Final Project--"I Need You"

Hey guys!

All right, so thank you for keeping up with the craziness of this project for the past week or so. Here's everything in a nutshell... :)

Premise:

Each and every story of adversity is unique to the individual, but it has the capacity to connect us all and inspire. So, I am taking peoples' stories (retaining the anonymity of the individuals) and creating pictures from their accounts. I will make the pictures out of words.

Website: http://www.ineedyouproject.com

Blog: http://www.ineedyouproject.wordpress.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/INeedYouProject

Email: ineedyouproject01@gmail.com

New Idea: This is where I really need your help!

I met with my mentor and discussed the project idea yet again (yesterday). Having done a final project with words in his class, he urged me to look at buying a projector that would project words onto the pieces (instead of making the pictures out of words). I have dabbled in both, and I am going to explore what each does to the concept at hand when I get into summer. But, what do you think? Here are some examples of both--

Questions: Do you like ONLY the background made of words? Or, should I make the whole piece out of words?

Questions: Do you like the projection? Here's what the projection does: it allows people to walk in front of the piece and be "in" the piece as the words run across that person's back. Also, I could tune the projection to different slides, so with the same piece, there would be multiple slides of that individual's words (in that individual's story).

Application for the artist:

So, being the artist of this project, I also wanted to put myself into this . . . literally. So, I put in a story :)

After anyone submits a story, the submission page reads, "Thank you! I promise I'll take good care of it."

Process:

1.) Submission of story

After someone submits their story via one of three things: email, website contact box, or blog, the artistic process begins. But, it all starts with you! :) Which, is a very cool thing.

2.) Sketch it up!

So, after I receive a story, I make a sketch, or a couple of sketches. Here's one for my story:

Specifically, I tagged the part where in my hospital visits, I had IV treatments. And, this is what I came up with. Usually, I do sketches in pen and shade them with colored pencil. I know . . . I'm weird. haha!

3.) Break out the graphite

After I make a sketch, I choose the paper (maybe 2-ply--and for a side-note, "ply" is the amount of sheets an artist's paper is made from; if we say 5-ply, it's pretty thick. If 2-ply, the paper will be thin, and I do light graphite, which does not require thick paper--or, I was thinking of something thin, like parchment paper, something that will fade with time, that looks archival, playing off the simile that people are like walking books . . .).

So, for this part, I will do a more detailed, time-consuming piece. Like so:

4.) Start all over again with a new story

This is always an adventure.

5.) Hang it up in the gallery :) (and this is still tentative--this may be completely different come time when I decide between pictures made of words vs. projected words)

But, the rough gallery sketches look something like this right now:

The little rectangles are the frames (and this is a quick Hite gallery sketch--where the BFA exhibitions take place). And, the small gallery space allows for a ( ) hanging, like two parentheticals, almost like an eye shape. And, these will be chained to the ceiling, or maybe even hovering with fishline. And, in the center there is a mirror box, where individuals (I use this word a lot, apparently!) will be able to write with dry-erase markers on the mirrors, as well as input their comments on comment/submission sheets that will be on the table.

This gallery space is a little bigger--this is where we went to see Smilde's cloud-works. So, I outlined the gallery and placed a few (okay, a lot of) frames in the gallery space. In the center of the heart shapes, there are double sided frames, so the frame will all be suspended and will allow for a walk through of the gallery, any side you want to take.

The name: I need you:

The name came from one of those epiphanies you always here people getting. I thought about calling it "catharsis," or "Soul Works" or something I thought was clever. But, when I started on the website, what really came to the forefront of everything is that I need you. I need these individuals and their stories. I'm not in a bubble, especially as an artist. And, I need people to make art, to digest it, and to be influenced by it, and to influence me. So, I need you. :) I hope you will take the time to tell your friends/anyone who's interested in this project. It's going to take a lot of time and effort and research (I'm researching literary theory right now to see how I can further my words and make my own fonts and handwritten scripts to help these stories breathe on the page). But, I really believe that stories, especially yours, can be powerful. Your story's worth believing in. I believe God made you--and your story. So, it's valuable. That's why I want to tell it.

And, I need your help to do that. ;)

Website!

Yay!!!

Here it is: ineedyouproject.com

And, I promise, I am dyslexic. Every time I type "Here it is," I type "Here is it" first. My brain is so confused. College. 'Nuf said.

Last drawing for the year (for ART 505)...

Quick snapshot of the end of the year drawing for a studio class:

For Art 505...the figurative auteur (author). So, we were supposed to "add" an element to the drawing...and I decided to go with words. Shocker...I know. ;)

So, this is the picture... Called "Ripple Effect" :) And, I need to work with the words a little more...

