Photography as Truth

Discuss how the idea of a photograph capturing the “truth” of a situation collides with fiction in Sherman's fictional portraits. Where is “truth” in her work? How does she combine the themes of identity and truth to create meaning? Sherman maintains that she doesn’t want people to have a preconceived notion of who the characters are, yet we are all aware that they are self-portraits. How does this influence how we interpret them?

Imagine that you have the opportunity to have your portrait made by one of the artists we’ve studied this term. Which artist would you choose? Why? Describe how your portrait would look. Use at least 6 of the art terms below accurately in your response (underline each term).

Photography is typically seen at “the truth” but after seeing Sherman’s way of photography, we can deuce this may not also be true in the traditional sense. Fiction and truth collide in her portraits but can really teach us a lot about the art of photography. Her work does contain “truth” in some respect. They are organic. Sherman doesn’t “pose” as traditional models would. She shoots until she finds what she can’t articulate that she is looking for. The truth comes from the honesty behind the portraits. She is playing with her identity and becomes those characters for that self-portrait. She combines these ideas to create meaning. The meaning to me is to look deeper and to ask questions. If you glance at these photos without thinking much of them, you may think they are just pictures of people during their daily lives. You have to ask why she choose this identity and understand that these are characters is a show that is her photography art. I think if we have a preconceived notion of who the characters are, we are missing this point. We can’t see them as characters, but as identities. If you see the pictures as Sherman dressing up, you don’t see them for who they are. You have to picture the characters as individuals in the real world, but also understand that they are self-portraits by Sherman. You have to see the balance to see the point of the photos. Something I think that is difficult is that people can interpret them based on prior experiences with people perhaps similar to the characters pictured. I think this photos are magnificent form of art that requires a certain art literacy to truly appreciate.

            If I had the opportunity to have my portrait made by one of the artists we studied, I would have a very hard time deciding, but I think I would pick, Lari Pittman. Although he doesn’t seem to do portraits, his style of art really appeals to me. My favorite type of art is usually oil on canvas and he uses this. I would want my portrait to involve a brighter color scheme, something Pittman frequently encompasses. I would want the temperature to be warm colors.  I would definitely want Chiaroscuro in my portrait, as I feel it gives more depth to a painting and it would bring out the traditional aspect used in paintings for generation. Color is very important to me in a painting. I would want perceptual color used to make my portrait look more realistic. Because I like impressionist paintings best, I would want the visual texture that these paintings often use. I think Pittman is able to create visual texture in his pieces, therefore, I think he would be able to make a portrait with this more me. I would want the scale of the painting to be medium sized, not too large but not too small. I would want it to have a linear perspective, but still proportional to the actual proportions of me. I would be honored to have a portrait done by any of the artists we studied, but I think Lari Pittman would be the one I would choose. 

Contemporary Sculpture

PROMPT: Write your Student Blog 2 Entry Comparing the sculptural processes and techniques, conceptual approaches of Gary Cooley and Richard Serra. How Gary Cooley's metal sculptures fundamentally different from Richard Serra's? How are their conceptual approaches different?

Sculpture is a form of art that usually produces three dimensional works. Both Gary Cooley and Richard Serra are masters in this type of art. Although their works both fall into the sculpture category, they are fundamentally very different. To start with, the approach to their art is very different. For example, Gary Cooley is more concerned with the process while Richard Serra’s primary focus is the end result. Their conceptual approaches are different because of this. The verbs discussed in Cooley’s work give the conceptual approach a more procedural important while Serra uses a traditional process and subject matter. His subject matter involves nature and commissions while Cooley’s subject matter isn’t the point of his art, the process of creating it is. The subject matter of Cooley’s is more about motion than a particular thing. They also differ by the techniques they use. Their metal sculpture techniques accomplish very different things by using a totally different process. Serra uses the lost wax method, one that has been used for generations. It’s a long process that uses subtractive sculpting and additive sculpting together to create the final product. Cooley uses a more modern and other different types of process for each piece. Most of his works revolve around additive sculpting. The scale also differs for these pieces. Serra’s more commercial pieces are smaller and can be displayed in someone’s home. The traditional role of an artist Serra most fills is to record the world. On the other hand, Cooley’s pieces are much larger and the role he fulfills is to see the world in new and innovative ways or to give tangibility to thoughts and ideas. Their target audience differs. As mentioned, Serra draws in a more commercial audience while Cooley’s art is more for viewers who appreciate abstract art. Their modes of representation are different. Cooley’s is more abstract and contemporary and non-representational while Serra’s are more natural and realistic. The people interested in this art would differ by their tastes in these modes of representation. Cooley is far more conceptually driven while Serra is more subject driven.  Although both are metal sculptures, they are fundamentally different.

