Okay, so after getting back from Rome- the beloved city to which my wallet, major credit cards and 1st piccell wireless cellphone were lost- and finding myself without my camera as well, I got a little behind on my blogging. To atone for my lack of responsibility, here's a little recap of studio fun.
I finished my video, which was a study of imagination abstraction told through light and color and distortion (mainly of Amy's eye- thanks amy!) using glass. I was very satisfied with the finished work and would love to use film again as a medium, particularily to experiement and perfect those few frames that didn't quite hit the mark in this last piece.
you can watch it on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPhHz77jCuE
(though the quality is kind of lacking)
Moving on to the collections project-
My inital idea of presenting myself as a collection and housing it is to take the glass bottles from my last project and use them to structure a kindof psuedo graveyard of men that have affected my life. My dad died when I was younger and I am thinking of making a more personal, private piece reflecting upon the effects of that event regarding my male friends and/ or lovers since. Taking from the idea of the distorting/ amplifying properties of glass filled with liquid I may work with photographs where the face has been rubbed or scratched out and sink them to the bottom and then adding in objects or symbols. It's still in the preliminary stages and acquiring materials has been difficult, but it should be interesting.
Monday, February 25, 2008
collections of mary
um i am sure how i will procede with my next project. i was really inspired by my last project and creating transparent artist imagined spaces or openings. i have sketched and thought of a lot of places i could add them into the existing architecture (the terrace, roof, stairways. i am really intersted in spirals and stairways in general so i thought about incorperating that into my project somehow. i am currently personally exploring spirals and stairways and other unsettling things in my project for reagan. while reading the e-mail julia sent us i expanded my idea of what a structure can be. i am interested personally in books which i am also exploring in reagans class and which i would like to see if can incorperate here. i think right now i have a lot of ideas in my back pocket i am just trying to see where they all lead and what of interest they mght be juxaposed against one another. i love looking at all the anciet roman greek buildings in the roman forum and the 3- and low releif statues in the capoline museum. i liked the idea of partial architecture or remains of spaces or the implied spaces that can be imagned from the ruins. or the reuse of spaces throughout time. the low realif ideas of space were also intrigueing.
i like the idea of my collection being less a group of objects and more a body of ideas which are encompased in a structure whether a pysical place you can walk through or something more compact like a book.
i like the idea of my collection being less a group of objects and more a body of ideas which are encompased in a structure whether a pysical place you can walk through or something more compact like a book.
John Witty - beginnings of collections
The last project helped me move out in a new direction. After over seven years, I feel like I have reached a point where drawing is no longer characterized by a constant sense of frustration. I want to celebrate by focusing my work on drawing. But what to do with my drawings, what to say? A question that can go on forever, thankfully. With this project I tried to use my drawings to explore different contexts. I have been interested in the many burial places and memorial sites created for foreigners around Florence. I continued on from the Cimitero degli Inglesi by drawing from the monuments erected to a young Indian Maharajah and a Portuguese Prince. I focused on the effigies, the images made to commemorate the individual. Then I was stuck. What to do with them? Take them with me to Germany. And once I get there? Stick them on the surface of a grave atop a recent burial in the cemetery of the village where I lived for four months? Seemed like a good idea at the time. Well, later I realized that the image I had created didn't say as much as it seemed to at first. It was simply funerary sculpture in the context that one would expect to see it in. From this block a new task emerged. Now try putting the funerary image in other contexts. The context I chose to explore was the area of Piazza della Republica - the former Jewish ghetto and thriving market place of Florence - all destroyed in the late 19th century to celebrate the Risorgimento by erecting some neoclassicist buildings in their place. A lost era, actually an obliterated area. Does my "dead guy" lying around the piazza as tourists eat their gelato serve as a reminder of what has been lost, of what lies below? In the end, I don't think so, but in the critique people responded to many other aspects of the piece that I can take with me for future projects. One of the most concrete lessons was that the digital photos that were the most successful were those in which my drawing was visibly incorporated into the composition of the shot. Something to remember. I need to think of the more basic impact of the images I have chosen, and focus on how this interacts with the new context compositionally and thematically, but on a more visually direct level.
Onwards and upwards with collections. For a while now a collection of grotesques has been emerging. I have also been drawn to portrait busts all over the place, especially the "funny" ones - i.e. double chinned widows, old men with their mouths hanging open, and ladies with hairdos. Its funny to imagine that these people, while they were alive, made a clear decision that they wanted themselves permanently commemorated in this way. Put your imperfections on display in perfect detail for all eternity. Or maybe they were just so vain that they saw their busts as paragons of beauty. I think there is a similar dynamic in the way we perceive things on our museum visits. When we first walk into the Uffizi, we look up at the ceiling of grotesques and exclaim, "how beautiful!" But is it really, are all those slimy mer - people and strange beasts really beautiful? The Medici had them painted because they thought it would up their prestige. This style of painting was perceived as an imitation of the ancient Roman style - and that is really the only reason the Medici wanted it on their ceiling - so they could be associated with the power and prestige of ancient Rome. So is that really beautiful? Some old rich family's struggle to legitimize their political power mongering? These questions are where I want to work from, at the same time asking myself why I really do find the grotesques so beautiful. Why do they attract me? What do they say to me? Why do I want to collect them and why do I dream of painting them on my own ceiling? I may organize my investigation of these strange characters with a narrative or a new language of commemoration. For example, Olimpia Aldobrandini, a long dead rich woman who still stares down at you from atop a pedestal in her palace in Rome, is surrounded by male and female mer - people who hold colorful scrolls. At some point she made the decision to have those painted on her hallway, probably for the same reason the Medici did. Today the mer - people represent that period, and her decision of how to represent her inherited wealth. Long after her death they commemorate her ostentatious life style - the decisions she made. I work towards a way to represent this visually.... I have spent time drawing her bust and others from various angles, as well as the spaces in which they reside. The most fun part is focusing on the details that surround them....
