Reflections of AED 200

My expectations for this course were very simple; I figured we would be learning about different artists and their work. This class was much more than that. We learned about art in different time periods and also how the art was developed, which was interesting to me. Making the blog was not at all something that I had expected we would be doing, in addition to all the art gallery visits we had to do. As someone who has taken many online classes, I had never had to do work that involved me physically having to go somewhere. I definitely think having to physically go to art galleries helped open my mind more and helped me understand the different elements of art as well.

My definition of art remains the same as it did in the beginning of the course, which is that art is something created by an individual to express or depict a certain emotion, feeling, or event. I would like to add though that I think art is also a form of creative expression. Sometimes an individual does not need to be feeling a certain way in order to make a beautiful piece of art. Sometimes it can be something that was created simply by the current thoughts of an individual, with no specific purpose behind it.

I am embarrassed that in my initial discussion post I stated that I couldn't think of any artists off the top of my head. I don't even know how that was possible! Anyway, I think that Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso have got to be my favorite artists, in addition to Michelangelo. Van Gogh paints awe-inspiring paintings of the night sky where I feel like I could stare at his pieces for hours. Picasso paints many pieces where he distorts peoples faces, making them looking ugly in a way, yet something about me loves this. I cannot pinpoint why this is, I think part of it is because that is kind of like his own personal style when painting images of peoples faces. As for Michelangelo, I think he is a complete genius and that the sculptures he has created cannot be matched. They are life-like, yet always show more than exactly what meets the eye.

After completing this course, I still enjoy online classes. I think I do relatively well in them. Some online classes are a bore and I feel as though I am wasting my time, which is my current feelings on one of the other online classes I took this semester. The only constructive criticism I have for this class is that for the weekly video blog reviews, although the videos were always different, the four questions were always the same. By the end of the semester, this made the video reviews become kind of boring to me since I felt like I was always talking about the same type of things because I was always answering the same questions. Other than that, I really enjoyed this class and liked how you don't have to have an art background in order to excel in the class.

Art Analysis Project - Geurnica

The color of this piece intensifies the drama, as it is only blue, black, and white. It is full of abstract lines and abstract faces, and many different forms of value. It is interesting how all of the faces within the piece are either whites or light greys, while most of the background is darker shades of greys and blacks. This helps make the faces pop more and not get buried in the abstract design of the piece. There is also an overdose of movement within the piece. There are faces at all angles, meaning there are eyes looking at all angles. For me personally, I know that I tend to look wherever a face in a piece of artwork is looking, so since there are so many faces and sets of eyes, I found myself looking all over the piece, scanning everything quickly before looking at the individual aspects of the piece.

This work is a mural-size canvas painted in oil, and the discarding of color intensifies the drama as I stated above, which produces a reportage quality as in a photographic record. The rampaging bull in the top left of the piece is a motif of destruction, while the horse is meant to represent the people Guernica. This may be confusing as first, since there are different faces featured within the piece, so you would think the faces are what represent the people. This is the case, but the horse being compared to the bull also makes sense, since the bull is the devastating force of destruction, while a horse is a more peaceful, innocent creature. This shows how the people of Guernica were affected by numerous tragedies of the war.

Picasso painted this piece as an immediate reaction to the Nazi’s devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. This piece shows the suffering that the war inflicted on innocent civilians and became a perpetual reminder of the tragedies of war, an anti-war symbol, and an embodiment of peace. As talked about above, the horse and bull are a contradiction to one another, but are two important characters within the piece as they represent the opposite of meanings. The left side of the piece shows a woman who is crying out as she is holding her child who was killed. The other depictions of humans in this piece are a dead soldier laying on the ground, a woman holding a lamp and leaning through a window, as if to see what was going on in the world outside of her home, a woman on the right side who is rushing into the center of the piece as if to save someone, and another woman on the ride side who is wailing her hands in the air while her house burns down. All of these depictions are symbols of what happened during the war and bombing practices.

I think that all of the human beings within the piece provoke the most emotional response. They also convey a persuasive image in my mind, since they are portraying real life events. The images represent an undeniable form of brutality and darkness. Even decades later, this piece still touches home with many people who were very innocently murdered due to the Nazi bombings and WWII. In particular, this hit Picasso hard when hearing about what had happened to his country of origin. Once you understand all that is going on within this piece, you cannot deny that it is a potent symbol of the destruction of war on innocent lives.

It is very difficult to critique Picasso’s work because he is such a genius with his art. I think the biggest strengths in this piece are what the people in the photos are depicting. The messages that he conveys in this piece are eye-opening and a difficult reminder of what happened during 1937. There is so much movement going on in this piece, which also helps portray the fact that there was complete chaos during this time. This is another strength of Picasso. As for a weakness, the only thing I can’t seem to understand within this piece is the light that is hanging at the top of the piece and the scroll that is held in someone’s hand at the bottom of the piece. There does not seem to be any unity with these two images, although I am sure there is, since Picasso never paints something just to paint it, there is always a meaning. I have tried to determine what these symbols mean and represent, but cannot seem to find the answer. I wish this was more obvious, although almost nothing Picasso does is obvious. The only obvious thing within this photo is a sense of chaos, pain and suffering. Everything ties together at the end when learning about why it was created and what it relates to.

References:

Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso. (n.d.) Retrieved on May 4, 2016, from,

http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp

Guernica. (n.d.) Retrieved on May 4, 2016, from,

http://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/guernica

Self Portrait Art Gallery

My Portrait

Media: Digital photo, cut into abstract pieces to form portrait collage

Size: 8.5x11 in.

Artist: William Doran

Title: Charles E. Burchfield at his Desk

Media: Reproduction of Ektacolor slide

Size: not stated

Year: 1996

Artist: Charles E. Burchfield

Title: Self-Portrait

Media: Watercolor and conte on paper

Size: not stated

Year: 1916

 Artist: Majorie A. Wyckoff

Title: Bust of Martha Visser's Hooft

Media: not stated

Size: not stated

Year: late 30s

I chose these three pieces because I liked the difference in them. The first portrait is a picture that was taken, the second is a watercolor painted portrait, and the third is a sculpted portrait, so I thought it was nice to have portraits with different media.

The first portrait, which is an image of Charles E. Burchfield, is actually what inspired me to use a photo as my self portrait as well. I then added my own creative touch to it by cutting abstract pieces to make my portrait look like a puzzle or type of collage.

I struggled for a little while on how to make my portrait creative and different. I decided to do something simple, but not something I have seen before in any of the art galleries that I have visited this semester. My friend is a photographer, so I had her take a close-up picture of me from the shoulders up with her digital camera, then I printed it and cut the picture into different pieces, then pieced them back together.

I think this piece sort of represents me because it is jagged and not perfectly pieced together. This is how I feel mentally right now with the end of the semester and graduating within the next two weeks. My brain is all over the place, so it's interesting how my portrait represents different pieces of me that may be separated from another piece.

There are irregular shapes and lines within my portrait, since I cut different pieces out of the image. The portrait also shows a sense of space, since the pieces are not perfectly fit together, creating some space in between them. 

I didn't mind this project, although I do think that what I enjoyed most about this project was creating my own portrait and trying to add my own twist to it. This involved me being more creative, which I liked. I have always like portraits and how they portray a person differently depending on the textures, colors, and the emotions/feelings that are expressed in a persons face.

I like my final artwork. I love taking photos, so I enjoyed being able to use a photo of myself and like I said, add my twist on it. I'm happy with how it turned out, although I do wish that it had more dimension to it and that it wasn't as flat.