Art Event 1 of 3

Sheppard Contemporary

REfigured

Ken Gonzales-Day

Gonzales-Day had three large-scale photographs and 15 small and framed photographs/envelopes on display in the REfigured art show. His final image (and largest) is a moody photograph of an ominous tree. It’s branches twist and curve around each other, both crawling along the ground and reaching up towards the overcast sky. There’s no leaves on the tree, just grey green mold drooping off the branches and tracing up the trunk. And the only color besides hues of grey an brown in the image is the green grass surrounding the tree and the before mentioned moss. This was by far my favorite image in the entire art show. The photo is beautiful. Stunning. I was drawn to it before anything else, and then back to it again after I’d gone through the entire gallery. What disturbs me however, is how I saw it only as a beautiful (though eerie) image at first. It wasn’t until I read Gonzales-Day’s artist statement that the image took on a truly dark tone. It, along with his other two large scale photographs, were photographs of lynching trees still growing in California. And the 15 framed pictures and envelopes were his inspiration. They contained images of lynched individuals, some presumably on the very trees he’d photographed.

Shen Wei

Wei’s work in the REfigured art show consisted of seven self-portraits. In all of which Wei is nude. In one he drinks tea, in another he lies seductively in the grass, in yet another he’s smelling a tree branch. Then he’s posed among rocks as if he’s about to jump into water below, he’s sitting in a dark room with his hand above an oil lamp, he’s pulling lingerie out of a dresser drawer, he’s sitting on a bed with the daylight streaming in through a singular window… I had difficulty piecing together the story Wei was trying to tell me, the message he wanted to convey. And it wasn’t until I read his artist statement that I understood in any capacity. He was depicting the “experience of passage from youth to adulthood,” exploring “what wasn’t, what could have been and might still be.”

Tom Jones

Jones’ work in the REfigured art show was the smallest in number - only 4 photographs (though two display cases contained his inspiration / reference material of old photographs taken of Native Americans). What I find interesting about this series is how easily Jones’ message translated. I took my fourteen year old brother with me to the art show and when I asked him what his favorite piece was he pointed to one of Jones’ photographs.  “Why is it your favorite?” I inquired. He creased his brow for a moment before telling me, “I like it because I see something like it in every history book I read in school, but something’s different. Something’s wrong with it.” He hadn’t read the artist statement, yet still he understood. Jones’ was making a commentary on how early photographs of Native Americans shaped Americans opinions of them. Somewhat skewed opinions perhaps. And so, he decided to have a “Ho-Chunk” photographing non-Indians dressed up as Indians. 

Zoe Crosher

Crosher’s series in the REfigured art show contained 46 images. They were all portraits of Michelle duBois, photographs she’d re-photographed, scanned, and resized in varying capacities. The effect is some crisp and sharp images, many images with dustings of white grain, and some images no longer recognizable. In her artist statement Crosher explains that she’s blurring the line between fantasy and reality. In my opinion, the message was effectively conveyed. 

Discussion Questions for Reading #3

Chapter 2: Video Art

1.
This reading distinguished between "art" and "artful," claiming that it's the intentions of artists that separate the two - art being free of "the constraints of some other purpose." I'm not sure I agree with this view. So much of what I consider art has purpose. It seems to me more so that the art society decides which "other purposes" are worthy of being entangled in art and which aren't. Commentary on feminism, homosexuality, communism or capitalism, etc. are acceptable purposes to address in art. Where as any type of marketing or profit making endeavors are not acceptable. I don't see art so narrowly. A add can still be art, and the artist who makes what's underneath the advertising script and/or words probably thinks of themselves as such. A TV show or movie that makes millions is still art to me as well. Does anyone else share this broader view of what qualifies as art? If not, why? Does monetary gain stand in the way of art?

2.
Could Chris Burden's video art be considered horrific documentation of excessive self harm as opposed to art? Could we be feeding into someone who has a mental issue by classifying his videos as art? Would we feel the same about his videos if he was filming someone else harming themselves? What if it was a woman? A child?

Discussion Questions for Reading #2

"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin
Discussion Questions...

