course content

1. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the best? Why?

I enjoyed the color wheel the best because it showed me how to mix paints proprely to make new colors.

2. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the least? Why?

I enjoyed the self-portrait the least because I'm so terrible at drawing faces & I found it extremely difficult. 

 

3. How did you like using ANGEL?

I liked using Angel.  I've taken many hybrid courses & a couple 100% online courses, so it wasn't anything new, or difficult for me.

4. If you had the opportunity to change this course:

What would you keep?  

I would keep all the projects & gallery visits.

What would you remove?

 I would remove the quizzes because after all the discussion posts, blog, projects, & gallery visits, it seemed like a lot of extra work & stress.

What would you add?

I don't think I would add anything.

5. Would you recommend this course to your peers?

I would recommend this course to peers I know have the self discipline to keep up with the work, & the motivation to do the work load.

6. Please list any other comments you would like to share.

I really enjoyed this course.  It was a lot more work than I originally anticipated, but a lot of fun, & had tons of interesting information.

Reflections of AED200

1. What were you expectations for this course and were they met?

My expectations of this course were definitely met & then some.  I didn't envision so many projects or gallery visits, but I enjoyed all of them very much.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your initial posting?

Art has many different facets, but it can be anything considered beautiful by the individual viewer.  I think my interpretation has changed, but not my definition.

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?

My favorite artist is still Vincent Van Gogh.  It has remained the same, & even intensified through this course, & i think that this is because now that I have a better understanding of art, techniques, & interpretation, I enjoy his work even more. 

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?

This was a great online course, I felt we had great communication & feedback from our instructor, which is important when there is no actual class period.  It is a lot of work, & there is a great need for self-motivation & a good initiative to work on your own, but I think I kept up on things fairly well.  

portait reflection

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

I selected the inspiration pieces because I had been been to the Burchfield Penny Gallery for another class & had seen the pieces prior to this project, so already had an idea of what pieces to use.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

I used pencil because I felt it would be the easiest medium to draw with.

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

I had a hard time doing this portrait.  I must have started it about 10 times & it looked super weird.  But eventually after all the attempts I think I learned from my mistakes & did okay.    

4. How does this piece represent you?

This piece is a fairly accurate depiction of myself from a photo last year.  It represents me because it's 1 of my favorite pictures of myself. 

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

I used shading to give the picture depth & tried to give it as much detail as possible to make it as accurate a representation as I could.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

I found this project challenging but fun. It was a test of what little artistic ability I have.

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

I think my final artwork is okay. It could be a bit more accurate a likeness of me, but its not bad considering how far it came from my first attempts.

criticism project blog

1. Which projects did you review?

• "Nature's Beauty" By: Emily Hassler
• "The Queen City: Buffalo NY Inspired Art" By: Joe Frangione
• "Welcome to Wonderland: Nature in Instillation Art" By: Linda Baez

2. Why did you select the Exhibit you critiqued?

I selected Linda's exhibit because the pieces she chose were absolutely beautiful, & really caught me eye.

3. What challenges did you face in writing the critique article and how did you overcome them?

I'm a pretty non-confrontational person & have a hard time telling anyone anything that may hurt their feelings, or criticizing anyone in any way, so I was afraid this would be difficult. But when I was looking through the projects it became clear that I would only have good things to say about  my classmates work.

4. How do you feel about critiquing your peers work?

It was interesting to see everyone's choices in subject & topic, & to see a bunch of pieces of art I had never known existed. 

5. Would you like to read the critique your peers wrote about your Art Curation Project?

Yes. I hope that if someone critiqued my project they enjoyed it.

6. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your finished article and why?

I would rate my article around a 7.  This is because it is honest, fair, & full of praise, but is a little bit shorter than requested.

7. Did you enjoy working on this project?

Yes I found all aspects of this project interesting & enjoyable.  Like I said, I was nervous about critiquing someone else's work, & also seeing what they thought of mine, but all in all it was fun. A lot of work to put the projects together, but worth it in the end.

Video Review

Greenberg on Pollock:  An Interview By T.J. Clark

Key Concepts:

• Knew Pollock would be a great artist.
• summer of 1947; saw his 1st Pollock splatter painting.
• Statement of Purpose: Intended to paint large movable pictures which functioned between toe easel & murals.
• Believed the easel to be a dying form, & that the tendency of modern art was leading towards the wall from.
• Pictures intended to be a half-way state, Pollock's intent was to point out the future of the art world without arriving there completely.
• Spatter technique intended to "break the plane," saved elbow/wrist from strain, unique & technical.
• Paintings Apollonian, not Dionysian.
• Sold approximately 1 picture a year, lived off of advances. 
• Was an outsider in the art world.

Relate to Art criticism Project:

Definitely showed how the person criticizing an artist/their works can make a judgement as an outsider on someone else's works, yet still have a firm grasp of their techniques/meanings.

Opinion:

Found the information pertinent to how I will be criticizing another person's work.

Jackson Pollock: Michael Fried & T.J. Clark in Conversation

Key Concepts:

• Pollack: Modernist master, 1 of the most important painters of the 20th century.
• Key figure, brings to light issues, work raises "burning problems."
• Clark: Avant-Garde art; emphasis on historical aspects.
• Fried: leader in Modernist movement; aesthetic/positive qualities; renewal.
• Both agree about Pollock's status as artist.
• Dispersal of energy, quality of deployment of line/energy.
• Optical = energy of picture.
• Every inch different from every other.
• Extraordinary differentiation from point to point.
• Drive of Modernist painting: wanting to intensify surfaces/maximize presence.
• Gives a picture of conditions under which a certain difficulty can be aesthetic.
• Agree on need for historical account of Pollack's radical abstraction, but also that its historical significance cannot be separated from its pictorial quality.

