Brooklyn Museum Reaction

On our field trip 4, we went to the Brooklyn Museum to see art that defined identity.  Everyone has his or her own identity and it is what helps tell you about that person is.  The amazing thing about identity is that everyone’s different and it most interesting to try to interpret their identity.

            In the exhibit “Sanford Biggers: Sweet Funk-An Introspective”, Biggers has a work of art on displayed called “Passage”.  This work of art is a combination of a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s head and the shadow of President Obama.  I believe this work of art is trying to represent a cultural identity.  It’s like if Biggers is trying to say that in a way Obama and MLK have similarities in what kind of history they made or are making.  Both Obama and MLK’s identity alone stand for strength and for change.  This work of art does a great job in showing their identities without cancelling out one or the other.

            In the exhibit “Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties”, there was a work of art on display called “Flower and Torso”.  This work of art is represents the identity of women and how it was focused on sexuality.  It says a lot about how a woman’s identity was neglected during the American Twenties and how they truly didn’t have a voice yet.  It shows how a woman’s identity was mainly sexual because during this time women were seen as just sexual beings and not more.

            In the exhibit “Timothy Greenfield Sanders: The Latino List”, there were a bunch of photographs of successful and well known Latinos and Latinas.  These photographs represented Latinos breaking the barriers of what people assume Latinos are like.  This is just reinforcing the true of identity of Latinos and how we are successful.  It shows Latinos for the intelligent and hard working people they are even thought sometimes their identity gets clouded by those who don’t achieve anything.

Sanford Biggers

“Passage”

2009

Peter Blume

“Flower and Torso”

1927

Timothy Greenfield Sanders

“The Latino List”

2011

Narrative Digital Collage

My collage started as a romantic honeymoon but then I decided that I wanted it to be a honeymoon gone wrong.  I just started adding different images and as I got more into it, the images just started to connect.  I thought about everything I wouldn't want to happen at my honeymoon and this is what I came up with.  I found it to be funny and unusual.  It's fun and I really liked how it came out.

Sculpture Center Reaction

For our third field trip we went to visit a beautiful spacious place called The Sculpture Center.  Space is what determines how an exhibit will look to its viewers.  Some exhibits are meant for bigger spaces and others are meant for smaller spaces.  Just the space alone determines how much you enjoy the exhibit.  Sometimes there is a chance that if the space isn’t right for the exhibit you might not enjoy it nor really understand the point to it.

The first work of art that I think it’s dependent on the space to make it worth the view is “Constellation 6.0”.  I believe that the workspace has a great affect on how the piece is viewed.  This piece of art is a bunch of star shaped mirrors on the floor to make somewhat of an illusion like with a magic trick when you go to a circus.  This piece of art I believe is defined by its space because it is such a large piece that in a place that is small it just wouldn’t have the same affect to the viewer.  It needs all the lights that this piece is displayed in and it needs the space for it to be laid out the way it was.

The second work of art I am choosing to write about is “Backend Trick”.  This piece of art is all about its space because without the space it wouldn’t be what it is.  This work of art is too big for it to be confined to a small space.  In my opinion, this work of art is what stands out the most from the entire collection just because it seems as if it is being moved by itself.  If you see it at a glance then you would think it was possessed which is what I think the artist is trying to get across.

The third work of art that I feel is all about the space is “A Jóia De Orixá” because it is so big in size that it feels as if it would only belong in the Sculpture Center.  In a smaller space you wouldn’t get the same affect of it being big and standing out.  This piece of art was the one piece that made it seem as if it was a circus.  It had the circus tent on top of it and that made it seem as if it was representing a circus. 

All three pieces of art connect with their surroundings because they are all part of one large exhibit.  This is exhibit is perfect for the Sculpture Center because in any other smaller space it would haven’t the same “WOW” affect when you see it.

 Sanford Biggers

"Constellation 6.0"

2011

Sanford Biggers

"Backend Trick"

2011

Sanford Biggers

"A Jóia Do Orixá"

2011

"Design in Our Lives Reactions"

Art and design, when these two terms are said the first thought is that they are related.  To some people these two concepts aren’t related, they believe that Design is one concept and Art is another.  In my opinion they are both related.  I believe that they both need each other to create something better, where it takes a little of both.  After our trip to MoMA “Talk to Me” Exhibit, this became a bit clearer.