I like this idea...I need a bigger wall, and more words...and more time ;) seems that's always the case--more time. Huh... ;) haha oh well, we take what we can get. Every minute's pretty great.

So, I think I'm getting better. I still have a lot to learn.

Blog up and running!

Here it is!

http://ineedyouproject.wordpress.com/

Any ideas for improvements?

I've made the website and am waiting for the admin to clear the title so I can put it online... I've also made an email:

ineedyouproject01@gmail.com

And, I'm making a facebook page.

So much technology! :0 It's a bit much.

Thinking...

Final Project Idea:

Craft a website

Set up a blog

Set up an email for the project

So, for my final project, I'm dealing with the idea of what we get out of suffering, whether on a betterment of self basis, or a religious basis. And, to start, I have a whole conceptual basis to draw from.

So, for my project, the form is mostly based on the conceptual analysis of how this idea is evolving. So, the bulk of the project will be the why, how, what of what is going to happen because this project is extensive and requires multiple participants (and lots of time). But, essentially, what I’m wanting to do is take myself and apply all of the parameters—why, how and what of the meaning of suffering and draw a picture based on this. I started getting involved in this process of what part an individual plays in a composition through means of this self-portrait a while ago:

Dealing with the idea of body/soul, I started to go back to the basics that "connected" us all--and I found that everyone bears a burden. Who was it that said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is facing some kind of battle"? Well, it is true. So, I want to describe the value of suffering (if it has a value) to aid the viewer in questioning their own ideas as well as coming away with answers.

Trust me, I have a whole lot of research, interview snippets, books, drawings, sketches, ideas of how the installation will look. SO! haha sorry for all of that, but you'll have to trust me: it's gonna work out in the end ;) Just gotta be patient.

Works in progress

AH! This is the first time I've ever really done chalk pastels :0

Unfortunately, these are still dusty with poor phone lighting ;) But, you get the idea--experimentation: the artist's bread and butter!

The Lives of Others

This movie starts with an introduction into the German world around the time the Berlin wall falls. Actor Ulrich Mühe, who plays Hauptmann Wiesler, portrays one of the main influences in the film.

The director described the film this way:

“I suddenly had this image in my mind of a person sitting in a depressing room with earphones on his head and listening in to what he supposes is the enemy of the state and the enemy of his ideas, and what he is really hearing is beautiful music that touches him. I sat down and in a couple of hours had written the treatment.”

The point of transformation comes with the music--Beethoven's music that spanned across time to reach Weisler, listening in, and even Dreyman (the writer, or symbolically, the artist, who sits at the piano playing this music).

In the words of the director, Art is powerful.

A review of the movie (HERE) posed the idea that Art is powerful because art possesses TRUTH and BEAUTY--and beauty can transform "Communism and its savagely imposed "truth" within a committed disciple [Marx, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao] into humanity's unending mysteries of love, dignity, and self respect."

Life, as portrayed in an active artistic way in this movie, requires beauty and truth.

These two powers, almost invisible when bogged down by a society that feeds you "truth" constantly, are what truly open the individual up to living life authentically.

Art is a searching, an expression within life's possibilities. Art brings to mind the power of truth and beauty, and how it can change an individual, who can indeed change the world, if even for someone else.

I loved the last line of this movie, "It's for me," when Wiesler finds the Sonata for a Good Man, dedicated to him--the artist (Dreyman) came to realize that it was Wiesler who became the expression of truth and beauty by reaching out to an individual that expressed beauty to him. I can't get past Wiesler's eyes. All throughout the movie, I was sutured by his expressions. His face did not move an inch, except for his eyes, and in the beginning, I kept thinking to myself--he has too beautiful eyes to not have some good in him somewhere. And, it just goes to show that he was a "good man." Why?

Because, he acted with conviction on the truth (thinking for himself instead of buying into store-bought truths). And, his actions created great effects--devastating (with a death) but also beautiful (with restoration and more truth through the reciprocation of his actions through Dreyman's further works).

"How beautiful are the feet that bring good news [truth]." --Isaiah 52.7

Rachel S :)

This was such an intriguing presentation because I had no idea there were theories like this--and it changed my elevator speech for good; I'm definitely not a figurative formalist like I thought!

Essentially, there are four theories... let's see if I can do this without peeking!

1) Formalism - all about the form, all else (question about the piece of art from a content standpoint) is irrelevant

2) Expression - all about content (idealist), because content only has form in the human brain

3) Family Resemblance - art is about the variations that create a pattern (art is changing)

4) Institution - art is insider art and about the theory and artifact of its art world

So, I don't fit into any of these camps directly. How intriguing. But, I did do some thinking, which is always good. Rachel, this is good stuff! Thanks so much.

