finishing up the year...

At the beginning of the year, I talked about what I have done in the past. Last year, I discovered that I love to make installations for my art pieces. With the dolls that I did, I was really stepping out into a new area of study while also discovering my love for using emotions and contemplative subjects. 
see my first blog

Last year, with my installations, I wanted to provoke the audience in thinking about how they relate to each piece. Now, I am putting a more heightened importance on the viewer because their participation is so integral in the whole process. 


Mrs. Miller and I had a good conversation about how you really can't make someone feel something. It just doesn't seem true to the art to try to make someone feel something, so with my work, I want to convey a sense of interest and wonder in the audience. I want them to think. I want it to mean something to them... whatever that may be. Maybe they relate to it because of their past... Maybe they relate to it because of something that they are going through now. Art through music, sound, voices, images, and videos... all of these things are one of the best mediums to get a message across. 
Shea Glover : one of my main inspirations in audience participation

One of my main purposes of the year and of this path that I am on is to experiment with different mediums to try to find the best vehicle to carry each message. 
My first and main piece of the year is an auditory piece that deals with hurtful words. Because this deals with the human voice and the listener can be alone to experience it, it is a very personal and emotional piece. Being alone... in an isolated room... heightens the viewer's emotions and allows them to experience every emotion that comes at them through these voices. 

one of my interests : how psychology plays into art

These are some questions that I consider when thinking about each project : 

What is my message? 

What is the most powerful way to communicate my message? 

Is it tactile, auditory, visual, etc.???

Is it crowd participation?? If so, how can I work with them and work for them?

I also have to think about activating the space around each piece in a way to convey a message and make the space have overall atmosphere that is necessary in order to evoke emotions. 
my blog : how to display your art

my previous blog : reflection on this year

Next Year 

I have been thinking about different types of installations and performance art.
Ann Hamilton : large installations with audience participation
Will I do pieces outside? Will I keep some inside? How can I incorporate the audience in different ways that will allow for a greater and more heightened sense of emotion? 

I am excited for the year to come so that I can experiment with more topics and different mediums of conveying my message!

reflection...

Key Elements 

At the beginning of the year, I referred all of you to Mark Rothko. He is one of my main inspirations. This is what started my whole concentration on emotions and how to portray them in different ways. My first project this year was a vinyl record of people's responses to the question "What is the worst thing that anyone has ever said to you?" After making this piece, I decided that I wanted to deal with all different aspects of how we perceive emotions. I also have been working on other pieces that are visual and physical (to go along with my auditory piece). I have really enjoyed being able to do pieces that are meaningful to other people while incorporating the different aspects of how we can take art in. I hope to continue to use the different elements of art such as : visual, physical, and auditory as I have been doing this semester. 

What do y'all think about this quote? I like how it makes you think...

I like how this relates to all of my pieces/concentration because it is so true. I want people to realize how what they say really DOES affect people. No matter what the intent is, it is always important to watch what you say because you never know what other people are going through.

Now that I've gone off on that rant for the hundredth time, I will keep going on about my art.

Other artists that have really influenced my art this year have been Chris Burden, who deals with performance art and Shea Glover, the student artist that captured how people responded to her telling them that they were beautiful. The idea of performance art and Shea Glover's whole mentality really got me thinking about how all of this can play into my future pieces.

I have also been looking at topics of interest. Something that interests me a lot is psychology. I think it is interesting to see how the brain works and why we are the way we are. This is something that I have been weaving into my art as well. The article that I blogged about by Art Shimamura was very interesting to me. He touched on how and why people respond to art the way that they do. He told about people coming up to him in tears over a piece of art because it reminded them of a time in their past and touched them deeply. I want to make art that moves people to tears, that renders a feeling inside people that really makes them think. I want my art to REALLY MEAN SOMETHING to people. THAT is my goal. That is what I am striving for. I love to make art that is "pretty to look at" but I really love to make art that causing a feeling inside that people can relate to.

This is why I really want people's responses to my work. I am thinking of having sticky notes posted for the audience to respond with. I want to know what they think. I want to know how they feel about the art. I want to know about that time in their life that they relate these things to. I just want to be able to use that to inspire future art that I will produce and help me get even better at conveying these emotions.

in the future...

