Stelarc!

This guy is pretty darn interesting.  So my name is Stelarc and I am going to put an ear on my forearm.  Eventually I plan on putting a microphone in between so that everyone can hear what my third arm is going to hear.  WOW! What a concept.  This really just shows that he is seeing things in a totally different perspective and I like it.  I don't fully understand it but I enjoy thinking about it.

Looking at things in a different perspective is definitely something that I would like to start doing myself.  As most people I am pretty narrow minded.  Things are what they are.  Whatever is in front of you is what it is.  But this is so not true especially with art.  This gives art a different meaning.  My goal is to look at things daily and try to view it as something else.

Improv Everywhere!

First of all, I think this is absolutely hilarious.  This is probably the most entertaining art that I have ever seen.  In this mission they decided to go into a McDonalds and have a butler in the bathroom.  They wanted to make a fast food place more "upidy" and "richy."  So this butler guy would greet the people after they used the restroom and offered there services.  They had better soap then the McDonalds and paper towels instead of the hand dryer.  They had essentials that they also could use ranging from floss to gold bond, to condoms.  GENUS!

This form of art is free.  They are opened to do what they desire and I think it is most interesting because they get a lot of feed back from the audience.  If a painting is hung up on a wall in a museum the artists does really get to see how others are responding to it unless they have a camera or they are there.  With Improv Everywhere they are there and see everything. They get to capture all the expressions from there audience.  I think its great :)

Andy Goldsworthy

This piece is called Rives and Tides.  Andy Goldsworthy does his pieces for interesting reasons.  I like the fact that you can't really display his work because its almost temporary.  I say almost because if it wasn't for earth, wind, or fire, then they would last forever.  He doesn't worry about the world destroying his pieces because that is nature, and I admire that.  

I like this piece a lot because it is so unsteady.  Any extra movement, little flinch, or wind will destroy this piece.  He spends so much time creating his pieces.  I like how abstract this piece is.  I can just stare at it because it consists of so many little sticks.  Each line leads to another almost like a maze.  I enjoy looking at his work.

Marina Abramovic

This piece is called Rhythm 0, by Marina Abromovic.  This picture is only capturing her piece but is not the actual piece.  She is a performance artist.  This piece involved a table with 72 different items on it ranging from a feather to a gun and bullet.  She was really testing not only her audience but her self too.  She was very passive in this piece and did little to no movement.  The audience was the performers and were able to do anything with the stuff on the table to her.

I think that Abromovic is a very brave women.  I like how creative she was with her piece.  No one, I can think of, would have enough courage to do this.  I find the results very interesting.  The audience started off tickling her and later became quite vulgar.  The fact that the audience was told to do act open her, I guess, gave them less liability.  I think that it is terrible that they would do such things to this poor women because they can get away with it.  It really shows how society is, which disappoints me.

Cancer Sticks

I am not sure if I would consider this Performance Art or Earth Art or even a Happening.  What I did was have my friend and his brother "plant" cigarettes into a plastic container where beautiful flowers once were.  Planting the smoking cigarettes demonstrated how instead of growing into a beautiful flower they die and get smaller and smaller until they are a bud.

I am definitely not a fan of cigarettes.  I hate them in every way.  I did this because I believe that cigarettes are becoming a bigger fad every day.  Younger and younger kids are starting to smoke them because they look "cool."  I think they smell bad, it looks gross, and they are horrible for you.

MAYA LIN!

She considers herself an artist and an architect.  She does studio work, architectural work, memorials, and large scale installations.  She takes micro and macro views of the art and translates them into her installations.  She does this because she wants to see "how we relate and respond to the environment, and present new ways of looking at the world around us."

The artist-architect first made a name for herself in 1981 when, as a junior at the Yale School of Architecture, her pioneering design—two long black granite walls, partly submerged in the ground, incised with names of dead and missing soldiers—won a national competition to become the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. "The effect of onlookers' reflections superimposed over the 58,000 engraved names attempts to symbolically integrate past and present."

Lin is also considered an environmentalist, she as consistently focused on environmental concerns, promoting sustainable building design in her architectural works, while making the environment the subject of her artworks. She is "deeply committed to focusing attention back to the environment and to ask us to pay closer attention to the natural world." 