So, what I came up with was the idea (from Professor Chan) of the analytic philosophy of aesthetics: i.e. mathematical ways of defining art. We've found that art cannot be fully analyzed in a mathematical way. It loses so much in translation (if subject fits a, b, c . . . and a few others, then it's art). The subtleties of the abstraction (art) are lost.

There's another camp, though, and we didn't discuss it, so I researched--the continental philosophy.

Continental philosophy deals with these ideas--science is inadequate to fully understanding art; elements of context, time-period, language, culture, and history around the art are valid descriptors; related to personal, moral and political changes (as opposed to strictly interpretative works of analytic philosophy); and, there is an emphasis on the big picture--metaphilosophy (above philosophy). The thing to remember with continental philosophy is--reflection is the key.

I think that art, always spoken of in terms of form and content, can be an equation from these two entities--form and content. While it may be possible to divorce content from form (I don't know how true this can actually be, because a friend of mine is strictly a formalist, but their work involves content, even if subtle--this just goes to show the phenomenology that takes place in our brains, which tries to make something out of nothing) . . . it is not possible to divorce content from form (this content without form is just an idea, and art, I believe, is more than just an idea).

So, can there be a marriage that cannot be divorced? Because, it is evidence that these two need each other, even if an artist says otherwise; a viewer will always impose some sort of content (what does this mean?) on a form because our minds function this way, scientifically. So, if we're looking at the analytics here, the analytical philosophy has been stabbed by its own device--the scientific function of the brain when faced with a non-representational picture is to create meaning out of it--impose a recognizable shape/picture/idea onto the picture.

So, can there be a marriage that cannot be divorced--these two, form and content . . . Well, it may be that content multiplied by form is what art is all about. Multiplied. Why multiplied? Because, multiplication creates a compound that is not simple anymore. I don't believe art is simple. But, it requires the first variable (content) to be thought up--philosophized, theorized, idealized--and then married to some sort of body (form and formal functions).

So, art would transcend descriptive/prescriptive/aesthetic/non-aesthetic/externalist/internalist theories.

[And, yes, don't worry--I am watching the game... ;) AH! Come on, boys.]

Maggie C :)

I enjoyed how this conversation threaded the idea of the history of art (the first art) to the concrete motif of the first art object (a garden) and how it morphed throughout the ages.

I admit, the garden was not something I had thought of as an art object. But, I do now! It's intentional--built for a purpose--shouldn't all art be this way?

The conversation Maggie's presentation sparked afterwards was one of, "What (really) is art these days?" The reality of the situation, I think, is that contemporaries find it hard to define the art of their present day situation. While we're in it, we don't fully understand its ins and out because we're too close. Still--I know what you're thinking--that's no excuse.

You're right. So, what is art, anyway? Not everything is art. There is a quality that makes it artistic. Is it the "how" you do it, that makes it art? The "why?" I think every age had to come up with "what is art?" (Much like Kierkegaard, sorry, bringing up the philosophers, again--much like Kierkegaard insisted that each generation need think for itself what it believes.)

We've been left with a legacy of post-war art, hyper-realist art, painters, and technology booms. So, what do we do with it all?

Well, that's where artists come in. Art is expanding. It is an expression of intention. Something for certain--art is moving toward an age of discovery in bridging the gaps between itself and other fields of study--art and science, say, in technology. Art and math, in CGI.

It's like art comes in this seed packet, where the instructions read as follows:

1 part fresh air
1 part materials
1 part time
7 parts thinking

Thinking. How to make real art: philosophize. ;) Thoughts are always in the air. And, thoughts are always expanding, the function of expressing. And, art is always an expression of intention. I think the two go quite well together.

Some days you just feel--

I see, said the blind man

I took this picture of my eye. And, I thought it was rather interesting. Just a quick snap and voila! You have an eye . . . with specks reflecting the sunshine. This is not edited. Pretty cool.

So, as an artist (as Diebenkorn says) you learn to see differently than everyone else. That's a part of being an artist. Learning to really see things.

It's a cool concept--you see differently than I do. We all have different perspectives. That makes art rich.

Illustrating

Illustrative.
Artist.
Draftsman.

What in the world is the difference?

Well . . . here's some illustration for a children's book I'm working on.

What's the difference, you ask? Well, some drawings can be illustrative (mainly working on the graphic quality--linear/emotive). So, it is a must to capture recognizable forms well, so that the viewer can distinguish the picture at hand.

Now, draftsman, as we call ourselves, can strive for illustrative qualities or they can go for something different . . . unique.

This is my description of draftsmanship--a profile I drew a while ago. I'm striving to combine the elements of line/edge to craft a space.

