Chapter 11

I like Andy Goldsworthy's Reconstructed Icicle,

around the tree center giving off illumination to the ground. "My remit is to work with nature as a whole" and use natural materials while usually using hands, teeth and tools in environment to work with. Andy is deliberate and accepts the cycle of life's decay and the impermanence of his earthwork artwork. I enjoy the illumination given off as I enjoy the "Tree's Soul" of frozen icicles glued together with the natural glue of frozen water. It is beautiful and original.

That is what I enjoy about Christos’ and Jeanne-Claude’s installation of Wrapped Reichstag.

It's original and makes the building a beautiful silvery sculpture with all the angles and details stand out. I appreciate that both natural and UN natural materials will both become reused (The thick drapery that Christo used is recycled), and that the artists are courageous with the impermanence of their artwork. One will be enjoyed by many more people as the live version, which is always better than just a photo image. But both represent freedom in expression. Christo pays for his elaborate projects to maintain control of his expression, also knowing that "Possession is equal to permanence, and permanence is the enemy of freedom." Also, I discovered that Christo had freedom in mind with this building which is under jurisdiction by all allied forces...He was passionate about negotiating this particular east to west ideological location and being a united states citizen from a communist country, his artistic flamboyance makes sense to me now that I understand where he comes from.


I thought Robert Grober's installation, Untitled at Dia Center for the Arts, New York 1992 (11.29 7th editions).

I think the artist might be conveying the idea that a homophobic society, being narrow-minded keeps us imprisoned and limited, thus the paths that go out and backwards. Maybe another tip-of –the hat to a different kind of freedom, perhaps. This type of art, the installations that require our using our interpretational skills or checking our emotions are both challenging and fun to try and grasp. No matter the meaning, I do like the opposing things being together here. Are we outside looking in, or inside looking out?

Speaking of looking in from the outside, Louise Bourgeois’ Red Room (Child),

is an interesting look into her childhood angst at her fathers infidelity with other women while Mother was ill, including her tutor. Possibly the red thread has the meanings of ‘What you sew, you will reap”, and it might just be “Blood on your hands.” She said, “He was the wolf….” She wanted the adults to teach her by good examples, thus maybe why we see the larger hands showing how to do ‘ it’ to the little set of hands.
The doors together that won’t open for us are also of interest and telling. Also a installation that calls on our emotions and our observations.

Drawing Oct. 11th / Lectures Identity Oct. 18th/ lecture 4 types of literacy Oct. 25

Oct 11th:
The drawing on Oct 11th was a fun experiment and I appreciated the hope that Glenn gave out sharing that I have everything it takes all ready (muscle wise) to draw well, it just will take practice. I know that the few drawings I have done recently are testimony to the truth that I need a lot of practice, but the chapter on drawing was inspirational and I have confidence that I will find my way.

Oct 18th:
I thought this last lecture on Identity was very much like other lectures on reality. Like Razors Edge and Matrix, there is a common thread of:"Be who you are authentically", but also combined with, "You are in a process of learning who you really are." I took away the message that reality (again, like other lectures) is what you experience. Who is to say that if I feel skinny, but weigh 300 pounds, that what I feel is not as important as how I am perceived. We all are seeking to be accepted and loved for who we really are inside.

OCt 25: On the media side of all this, on thinking about all that Glenn brought up last night, I wonder if Glenn wants us to be concerned with keeping our identity that is pure and uncorrupted. Not being overly influenced by the media and not giving in to the powers financially threatened by open voices on the internet like the now defunct wikileaks etc. There is a strong, "Think for yourself" message, and I appreciate the lessons on being textually, visually, networking and educationally literate. It is a changing world and no matter what tries and stops it, change will prevail. Maybe we our being forced to either end up in a matrix like trance, dumbed up and in fear while we play it safe...Or, taking risks with full and honest expression navigating the bombardment of visual stimuli while utilizing the new media for work and social means. I am beginning to understand Glenn's film choices and desire to educate us to be mindful, otherwise, we may miss what art is really about, and possibly miss our own artistic and creative potential.

Tuesday Oct. 4,2011

I enjoyed the outdoor adventure last tuesday on campus, hanging out with a couple of helpful classmates who saw very similair things in the campanero that I saw. I also enjoyed the other artwork on campus, both already there and the ones the classgroups created. I am glad we ended on the cement tire tracks one, as it helped me understand what abstract art can accomplish even with very little, or simple content. I hope we can do something like this again.

