Art 1010
Exploring Art
So what did I learn?
Reflection
There's not much to say about this basic art class.
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This class is not so beneficial to someone who is looking to learn art... Though I can see it's value to those who desire to collect or manage a gallery.
Exploring the phases of art's history is something that is interesting for a little reference but I gained little when I reflect on all the reading.
The entire textbook was just about how to classify art with little regards to how the art itself functions.
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I really enjoyed the progression of sculpture through the ages beginning from the Greek and Roman era. Though I did grimace a little at the decline in technical skill and the embracement of ideas that art should be one specific way. The Rape of Proserpina was a sculpture that stunned me a bit. I doubt I'll see much like it until the contemporary age grants each individual the time to spend years on a sculpture once more. I think that Art has changed considerably after the age of industry. The masters alive today are much more creative and skilled than any of the master's we've seen in history. We just dont have the same amount of free time the old masters had before. Time is money now, and being able to draw masterfully, quickly, is a skill that has arisen out of necessity.
[]Discussions_
Discussion 1 / What is art?
I have taken a decent amount of art classes so far... and each professor can't seem to find a good way to explain what art is. Maybe the word is too vague in this language? I've come to understand one meaning of art that manages to tie into what the general consensuses of art seem to be reaching for. Art is a form of communication. To send others an idea, we use communication, verbal, non-verbal... And it seems like art is just as important as the two of those at this point in our social development. Now, let's start talking about art in terms of communication. Good art tells the receiver a clear message! Be that emotional, literal, or a story. Probably others as well now that I need to list them... oh well! But art can do something cool, art can give our brains information on new people, places, and even appeal to our weird sense of beauty. So, you can even communicate things that tingle your instincts? Of course!
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Ahmed Aldoori - Mermay 01
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Let's talk about how to convey information that our brain can process... art can be shown through a process and an experience after all. Ahmed Aldoori is known for portraying information through art with minimal effort. He's got a very good understanding of how to tell our brains certaing things through the use of symbols. Like how a simple ripple effect is shown around the mermaid with light lines, the form of a body under the water being brought into existence by a light that doesn't even make sense! The situated information around the body giving the illusion of how water muddies out information in real life, all simply and subtly done to send the message of hey! this here is water and this here is a figure.
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Mini Laptop Desk - Robert Laszlo Kiss
Now let's talk some industrial design. What if you want to portray an idea of how something visibly works? especially when it hasn't been made yet. This can be called art in a more visual sense, but it's portrayed idea is much more practical than emotional. This art on it's own may not have any sale value, but the idea contained within does have value, doesn't it? Couldn't you make and sell these little desks for those who're looking for one?
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Andis Reinbergs - Pilgrim
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Let's now talk a little about storytelling. Here, from concept artist Andis Reinbergs, the story of travel is portrayed through this painting. Focal points and symbols of gates and vectors set a destination. This may not have any meaning in real life but you still somehow can make sense of what's happening here. If you were going to make a movie scene about a pilgrimage, wouldn't this be a good way to give the viewer a lot of information in a very short time?
As sad as the consequences can be, comedy can definitely be an art. But sometimes the messages and execution in art is not done too well. Giving a value to art that barely works to tell a message at all is more appealing as a shock factor than it is art.
Discussion 2 / Fav Media
My favorite medium to work with is Digital. On the 2 dimensional scale is genuinely cannot be matched, even accurate simulations of water colour are possible. The biggest reason I enjoy this media is the versatility and the speed. You can create murals the size of a gym wall from inside your room or even change medium "styles" on a whim! On the professional side of things, I work freelance so time is money to me, so digital treats me just a bit better than physical medias do.
Discussion 3 / Creative Art Project
Because this month is artfight month, I'm just gonna be showing you one of the paintings I did last night: (I know it says for the class but I wanted to kill two birds with one stone)
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There isn't much to say about this in reality. You can find out what art fight is here. My main techniques here are overlapping, visual flow, curve theory, value jittering, golden ratio, rule of halves and thirds... Among the speed painting techniques and rendering that I use for concept work that is highly time sensitive. I chose to do this because they attacked me, leading to this art as revenge. And I play this game in order to have an endless stream of practice come my way for this month.
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Discussion 4 / Museum Report.
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Discussion 5 / Lovin It
The surrealist era and the appearance of romanticism are two of my favorite "Periods" That I enjoyed from the recent module. Quoting it because different periods start to overlap frequently as we reach current day. Surrealist art is particularly inspiring to me. Especially when done with good technical skill and left to interpretation, rather than the interpretation being the only good thing about the art. Surreal art has been in development for a very long time, only recognized when it became a focus in popularity... And I only see this kind of art dieing when art itself has no purpose for humanity. There's not much supporting my favor for romanticism, other than my enjoyment of the common compositions that the artists of the movement had used. There's a lot of technical tricks that they used that I am keen on picking up on.
Let's start with surrealism:
Both images from Zdzisław Beksiński, a great hobbyist who appeared well past the end of the "official" surrealist movement. You can find a gallery of his work.
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There's many ways for someone to interpret this. Because the artist never could name or describe his own art, you are going to be left to your own imagination to the purpose of the art. Because the scene is composed in a path with "darkness" looming ahead, most interpretations will likely be of a dark world. The torch held by the figure adds to the scale, as well as a sense of exploration. It'll fit right into a large number of possible stories, and that's what I think makes this art and artist somewhat unique.
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​​​Once, again, up to your own interpretation. Instead of being general, ill talk about where I see this scene in my imagination. In the basement of a village, a happy village, sits a pile of the happy residents. As tradition, the souls of the recently diseased trudge towards the mass, becoming one with many in their desperate search for a heaven. Something more suited to the culture of a different world, that someone could enjoy if I developed one. It's fun this way, I think.
Next comes Romanticism:
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Henry Fuseli, The nightmare. Similar to Venus, though I enjoy this painting more so because of the implications it's suggesting to the viewer. The demon sits atop a woman who lay limply. The demon's shadow looms tall, symbolically, but it's interesting how it's also physical. There's a literal Night - Mare behind the woman. Though subtle symbolism is on the decline now, it's fun to see something so in your face. It's really just a pleasant image to look at.
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William Blake, The Great Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun. I like this artwork, though the anatomy is highly questionable, I can enjoy the composition. I can tell the artist was just having fun, and having fun is something that makes me also want to have fun! Generally, This reminds me a lot of the artworks that we can find artists posting to artstation.
