Module 12 Video Review

Why I selected each video:
Hockney on Photography:
  -I have always been fascinated with photography, so, why not watch the video on it? I would like to learn more about it and learn what it truly is. I wanted to learn about photography from a professionals perspective.

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image:
   - I have always heard the name "Andy Warhol" but I never knew much about him besides the
Campbell soup painting. So, I decided to choose the video with his name in it to learn more about him.

Key concepts learned:
Hockney on Photography:
  - There are so many types of photography. It is way more than pictures and a camera. Hockney's photography is even more special. Some how he creates images out 50 of the same and/or different pictures. He called his work "drawing with a camera". This art was made with polaroids and grids, something very unique. You can see the enthusiasm in his face when he is talking about his art. One of his artworks was composed of people looking at a picture, who are looking at a picture, very confusing, but unique. There was tons of movement through these pictures. There are really no rules with photography. Anything photographed can be art. Hockney liked to portray pictures within pictures within pictures, it was a game of infinity to him. He played around with perspective a lot, which was unique as well. His collage of the Grand Canyon was a different project for him. He had to do a bit of painting. He basically proved that pictures do not do the Grand Canyon justice, it is a real-life spacial experience. Even when he painted, he took smaller canvases and made a collage to make it one bug painting.

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image:
   - Andy Warhols life was explained through this video. He wanted to be a tap dancer, clearly that did not happen. He then moved onto advertisements in magazines and newspapers. This opened his mind to art. He had always collected pictures os famous celebrities, models and actresses. He took real life people, events, and images to construct his art. Elizabeth Taylor was one of his favorite people to create art from. The video portrayed all of the techniques and materials Warhol used to create his images. His artwork always had a unique aspect of it. Ten Lizes was constructed to look like a newspaper photo, although it was not in a newspaper. A lot of his art was made from silk screen, something I have never heard of before. Him and Hockney had something in common, images in images. His artwork was compared to the Mona Lisa at times, which I thought was cool. His art became real at one point: he portrayed death in many different ways like suicide and plane crashes.

Relation to the reading:
Hockney on Photography:
  - I am not sure if I was reading in the wrong places but I could not find anything in the reading that relates to Hockney. In these chapters, photography was barely mentioned. Therefore, there is no correlation between the video and the reading.

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image:
   - Andy Warhol is mentioned quite frequently when reading about art in the sixties and seventies. His artworks "Thirty are Better than One", "Black Bean", and the "Golden Marilyn Monroe" are the ones mentioned. His artwork had meaning, especially about Marilyn Monroe. This meaning was said in the video and the book. He had a whole page dedicated to him in the book depicting his life, which was cool to learn about. The book and the video were very similar about his life and creations.

Opinion on the films:
Hockney on Photography:
  - This video made me happy in an odd way. Hockney explaining his own artwork was wholesome and innocent. It was really cool to learn about how different his photography is. Very unique. The visuals were incredible. I loved looking at all of his art and learning about. The video was not very informative on photography as a whole but strictly on Hockney's perspective, which I figured would happen based on the title. But, I still learned a lot more about photography than I originally knew prior to watching the video.

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image:
   - This video depicts Andy Warhols life very well. I learned a lot about him, which were my intentions prior to watching this video. He had one interesting life. This video was also narrated very well, easy to learn from.

Art Gallery Visit

On Friday, April 19, 2019, I visited the Burchfield Penney Art Center. 

The Exhibition:

 Title of Exhibition:

I unfortunately did not write down the title nor take a picture of it.

Could not find the title online either.

But, these are people portrayed in quilts. A wall of faces.

Theme of Exhibition:

Colorful quilts with darker squares to portray human-like images. 

When up close to the quilts, you could not tell that they were people, but stepping further away you could see them very clearly. 

The Gallery:

Type of Lighting:

It was a very dark room. There were bright lights on the ceiling that were shining down on the pictures. 

Colors used on Walls:

The walls were a darker gray color. I believed to be used to make the room even darker and make the lights seem brighter. 

Materials used in Interior Architecture:

The pictures are inkjet prints of plastics and polarization film.

In 35 mm mount

Movement through Art Gallery:

It was interesting. The art gallery was silent but this room had quiet music playing. 

It was dark but bright at the same time.