Relate To Art Criticism Project:

The video definitely relates to the Art Criticism project because it shows how 2 very different views of 1 artist can both be accurate in their own way, & how despite these differences there is also similarities, & ways that of viewing an artist/art, can be agreed upon.

Opinion:

Interesting, informative, show how to critique a piece without being judgmental, or disagreeable with another person's opinions.

Process Journal

Making the art exhibit was fun.  I was a little overwhelmed with the gravity of the process at first, but like just about everything I've done for this class so far, after I just sat down & jumped into it, I had a lot of fun.  It was time consuming & at times hard to find all the information for a certain piece I wanted to use, but so much fun to search out new artists that I had never been exposed to prior to this project.  It also gave me the opportunity to look more into styles of art I had never had a chance to explore before.  I chose Lowbrow art/Pop-surrealism, because it's such a neat style, & includes all the odd types of art that don't really fit into any of the other "classic" genera's.  Once I got started it was great.  I did run into some problems with certain images I wanted to use, & the artists had blocked their websites from images being copied from them, due to other people profiting from their stuff, which was totally understandable, but put me in the position of having to leave pieces out of my exhibit that I really wanted to include.  But with a lot of searching & some advice on a few good artists from my ex who was an art major, I discovered new artists & had a lot of fun making this exhibit.  

Video review

Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach 

Key Concepts

• Henry Tate; Millbank London; opened in 1898
• Million people in 47 days; 4 mill. by end of 1st year.
• Most popular museum of modern art in the world.
• Ignores women artists of the 20th century.
• Alfred Hedgbar Jr.: 1st director.
• white walls, flexible lighting, categorized to particular rooms/by particular artist.
• chronological sequence suggests art developed primarily in response to other works of art.
• expanded to include changes in gender, race, class.
• 4 sections organized by theme: landscape/matter/environment; nude/action/body; history/memory/society; still life/object/real life.
•  contrast/rebellion against period norms.
• maximization of space.
• thematic categorization.
• expanding audience to view modern art is difficult due to unfamiliarity of modern art.

Relate to art exhibit project:

Yes; showed how to categorize artworks by theme.

Opinion:

Good info/advice on organizing artworks by theme/type/style/time period/category.

The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art 

Key concepts:

• Lowbrow: art that can't be categorized as anything else.
• reactionary to highbrow culture.
• actual definition of "lowbrow:" uncultivated; lacking in taste.
• Robert Williams: 1979; coined the term with a book he wrote.
• "pop surrealism."
• All inclusive.
• roots in pin-up; car culture; cartoons.
• history in folk art; tattoo; scrimshaw; car painting.
• post WWII period/the atomic age: important to pop art; B Movies; surf movies; post-war paranoia/propaganda McCarthyism; submersion in product development.
• early 80's: "ground zero."
• concept art, paintings, sculptures.
• categories made by critics.
• broadcast = flyers, CD/record covers.
• Metallica, Offspring, Skinny Puppy album covers all examples.
• controversial, graphic.  

Relate to art exhibit project:

This style of art is actually the type I chose to represent with my exhibit project after visiting the Burchfield Penny Gallery with another class & seeing the Spain exhibit. He was more underground during his time period of the 50's, but his stuff is definitely Pop Art.

Opinion:

Loved this film, gave me great info/leads for artists that I'd never heard of before, as well as museums that have collections of Pop Art that I can look into for this project.

Bones of Contention: Native American Archaeology:

Key Concepts:

• Native Americans want the bones of their ancestors being stored in museums back.
• Anthropologists studying; archaeologists digging them up.
• Indian burial grounds = sacred sites.
• Iowa; 1976; 1st state in U.S. that passed law against excavating these sites.
• Museum exhibits from the time of the 1st settlers called into question.
• 1990: Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act; bones have to go back to tribes.
• problems figuring out where they go; very time consuming; caused conflicts/strain.
• conflict of scientific theories/facts vs. N.A. cultural beliefs.
• traditions/values/history passed down through elders.
• many common views of N.A. turned out to be stereotypes after scientific research.
• N.Y. = National Museum of the American Indian

Relate to art exhibit project:

No, has nothing to do with my style/theme/style of art.

Opinion:

Interesting film about Native American struggles, found the film touching, yet didn't really add depth to my project.

An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello & The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Key Concepts:

• 1963- curatorial assistant.
• 1977 - curator.
• born in France, educated at Harvard, background in European painting.
• collection nearly doubled during his time as director.
• 84,000 works of art acquired.
• 31 years as director, 8th longest.
• would rather not represent a particular artist/ style/movement/civilization if he couldn't get an "outstanding" work to do so.
• Didn't want to simply "fill in the gaps."
• museums are always growing/changing collections, never finished/complete.
• respects objects in collections even if he personally doesn't like them.
• The way history is presented changes history.
• evaluates ever piece.
• justification of acquisition of piece can rely on the eye of the beholder/intuition.
• conservators decide how to display artworks for maximization of piece.
• Restoration = no room for error.
• sometimes although damaged, a piece works best without restoration/simply as it is, with no restoration.
• aesthetics important in placement of pieces.
• houses only Egyptian temple in Western Hemisphere.
• growing collections cannot be just placed anywhere/in any room; must create right atmosphere to house them.
• need different room designs to house the many different collections/to display collections the right/best way.
• varied aspects of collecting & conserving are culminated in exhibitions.
• must consider all ways to present artworks.
• every exhibit need something to throw it off a bit to make it distinctive.

Relate to art exhibit project:

Shows all the thought that should go into putting together an exhibition.

Opinions:

Definitely gave new understanding & depth to the concepts & work that go into putting together an exhibit, & a better idea of how to present my own in my exhibit.