2/20/08

In class today we watched a video on Janine Antoni from the Artist 21 series. Her piece with the chocolate and soap was amazing- I believe it was called Lick and LAther! It showed how she washed the soap mold of her face to wear it down to depict her self image. She used very out of the ordinary methods to construst her piece in which in the end changed the interpretation of her work as well as become the title. Her rope construction I felt was a rather personal piece. I mean she had piece of a hammock thatt she swang on- i dont believe than anyone could really interpret this piece the same way that Antoni does, but does that weaken the piece? I dont think so- I hope to do a personal piece like that one day and display it publically. My all time favorite video was the "Touch" video where she learned how to walk on a tight rope in oder to film her touching the horizon on the ocean- I mean how would think of this stuff- it's not only visually appealing, but masterfully constructed. She is a new inspiration!
We also broke off into small groups and discussed our projects- which was especially interesting because usually in thoughs situations Im the last to talk about my work- but i found myself speaking alot- maybe too much. I think that these projects are going to be very personal- I mean it is an identity project so I guess it has to be...

2/18/08

Today in class we had a guest speaker, Elizabeth Alexander, who reminded me so much of my friend kelly with her curly brown hair and the way she described thing- its like they could have been twins- shes an art major as well. But really enjoyed her presentation- I love how she let her Grandmothers house influence her work so much. I like the piece that she worked on in New Zealand the most it was very aesthetically appealing and your like "what is that?" I think she said there was like a piano or something in there- crazy! I dont know if the drawers in her pieces were necessary because you really cant even tell they are there unless she tells you. I took a quote from her that I completely agreed with,"I don't wanna pay 30,000 a year to learn how to paint- I wanna do something I never thought I could do." Thats eactly how I felt at Virginia Tech- that they weren't letting people open their reative minds and do things out of the ordinary.

2/13/08

We watched the Tony Orsler video in class today. I believe I have seen his work about 5 years ago at a contemporary art museum in Winston Salem. The video was very creepy at first and through watching it I jsut wanted it to be over! I wanted to hear what his interpretation of this piece was it was like almost like a disturbance inside me that would be calmed until I found out what his motivation was. It reminded me of childhood and all the negative things that surrounded my childhood. We also watched a video on Oliver Herring- which in my opinion was mildy entertaining- i just didnt like is work particularly. But there is one thing that stood out that he said, "Much more people are more playful, and creative than we have time to express." I completely agree with this statement and am guilty of it myself.

2/6/08

Today we went to the Museum of Craft and Design. Ok so first of all I had a HELL of a time getting there- I parked at the McColl Center (for free) cuz I didnt know about free parking, had to walk in the rain 4 blocks- anywho! I really enjoyed the museum I have been there before, I went in I think 11th grade with my art class. The installation in the lobby of the glass piece is something that I remember, and also remebered that really cool desk that I think was orange, and the swiveling bench that Drake wrote(which I thought was pretty funny). This month they had the "fibers" exhibit- which I think of is very interesting because dealing with fibers is so meticulous and I dont think I would have the patience to do it. For instace just looking at that piece with the "quilt ofsteel" and all those found objects on the fist floor in front of the stairs just made me cringe, but at the same time admire the artist- who knows how long it took them to construct that piece. Also another piece that stood out to me was the wedding dress, I mean tell me that any women would love that! I think she did this on purpose but far away it just looks like a light pink dress but up close it has all those funny quotes and common thoughts of a bride before the big day. Vey appealing and funny! "I want to sleep wth the best man." and my favorite " I dont want my cousin in the wedding because she'll ruin my pictures." ahah

1/30/08

In the begining of class today we talked about how artists are the makers of meaning in which we do through subject matter, form, etc. But I believe that we make meaning not for just use but for everyone- when I am working on a piece I already know how I want to interpret it and usually do so. But someone else might think of something completely different, but does that make my art unsuccessful? But maybe becuase we use for example dark colors in a painting does that mean that it is a gloomy, sad, and depressing piece? Why can't black mean happy? I think we need some new interpretations of this world.

1/28/08

Today we presented our Material's Invention project. Man I felt really bad- mine was awful in my opinion, thank goodness this isnt graded- Im mean a fork- how creative is that? NOT. I really liked Ray's hers was very well thought out. And I love the photgraph quality it remeinds me of a movie that I saw at a film festival one time- it was a long time ago- but I remember that it reminded me of the beauty of being alone- and I interpretted her like that as well. I thought Drakes was very visually appealing when I first saw it, maybe it's because I love food and it had alot of that in it. Although the food in his project didnt look very appetizing. My favorite thing aobut his piece was the koolaid coming of the table in a line. Who thinks of that? It was really interesting it gave the pciture depth. I really liked it!

1/16/08

We went to the McColl Center, which is prob one of the neatest places I've ever been! Until this class I had no idea that art residencies even existed! The whole concept of staying somewhere were they provide you with a studio to work with and you get to display your work is like a 2fer! The exhibit they had at the museum was a tribute to women in the textile industry. The first room we entered has many embroidaries- that were quite beautiful. I particularly like one with the stitching, " I had to hide my successes in the dresser drawer." I like this one becuase it not only applies to the history of the textile industry, but to every industry in which women were looked at as just workers of the lowest placement. Many of the embroideries had bold statements like that. The McColl center was one of the first places that I have been to that I have actually really interpretted the artists' work, it was pretty easy becuase many of the pieces had many bold statements. Such as the Misconception Labeling Installation, so simple and yet so genuis. The woman working there mentioned that we could volunteer for opening receptions I definately want to do that.