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