Very soothing while walking through it, 

The Artwork:

Spurious
charcoal on paper

Jason Bockli
acrylic and pencil on paper

Jackie Robinson
acrylic on canvas

How the Artworks are Organized:

Each of these artworks were part of a series, lined up on the wall.

There were at least four in each series.

How are they Similar?

All three of these artworks are portraying people, some famous, some not. 

You can clearly see the people in each artwork, but in a different way for each.

Each artwork did not contain a lot of color but still unique.

How are they Different?

The first drawing is more different than the other two. This is a picture of a woman but it looks smeared. You can still see the woman very clearly. 

The second drawing is a clear picture of a man, in black and white, with a little bit of brown.

The third picture is clearly of Jackie Robinson. But, looks like an animation. 

How are the Artworks Framed?

The first two pictures are not framed. They are just paper pinned to the wall. The third picture is framed with a thin, black frame. 

How are the Artworks Identified and Labeled?

I put captions under each picture to make it look more organized and official. They are labeled with their title and the mediums that were used to create them. 

Proximity of Artworks:

There was a square room with portraits on all four walls. 

These three pictures were not that close to each other.

I wanted to choose three different pictures that represent the same concept but do not really look the same. 

I personally liked this art gallery better than the Albright Knox Art Gallery. This gallery was well put together and was circular in shape: very unique. It was interesting trying to pin point the themes and meanings of the artwork. It was cool to interpret art in a different way than usual. I truly enjoyed my visit here. 

Module 11 Video Review

Why I chose these videos:
The Mystical North: Spanish Art from the 19th Century to the Present:
   -The title of the video immediately got my attention: The Mystical North. A great start to a video title. I also liked that it was about the history of Spanish art until now. It is very interesting to see art change over time.

Dada and Surrealism:
   - Unlike the other videos, this title confused me so I was intrigued to learn more about these topics. I have never heard of Dada, or for what I can remember.

Key Concepts:
The Mystical North: Spanish Art from the 19th Century to the Present:
   -The art is for sure different. The first artist this video talked, Goya, about was very dark, described as nightmarish. The paintings had no color, mostly just black. There were very interesting ceilings in the homes though, religious symbols. The sculptures are like something I have never seen before. Very interesting in shape and abstract. Pablo Picasso had very vulgar paintings as a child, kind of disturbing actually. Picasso had many different meanings behind his paintings, some religious themed, some sexual. His work can be interpreted in many different ways. His self portraits were very cool and different though.

Dada and Surrealism:
   - Schwitters art was very different from what I have seen before, he called his art Merz. I see his art as collages. His pictures contained words and real life objects. It seems to be that a lot of the art from this era of art. A lot of the collages taught lessons and had very deep meanings. Some political, historical, opinionated, etc. This art was made out of paper, photographs, and different thin materials. What I found interesting about this art: there were objects that would imitate humans. It is hard to describe with words. objects were not portrayed like they are in real life. Joan Miro had some very interesting paintings. Lots of detail and color. The details of real pictures were altered in surrealism. It was so cool to learn about.

Videos in relation to the reading:
The Mystical North: Spanish Art from the 19th Century to the Present:
   - Like expected, the book had more detail than the video about certain topics. The book had a whole page dedicated to Pablo Picasso that helped deepen my learning about him. I do not know if I was reading the wrong sections but I could not really find much information on Spanish art in the 19th Century until now. There was a lot of detail about America in the 19th century, instead. Very little about Spanish art

Dada and Surrealism:
   - The book had different examples of surrealism than the video, which is a good thing in my opinion. The more examples the better. The book also contained examples of Joan Miro and his really cool paintings. It was cool to see that the painting of Carnival of the Harlequin by Miro is in the Albright Know Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. It's always cool to see things from your hometown.

Opinion on the films:
The Mystical North: Spanish Art from the 19th Century to the Present:
   -My First impression was not the greatest. I am not the biggest fan of the videos that have people walking around visiting ting sites and talking about history. I like the real examples of art and building but with just a narrator. The background noise was very loud and distracting. This video was not very heavy in facts, mostly just positive opinions of the art showed.

Dada and Surrealism:
   - I immediately liked this video because it was narrated and easy to understand. This video had a ton of examples and was easy to learn from. Especially because I did not know much about these topics. This video taught me a lot, kept me interested throughout the whole thing. The different examples of surrealism helped deepen my understanding. In my opinion and own words: surrealism is like art on drugs.