Many draftsman excel in illustration/graphic design. I choose to go for graphite/pencil that literally melts into or emerges from the page by using line/edge as 3D/compositional and formal elements. Let me tell you--pencil is a hard medium. ;) But, it's rewarding . . . sometimes!

Sky

Sometimes, it's all about the colors you can see... I thought the sky was exceptionally beautiful today... :) It's cool how negative space and positive space can make such an interesting composition.

Was it Picasso who said, "I never tire of the blue sky"? Because, I find his statement to be increasingly true... the blue always changes.

To art or not to art

This is the question. So, walking to my car the other day, I found this:

Right? And, there were also post-it notes inside my car. Inside. My. Car. :/ My boyfriend and one of my best friends decided it would be fun to steal my spare keys and do this. I have to admit, I was pretty surprise and impressed by their large amount of post-its.

But, as an artist--is this art? Is this aesthetically pleasing? Is it vandalism? Or, is there a midline--like Banksy's graffiti art. Does it make a statement?

That's probably a better way to ask how art can be revolutionary--does it make a statement?

Well, let's see . . . ridiculous, chaos, prank. Taking found objects (post-it notes) and sticking them on someone's car makes for a driving exhibition (note to viewers--please don't drive your car like this--you'll hurt yourself or other people, trying to see through the post-its).

But, that's an interesting thing--we've all seen those cars with murals painted on them, or found objects stuck on their hoods. What do you think when you see them?

I think: well, that's different. And, then I wonder how they did it.

Arguably, that's pretty good art. Intentionality can make all the difference. This is why we call this course, art, "thinking," and social change. That's the rub. Thinking.

I went diving with dolphins

So, once upon a time, a little dolphin came up to me, and he struck a pose. haha Okay, dolphin. You do what you do. I'll just take your portrait.

Snowflakes!

These were so much fun to make... :D And, yes, I am a little kid.

Expression. What in the world does that mean to the artist? So much. Here's a picture I took of a horse that was so excited to see a human near its fence... as you can see.

The dictionary defines expression as, indication of feeling, spirit, character, etc., as on the face, in the voice, or in artistic execution.

The artist defines expression as a formulaic approach to a subject. Taking the idea of expression and implementing it during WW I, artists named this movement "Expressionism." The artist defines Expressionism as expressing "emotions through the use of vivid colors and strong, distorted lines, rather than capturing a likeness or reality. Their work was characterized by intense, violent, and non-naturalistic colors, painted in a textural manner."

We try to capture things as artists, and in a world where nothing was making sense anymore (World Wars breaking out), artists turned to a different style to try and make sense of the emotions. Think of Munch's "The Scream." Evocative of many emotions and moods, expressionism takes pains to move the soul of a person, instead of Fauvism (focusing on color use, like Matisse, and capturing the world by color) and Impressionism (the focus on light and an impression of the subject) that previously held the art world captive.

Expression became a formal element in an artist's composition. Expression allows the viewer to "feel" the subject, whether that be abstract or a identifiable representation.

Here's an artist in the contemporary expressionist vein of study: Elizabeth Chapman.

She says, "I find the force and beauty of the creative process to be compelling. My paintings are personal narratives, portraying honest emotions in response to current life and past memories. When I'm painting, spirit and intuition guide while my hands mindfully follow."

Her paintings contain variations on light/dark/calligraphic marks/textures, and personality that is her own take on a certain emotive subject.

Emotions are valuable to human connectivity. That's why expression falls as an important art form for any time--arguably, before "expressionism" was coined as an artistic word, expression was the driving force of artist's personal art pieces. For, no one does art unless to express something of value.

Link here: http://www.elizabethchapman.com/Elizabeth_Chapman/Biography.html

We are the not dead

Lalage Snow, a photographer and journalist, named her idea, "We are the Not Dead," after soldiers who came home from war.

These soldiers were photographed before they went to war, during the war (specifically--after an improvised explosive device, IED, had just exploded that day), and after they came back from war. Here are a few:

Alongside their photographs, there are descriptions of their experiences during that time. This is Private Chris MacGregor, 24. He had a sustained injury from the war and this is a photographic explanation of his five month tour of duty. So much change is only five months. He said that the fear is what kept them alive over there.

This is Private Matthew Hodgson, 18. His eyes tell everything. From the left--you see a guy. In the middle, the eyes grow hard and straining. At the end, he's almost vacant, lost, sad, jaded.

Wow. The eyes are the window to the soul. Each of us has a story. And, with that story comes suffering, which is the strong thread that can weave us together, or divide us--if that story is not told.

