The Metropolitian Museum of Art

During the thanksgiving break I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I have visited many different museums in the New York City area but never made it to the Metropolitan Museum. I found that the museum had an array of different types of art. They had sculptures, paintings and photos from different parts of the world and different time periods. The different cultures and styles from different parts of the world really showed in the different art pieces that they were displaying.

One exhibit that I particularly like was the Greek and Roman artwork gallery. As a history minor and someone that enjoys history I found the pieces very interesting to look at. Greek and Roman artists, similar to those of the Renaissance, strafed to create the perfect human form and this made their pieces, especially sculptures very realistic. The human sculptures were very realistic and full of detail that made them almost lifelike. Even the smaller pieces had a lot of detail in them, which made the very realistic and you can clearly see what the artist was trying to depict. The paintings and murals in the exhibit demonstrated the same sort of level of detail. When looking at them you could imagine what it would have been like being back in ancient Greece or Rome.

Another exhibit that I particularly liked was the Japanese Samurai artwork that was on display. The same sort of historical element found in the Greek and Roman exhibit made me interested in viewing the pieces found in the exhibit. It is interesting to see how the warrior culture of the samurai integrated artwork and symbolism into their armor and weapons. The samurai sword itself is a work of artwork. If you didn’t know its blade is made of one piece of metal that is folded over and over to create the strong blade. This took a lot of skill and you could see that in the blades on display. The other pieces that I found interesting was the sets of armor and helmets on display. Some of the helmets had different elements integrated into them to make them personalized as well as functional.

Another piece I went to see was the annual Christmas tree that they had put up. It wasn’t just a tree but instead had the nativity scene at its base with tons of angels among the tree’s branches. I found it really beautiful and reminded me of the origins of Christmas. I could only imagine having that sort of piece in my house around Christmas time.

Another one of the other exhibits that I would also like to mention was these photographs taken of different pieces of china from Vienna. These photographs highlighted how artwork could be intertwined into things people have in there home. These lavish and detailed pieces showed how artwork could be both functional and beautiful. These pieces showed an attention to detail as even the small pieces had a lot of detail, which takes a lot of skill to do.

Art and the Public

Some artists focus their artwork towards the public. They try and portray a message or idea for the public at large to view and interpret. But some artists go beyond just portraying ideas for public viewing but also use the public within their own work. Two artists that utilize the public in their own work are Gillian Wearing and Vanessa Beecroft.

Gillian Wearing is a British artist. Her first major work was “Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say” which was first displayed in 1992 at the City Racing in London. In this work she went up to people in public and asked them to write something on a piece of paper. Wearing then took a photo of these people holding the piece of paper they wrote on. These photos highlight people true inner thoughts. This kind of works makes you think about your own social assumptions and perceptions that you make about people and society as a whole. Another work that Wearing utilized the public was “Confess All On Video. Don't Worry You Will Be in Disguise. Intrigued? Call Gillian” that debuted in 1994. In this work she had people come in and confessed to things they would normally never tell anyone they had done. The trick is each person was discussed in a mask, which allowed him or her to tell the truth or lie. This kind of piece highlights what kind of things we frown upon in society such as stories of inappropriate behavior and lying. Due to the masks people are allowed to openly do both I front of the public.

Another artist that works utilize the public to highlight different elements in society is Vanessa Beecroft. Vanessa Beecroft is an Italian artist. She puts on performances that feature models. These models are mostly women sometimes nude and she organizes them in different spaces and documents them through photography. These performances highlight certain aspects of society and different assumptions of society similar to Gillian Wearing’s work. "VB 50"

In one piece called “VB 50”, she organized a group of nude female models of different skin tones and hair colors. She intended to highlight the definition of beauty found in advertising and the multi-cultural nature of society.

Both of these artists highlight different aspects of society in their work. I find Gillian Wearing’s work more effective at highlighting assumptions and perceptions found in society. In her work with the photos of people holding signs one makes perceptions about the person before you read the sign. For instance, one photo shows a policeman holding a sign. Ordinarily we see policemen as figures of authority that seem to be in control of situations they find themselves in. But his sign says the word “help”. Which suggest that unlike his appearance his thoughts portray an idea of not being in control and of needing assistance from others. I find that Vanessa Beecroft’s work is much harder to interpret the message that the performance is trying to portray. In “VB 50” at a first glance one wouldn’t find the message of the performance but after you think about how this compares with other portrayals of women in society one can draw out the message that the artist intended. But both artists make good use of the public to highlight the themes that they want to portray about society.

Money Makes the World Go Round

It has been said that money makes the world go round. In resent decades this has become more and more true for the art world. In a lecture by Dave Hickey and in the documentary “The Mono Lisa Curse”, the issue of money moving into the art world is discussed.

