is still transparent. The process of making ceramics is very intricate. Ceramics are made from a clay base. One fact that I did not know was that ceramics are differentiated by heat. For example, beautiful China is made by heat of 1400 degrees Celsius and floor tile is made from 1100 degrees Celsius heating. Glazing the ceramics waterproofs and makes it shiny. The book mentions the potter's wheel, which is the fastest method of creating a hollow rounded form. It was first used by the Egyptians. In my opinion the most interesting part of the video was the many uses of ceramics in cars, surgeries and things in our everyday lives. It is stronger than steel!
Installation Art
Installation art can transform a space. Installation art defines a space. In the video most of the installation transformed the rooms into more creative spaces. It is 3D and it uses all of its surroundings. Sometimes it can change an entire building. Dechamp changed the way we look at art. He and Switter paved the way for this new innovative art, proclaiming that art can be more than just an image. The pop art era revealed a new way of thinking for many artists. Artists include videos, music , sculpture, and architecture. Installation art is synonymous  with environmental sculpture as mentioned in the text. It can be entered or moved about in. It is made for a specific area and only makes sense in that venue. In my opinion installation art is the most creative. It involves architects and can include changing the dynamics of an entire room.
Prairie Style
Prairie style was introduced by Frank Lloyd Wright. He intended to build a style of homes that could coexist with their environment. Prairie style is a direct reflection of the American Midwest. Wright designed houses for the single family in the Chicago area. This Chicago architecture came from the landscape in that area. He incorporated the layering of horizontals. The Tomac house was built in 1904. Its owner feels that he wanted it to be a harmony between the client and the architecture. The goal was the echo the land. Even the access to the door was even mystic so that the house looks like it blends in with the environment. He opens up the home by places the fireplace in the middle of the house in order to have endless windows. All of the rooms are linked to one another. His houses were also planned to follow the sun. Francis Sullivan is another artists that incorporated this style. Prairie style houses are organic; almost like they grow out of the land. The houses are mansions but built for ordinary man.Houses are rooted into the landscape. The texts sites Frank Lloyd Wright and accredits him to be the greatest American architecture of his time. I agree. I feel that his home give a warmth and comfortable atmosphere for the owner. It offers views to the owner. It is amazing that he has little formal education. He took his creativity to the maximum.

Installation Art

My project-
1. Installation art is art that defines a space or takes over a space. It is all around you. It is site specific as if it only exists for that area.
2. Installation art can incorporate many different materials. It can be anything from video, sculptures, architecture and music.
3. Installation art is made to transform a space. It gives the viewer a new perspective and it can change a gallery or space.
4.The installation I found most interesting was 2050 because it involved reflections off of the oil in the room. It inspired me to include a mirror in my installation so that the viewer can view the entire area from both sides.
5.I felt a connection with sculpting so I made a small sculpture to incorporate my own creation.
I incorporated Nature into my installation by using fruit to add a natural appeal.
6.I used clay, sculptures I already owned, cloth, paintings and a mirror.
7. My installation is located in my kitchen area because it is a site specific design that can only exist in that small space.
My plan was to create a space that looked natural and fit perfectly with my eating area. I have a small kitchen so I could not fit much into the area. I made the sculpture of the pineapple and I made it small so it could be noticed but not overpower the other fruit.

Exploring Value and The Subtractive Color Theory

I had a lot of fun with this project!!

I thought creating the Value Scale was going to be very simple, but it was not as easy as it seemed. The trouble I had was making the darkest shade of black with a graphite pencil. It just did not look black enough to me. As for the lighter shades I had to smudge the pencil with my finger to lighten it You cannot see the white square in this image. The color wheel on the other hand was fairly simple. The watercolors are only annoying in that they can make the paper "soggy" if you do not blot the brush off enough but I enjoyed creating both scales

I enjoyed working with the pencil better because it is something I am more familiar and comfortable with. I have used shading techniques recently when I just sketch. I have not used water colors in such a long time. You can erase pencil but not watercolors!

I think the most important discovery in the study of these color theories is the complementary color theory. By placing the complimentary colors next to one another the colors appear more vibrant.





The most important aspect of the videos to me was to darken colors without black. I have made the mistake of ruining paintings in the past with black and black can overpower the other colors.

Project Reflection

This project was very interesting. When I first read the assignment I thought it would be difficult to photogragh the principles and elements but I found this project to be fun. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the elements and principles of art. The most difficult principle to photograph was "emphasis" because in a photograph there can be a lot of distractions for the viewer. I found the other elements and principles to be fairly simple. Take a look......http://s751.photobucket.com/home/watkinar01/recentuploads?view=slideshow

Color and Emotional Effects

1. An artist's use of color can influence a person's emotions in a painting. The hue, intensity and color can promote a feeling that the artis is trying to convey. Brighter hues can promote happier feelings for instance and more intense colors can convey more intese feelings.

2. The theoretical aspect of color that intrigues me the most is the fact that we do not see colors we actually see reflections of light. What is even more interesting is that white is a combination of all the colors on the spectrum.

3. In the video, the most interesting aspect was that the artist began with the yellowish color of the buildings as a foundation to her painting. She later added more intense colors that expressed her mood and the outcome was much more personal than the image she saw.

4.In the video, the most intriguing aspect of color and feelings is that it started with humanism. Each period of time changes the way humans were depicted. For instance, during the revolution, the paintings were not meant to depict any emotion other than Revolution. The colors were intense and meant to depict the emotions of war.