Lin is currently working on what will be her last memorial, entitled What is Missing? which will focus on bringing awareness to the current crisis surrounding biodiversity and habitat loss. "It's about revealing things that are diminishing from nature, and from the natural world, that you might not even know about," she says, "as well as focusing on the extreme, sixth extinction of the planet—caused not by an asteroid but by the actions of a single species." She means us.

Fun Facts:

She graduated from Yale University.  In 2005 she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.  She has been featured in Time Magazine.  She had a documentary written about her, a biography, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision.   This won a Academy Award for Best Documentary. Lin and her family traveled to South America, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, India, Southeast Asia, and China. 

Scott Blake

Scott Blake is a very creative guy. I love having to tilt my head and squint in order to see the overall piece.  I think he is interesting but he doesn't give himself enough credit.  Some people sale there artwork for 1 million dollars and it can totally be abstract.  Others like himself sell his huge pieces for up to a measly 100 dollars.  One of my favorite things is that these barcodes can be scanned because they came from real albums that is just crazy.

These actual picture is not too extraordinary it is how the picture is made that makes it so good.   I think that Blake is a great artist and his work is good.  I think that I would consider his work multimedia.  A phone that everyone has can scan this and have music play. COOL!

Vaneeesa Blaylock

Vaneeesa Blaylock did this piece in second life to represent uniqueness and individuality.  This piece called "I Rez Therefore I am" consists of 25 silent female avatars wearing identical shoes and their own body shape.  The avatars start off motionless and grey but they slowly materialize with skins.   When the avatars are grey it is amazing how similar they look but when they start to come through you can tell how different they are. 

This looks similar to some of the other artists work like 1000 naked women.  I like the idea that we can be similar if people choose to classify us as a whole but also you can see that we are individuals and we should not be classified as a whole.  Even though yes they are all females the inside counts, that is what matters.  We all have different personalities and that should be how we are classified not by our body shapes.  

Harold Cohen and Aaron

Harold Cohen created Aaron.  I like to consider Aaron the art piece and also he is doing art.  Or actually Harold is programing Aaron to do art.  I just am so easily fascinated by how machines do what they do.  We can program them to do just about anything which is really cool and kind of scary too.  

I like the idea that Harold does not want to program to much into Aaron.  I guess he wants Aaron to "have a mind of his own."  Which is interesting because he is not a human or even living for that matter so he can't have a mind of his own can he?  Can you program something to have a mind of its own?  Interesting.  This piece above is one of Aaron's pieces that is well known.  It is very elementary, very simple but I enjoy looking at it.  Its very colorful and vibrant and looks well done.  

Masaki Fulihata

This is by far my favorite piece by Masaki Fulihata.  It is such a great concept.  Someone walking into a room while photos are being taken.  Its is very true that you are unable to see your self in that many views, especially at one time.  All these different views give you the opportunity to see your self in a different perspective.  To see your self as other people see you.

I would love to go into this room so that I can have the chance to see myself the way that others see me.  If only it could tell you what other people think of you.  Now that would be cool.  I am not the type of person to care what people think of me but it is still interesting to know what they think of me even if it doesn't effect me.

SECOND LIFE: MY LIFE

 So... I wanted to do a series for this project.  I know that we had to do four avatars and I was unsure what I wanted to do.  I decided to do me as a child, me as me now, me as an adult, and me as an old lady.  The first one shown above is funny to me.  I was always teased about having a huge forehead when I was younger so I tried to emphasize that in this avatar.  

 I tried to get a mirror but its difficult to really mold an avatar to look like you.  This was the best that I could do.  It was interesting to see what my avatar looks like.  I did this one first so I actually got a lot better towards my old lady Me.

 This is older me, adult me.  I put on a little bit more make up and my hair is darker and yet a little shorter.  I am not sure if I did that because I want my hair shorter or just because I think it might be shorter in the future. 

I liked doing grandma me the most.  I am not sure why it was weird trying to guess what I am going to look like.  I kept the main features the same but just got a little bit more more wrinkles and gray hair.  This avatar, second like project was fun.  I did not get totally into like some people but I can see how it can happen.  It is so "realistic."

