Module 13 & 14: Video blog

1.)

Lowdown on Lowbrow    

There are several important concepts and ideas that I learned in the video “The Lowdown on Lowbrow.”  Lowbrow was originally defined as a person regarded as cultivated and lacking in taste, however in the art world it has a different meaning.  It can be labeled as art that nobody else knew how to categorize, a reactionary against highbrow culture.  It originally meant pornography because it emerged as a term used to define paintings with naked girls and hot rods, but it eventually progressed into much more then that.  Pop culture, car culture and folk art have all been major influences on this genre.  The time after WWII known as the “Atomic Age” where suburbia society and car production began to explode also served as a major influence on the Lowbrow art world.

            Robert Williams is seen as the original Lowbrow artist, he also served as the art director of popular Lowbrow artist, Big Daddy Roth.  These two artists along with other Lowbrow artists faced enormous struggles with trying to promote their art during their emergence.  Most galleries at the time refused to put on shows displaying Lowbrow art.  There was an unwillingness of the mainstream art world to accept lowbrow, so these unaccepted artists created their own art scene after being shut out.  Luckily, the punk rock generation helped to propel the Lowbrow art culture.  These artists were able to get their work to the masses in the form of album covers and fliers.  Today, artists like Robert Williams are in demand all over the world.  Over the last ten years, Lowbrow has gained more recognition and acceptance.

Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach

            There are many important ideas that were shown in this video.  This video shows how Tate curators developed a new method of displaying art, utilizing them in art museums.  After the 1970s, traditional ways of displaying modern art were in question.  Art starting moving off the walls to become much more busy and nosy.  The Tate Modern displays its modern in four sections.  Each of these sections has an overarching principle providing for the selection and exhibition of the selections of modern art.

            Tate’s thematic approach to displaying art can be seemed when three works by Richard Long are juxtaposed with Monet’s “Water Lilies.”  This display prompted major controversy among critics.  Critics argue that Tate Modern’s thematic presentation of art requires that viewers have no knowledge of art; they believe art should be more than entertainment.  An example of the Tate approach is the Joseph Beuys room in the Tate Modern.  This room creates a church-like atmosphere, where visitors do not materially understand what they see.  They transition to the next room where art consists of waste and junk.   Even with its critics, the Tate Approach seems to have a future in the art world.

Bone of Contention: Native American Archaeology

            This video analyzes the debate over who should have possession over more ten thousand Native American bones unearthed at archaeological sties across the United States that are in the possession of museums such as the Smithsonian.  Archaeologist, David Van Horn was charged with criminal possession of native human bone fragments, he avoided jail but lost his livelihood as a result of his prosecution.  Many scientists argue that these bones can have many positive purposes in the scientific community.  Pale pathology is one of these benefits.  Pale pathology is when scientists learn about today’s health problems by studying the remains of human beings from the past, scientists benefit future knowledge by studying the past.  British researchers also claim that research on these bones benefits understanding how many changes from the ancient to the modern.

            Native Americans have a different point of view then these scientists; they believe the bones should be returned to them.  Maria Pearson, a Yankton Sioux and Susan Harjo are two of these Native Americans.  Both women are fighting for Native people’s objects of worship to be returned, believing that these bones rightfully belong to their perspective tribes.  More recently, in order to resolve this debate, Native Americans now design the exhibits in New York’s Native American museum.  This gives them more control over the way in which these bones are displayed.

Great Museums: An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and Metropolitan Museum of Art

            This video analyzes Philippe de Montebello and the enormous impact he had on the Metropolitan Museum of art Born in France, educated at Harvard in 1963, de Montebello’s brought a background in European painting to his first job as a curatorial assistant at the metropolitan museum of art.  When he took over as a director in 1977, the met was already well established as a distinct showcase for European art.  When the museum first opened in 1870, it had 174 European paintings, mostly Flemish and Dutch masters.  However, under de Montebello’s leadership, the museums Eurocentric collection would grow to represent all continents and all cultures.

