Andy Goldsworthy

This is a rather thorough description of Andy Goldsworthy's Garden of Stones. His work in most of his pieces is quite conceptual. I do like the idea that is contemplated with this piece whether it is a garden of life or death. What Im understanding is that the trees planted in the middle of the rocks. Goldsworthy brings stone and trees together as a representation of life cycles intertwined. For example I see the stone(or grave) representing death or rememberance and the tree represents life or growth. In which I think is perfect symoblizism of the Holocaust. I believe that the trees growth wiill be greatly affected by the stones, but will still grow strong- Just like the Jewish people after the Holocaust. Making the impossible possible. THe stones are the burden and hurt put on the people by the tragedy. I do not believe that the Hebrew words are neccesary on the stones- maybe for the unartistic mind who wouldnt understand his piece, but I believe that the piece speaks for it's self.

4/23/08

Today we presented projects- I presented mine-I always go last and we never really get to talk about mine. But I guess thats ok. Anyways, I loved Ray's of course- shes always so creative with her concept and her execution. And then there's Drake's piece- my FAVORITE- everyone always shuns sex- and we can look at cruesome horror films with torture and gore- but sex is looked down upon. Such a create phenomenon to pick for this project- simply genious. I completely agree sex is looked down upon becuase of all of the christian values, but christians have sex- its how babys are born- and it should be embraced not pushed away. Its also such a fun topic to talk about- everyone enjoys sex, they just dont want to admit it.

Site Project

Project 3

For this project- I took site specific quite literally. I planned doing pictures but a video seemed more effective for what I am doing. This project is supposed to represent the stereotypes in the eastern US- more specifically country people and city people. I am constantly subjected to noticing this difference in people. My boyfriend lives in Galax, VA (know one has really heard of it)- and his town has 3000 people- and alot of what some might consider redneck. I go and visited him alot on the weekends and driving from Charlotte to this environment that is completely different was shocking for me at first, but I deal with it because I love him. Opposites attract. But I everytime I go up there I always see the differences of how these people live and how I live.

Process
THAT WATER WAS SO COLD


VIDEO- make sure sound is on

4/21/08

In class we viewed some contemporary artists- that where quite out of the ordinary. Malena compared alot of the artist's work with greek mythology in which I had never heard before. I really enjoyed Jenny Saville's large scale paintings they remind me alot of Will Puckett's work with the expressive paint strokes and color schemes. Mark Quinn probably the first contemporary artist that I had remembered his name- my teacher at Virginia Tech had to me about his work. That blood head was so out of the ordinary it just stuck in my head- who knows what will stick with me next year.

4/16/08

Today we had a guest speaker: Barbara Schreiber. Her work was EXTREMELY interesting as well as her personality- she reminded me of my Mary Kay lady who i used to work for-open minded, fun, and hilarious. Her work was funny- which you seldomly see in artists- most are sad and depressing. She described her current work as "irritable little paintings about the obsurdity of daily life. Loved her paperdoll like Happy Penis (ithink) and Miss Titty. It reminded me of something my girlfriends would get me at a bachlorette party or something. One thing she told me was that galleries take 50%! I had no idea- thats ridiculous I mean I could understand it was like an extremely detailed installation that took alot of work to put up- but for a painting - all they did was hang it- its just ridiculous- it just turns me off about being an artist.

4/14/08

We talked about Project 3 today. Malena showed us examples of site specific work. I thought my Time project was site specific- should have saved it for this one. I loved Scarlett Craafland's work. It was almost biblical - her naked body against nature- but we don't consider naked women with nature anymore- naked women are considered sexual, provacative, and in some ways sinful. But I consider the naked body as parts of nature, like Adam and Eve. Also, we looked at Andy Goldsworthy's work which was more obviously nature vs. nature. I would love to do something like that- but i dont think i would have the patience. In his videos he didnt explain what his work meant to him- I really wish he would have- it sure is aesthetically pleasing, but what does it mean?

4/11/08

Went to Galax again, the lady at Bonaparte Antiques now knows my name- she told me that all the buttons I get are from one vendor. i wonder where he gets all these buttons. Maybe estate auctions.