Ortega- Crit #1

In-Depth Project

Small Works

Artist Genealogy for Research Presentations

Janine Antoni

Ana Mendieta

Yves Klein

Artist Statement (most recent draft)

Through my assignments of context and content to my constructions, which assimilate into narratives of interacting symbols, I attempt to emphasize the primal relation of humanity to the rest of nature - where a self inflicted separation permeates, reflecting upon the state of empathy in which individuals fluctuate between. With eternal grasping towards differentiation and a malleable form of self identification, our species metamorphosizes into a nearly singular, massed being of accumulated constrictions and shrouds to its existence; this is contradictory in the manner which extends beyond connecting strings of value to survival, with reflection upon the generalized vision of culture. In order to analyze the deconstructions and sidelong overs of reality, as well as the subsequent manifestations in which all preceding and succeeding segments of time are influenced through perception, I compose representations and structures, both through two and three dimensionalities, which heighten consciousness of the physicality of the observer. This is intended to alleviate the weight of the proximity to the extremities attached, in a manner which instills these additives nearly as intrinsic in our minds, to our nature - while confronting them with the limitations to our ephemeral shells. With documentations of nuances, through empathy of line and attempts at depths of attention to shifts in sensitivity of the slight movements of contours, I embolden awareness of the habituations and normalizations which flow within our existence, directly leading to degrees of desensitized passivity. The physicality of our primitive beings may be evident within the drifting speeds at which we feel the movement of time’s hand. Humanity’s self-motivated separation from nature’s rest, lends to the trundling passivity, which erupts warps in time, and binds us sparingly to the earth.

Fonseca - Crit #1

In Depth Project

"Balancing Act" Wood, Plaster, Rope, Ink, Found Objects

Small Works

Artist Statement

Art has become a major aspect of my life because it became therapy for my depression and anxiety. I have struggled with emotional communication all my life so making art has become a way for me to express my troubles with others in a healthy way. Putting my emotions out into the world in a way that feels valid and productive is helpful for me.  My art relates to how my mental state is affected by my relationship with others and myself. The materials I use include ink, acrylic paint, plaster, thread, wood, and rope. My art takes form in 2-D, sculpture, and a blend of the two. I prefer sculptural work because I feel that it is more interactive with my audience and myself. 

I am interested in psychology, emotional communication, existentialist ideas, and raising awareness against mental health stigmas in society. Artists of inspiration include Bruce Conner, Nan Goldin, and Yayoi Kusama. These artists produce emotional-based work in different ways that I find interesting. Conner uses a variety of media to create somber, off-putting, emotional pieces of art. Goldin uses photography to capture how emotions and self-destruction affects romantic relationships. Kusama uses bright colors, repetition, and the concept of infinity to soothe her obsessive-compulsive disorder.

As an artist, I want to produce work that my audience can relate to. I want to decrease the stigma surrounding mental health and I want use my talent to show society that even people suffering from mental illnesses can be just as productive and successful.

Artist Research

Stan Brakhage

Bruce Conner

Kaari Upson

Your Last Name- Crit #1

Hi Class,

Great job contributing to critique this past two classes. The feedback we give each other is crucial to your development as an artist. I have made this sample post to help you format your post for the Crit #1. 

Please use the following format to submit your work for the Critiques. Be sure to use the labels (in edit view, look to your right under "post settings". You'll find Labels there. 

Remember these guidelines anytime you are posting to our blog.:

1. All posts should be properly labeled- This post should be labeled: Crit#1
2. All posts should have a title that uses this strategy- Your Last Name- Content. Ex. This post would be labeled, Lambert- Crit #1
3. All text should be justified to the left and all images centered. 
4. All images should be sized "large". Once imported, click on the image and set it there. 
5. Don't add any weird gaps or spaces in the body of your post.
6. Keep it simple and uncluttered. I want to see the work, and not be distracted by horrendous formatting...

Be sure to follow this format, including sizing and orientation for all photos and videos. 

Thank you,
Lambert

Sample post starts below this line
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In-Depth Project (include this heading)

Then, place images of your in-depth project under the heading like this. You can add a brief statement, context, description, or reflection about the piece.

(when you place the images, they should be centered and sized large. Same with videos)

Small Works (include this heading)

This is the area to place documentation of ALL the tests, trials, and experimentation you have done since the last critique. For Crit#1 this will be the place to add images of all the work you have done since the first day of class (except for the In-depth project which you will document above).

(when you place the images, they should be centered and sized large. Same with videos)

Tony: Small Works + In Depth Project

Google Doc Link

Rodriguez- Crit #1

Developed Project

I wanted to experiment with different methods of working with found material. I created different versions of spheres in order to depict a person, place and experience from a personal memory. I attempted to allow each sphere to embody something different based on use of material, texture and color.

