More Art in Unlikely Places

The Vuvuzela was a surprising art form...but so are CAKES! The Food Network TV show: Ace of Cakes, has recently been cancelled. This made me think about how the extravagant cakes are a surprising form of art. Throughout this semester, I've started to take more notice of art in unlikely places. A lot of things that don't immediately appear to be art, or things that don't fit the conventional concept of "art", are very intriguing. The following cakes are incredible and deserve to be noticed!

Vuvuzelas!

The instrument made famous by the 2010 World Cup gets some clever second lives as:

LIGHTS

LAMPS

CHRISTMAS TREE

EARRINGS

EDUCATION TABLE

FLOWER POTS

I think the way these Vuvuzelas have been reused is so creative, beautiful, AND functional! These designs in particular are very interesting and unique. It is so cool that these people took something that was so simple, but also so significant to the event (World Cup 2010), and created something that will last forever with it.

Photos found at: 

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Vuvuzela-Design-Competition/ss/events/lf/111510vuvuzela

Library Session

After our library session with Sherri about DreamWeaver today, I am SO EXCITED! All throughout high school I was chief editor for our Broadcast Journalism program. We used the Final Cut Pro Application to produce weekly newscasts. A lot of what we learned today reminded me of stuff I did while editing newscasts. I have missed editing since I graduated and am excited to work on this project. It seemed so daunting, as I mentioned yesterday, to create our own website...but after today I feel much better about it and I can't wait. We still need to gather all our information, pictures, links, videos, etc. but putting it all together in our own website will be fun. It will be a great way to see how everyone in my own group's, and in other groups' creative sides come out.

Picture of the Day:
Ojai Valley, California

Daunting Task...

It is true that the task of creating a webpage seems daunting. I, and probably many others have never done something like this before! But I have found some helpful YouTube videos that act as tutorials for the program DreamWeaver. One is below and many more can be found on YouTube.com:

1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUQKxsOTsX8&feature=channel
2 -

3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikMC7Ju49HY&feature=channel

Project 3: DAY ONE

After going to the High Museum together, Juan, Danny, Hyun Ki, and I had our first group meeting to work on project number 3 today. With this being the first group project we've done all semester, I am very excited! I think our group has a lot of potential and will work well together =) We have decided to make an Art Guide to Atlanta that incorporates a lot of concert and entertainment venues around Atlanta. We want to focus on how individuals interact with art. Some things we would like to include on our website are links to tickets, calendars of artists, maybe some history about the venue itself and also a selection of artists. We are planning to meet again sometime this weekend and I look forward to what we come up with. We will try to narrow down the venues we want to include, but so far some such venues are Philips area, Gwinnett Arena, Lakewood Amphitheater, Chastain Park Amphitheater, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, The Tabernacle, The Loft, The Masquerade, The Alliance Theater, and The Fox.

Titian & the Golden Age of Venetian Painting Exhibit!

Today I went to the High Museum with my Project 3 Group (Hyun Ki Lee, Danny Rodriguez, and Juan Gers). We had a great time and explored the Titian exhibit as well as some of the permanent collections. When we first arrived we were a little worried because there were so many high school kids there on a field trip or something. But it was actually interesting to see the way these kids interacted with the art. It was completely different from how we were interacting with the art. While all of us were taking notes and really analyzing the drawings and paintings, as well as the space (“gallery” – O’Doherty) in which we found them. These high school kids just seemed to be enjoying the art at a surface level. Rather than really looking into each piece and interpreting it, they walked nonchalantly throughout the museum, laughing and having fun with friends, while enjoying the art and its beauty. One thing I noticed in my experience was how I had to remind myself to enjoy the art. I found myself analyzing so much about the surroundings of the art that I almost forgot to look at the actual drawing or painting. Initially I was so focused on the room itself, the lighting from the ceiling skylights, the space between the drawings, the frames around each drawing or painting, etc. Then when I caught myself, I rectified the situation and was able to appreciate the beauty of the drawings and paintings while analyzing the gallery as well.

My favorite part of the exhibit was definitely the paintings portion. There was a total of 13 paintings and what I particularly liked about them was the rich and ornate frames. The drawings/sketched from the first part of the exhibit were in simple wood frames. The paintings were in the most beautiful gold frames with extravagant details. Some even included interesting plaques on them. It is fitting that the paintings were in much more extravagant frames (than the sketches) because they were so much more colorful than the sketches. The paintings were also larger and more vivid…overall they were more exciting in my opinion! But I enjoyed the whole experience of the Titian & the Golden Age of Venetian Painting Exhibit.