Another great discovery in Rome (unrelated to any projects or assignments) was Cravaggio. Bliss. The Calling of St. Matthew in San Luigi dei Francesi, and the Madonna of the Pilgrims in St. Agostino. Who is St. Matthew? It could be anyone and that is the miracle. The old man with the glasses could be a detail from a Rembrandt painting. I love the young man's desperate hands collapsed against his precious coins that no longer satisfy him. In the Madonna of the Pilgrims, the feet are real, dirty pilgrim's feet, and the old lady praying has no teeth. These details are what make the experience.
Onwards and upwards with collections. For a while now a collection of grotesques has been emerging. I have also been drawn to portrait busts all over the place, especially the "funny" ones - i.e. double chinned widows, old men with their mouths hanging open, and ladies with hairdos. Its funny to imagine that these people, while they were alive, made a clear decision that they wanted themselves permanently commemorated in this way. Put your imperfections on display in perfect detail for all eternity. Or maybe they were just so vain that they saw their busts as paragons of beauty. I think there is a similar dynamic in the way we perceive things on our museum visits. When we first walk into the Uffizi, we look up at the ceiling of grotesques and exclaim, "how beautiful!" But is it really, are all those slimy mer - people and strange beasts really beautiful? The Medici had them painted because they thought it would up their prestige. This style of painting was perceived as an imitation of the ancient Roman style - and that is really the only reason the Medici wanted it on their ceiling - so they could be associated with the power and prestige of ancient Rome. So is that really beautiful? Some old rich family's struggle to legitimize their political power mongering? These questions are where I want to work from, at the same time asking myself why I really do find the grotesques so beautiful. Why do they attract me? What do they say to me? Why do I want to collect them and why do I dream of painting them on my own ceiling? I may organize my investigation of these strange characters with a narrative or a new language of commemoration. For example, Olimpia Aldobrandini, a long dead rich woman who still stares down at you from atop a pedestal in her palace in Rome, is surrounded by male and female mer - people who hold colorful scrolls. At some point she made the decision to have those painted on her hallway, probably for the same reason the Medici did. Today the mer - people represent that period, and her decision of how to represent her inherited wealth. Long after her death they commemorate her ostentatious life style - the decisions she made. I work towards a way to represent this visually.... I have spent time drawing her bust and others from various angles, as well as the spaces in which they reside. The most fun part is focusing on the details that surround them....
Another great discovery in Rome (unrelated to any projects or assignments) was Cravaggio. Bliss. The Calling of St. Matthew in San Luigi dei Francesi, and the Madonna of the Pilgrims in St. Agostino. Who is St. Matthew? It could be anyone and that is the miracle. The old man with the glasses could be a detail from a Rembrandt painting. I love the young man's desperate hands collapsed against his precious coins that no longer satisfy him. In the Madonna of the Pilgrims, the feet are real, dirty pilgrim's feet, and the old lady praying has no teeth. These details are what make the experience.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Stefania Ford
So, the more I travel, the more i notice little idiosyncricies about the people i travel with, as well as tourits in general. When doing a lot of traveling people seem to pick a form of memoriabilia best suited to themselves... and stick with it pretty consistantly, wether it be t-shirts, or post cards, or stamps. I'm personaly a big fan of magnets and wierd religious trinkets. Reading into what people pull near to them in the form of memoriabilia can say a lot about their character, or at least thier interests. The lady who chooses the sparkly, b-dazzled Roma t-shirt is a little different from the women who chooses a small statue of the pieta, or a man who buys a single post card of an obscure ancient fresco of the catacombs. I think it would be interesting to collect souvenier items (discarted, boughten, photographed, etc.) and create identities of people from them. This would connect with my previous work with voyerism, as I would like to keep that strange looking in on something you shouldn't be feel. I'm not sure wether I would do ttaht again through video, or some other form of art.... maybe just a series of portraits. (Perhaps mix work with Regan's class... staging and dressing up models/friends to fit into the identity I have decided belongs to each piece of memorabilia...) Now to collect and brainstorm more!
(P.S.- video from last project coming soon!)
(P.S.- video from last project coming soon!)
vidya on 24 feb
I am on the verge of something, but it's not yet in sight. I learned a great deal this week from the critique, so thank you all. A few nights before, I sat at my desk looking helplessly at the orange peels and my tangled ball of wire at a complete impass. My solution: return to the idea of playfulness and just start building. So, that's what I did, and all the concepts that drew me to the peels in the first place were allowed to speak for themselves. The one I plan to stick in my thinking cap is the idea of the relationship between the "man-made" and the "natural." I especially like the idea of the patterns that emerge from this relationship. For example, I've included a photo of old Egyptian objects from the Vatican that have been chipped away at by time, and what remains is this jagged irregular pattern (that looks oddly like a map.) I don't really know if this will be evident in that which I come up with ultimately, but it's where my head is now. If I choose to continue with orange peels, I think I am interested in a project that relates to time, such as an evolving public sculpture, as well as the presentation of such a sculpture through video/slideshow.