Before money became intertwined in the art world people used to buy art because they appreciated and enjoyed the artwork. But this attitude would change as people began seeing art as an investment. Dave Hickey discusses that artists began selling out. Meaning that they began making art so that they themselves could sell the art to dealers rather then making it to express themselves and highlight different issues in society. In the documentary “The Mono Lisa Curse”, this similar aspect is discussed. That no longer where people looking at art critically but they instead began looking at artworks price tag and not allowing people to make their own judgments. The documentary describes that one piece of artwork, Gustav Klimt “Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer”, as is being compared to the Mona Lisa but the maker documentary disagrees that though the price tag is high it doesn’t make the piece a major work of art.Gustav Klimt “Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer”

In many ways both these two art critics are right. The way in which artists and the public look at art has changed since money has become intertwined in art culture. People aren’t just critical about the art itself but also the works price and how much it is worth.

But not only did this transformation of the art community change the way people looked at art but also how art was being presented and displayed. In his lecture Dave Hickey describes that museums once displayed artwork that the public liked and wanted to see. But as he goes on to say that with government funding for the arts, museums began changing that they no longer responded to the publics likes. The documentary goes more in depth. The documentary illustrates that museums began becoming more business like in their own dealings. Museums started using advertising and began to put on spectacles of different artist to attract its audience. This reflects how the art market has changed art museums into something that is more commercial. The documentary points out the specific example of the new museums being built in Abu Dhabi. These museums will present some of the worlds most prized pieces of art. But it also will contain shopping centers, a boardwalk and a golf course. It turns art into a part of an attraction or spectacle and the artwork itself becomes a commodity allowing the artwork to loss its context. But for all these faults that money has brought to the art community in some ways it has given new life to art. Dave Hickey describes that the museum is forced to display new pieces of art because no one wants to see the same type of piece twice. The art market has made it so that museums are forced to show new pieces of art. So in a way the money behind the art is forcing art to change and create new pieces. It attracts new artists, new movements and new ideas to the art community. But those this sounds good that the art world is changing. The motive behind it is the problem. Art has its context and its own movements rather then artists trying to figure new ways to sell their art for money.

The revolution of the art community in recent decades has changed the way people look art. The intertwining of money into the art culture seems irreversible. It seems that art will in some ways be synonymous with the price of artwork. The market for art that has developed seems to drive an ever growing and ever changing art community and culture.

Midterm pt I

Performance Art is an art piece that can not be bought. Performance art is alive. It is a form of art that is played out live by actors in front of an audience. It can contain anything that the artist wishes or desires. It can provoke emotions and portray a message.

If I had to assemble a piece of performance art it would be something that would portray an environmental awareness theme. It would be memorable but also make sure people got the message.

It would consist of a series of rooms. Each room would rotate into the audience’s view via a carousel or other rotation device. Each room would contain a scene that is familiar to most viewers. The scene would be the traditional or typical American family gathered around a Christmas tree. Decorations would be hung on the tree and all around the room. There would be presents under the tree ready to be opened by the family. But most importantly the room would contain a large window so the audience could be outside of the room into what would normally be outside of the house.

The first room would contain the scene of a family from the 1950s. Everything would be in black and white to illustrate the time period as if it was begin seen on an old television. The tree being a real tree. The actors dressed for the period would silently act out a Christmas morning. Opening presents and embracing one another. In the window the audience would see a scene of a white Christmas strait out of a Christmas card. The second room would then come into view. This contains a modern family from the year 2000. Everything now in color and dressed like we would today. This time the tree would be plastic. The actors once again are doing the same silent acting. In the window this time is a green Christmas. No signs of to be seen.

The third room would contain a family from the future like the year 2050. Everything would be in color again. But now the family dressing as if they were in a heat wave. All sweaty with little clothes on and fans set up all around the room to keep cool. The tree this time is dried out and brown. The actors silently are acting as before. In the window this time the grass would then be dirt with the sun shining brightly through the window.

The fourth and final room would come into view. Everything in color, but once again in the future. But now instead of actors, immobile skeletons replace them. The whole room looks like its been dried out and been in the sun for to long. The tree is now down to its skeleton just like the people. In the window there is no signs of life. As if they were in the middle of a desert.
The actors would play out in silence because Christmas music like “White Christmas” would be playing to give the audience a familiar feeling of the winter holiday. But as the rooms change it invokes a sense of irony because it is no longer a wintry scene that we might find familiar.

The theme that I hope would become apparent to the audience as the rooms transition to a scene that is familiar to a scene that is alien and lifeless. Would be the concern that global warming is a serous issue that must be addressed. If not the familiar traditions that we hold dear will become extinct.