Piplotti Rist

First off something I thought was cool was that her name is not really Piplotti it is actually Elizabeth Charlotte.  She got her name from her childhood name Lotti and her favorite kids character Pippi.  Interesting. Pippi was a character that was definitely out of the ordinary which reflects Piplotti completely.  

Some facts about her.  She was born in Switzerland.  She was a member of Les Reines which is shown in some of her work.  She and her group are featured in her videos.  She has a common law husband and a son named HImalaya (interesting name).  She directed a movie in 2009 called Pepperminta.  She currently lives in Zurich and Los Angeles. 

Her work focuses and explores female sexuality and media culture.  She tends to merge visions of fantasy with everyday life.  You can definitely see this in every one of her pieces.  In her work she shows not necessarily women but things that can represent women or that symbolize women, such as flowers.  Not flowers for beauty but flowers and their reproduction ways and the way that they look resemble female parts.  Her media is definitely mixed and intertwined with reality but also fantasy.  You can see all the colors in her work mixed in with everyday life.  It is an interesting contrast because I think it works.  I think it works with her message that she is trying to show.   She is a video artists but that it is not the only work that she does.  Her are some images of her work other than her video art.  

Contemplating the Void (2010)

Partit amistos- sentiments electronics (2010)

I was looking at some of her work and I guess I would describe her as sort of abstract.  But I also would say she's not abstract at all, because abstract , to me, is something that you just do, something that does not have any reason or rhyme but is done through expression of the artist.  I would also argue that All artists express themselves.  So what I am trying to say is that all abstract art is expression but not all expression is abstract art.  Back to Piplotti Rist.  Her work may seem abstract and yet its means so much.  I think that there is rhyme and reason to every single one of her pieces.  Some reasons are harder to find in certain pieces and in others its really easy.  For example the piece that I am about to show you, that was done in 2003, is called I Want to See How You See.  Okay I know that we all saw this video before but I want to reshow you the video and I want you to keep an open mind.  Listen to the words that she says, they are my favorite part.  “I see. You see. I see you seeing. You see me seeing. I want to show what I see. You want to show what you see. Nirvana in the rose garden”.

Yes, at first glance it looks like Piplotti is on an acid trip but if you look closer I think what she is trying to say is basically look or view things in different perspectives.  Don't be so narrow minded like every other person on this world.  Many people look at something and just see it, they don't analyze and see a deeper meaning.  Different perspectives can be very powerful.  Seeing something through someone else's eyes.  Being in someone else's shoes. We should all be more open mined. We should all see something in a different perspective and I think that is what she tries to say in most of her videos.  

Robert Rauschenberg

I have been looking at a lot of these artists and their work and when I pulled up Rauschenberg I smiled.  I am really not sure why but I really enjoy looking at his work.  When I normally think of collages I think about random things put next to each other.  And normally I think that collages are just a mess, well kinda.  This is just that, it is a bunch of random things put together.  But it is so much more than that.  This piece is amazing, its hard to describe.

I keep staring at this picture trying to describe it but its difficult.  I enjoy looking at it though.  I can stare at it and still have no idea what he is trying to say.  I see half of the piece dark and somewhat morbid but not really, they are just buildings.  The other half is bright and colorful and happy.  I love the balance it is great.  I know this is not really a thoughtful two paragraphs but overall i just liked this piece very much.

Bryn Oh

Bill Viola

Nam June Paik

This is called TV Buddha.  This is one of my favorite pieces by Nam June Paik.  I think that it could mean so much.  The whole set up of the Buddha statue just sitting there and a tv.  The video camera is shooting the Buddha real time and displaying it on the screen.  This is brilliant.  I would have never thought of this concept.

Well I am not exactly sure what Nam June Paik is trying to say about Buddha in this piece.  I think that it can be interpreted in many ways.  Today television is taking over so much of American lives that maybe he is saying to stop and take a second to remember other important things like religion.  Or maybe he believes in Buddha so strongly that he does not think that people are taking it seriously so he is mocking them.  I am not completely sure but I really enjoy looking at this piece.

Bealle! Bealle! Bealle!