As far as a collection goes, I noticed that I've already started to collect rubbings of the ACQUEDOTTO thingys. It also occurs to me that I have been engaged in the development of a collection over the past few weeks with the "postcards" I have been working on. The concept is that when I am thinking of someone but can't speak with him, I try to capture the moment through sound and drawing, things I will eventually send on in the form of a letter in the mail. Perhaps this is my collection, something already in the making.
Quite aside from all that, I'd just like to comment that Rome was unreal, and that three days is enough to see only the tip of what seems to be an iceberg of infinite magnitude. The city is a COLLECTION of cultural knowledge and tangible things that have manifested from that knowledge. Viva Italia!
As far as a collection goes, I noticed that I've already started to collect rubbings of the ACQUEDOTTO thingys. It also occurs to me that I have been engaged in the development of a collection over the past few weeks with the "postcards" I have been working on. The concept is that when I am thinking of someone but can't speak with him, I try to capture the moment through sound and drawing, things I will eventually send on in the form of a letter in the mail. Perhaps this is my collection, something already in the making.
Quite aside from all that, I'd just like to comment that Rome was unreal, and that three days is enough to see only the tip of what seems to be an iceberg of infinite magnitude. The city is a COLLECTION of cultural knowledge and tangible things that have manifested from that knowledge. Viva Italia!
Christy Nigh- week 5
So this week began with new assignments for both sketchbook and bodyandarchitecture. When first told to figure out something that I collect and then make a storage container for those things, I first thought that I collect people, which is true. I really enjoy people, I find them both the same and different from myself, which I think is fascinating. I also find the way in which different people think about the world fascinating. Besides collecting people(in a way), I also collect patterns. I find patterns fun to deal with because they deal with simple shape relationships and many of them follow a simple rule or two that are easy to manipulate and modify. It was pretty easy for me to go back and find several different kinds of patterns in my photos (some of which I posted).
I have been considering combining the two concepts of people and patterns together through the same medium I used for my last piece (hand drawn film, or a time lapse drawing). It is a rather labor intensive process, but I quite enjoyed it in my last project and would like to try taking a similar technique in a different direction.
Besides combining a couple of my main "collections" I am also going to combine the project for sketchbook with this one, in part because it allows me to have more time and energy to focus on this, and also because they work really well together (which as Regan has noted, is not a coincidence) ;) Anyways, I am considering incorporating statues in my piece in order to stand in for the many people I have collected over the years. I am not entirely sure how this is going to work, but I intend to figure it out.
One last note, I am working on putting my last project on YouTube, but I haven't had a chance to convert the movie format yet, so hopefully it will be coming soon.
I have been considering combining the two concepts of people and patterns together through the same medium I used for my last piece (hand drawn film, or a time lapse drawing). It is a rather labor intensive process, but I quite enjoyed it in my last project and would like to try taking a similar technique in a different direction.
Besides combining a couple of my main "collections" I am also going to combine the project for sketchbook with this one, in part because it allows me to have more time and energy to focus on this, and also because they work really well together (which as Regan has noted, is not a coincidence) ;) Anyways, I am considering incorporating statues in my piece in order to stand in for the many people I have collected over the years. I am not entirely sure how this is going to work, but I intend to figure it out.
One last note, I am working on putting my last project on YouTube, but I haven't had a chance to convert the movie format yet, so hopefully it will be coming soon.
Emily
Ciao. This past week I worked on my kitchen movie. It was really fun for me, and I was actually able to express my ideas in a much more immediate way than I was able to with my first drawing. My photos for this week are still frames from the movie, but soon I will actually post the movie on youtube for those of you who didn't get a chance to see it. I think my favorite part of the project was the way that the kitchen-objects began to take on a persona towards the end when they marched out of the kitchen--for example, the trash can as the leader. I think as I'm pondering myself as collection I might use that idea of object as character to express myself as a collection. Still don't know where that's going, but it could get interesting. On a separate note, I've been doing a lot of traveling since I've gotten here and will continue to do so, so that might start becoming a part of my work. There are so many themes that come with moving oneself to a new place--issues of time, displacement, memory, "sightseeing," etc., which might begin to infiltrate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23219926@N02/?saved=1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23219926@N02/?saved=1
laura mart 2.24.08
So this project is pretty exciting. At first I was having trouble thinking of myself as a collection of anything other than body parts and memories - which are both pretty valid but sort of obvious. But then something occurred to me while I was walking through Rome - Who would I have been if I had been living in ancient times? Who would I have been a hundred years ago? I'm sure it's a thought that occurs to everyone at some point. So now I'm thinking of something along the lines of a collection of historical alter egos. I really want to make some sort of structural garment for this piece, especially because my "thing" is costume design and I NEVER do wearable art(!) which feels like sacrilege.
I was also thinking of myself as a collection of feelings about my surroundings, or a collection of responses to nature. But I think the historical alter ego thing is a little more interesting. I kind of want to crochet a crinoline cage... or a corset... or both. we'll see.
I was also thinking of myself as a collection of feelings about my surroundings, or a collection of responses to nature. But I think the historical alter ego thing is a little more interesting. I kind of want to crochet a crinoline cage... or a corset... or both. we'll see.
Andrea N.