Midterm pt II

Marcel Duchamp was a French artist who was part of the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. He was a controversial artist whose artwork challenged traditional beliefs about artistic society and what art can be. The notions of what can and should be considered art is effected the art community. “The Duchamp Effect” is a collection of interviews by Martha Buskirk and Elizabeth Armstrong. They interview five different artists on how Duchamp’s work effected their own work and style.
The first artist interviewed by Elizabeth Armstrong was Bruce Conner. The way that Bruce Conner was influenced by Duchamp was through the way that the viewer was forced to question art and what art represented. Conner said that it wasn’t about whether you did understand what his pieces meant but if you could. This kind of questioning is what makes Duchamp so controversial and opened inquiry into what is art. Bruce Conner also takes notes that he himself didn’t sign anything he made while Duchamp signed things that he didn’t make. This influence an idea he had about making a rubber stamp that he would use to sign his works as well as other peoples works and random objects. This brings up an interest question. If some random object is signed is that considered a piece of art? Such as Duchamp did with his piece “Fountain”.

Marcel Duchamp "Fountain"

The idea that a normal object brought into a gallery setting becomes art, is a concept that Duchamp championed. This concept was discussed in Martha Buskirk’s interview of Sherrie Levine. One of her first works was entitled “Black Shoes”. The work was just a pair of black shoes based off of a pair of ordinary black shoes. Sherrie Levine continued the trend that Duchamp began of using ordinary or readymade objects. Another piece she made using a readymade object was “Chimera: After a Broken Leg” which was a plywood splint placed in the gallery setting. The idea of readymade objects becoming part of the artistic community is one example of Duchamp’s effect on artists like Sherrie Levine.
The next artist interviewed by Martha Buskirk was Louise Lawler. His impression of Duchamp’s influence on art was the way art should be less restrictive. In the interview he talks about one of his works that was intended to bring up the issues involved with the Helms amendment. This kind of political inspired art is art that is not restrictive. Traditional art wouldn’t allow for such controversial and political art.
The next artist interviewed by Martha Buskirk was Fred Wilson. The influence that Duchamp had on Wilson was the question of how art should be displayed. Wilson discusses how the space in which art is displayed is in some ways an art in itself. Wilson talks about how he likes display art in a way that will surprise the viewers.
The last artist interviewed by Elizibeth Armstrong was Ed Ruscha. His impression of the effect of Duchamp’s work was the revolution away from the traditions of painting. Ruscha describes that in a time where the tradition was using paints, Duchamp was using new mediums. Duchamp was the first artist to use a electric motor to add motion to art. It was this kind of new revolution in median that Ruscha credits Duchamp with.
Each artist interviewed all describes ways that Duchamp and his artwork had on influencing the art community. Each artist took on different elements of Duchamp’s effect, which shows the scoop of how he had an effect on artists and the art community.

Active Art

http://www.ru.org/81gablik.html

http://www.bockleygallery.com/css/american_beuys.html

The readings “The Nature of Beauty in Contemporary Art” by Suzi Gablik and "I Like America & America Likes Me" by David Levi Strauss both have similar arguments about art. Both authors seem to focus on art being involved in society and to try and bring issues to the publics attention.

The first author, Suzi Gablik, focused on the argument that art should move out of the museums and galleries and more into public society. She describes art as something that is isolated from society, where artists work in seclusion away from society and the only contact with public society is in the gallery and museum. She instead advocates that artist must work and interact within public society on an everyday basis. After reading this I agree that art must move out of its own separate world. Just think how many people actual make it to art museum each year. I know personally that I don’t know many people that have made it into a museum to see art this year. So art in that context is almost foreign to people I know and I’m sure they aren’t alone. So a more active and involved art world might make an impact on the society in which it is supposed to be influencing and involved in. Suzi Gablik advocates that art should be involve in society but also bring things like pressing issues to the attention of the public. She describes one artist’s project of bring the environment to peoples attention. Everyday the artist would go to the Rio Grande River and clean trash out of the river and write in a diary describing what she did and felt. Suzi Gablik describes this as a perfect example of art bringing light to an important issue. Though I feel that art must be more active and take on issues such as the environment, this example is something I don’t really feel is art itself. Sure someone could describe it as a performance or literary art, I would argue that it is more an act of activism rather then art. If she instead took the garbage and constructed a large sculpture and displayed it in a public space where it would trigger a reaction, it would be art. But just the act itself I wouldn’t count as art but it is a step in the right direction for art to be more active and bring the attention of the public to issues.