The Russian Ark

The experience of watching this film, THE RUSSIAN ARK, was a unique and exciting one.

I think it’s pretty pointless tackling the film without a fairly solid knowledge of the last three centuries of Russian history –it’s clear that Alexander Sokurov’s target audience is primarily well-educated Russians (specifically St Petersburgers) like himself, and anyone who doesn’t fit that description has to do some prior homework in order to get much out of the film. Even relatively well known aspects of Russian history like the last days of the Romanov dynasty aren’t signposted especially obviously.

As for the character of Custine, I got the impression that he was meant to be annoying – as one of the key themes of the film is the way Russia has long been straddling the Europe/Asia divide, and its pretensions to be seen as ‘European’ (expressed not least through the city of St Petersburg itself, which many Russians regard with suspicion because of its origins as an artificial creation through which Peter the Great wanted to cement cultural ties between Europe and Russia).

Accordingly, Russia cozies up to characters like Custine, only to be belittled and patronized in return – and that’s a microcosm of a fair chunk of Russian history in itself. I certainly get the impression that a fair number of Russian viewers would be asking “why are we wasting time with this guy?” – and, by extension, wondering why Russia is bothering with Europe when it’s quite capable of standing on its own feet.

But overall, I found the whole thing rather like a play. It’s very much like a stage production and I admire it for that. Everyone had one shot to get it right. They had to all get everything together and make it happen in the same take. Imagine the rehearsal for that. It is a beautiful film, though much of that beauty can be attributed to the Hermitage I guess. Anyway you shoot that place it will look great.

As for cinematography, script, plot, actors, lighting, sound, editing and a coherant score from a film…if you take those out of any film and you’re left with, not a film. Regardless, this film still has all of that…except for editing of course and I suppose a coherent score could be argued.

Carol Duncan's The Art Museum As Ritual

This reading was interesting. Duncan begins by comparing museums to religious/ceremonial places. “Eventually, the separation of church and state would become law.” Museums are secular places – “the secular truth became the authoritative truth.” And churches (and the like) are religious places – “religion…kept its authority only for voluntary believers.”  Secular truth is known to be rational and verifiable à “objective knowledge.” Duncan continues, describing the differences between secular and religious entities. She says that in the secular/religious terms of our culture, ‘ritual’ and ‘museums’ are antithetical. Then she notes an argument that there is disguised ritual content in secular ceremonies. She argues the ritual character of the museum experience in terms of the kind of attention one brings to it and the special quality of its time and space. “Museums resemble older ritual sites not so much because of their specific architectural references but because they, too, are settings for rituals. I thought it was a good example of this when she pointed out how one is expected to behave with certain decorum in both museums and religious places. She examines the term “Liminality” in terms of the kind of attention we bring to art museums. Throughout her argument, Duncan uses historical figures as examples. Turner and Schmidt are just two such examples. “Others, too, have described art museums as sites which enable individuals to achieve liminal experience- to move beyond the psychic constraints of mundane existence, step out of time, and attain new, larger perspective.” Then she moves onto the element of performance. In museums, it is the visitors who enact the ritual. Then the ritual experience as it has a purpose, an end. It is seen as transformative. And finally she looks as art museum objects. It was interesting to hear that the concept of putting objects in settings designated for contemplation is relatively new. It was a newly discovered aspect of the “visual experience”. The reading goes on to discuss a lot of tension between aesthetics and museums. “In philosophy, liminality became specified as the aesthetic experience, a moment of moral and rational disengagement that leads to or produces some kind of revelation or transformation.” There was and still is a lot of controversy over aesthetics verses purpose, etc. Duncan closes with the invitation to take Germain Bazin’s argument even further: “in the liminal space of the museum, everything-and sometimes anything- may become art, including fire extinguishers, thermostats, and humidity gauges…

Visual Essay Experience

This experience of writing a visual essay was very different from anything I have ever done before. In fact, I doubt any of us have ever done something like this before.

Personally I really like photography, so I was excited to take pictures. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to get the photos to actually "write" though. I really didn’t know what to take pictures of at first so I just went out and started shooting. Somehow I found pictures I liked...oddly enough the photos turned out to be of fences. When I started arranging them in a sequence I realized how important it was and I had a hard time deciding on a particular theme too. When I came down to boundaries, it was settled!

I have really enjoyed everyone else's presentations so far too. In particular Hyun Ki Lee's presentation on trashcans has changed my perspective on them forever. He had a very interesting presentation that kept me interested the whole time. The sequence of his photos was a completely logical progression.

I also found it interesting that people did their projects on places other than Atlanta. The Charleston photos, Chicago, even Asia! - They were all so intriguing.

more on photomicrography!

