Sunday, April 5, 2009

Critique: 3D Terrain

Chesapeake Beach Water Park

I chose a location which already had an artistic look to it from the elevation photos as opposed to a larger body of land which was not as aesthetically pleasing. The Chesapeake Beach Water Park is one of my favorite places near my house and I have gone there with my friends during elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. I wanted to make the environment look authentic, but also I incorporated more vivid characteristics such as color and shapes that made this arena stand out more.



Artist Presentation 8: Bruce Nauman

"Poke in the Eye/Nose/Ear"

Using a high speed industrial camera that was able to shoot up to 4,ooo frames per second, Bruce Nauman documented himself performing simple activities in the studio and then he changed the projection speed to extreme slow motion. These films were usually short, black and white films that depicted Nauman manipulating parts of his body stretching his lips with his fingers for example, or pulling a length of gauze from his mouth.

"Poke in the Eye/Nose/Ear" is a continuation of these Slo-Mo films. In this piece, Nauman records his face in closeup and he methodically pokes himself in the eye, nose, and ear. By enlarging the image, slowing down the pace of the video, and focusing on the feature he is manipulating, then the brutality of the activity becomes grossly exaggerated. With this work he has transformed a straightforward, almost mundane action into a prolonged essay on human vulnerability.

I was interested in this work because I have always found artwork focused on process to be fascinating. I am drawn to work that involves the body and Nauman, as an artist, involves the body in manipulations in order to demonstrate its limits.

Artist Event: Richard Emery Nickolson


Richard Emery Nickolson is a Professor of Painting, Drawing and Critical Thinking at the Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana. I was able to see some of his work while he was the artist in residence at St. Mary's. This event was my first time ever entering the studio work space that is associated with the artist house. I was struck by the yellow floors which somehow seemed to be completely conducive to creating art. Nickolson had been creating work during his stay at St. Mary's. He had chosen a lot of places on campus including: the crescents, the campus center, the library, etc. His work was displayed on the wall in rows, some of the pieces were finished and incorporated color, while other pieces of his were unfinished and sketchy. He had all of his paints out on the work table and the discussions he was having with other students centered around his time as a visiting professor in Paris when he said that he never had time to draw or do his own work because no matter where he went, even if he was in a cafe after class, a student would find him and want to show and discuss their own work. Most of Nickolson's work was very angular, he finds the geometry within each place and simplifies the lines in order to create a structure through alignements.

Artist Presentation 7: Tom Chambers

"Mission Window Dream"

Tom Chambers likes to create a surreal structure when creating art. His work takes the viewer on a journey through a dream-like world of the mind. He is interested in human psychology and he strongly believes that there is a loss of spirituality in the world because of the increased use of technology which causes more of an object based attention. In his artwork, children and animals are used symbolically creating a surreal landscape in order to convey human vulnerability. Chambers juxtaposes animals with people, spirituality with sensuality, and the natural with man-made materials. His ultimate goal is to express ideas about the spirit by using aspects of the real and the imaginable world, playing with expectations of the viewer.

I am drawn to all of the artists in The Alternative Museum's exhibition, Digitally Born, but I was particularly interested in Chambers work because of the way he chooses to depict real people, mainly children, with dolls. This creates an eerie feeling within the work because it makes the viewer question what is real and what is an imitation of life. There are a lot of combined elements within his piece entitled, "Mission Window Dream." In the right forefront of the composition there is a young girl holding a doll with her hands covering her eyes. In the background there is another child lying on the ground near a window surrounded by birds. The covered eyes of the girl seems very disturbing when contrasted with the half open eyes of the doll who is dressed in matching clothes. The way in which the girl in the background is surrounded by birds also makes the viewer question whether the birds are really harmless or if they in fact could potentially be dangerous. This might be a strange association, but the first time I looked at this piece I was reminded of the old fear of having your eyes picked out by birds.

Chambers artwork is beautiful, but it causes an extreme sense of uneasiness that makes the viewer feel and question how the lines of fantasy and realism are blended.

Critique: From A to Z Project

I ultimately decided to have each of my three posters represent a different letter. I wanted to combine three factors: the historical representations surrounding these letters, their visual evolution, and the way they are depicted today. The image of the snake acting as the letter "s," displayed its modern look as well as its connotation of being irresistible. The grass in the foreground and background of the scene is filled with the previous representation of the "s" which looks like a modern day "w." The dog, along with the scarf-like structure flowing from it, represents the meaning of the letter "r." The black print surrounding the image, merging with the scarf-like structure, is the previous depiction of "r." The "j" represented the many forms that the hand could possibly take, so I used a repetition of this visual to build what "j" looks like today within our alphabet. The black symbols surrounding the "j" are the previous representations of the letter.

On all of the posters I incorporated a phrase which helped the viewer understand the meaning or the associations that the letter had. The poster for "s" was the most realistic, while the posters for "r" and "j" became more abstract. During the critique, Emily mentioned that my poster for "j" reminded her of an illustration from a children's book. This was really positive feedback because I was searching to demonstrate the narrative of each of these letters. On the other hand, Tyne felt that surrounding the letters with small versions of their previous depictions was not necessary. She was pretty adamant about this and I understand her point, but one could argue that most aspects of art are "not necessary." I think having the older forms of the letter associated with the newer form added to the composition in each poster. They drew attention to themselves, while framing what would be most familiar to the viewer: letters from our modern alphabet. Ultimately, the assignment was to incorporate the meaning as well as the evolution of the letter into one poster, while still making it readable to the viewer. I feel that my work was successful at this, while still having aesthetically pleasing qualities.