Perceptions of Color: Progress 2

Made a lot of progress on my nupastel drawing today. I was particularly worried about the glove, but I think I've done a nice job so far, especially with the cloth portion of it. I need to made the shadows a lot deeper. With the glass, I think I have kind of the same problem as I do with the glove, and that's shadow. The cast shadow of the glove could use some work as well. Also, my flower. I did it at the very beginning and now looking it over, I feel it needs touching up and definition, maybe even a different color choice. I'm really close to being done. It needs some editing, and the postcard isn't finished, but I'll be done by next Friday!

art is giving

Drew this today on a whim for a friend's birthday. It's just dinner at a restaurant, but I still feel like I should show up with something. It's of her, and it's from a picture I had on my computer. I got nupastel allllllll over my laptop. It'll be pink for a month. I'm appreciative of keyboard covers, though. Anyway, I used the same techniques we used in my drawing class awhile ago doing the "erased head," and I added more colors to it. I think it turned out nicely. All I care about is if she likes it, though! Happy 21st birthday, Chelsea!

Museum Project

We were given a project in class to make an exhibit. It's a really open-ended project and I had no idea what I was going to do. I didn't have a single idea I thought was good enough, or reasonable enough, to be accomplished successfully. Then in lab today we were supposed to start coming up with proposals for our projects and I partnered up with Annelise. She had an idea about putting up VHS tapes on display and attaching people's stories/memories to them. I don't know exactly how the idea came to be, but she was talking about the decay process of VHS tapes and putting them in rows and suddenly Tootsie Pops came to mind. My idea was to put them into rows of suckers of diminishing size and show how long it would take to get to the center. We played around with both ideas for awhile but ended up going with the Tootsie Pops, because we felt it was a little stronger. So I'm going to type up the concept and process and Annelise is going to tackle the list of items needed and description of the installation. I'm excited about it. I think we have solid ideas and Annelise is super organized and detail-oriented.

How Many Licks Does it Take?
(tootsie.com)

Edit (later): I finished the concept and process.

Concept: We’re out to solve the ancient mystery: how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? This age-old question is unsuccessfully answered by Mr. Owl in Tootsie Pop commercials after he gets too impatient to lick his sucker anymore. They leave us with: “the world may never know.” The display will answer this question, and show the varying stages of consumption.

Process: Group members will be assigned to lick Tootsie Pops in specific increments. The Tootsie Pops would then be placed in order of diminishing size in rows. An informational plaque will be created describing what constitutes a “lick.” In order to keep the experiment more accurate, group members will be required to consume the sucker in as close to the same way as possible.

Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton often makes large installations that take up rooms or entire buildings. She is trained as a sculptor but uses textiles, objects, sounds, etc., in her pieces. There is one piece of her's (entitled "myein") I find particularly interesting and she discusses it a bit in this Art:21 video:

What I like about this piece is not only the underlying message that Hamilton has, but I also think it would be a fantastic thing to watch a wall of language understood by touch, come alive and visible before your eyes. While I respect Ms. Hamilton and all the other artists I've studied this semester so far, I've noticed the strong desire for contemporary artists to make bold, controversial statements with art. I've broadened my definition of the word "art" vastly over the past few months, but I kind of miss "l'art pour l'art" (art for art's sake). Everyone always has to make a comment or a criticism. I want to see an artist celebrating life. In finding the problems with the world, can we also find what's right with it?

Perception of Color: Progress

Today I made some progress on my perception of color drawing. Worked a lot on the stick and filling in more of the background. I'm saving the glove and the glass of water for next week so I can tackle them both and have enough time. Looking at this picture now, I feel I need to dull down the color on that fuchsia paper. It's less "electric" in real life. I like the way I did some of the contours in the wood, but it could use some highlights and it loses its 3-dimensionality on the left side.

Fred Wilson

We watched a PBS Art 21 video in class showcasing Fred Wilson as a guide for our next project. He is a curator of sorts, a collector, a man of many things (literally). He addresses racism in a lot of his work. What's different about Fred Wilson as an artist is that he rarely creates things with his hands - he puts things together that already exist. His work is entirely based around presentation. To put certain objects together can make very strong statements and he exploits that. By doing this, one may question not only the objects themselves, but museums in general. What is the job of a museum? Does a museum showcase (or glorify) art? artifacts? history? And how?

Drip Drop Plop

By Degree

Puppet
(all images from art21)

Fred Wilson's favorite word should be juxtaposition. Art for him isn't necessarily something "pretty" for people to look at. Art for him is his activism. He's showing the world what's wrong with it, simply by showcasing the things they've made. It's a powerful thing.

Anne Frank Memorial

1. Describe what you see, including location (context) and physical space.

The space is fairly large and spread over river-side terrain, outdoors. There are a lot of things like plaques and benches that are made out of marble and/or rocks. It's surrounded by trees and grass, and even includes a water feature (although the feature was turned off while I visited because it was too cold). It's very near the Boise Library and it's a short walk from BSU.

2. Describe the varying degrees of representation.

There are quotes on the walls and benches, informational plaques, winding sound features, and a representational copper statue of Anne Frank.

3. What are the visual elements/principles that dominate in the memorial?

The memorial is littered with quotes, quotes, quotes! The sound feature gives some history and background, with (I think) 9 stations total. Informational tidbits are everywhere. It has a clean design, no frills. The font is black and easily legible on cream colored marble.

4. Is this memorial site-specific? Explain.

I think although the memorial is the first Anne Frank memorial to be made, and the fact that it is in Boise is a little odd, that it is still site specific. It's not only about Anne Frank, but what Anne Frank represents and that is human rights and human equality - which would be specific anywhere on Earth. The location of the memorial was thought about diligently, as was the layout. It's located in a heavily trafficked area and is right by the university, library and museums. It would not be as effective if it was in a remote area.

5. Who created, designed and funded this memorial?

The Idaho Human Rights Education Center made this memorial happen. Kurt Kaste was the architect on the project, and Greg Stone made the Anne Frank statue (paid for by Idaho school fund raisers).

It was funded by a huge list of donators (on large plaques on-site).

6. What materials/media were used to create this memorial?

Marble, rocks, water, copper, stone, grass, and trees. Also, the winding sound feature.

7. How does the text/word element function?

It works almost like a book. One can either walk around the memorial as they please, or follow a the path of the sound feature and read corresponding quotes/materials as they walk around, which would be the most effective way of viewing the memorial. Not all of the quotes are from Anne Frank's diary, although there are a few, but all of them have to do with the same concept of equality.

8. Reflecting on your answers to the previous questions, what do you think was the intended meaning/function?

I think the memorial was made for people to think about what it means to be a human, and to open discussion between people about their relationship to each other and all other humans.

9. In your opinion, how successful is this memorial? Explain.

I think the memorial is very successful. It is a place of solace and quiet reflection. It receives many visitors from passers-by (especially just from foot traffic to/from school, the greenbelt, and the library) and from school groups.