Mask Making

Mask 1

For mask 1, I thought the mask was very interesting in general. I liked how much it represented a human face. I can tell it is old which makes it unique. There is not much color, a few dull colors, but the symmetry is there. The artist emphasized the human like characteristics in black to make them known. There is a lot of balance. 

Mask 2

For Mask 2, I absolutely loved the colors of these masks. Like mask 1, they both portray human features, but very differently. I see art in these masks. They are themed and filled with brilliant, bright color. These masks are very persistent with lines and shape. They're both symmetrical. These masks are very unique and inspired me to make my mask.

Mask 3

For mask 3, the color is what attracted me the most. The bright yell and orange colors caught my attention. I loved the pattern in this mask. Once again, there are human characteristics portrayed in their own unique way. This mask has a lot of different symbols which I thought was unique. This mask is my favorite out of all three. There is the most color, pattern, balance, and symbolism which is what I like to see portrayed in art. 

This was my boring, dull sketch of my mask. I basically just pin-pointed the specific things I needed to create the mask and certain aspects of pattern and color I wanted it to contain. I did not follow the sketch very thoroughly but i'm kind of glad I didn't. Once I started to paint the mask, a mental image of the finished product was set in my mind: brilliant color and pattern. 

This was my finished piece. I was very happy with they way this mask turned out. I tried to use color and pattern mostly. 

The steps I used to make the mask:

• I had my friend Emily wrap three layers of tin foil around her face so I could portray the shape of a human face. 
• I cut out the holes for the eyes.
• I covered the tin foil in the cheesecloth. 
• Then, created the plaster mix. It hardens fast so I had to work quick. 
• I used a paint brush to paint the plaster onto the tinfoil-cheesecloth mask. 
• I had to wait 24 hours for the plaster to dry before I could paint it. 
• I used a mix of the most vibrant colors I could get my hands on. 
• I used a mixture of types of brushes: paint brushes and different types of nail art brushes to get the precise lines and dots. 

The whole process took about 3 hours total, minus the drying time. 

This project was for sure different. It was something I have never done before so I had to look up many different processes on how to make a mask. I kind of winged it. I was fun though! I like trying new things and going out of my comfort zone. Plus, I like painting. But for my first time at creating a mask, I think it turned out pretty well. Although, it could definitely be better. I didn't really know how to work with plaster, but I did the best I could. 

Module 10 Video Review

Why I selected these videos:
African Art:
   -I have always been interested in African Art. I learned quite a few about the subject while I was in high school. We would watch movies, read papers, and so on, in my Understanding Culture class. I was intrigued to learn more.

Buddhism:
   - I do not know much about Buddhism. I have seen quite a few pictures in my lifetime and decorations of Buddha but I do not know the deep understanding. Out of all of the film titles, this was the one I was interested in learning more about.

Key concepts learned: 
African Art:
   - These people shown in the video make all of their own utensils. Their art is portrayed in how they dress, their hair and make up (masks), but mostly in rituals. The sound of music and freedom of dance. Most of the African Art in museums is less than 200 years old, older art has been ruined by humidity and other tragedies. Most older, historical art is found in drier, rocky areas. This rock art helps deepen the understandings of African history. African art became popular in the 19th century to the Europeans. Masks are very important to African culture and art. They are a big role in everyday life and ceremonies. These masks have many special meanings; supernatural, emotional, powers, etc. Most sculptures represent different things and people. Same with the masks. Masks tie in theatre and rituals.

Buddhism:
   -Buddhism began in India. Buddhism involves a lot of meditating and praying. A term I heard many times throughout this film was "enlightenment". Buddhism was believed to heal people with gentleness, ease their minds. Buddhism splint in two after the death of Buddha: Monks and Mahayana. The death then brought up art and architecture. The architecture is truly amazing and unique. The Borobudur Temple is a building I would like to learn more about. The video did not mention how this building was built and i'd like to know how. The structure is very cool and has great meaning to Buddhism. It was cool to learn that there is a big part of architectural Buddhism in Upstate New York: Chuang Yen Monastery.

Videos relation to the reading:
African Art:
   - The book shows the geographical aspects of the regions where African art had started. It also gives information about historical events and important people of the past. Which I find somewhat important to art. I liked the videos details and example better, although the book did show some interesting examples. Like 18.13, Yoruba.