Today, I found this awesome article on yahoo about photomicrography! I first heard about photomicrography on a classmate's blog just a fews weeks ago and found it completely intriguing! This article has some more beautiful photos and interesting information!

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/292/rare-images-beyond-the-naked-eye.html

Milwaukee Museum Looks At Everyday Objects As Art

MILWAUKEE -- Many people may own a few of the items in the Milwaukee Art Museum's new exhibition.

It includes mass-produced, everyday items like watering cans from Ikea, a Dyson vacuum, a fax machine and forks, along with rare pieces the average person may be more likely to consider art, such as a chair made of rags, a porcelain vase that resembles a sea sponge and two white shirts with light bulbs behind them.

The exhibit, "European Design Since 1985: Shaping the New Century," presents nearly 200 pieces of furniture, metalwork, glass and other products from about 100 European designers, juxtaposing fine art with everyday items. It runs through Jan. 9.

"This is the first time anyone has ever looked at this body of material from '85 to 2005 and tried to assign it art historical words," said Mel Buchanan, the museum's assistant curator of 20th century art design. "So instead of it all being contemporary art, they are saying like, 'OK, now let's look backward. Let's treat this like historians. This biomorphic, this is neo dada.'"

Organizers hope museum-goers ask, "What leads design, artistic concept or function?"

keep reading at: Milwaukee Museum Looks at Everyday Objects As Art

This article struck me! It talks about the European Art Exhibit I went to the very first time I went to the High Museum! I remember wandering that day how a vacuum cleaner could be considered art...and this article somewhat addresses that!

Harkness Table

So I found this interesting article about art at Philips Exeter Academy: 

http://www.exeter.edu/documents/Exeter_Bulletin/Art_harkness_sp07.pdf


At first, I didn't even know what a harkness table was... Below is a picture, just in case you didn't either.

I guess the whole purpose of a Harkness table would be for everyone to be more engaged in whatever activity, meeting, conversation, etc. is going on at this table. So what are your thoughts? Do you think a Harkness table can improve learning? Or is it more helpful to get up and moving about the world in order to learn? A combination of both?

Save Public Art

More from the following interesting article about public art can be found at:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-02/iuso-ilu021810.php

IUPUI launches unique global project to save world's public art

		IMAGE: This is the Herron Arch I by James Wille Faust (2005). Click here for more information.

INDIANAPOLIS –- Students and faculty from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) have developed and launched the nation's first organized effort to document public art information in Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Saves Public Art (WSPA), a growing collection of articles prepared for the online open access encyclopedia, makes monuments and outdoor sculpture – from the famous to the overlooked – accessible to all. It is a unique and major step toward sharing and preserving an often underappreciated segment of the world's cultural heritage.

"No other university, museum or municipality has created a public art collection within Wikipedia—this is a first, even though Wikipedia has been around for almost a decade and now has over 3 million articles. Our effort is also unusual because we have included global positioning system (GPS) coordinates in all of our articles, which allows linkages via location-based computer applications like Google Maps," said Jennifer Geigel Mikulay, Ph.D., assistant professor and public scholar of visual culture at IUPUI, who has spearheaded the project.

Even before the pharaohs built the pyramids, public art has engaged and enriched its audience – the individuals who view it. In the 21st century the potential audience for public art – sculptures, monuments, and other works in public spaces, some tourist destinations and others long forgotten or barely noticed by passersby – can extend far beyond those viewed from a sidewalk. Through the Internet, the audience can expand to anyone with Web access, provided information about the piece is shared online.

That's where IUPUI students and faculty from the School of Liberal Arts and Herron School of Art and Design come in. They are researching, cataloguing, photographing and writing articles on public art pieces in Indianapolis with the hope that the movement will expand exponentially across the nation and around the world. Dozens of Indianapolis public sculptures, many from the IUPUI campus (seeen.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPUI_Public_Art_Collection), have been documented through WSPA. Already, representatives from Milwaukee have shown interest in following this model to represent their city's public art collection in Wikipedia. Mikulay and Richard McCoy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, who co-conceived WSPA, report that they are hearing a buzz of excitement about the concept at international meetings they attend.

"As we write Wikipedia articles on public art works from Indianapolis, a metropolitan area which local cultural organizations rank second only to Washington, D.C. in its number of monuments and outdoor sculpture, we are creating a working model to show people how to preserve public art in the 21st century. Public art is one of the most accessible art forms, and Wikipedia is one of the most accessible forums for information, so they make a perfect match," said Mikulay, whose own research focuses on public art's civic role.

