Pavement Drawings

I have been following Julian Beever’s 3-D sidewalk drawings for a while now. He is continuously adding new installations that amaze me. Beever uses chalk to create drawings that have extreme depth. Sometimes it is difficult to tell where the drawing ends and reality begins. Beever work is distorted so that it looks 3-d when viewed from a certain angle. Beever is from the U.K. but has worked all around the world doing, pavement drawings, mural, and paintings.

I really like Beever’s chalk drawing chalk drawing of the girl feeding the fish. I love the composition of the pond with the lily pads. The artist has an incredible way of depicting water in this piece and also in much of his other work as well. He also shows no sign of a transition between the drawing and the actual tile of the ground. I think it would be interesting to view Beever’s work from different angles to see the actual distortion of the image.

The setting of this work is very sweet and whimsical. It looks as if the child is sitting within a painting. The addition of the little girl actually sitting on this drawing really adds to the 3-demensional quality of this work. This really demonstrates the importance of displaying work so that the viewer can engage in it. I don’t think this work would have been as successful without the addition of the child.

It’s amazing that Beever’s work is done in such a temporary way. By using chalk, these pavement drawings are washed away in no time. I think the works’ short-lived presence adds interest. The use of the chalk adds softness to the illustration. As an artist, it would be difficult to spend so much time on something so temporary.

http://www.pentagram.com/what-type-are-you/

Pentagram is a graphic design firm headed up by respected graphic designer Paula Scher. Pentagram does a lot recognizable branding design. Much of their work involves text. http://www.pentagram.com/what-type-are-you/ goes to an interactive activity on the Pentagram site that asks the user “What type (font) are you?” I really think that this activity is fun and interesting.

This website first starts out with a man interviewing and guiding he viewer. It is kind of strange because the viewer cannot see the host’s face, only his hand and gestures. The man has some sort of indistinguishable accent, which is a little over the top but I think that is the intention. The host firsts asks the user their name followed by four vague questions. Are you emotional or rational? Are understated or assertive? Are you traditional or progressive? Are you relaxed or disciplined?

It is interesting to see what font best describes the user. I was described as the font Plastica, a bold yet understated font that relies on its negative space. The site gives a detailed explanation of the characteristics and history of the fonts. The site also allows the viewer to view the information on other descriptive fonts.

Typography is so interesting to me. I love the design aspects of font. I think it is so interesting the way that font is designed with such thought and intention. Typography is like any other art. The composition, balance, and aesthetics are very important.

This activity is kind of silly but it is very telling. My font suited me quite well. It is a very fun activity that is interactive and educational. One can tell that there was a lot of thought and research done to create this site. I would definitely recommend this site, especially if you have any interest in typography.

This is a piece that I created as a depiction of the right to life. Originally, my thought was to show the destruction of life, life stripped of its naturalness. I was thinking of the way that we abuse nature and how our earth has no way of defending itself from human acts. What started as a started as a petition for nature, transformed into a prolife, anti-abortion petition too.

This work is a collage piece using entirely photography and text. I compiled mostly images that I took myself and one appropriated image of the fetus shown in my work. I constructed the tree in this piece purely of wire hangers and used a photograph of it. My intention was to create a realistic looking tree with completely man-made materials, adding to the meaning of the work. The leaves of the tree are opaque and unnatural.

The trees roots in this image appear to be embedded into the dry nutrient depleted earth, supplying the fetus below it with life. The roots of the tree reminded me of the blood vessels of the placenta that nurture an unborn baby. The roots are symbolic of life and growth. Across the dry earth are tire tracks that represent man’s further destruction and intrusion on life.

The message of this piece is to respect life. The text in this image says “How will we he their cries? They have no voice.” I created this saying to convey the helplessness of those that cannot speak out to protect themselves. Whether it be nature, animals, or humans, it is our duty to protect the things that are important and to treat life with reverent respect. All living things have a right to live.

How Do You Define Art?

What is art? Art is anything created with the intention of expression. Art does not have to be beautiful or even aesthetically pleasing, it is whatever an artist creates. I don’t think that art has to be created with intention. Many times art has a completely different meaning or use than originally intended.

Art is a difficult thing to define. Art conveys much emotion and feeling. Art is very subjective. Sometimes it really bothers me when I see certain pieces of art that seem meaningless or stupid. I have to remind myself that the work is an expression of something within the artist. This makes even the most irrelevant works important in some way. Much of my work is just done on a whim without much meaning.

Art is a form of expression. It doesn’t have to be a substance or even something that can necessarily be seen. It is a sensory experience. Art can be music, dance, writing, poetry, or sculpture. Much of art has purpose and function such as woodworking and pottery.

There is a difference between art and fine art. Art that is created for the purpose of expression alone, is what I consider Fine Art. Fine Art is created from a concept and is done aesthetically so. Aesthetics are the main component of fine art. Fine art conveys taste beauty. Art found in a museum is most often fine art.

Mouchette.org

I find the website mouchette.org very strange. When exploring this “artistic” website, there is much nonsense and confusion.

Mouchette’s website is supposed to be of a thirteen year old girl.The first page gives her name, age, and a list of qualities about her. There is a picture of her as a child and on other pages pictures of her as an adult. The pictures do not look like they are of the same person. The strangest thing about the first page is that there are sounds of crying and bugs flying around pink lilies. It is really eerie.