Okay, so as much as I'm excited about this project, I'm having a hard time concentrating my ideas. For one thing, I can't seem to get over the idea of myself as a set of thoughts. Often times I love to be by myself and just think, which is one of the things I loved about my box project- the box gave me my own little place to exist and think. Thus, I was thinking about keeping some kind of abstract journal about my thoughts, perhaps when I am in my box. I also love the idea of an ephemeral piece, since most of my thoughts are quite ephemeral. I was thinking about writing down my thoughts as they occur and handing them out to people, or perhaps painting them outside where they will soon disappear. I also worry a lot, so I began to think about myself as a collection of worries, but I did not get much further along than that. Perhaps a quilt piece would be interesting, because a quilt acts as an object of comfort but it would be composed of a number of worries. I was also realy pleased by Julia's mention of a shrine or a crowd as a structure-- I might like to do something more with that.
I think that one of the reasons I am having such a hard time is because I am trying too hard to incorporate my last piece which is forcing me to think backwards in a limiting manner. I need to start thinking forwards and perhaps there will be a point of intersection.
Two important aspects of my last project were movement vs. stasis and internal vs. external. I am going to work with one or both of these in my next project, but I have yet to decide how.
I have attached more still from my last project (I think the stills might actually be my favorite part), as well as a photograph of some brainstorming.
I think that one of the reasons I am having such a hard time is because I am trying too hard to incorporate my last piece which is forcing me to think backwards in a limiting manner. I need to start thinking forwards and perhaps there will be a point of intersection.
Two important aspects of my last project were movement vs. stasis and internal vs. external. I am going to work with one or both of these in my next project, but I have yet to decide how.
I have attached more still from my last project (I think the stills might actually be my favorite part), as well as a photograph of some brainstorming.
Michelle Israel 2.24.08
Okay!! New week, new assignment. When Julia asked us to think about what we are "composed" of, I immediately thought of gelato, mainly because I eat so much of it here. At first, I toyed with the idea of making a stomach to house all of the gelato that I've eaten so far. But when I really thought about it, I realized that I wanted to be more creative, more unique. While I was thinking, I was eating some crackers, and as usual, lost some cracker crumbs in my insanely crazy hair. And that's when I had my "a ha moment:" I am "composed" of my hair. My hair, being the thick, curly, disgusting mess that it is, eats, absorbs, and traps people and things on a daily basis. I've lost pens, pencils, my glasses, crumbs, etc. in my hair so many times that I've lost count, and therefore, I want to create a crazy installation of curly hair to act as a structure to house my collection. For my collection, I want to collect all of the things that have actually gotten eaten by my hair (I think it would be fun to actually document/use all of the things that I lose in my hair from now until the due date). I realized in my last critique that I put too much pressure on myself to make "good art" that I forget what it actually means to just go with an idea and play with it. So for this next project, I'm going to try not to tighten up and just play around with creating a massive, curly hair structure with crazy objects stuck in it. I'm going to try to take the lesson that I learned from our "art play-date" and apply them to this project. When Julia suggested that we make a connection from this project to the last project, I thought about what I liked the most from my last project. Turns out, I didn't really like anything about it at all. In fact, I actually hated the fact that it had a solemn, eerie tone. So my inspiration is the exact opposite of the mysterious moods that my last 2 projects created. Hopefully it will turn out crazy and insane, because that's what my hair is.
Until next week!
Michelle
Until next week!
Michelle
nason, february 24
so this past week was definitely pretty hectic getting my giant white cave in order. it was a total mess for a while--i think i went through at LEAST 40 different roles of toilett paper--and i sincerely apologize that you guys still have to walk all over it to get to the sink. i will clean it up pronto, unless anyone has any sincere objections??
no, i had alot of fun making my white tunnel--but it taught me a thing or two about what to expect when getting into something like that. of course, i understand that an artists' vision is hardly ever exactly realized in a work, and sometimes this is rewarding when your vision morphs and changes with the process to create some grand, fulfilling work. this wasn't exactly what i found to be true while working on my giant installation. i was happy enough with it, but it did require me more patience and surrender than i am normally used to, and i cant imagine it is going to be fun un raveling that thing. i will give 500 dollars to anyone who wants to do it for me. is that inappropriate to put in this blog? ok wasting your time.
i am really enjoying this "concept based" class though--i feel like i am more open to materials and media than i ever have been. i always joke with my friends about making something disgusting or disturbing--really sexual or something---because at wash u i always feel like i am making something pretty to impress the teacher. but...get ready guys, this next one might cause you all to puke in your mouths a little bit! no, kidding again. but this freedom is excellent and i think its really cool to see what you are all coming up with. critiques are more fun when there are tons of different things to see, and its really impressive to see the scope of the class' creativity, i would say at least.
im still working out my ideas for this next one, so i guess you are eall in for the surprise of your LIVESSS
oh, and i am attaching some photos of the finished project---some details and then one glance down the hallway, though it is all kind of disconcerting-enjoy.
no, i had alot of fun making my white tunnel--but it taught me a thing or two about what to expect when getting into something like that. of course, i understand that an artists' vision is hardly ever exactly realized in a work, and sometimes this is rewarding when your vision morphs and changes with the process to create some grand, fulfilling work. this wasn't exactly what i found to be true while working on my giant installation. i was happy enough with it, but it did require me more patience and surrender than i am normally used to, and i cant imagine it is going to be fun un raveling that thing. i will give 500 dollars to anyone who wants to do it for me. is that inappropriate to put in this blog? ok wasting your time.
i am really enjoying this "concept based" class though--i feel like i am more open to materials and media than i ever have been. i always joke with my friends about making something disgusting or disturbing--really sexual or something---because at wash u i always feel like i am making something pretty to impress the teacher. but...get ready guys, this next one might cause you all to puke in your mouths a little bit! no, kidding again. but this freedom is excellent and i think its really cool to see what you are all coming up with. critiques are more fun when there are tons of different things to see, and its really impressive to see the scope of the class' creativity, i would say at least.
im still working out my ideas for this next one, so i guess you are eall in for the surprise of your LIVESSS
oh, and i am attaching some photos of the finished project---some details and then one glance down the hallway, though it is all kind of disconcerting-enjoy.