So... I walked into this building that was dark and totally looked closed.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I kept walking down the hall and when I started to walk into this room I heard this banging noise and all of a sudden a light came on and this human like structure started growing.  Really interesting right?  Ya, for going into this gallery expecting art work on a wall and seeing this, was totally cool.  Here is a little demonstrations taken on my phone.  Okay I know Glenn you said to make sure if its vertical to put it vertical because its 2011.  Ya its 2011 and I really tried to do it but could not figure it out for my life sorry :(

I walked in a little bit more and to my surprise where a flock of birds.  Well the artists called it Inactive Birds.  This was a good name for his piece.  By the way the author's name is David Familian.  Well with the help of Brian Kane, Frank Hausman, and Tymm Twillman.  So this flock of birds looked died at first but as I walked up to them they light up and slowly came to life.  The author wanted his pieces to be activated by sensory.  So, I the viewer activated them just by walking by.  In the video you can see as I get closer they start to shake and move more.  Very cool piece probably my favorite that's why I took a picture.

This last piece was titled Inflated Architectural Body Inner Space.  Oh by the way all of these pieces come to life by compressed air.  Interesting that the author took so much time and effort to control compressed air this much.  This piece was good but not my favorite.  I like how it became so big and it kinda did remind me of space because it was just spacious I guess.  I reminded me of astronauts

Gracie Kendal

So as you know we did a module on identity.  Gracie Kendal and Kristine Schomake are the same person, well kinda.  Just to refresh your memory Kristine Schomake is a real person but she feels trapped in her body.  She is overweight and is not content with herself.  She creates Gracie as her avatar.  Gracie is skinny and what Kristine sees herself as.  In this photo Kristine sees her computer as a mirror and her reflection is Gracie.  Both you and I can see clearly that these aren't reflections of each other.  Because both me and you know that reflections are the same.  To Kristine this is a reflection.  To Kristine she sees herself like that so more power to her.

It is interesting because Kristine says, "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall..." and Gracie says, "You think I'm a mirror??"  This is interesting because if Kristine sees this as herself you would think that Gracie would be agreeing.  How I see it is that Gracie almost brings Kristine back to reality.  She says no I am not a mirror on the outside what you see, but maybe a reflection on the inside.  There are a few pictures with Kristine and Gracie looking into mirrors and they mean so much, maybe not to you and I but to Kristine it does.  It seems like she wants to hope for the best but she looks in "real" mirrors and sees something totally different.  When she looks into her computer screen "mirror" she sees what she likes.  

I really enjoyed reading about his Gracie Kendal Project it was very interesting to me.  Sad, emotional, powerful, but a lot of meaning.  

FILM DAY!!!

Piploti Rist- "I Want to See What You See," I really liked the song playing in the background i thought it had a lot of meaning.  Overall it was crazy mixing home and plant life together, overlapping, indoors and outdoors, interesting angles of the camera.  There was more focus on objects then people in the background.  Weird.  It did not have much purpose to me, I was confused on what message the author was trying to get across.

Nam Jun Paik- multiple screens cool 1000 tv sets.  Creates 25 or more paintings a second.  Makes sculptures with screens.  Mixes art forms and cultures "global groove" juxtaposition all cultures are so different. 1st to take video art into a  museum.   

Bill Viola-mirrage kinda not really seeing anything in particular but a smuged shape moving in the distance.  almost left for you to interpret, resembles humans, interesting that it is silent. maybe doesnt want to give away what it is with sound. gets clear with people on motorcycles. Now sound is there but subtle, like the wind.  to me it was boring i had a hard time paying attention.  doesnt' really keep the watcher interested.

Processing the Signal-strobe lights and zevra cool.  stobe light different picture after each light.  music beat.  nature, disaster, fire Tribute to Nam Jun Paik Father of video art!

I look at all of these videos and can see how much we have advances as  a state, as a country and a world.  Our art is far more advance, but does that mean it has more meaning? not necessarily but I would say it is more interesting for the viewer.  I guess thats not what art is about thought.  It should not be whether it is best for the viewer is it? I thought it was about expressing yourself.  But the artists have to make a living so it has to be interesting so people will want to buy it duh!  