            During his 31-year tenure as director of the metropolitan museum of art, De Montebello guided the acquisition of more than 84,000 works of art. As he stated in the video, “Any number of acquisitions, fortunately, have come our way, that have given us pretty much a complete panoramic view of the world over time.”  He helped to expand the museums collection to more then just a European focus.  From a career that was launched in European classicism, Phillip de Montebello traveled through centuries and civilizations returning with a world of masterpieces to display within the walls of the metropolitan museum of art.

2.)

            These videos relate to the art exhibition project in several ways.  The video on Low Brow helped me to understand some of the pieces I have come across throughout my Internet searches that I was confused as to the genre the belonged too.  For example, there were few pieces in the gallery and online that featured partially nude women with animate objects, now that I’ve seen this video, I would definitely define those as Low Brow pieces. 

3.)

            I really enjoyed these films! My favorite one was the first video on Low Brow art.  I never really heard the term other then outside of the art world, and it was interesting to find out its meaning in regards to art.  I also enjoyed the video on the Metropolitan museum of art.  I’ve always wanted to visit this museum and hopefully if I ever make it to New York City that will be one of my first stops.  Overall, the videos helped to add to my understanding of the art concepts that I have learned so far throughout the course.

Module 11 Video Blog

1.)

            The reason I chose the first video Matisse and Picasso was because I was interested in learning more about the artist Martisse.  I also wanted to see the similarities and differences between both artists.

2.)

         There are several important concepts I learned from the video entitled Matisse and Picasso.  This video served as a comparison between the two artists Matisse and Picasso, and the differences were clearly obvious.  Matisse was a serene, self-indulgent father figure.  He was deliberate, rational and very French in the way he organized his thoughts.  In 1917 he finds the light he wants to paint in Nice, France.  By 1930, he traveled to America where he was welcomed with the Carnegie Prize, the Nobel of the art world.  He works on the clock on a regular schedule, and often wondered where his inspiration would come from. 

         Picasso was the eternal adolescent and fiery primitive.  He was a worker, impulsive and immerses himself in his painting.  In 1912, he invents the first collage, which is at the forefront of cubism.  He parodies his work in order to provoke Matisse, and also it distracts him from his wife with whom he hates.  He did not travel, but worked in solitude in his studio.  He worked at night when he is as close as possible to the unconscious.  Three fourths of the content of Picasso’s paintings di don’t exist outside the paintings, his inspiration came from life.

            Although these two artists share many differences, they also had some shared characteristics.  For example, both broke with tradition with the establishment.  They also served as influences on each other.  Picasso uses lines borrowed from Matisse, and later Matisse borrows subjects, color, or lines from Picasso.  By 1945, London hosted an exhibition of paintings by Picasso and Matisse.  In 1948, both Matisse and Picasso moved to the south of France. 

            There were several important concepts from the video The Mystical North: Spanish Art from the 19^th Century to Present.  Northern Spain has produced some of the world’s most celebrated artists including, Picasso, Goya, and Antoni Gaudi.  Goya foreshadowed modern painting with his dark political consciousness.  He was often referred too as the father of modern art, he left 80 etchings of war that reveal his dark political consciousness.  He was completely deaf, focusing his artistic vision on death, the wrath of God, and man’s inhumanity to man.  He isolates himself in a house whose walls he leaves his infamous black paintings of witches, violence and devil worship.

            Antonin Gaudi was an architect that exemplified Barcelona’s spirits of exuberance.  This can be seen in his work in Park Guell.  Unlike Goya, who rejected religious, Gaudi clung to the certainties of Spain’s Catholic part.  Gaudi’s Casa Mila earned the name La Pederea because it series of curvy cave-like balconies looked like a stone quarry.  This movement towards the primitive is similar to Henry Moore’s abstract monumental bronzes.  In 1997, a new building in the north of Spain broke with the past and ushered in a new form of architecture and a new future for Spanish art.   Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a Picasso-inspired monument of Spain’s past and future.