The second reading approaches art in a similar way. The author David Levi Strauss describes the work of the controversial artist Joseph Beuys. Joseph Beuys originally wouldn’t come to the United States due to the war in Vietnam. But once he arrived his work tried to alert America about how it has lost touch with nature. His work was a display in which he did different things with a coyote. The coyote has a lot of symbolism such as in Native American culture. This is why it was a perfect vessel to use to portray the concern over nature’s role in America. This is once again an artist trying to grab the attention of society to an issue that they feel is important to society. This was the message that both authors tried to argue is important for art in the future.

A Second Look at Art

The following quote describes that the more you look at something like a painting the more you begin to see with in it.

“One of the principal ways we can change our relationship to difficult art is by repetition. An unpleasant piece of music may, the sixth or seventh time we listen, reveal new beauty. If we study one of Josef Albers's seemingly simple paintings of different colored squares, the colors start to shift. Of course, difficulty doesn't always give way to revelation - sometimes what follows is, alas, frustration. But when it does, we get that additional sense of satisfaction: The arduous ascent has been rewarded with a panoramic view.”

One painting I found this quote to be true is:


Title: Map of What Is Effortless
Artist: Francesco Clemente
Nationality: Italian
Year: 1978
Movement: Contemporary Art

When I first saw this picture it is very simplistic. As you can see the art has very clean lines and basic colors. It doesn’t seem that engaging at first look and wouldn’t be something that I would personally stop and examine in an art gallery. While it a fine painting it doesn’t have any real elements that would cause me to stop and look at its detail because simply by looking at it you can see what is depicted.

But the real part that I find intriguing about this painting is something you would have to stop for and that is its tittle. The title of this painting is the “Map of What Is Effortless”. The more I looked at the painting and its title the more I want to figure out the true message of the artist.

The first interpretation I thought of was the creation story found in the bible. The one which involves the seven days of creation where animals and plants seemed to come into existence through the will or the “hand” of God. This painting shows the effortless nature in which animals came into existence.

The second interpretation I thought of was human’s control of nature especially involving wild animals. All the animals painted are those that can be found in a zoo. So this painting shows how animals can be easily controlled. One can go as far to say that animal’s lives are in the hands of humans. That human’s can cause a species to go extinct.

Even while writing this I begin to think of different ways to look at the painting. Which supports the idea of the quote.

What is Art: Article Reaction I

It seems that everyone has an opinion on art no matter how old they are or where they come from. Though there is a definition of art found in the dictionary it still can’t tell you if its art or not it but instead leaves it to personal interpretation.

While trying to define art two approaches that I have read are from these two links

http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2005/abstract/ross1.asp

http://books.google.com/books?id=N5yfxzOr4j8C&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=Towards+a+New+Laoco%C3%B6n+by+Clement+Greenberg&source=bl&ots=8EApAHuN8w&sig=8jaEuHLXQe_Q52XkEQhHdAUtd-I&hl=en&ei=0YuqSp3MKsrTlAenhLXmBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#v=onepage&q=&f=false

One of the two articles takes the approach that only traditional paintings and status like “Liberty Leading the People” by Euegene Delacroix, which is described below, can be considered art. It explains that traditional art focused on people’s real observations and emotions that anyone that saw this art could relate to. I find that this approach is a good way to differentiate between what is and isn’t art. This idea of art encompasses what I personally feel is art because art should compel the ideas of the artists and this allows the viewer to feel and relate to the artwork. This can be true in the case of the “Liberty Leading the People” by Euegene Delacroix but not in the case of “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” by Damien Hirst.


This sculpture found above is a tiger shark that has been treated with preservatives and but in a tank. I feel that this piece can be called art because it illustrates the natural beauty found in the natural world, which is the theme that the artist wanted to portray. You could argue that natural beauty is something that everyone can relate to and is an emotion everyone feels but this piece still remains controversial.

The second of the two articles is “Towards a Newer Laocoon”, by Clement Greenberg. In this he describes the history and development of art over the past centuries. He describes that each movement developed off the one before it like stepping stones or building blocks. He describes that over time a new movement will gain momentum and look in at itself to try and describe art.

Each author would agree that the classical paintings like the ones found in the Sistine Chapel would be considered art. But Clement Greenberg would argue that even abstract art would become art because the artist look within the art itself to find the definition of what is art.

What is Art : part II

Title: Liberty Leading the People
Artist: Euegene Delacroix
Nationality: French
Year: 1830
Movement: Romanticism

This is an example of what art is. It expresses the ideas of the artist whom created it. The inspiration message represented by the symbol of the woman carrying the flag and leading the people represents how this piece expresses the ideas of the artist through this median.

Mediums of the Mind

The title of this blog is the medium of the mind because Art, which is the theme, is the expression of people’s minds and ideas through different artistic medians. Mediums like paint, sculpture, pastels and the list goes on.