References: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/we-are-the-not-dead-soldiers-on-afghan-mission/

Am I real yet?

As a figurative formalist project...for Art 505/590

Figurative, meaning: representing the figure, the realistic world (actuality). As Pearlstein says, the "human being, a profound figure, must be represented." In Art 505, we studied the "lie" or portraiture. I've come to realize that a realistic (a completed/lifelike photographic image of an individual) is somewhat boring (at least to me) because there is no nuance to suggest interest (the idea of art being worthy to warrant more than a passing glance). The more I worked on this piece, the more I realized that I couldn't make this piece work in complete realism. I had to represent the figure. It had to be my statement, and at the same time posit different dimensions for examining the figure. Which, is why there are words! (And, an image.)

Formalist, meaning: the value of a work determined by form, or the way a composition is crafted . . . its visual and medium aspects. The emphasis is on texture/line/repetition/the two-dimensional paper. Basically--how you organize visual information. Formalism, at once, is a school of thought for critiquing art--where everything important is in the artwork itself (instead of the context, the intention, etcetera).

Division of space (how the subject is oriented in the space, etcetera), rhythm (patterns that move the eye and make it jump as in the division of space), dominance/subordination (the importance of elements), and form (the use of light and dark to create space and subject) are all important.

I chose to focus on the readability of the figure--the words (representing the conscious process the artist goes through when trying to "capture" the human body). For instance, the things that popped in my head while drawing him. Yes, his skin is made up of words (and bits of the background).

Pearlstein says that "the character of a work of art results from the technical devices used to form it" and "regrettably, we cannot transmit the whole experience." But, I don't think it regrettable at all, actually. Quite a fortune. "This experience is seeing," he goes on to say. And, I think him right. So, most of the words making up this model's body deal with seeing. And, how to see. And, where to see. And, what to see. And, who. The words are both legible and illegible. But, it beckons the viewer closer . . . to see.

Light art/Description

So, in the midst of dealing with dichotomies of words/image, I figured out this idea in the wake of suffering and its story. There's a focal point. In every story, there's a focal point. But, with suffering, it's either light or dark because suffering has no other option. There can either be a light that helps us make use of suffering, or there can be darkness that leaves us with it, carrying it, trying to bear it. My idea, even as I took this picture, was how light diffuses the darkness (not the other way around).

And, I thought--well, there's God. Yes. There's God.

And, the analytics of it all says He can't exist because we can't think that far (Class Discussion, February 19, 2013). Atheism. There is no God.

But, I believe God is. He is the light that diffuses the darkness. Sure, suffering's still in the equation, but from my experience, that suffering can be borne more easily upon His shoulders than mine. I think it's funny that people say there is no God when they allow for their spirit. You can't think around your spirit. In the same way, we can't think up God. He's as self-evident as the spirit. And, His proof is everywhere. All we need is to open our eyes. (As with all useful art--it makes us open our eyes to what's already there.)

Schopenhauer

This blog has become a journal of artistic research for me. And, I'm kinda excited about this. haha So, looking at Schopenhauer, as Professor Chan suggested. And, here's why:

I have an idea. It's not new, granted, but it's the idea that the story of suffering connects us all. It's artistic (emotive), so to speak. And, it's worth fleshing out because art that's worth its salt either teaches us something new (about ourself or our environment), and/or it warrants consideration (is thought-provoking). So, suffering, I believe, is a storyteller. And, I want to use this medium as an art form (Class Discussion, February 12, 2013).

So, Schopenhauer? Getting back to the point, you ask? Well, don't you like tangents? Anyway, Schopenhaer says, "Knowledge is in itself always painless . . ." In essence, he says that we know we're alive when in pain. Pain is an instant happenstance. It is direct. And, it allows us clarity to the fact that yes, we are alive. He argues for the "positivity of pain," in that, "evil is precisely that which is positive, that which makes itself palpable; and good…is that which is negative, the mere abolition of a desire and extinction of a pain.”

Thus, pain is an aid in achieving well-being. This notion presupposes that there are types of pain. This is true, of course. He also says that our value system (i.e. recording the events in history that aren't peaceful, say) is a little skewed, then. That's why he flips it on its head and says, "Hey, yeah, what is good to you is actually negative. What is negative (suffering) can be good." Notice the "can be."
Henri-Frederic Amiel says it this way: "Make use of suffering."

In an artistic sense, suffering "can often be the catalyst for creation." Good point.

"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle," Macleran says. So, suffering is obviously a thread that can tie us together.

But, I'm intrigued by the "knowledge is in itself always painless" point, because my "job"--rather, my vocation as an artist is to get to the pain part. To think, and then to project that thinking in emotive symbols the viewer understands. To understand, I think, is different (and deeper) than knowledge, because it implies internalization--the owning of that knowledge to make use of it. This is the part where the idea of suffering as a connection grows different than the old ideas.

