Mask Making

My Mask -->

My Sketches -->



Inspirational Masks:

Question 1 and 2: I selected the first piece because I thought that it was very abstract and different: there was use of a lot of different colors, textures and I loved how there were pieces flying this way and that from the mask.


The second piece I selected because I thought it was interesting in its simplicity. It is a carved mask and very sparsely painted. Unlike the first one, this one portrays a sense of realism in the animal. The colors are very neutral, not overly bright, making the mask more realistic as well.

The third piece I selected because I love how simple it is color-wise, but when you look at the detail to the pieces that are coming out of it, even though they are the same color they add the three-dimensional aspect to it and make it come alive. The sharp lines draw the eye to the detailed 3-d pieces.

Question 4: I took some inspiration from each of the masks: I didn’t want a full face mask, I thought a half face mask would be interesting because it hides enough of the face so that the person who is wearing it would possibly be difficult to recognize. I always found something romantic about the idea of being able to see part of the person’s face but not enough to recognize them per se. I took the abstract coloring from the first mask and used geometric shapes on my mask. I also combined it partly with the simplicity I found in the second mask by not making my entire mask filled with crazy colors and leaving parts of it untouched by color so that it wasn’t too busy. I took parts of the third mask for inspiration and cut out eyelashes for my mask as well to emphasize the eyes of the mask. I also added a quasi beak-like nose to the mask so that it covered more of the face. I feel like these 3-dimensional aspects add a little to the mask and make it a little more interesting.

Question 5: I liked the outcome of my mask: I thought at first to create more of an elegant masquerade-type mask, because I love the shape of that mask, and in the end I incorporated that shape into my mask but made it more abstract and what I think interesting rather than creating the elegant formal mask I had first had in mind. If I had time I would have thought it would be interesting to create a papier mache mask.

Week 10 Video Review

Islamic Art at the V&A 1. I selected this video because I wanted to have at least one of the Islamic Art videos and was wondering what the "V&A" was (Victoria and Albert Museum, for the record).
2. -Art is not a part of Islamic religious rituals.
-The Qur'an is their religous text and one form of their art is reproducing it using elaborate manuscripts.
-There are a lot of intricately crafted carpets and textiles in Islamic Art, unlike art in many other cultures/religions.
-The artists of Islamic art are hard to trace.
-Other important artwork includes ceramics and architecture
3. The video discussed Islamic art and the type of architecture that they used for their Mosques. It helped reinforce when the book talked about how some cultures' artwork was not the same as the prominent artwork that is found in other cultures. European art focused more on paintings and sculptures and architecture where Islamic art focused more on what the Europeans thought of as "lesser" decorative arts.
4. See end of posting

Buddhism
1. I selected this video because I wanted to learn more about the different religions
2. Buddhism looks to destroy all desires and all things that feed the ego. These things are all obsticles that must be overcome to reach enlightenment.
-The elaborate Bodi Tree is used to symbolically represent Buddah in Buddhist art.
-Buddhism has evolved and actually shares a lot in common with Hinduism.
3. This video discussed Buddhism a little more in depth and gave me a greater knowledge of what their beliefs are. Seeing all the great monuments dedicated to Buddah was very interesting. They give off a different feeling than that of a huge ornate cathedral.

Hinduism
1. I selected this video because I wanted to learn more about the different religions
2. -Cremation is an importent aspect of Hinduism: it is believed that cremation provides the deceased with direct access to heaven
-Their gods and goddesses are very similar to the Saints that can be found in Catholocism: Each of them has a purpose and represents something that is important.
-Their palaces are extremely decorated (I felt, almost to the point of it being overdone).
3. I never really thought of Hinduism gods and goddesses as being similar to the Catholic Saints. The video pointed this out and I think it helps me understand/relate to the religion better. The book talks briefly about Hinduism and this video definitely gave me a stronger understanding of the religion because I could tie it into something that I know.


Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum
1. I selected this video because I wanted to see what the National Palace Museum was like because all museums are so different.
2. -The collection of pieces featured span over 5,000 years of history. The collection was very diverse and showed artwork from pottery, carvings, cabinets, ink drawings, and much more..
-Many of the works of art here you have to go and see at the museum
3. I found many of these works of art very intersting because of how different each of the works was from one another. The video had such an array of different items and forms of art that it kept my interest in each piece. The book can only have so many pictures, and seeing such a diverse collection helped me see that Chinese art is not so focused on a few forms of artistic craft (like I found European art to be), but many different forms of art.


4. I thought the films were all interesting. I think that they went more in depth than the book and helped me take a deeper look at each of these cultures/religions and better understand not only the concept of the religion (in the case of Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism), but I could better understand why they portrayed their artwork the way they did. I was also able to make a connection with Hinduism by relating it to Catholocism and it made me think how similar some aspects of religions can be to eachother.