Alison 2.24.08
CIAO EVERYONE! I just want to start out on a completely unrelated note by saying that I think that Rome is my new favorite city. We went this weekend and I had an awesome time seeing the Colosseum and Roman ruins as well as Vatican and St. Peters. Everyone says that you can't see Rome in a day... or a weekend for that matter, which is very true, but the small portion I did see I loved and it just makes me want to go back.
Okay... so my last project with the shadows of sign language went pretty well. I had some bumps along the way but I ended up pleased with it. During critique, the main issue was that people felt that the connection between the sound piece and the pastel drawings wasn't really working and instead of supporting each other, they detracted from each other. I think that this is one of those things that I have to pay attention to; when I know my thought process it makes sense to me, and I some times forget to view it more objectively as most people would be viewing the piece.
For my next project: my collection, my "back pocket" idea from my last project that I'm taking with me is the idea of shadows and how they communicate ideas. I've been thinking about making a collection of emotions. I would keep a record of the emotions I felt throughout a day (possibly a different length of time, depending on how it goes) and then I would translate these emotions into some sort of action or motions that I would then capture through their shadows. My structure would be the shadows and then I want to present them in a film form.
So far that is my concept for my next project... as for photos of my last project, I am currently having camera issues which will be resolved on Tuesday, so until then you will just have to use your imagination, but don't worry they will on Flicker soon :-)
Okay... so my last project with the shadows of sign language went pretty well. I had some bumps along the way but I ended up pleased with it. During critique, the main issue was that people felt that the connection between the sound piece and the pastel drawings wasn't really working and instead of supporting each other, they detracted from each other. I think that this is one of those things that I have to pay attention to; when I know my thought process it makes sense to me, and I some times forget to view it more objectively as most people would be viewing the piece.
For my next project: my collection, my "back pocket" idea from my last project that I'm taking with me is the idea of shadows and how they communicate ideas. I've been thinking about making a collection of emotions. I would keep a record of the emotions I felt throughout a day (possibly a different length of time, depending on how it goes) and then I would translate these emotions into some sort of action or motions that I would then capture through their shadows. My structure would be the shadows and then I want to present them in a film form.
So far that is my concept for my next project... as for photos of my last project, I am currently having camera issues which will be resolved on Tuesday, so until then you will just have to use your imagination, but don't worry they will on Flicker soon :-)
kaityli
As usual, I'm having a hard time focusing my thoughts, which makes collecting kind of hard, since collections are usually defined by a central theme. Lately, I've obsessed with finding ways to have tangible records of memory, like receipts, so I'll start with that for my collection, even though myself as a collection of memories is kind of obvious.
Rome was so amazing, and Roma vs Fiorentina was the perfect way to cap off the trip. The energy and passion were just amazing, and never have I seen a more genuine public display of emotion in my life. I want to find some way to work it into my receipt collection, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my ticket stub. Or maybe I could go in a different direction, like a collection of people in terms of emotions.
I'm really happy that I was able to let go of my original idea for the bodies in film project and just work with what was happening. Sometimes I get really attached to a certain idea, even if I have no way to realizing it as exactly as I have it thought out, I'm extremely reluctant to let it go. This time, however, I just did it as I went along, and it was pretty liberating.
Rome was so amazing, and Roma vs Fiorentina was the perfect way to cap off the trip. The energy and passion were just amazing, and never have I seen a more genuine public display of emotion in my life. I want to find some way to work it into my receipt collection, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my ticket stub. Or maybe I could go in a different direction, like a collection of people in terms of emotions.
I'm really happy that I was able to let go of my original idea for the bodies in film project and just work with what was happening. Sometimes I get really attached to a certain idea, even if I have no way to realizing it as exactly as I have it thought out, I'm extremely reluctant to let it go. This time, however, I just did it as I went along, and it was pretty liberating.
Allegra
I had hoped to post a link to watch my film project, "A Tavola," on youtube this week however I have run into a small problem. It seems the hard drive of the school computer I used was cleaned out and that was the only copy of the film. But fingers crossed things will be resolved and you can watch my film soon.
I quess then it is time to move on to the next project. During the last few weeks I became very excited about working with film and want to continue exploring with this medium. I also had been bouncing around some ideas about body on film in a more direct way than I had used in the last project--basically focusing on only the body and how it relates to the camera in motion. One of the artists we discussed in seminar, Wodiczko, projected of body parts (hands, faces, etc.) onto monuments while the person spoke about issues such as murder, gang violence, sexual assualt, and other difficult and often private subjects. I was fascinated by his use of film as well as the exchange between the personal--the stories--and the pubic--the monuments. Florence is certainly a city with many monuments and as a visitor here I spend a lot of time in these public places.
On our field trip to Roma with all our explorations of catacombs and places of housing the dead I thought a lot about how our society now buries and commemorates our dead--and what it is about death that makes it so hard to talk about. How does Wodiczko approach this gap between a need to share our experiences as well as the discomfort talking about them. This weekend I made two mind maps that are linked here. First, about gesture from my last project and how I can continue to work with it and second about public v. private. With those I am now ready to start with some video fun!