Student Blog 2 - Entry #2

For this blog post, connect ideas from the Art 21 documentary and review of Lari Pittman’s work with what you learned previously about what art is for. Refer to Chapter 3 in your text and the Alain de Botton video from Section 1. Make at least three or more connections that demonstrate your understanding of how art functions within society by discussing what you think Pittman’s art is for. Provide relevant evidence from the materials provided to support your ideas—you must document your sources appropriately (see the resources provided for this section of the course)

The question “what is art for?” is one that seems to puzzle even the most successful scholars. It seems that most people seem to have different definitions of what exactly art is for. Throughout this course, we have been able to study various ideas and opinions on the subject. The textbook outlines several reasons people may create and appreciate art. Pittman’s art has a few very clear purposes in my opinion. First, he wants the viewer to have to think and observe his piece more than just in passing. He wants the art to consume the viewer and ask questions about the work of art and about themselves. This ties back to what the textbook says about giving visual and tangible feeling to thoughts and ideas. Another thing from chapter 3 that connects to this piece is the intrinsic value of the piece. It makes you think but also definitely has aesthetic appeal. This artist also brings beauty to our lives and balances us. It makes you think about the world around you and what the piece means. Art is for many reasons, but Pitman's art really encompasses some of the important aspects mentioned in our text.

Student Blog 2 - Entry #1

Prompts:

1. Which traditional role/roles of the artist do you think this artist fulfills? Support your response with evidence.

2. Note three or more surprising things that you learned about creating art in general from the video.

                The artist I picked for today’s blog post is Marela Zacarías. While living and creating in both New York and Mexico City, she creates and paints 3-D sculpted art pieces. Originally a muralist, after grad school she found her “voice” through sculpture and 3-D rendered art. I think Marela fulfils multiple of the traditional roles of an artist. The first role I automatically felt she fulfilled was by giving visual and tangible forms to ideas and feelings. In a world changing and moving so quickly, she wanted to bring people back to the past. She brought to life the idea of where we come from and the history of our country and ourselves.  She also helps us to see the world in a new and different way. Her art is unique and different than most things you would expect to see in a hotel lobby for example. It makes the viewer stop and think. The abstract sense of it all makes the viewer ask questions and see the world differently. I found quite a few things interesting and learned a lot from this artist. First, I loved learning about how she incorporated her history as a muralist into her own type of art. When I studied in Chile, street art was a huge form of expression. It was interesting to learn how artists in the 21^st century are using this means of expression in a more formal setting. I also learned about how 3-D rendering can effect art. It was so interesting to me to see how they create almost blueprints for a piece online before the real thing is created. This is a side of modern art I was not aware of. The third thing I learned from this artist’s video was that someone can be both a painter and a sculpture. This artist really proves that she is a multi-talented artist and can master many different skills and it shows in her art. I think Zacarias really shows how a modern artist can fulfill the traditional roles of an artist while still teaching us new and interesting things about the growing and changing world of art. 

Chapter 7- Other Formal Elements

For our chapter 7 blog post, we were asked to compare a piece of contemporary art (from the last ten years) to an older piece of art in regards to the other formal elements.