Project One: No electricity

Project One: Spend an evening without any electricity.

I call this project, “Lights Out”.

Lights went out at my house Wed. pm because the rest of the weeknights I had plans that needed electricity. I hurried up after dinner to clean up, see my wife out the door to her class, and get a phone call in while I could still see the keys on the phone and before the sun set completely. I barely made it, getting out my wife’s “Tea lights” which are these little plastic votive candle look- alikes that run on batteries, but still flicker like a candle. (I don’t trust myself or my puppy-like dog with actual lit candles in the house). I set them up in most of the rooms and proceeded to do a couple of chores in the dim light that they produce, much less than an actual candle. I did my cat boxes and put a few things away, and one of the first things I noticed was how quiet it actually was. I sat down and started to read and work on a different project. Holding the tea light close to the page, it wasn't easy to see, but then, I got used to it. And I found I was very productive because I had no distractions visibly or audibly. When I finished, I grabbed a cookie and sat on the couch. I felt very calm and peaceful, and I reflected on what life must have been like in the past when electricity wasn't missed, and how life was probably better socially. I felt I could hear myself better, which is maybe true because I was in a place of acceptance about being in the dark. I wanted to be, and was glad I was doing the project, getting through it, but not wishing anything was different. I could say I was having fun because it wasn't forced on me, it was by choice. But eventually, I got too relaxed, maybe a little bored, and I lay down on the couch. The next thing I knew, I was being woken up by my spouse coming home. I went to bed immediately to avoid the possibility of her wanting to watch TV with me there. She knew by the tea lights that I was doing my project, so she voluntarily joined me. In fact, she liked the idea, the authenticity of it, I think. She suggested we do it again soon. I did think again before going to sleep about the better intimacy people in those old days possibly had with their family, their own selves and their God. I later wrote the following poem:

In the dark, in the quiet, under the stars,
You meet yourself; have to face the inner self,
Find out who you really are.
In the days of old, way back when, the small town type folk,
Who where just about everyone and anyone,
They lived in the daylight, and shared by candlelight
Until their bodies gave in...Until the rooster crowed again.
And by the candlelight, when there’s not much to do,
People talked, and went for strolls,
And when they walked,
And always ran in to you-know-who,
It was a genuine, “Glad to see you”.
And those days must have seemed shorter,
But the whole life was lived longer.
Cause in the dark,
You get to know the real you,


Maybe it’s art, or music
Maybe it’s writing, who knows.
Maybe it’s talking or learning
You discover, this is what I’m
Meant to do. And I bet,
Way back when, families’ ties
Must have been stronger, living with less stuff,
Love probably survived
Much longer, cause everyone talked,
Everyone thought more about others, isn’t that true?
I have an older brother, who is not of this
Time zone. He prefers manual tools,
Building log cabins and for him,
Its 100 years too late to be born.
He still walks everywhere,
Has no car, so he doesn’t go far, but he doesn’t care.
He did travel, when he was young, he went to Montana,
Lived in Alaska and home was here and there.
But he’s older you see, walked much more than me,
and knows that it is much simpler
To simply live without a car or a TV.
So...I recently tried it, turned out the lights, all my electricity, and
Simply sat in the quiet… and I’ll be.
If I didn’t come to like it. I could hear
The stillness, and feel the fullness and
The life come back into me. I wanted to talk,
And take a walk into the night. I wanted to share,
And find out who’s really in there, I mean, in me.
So, for now on, I decided,
To do more of this pleasantry.
Do I sound old fashioned? Maybe I do.
But I’ll bet if you tried it, turn out the lights more
And just sit, with the candle and the quiet
You will also see, in the dark you can see
It’s more than just waiting
For me.
It’s for us too.

Chapter five: Principles of Design

Chapter FIVE: Principles of Design.

I will begin with comparing and contrasting the art of Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas… And Gustav Klint, Death and Life.




Kahlo’s, The Two fridas,

Is under the balance section of this chapter. The Two Fridas are interesting due to the different dresses and colors: The left one standing out more for me due to it is lighter and ties in to the white clouds background more. The skin tone is also lighter in the face probably due to the artist wanting to reflect the German heritage side of her. The veins / arteries connection is also accented by the clouds breaking up between their faces, as well as the hands. I am curious about the difference with the seat showing to the left, but it may be the artist wanted to do more connecting with those colors that are in the white dress. I sense an artist intention to help viewers move clockwise through that part of the bench going from bottom left, up and over to the upper right where I was drawn down again due to the darker heavy colors of skin and dress etc. That movement helps to create balance. I liked the exposed hearts that add an extra attraction that makes this artwork unique and provocative.