1.
Walter Benjamin brings up the idea of arts form longevity. Architecture being perhaps one of the most ancient, and foreseeably most stable - as human beings will always require dwellings. However, not all architecture is built with artistic intension, some is built with only practical applications in mind. So, is art still art if it's unintentional? Is everything art? Or does the maker have to identify himself or herself as an artist?

2.
Benjamin states, "The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses" (16). This seems almost to be a definition for art. Art, in my mind at least, makes us see what we previously didn't, makes us see things we HAVE seen before in a new way, and thereby makes us think about things (both before seen and unseen) in fresh ways. What are other ways to define art?

Project #3: Animation & Audio

Artist Statement
When adding audio to my project #1 / project #2,  I wanted the effect to be slightly chilling and a little vintage. The audio has a lagging feel to it, from the ticking of the clocks, to the eery "shhh...," to the song "I Don't Want to Set The World On Fire" by the Ink Spots (used in the game Fallout 3) that begins to play as the music notes move away from the gramaphone... It's all unsettling when placed together. A very different feeling than what is experienced when you view the diptych sans audio and animation.

Project #2: Animation

Artist Statement
When adding animation to my project #1 diptych, I wanted the effects to be more subtle than flashy. Nothing moves or changes very fast in the animation - the sunspots dimming and illuminating steadily, the clocks spinning continuously, the compass rotating, and the stamps floating leisurely down... Though I see the purpose of adding flashy animation in some scenarios, for what I have planned in regards to audio, mellow animations more aptly suit my aspirations for the final product of this piece.

Project #1 Revision

Discussion Questions for Reading #1

"Basic Animation Aesthetics" by David OReilly

Discussion Questions...

1. 

When individuals disagree on the "success" of a film, it that disagreement due to varying preferences in regards to content? Or is that disagreement instead due to the film being coherent (and therefore believable) to some individuals, and not coherent/believable to the other individuals? In other words, when a film is coherent, is it coherent to all? 

2.

Is the act of being inspired by other artists (both those outside and within your own medium(s)) contributing to one's surface style? Or can it instead be seen as contribution to an artists style ("unconscious aesthetic preferences") in the same way an artist's personal experiences contribute to his/her style? 

Project#1: Montage

Artist: Jessica Dorado

Artist Statement

It wasn’t a week before I began this project that I was called “earthy,” however, I’ve been addressed before with similar references. I have a group of friends who still call me “Flower Child,” and I’ve had more than one person tell me I give off a “bohemian vibe.” It’s not that any of these references are rude, in fact most of the time they’re said lovingly (if not also with slight exasperation). Yet still, I can hear some underlying negative associations with the phrases. As if they believe me to be naïve. And though I’ve never been angered by these comments, my curiosity has intensified regarding the subject.

So I looked up the meaning of a bohemian... It's “a person, as an artist or writer, who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices.”

I am a writer. And a photographer, which I suppose makes me an artist as well.  As for they way I live and act – I’ve been happier with the decisions I’ve made based off my own morals and thoughts, as opposed to those I’ve made based off what’s deemed appropriate by those around me.

So maybe I am a little bit of a bohemian at heart. But maybe we all should be. After all, everyone only has so much time in this world. We might as well dance to beautiful music, paint beautiful art, write beautiful words, and live in a way that ensures we’re content with the only person we’re entitled to live with for the rest of our lives – ourselves.    

Artist: Alexx Jaramillo

Artist Statement

“Bohemian” a phrase that describes a lifestyle of free thinking, earthiness, and creativity. As one who believes whole-heartedly that art is a way of thinking creatively, this word was the primary focus of this project.

Dissecting small aspects of what it means to be bohemian helped decide on the photos used. Each picture was picked out because it represents what the bohemian lifestyle is to my partner and I.

Good music, good vibes, artistic influence, and warm earthy colors are what helped this project unfold. I had no prior Photoshop experience before this, so I thought I’d try to put myself in the best “bohemian” environment I could to accomplish this task.

I sat inside my room with the curtains drawn and the windows wide open, I listened to the sounds of outside, and my music to create a good mood for working in, and then I just got to it.

Art isn’t supposed to have any restriction that is why there are so many different forms. I believe that being a bohemian is about a lot more than a person who doesn’t follow the conventional way of doing things, I believe that being bohemian means you are in touch with many things that only influence and inspire your creative works, be it music, poetry, photography, or art.