Color Swatches

http://kuler.adobe.com/#themes/search?term=deb012

Mark-making device

My mark making device was a fan that I "appropriated" from the tool closet.  I unscrewed the face cover off and attached q-tips to the blades of the fan, the q-tips were then soaked in black house paint to make the marks for my drawings.

Bill's Dada and Surrealism Lecture 10/15

Dada, Surrealism, and After

Dada began during World War I as a protest against the war, the current society, and the old world order
Dada contributed to the art world:
-appropriation: stealing, recycling culture
-assemblage, construction: invented by Picasso, making art with objects
-conceptual art: physical manifestations reflecting the thought process, became popular art form in the early 20th century
-chance: acceptance of chance in art work
Dada originated in Zurich, a new kind of mentality was being expressed as a protest movement
July 17 1916 was the release date for Dada Magazine

Artists:
Hugo Ball
-opened the "Cabaret Voltaire" in 1916 in Zurich, Switzerland as a refuge for Dada artists who were fleeing from the war
-eventually groups branched off from the cabaret, and Dada spread across Europe such as the Berlin group in 1919 who protested the right wing German government that led to the creation of the 3rd Reich and the Paris group in 1924 whom would later become the Surrealist group
-work consisted of: sound poems, costumes(influenced by Cubism), masks, invented collage in 1916

the goal of Dada: to create a new culture for the new world

Kurt Schwitters
-worked with assemblage and collage
-created a one man group and his own form of art, named it "Merz" which was short for commerz(commerce)

Marcel Duchamp
-established the art form of readymades
-enjoyed artwork that had opposing or negating factors

Robert Rauschenberg was influenced by the Dadaists as seen in his piece "Retroactive 1"

Mini-poster xeroxes

Modular Madness Critique

Monday 10/18/2010 students were critiqued for the modular madness assignment which consisted of collecting +100 objects and arranging them in a manner to produce a composition.  My piece was second in line to be critiqued by Bill, Kathy, and the class.  Although Bill informed me that my decisions were made accurately, there were still a few characteristics of my piece that were in question.  He addressed the issue of unreason that existed in the "beginning and end" of my piece, and he felt that there were issues with the lack of consistency in process of rusting the nails in my piece.  I had not done my research on how different types of treated steel react to the devices(vinegar and salt) I was told to use by Kathy to achieve the effect of rusting.  For the majority my piece has been nailed with galvanized steel nails which have a hardier level of resistance to rusting as compared to the minority of nails used, the bright common, which practically rusted over night.  Kathy felt the amount of rusting I lacked or possessed worked for my piece, and expressed that the divide between the galvanized steel and the bright common was working for my piece as well.

Lecture assignment - looking for repetition

Abstract Expressionism: 
Hans Hofmann and James Brooks

"The Gate" Hans Hofmann, 1959-60
Repetition exists in this piece through the repeated use of squares, quality of brush stroke, and texture.  I don't think this piece would be considered monotonic but it most definitely leans more towards harmony than anything resembling chaos.  The bright, clashing colors cause me to think of big city lights when I look at this piece.  My eyes are attracted to the red square placed close to the middle of the composition, and as I look longer my eyes move around the piece in sort of a spiraling motion from left to right closer to the edge of the painting each time around.  I think the above effect that the painting has on me visually is another reason why harmony exists in the painting.

"Towering Spaciousness" by Hans Hofmann, 1966
Repetition exists in this piece through the use of line and texture.  When I first glance at this piece it has a chaotic feel, but as I further study the piece, the Gestalt principle of closure comes into play and I view the content of the image as a whole something with a purpose, be it a tower or a building or just space.  Harmony and contrast exist in this piece.  Contrast exists in the relationship between the flat red/blue squares and the less clean, sloppy strokes of color.  As I was looking at this painting I let my eyes go in and out of focus and I found a sense of depth that was caused by this contrast; the flat red/blue squares appear to be a shorter distance from the viewer than the rest of the content in this image.

"Boon" by James Brooks, 1957
Repetition exists in the limited color palette chosen by the artist, maybe texture as well.  I feel that the placement and application of paint allows the piece to be considered chaotic.  The colors that are repeatedly used in this piece make me think of a rock canyon, or maybe a bowel movement. 

"Mounted Policeman (New York Policeman)" by James Brooks, 1946
Repetition exists in this piece through line and color.  I would say that this piece is more harmonic than chaotic, although there is definite contrast in the choice of color.  I get lost in not only discerning where each brushstroke ends and begins but also trying to identify the mounted policeman(if there is one).

Minimalism:

Giorgio Morandi and Agnes Martin

"Natura morta" by Giorgio Morandi, 1955
Repetition exists in this piece through the color choice, the texture/brushstroke, and line.  The back ground and the plane that the objects are sitting on have similar texture/brushstroke that seems to be created by thinner paint application while the two objects share a texture that appears to have been created by thicker paint application.  Repetition is shown on the detail of the objects in the painting with regards to line. The piece is very harmonic, probably considered monotonic.  The swiveling lines on the objects are a nice contrast to the flat background, they create motion that actually allows my eyes to move along with.