 

 

Experimentation/Small Works

 

Artist Statement

   Asking the right kind of questions generates meaningful conversation involving opinion, experience, fact and/or logic. My art process begins with the contemplation of ideas and subjects that exist in the world around me. Pondering upon the questions why and how, has brought me to where I am today as an artist. Most of the questions I develop are personal (my experiences and how I interpret the world around me). I consider my work to be mostly autobiographical.

      Recently, I focus on the idea of memory, in relation to myself. In the past, I have focused bulks of my work on either family habits and upbringing, identity, human emotion and interaction, or culture, because it is what was most relevant to me. I wanted to break down the idea of why and what in relation to who I am. My work focused mainly on the one of the most self- evident ideas of what makes you, which led me to the obscure aspect of what makes someone: memory, thoughts, opinions, ideas.

      I am a junior at New World School of the Arts Senior High School. I was raised in Miami, Florida by Dominican women: my mother, grandmother and aunt. Other than my brother, I have had no male role model in my family, which I think subconsciously influences the way I think through and produce my work- being that I have only witnessed females, in my family, achieve what a male normally would. In terms of home life, lifestyle and family, I do not consider myself limited in what I do or say because I am a woman. Since my experience seems to be different than that of the normal American lifestyle, in the sense that I was not raised by a mother and father collectively, my family and I did not have a settled house and lifestyle from the get-go and instead worked our way up to it, it inquires me to fully interpret what it is that made me into who I am today, and who I will become in the near future.

     I consider my audience to be anyone who can relate to my experiences directly or indirectly.  I intend for my work to have others examine their ‘being’ in a similar way to how I have, questioning themselves in every aspect of “why?” and “how?” they are, and to also have others compare their lifestyle, upbringing and experiences to those of mine and the people they surround themselves with; I believe that the way in which we generate habits, ideas and opinions is essentially based on how we were nurtured since we are technically a modified extension of our parent’s bias and opinions due to the fact we would model them at our the most vulnerable  stages in our life and later on analyzed and developed what we would take from what we learned or “modeled”.
    My goal as a young artist, is not only to expand my work conceptually, but also to improve my work and process in terms of skill and efficiency by trying new approaches to problem solving. Through the process of my work, I would like to rediscover myself and reassure myself in my art practice.

 List of Artists

Aurora Molina,   Ashley Bickerton,   Tom Friedman,   Joseph Beuys,   Ai Wei Wei,   Meleko Mokgosi,   He Xiangyu,   Josh Kline,   Titus Kaphar,   Michael Vasquez,   Sarah Sze,   Richard Deacon,   Zhang Huan,   Marcel Broodthaers,   John Latham ,  Valerie Hegarty

Student Website

 http://crcristy05.wixsite.com/mysite

 Studio Proposal

Studio Proposal Format and Guidelines

I.               Research (Introduction to a topic)

a.     Artists/Art movements

    He Xinagyu-

·         Experimental practice

·         Material testing + conceptual laboratory

·         Diverse, social, political themes

·         “Adjust and guide people's perception through the material changes within”

·         Uses range of media to convey philosophical ideas

·         (In reference to ‘Palette Project’ and ‘Wisdom Teeth’)

·         uses multiples with differentiation

·         differentiation + likeness

·         “everything we create is not ourselves”

     Marcel Broodthaers

·         Nontraditional materials – egg shells ( in this case)

·         ‘Assemblage’ technique

·         plastic arts

·         status of artworks as merchandise

·         theories on artistic production

·         temporality of this artwork

·         *chance and accident

·         materials fell apart from fragility and the passing of time

    Sarah Sze

·         “precise randomness”

·         placement of dried paint strips

·         broken glass, torn paper, and colored string

·         delicate +detail

·         scattering items, precisely

·         how the location of pieces would affect a visitor’s experience

·         sense of discovery and serendipity

·         “how does something become valuable?”

·         provoke uncertainty with everyday objects

·         “I want the rawness of seeing a work develop in front of your eyes, but to do it in a way that doesn’t feel contrived or theatrical”

·         “tinkers” with the piece as it’s exhibited- nothing stays in one place because she changes her mind about placement

    Richard Deacon

·         “material and its manipulation are core areas in what I do”

·         erasing materiality

·         removing identity of the medium

·         functions with interaction of viewer

·         ability to think in lists

·         “continuity between the world and materials”

·         intuitive artist

    Josh Kline

·         “someone's world is always ending”

·         “this generation moved into early adulthood”

·         produce the hands of creative workers

b.     Other areas of research

   Assemblage

http://arthistory.about.com/od/glossary/g/a_assemblage.htm

·         similar to collaging

·         involves 3-d object protruding from a 2d object

II.             Path of Inquiry (Deeper investigation of a topic)

 What direction will I take? Focus.

·         I am going to develop an experimental process with my 3-d work while still having a set end product and concept in mind by attempting to make spheres with multiple materials.

    What does the road look like?

·         I would like to discover different methods for each material I use. As I make the spheres I would like for each to have their own identity through its materialization and process.

    Where do I think it will lead?

