Studio SMP Critiques

Reena: Sculpture

Reena's sculpture is made up of a series of wooden, rectangular plains with red paint on selected edges. The plains connect and disconnected on a diagonal slant with some projecting out into the foreground while others remain flat. Reena's work before this project dealt more with box shapes but now she is focusing more on the surface plains. She wants her work to reflect a sliding movement and to approach the ideas of color and space. She is working on a larger scale in order to capture more of a sense of movement. Sculpture deals with movement from side to side but not as much from front to back. Work appears to be contained in it's space and the artist might want to think about displaying the wood panels in such a way that they appear to expand beyond their borders.

Ashley: Fiber/Portraits

Ashley displayed a series of three pieces. The first one represented spoons and the gradual tarnishing of the metal surface. The second piece had multiple impressions of the bottom of a muffin mold with oil cans stitched on top. Then the third piece had multiple stitch outlines of buttons ranging in size and style framed by paper shadow boxes. All of the work was stitched with thread. The idea behind the pieces is that of personal collections, how they develop, how they are displayed. Ashley tried to establish a personal and precious quality to the work by making the pieces small and intimate. The viewer has to stand closely to the work in order to see the detail. One of the main issues with the work is in its presentation of the pieces.

Tom: Photography

Tom created a photobook that contains image pairs. His intention is to focus on the connection or relationship between two things whether those things are people, places, or objects. He captured all of his images from his environment, nothing was staged. He originally wanted to create a 12 x12 book but has decided on a 8 x 8 book instead because it seems more intimate and friendly. Some pairs appear to be more successful than others. Tom separates the two images on the page with the white space of the paper. In some of the photos this works in creating a more spacial and linerary play on the eyes while some of the other images have more of a distinct break. To achieve overall success Tom might want to think about what direction he wants his images to take and how to express a common idea across all the images.

Vanessa: Drawing

Vanessa's work was a layout across the wall that contained drawing, magazine cutouts and household products. The pieces came together to reflect the journey of a young fox who reads a Cosmopolitan and follows the instructions provided in order to discover herself. The fox follows four steps in order to achieve this task. The steps were 5 religions one has to experience before they die, self-expression through fashion, how to find the man of your dreams, and how to find a great job. The images show this process and conclude with the everything backfiring. The intent is to display how female reading material tells women what they need to have the perfect life but in the end after they have done everything listed it can all still fall apart because there is not guarantee for a perfect life. The presentation was the biggest issue with the piece. The concept was interesting and the imagery and text was humerous but the display looked unpolished.

Postcard Proposal

" LADY DAY "

"If you hear a song in blue like a flower crying for the dew. That was my heart serenading you. My prelude to a kiss. "

Prelude to a Kiss

By: Billie Holiday

For my postcard project I want use Billie Holiday and Adrienne Rich. The images above are some of Billie Holiday herself and I have included a short lyrical clip from one of her many songs. I will use these as inspiration for the imagery that will appear on the postcard. I have not found as much information on Adrienne Rich that I want to use yet. I hope to pull from some of her poems and to use imagery that reflects the ideas presented in her work. Both of these women lived during the same time period and had a cultural impact on society. I have not fully decided on what kind of relationship I want to develop between them but I am leaning towards the idea of expressing their success in setting an example of what women are capable of despite the obstacles.

First Photoshop Contest Entry

I entered the Inanimate Object World contest. I wanted to take objects that we normally see on people and have them participate in the activity that people normally are participating in. I love dancing and it is such a physical and involved activity that I thought it would be interesting to see how it would look without the bodies behind it. Also it seemed like something relatively simple for me to do for my first time. Here is the link to my contest post. If you vote for me or make comments please be nice. lol : )
http://www.worth1000.com/view.asp?image=304132&contest_id=14275

William S. Burroughs "The Cut-Up Method"

The "cut-up" method that Burroughs talks about in this article lends itself to the idea of collaging and using existing work to create something new. It also suggests a way that everyone can get involved in the process. Anyone can take a favorite poem, type it up then cut it into pieces and rearrange the words to form a new or revamped piece of work. The "cut-up" method seems to be a way to take what we already have and improve upon it or give it new life. It also creates a randomness that opens up a flood gate of multiple possibilities. Burroughs writes about how many artists, photographer and writers say that some of theier best work happens by accident. The "cut-up" method provides the stage or opportunity for those accidents to happen. The whole idea relates very closely to human nature. People always have the desire to take the old and make it new again. This process gives everyone the ability to do that. I think the "cut-up" method frees up the creative minds and gives it room to randomly explore other posssibilities that may not have been attempted or stumbled upon in another incidence. I wonder though if this process provides validation for the theory that there are no truly original ideas left in the world?

Image for Photoshop

Man Ray: Dadaist Photographer

Man Ray was a Dadaist who used photography to express his ideas. He displayed images in an abstract way that allowed people to see things differently than they would normally in their everyday life. In this image of the female violin to the left you can see where Ray is displaying a woman in a way one would not normally see her. The images on her back could have been double exposed or drawn on for the photograph. Here a woman is being used to reflect an object, an instrument. Looking at the image one may think the woman is the instrument but the intrument for what? Images such as this one and many others were capable of making people ask those questions. The same questions they asked themselves when they looked at artwork hanging in a gallery. Man Ray along with other photographers found new and radical ways of using photography to capture images of the world around them.

The image below of the woman with her hands to her lips is an abstraction of the body. The image looks simple but Man Ray chose how to represent this woman. He cropped out her face from the top of the lips up and cropped her body from the wrist down. The lighting on the face, the gesture of the hand are all intentionally and meant to say something to the viewer. Just as other Dadaist used things that were not constituted as art to make their own art, Man Ray used photography to make his art. He took a medium that was seen to only have mechanical qualities and made art with it.

Dadaist Movement

I apologize for the delay but I have not been able to post my blog because the site is down and I have not been able to continue reviewing the Dadaist work.

The Dadaist movement shows an interesting twist on traditional works of art and started a technique or way of working that has continued into the present. The Dadaist work was new and experimental during its time but now I believe that this type of work is becoming more widely accepted and used today. The abstraction that is found in the work makes viewers think more about what the piece is really supposed to be saying. I think that is a concept that people want to see in artwork and that is why we are still seeing such work being produced. I think it is interesting how Dadaist never wanted to fall into the category of a movement or be tied down by labels yet anytime you start something with a goal or intent it will naturally come with labels. Also if it is meant to be continued by generations to follow there has to be something for them to follow in the first place. The Dadaist wanted to be free thinkers who were not hindered by the things that held back artist of the past but during that process they themselves created an art movement just as had been done many times before them.