"Natura morta" by Giorgio Morandi, 1961
Repetition exists in this piece solely in texture.  It appears as though Morandi painted the whole piece with paint thinner mixed in paint because the application of paint is thin and transparent throughout the whole composition.  The piece is harmonic for the above reason and the actual placement of the objects in the composition is very aesthetically pleasing.  I was actually annoyed with how thin the paint is put on, even though that is one of the things that holds this piece together and without that type of application the piece would not be as effective.

 "Wood 1" by Agnes Martin, 1963
Repetition exists in this piece through the use of point, line, and color.  The piece is about as monotonic as it gets in my opinion.  I think if I wanted I could stare at this piece for a long time because of the complexity of line and the mild color palette used; it is very easy on the eyes.

"Untitled Drawing" by Agnes Martin, 1979
Repetition exists in this piece through the use of line and color.  Once again, a monotonic piece of art shown here.  The repetition of line and the pattern that is used in the above created a desire in me to mentally create more lines that went above and below the piece.

Post-Minimalism

Rachel Whiteread and Richard Tuttle

"Ghost" by Rachel Whiteread, 1990
Repetition exists in this piece through the use of line, shape, and color.  The piece appears to be bilateral and is mostly one color as a whole which is why I would consider this piece very harmonic, probably monotonic.  This reminds me of Greek and Roman architecture because of how symmetric it is and and the color of the piece resembles marble or a similar stone that those ancient civilizations would have used.

"Pink Torso" by Rachel Whiteread, 1991
Repetition exists in this piece through the use of shape and color.  Like the piece shown above, this piece is bilateral and is one color throughout.  The single tone of color and symmetrical shape allow this piece to be placed on the more harmonious side of the scale.

"Red Canvas" by Richard Tuttle, 1967
Repetition exists in this piece through the use of line, color, and shape.  The single color used and the shape of the piece cause it to display high levels of harmony.  I perceived that each edge of this octagon were of uneven lengths and that causes me to look at the piece with a desire to fix it.

"Waferboard 3" by Richard Tuttle, 1996

Repetition exists in this piece through texture.  In this piece the texture and the placement of the objects harmonize fairly well so I would consider it more harmonic than chaotic.  When I say placement I am referring to the "Golden Spiral": 
Because of the placement chosen by the artist in this piece, my eyes tend to move around in a spiral-like motion when looking at it.

Richard Serra:

"Twain" by Richard Serra, 1982

"A Matter of Time" by Richard Serra, 2005

Peter Halley:

"Three Prisons" by Peter Halley, 2005

"Six Prisons" by Peter Halley, 2005

Kathy Kelley Lecture 10/1/10

There are three subjects addressed when looking at art:
1. subject
2. form
3. content
In lecture, Kathy spoke to us about form.
FORM - point - line - shape - texture - value - color - space - art is made by organizing these elements
Organizing Principles
-repetition - doesn't mean the item repeated has to appear the same every time, sometimes it could similar to what is being shown earlier in the sequence; could be a pattern if done similarly or an exaggeration; repetition/pattern/similarity is not only defined by the positive space but the negative space as well
In each composition there exist a balance and contrast between harmony and chaos; something that expresses harmony to the fullest would be known as being "monotonic" or having "monotony" and something that expresses chaos to the fullest would be just known as chaos
In between these two extremes of the spectrum of form, there exists three deciding factors: repetition, balance, gravity (it is how these three factors are used that determines the nature of the composition or form)
(back to repetition) ---> rhythm exists in repetition, and this rhythm/lack of rhythm is what make(s) a pattern interesting
balance (between harmony and chaos)
- a composition does not have to be balanced in between the two, the balance just has to be correct for the form of the piece; a piece will always have a balance
- symmetry - can be created by ALL elements of form

16 inkings for Project 2

The above 4 drawings were achieved through the use of a quarter as a mark making tool.

These 4 drawings were created by the use and manipulation of a hacksaw blade.

Here a small tree limb was used as a mark making tool.

I used a screw in these last 4 drawings as a mark making utensil.

10 Quotes, 2 Narrowed Down, 1 Final

1. "True Love Cast Out All Evil" - Roky Erickson
2. "The Moon May Be White" - Roky Erickson
3. "He is essentially a channel" - Piet Mondrian
4. "reality is opposed to the spiritual" - Piet Mondrian
5. "You're inhumane; I'm in touch with humanity" - Patrick Bateman from American Psycho
6. "I simply am not there" - Patrick Bateman
7. "In the end its all nice" - Sara Goldfarb from Requiem for A Dream
8. "I said we got a winner" - Tabby Tibbons from Requiem for A Dream
9. "No not a wizard, a hobbit." - Dwight Schrute
10. "Impossible to say, I can't see myself." - Dwight Schrute

Final 2 Quotes
"reality is opposed to the spiritual"
"I simply am not there"

Quote chosen by Kathy:
"reality is opposed to the spiritual"