"Wikipedia is open to covering all kinds of topics, including art, all the time, but this is the first coordinated effort to get public art information into Wikipiedia. This is truly making public art available to much wider publics," she added.

Mikulay and McCoy came up with the name Wikipedia Saves Public Art as a way to demonstrate the project's linkage to the burgeoning open access computer movement, with its promise of enlisting large groups of people to contribute information about public art anywhere in the world, and to harken back to Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!), a joint project of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Heritage Preservation.

The full value and potential of social media as an educational resource has not been tapped, according to Mikulay, in part because students are not taught how to link this new technology to research interests. She believes that if students and others can become more critical users of Wikipedia and other digital media, they will be in the position to utilize it for the preservation of cultural heritage.

As the IUPUI students and faculty generate and share information about the outdoor sculpture and monuments around them through WSPA, they are showing the way for others down the street, across the nation, or around the world to see and save the public art around them.

Visual Essay Theme

I am considering doing my visual essay on a festival theme. This time of year, there are lots of farmers’ markets, and art festivals. This weekend, there is The Atlanta Pride Festival. (See below for more information of this festival.) The following are forms of public art that seem to fit the festival theme:

•                Festival cities.

•                Cultural tourism and public display.

•                Festival and ritual.

•                Global festivals.

•                Ethnic arts festivals.

•                Regional festivals.

•                Theatre festivals, genres, regions and Shakespeare.

•                Music festivals.

•                Visual arts festivals and biennales.

•                Cultural diversity and festival development.

•                Festival and event management.

•                Book festivals.

•                Film festivals.

•                Festivals and civic engagement.

•                Economic impact and festival development.

•                Why create an arts festival.

•                Rural festivals as social life.

•                Olympic festivals – of real and imagined proportions.

Atlanta Pride 2010

October 9-10, 2010 - Piedmont Park - Midtown Atlanta Georgia

From October 9^th through the 10^th, over 300,000 People will gather in Atlanta for the annual Atlanta Pride Festival to participate in the march, spectate, or simply walk around the fun Vendor Areas in Piedmont Park.

p.s. - my topic/theme could very well change as I actually start taking pictures (just the way a thesis of a paper often changes when one starts writing!)

Public Art

When trying to define public art, provide examples, describe the audience/themes and explain the purpose of public art...I found that all these things kind of run together. Public art to me seems like art that is displayed (and maybe even made for) the public. This is not to say that it appeals to everyone in the public but I would definitely say a vast majority. It may be there to inform people of a certain area or give the area an identity. It seems like public art is important in politics because it may differ from culture to culture. Public art certainly tends to draw attention. It often times spurs communication (which could be advertising). Think about that really strange piece of art you may have seen one time...didn't it make you talk about it? Or at least ask questions about it? Often times public art represents something. For example, I am from Sandy Springs, GA. In my community, there are painted turtles all over the city. These turtles were auctioned off for charity. This brings a sense of togetherness to our community and kind of gives it an identity. Other examples of public art that came to mind include: the Bellagio Fountains, statues, the Palm Tree Islands (in Dubai), landscaping, and graffiti.

One of the Sandy Springs turtles!

Picture from comment on Su Sun's Blog

In response to ssnitrousoxide: Micro-photography: Not only a change of way of seeing (2)

Why are the arts important?

 By: Dee Dickinson

1.    They are languages that all people speak that cut across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhance cultural appreciation and awareness.

2.    They are symbol systems as important as letters and numbers.

3.    They integrate mind, body, and spirit.

4.    They provide opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality.

5.    They offer the avenue to "flow states" and peak experiences.

6.    They create a seamless connection between motivation, instruction, assessment, and practical application--leading to deep understanding.

7.    They are an opportunity to experience processes from beginning to end.

8.    They develop both independence and collaboration.

9.    They provide immediate feedback and opportunities for reflection.

10. They make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.

11. They merge the learning of process and content.

12. They improve academic achievement -- enhancing test scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking.

13. They exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and "problem-finding."

14. They are essential components of any alternative assessment program.

15. They provide the means for every student to learn.

SOUTH BEACH

In Miami, there lies a prosperous, growing area that lies right next to the beach. This area has been developed into one of the most exciting cities to visit today. South Beach has grown very rapidly to become a major tourist attraction of the United States and many other areas such as Europe and Latin America. 