Gustavs’ Death and Life

Are under the asymmetric balance section, although the heavier and narrow death figure to the left balances out the wider and lighter life figures to the left. There is movement and flow, again upper left over to upper right, down and then back over the bottom left and up again to the top left. The artist does this through the heavier and thicker cross below the skull head. There are also the macabre similarities between this and The Two Fridas, but the differences in one to one figure ratio with Two fridas compared to the 1 to 7 figures ratio with Death and Life create the asymmetric balance. Also the mixture of so many different shapes and colors with Death and Life also create asymmetry.
I love both for the easy to understand, yet deeply meaningful statements they equally well deliver through design.



I also enjoyed Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Follies-Bergere:

For its variety and the barmaids expression. Her expression says ‘I want to be out there’, or,’ I want to be elsewhere’…but it definitely does not say, ‘I want to be a barmaid right now.’ I enjoy the mirror effect and the contrast between the far away noisy party in the mirror and the quietness of the barmaid’s expression. I wonder (forgive the going out on a limb) if all the bottles in front of her are like the noisy crowd and chaos of social life as Manet sees it , compared to the flower in the glass, who may represent the barmaids calm inner, Manet’s inner self really, that is introspective and the mood that predominates. The fruit as well, may just be his generational bent to put them in, or it may intentionally be there to help the flower(s) on her and in the glass represent a natural and authentic existence as compared to the superficial and mask wearing one represented by the lights, crowd, and action in the background. I wonder if it is Manet himself staring at the barmaid and seeing this great painting in his head. The balance is there with the two round white lights and the two images of women: And I also wonder if Manet refers to the front of the person seen represents one side of the personality, the back represents the different aspect of our nature. Maybe he is standing there wondering if she is really bored and tired of it and wants to go, or if she (maybe really his battle inside) wants to join in the fun and the frolic, but doesn’t know how to overcome her (his?) shyness. Oh, I know I am probably reading too much into this, and it may just be what I am projecting out that represents me, but it is what comes to mind. Also what comes to mind is the very bright woman facing the barmaid seen at the left side of the painting under the bright light ball. I wonder if he purposely put both there to show that the barmaid is really looking at her, and maybe in another world of thought as he is standing there waiting for her attention. She seems to be looking in that direction.
But the variety and drawn attention to the barmaids eyes and expression, right in the vertical center, does attract my attention and desire to know more about the situation, wanting to be in her head and wanting to be there to watch the crowd as well. Manet has succeeded in getting me to want to be experiencing the moment with her.

To compare and contrast, I also liked Hans balding Grien’s, The Three Ages of Woman, and Death.

Why did he want to include “Death” in the title? Wasn’t it already clear that’s who it is holding the hourglass? And why have death naked too, along with the beauty? Wasn’t it enough to have her naked? And why is death a warmer color than her? These are just a few questions I ask when I see this painting. The idea of it is very interesting and for that reason alone, I like this artwork. But the macabre look of Death, the way he reaches up over her with the hourglass and has the older women pushing his boney arm away, and the way he made the child to be so tiny and short…these have me intrigued and glued to staring at its raw unique way of representing this common scary thought that we all want to ignore and push away. Maybe the older woman hasn’t yet gotten her chance to live and Death is paying a visit too soon? So the similarities of the above two works: With this one, like the other work, the older women and Death are heavier in color and the child and young woman as lighter help to balance and the scarf connects the horizontal much like the above barmaids bar table and the alternating dark / heavy with the brighter / lighter colors. I also think the woman in both have the multiple sides of a woman thing going for them. They both have variety, a conflict going on, and a ghost like presence in them as well. The differences are the alarming mood the latter has compared to the slow mood the former gives off. They both tell a story in the moment, and they both have me asking questions, but they differ in that I want to be in the barmaid, and at the Follies Bar, but I do not want to be in the woman who’s Death seems to be so close at hand.

Bomb it...www.bombitthemovie..com

The Graffiti documentary and the talk on Tuesday 9/27/2011 was really thought provoking and interesting.
Yes, more pro-graffiti, but still had both sides. What stood out were some of the street artists comments, i.e., “Art must serve a social cause.” “I tag, therefore I am.” “This is my life, my therapy.”
“This is my gift to the city.” “This gives me a voice.” “This is a full contact sport…” “It’s not for everybody...” “Living and dying to do this.”