LACMA

First off I liked LACMA way more then I liked the Norton Simon Museum..  The different buildings were really interesting.  I know the museum is based on the art that it contains but to me i actually enjoyed the buildings.  I liked how all of the buildings were different.  Like the JAPANESE one, it was all winedy.  I like the way the art was placed and it was very easy going.  It was relaxing and I was able to enjoy the art that it contained.  

ONE HUNDRED BOYS AT PLAY

QUAIL AMID AUTMN GRASSES AND FLOWERS

ALMOST IMMATERIAL VIBRATION

DOUBLE CIRCLE

NO. 5 

RORSCHAD

DRESS

ME :) Collage

My collage is pictures of important things in my life.  My family is in the middle because they are closest to my heart.  This is my mother's side of the family, I am not very close to my father's side.  The picture is taken at Saint Irenaus Catholic Church, where my grandparents renewed their vows on their 50th anniversary.  It was a very special moment because they were the top of our family tree and they have been through so much together and made it so far.  I really admire my grandparents for everything that they have done.  The picture above with my grandpa is the last picture I took with him.  He passed away on Cinco De Mayo. 

The bottom left corner are pictures from high school.  I was and still very much in love with volleyball.  I love the sport! I coach it and often wish I still played.  My little sister is playing right now and I was not half as good as her at her age.  I really love coaching her because she can be so good.  The picture next to it is at ASB.  This just shows how involved I was.  I was in ASB, I was Yearbook Editor, Honor Classes, and also Varsity Volleyball Captain my junior and senior year.  ALWAYS ACTIVE!!!

Barbara Kruger!!!

I don’t actually think I consider her an artist.  My idea of an artist is someone who creates work… I guess, from scratch.  Kruger is a little bit different, I wouldn’t consider her an artist but maybe just an activist.   She was known for her black and white images with bold, mostly red, text.  Her signature text became Futura Bold Italic.  Her work is mostly photos from the 1940s to the 1950s, she recreates them and adds her own touches.  She is an activist and boldy states her opinion in her work. 

This piece of Kruger's art seemed very interesting to me.  The person in the photo is told not to move, even though the restraints doesn't allow him to.  To me it looks like the pins can resemble this persons family, friends, the government, or anything that is holding this individual back.  

In this photo Kruger portrays a beautiful women who is possibly advertising for a product.  The text that Kruger put over says "I never wanted to be your icon."  This tells me that Kruger may think that girls are just used for advertisement.  She doesn't like that women are used for this and that they are often seen as objects.  

To tell you the truth, I am not a fan.  I was reading a few blog forums about kruger and I came across this photo.  I really thought it was interesting because I wasn’t the only one who thought this about her.  Yes, it is a little extreme but I guess I agree with it.  

Grand Canyon :)

Fo Real or Not Fo Real?

Glenn made a really good point today in class.  Why the heck do we wear clothes?  I agree their are reasons that we have to, for example it is cold.  We don't want to get frost bite so we wear warm clothes.  Generally in California do we really need to wear clothes, the weather is so nice, maybe not.  Society has given this "rule" that we must wear clothes or else it would be "inappropriate." This "rule" is so understood that someone would most likely be sent home from school if they came naked.  It is what it is.  So what we have to wear clothes for no reason.  I like them.  We get to express ourselves and give our personality through our clothes :)

When we were specific clothes we often give an idea of our identity.  In high school we see people eat lunch with people that look just like them.  I agree with this for the most part because I have seen it.  What is interesting about my group of friends we loved being different.  We called our selves BAWM!  Which stands for BLACK, ASIAN, WHITE, and MEXICAN.  That is exactly what we are all different.

Also, I was very interested when the avatar lady was talked about.  She was a bigger person and had an avatar that was very thin, I don't actually remember their names.  BUT it was strange, the question that was brought up was is this real or "fake."  (interesting that we did establish that their is no real and no fake, well why did I just put quotes around fake.  haha idk)  She clearly did not like who se was and said she felt herself in the thinner body.  I actually do consider this real to her personally but most likely fake to everyone else.  Does it matter if its fake to everyone else?  Why should it matter?  It is your body and your imaginary world do as you like.