1.21.08

Gotta love these "holidays"!!!!!!!!!

1.16.08

FIELD TRIP!!! These always scream fun, or at least nice because you get out of class work.. :) We went to the McColl Center downtown which I have always been very curious about because I was confused about whether it was a church, a school, or something else to do with art. The people working there were really nice and we saw some interesting pieces. The one I remember the most was the fibers piece where the woman dealt with female issues of the past and referenced to the story "The Yellow Wallpaper". I don't know how many times I have had to read that story since about 9th grade, so I know the story all to well and was able to relate in a sense to the point that the artist was trying to get across..had i not known the story, i probably would not really have understood the piece, I just would have commented on her use of textures and techniques.

1.14.08

Today the graphic design professor came in to make sure that we fully understand how to do this blogging thing. Personally, I hate computers, I hate blogging, and technology in general drives me crazy because I don't really know how to use it therefore I get intimidated. I have only just currently stared to be able to hook up my own computer or dvd player, compliments of my brother who is a technical genius..how did I get left out of all of this? Maybe I just don't play enough computer games or something. However the professor really did make me want to take graphic design for some reason....I don't have time.

Scott Greiger

Scott Greiger's work was very interesting to me... I am a fan of things that deal with the effect of consumerism in our lives. I liked when he said that people in other countries are making our shoes while they have none and that the children here are killing each other for these items....it is so true, and sad. If I were to walk into this gallery where this installation was, I would have to stop and ponder it for a while...he just keeps bringing so many elements into it and everything has a specific purpose, I would just hope that there would be a brief explanation somewhere. I also liked the line about how he is an image collector, not an image inventor...I could see myself in a position like that, just tweaking items that already exsist to create meaning instead of sculpting something so that it has meaning. My skills are not that impressive so maybe I should find someway to make this statement true for me. He dapples in different types of media for this, digital, fabric, the paint on the walls... but it all comes together so nicely. I think that he does this more so for society, bringing awareness to issues that we may be having in our economy.

Charles Ray

This guy is by far my favorite artist that I have had to read about. I am not an advocate for drugs, but it is almost humorous that he seems to be on some type of them in every piece that he discussed. The story of him as a little boy getting amnesia and wandering around the world for 2 weeks, almost makes me question its authenticity. Did something so dramatic really happen to him, or was he just on alot of drugs and got confused for a a little while?!? I often wonder what is really going on inside the head of a person who is altered. Does that really affect the way that the person thinks about art, like they have no good ideas without it?!? I wish I could find that source of inspiration and creativity without the use of those substances. I enjoy that he puts himself into so many pieces. He said that he wants to stir up peoples lives, not change them. I think that this concept is really fun. It is funny how when he made himself a clock that he lost track of his own time...hmm, says something?!? He also pushes the mode making himself a part of the work that would evoke that uncomfortable emotion in someone when they realize that his pieces may or may not be socially acceptable. I think that human form is natural and beautiful, and although his piece "oh, charlie, charlie, charlie" may be seen as erotic and pornographic..I find it very interesting. It is about something so common, and talked about among friends but when brought out in the open, uncomfortable for most. Does this artist create his art for himself or his viewers? I would say both. I think that it probably thrills him to get all of these reactions out of people

Isaac Julien

I found Isaac Julien to be interesting. He definitely does play on the fact that he is a gay black man in british culture. I think that putting your self (not physically, but with personal identity) into your pieces like that really speaks out. And hopefully the viewer will know the background of the artists because I would think that it would make all the difference. I enjoy pieces that are controversial, and I said before that I would love to create that evoked an emotion in my viewers, much like Isaac Julien. He has that underlying meaning of a societal disturbance with slavery, turned into a domestic disturbance like dominating actions... I like it. He seems to keep that sexual theme through most of his work and I like that he uses I guess a type of digital performance media to get his point across, I don't think that it would feel the same without the actions. I notice that they do not have interview questions for him in the margins...I wonder why that is, I would love to find out if these pieces are for some sort of personal satisfaction or if he is really just trying to evoke awkward emotion in the viewers.

Michelle Lopez

I am very impressed by the success that Michelle Lopez seems to have had at such a young age, yet she's not ready for it?!? Odd. I think that most artists, especially young ones would be jumping at opportunities like this one. I understand her originality and even her obsession with using leather in her pieces, but that is really all I found with reading about her...nothing special. Is that wrong?!? Is it ok to be bored by some of these artists? i am not saying that her work isn't interesting and doesn't break some sort of artistic mode, but it doesn't seem like something that I would linger at. From what I read about, it does seem to have that common theme and humanlike attachment from using the leather, but that was about it.