The first image is Untitled (SK-MY) by Angel Otero painted in 2013 and located at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Angel Otero Untitled (Sk-MY) Oil on canvas

I thought this painting was a prime example of one of the other formal elements discussed in this chapter- texture! This painting doesn't only have visual texture, but actual texture as well! If you could reach out and touch it, it would have actual piece and a rough feeling. This painting goes beyond just paint and incorporates paint skins to give some 3-D texture to the piece. Grattage is one thing discussed in this chapter in regards to texture and while this piece doesn't use that same style, the same effect is created in a new way. This painting also uses motion in a way. It shows the motion that wen into creating such a piece.

One of my favorite artists of all time was mentioned in this chapter in regards to time and motion. This artist is none other that Claude Monet. His Water Lilies series give the illusion of time and motion on the water. One of my favorite of this series is located in Paris at the Musee L'Orangerie. 

Claude Monet Water Lilies Oil on Canvas

The display of this piece also gives it the appearance of motion. The scale of this piece really is what makes it so powerful. You have to walk around the entire room to see all of it!

Abstract art like the first painting is very different than Impressionist Art like Monet is famous for but both use colors and textures to create a more moving image. Impressionism and many modern art forms seem to both put emphasize on movement and texture which is interesting considering how far apart historically they are. 

Although these paintings are very different, they both demonstrate many of the other formal elements mentioned in chapter 7.

Chapter 6 - Light and Color

In my opinion, light and color are two of the most important aspects of a piece of art. Throughout time, artists have played with art and color to produce vastly different effects. For this exercise, we were asked to compare a piece of contemporary art with one from an older movement. For my contemporary art piece I picked The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali from the New York Museum of Modern Art.

Salvador Dali The Persistence of Memory Oil on Canvas 

This painting demonstrates how many components of light and color are used in Modern Art. The vast change of light gives the appearance of a sunrise. Chiaroscuro, originally used by renaissance painters, is shown in this painting by the way the light rolls over the objects, giving them their rounded and 3D like appearance. He also uses shadows to do this. Every object in this painting has a shadow, giving it realism.You can see the core of the shadow in the dark part of the painting on the right and the cast of the shadow where it branches off of the objects like on the table.

Leonardo  Da Vinci uses something called crosshatching to create light and shadows. An example of this is in his drawing Self-Portrait in Red Chalk. The crosshatching creates intensity of color in certain areas, giving it depth.

Leonardo Da Vinci Self-Portrait in Red Chalk 

Cross hatching not only provides light and color but space and volume as well. Even though this was long before Dali, we can see that both artists used light and color to portray emotion and art.

Chapter 5- Space

In chapter five, the concept of space is discussed. There are many important concepts that come with the idea of space that help to create a three dimensional piece of art.
The first piece that I want to discuss in terms of space is from the Philadelphia Art Museum, one I have an annual pass to and therefore visit frequently. The Large Bathers by Paul Cezanne is a prime example of the use of one point linear perspective. The painting draws the viewers eye to the center where the main focus is located. He uses lines within the trees to accomplish this. The vanishing point is also visible in this work. You can see the horizon and your eye is drawn to it, creating depth. This is an example of a frontal view.

Paul Cezanne The Large Bathers Oil on Canvas

From a museum located internationally, I chose The Raft of Medusa by Théodore Géricault. This painting is located at the Louvre in Paris. This painting is a prime example of two-point linear perspective because you are drawn to more than one central point. The vantage point is not frontal like the earlier piece.

Théodore Géricault The Raft of Medusa Oil on Canvas

These painting, while both oil on canvas, encompass very different aspects of space. These are just two examples of how playing with space can create three dimensional effects.

I am very fortunate that the closest museum to my home is the Philadelphia Art Museum, one of the best in the country. Because of that, pieces that are made by artists all over the world are showcased. I find that major cities here inn the U.S. have works that challenge those overseas.