I really want to make more art that is audience oriented. I want them to participate in it more in the future. I like the idea of having the audience come in and swing on swings throughout the gallery (like Ann Hamilton- an artist that I have looked into). I want people to really want to participate. I am looking forward to what is to come and am glad that I am going in this direction. I think that this semester has really pushed me in the right way and look forward to continue to make art that challenges me and those around me. 

projections...

Josiah McElheny

This artist is really interesting. He "explores the relationship between abstraction and the body as he makes Projection Painting 1 (2015)."  I would like to use this idea of projection in my next project. 

In my next project, I would like to use a projection of words. I was going to have a subject (probably a guy) write down a few things that they think about themselves- or things that have been said to them- (maybe both bad and good... we will see) and then have them stand against a white wall wearing a white shirt and project these things onto them. I want people at the gallery to be able to look at them and truly see their pain and see what has been said about them. I think this could be a very powerful piece to use along with my others. 

However... after doing a critique on this piece, it seems that this may be a complicated idea. We thought about maybe videoing this to make it less awkward for the subject and then projecting the video at the show, but that kinda defeats the purpose of having one auditory, one visual, and this one (physical) pieces of work. We also explored the idea of maybe having the audience write what they think... but if they don't know the person, then it would just be all about appearance. Or we thought about having pre-cut words out for people to place on the projector... We also talked about having pre-cut words or something and having the audience go up to the wall and take a picture of the word on them... but I don't really know about that. 

 I'm not really sure where this will end up going, but I still would like to use this idea somehow. I'm still thinking, and I am gonna keep exploring different options. 

Please let me know what y'all think! 

Citation : 
http://www.art21.org/artists/josiah-mcelheny/videos?order=field_video_duration&sort=asc

performance art...

This is a very interesting type of art. I am kinda experimenting with this in my 3rd project. I am really excited to collaborate with other people in the art and actual show itself. I found this artist that is considered by many one of the most important artists from the performance spectra. 

Chris Burden 

"In many of his early 1970s performance pieces, Burden put himself in danger, thus placing the viewer in a difficult position, caught between a humanitarian instinct to intervene and the taboo against touching and interacting with art pieces." 

 

This guy is super interesting. Obviously, I don't want to deal with the dangerous qualities that he deals with... but I do like that he is challenging his audiences. 
"To perform Shoot, Burden stood in front of a wall while one friend shot him in the arm with a .22 long rifle, and another friend documented the event with a camera. It was performed in front of a small, private audience." This idea of challenging the audience, even in such a violent way, is very interesting. It establishes him as a martyr to his peers because he is risking his own life to revive his work. 

 


Burden also does many other pieces that are equally as brutal, honest and interesting (or weird)... including a piece titled "Trans-fixed" which involved the "literal transfixion of Burden to a Volkswagen via nails through the palms of his hands". "The engine was revved at full throttle to represent the sound of screaming in pain." From a Christian view, this relates back to the crucifixion of Christ. This employs terror, pain and an audience transfixed by this piece. 



In this, he almost calls out the audience for being transfixed and calls them to a place of action.  

How This Relates to Me

I am excited to be able to show my work and incorporate the performance side of my work. I am interested to see how the audience responds (what they do and what they don't do)... I am very excited to see how everything will all play out. 

Citation : 
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-performance-art.htm
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-burden-chris-artworks.htm#pnt_2

still working...

capturing the moment...

In order to get the videos for my project, I have to capture the emotions naturally. This can be very difficult, so I am having to work very slowly. A lot of the videos that I am able to capture aren't clear, are forced seeming, or just aren't what I am looking for; however, I am trying to incorporate this into my work as well. I have been looking at all of it, scratching a lot of it, and taking another look at it because it is a hard project to do. Also, I want it to be great. I want people to walk into the show and be overwhelmed - in the sense of being so consumed by these emotions that they feel as if they are their own. In think it will be very interesting to see people's reactions as long as I can make the project capture as many emotions as I can. Until then, I am still working and am also thinking about my next project and how I can work with that. That will not be as long as this one because all it takes is finding my subject and then having them be there for the actual show. I may do like a practice round of it but we will see...

So... until then... we will see how it goes. Maybe over spring break I will have some time to go out into the world and capture people from all over. 

also... I'm reposting this video... You must watch it... It is so good.  

emotions...

capturing the moment. 

