Final Post: Reflections

AED 200

What I Have Learned in a Semester

1. What were your expectations for this course and where they met?

• My expectations for this course were to gain insight into art, how to evaluate it and to become somewhat familiar with relevant artist in history. These expectations were met several times over. I was remiss end to have to actually perform art tasks when I first read the syllabus, but that attempts to create art on my own were invaluable in teaching me just how much appreciation I actually had for the talents of the artists we learned about. Also, I truly felt the rewards of the class, when during my last visit to Albright I recognizes a the work of an artist in a picture that we had not studied. It was exactly the kind of experience and knowledge I hoped to gain from this class.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your initial posting?

• I stand by my initial definition of art, “To me Art is an expression of a feeling, idea, or concept, depicted in visual, auditory, or performance mediums. It is not conversational.” I would however add to that, art is not limited to the constraints that I originally imagined. It’s value is truly in the eye of the beholder. My understanding of what art is was really broadened by the videos on lowbrow and the trade modern videos.

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?

• I still do not have a favorite artist, but I have a much greater appreciation for many more artists than I did at the onset of this class. I also now have an understanding of the different genera of art and an appreciation for the the different skills it takes to execute them.

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 had experience with online courses prior to this class, and I still think that online course are a great resource for busy students. I was surprised by how much I learned about technology in this course, transferring art creations to digital mediums, and making and maintaining a blog are among the best skills I have taken away from the class.  

Art Visit #3 - Self Portrait

My Self

A self portrait by: Carly Dryden Szczygiel

Step #1:

Watch the PowerPoint.

Step #2

Visit an Art Gallery and document three inspiration Self-Portrait artworks.

• I visited Albright Knox on Sunday, May 1, 2016. The only self portrait in the whole museum was the one pictured below of Frida Kahlo. The other inspirational self portraits are sourced from An Eye For Art, a book presented by the National Gallery of Art, sold in the Albright Knox gift shop.

Step #3

Take a photograph of yourself.

Step #4

Create your self-portrait in media of your choice.

Step #5

Upload the three inspiration images, the original photograph of yourself, and image of your completed self-portrait to your Blog (or Photobucket and then embed to your Blog).

Step #6

Create a reflection journal on your Blog and answer the following questions:

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

• I selected these self portraits for inspiration because they each portray something that I wlike.
• Davinci’s self portrait is striking to me in that it almost seems unfinished, and though he is an old man it almost makes it seem like he is not finished developing as a person. Also I knew I wanted a similar medium for the base of my portrait.
• Frida Kahlo’s self portrait spoke to me because she plays up the traits that she does not like about herself. It seems like she is facing her fears in a way by calling attention to her insecurities.
• VanGogh’s self portrait was inspirational to me because of its abstract nature. I liked that he was not traditional in his portrayal. It seemed indicative of him telling everyone that he was not as he appears.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

• I selected the combination of pencil and collage because the truth is I'm not a strong artist. I am highly creative and I was a anxious to incorporate elements of my life that I do not have the skills to depict. Also I wanted to experiment with collage as my final medium for the class, because I hadn’t yet, and I thought it would be something I would enjoy.

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

• The challenges that I faced in creating my self portrait is that I do not have art skills honed enough to depict myself in a way that I see myself. I overcame this by using pencil, which is by far my better art medium, and collage to accurately depict and incorporate all of the parts of myself that I wanted to present in my self portrait.

4. How does this piece represent you?

• This piece represents where I am in life right now. I am getting ready to graduate, and though the left side looks professional and presentable, the right side is still a little less defined, and slightly cluttered. The components of the right side are mostly food, and wine, as I am a dietetics major, and a wine lover. The two are not mutually exclusive. There is also Champagne component that is indicative of the coming graduation that warrants celebration. In addition to the dualism I wanted to represent in my current self the portrait is meaningfully split in two more broad ways. I am a Gemini and so I relate to the twin part of a whole, and in general I feel like what is presented to the outside is not always the same as what is going on on the inside, the right side.