Buddhism:
   - It was a little bit easier learning from the book due to the correct spelling of the words and terms. The video and the book gave the same story about Buddhism. They both had really intersting examples of different art and sculptures.

Opinion on the films:
African Art:
   -This video is full of real examples of African Art and historical facts: statues, masks, paintings, etc. The art lets us learn about living in the B.C. era to now. I learned a lot about many African masks and what they look like: each one has its own uniqueness. I also learned a lot about the rituals and ceremonies that go on. The dancing and costumes are very interesting. The film was very well narrated and taught me a lot overall.

Buddhism:
   -There are many examples of art and old architecture in this video. These examples made me respect Buddhism even more. I was able to understand what Buddhism is most about. Everything is uniquely made with Buddhism. I found this video very informative and interesting. On the other hand, I believe this video should talk more about the creation of art and architecture instead of giving many, many example of different types.

Hand Drawing!

1.) It was easier than I thought to use my hands as the subject of matter. I used my iPhone and took pictures of both my hands to help me out a little bit. It was cool to be able to draw the details of my hands. It is something you don't really look in depth detail with.

2.) I chose pencil to do my drawing. I chose pencil because it is a medium that I know how to work well with. Plus, I couldn't find charcoal to try something new.

3.) It was a bit difficult to create a drawing with my non-dominant hand. I struggled at first but then I got the hang of it. I feel as if it turned out pretty well.

4.) I believe I was successful with my studies. The drawings turned out a lot better than I thought they were going to turn out. They actually look like hands in general so I am happy with it.

5.) I am not sure if I would use my non-dominant hand for artwork in the future. I know the artwork would look better if I used my dominant hand. But, the future is never certain so we'll see. Both hands turned out pretty good in my opinion.

Module 9 video review

Why I selected these videos:

The drawings of Michelangelo:

   -The title intrigued me to learn more about his drawings. His drawings are very important to understanding art history or just history in general. I was excited to learn about the art he is known for. 

Albrecht Durer: Images of a Master:

   - I read the description of this film and it seemed interesting to me, over the other films. I ma glad that I chose this one because the video is pictures on Durer's art and a narrator. Not someone sitting there talking about the art. 

Key concepts learned:

The Drawings of Michelangelo:

   - Michelangelo had many drawings that are very important to society, but they are just sketches or unfinished drawings. The sketches still help deepen out understanding of history, though. Michelangelo is much more than drawings also, he is known for his gorgeous sculptures. He expressed art throughout many different mediums. He had great knowledge of the human body which is very interesting, he was very talented. Michelangelo's sketches were very realistic, the muscles he portrayed of the men were amazing, everything seemed real. You could see the texture, although there was nothing to touch. Looking at the sketches or the Sistine Chapel Ceiling was very cool. He put these sketches together and made a masterpiece. Researchers learned a lot about Michelangelo while looking through his old drawings. They even learned about his love life through the drawings. His art told a story. 

Albrecht Durer: Images of a Master:

   -Durer made an amazing self portrait at the age of only 13, by age 19, he was already getting better. He showed the process of aging in his work in art, especially about his mother. He could even make prints of animals he have never seen before. He only goy better at self-portraits. He also made plenty of landscapes when he traveled, they were very well constructed. His paintings were very realistic, which is impressive. Very colorful, very realistic. Like Michelangelo, he portrayed the human body with much detail. 

How the videos relate to the text: 

The Drawings of Michelangelo:

   - The book goes into detail about how Michelangelo changed the way art was looked at: the subjects treated, the way it was thought about, the position of art in society, identities and influences, and even culture. Which relates to the video but the video portrayed the artworks he created, not what people really thought about them. The book and the reading should a lot of the same artwork which was good. The book also goes into depth about the meanings of each and every artwork.

Albrecht Durer: Images of a Master:

   - I did not find much of Albrecht Durer in these two chapters but he is referenced frequently throughout the book. Durer mixed German and Italian art to create his masterpieces. The book had very few detail about him and his paintings, just the origin of the ideas. 

Opinion on the films:

The Drawings of Michelangelo:

   -I loved all of the old, unfinished sketches this film showed. I am surprised that these drawings still exist. This video described Michelangelo's life very well and informatively. I learned a lot from this video. 

Albrecht Durer: Images of a Master:

   - This video shows a lot of the art that Durer made. I like seeing the actual artwork made by these artists. It helps deepen my understanding.