The story. The story is not knowledge, but a medium. The story stirs emotion because it's personal. It's telling. It gives suffering a face.

"You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is summed up in this: make use of suffering, as Henri tells us.

Reference: http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/12/28/60-in-60-14-schopenhauers-on-the-suffering-of-the-world-penguins-great-books/

Just horsing around. . . . .

So, I'm messing around with words, and I created some poetry. I say "created" because it's more than just writing it. It's crafting it around a picture. So, here's the "picture"--kinda of makes you wonder what "picture" really means. It can depict something, but it can mean more than merely Webster's "an impression of something based on description." It can move. And, it can be made from different materials. Words, for example. I love words, those little locutions that like to intermingle.

So, here's the poem:

I kinda like you, you know--

the kind of like that makes a little kid feel "funny" on the inside and laugh

without knowing why on the outside.

And, I kinda like you. But, I think you're too big for those small shoes. So, I think

I kinda like you a lot.

But, we get to that when we're in high school

and everyone thinks it's all cool,

so we're so cool, but by definition

to like is not even worth saying anymore because hey,

I liked pb&j

and lunchables too.

They're not like

like I like you.

And, then comes real life.

And, real life isn't cool

because it's lost its luster in school.

I kinda love you,

I do. I kinda love you.

The way that makes our grandfathers sigh and take off their glasses when reading their papers,

the way they do when they realize our grandmas across the kitchen tables,

the way they take up the thought of love and run with it and dance with them and make life beautiful. Because of love. That’s what inspired us. Kind of, like you.

Art Ain't Easy

"ART ISN'T EASY"

True that. Matthew Higgs is a genius.

Perfect example of taking something complex and saying it simply. That's the vocation of an artist--to think, and to act when that thinking's still thinking.

Matthew Higgs, a well-established artist, writer and curator, walked in the room, and his down-to-earth,  "If you're ever in New York, please stop by White Columns" attitude sparked an excitement in me to share my ideas about what I'm doing in my artwork.

I've come to realize that ideas are the backbone, the heartbeat, and the forefront of what makes good art difficult (and worthwhile). If you don't have an idea, then you've got nothing.

I watched a peer of mine talk about his idea on painting, and it was so enlightening because I realized that a human being can be identified by his/her ideas (if they stick out as meaningful). I remember when this young man was going up for his BFA and everyone was talking about his art pieces. Why? Because he talked about them so much. And, he did them. Simple, right?

It's so true--we as artists are thinkers. Art has become a philosophy, a workshop for ideas that can change individuals who can change the world. And, if these ideas we're coming up with aren't shared, then what's the point? I find that sometimes I have an idea and want to keep it bottled up, but that's really not the artist's prerogative, is it? To make truly meaningful things, I must share what I am grappling with, understand it at different angles (through conversation with other people), and I must do my ideas. Nothing less. I am just one person, but if I understand that there's this community of thinking people right next to my just one person, then I can start bouncing these ideas off them (and hope they wonder about them just as much as I do, and even take them into themselves and use them too). That's what good art's all about. The difficult kind, too. Because, what is easy is rarely worth doing in the long run. "It's the hard that makes it great," as they say. ;)

Sustainability

The University of Louisville admits that it has a problem with Sustainability--that is, Sustainability doesn't seem to find its way into the ears of its intended audience.

While Sustainability is a great idea (which we're all, as artists, and as human beings in general, trying to create), sustainability isn't that talkative. While the "vision" is to "create a university that is itself a living laboratory" for sustainability, which "requires us to seek a balance between environmental, economic and social responsibility."

In essence, this means, changing the audience's "mindset." How in the world do we do that?

As artists, that's all we really think about--influencing the viewer, so that the art we make isn't worthless.

So, to start--the idea needs to be self-propelling. Is it good enough to be considered by the viewer for more than a few seconds? Think about when you walk into that gallery with off-white walls and pieces of paper dangling near the edge of the benches. Where the art work only warrants a tired-five-second glance, and you're on your way because you had to go there for class credit anyway. That's an idea that just hangs on the wall without interacting with the viewer. A self-propelling idea is one that urges the viewer to come close, to consider it, to take it home and reflect on it.

Sustainability.

What is that word? When you see it, do you think that it's just the best thing you've ever heard in our life and want to know more about it?

I sure don't. When I hear the word, "Sustain," I think of something that needs to be stable, but that's not there yet. Kind of . . . well, for lack of a better word, boring.