I quess then it is time to move on to the next project. During the last few weeks I became very excited about working with film and want to continue exploring with this medium. I also had been bouncing around some ideas about body on film in a more direct way than I had used in the last project--basically focusing on only the body and how it relates to the camera in motion. One of the artists we discussed in seminar, Wodiczko, projected of body parts (hands, faces, etc.) onto monuments while the person spoke about issues such as murder, gang violence, sexual assualt, and other difficult and often private subjects. I was fascinated by his use of film as well as the exchange between the personal--the stories--and the pubic--the monuments. Florence is certainly a city with many monuments and as a visitor here I spend a lot of time in these public places.
On our field trip to Roma with all our explorations of catacombs and places of housing the dead I thought a lot about how our society now buries and commemorates our dead--and what it is about death that makes it so hard to talk about. How does Wodiczko approach this gap between a need to share our experiences as well as the discomfort talking about them. This weekend I made two mind maps that are linked here. First, about gesture from my last project and how I can continue to work with it and second about public v. private. With those I am now ready to start with some video fun!
amyT2008february24
well well well i got some ideas i guess.
my structure will be made of my collection. i'm planning on making these things i knit with my hands and creating a nesty place with them. i have to work out the details of the structure, but i know ive got to make lots of my yarn knitted things. i know how specific im being is just driving you nuts. my "yarn knitted things" are hard to explain. you probably all made them when you were younger. i make them when my hands want something to do and when my mind wanders. i really do it without thinking about it, so the concept will be that the knitted stuff represents my wasted time and boredom that have collectively affected my life and may have also been the same for others. it just shows how much time i spend doing nothing and how it really does represent a significant amount of myself. im gonna have to do some mindmapping to figure out the logistics for the rest of it.
rome was fun. i stayed til today (sunday) and it was a good time. they have some really great museums there and i spent some time just drawing there.
i dont have many pictures to post
(mostly because the lack of a camera). next week ill have some good ones.
this conceptual business is not taking a toll on me quite as much as liz, but im certainly feeling like ive been on a whirlwind of surprises so far in our studio classes with all the experimenting and different media used for every project. i think im glad about it, but its all very confusing sometimes. just throwing that out there.
i also got inspired for regans new project while i was in rome...got lots of postcards...i dont really wanna give away my ideas becuase theyre not solidified and i dont want yall to steal em. i hate when people say yall. sorry.
have a swell evening.
oh and my mom got a dog yesterday! im really excited. her name is cookie. hahahaha.
oh and by the way i want to include noise in my new proj but i really dont have a clue as to how to do that yet. because i havent thought that far. but i really enjoyed making noises and recording them for the last film project. we'll see what happens.
my structure will be made of my collection. i'm planning on making these things i knit with my hands and creating a nesty place with them. i have to work out the details of the structure, but i know ive got to make lots of my yarn knitted things. i know how specific im being is just driving you nuts. my "yarn knitted things" are hard to explain. you probably all made them when you were younger. i make them when my hands want something to do and when my mind wanders. i really do it without thinking about it, so the concept will be that the knitted stuff represents my wasted time and boredom that have collectively affected my life and may have also been the same for others. it just shows how much time i spend doing nothing and how it really does represent a significant amount of myself. im gonna have to do some mindmapping to figure out the logistics for the rest of it.
rome was fun. i stayed til today (sunday) and it was a good time. they have some really great museums there and i spent some time just drawing there.
i dont have many pictures to post
(mostly because the lack of a camera). next week ill have some good ones.
this conceptual business is not taking a toll on me quite as much as liz, but im certainly feeling like ive been on a whirlwind of surprises so far in our studio classes with all the experimenting and different media used for every project. i think im glad about it, but its all very confusing sometimes. just throwing that out there.
i also got inspired for regans new project while i was in rome...got lots of postcards...i dont really wanna give away my ideas becuase theyre not solidified and i dont want yall to steal em. i hate when people say yall. sorry.
have a swell evening.
oh and my mom got a dog yesterday! im really excited. her name is cookie. hahahaha.
oh and by the way i want to include noise in my new proj but i really dont have a clue as to how to do that yet. because i havent thought that far. but i really enjoyed making noises and recording them for the last film project. we'll see what happens.
Hillary
So I realized that I'm a big dumby. Last week I had internet issues and didn't post my blog. I apologize for being stupid, and I'll try to make up for it this week.
For the Bodies in Film project, I started out with not many ideas of what to do / where to go with the project prompt. During class for the experimental video sketch, I decided on a whim to film a woman walking down the sidewalk near the Arno. When I put this video on my computer, I was immediately drawn to the idea of stalking, and the idea of what is public / what is private / who has control over that / where and how these seemingly separate worlds can coexist... So for the actual project, I created an "installation" of a private space, a woman's bedroom, with a projection on the scene of my stalking footage. After a million billion technology issues, I was really happy to finally have this project realized. I have more plans for the project, but they might be logistically impossible. I would like to re-project in a public space the filming of the first projection of my stalking/bedroom scene. Don't know how to work that out... Maybe someday it will happen.