Exploring Line

1. It was interesting using my hands as subject matter...they're right there every single day and I look at them all the time but I don't really ever stop and stare at the contours and shadows on my hands when I pose them in different ways.
2. I selected charcoal because I think that it is easier/faster to add shading with it. With pencil you have to build it up gradually to get a good shade but with charcoal you can build it up or give harder strokes and then rub it to lighten/darken areas without making it look smudgy (like I found happens with pencil). Also, I like the not-so-crisp line charcoal gives as opposed to always-crisp line that pencil leaves.
3. I think this is a successful study: my drawing with my dominant hand (with my right hand of my left hand) is much more detailed and properly shaded than the drawing with my non-dominant hand (the drawing of the right hand). I felt like the proportions, as well as the lines and shading were a lot easier to control with my dominant hand than with the other.
4. I don't think I would use my non-dominant hand to create artwork in the future....it felt funny holding a pencil in my left hand and I can draw a lot more accurately and quickly when I use my dominant right hand. I did think it was interesting to go through the process of using my left hand tho, I've never thought of doing that with my artwork.

Week 8: Video Reviews

More Human Than Human
The major thing that I learned from this video is how no matter how developed society has gotten from the Ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians and many other societies, we all have some sort of idealized version of the human body, and it is portrayed in that idealized way in art. It is very interesting to see how no matter how the times have changed, some things that we do stay the same. This video relates to the reading in the text because many of the statues used as example were in the textbook as examples of the art of those times as well. I never really thought about how societies idealize the human body and like I said before, I found it really interesting how back then they were portraying idealized forms of the human body, what they thought was attractive, and how it is so similar to nowadays how the image of the "perfect" body is portrayed by society through the media and art as well.

Cataclysm: The Black Death Visits Tuscany
I chose this video because for some reason the plague has always fascinated me in a weird way and the title caught my eye. I learned that the plague hit Siena and Florence so hard and fast that the people did not see it coming, and that when they emerged from this gruesome tragedy, their outlook had completely changed, including the way they looked at/created art. Their artwork depicted more gruesome scenes, scenes of hell, something they most certainly felt they were in during the black plague. This video relates to the reading in the text because when the book talks about realism, I realized that an artwork from this time might look like it was just a gruesome painting out of someone's head when it realy was someone's reality. I think this film helped me realize how a tragedy can change peoples perspectives so much that it completley changes the content of their artwork prior to the event.

A World Inscribed: The Illuminated Manuscript
I chose this video because my best friend had do do an art exhibit and her first art show was Illuminated Manuscripts at the Karples Museum on Elmwood. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about it. From this video I learned while illuminated manuscripts can be very beautiful pieces of art, they are extremely labor intensive, especially because someone might be making dozens and dozens of copies of one page, and that kind of repetitious work, bent over and detailing the paper can really take a toll on someone. When literacy started becoming the norm, this just made even more work for the illuminators and scribes. The invention of the printing press and moveable type took the jobs from the scribes and illuminators. This only makes it easier for people to obtain copies of a text, but the art of an illuminated manuscript can not be copied by the printing press and owning one of these artworks is a privelage. I thought this film did a great job of describing the long process of creating one of these manuscripts.

Cairo Museum
I chose this video because I thought it would be interesting to see this museum! I learned that like many other museums, they have many many more pieces than they can display at one time and more than half of the pieces they own are in storage. The museum houses some of the most interesting and beautiful and very old relics of the past. Although they probably have an inventory of every piece in there in storage, a piece may be forgotten about until the curator rediscovers it. This vidoe relates to the study of ancient Egypt in the book because most of the artifacts in here are Egyptian. I think this was a good video because it gave me a look of what the museum had to offer and made me think it would be a fascinating and great destination to visit one day

Step 3: Reflect


A. What is installation art?

Instillation art is art that is in a specific space. The art is everything in that space, including that space. Some installation pieces had been created for only one specific place and when they were taken down, they were never installed for viewing in any other location (a one-time deal). The viewer enters the space, and gets to enter, explore and experience the artwork.

B. What materials are used in installation art?

Anything/anyone can be used in installation art. There can be items specifically purchased to make the art, materials/objects found lying around or abandoned, or the artist who created it or people recruited to be a part of it.

C. Why make installation art?

Because it lets the viewers come into a space and interact and examine the art from different angles/viewpoints. Something you may see from one end of the space the installation art is in may not be visible from the other end of the space. I think installation art lets the artist incorporate more than they would be able to in any other art form. Installation art has a lot more space for the artist to work with and express their thoughts/ideas than more traditional forms of art as well.

D. Which artist/installation did I find most interesting?

I found Ann Hamilton’s mantle installation art as well as herself very interesting. I thought it was really unique that she incorporated herself into her installation art, I had never seen anything like that and thought it was so interesting. If I was at that art gallery viewing this installation, I don’t think that at first I would have realized she was a part of the art and would have felt awkward staring at her wondering what she was doing before realizing she was a piece in her own art. I also think it shows how dedicated to her art she is by putting herself into it like that because while it was on display she had to be there when the art was being viewed or the installation wouldn’t be complete.