·         Since a sphere is a primitive shape: What other, more complex shapes can a sphere lead me to make?

III.           Development of Thesis (Beyond the topic) - thesis statement

·         I would like to conceptually draw onto the idea that memory is based on singularity, no one memory or event is ever the same in the mind of two or more people.

IV.            Material Goal (Defense of topic? Purpose of Experimentation?)

·         I would like to become familiar with various materials, so I’m not limited to using “what I know” in my future sculptural work.

V.              Action Plan (How will you get there?)

a.     Small works – define them according to need/purpose

·         My small work is a pre-experimentation to reassure myself that I’ll continue to enjoy engaging with that material and not get bored of figuring out different ways of manipulating it.

    Deadlines of Small works

·         I plan to have the small works accumulate along with the process of my piece, so the small works would be due the same time my final piece is.

    Benchmarks

·         Spend at least an hour tampering with a material until you decide not to work with it.

·         Technical- Play with the idea of texture, color, and form

·         Conceptual- Play with the idea of relation and preservation

·         Have minimum 5 different materials in your final piece

    Hard Deadlines- critiques

·         I would like to work continuously work on this piece for at least 3 weeks.

VI.            Self Assessment

    Process: Creating spheres while discovering ways of manipulating material and intuitively tinkering with the sphere to relate it to my concept.

   Formal/aesthetic: I would like for my spheres to be laid out in a manner that is similar to how one thinks (a compilation of things) but in a way that’ll showcase both the difference and likeness within each sphere.

c.      Conceptual/communicative

        Memory and personal experiences tied into the making and product of each individual sphere. I want the end product to showcase a physical representation of a past experience, based on color, texture and form.

Combination of many small works leading to one concentrated idea

Small works leading to final project

These are my small works leading to my final arrangement. These contain light fixtures, color swab testers, and a small example of what part of the piece looks like(window and silhouettes).
Below is my statement about the artwork and the research for a few artists.

Project Proposal and Artist Research

Light space and the lack of light in the lack of space all changes the way we perceive the world. Light creates color and the lack of it the loss of color. James Turrel working primarily with light and how it affect space respecting color and form. He believes in the notion that reality is according to one’s own creation. I see it as people only believing according to what they gather in their mind. His work creates an ambience changing an environment and creating focal points with lit forms. The work is enveloping and alters moods according to the color and space. Like Turrell, Dan Flavin also uses light in similar ways to alter a space. Different colors and forms in his work also create emotional reactions to its aesthetic properties. Flavian takes into consideration the contextual value of the materials he uses each having a lifetime and meaning to their use. This context add to the conceptual value of the work giving a new layer into its meaning.

Shiego Fukuda, a renowned graphic designer well known for his innovative graphic works but an entrepreneur in shadow sculptures. A mixture of shapes with an abstracted form but flattened to create an image. This relationship gives another dimension to the work (literally) and calls for a new mystery to the work. This style was further developed and picked up by Tim Noble and Sue Webster. Their work often contains the human figure with relationships to each other and themselves. The works allow for a separate context to be added to the figures in the shadows with the materials used to create the three dimensional aspect of the work. Their work contains a strong conceptual hold with the different connections the sculpture and the shadow contain due to the different emotions dispelled by both visual and contextual aspects of the work.

 Chiaru Shiota also alters a space and creates an emotional connection to the viewer of the work. She uses a variety of aspects that cause associates to people’s sensations. Her use of overwhelming strings in bold black and red colors in associations with common objects such as a friendly bed or written letters create a strong contrast and an almost unpleasant but remarkably beautiful aurora. Each of these artist alter space and causes the viewer to connect through commonalities in the work and alter the space according to the feeling the piece is meant to create.

I see green. Disillusion a state in which bewilderment is as much a betrayal as it is essential. People’s lives are filled with unseen characteristics when translated from an outer perspective. Exploring the strong existence of sonder(a made up word used to express the emotion that other people’s lives are as complicated as your own).  A relationship between two people whether it be an interaction or an emotional state is private between the individuals. Many often don't see each of the different complexities surrounding this interaction. The piece titled "Don’t be a stranger" deals with a certain interaction. Maybe one interaction that can be perceived according to incidents in everyone's personal experiences. The piece features a window and what seems to be two people interacting between themselves and the viewer sees them through a window. The figures are bright red, a strong color that is hard to distract from. Of the viewer stares for long enough they will begin to see a greenish, bluish glow that will resonate in the eye of the viewer against the white background. The work will be illuminated with a spotlight and will create a shadow on the wall behind the piece. This component show different aspects of the interaction we wouldn't normally see when looking though the perspective of the window but if people observe long enough to see the green glare they understand they discover a different side to the interaction. The window will be constructed from wood and the two following panels from foam core and compressed cardboard. The piece will hang with equal spacing between each panel and the wall. Distance will vary according to the space. The spot light will be set up and shine directly over the work crating the shadow on the wall.