As for the next project, I'm not exactly sure where to start. When I first heard Julia mention the word collection, I immediately thought of my obsessive collection of keychains I kept when I was a bambina. I thought maybe I could relate this to my thinking about public versus private, I'm just still working out how to do so. I have yet to do the mind mapping, so this could lead me in a completely new direction. I guess I'm really just up in the air with this project... If I don't use the keychains as a starting point, I would like to explore maybe using something more recent in my life. Maybe I could collect everything I use in a week and do something with that. Boh. For now I'll leave my options open and dig deep to find what I'm all about, what obsessive collection really describes me.
For the Bodies in Film project, I started out with not many ideas of what to do / where to go with the project prompt. During class for the experimental video sketch, I decided on a whim to film a woman walking down the sidewalk near the Arno. When I put this video on my computer, I was immediately drawn to the idea of stalking, and the idea of what is public / what is private / who has control over that / where and how these seemingly separate worlds can coexist... So for the actual project, I created an "installation" of a private space, a woman's bedroom, with a projection on the scene of my stalking footage. After a million billion technology issues, I was really happy to finally have this project realized. I have more plans for the project, but they might be logistically impossible. I would like to re-project in a public space the filming of the first projection of my stalking/bedroom scene. Don't know how to work that out... Maybe someday it will happen.
As for the next project, I'm not exactly sure where to start. When I first heard Julia mention the word collection, I immediately thought of my obsessive collection of keychains I kept when I was a bambina. I thought maybe I could relate this to my thinking about public versus private, I'm just still working out how to do so. I have yet to do the mind mapping, so this could lead me in a completely new direction. I guess I'm really just up in the air with this project... If I don't use the keychains as a starting point, I would like to explore maybe using something more recent in my life. Maybe I could collect everything I use in a week and do something with that. Boh. For now I'll leave my options open and dig deep to find what I'm all about, what obsessive collection really describes me.
Taryn Yelir
My photos this week are mostly of my torture chamber. it was a hell of a lot of work to make but i had a really good time doing it - and i enjoyed being able to work in a tiny little closed off, private area where no one knew what i was doing. i really wanted to make it -- freakishly badly -- so i think thats partially why i went so insane with it.
theres also a picture of one of my larger drawings im working on for regan's class. i just started it today so it looks kinda dodgy right now.. but you get the idea i guess. i like meat, skin, etc pink foldy stuff so this is satisfying. i just dont like drawing architecture very muc h and that probably shows. meh.
not much else to say. rome was great even though i spent only a day there. my favorite part was the Space Invader who i saw and got to observe in a piazza as he received transmissions, made faces, and hit people on the head with his Twig of Wonders. I hope one day to receive a transmission.
Ive been thinking about my collection too.. but i dont have a hard fix on anything.
okoi over'n'out angels
turn
theres also a picture of one of my larger drawings im working on for regan's class. i just started it today so it looks kinda dodgy right now.. but you get the idea i guess. i like meat, skin, etc pink foldy stuff so this is satisfying. i just dont like drawing architecture very muc h and that probably shows. meh.
not much else to say. rome was great even though i spent only a day there. my favorite part was the Space Invader who i saw and got to observe in a piazza as he received transmissions, made faces, and hit people on the head with his Twig of Wonders. I hope one day to receive a transmission.
Ive been thinking about my collection too.. but i dont have a hard fix on anything.
okoi over'n'out angels
turn
Sarah Q 2.24
ciaooooo tutti!
allora, di che cosa scrivo oggi...?!
So I just returned from a fabulous weekend... Roma on Friday and then Siena (again) for the past two days (along with my family). I began to realize how many people I have met and interact with here that are so important and have added so much to my experience.
For the next "collection" project, I was thinking of making a collection of photos or drawings of all of the people I've met here. My "thing" has been textures.. I am obsessed with textures and creating big trippy art pieces (like the wall melting onto the floor of the studio... see photos!) so maybe I will represent all of the people I have met with different textures that I associate with them. Or maybe with writing too.
For Regan's next project, I wanted to use Vogue and replace the women in master art works (and maybe also master literature) with the models demonstrating contemporary high fashion in Vogue.
OKAY here's a good idea.. keep an ongoing documentation of the people and stories I have collected and dedicate each page to one or two people.. keep some of the layout but write over it with my own stories of those people, collage onto the pages, draw onto the pages, and make a collection of my thoughts and memories housed by the magazine! Genius.
Alright, well thats all I guess. Sorry this was so broken up and maybe confusing, I am really tired though. But really excited to start this!!
allora, di che cosa scrivo oggi...?!
So I just returned from a fabulous weekend... Roma on Friday and then Siena (again) for the past two days (along with my family). I began to realize how many people I have met and interact with here that are so important and have added so much to my experience.
For the next "collection" project, I was thinking of making a collection of photos or drawings of all of the people I've met here. My "thing" has been textures.. I am obsessed with textures and creating big trippy art pieces (like the wall melting onto the floor of the studio... see photos!) so maybe I will represent all of the people I have met with different textures that I associate with them. Or maybe with writing too.
For Regan's next project, I wanted to use Vogue and replace the women in master art works (and maybe also master literature) with the models demonstrating contemporary high fashion in Vogue.
OKAY here's a good idea.. keep an ongoing documentation of the people and stories I have collected and dedicate each page to one or two people.. keep some of the layout but write over it with my own stories of those people, collage onto the pages, draw onto the pages, and make a collection of my thoughts and memories housed by the magazine! Genius.
Alright, well thats all I guess. Sorry this was so broken up and maybe confusing, I am really tired though. But really excited to start this!!