The words used to describe the idea are just as valuable as the idea itself (how else would an idea be communicable?). Communication is key to ideas. You've heard it said that "thoughts are in the air," because they're electrical, but we can't rely on the air most times to propagate what we want to say. And, how one communicates is where we, as artists, come in.

Someone brilliant said it this way--"intellectuals take something simple and say it in a complex way. Artists take something complex and say it in a simple way." So true. Simplicity is often the most influential packet that art comes in. Simplicity on the surface can be backed by a number of ideas, like the layers of paint strokes, an artist employed to get the idea on paper. If an artist took so much time thinking about the idea, then there's probably a good reason why it's sitting in front of you on the wall in a gallery. In this way, the context, the culture, and the creativity combine to create that simple piece of art (one would hope). :)

Source: http://louisville.edu/sustainability

Photoshoppin'

It's the moon. :) Kind of.

As an artist, we've got two options sometimes.

Making something "new" from a different angle, or helping the viewer "feel" the subject at hand. What do you want to do with your art? Take someone take an old issue and view it anew? Or, immerse the audience in it, to feel it?

A Polish rabbi says it this way: Art “can motivate us to face issues and concepts we prefer to ignore.” Polish. You might wonder why I'm headed to a Polish rabbi for a quote.

Well, here's why--the Holocaust, specifically Auschwitz, Poland, is a subject of the arts. It is an interest in aiding the audience the "feeling" of the Jews at that moment when they walked into a camp, or a gas chamber.

As Theodor Adorno, a great art critic, said, "The need to let suffering speak is a condition of all truth.” I think suffering is a topic spanning across centuries of artwork. As the life line threaded through the human condition, suffering is a reality that needs to be grappled with . . . especially by artists.

So, here's where a Mexico-native artist, Yishai Jusidman, comes in. Living in Los Angeles, he paints depictions of the Holocaust gas chambers of the concentration camps in Dachau, Auschwitz, and Birkenau. Using the pigments that are either chemically or conceptually hinged upon the compounds used to gas the Jews (or using "flesh tones"), he paints the shower chambers. He says he uses these hues "to generate the pictorial impression of a silence as solemn and forthright as it is eloquent" as he aims to "trigger what the sheer awareness of the Holocaust feels like."

Feeling. Suffering. These two come together to make this art intensely meaningful.

Though, one critic may wonder--what are a Mexico-native's credentials to depict something like this when he is not a Jew?

I've been asked a similar question in the concepts of my work on suffering. . . .

And, I believe the answer goes something like this:

"I am human. Am I not? I share in the pool of suffering, if even not so intense as these subjects. What is my life, then, if I do not respond to their suffering but turn, instead, a blind eye so as to not deal with their pain? I think, by the gifts I have been given, I have a duty to them, to tell their story, so that others may know and come to understand that pain that crosses all boundaries--be they continental boundaries, or the boundary from you to the person next to you. We all have a story that can be connected to a greater reality. Suffering is a reality. It needs to be shared, so that the other can know that we care."

We care. As an artist. So, we make art. That matters.






References: The Holocaust Art

So, I found some berries...

And, I really didn't know why I picked these berries. But, anyway, along with those and the little cedar fronds . . . and the white rocks . . . and the bird feathers . . . they told me to make art. So, what did I do?

I started with the berries.

And, I made ink!

Crushing the berries, I found out that they were actually purple on the inside. Just goes to show that you can't judge a berry by its cover. And, as the steaming water dropped on top of the pieces, the liquid turned purple.

So, I took out some paper and began to experiment with the other objects.

Placing the rocks and fronds and feathers all around, splash some ink on it, and voila! You got somethin' interesting.

I wanted to get the "impressions" of the individual pieces, so after sloshing ink everywhere, the items had to skip off the page.

And, I found something beautiful.

What an impression :)

So, after all that, a little ink was still sitting in the bottom of the cup. So . . . I doodled . . .

With a feather. . . .

The Chinese symbols for "See" and "Think" respectively, fading off the page.

So, that's what I did with those little berries I found.

Market Street, Louisville KY

Have you ever stuck out your tongue in a freezer? Well, if you were on Market Street in Louisville, Kentucky on January 24th, then this is what your tongue may have felt like inside your body. It was cold. Let's just say that.

And, we visited many a gallery on ole Market Street, such as the Pyro Gallery and the Zephyr Gallery... stopping along the way to some hole in the wall galleries and such.

If you've ever been to an art gallery, it may be pretty isolating for you as the viewer if you don't already know what you're getting yourself into (or have an art curator there to tell you why these people are making art the way they are and for what purpose). So, let's dive in to see what in the world made sense out there in these art galleries.