I also liked other statements and words such as, “Urban intervention.” “Deeply superficial.” “Nobody asked me if I wanted these big ugly buildings...visual pollution….”

The opinions that the street artists gave as to the going mainstream; legal for money is not really true graffiti anymore, made me think more about that. I believe that it may not be pure, and it may be something else, but if people like it, buy it and get pleasure from it, then so be it. As an artist, you want people to see ‘It” and “Get It.” The street artist’s themselves said it was a rush to see their art go by on trains in the city…to know more people get to see it. So, I think there is plenty of room for both. I don’t think either type of graffiti is going to go away. It is powerful for both the artist and the viewer, and I for one will look at it differently for now on, because of this raw documentary.

Reinstating my first film lecture blog (that was accid. deleted)

(This is a copy of my blog (Based on the first film lecture from Aug 23rd) that I accidentally deleted from Blogger.com,…I found the copy in my computer files and am reinstating it for Gregg in case he did not see it).

Posted by Chas at 7:24 PM 0 comments
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 27, 2011
Remixing the remix

8.27.11 I rewatched the remix and how it evolves culture you tube video and really listened to what I think Glen wanted us to understand, and I think this is it: All art has something new to share, but what is personaized is based on something inspired from the past, from someone elses creativity. Remix allows us naïve artists to express ourselves in a familiar but also new way, that always results in collaborational and social ramifications. The Brat pack mashups are relational recordings and statements while at the same time furthering those relationships, sparking new creativity somewhere else by those participating and those just observing. Just watching those mashups and remixes not only made me wish I could get up and dance,
but also to get busy creating something inspiring and moving, whether it be physical, emotional, mentally or spiritual. Something I could direct, perform, have fun with and change the world with, just like those ordinary people doing something extraordinary. I apologize for continuing to brutally remix and beat this message to death. One of my weak points is that I have trouble being brief.

I was intrigued that Glen started the class with these videos, very different from what most other educators do. It felt like he is saying, by his methods and his first class message,
“Go ahead and let yourself be free to create what you really want to express, be different and unique, be yourselves.” “No one here is going to criminalize you for it, because I am a criminal myself…”
There is no better example than that, demonstrate by doing, not just talking.


Posted by Chas at 3:37 PM 0 comments

Redo of Chapter One

Chapter One, Redo: Living with Art.

I am redoing my Chapter One blog and choosing an extra set of artists to compare and contrast.
I want to include a new set:

Constatin Brancusi and his art work Bird to Space,

and Maya Lin' Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

I compare these two because in this chapter, I think that the two artists and these art works have something in common more than the others, with the exception of my other set I have chosen.
The thing I thing all of them have in common is the intent to make us think. In Maya Lin’s words, “I create places in which to think, without trying to dictate what to think.”
This is the first attribute about any artwork that I most admire, or believe to be a fundamental ideal of art in general. Maya’s Vietnam Memorial does make one think about the war heroes, the act and consequences of war, etc., and the way she does it is create an environment that envelopes one into the experience.
Brancusi’s Bird in Space also creates something that with the title causes one to think about the nature of flight and freedom, enjoying the thinking of the thought process of the artist. He could have made a more naturalistic bird in flight, but chose instead to create a representation that forces us to use more of our ability to imagine.
Of course the differences are great as far as materials and design etc., but it still was the artist’s creativity that caused our brain to enjoy thinking a little harder without realizing that is what we are doing.

My original sets were, first:

Tim Hankinson’s Emoter

And Van Gogh’s Self Portrait

Both have similarities in that they both show the artist’s face, but the differences are vast. The former is more expressive and the latter more somber, The former hard to look at for very long, the latter easier to stare at. Both added elements to make me think about the artist’s vision and intent, but the former gave me more fuel to take the thoughts further.


I also chose Juan de Valdes Leal' Vanitas

and Audrey Flacks' Wheel of Fortune

because they cause me to think about what their artworks are saying or asking.
The differences are size, older style vs. modern, the items that Flack uses i.e. lipstick, more color and less future, more past with photo rather than the Book of Revelation painting etc…but they both use the vanitas style and are saying very similar messages in regards to life, time passing , meaningless parts of life and of course, death.
I really like how all these made me feel something, think many things and desire to come up with my own way of saying what I believe or wonder about through a work of art. The mystery of discovery of each work of art is a common thread that makes me love this subject.