Kate Owens 2/24
I have decided to, as my final project in Julia’s class, to create a collection of “Florence” in the bookshelf of my apartment living room. This project will be an extension of the sketches and projects I’ve been developing for Reagan’s class along with a continuation of my most recent project-my living room diorama. So far, I’m not quite exactly sure exactly in what way I will end up accomplishing this. I know that I want to work with preexisting elements in my bookshelf like the lamp and books.. but I’m not sure if I want to treat materials exactly in the same way that I did for my last project. In my “living room”, I tried to keep the integrity of all the materials. However, in the collection, I’m interested in getting back to drawing and including a mix of both raw, recognizable materials and straight up drawings.
Because of traveling, this project is still very much in the form of idea stage so I really don’t know what will end up working and what will not. I want the end product to be layered so that discoveries in changes of scale and sizes cannot all be discovered and realized within the first few seconds of looking at the bookcase. I also want to personalize what monuments or places that I plan to create mini versions of so that the overall project doesn’t simply ending up looking like an objective version of a miniature Florence.
Because of traveling, this project is still very much in the form of idea stage so I really don’t know what will end up working and what will not. I want the end product to be layered so that discoveries in changes of scale and sizes cannot all be discovered and realized within the first few seconds of looking at the bookcase. I also want to personalize what monuments or places that I plan to create mini versions of so that the overall project doesn’t simply ending up looking like an objective version of a miniature Florence.
C E S 2/24
This week on Carter's Blog:
-we revisit the success of her imposing structure
-we explore the beginnings of her new project
Lets begin, shall we...
Despite a somewhat negative reaction to my wire structure, I ended up being happy with my final result. The installation was really becoming part of the building, latching on to whatever it could reach. I was immediately inspired for our next project because my works seem to be following a natural progression. First web, then nest, now COCOON!!! However, this poses somewhat of a problem because I do not want the projects to resemble each other too much. I am now in the process of brainstorming. Because of the personal nature of the assignment, this means that I am doing a decent amount of self reflection. I have to consider my own personality and tendencies when picking the medium, location, and shape of this cocoon. In order to get a little bit of outside inspiration, I visited La Specola this morning. I was really taken with the textures and nature of a lot of the nests of birds as well as insects. It gave me a good point to jump off from and to work towards starting tuesday.
This week's photos: actually, my flickr page is turning into my online portfolio...with stuff from this semester as well as the past 3...so, there is an array of photos...I am also creating a set purely devoted to italy. This is the page that is linked.
'Till next time...thats all folks.
-we revisit the success of her imposing structure
-we explore the beginnings of her new project
Lets begin, shall we...
Despite a somewhat negative reaction to my wire structure, I ended up being happy with my final result. The installation was really becoming part of the building, latching on to whatever it could reach. I was immediately inspired for our next project because my works seem to be following a natural progression. First web, then nest, now COCOON!!! However, this poses somewhat of a problem because I do not want the projects to resemble each other too much. I am now in the process of brainstorming. Because of the personal nature of the assignment, this means that I am doing a decent amount of self reflection. I have to consider my own personality and tendencies when picking the medium, location, and shape of this cocoon. In order to get a little bit of outside inspiration, I visited La Specola this morning. I was really taken with the textures and nature of a lot of the nests of birds as well as insects. It gave me a good point to jump off from and to work towards starting tuesday.
This week's photos: actually, my flickr page is turning into my online portfolio...with stuff from this semester as well as the past 3...so, there is an array of photos...I am also creating a set purely devoted to italy. This is the page that is linked.
'Till next time...thats all folks.
Tyler Crain
Well I'm not sure if I have any pictures to upload yet, I'll have to go through my pictures from Rome and see if there are any I can use. I think I am going to use a collection of hundreds of small photos of people together with a collection of sounds/instruments. I would like to put a song together on garageband and make a video or flashing stills to go with it. The basic idea is repetition and combination of small things that are incoherent by themselves to make coherent wholes. This could be done with pretty much any media, but for my project I will repeat sounds and add layers to create music and along with the music, some sort of show using human bodies...maybe the bodies will be put together to form architecture? I may be able to use the basis for this project to help with my project for Regan's class as well. For her class I would like to continue to work with the gum bichromate photo process to create images. I am thinking of using a projector to expose the paper and doing three different exposures (three different images).
Liz Walworth
I plan on making a collection of hats, and everyone in critique will be forced to wear one.
I know there's a big emphasis on conceptual art. Wash U wants us to be edgy, modern, and super arty. I respect that. And I can deal with that. But I also know that my true love is figurative painting, which can also be rich with concepts, but perhaps in a less abstract way.
I've tried to embrace the more abstract and conceptual aspects of the art world. A lot of it is very moving. But most of it is bullshit. And when we talk about it in seminar for hours on end, I find myself getting restless and angry. So my collection of crazy hats will represent the slow decay of my sanity.
But what is truly insane is that for twenty to thirty minutes, while sporting these abstract hats, my classmates will have to critique the collection with straight faces.
I know there's a big emphasis on conceptual art. Wash U wants us to be edgy, modern, and super arty. I respect that. And I can deal with that. But I also know that my true love is figurative painting, which can also be rich with concepts, but perhaps in a less abstract way.
I've tried to embrace the more abstract and conceptual aspects of the art world. A lot of it is very moving. But most of it is bullshit. And when we talk about it in seminar for hours on end, I find myself getting restless and angry. So my collection of crazy hats will represent the slow decay of my sanity.
But what is truly insane is that for twenty to thirty minutes, while sporting these abstract hats, my classmates will have to critique the collection with straight faces.
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