The first two works from the exhibit that I consider “high functioning” are “GE Ecomagination: Home Appliance Energy Use” and “Newsmap”.  I think that “GE Egomagination: Home Appliance Energy Use” is high functioning because I find it a great idea to be able to know how much your appliances are going to cost you depending on how much you use it.  This GE product will help you know what appliances you use the most and that you should maybe cut down on if its possible.  The only downfall of this product would be that not everyone may have access to it or maybe it won’t contain of the brands and/or appliances.  The “Newsmap” is another work that I found to be “high functioning” simply because to me it’s amazing how it can keep all the news in just one place for every country.  It can give you the current news in matter of seconds and it is full of information.  I believe this to be extremely useful because it lets you know what is going on.  The only downfall would be that would it only be available in certain places or with certain computers.  The “high functioning” works I have chosen have in common that they are full of information and present themselves to be useful for things we already use everyday or do everyday.

The second two works from the exhibit I consider “low functioning” are “Graffiti Taxonomy” and “Passage”.  I think that the “Graffiti Taxonomy” is “low functioning” because it doesn’t stand a purpose besides to show the different kind of graffiti letters.  It is not giving you any type of important information and it is not helping you in any kind of way.  The “Passage” is another “low functioning” work because it is a game that is supposed to give you a glimpse of what life is like.  I don’t find this useful because I personally don’t want to be told what life is like. I want to find out on my own.  It’s not informational because it doesn’t relate to everyone and it is not useful because not everyone would live his or her life the same way.  These “low functioning” works have in common that they both don’t really stand for a good purpose and it is not giving you important information.

1) Pentagram (US and UK est. 1972)

“GE Ecomagination: Home Appliance Energy Use”

2010

2) Marcos Weskamp

“Newsmap”

2004

1) Evan Roth

“Graffiti Taxonomy”

2009

2) Jason Rohrer

“Passage”

2008

Art and World Events Reactions

            September 11, 2001.  Just that date makes an impact on you whether you were present when it happened or if you weren’t.  I remember that day but I was young so some parts of the day I don’t quite remember.  I remember being in school and all of sudden a lot of children started to get picked up by their parents.  I also remember the blank look on my teachers face when they first told her what happened.  9/11 changed my mentality on what I believed was safe.  In matter of seconds, everything changed and we lost our safety but most of all we lost a lot of great lives.  You never expect a tragedy to occur and when it does it just feels like your own world just collapsed.

            One of the art works that stood out to me was “Untitled (Questions)” in MoMA PS1.  The reason this artwork stood out to me was because it was bright.  The colors were bright and caught my attention.  When I started to actually look at the artwork, I started to connect with it.  The piece of art was just a bunch of questions but that’s actually how we all felt.  The artist Barbara Kruger did a great job of showing that in her painting.  After 9/11, we were just full of questions but no answers.  This artwork spoke to me because that’s exactly how I felt personally.  I had lots of questions but never one concrete answer about why 9/11 happened and for what.

            Second work of art that caught my attention was “Unrealized Project for the Exterior of the Carnegie Museum” in MoMA PS1.  The reason this work of art caught my attention was because the message of “Mission Accomplished” seems so vague.  When you think about it, what mission was accomplished?  In all honesty, I don’t believe any mission was accomplished.  This artwork caught my attention because it actually made me think of what the artist was trying to say.  It made me question what I originally believed of 9/11 and the war in Iraq because it made me feel as if maybe there was a mission but maybe there wasn’t.

            The third work of art that stood out to me was “Mutual Dialogue” in LAGCC’s 9/11 Exhibit.  The reason this artwork stood out to me was because it’s saying a lot by just looking at it.  The contrast between the American flag and New York times articles about 9/11 is letting you know that they can go together.  It shows that there is a connection between Americans and American Muslims.  We suffered a lot because of 9/11 but so did a lot of Muslims.  This affected us all regardless of where we come from.  I think this piece of artwork is sending that message.

            All these of artists in a way summed up what I was thinking but couldn’t really express.  It made an impact on how I thought about 9/11 and it caused me to think more about it.  I wonder if at any time we will ever get a clear response on what 9/11 truly means.

Barbara Kruger – “Untitled (Questions)- 1991   

Jeremy Deller-“Unrealized Project for the Exterior of the Carnegie Museum”-2004

Serhat Tanyalocar- “Mutual Dialogue” - 2001

Good Art Bad Art

Good Art Bad Art

I haven't always really paid too much attention to what could be described as good art and bad art.  In my opinion, good art could be defined as any type of art that is trying to send out a message or trying to tell a story.  Good art has to speak to you and you have to be able to read it.    Most of all you should be able to understand much of what the artist is trying to say.
Bad Art in my opinion is art that doesn't send a clear message to the viewer.  If the viewer has to go through various possibilities of what artist is trying to say then to me that's bad art.  If i can't find a way to connect with the painting then its bad art.

Good Art

Bad Art