It has been hard trying to capture emotions as they happen. I have tried and failed for the past few weekends. It is quite difficult, but I am still working on it. I am hoping to be able to get some this week because I will have a lot more time (now that the play is over). I will however potentially be able to start on my 3rd piece. I don't want to spoil it yet because I haven't worked out all the details... I will tell you though it deals with emotions, identity, expression, etc... I can't wait to be able to share it with all of you!!

Bruce Nauman

Bruce Nauman is recognized among the art world as "one of the most innovative and provocative of America’s contemporary artists". He had dealt with sculpture, video, film, printmaking, performance, and installation, which are all very interesting to me as well. He also concentrates "less on the development of a characteristic style and more on the way in which a process or activity can transform or become a work of art." I think this is very interesting because I would love to be able to explain my process in a few of my pieces because they were such a large part of the actual artwork itself. For example, in my first piece, the process of going around and asking people to tell me something hurtful that has been said to them is extremely interesting. It was interesting learning a small snippet of these people's lives that has affected them so greatly. I think that would be interesting to tell people once they have seen it. 

I just thought he was interesting because he has dealt with a lot of the same stuff that I am currently in but in different ways. 

Citations : 

art21.org

beautiful...

Mary V. sparked my interest in this and I am so glad that she did! Although she is not a highly renowned artist, I am glad that I looked at her. Her work very much deals with the ideas that mine does. 

~ Shea Glover ~

Glover, an 18 year old student from Chicago, did a social experiment in which she took a video of someone and said to them, "I'm taking pictures of things that I find beautiful". The way that they reacted was amazing and varied from person to person. Some people laughed awkwardly, some giggled and said "thank you", some didn't believe her and stormed off, some people were so flattered as if they had never heard it before. I love that she did this and that she chose a broad variety of subjects to take pictures/ videos of. 

Here are a few of the pictures that she captured of before she said anything vs. after she told them they were beautiful. 

Here is her overall video... it is very interesting and I think you all should watch it!!

preview....

how to display your art. 

How you display your art is very important in a show. You have to think about when you want it shown, where, how... do you want it by itself? Should it be closed off? Are there other pieces in the room? 

For those of you who were a part of our critique the other day, we talked in great detail how it will be displayed. Y'all each gave me great ideas and helped paint the scene for when the show comes. I am excited to share it with everyone, but for those who haven't seen it and weren't a part of the discussion... I don't want to give too much away. 

When thinking about how to display my art, there was a lot to consider. After bringing in all of the elements (time, color scheme, warmth of the space - or lack thereof, size, proximity to other pieces...) I feel like we have a pretty developed picture of how to effectively portray the feelings that go along with it. I am excited to see how people react to it and potentially record those reactions. 

Question... 

How would y'all feel if I had a camera (kind of hidden) to record your reaction? Or would that seem like an invasion of privacy? On the flip of that, what if I had everyone write down their feelings after they listen to it? Maybe I could place a stack of notecards or sticky notes in there so that they could record how they feel on their own. I think I like that rather than videoing them because then they can respond in their own way. This piece could potentially bring up something that struck them from their past. It could be a very emotional response for some and not so much for others... I just want to be able to capture their responses in some way. I like the idea though of letting them record it themselves. 

What do you think? 

obviously not exactly what I want (really not at all) but I wanted to include a visual of the idea of looking into the space in which you art is placed ....  

so far...

This week, I wanted to update y'all on how I'm doing so far. 
Recently, I have gotten in touch with a vinyl pressing company out of Europe. I will have to discuss prices and such with Mrs. Miller and with the company, but I am really excited to hopefully be able to get my piece pressed onto a vinyl record! (yay!) Although it is not technically finished and ready for an art show, this piece is pretty much done. I have all of my recordings up to date and have been able to edit it into an mp3. I'm excited for you all to hear it soon! 

What's Next???

Also, I have begun working on my next project. I recently had one of my friends come over and was interacting with her and figuring out how to work in her different emotions. I am thinking of some different emotions and how to incorporate them into this project. I would like to use video of each emotion and string them together, but this is proving quite difficult to record. However, I am excited about what I have so far and about getting more in the future! 

Just something random...

Although I am not going to use this, I just really love this picture. We were all standing around on the dock in my backyard, and one of my friends was telling a story. Chanley, the girl in this picture, was listening to it and looked quite peaceful (it really looks quite staged, but it's not). I decided to take a picture of it and it turned out looking like this. 