"To see is to think," John Begley professes. What do you think...I mean see...I mean, think... and see? So, these two are interconnected in a way. But, there seems to be limitations because you can have "think"ing without the "see"ing part as is shown by the blind, who "see" in different ways than those who "see" with their eyes. So, this seeing finds itself in another definition with thought, then, doesn't it? Seeing. Seeing is the faculty of reason by which one comes to realize a concept as worthy of deeper thought. Thus, you can look at something without truly seeing it. But, to see it in reality is to think about it.

So, after running around that rabbit hole for a while, we leapt over to the Pyro Gallery, where we found natural objects and decaying things that were glorified in molds and folds of paper and flimsy, transparent cloth. For me, as I viewed the Grubola side, I realized the flimsiness of life--these things that decay, but which have within them the capacity for life (or did at one moment in time). But, these things are transient, preservable, like mummies in a tomb, but transient. And, it is in the moment of realizing that ephemeral quality one comes to realize the beauty of the flimsiness--that transparent cloth that wraps through the fall-colored leaves being a purposeful mold that wields a contrast to the colors inside the leaves. The same with our body. It's a flimsy thing, but it is beautiful because it houses one of the most valuable expressions--the soul. And, I think, the soul is something worth seeing.

Greenmuseum Artists

Something intriguing about the Greenmuseum artist, Jim Denevan--he knows his tools very well since he works or plays on them as a surfer/artist. He does large scale sand drawings that almost pass as crop circles. He improvises his works "on the spot," and he utilizes the structure of geometry to give scale to his drawings. "When I'm doing a drawing, I'm personifying the place that is empty." He says it's ephemeral, and that's the beauty of it.

That's the beauty of anything, really, isn't it? Music, at its highest aesthetic quality, is known once the listener grasps that the note is clear only to fade away moments later, thus marking the note at highest value at that point. The transience of an object sometimes marks its aesthetic quality.

Jim Denevan uses anything from a stick to a car to get his drawings down on sand/earth/ice.

Another interesting artist is Albert Flynn DeSilver. He is dubbed a writer and a visual artist. He utilizes both to make a point, while drawing on slides or photographs, or even on the subject in question (i.e. sand, etcetera). His work "calls attention to the simple elegance and genius of the natural world if we only take the time to look." What a beautiful idea. As an artist, our "job" so to speak is to "see" things differently. Here's how DeSilver documents these concepts:

Here is his "Two Foot Water Draw," where the ocean ran over his feet and he took pictures of the lines the water left behind when he drew his feet away. Clever. He says, participating with nature in drawings" is where it's at. ;)

What makes art unique is the intent... the contextualization, if you will, of the artwork. And, the drive of the artist selling the idea.

Natural Found Art?

Found art is defined as,

"A natural object or an artifact not originally intended as art, found and considered to have aesthetic value."

It's interesting that what makes it an art is the intention behind it. Think about it--something previous not considered art (let's take our age-old friend, Duchamp, and peg him as this type of artist who would make a statement like this... because, well... he did)--something previously not considered art (the urinal) can be art (the Fountain)... just because it is found to have aesthetic value or weight.

That's interesting. So, pictures of shadows--shadows are entities that are just "there," but when intended for a deeper purpose, it becomes something more--namely, art.

Is this art? Naturally found art?

A shadow, I think is something natural... and found. And, when composed in such a way that its intended purpose is to show something deeper, it becomes art. Art, what is art? Well, as Webster says, art is, "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination,typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."

Emotional power. And expression or application of human creative skill.

It's interesting. Most photographs fall under this assumption, don't they?

This brings to mind the question of--is natural art really art? Or, is it the photograph that keeps it framed in such a manner? Because, the only way we see the Spiral Jetty or the pieces of Goldsworthy is by a photograph, if not naturally experiencing them.

So, here's something that when compiled (Rachel, you might like this, since you're super crafty!), looks aesthetically pleasing and mouth watering... I've always been under the idea (since I have a huge Italian German family) that food is always better when it looks good. So, here's some food art:

Okay, maybe not so "aesthetically pleasing" because my bunny cupcake making skills aren't up to par, but you get the gist. Or, maybe it's like with words. Words can be naturally found art because of their intentions...

And, then we get into everything you ever hear about naturally found art--it's ephemeral, isn't it? Sand art, leaf art, shadows, cupcakes, or these little words; all of them are ephemeral, fading, but the concept stays with you.

Why?

Because of order. The human capacity to look for order out of naturally occurring things is artistic. This is an expression that is valued as a commodity of concept nowadays. Adorno professed this in his essays. :) So, there's a lot to chew on. I'll leave you to your own devices. But, for now... I'm going to go look for some shadows...