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

• I applied the principle of contrast pretty heavily in this piece, with the line directly dividing the portrait. I also used a lot of color on the right side and light on the left side. Light is prevalent in the picture that the portrait is based on, but only really translated on the left side with the shading.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

• Yes, I always enjoy an excuse to be creative, but it was stressful to try to represent myself in a medium (art) that I feel I have such a limited skill set. The sketch (left side) came out much better than I thought it would. The right side was just fun, looking through food magazines trying to figure out how to incorporate them into the portrait. It is not very evident in the finished product, but I utilized shape a lot in making the collage image.

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

• I really like the final product, and I am shocked that I do. I had resolved myself that this would not be one to hang on the fridge, but in truth I probably will. I was able to make the collage half of the portrait in my likeness using food and wine images, which I am oddly proud of.

Project #4 : Art Curator Exhibition Slideshow

Reflecting on the Creation of an Art Exhibit:

Riding Through Art

Curator: Carly D. Szczygiel

Creating this exhibit was much more work than I had anticipated! It was a lot of fun tracking down different pieces of art and arranging them in an order that told the story that I wanted to tell. I chose the title because I wanted to express the subjects of the art (horse and rider), but also because I wanted to create a progression of art through time and age of the human subjects in the art. As I mentioned in several posts I was really taken with the Taft Modern video and the concept of an interactive museum experience, which is why I added the nontraditional art components at the end of the presentation. There were many more pieces that I would have liked to include but I could not find enough pertinent information about them to verify that they were art. I felt like I learned quite a bit about the presence of horses in art and the diverse many relationships that humans have had  with horse over the years and how they have been captured. I hope that it translates in the viewing of this presentation. In closing I hope that with a dash of imagination the interactive ideas can be appreciated as I intended them to be in real life.

Module 13 & 14 - Video Review

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

• The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art - The key points of this film are to address Low brow, which is according to many artist interviewed is varying degrees of obvious, uncultivated art. Cartoons, pornography, and many varieties in between. It is decidedly different than mainstream art. The artist who weighed in on the genera that they were included in identified themselves as admitted outsider artists, and they are proud of it. It is usually narrative, involving action, and not viewed as sophisticated. The internet is credited with the growth in lowbrow popularity has been attributed to the fact that people can gravitate to it without the stigma that traditional, art interpretation casts of the genre.

• BBC Culture show: Tate Modern is 10! (Parts 1-4) - The key point of this film is about the focus of the Tate Modern museum on the experience of patrons. It is fun, but the art is not always taken seriously. Some of the most popular aspects don’t necessarily have intended purposes, but mean very different equally impact full things to each unique person. It brings people together, and breeds interaction, but can also lead to a lack of respect for the contemporary art aspect of the art and the art itself. People take away what they want from the experience

• An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art-The video accentuates the importance of the Curator(s) in the design, layout, and content of museum.  This is an art itself, but rather than working in brush strokes, colors, and mediums, the curator uses art to and the way they related to one another. The difficulties lie in acquiring pieces and using them to work with other pieces. It was interesting to learn the how many different aspects, of the art is assessed: quality, value, trend, authentication, time period, cost. I was surprised by how many curators there were at the met, and that ultimately a board decides what art is acquired.

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

• Each of the videos relate to the creation of my Art Exhibition project. All three videos provided an aspect of art and how it is related to an exhibition. The importance to encompass all types of art without bias. The importance of having a focused exhibit with a good blend and contrast of art appreciation and personal experience. Finally, the critical analysis and collaboration that is required to produce world renowned exhibits and what my evaluation should be of the pieces that I chose because I am acting to fill all the roles.  
• In The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art the point that I took away with regard to creating an exhibit was the iteration that art is a really subjective experience for most people. Even Though I may not particularly care for a style of art, like many people were reported to feel about lowbrow, it is important to incorporate a variety of styles to be diligent and thorough about art. It is also important to recognize the variety of tastes that are out there and not to be swain by my own subjectivity, when working as a curator.

• In BBC Culture show: Tate Modern is 10! (Parts 1-4) the power of the museum experience was highlighted. It was very impact full to see how effective the museum had been in making the art experience tangible. The curators and museum staff was very conscientious about the individual experience. I found it interesting that though, they succeeded in having a fun museum with many exhibits that people enjoyed they face the unforeseen problems of people disrespecting some of the art, and not necessarily appreciating the art, only how they experienced it.