South Beach is built in art deco form so the surrounding buildings are very interesting to look at when there. Art Deco was first created during the Weimar War Era in Europe, Flourishing throughout the 20s and 30s influencing architecture and many other areas of design. The characteristics of art deco such as, pastel colors, and streamlined rectilinear forms developed out of more ornate French art. These designs were used to attract rich clients to a not yet popular area so they would be able to develop that area. 
As this area progressed, more and more people came to visit this area. When the people started to come, then several businesses that saw this as a profit-making venue decided to open up businesses there. One business that has prospered from this area is the clubs and the nightlife. South beach has become known for its nightlife and has attracted several people. The nightlife attracts several thousands of people ranging from 18-80 having such things to do such as clubbing, fine dining, or just relaxing. Businesses that have opened up have also aided in the boom of the hotel rental around there. 
Even now this area continues to grow at a rapid rate and it has the potential because of the location and the weather to be a very premier place to stay and a nice place to visit. 

Check it out!

Check out this cool website!

http://www.museumofbadart.org/collection/

This one is my favorite. It is called On a Windy Day By: Bob "Grandpa" Roots

Which one is your favorite?

Photography - Barthes

      The Barthes reading made some very interesting points and arguments. First, I noted that in chapter 6 Bathes says “photographs come from the world to me.” This made me think about Berger and the discussion of reproductions. Because there are so many reproductions, art has become much more accessible. But, as we noted in the Berger piece and again in the Illuminations piece, reproductions lack something the original has.

      Secondly, I found the discussion of adventure very interesting. Barthes says, “I should like to know what there is in it that sets me off” (speaking of a photograph). He/she makes the point that adventure can, at least temporarily, denote the attraction certain photographs have upon one.

      Thirdly, I found yet again, another reference to a “sign” similar to the Semiotics and Art History reading. “They drift between the shores of perception, between sign and image, without ever approaching either.”

      Finally, in chapter 10, I found the argument made about the themes of photography very intriguing. Barthes divides Photography into two themes: studium and punctum. Studium means application to a thing, taste for someone, or a kind of general enthusiastic commitment. Here Barthes brings in the idea of culture a lot. The second element is described in a very sharp language. Words like: “rises”, “shoots”, “pierces” all sound harsh. This is because the second element will disturb the first and which Barthes describes as “that accident which pricks me.”

One question I have about this piece is, why is Photography always capitalized?

Aesthetics? or More?

The reading: A Rough History of Modern Aesthetics by Seel led me to look back at my blog about my first trip to the High Museum. When I went through the European Art exhibit, I made the comment that many of the pieces were for purely aesthetic and not functional use. But going through the High Museum this past weekend, looking for a piece for the Rhetorical Analysis project, I realized something. I had in mind that I was looking for a piece to analyze, so I looked for a piece of art that made an argument. What I realized is that when I went through the first time, I was ignorant of the many arguments being made. The pieces I admired for their aesthetic beauty also made an argument about something. They might not have served a functional purpose (you wouldn’t sit in some of the chairs created by Ron Arad) but they certainly serve a purpose beyond looking pretty.

Illuminate!

Illuminations by Walter Benjamin makes some very interesting points and relates to some of the pieces we have already read. The first two sections make an argument about reproductions similar to Berger’s. We are introduced to the many means of reproduction that have come about through history. These include founding and stamping, woodcut, print, engraving, etching, lithography, photography, and film. “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. This includes the changes which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the various changes in its ownership.” This quote is similar to Berger’s argument that reproductions are not good representations of an artwork because they lack so much authenticity (authenticity is another concept discussed in section 2). Section 3 explains that “the mode of human sense perception chances with humanity’s entire mode of existence. The last sentence of section 3 discusses a “process”; this is similar to the Semiotics and Art History reading. Section 4 introduces politics; “the instant criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice-politics.” Part 5 discussed the fact that works of art are received and values completely different (“polar”) ways. The two main ways examined here are “accent on cult value” and “exhibition value of the work.” Section 5 makes an interesting remark about context that is similar to that in Semiotics and Art History. What is around the work of art (what context the art is in) has an effect on its interpretation and the experience one has when observing the artwork. Section 7 discusses the question of whether photography is an art. In my opinion, as someone who loves photography, it is definitely and art form. I certainly let my creative juices flow when taking pictures…it is in a huge way, how I express myself. Section 14 introduces Dadaism. Marc Lowenthal said, “Dada (Dadaism) is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry, a starting point for performance art, a prelude to postmodernism, an influence on pop art, a celebration of anti-art to be later embraced for anarcho-political uses in the 1960s and the movement that lay the foundation for Surrealism.” This section also discusses and compares many things with film. I think section 15 makes a very interesting argument when Benjamin says, “Since…individuals are tempted to avoid such tasks, art will tackle the most difficult and most important ones where it is able to mobilize the masses. The epilogue confused me a little bit. Where did all this discussion about war come from? Can anyone explain this portion?