3.)

            Both videos relate to the readings in some ways.  The readings cover a majority of what was said in the videos, however the videos offer a much broader prospective on both topics.  For example, the first video offers a great comparison between two artists Picasso and Matisse.  The second video also gives a great comparison of different Spanish artists and their effects on modern art.

4.)

            I really enjoyed both of the videos.  I think they both offered a vast amount of information that I had not learned before in this class or in other art classes before.

Module 12

1.)

            I chose the first video, Expressionism and Pop: Art of the 50s and 60s because I have always had a large interest in Pop Art.  I wanted to know how and why it emerged and which artists really cultivated it to help it become what it is today.  I chose the second video because I felt it would be a good supplement to the first video, and would help expand my knowledge of modern art.

2.)

            There are several important concepts that I learned from the video Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the 50s and 60s.  As explained in the video, abstract expressionism was born from a joining of attitudes in American art and European avant-garde art.  It was later rejected for its non-figurative and seemingly egocentric character in favor of the phenomenon known as pop art.  Franz Kline is an important example of an influential abstract artist.  Kline initially injects his work with mood and expression but moves towards painting colors in undefined space thus sparking the imagination with sensual impact.  This can be seen in his painting entitled C&O.  He uses shapes to evoke emotions and his use of action painting reveals a process of constant discovery and leads us into a world of color and form.  Another important movement discussed in the video was Pop art.  This movement helped embrace the rhythms of city life.  Andy Warhol was probably the most influential of the pop artists during this time.  Both Warhol and Rauschenberg became art icons of the 60s by paving the way for pop artists in their use of everyday objects.

            The Uncertainty: Modernity and Art video also shared many important concepts as well.  Modern art was an art instrument of the tumultuous 20^th century.  It communicates chaos, anxiety and above all uncertainty.  The underlying message of modern art is uncertainty.  It is a complete break from art of the past that was inspirational and idealized.  Modern art is the contemporary societies version of the Delphic Oracles.  It documents the metamorphism of mankind.  As stated in the video, with the industrial Revolution, man is separated from nature and machines rule work which brought changes in science, religion and art.  Modern art is a reflection of all the changes that were going on within societies.

3.)

            Both videos helped to expand upon the readings in the text.  For example, Andy Warhol was covered in both the video on Expression and Pop Art, and in the book.  However, I felt the video gave a better analysis of abstract expressionism and the artists who helped influence it.    The Modern art video also gave a much better analysis of the historical impacts of the movement then the book.  It also gave a much more in depth definition of the movement and its components.

4.)

            I felt both videos were very interesting and informative.  It was a little hard to catch many of the artists name as it was in previous videos so I would recommend putting on the captions for any one who is a slow typist like myself when taking notes!

            

Mask Project

1)   Inspiration Images: (Elements & Principles, and why I chose them)

I chose to do a more festive mask therefore I used three mardi gras masks that I found on the internet.  The first two use bright hues of purple, yellow and green.  They both have symmetrical patterns around each eyes.  The third mask looks as if it was made out of gold, and has symmetrical patterns around the eyes as well.

2)   Planning my mask: (Elements & Principles used in my mask)

After trying out a few sketches, I decided on a small mask that only covered the eye area of the face.  I would use felt fabric, yarn as well as sequins to add to the festive effect.  I wanted to use the color purple and other shades of purple because I felt like it would make the mask pop out more.   I also wanted to use a symmetrical pattern scheme around each of the eyes.  I also used yarn on each side of the mask to create movement while the mask is worn.

3)   Creating my mask: (Digitized Picture of Mask)

4)   What I Thought of my finished Mask:

I actually was very pleased with how my mask turned out.  I was initially a little nervous about making a mask, but once I decided on a festive mask I felt much more comfortable.  Once I decided on the color and materials it all fell together.