(Obviously this is unedited... I have a better version of this on my other computer - without the shadows and whatnot; however, it wouldn't transfer over)
It's kinda weird... when taking pictures of the others there, they turned out almost the same. They all looked kinda posed, even though they were in conversation with each other. Maybe they were just nervous and always posing??? ... haha... who knows. 
I loved this picture though (not for this project but just in general)

The Future....

maybe eventually, I can dabble in photography some for future projects... who knows???
I would love to spend more time with my camera and be able to capture the breathtaking moments around me...

this is interesting...

How Psychology Plays Into Art 

(this may be kinda random, but I found it super interesting - it ties into why I do what I do) 

I have found so much interesting material when studying the type of art that I like and different artists who will be/ are influential to me. I found an article about the psychology behind making art. This sparked interest in my eyes because I am very much a science person. Psychologist and photographer, Art Shimamura, has written many articles and has done many studies behind the psychology that drives an artist and how the viewer interprets the art. In an article from (psychologytoday.com), he says, "The story (behind every piece of art) may be about the human condition, about our society's plight, about the artist's personal experiences, or even about art itself. As beholders, we share in a story told by the artist." This is exactly how I feel when it comes to conveying certain feelings and emotions to the viewer. Specifically in my current project, these emotions are able to be expressed through the spoken word. The audience is engaged in the hauntingly true stories that each person in this piece shares. With such a widespread selection of stories and experiences, the audience will be able to connect with this piece more easily.

Art Shimamura wrote about some of his specific pieces. He tells stories about how certain audiences have connected with them. Here are a few of his pieces that I specifically like.


"Graceful Aging"
Shimamura tells about how a woman approached him one time in tears and told him the emotional story behind her mother's recent death. She looked at him with tears of sadness yet fond remembrance and said that this one picture really connected with her.


"Broken Memories"
This is one of my favorites of his. Although at first glance, this piece just looks "an abstraction of colors and shapes", he wanted it to also "represent the feelings behind objects that were once a part of someone's life."

This is one of my favorites because I love to connect back to the past. I love to hear stories behind old houses and things that you would find at flea markets. I love to listen to grandparents tell stories of how they fell in love and what the war was like. ...etc. This is something that really interests me and I would love to do something with this is the future.


This is also kinda short, but I like how different this artist is. In his many published works, he always talks about how beautiful the mind is to make us take in art in the ways that we do. It is interesting to study how different each person's reaction may be to certain pieces and to see how art can be manipulated to appeal to each person's senses.

This one was a little more random but I just thought it was interesting.



Citations :
psychologytoday.com
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/art-shimamura.html

concentration??? new direction???

Am I Moving On? 

I've recently REALLY been thinking about how the project I'm working on now is going to affect people. I like the idea of being able to captivate my audience and see how they will respond to my work. 

Ann Hamilton 

Mrs. Miller suggested that I continue to look into different artists and see how their works can affect me. Ann Hamilton is one of these artists. She is very interesting. After looking into her, I feel like I want to expand this idea of reaching vast audiences in large and sometimes overwhelming ways. Hamilton used swings in one piece to incorporate her audience... (See pictures below)

She also uses the walls and ceiling to incorporate people into her work. 

What I Have Taken From This Artist 

After studying Hamilton, I have thought of a few ideas. I want to capture this idea of emotion and other people's feelings in other ways. I want to maybe expand to a new medium and use video to portray these emotions (sadness, joy, anger, frustration, peace...) Like Hamilton, I want to use the audience's surroundings by projecting these videos onto a wall. This way, the audience can experience these emotions and possibly be overwhelmed by them. I'm really excited to see how this idea will play out in my next project. 

Sorry this blog was a little shorter.. :)

Citations: 

http://www.art21.org/artists/ann-hamilton

words...

wow.

The project that I am currently working on is going to be really interesting. As most of you know, I am having people record themselves saying things that have hurt them in the past. For example, one person said, "I couldn't deal with you everyday"... another said, "You're life is worthless". 

While some of the quotes I have gotten have been more surface level, the majority of people have really opened up. Even a few guys have been able to step up and say something that has stuck with them for a while. This really makes people step back and think "Wow. What I say really can hurt someone else." I even had someone tell me while listening to a few of these recordings, "I told that person (who had just given their quote to me) that last week. I feel bad because I didn't mean for it to come across like that." 

I'm excited to continue getting quotes from people and seeing where the narrative will lead. 