• An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, provided a great insight into the multi faceted decision process that is involved in the obtaining, evaluating, and displaying of art. The Metropolitan is a huge conglomerate but I took away the importance of having many minds and many opinions that go into making it as diverse and successful as it is. I will be extra mindful of my limitations as only having my own experiences and my own character resources to work from. I am committed to thinking outside my comfort box to ensure that the exhibit assignment holds something for everyone of my imaginary audience.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?

• The films were fantastic. I really enjoyed the message that each was meant to deliver with regard to the Art Exhibition assignment. They emphasized the importance of diversity, objectivity, and the viewer experience. I wish that there was some way to make the exhibit interactive, in the style of Tate Modern, or at least to have part of the exhibit be interactive without taking away or taking people out of the mindset of the art experience over the personal experience. I hope to incorporate all of the points I learned from these videos into the overall experience of the exhibit.

Week #12 - Video Blog

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.
• I chose Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the '50s and '60s, and Andy Warhol: Images of an Image, because the 50’s and 60’s was something I could conceptualize. It was my parents era and and visually I know that I have seen pieces from that time, in life outside of a museum. I chose the film about Andy Warhol, because I wanted to know more about him specifically. It is a name that I recognize but an artist I know little about.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
• In the Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the '50s and '60s, the key concepts that I really took away was why the art from that time took on the form that it did. The mood of the world, and the fact that artists were interested in creating art that had not been created before, which is in part responsible for abstract technique.
• In the Andy Warhol film, I felt like the presence of art in marketing, media , and the everyday were really apparent. I was struck by Warhol's statement that department stores were the new museums.

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
• The videos I chose really provide a more in depth accounting of the way that the artist connected to the world and insight about why certain art became predominant and poplar. I also appreciated the evolution of art especially warhol’s art to interpret the world, actresses, advertisements, etc. in a way that took them from everyday items to art through his unique view and techniques. Especially silk screening.

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?
• I really enjoyed both of the films, I was surprised that I like the Warhol film more that I liked the Abstract Expressionism one. More so than the book the film provided information about the mood of the world that the artist were in an some of the outside influences that influenced the works. Additionally, the video about Warhol did a good job of really depicting how and why his art was so different and revolutionary. It gave me a better understanding and respect for the pieces that I had maybe previously thought were rather unimpressive copies of someone else's work. For example the art of the actresses, being based on someone else's photograph, or the copied images of food labels or advertisements being retooled by warhol and presented to the world as his own art. I now really grasp that his art was the interpretation of these mondaine or ordinary things.

Art Visit #2 - Exploring Exhibits

Art Visit #2 - Exploring Exhibits

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:

1. What is the title of the exhibit?

• The exhibit is titled Torey Thornton: SIR VEIL

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?

• The theme of the exhibition is abstract, imagery from the artist Torey Thornton.

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:

1. What type of lighting is used?

• The lighting used is down lighting, that is bright and focused from tracks on the ceiling, about three feet back from where the wall meets the ceiling.

2. What colors are used on the walls?

• The colors of the walls are white with no accents.

3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space?

• There were literally no other materials in the space besides art pieces.

4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?

• The movement is circular, only around the perimeter of the room. It seems as though it could start on either side of the door, but because the doorway is flush with one wall, many people seemed to start with the first painting on the right (flush wall side) because it was the first painting they saw.

Step 3: The Artwork

Questions about the artwork:

1. How are the artworks organized?

• The art is hung around a large white room. It is a perfect backdrop for the visually busy collection of art.

2. How are the artworks similar?

• The works are similar, they are all abstract, with plenty of color, contrast, line, and pattern.

3. How are the artworks different?

• Though the works are similar in style, utilizing similar elements and principles, the subjects are very different. The use of different color and shape makes the art have a diverse feel even though they seem to have a uniform theme.

4. How are the artworks framed?

• The works are not framed, they are very busy to look at and I imagine that a frame would not be complimentary to the work.

5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?

• The art is labeled by small index card sized identifiers of to the side of the art.

6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?

• The art is spaced far from one another. Some are hung alone on a wall. There is a lot of white space surrounding each piece.