The photos of the lilies on the first page are tiled so that they do not line up and create a chaotic feeling. Many other pages have tiled images in the background also. There is a random dropdown menu that links the viewer to other pages. Each of the pages is strange in their own way. There is a link to a suicide kit asking viewers “what is the best way to kill yourself when you’re under the age of 13?” Maybe I just don’t get what the author is trying to do, but I think it is quite disturbing.

Further in the site the viewer comes to a page called “Flesh and Blood”. This page has picture of the author licking glass so that it looks as if she is licking the viewer’s computer screen. It then asks you to lick the monitor and see what Mouchette’s tongue tastes like. Throughout all of the pages, the site poses interactive questions for the viewer to respond and also asks for an email address quite frequently. Mouchette.org is an interactive sight but I am not sure for what reason.

Mouchettte.org is a very different website that I discovered a few years ago in my web art class. I think the site continues to grow and be updated. Though disturbing and confusing at times, the site is interesting and draws the viewer in. I still do not know the intent or meaning of the site but it is creative and others seem to like it. I guess I may never understand Mouchette and her life.

Communimage

http://www.communimage.ch/engl/

Communimage is a collection of images from all around the world. It is a continually growing work made up from thousands of images posted by thousands of different people from nearly 100 countries worldwide. “Communimage is an attempt to entertain a visual global dialogue.” It is a worldwide collage.

The image created by the site is based off of a grid system so that each image uploaded has an exact location. It seems that the website does not have many new entries. The image has a grid showing when images were added and all seem to have been added over two years ago except one that was added 72 hours ago. It is too bad that the site does not continue to grow as it did in the beginning. The site’s original intention was to grow continuously with the ability to grow endlessly. It is a very ingenious idea.

The collaborative image looks like a continent or country. I think it strongly represents a world of different people and ideas. From afar the image is a patchy landscape of an array of colors and textures. It is a collage of all sorts of images. There are images of people, animals, drawings, photographs and texts. It is so interesting to zoom into each area to view each image individually and also each image within the context of the surrounding images. The overall image that is created is quite beautiful in itself. It branches off and bleeds out from the center of a thick mass of images.

I love the idea of creating a continually changing piece of art. Communimage has so much cultural richness and depth. I would love to create a similar site. It would be interesting to choose a theme or word and have people from all over upload an image of what they think best represents the theme. It would be interesting to see what colors and textures the collage of images as a whole creates.

Her Morning Elegance

One of my favorite music videos is Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie. This music video is unlike others in that it is so artistically made. Using stop motion photography, this artist has managed to illustrate this song’s lyrics. The video takes the viewer through a journey of a woman’s day all while she is still in bed. It is so intriguing.

Stop motion photography is used to create this music video. By taking a series of still images and showing them in consecutive order, the viewer automatically sees them as flowing together. It is as if the viewers’ brains fill in the gaps between the images so that they see continuous movement through the still images. Stop motion photography is basically the same idea as capturing video, only done in a simpler form. Stop motion photography is like the basic component of video.

The creativity used in this video is amazing. I love the motion that is created by simply changing the position of an object from one frame to the next. I like how the progression of time is evident by the movement of light within the scene. The video used ordinary objects found in a bedroom like pillows, sheets, socks, and shirts as interactive props. I love how artist uses socks as fish and shirts as birds and how pillows are used as clouds. It is amazing how everyday objects can be transformed with the use of stop motion. It is so interesting how the woman in the video interacts with the objects. My favorite part of the video is when the woman dances with the artist of the video. The dancing is done with such fluent grace and beauty even though each is a separate frame.

The music in this work is beautiful art in itself. The music in this song is very dreamlike and melodic. It actually does remind me of waking up to the sunlight as illustrated in the video. The artists voice is soft and soothing, also adding to the mood and ambiance of the work. The music has a steady rhythm, which accompanies the steady changing of images.

What is Art??? I Don't Care

Who cares what art is.... just make it.

Art is anything created with the intention of expression. Art does not have to be beautiful or even aesthetically pleasing, it is whatever an artist creates. I don’t think that art even has to be created with intention. Many times, art has a completely different meaning or use than originally intended. Art can be a therapeutic way of just creating something without intent, however that is not to say a viewer will not create their own meaning. So, I guess some meaning can be conveyed from all art.

Art is very subjective. What art is good and what art is bad all is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes it really bothers me when I see certain pieces of art that seem meaningless or stupid. I have to remind myself that the work is an expression of something within the artist, which makes even the most irrelevant works important in some way.

Art is a difficult thing to define. Art mostly conveys emotion and feeling. Art is a form of expression. It doesn’t have to be a substance or even something that can necessarily be seen. It is a sensory experience. Art can be music, dance, writing, poetry, sculpture, anything. Much of art has purpose and function such as woodworking, pottery, charts,..etc. Being talented in something creative is an art in itself.

Art that is created for the purpose of expression alone, is what I consider Fine Art. Fine Art is created from a concept and is done aesthetically so. Aesthetics are the main component of fine art. Fine art conveys taste, beauty, and talent. When I think of Fine Art, I think of work that is displayed in museums.

I feel that everything that I say to describe art is contradictive of the next. Art is a contradiction in itself. It is not something I can define. It just is.