Mark Rothko, who I am continually liking more and more, said, "One does not paint for design students or historians but for human beings, and the reaction in human terms is the only thing that is really satisfactory to the artist." This is exactly how I feel. I am already excited to see how people will react to this piece. I want to see them take it in. I want to watch their faces and listen to how they will respond to it. I want this piece to convey something that every person will be able to relate with individually. That is why I want a wide range of quotes. I want people in all walks of life and from all different backgrounds to be able to relate to this piece and the people behind it. 

how I feel thus far.

This piece has some unplanned qualities to it. First, I have no idea what people will reveal to me through their quotes. Also, I don't truly know where this is going in the long run. I am going to try and change the narrative in the end so that the story takes a more positive turn; however, I have no idea how I will do that. I like the idea of not knowing where this will go, yet I personally have a tendency to want everything planned out. I am very much a planner, so this project is stretching that part of me out of my comfort zone. I feel kinda nervous about how this will turn out, how I will make it happen, how all of it will come together ... but I am just gonna go for it and see where it takes me. 

Agnes de Mille, famous choreographer and dancer, once said, "The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark." This is kind of how I am going about this project. I am incorporating chance into my art and letting it go where it goes. Hopefully, something beautiful will come of this in the end. 

what I'm hoping to accomplish.

I hope that through this piece, all audiences will be able to relate. I want everyone that walks up to listen to it to say "wow. I remember the time when (so-and-so) said something hurtful to me when I was younger and how much it affects me to this day" or "wow. It's amazing how these people really opened up for this piece." or "wow. I didn't realize just how much words hurt until now." I'm hoping to appeal to the emotions of all different types of people and convey in them a respect for how what they say can affect someone tremendously. 

“Art attracts us only by what it reveals of our most secret self.” ~Jean-Luc Godard

I am still looking for more quotes (from girls and guys) if anyone has something that they are willing to share!! 

where will I go from here?

After going back and studying Mark Rothko, who (although he is considered to be part of the abstract expressionism movement) really didn't identify with any movement at all, I've been thinking about my own work. Like Rothko, I like to experiment with more literal ideas as well as conveying certain ideas in abstract ways. I am excited about being able to incorporate both aspects of this by showing the literal side of my ideas yet leaving some imagination and depth to be read into the piece by the audience. 

I have been thinking about some things that our art teacher suggested. 

Why do I want to create? 

What compels me? 

Is it the society in which we live? 

What questions do I have about this culture? 

I very much want to incoroporate and work with different people in my next few projects. I like hearing other peoples' perspectives about the culture that we live in and what has affected them the most in their lives. I would like to work with this topic more and use other people's lives in my pieces. 

Many people have told me that several of my pieces have really appealed to them because of the subject matter. It hits home with most people. I want to deal with the global human experience. 

What does that mean exactly? 

Right now, I am working on something that incorporates men and women of all stages and walks of life, each with different backgrounds and emotional connections to their past. 

How will I connect to my audience? 

I plan to make this next project very universally personal by using many different subjects and topics; therefore, I will be able to reach people of all audiences. 

I'm excited to get working on what is to come and see how this piece is able to connect with each person individually. 

the first of many...

I'm excited for this new year in art! Although I don't really know where I am headed, I am looking forward to finding out. I have many different interests that I am excited about exploring. I am mainly interested in 3D pieces and was able to work on some different ones last year in Advanced Art and Sculpture/Mixed Media. 

Last year, one of the artists that I studied was Mark Rothko. 

here are a few examples of his work : 

Through his work, he conveys meaning and a large range of emotion. Before I knew about his work, I honestly didn't like him. However, I have grown to appreciate his work more and more as I see the meaning come through. After studying him, I realized that I too wanted to incorporate meaning and emotion into my work. 

Here are 2 views of one of my favorite pieces that I did last year after studying Rothko. 

                         I titled this piece "Shattered Reflection". 
This piece dealt with the issue of self-worth and inner beauty. The doll on the left represents someone who has money, outward value, and friends yet sees themselves as having nothing. Whereas, the doll on the right see herself as beautiful even though she is tattered and torn and has nothing of material worth. She has an inner beauty that is not just skin deep. 

I loved working with this subject and conveying these concepts through my work. I also loved being able to stand by as people saw this piece and hearing what they had to say about it. 

 I hope to work with things like this more this year as I figure out what my main focus / objective will be. 




source: 
markrothko.org