Step 4: Art Criticism Exercise

Select three of the artworks from the show and use the Art Criticism worksheet to describe, analyze, bracket and interpret the work using the 5-step Art Criticism Process described.

Artist: Torey Thornton

Title of work: There's Solid Militia Fashion, but Come On, Domestic Like Focus Always

Media: Acrylic paint, oil pastel, sharpie, graphite, nail polish, and marker on paper

Date: 2015

Size: 68 1/2 x 86 1/4 inches

Source of picture: http://www.albrightknox.org/exhibitions/exhibition:02-27-2016-torey-thornton-sir-veil/

Art Criticism

1.   Be receptive - Keep an open mind.  Look for what is good.  No put-downs allowed.

2.   Description – Describe what you see.  

• I see shapes in no specific layout. If i employ my imagination the large dark green/jade it a head on a body, but the other shapes take on no realistic application.

3.   Formal analysis – (form)  What principles and elements were used and how are they used?

• Shape and color are the most identifiable elements and principles of the piece.

4.  Bracketing - Is there anything in or about this work that reminds you of anything else? Do you see any symbols, metaphors, or allegories?

• My first response is no, but upon considering all the information I have about the art, I can see that traditional camouflage colors are used in the green color family.

5.  Interpretation - (content)  What do you think the artist was trying to say?

• It seems like the artist is saying forget what you know, and possibly to make the viewer create their own new imagined reality, trying to make sense of the work.

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Artist: Torey Thornton

Title of work: Breaking Some Rules for Momma (Theresa)

Media: Acrylic on Wood

Date: 2014

Size: Undisclosed (big)

Source of picture: iPhone digital photo, taken at Albright Knox

Art Criticism

1.   Be receptive - Keep an open mind.  Look for what is good.  No put-downs allowed.

2.   Description – Describe what you see.  

• I see a figure in black, feminine in appearance. The colorful wood pieces in front of her look like graffiti-ed planks from a picket fence.

3.   Formal analysis – (form)  What principles and elements were used and how are they used?

• The contrast of the flat black figure against the shiny gold background is predominant. The color of the patterns in the picket fence are also very eye catching uses of those elements and principles.

4.  Bracketing - Is there anything in or about this work that reminds you of anything else? Do you see any symbols, metaphors, or allegories?  (iconography)

• The metaphor I see is a woman blocked by her surroundings. The use of a colored picket fence (traditionally white), represents to me both the repressed role of women, being kept behind a fence in the house, and the radical colors represents the other life factors that are not traditional and maybe vary from woman to woman.

5.  Interpretation - (content)  What do you think the artist was trying to say?

• Because I know this was for the artist mother I think it represents her struggle, and her oppression. I think Torey created it so that she may know he understood or sympathized with her plight.

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Artist: Torey Thornton

Title of work: Crop in Plain View

Media: Acrylic Canvas with Metal

Date: 2015 - 2016

Size: Undisclosed (big)

Source of picture: iPhone digital photo, taken of exhibit brochure from Albright Knox

Art Criticism

1.   Be receptive - Keep an open mind.  Look for what is good.  No put-downs allowed.

2.   Description – Describe what you see.  

• Lines, and a lot of them. There are horizontal lines in earth-tones interrupted by blue metal pieces that intersect at a semi-right angle.

3.  Formal analysis – (form)  What principles and elements were used and how are they used?

• The elements and principles used are line, in both the patterned background and in the two intersecting blue metal planks, and contrast in the use of three dimensional materials and in the color, and contrast, difference of the bright blue atop the earth-tone background.

4.  Bracketing - Is there anything in or about this work that reminds you of anything else? Do you see any symbols, metaphors, or allegories?  (iconography)

• It strikes me a dualistic, and metaphoric of the evolution of the word “crop”. The earth-tone lines that compose the background of the painting depict the traditional crops a farmer might grow in  a field, where as the angle of the blue metal intersect represent the new digital formatting use of the word crop.

5.  Interpretation - (content)  What do you think the artist was trying to say?

• I think the artist is trying to call attention to the changing world, where once the word crop meant something of the earth, it now more often refers to the editing of a digital photo.

Take pictures of the images you are interpreting. If this is not allowed, make quick sketches of the pieces.