Step 4: Plan

A. From the material reviewed, is there an inspiration piece that I feel a connection with?

I felt a connection with and took inspiration from the Frida Kahlo. The inspiration I took from Frida Kahlo is actually kind of the opposite of her feelings about her self-portraits: she painted many self-portraits after a terrible streetcar accident that left her body irreparably broken in a way that made her unable to have children and caused her severe pain for the rest of her life. Like Kahlo, I have undergone a transformation, but instead of a tragic one, mine is one that I am very proud of: my dedication and hard work to changing my lifestyle by choosing to eat healthy and making exercise a daily habit helped me transform myself from being over 200 pounds at my heaviest to being within 5 pounds of my goal. I have lost 53 pounds (and counting…almost there!) since the beginning of this February. Like Kahlo, I wanted to express my experience.

B. What theme do I want to explore in my installation? Refer to your textbook if youneed to review Themes of Art. (chapter 3 in text) (Nature, Environment, Self, Mass Media, Consumerism, etc.)

The theme that I want to explore in my installation is a mix of history and the here and now.

C. What materials will I use?

I will use my gym bag (which always has workout clothes in it), my running shoes, my yoga mat, hand weights, measuring cups, my water bottle, cupcake,

Where will this installation be located and why?

This installation is located in my living room because it is where I started my workout journey: I began with DVDs in my home and progressed up to a gym with a personal trainer when I felt comfortable and knew that this time I was really sticking with it.

Describe your installation. Be sure to use the worksheet from Project #3 as your guide.

In my installation, there are many of my typical home health and fitness items that surround me on a daily basis. Off to the side on the ground, there is a cupcake. It is off to the side by itself in the dark, and my workout stuff is over toward the light because it is where I am now. Not saying that I don’t indulge every now and then, but that kind of junk food used to be a part of my daily life and now it isn’t and all the things gathered with my gym things are.

Analyze your installation. Be sure to sue the worksheet from Project #3 as your guide.

In my installation, the principles/elements I used are asymmetrical balance (the pile of things on one end and the lone cupcake on the other), mass (the different objects), and unity (all the objects, like my work out equipment, running shoes, gym bag, measuring cups are all part of health/fitness scene).

What are your thoughts on the planning and creation of a site-specific installation?

I think that site-specific installations are fun to plan and create because they let your imagination run wild of different ideas and objects to incorporate. As soon as I had an idea of what I wanted my installation to be about, I started getting so many different ideas of different locations I could use for my installation, but each location that I thought of had a different set-up and incorporated more items or less items than the place I chose in the end (either because of space, or because I thought simplicity worked best in a different area, etc.).

1. Hyperlink the Blogs you reviewed into your Blog


http://nicoleannalora.blogspot.com/

http://katrondinelli.blogspot.com/


2. When looking at Project #1: (Elements and Principles), did you agree with the element or principle the artist listed with the images? Did you see other elements and principles in the images?

     For both of the blogs, I agreed with the elements and principles both individuals chose to assign to their photograph. I feel like many of the photographs taken had qualities that could be applied to more than just the element/principal they chose them to represent, and I even commented that and gave an example in each blog comment.


3. When looking at Project #2: Where there any images in the Peer Blogs the same as your own? If yes, what were they? Where the reasons the image was selected the same or different as your own?

     I don't have any images because I wasn't able to get to the art gallery due to work and having trouble finding a ride up there.

4. Where there any images that your Peers selected that pique your interest now? If yes, what are they and what is your connection with them? What would you want to know about them?

     I really liked the Andy Warhol Campbell Soup image. It reminds me of art class way back in elementary school. My art teacher had a picture of it on the wall and I could remember me thinking "I could do that!". I had a plan to do an image of a ton of cans of soup, only a different brand, and then I would make money off of that! I can't believe I thought I could do that, it makes me think of 7-year-old me thinking that every time I see that image and makes me laugh.
5. What do you think about the process of reading your peers reflection? Do you find this to be a valuable in your learning?

     I liked reading my peers' reflection, and I do think it is valuable in my learning because I feel like giving and recieving feedback from peers is essential in the learning process because they might have the same thoughts/questions as me or even different perspectives and hearing them can help either reinforce my thinking or make me look at something in a new light.
6. Check your Blog and read comments posted by your Peers. Do you find their comments helpful?

     No comments-I didn't complete project 2 so nobody could comment on my first one because they needed 2 projects to comment.

Logo

1. While creating my logo, I was thinking about how I could incorporate something that I like doing into the artwork. I love calligraphy, so I decided to do my initials-JAB-in a decorative way. My logo expresses something that I love doing, and I had fun creating different ones, from simple to complex. I ended up debating between the most simple one (If you're looking at the 5 drafts, it's the one on the bottom right, the diagonal JAB) and the most complex one. I ended up going with the most complex one because I thought I could use more color in the design.
2. I was very open minded while I was creating my sketches. Some of the works I used an element of balance (such as in my final drawing), and some of them emphasized one letter or a certain group of letters over the others.
3. The most important discovery I made in the creation of my logo is that it is a LOT different doing calligraphy with a pencil and colored pencils. Usually when I do calligraphy I use different sized nibs and an inkwell. The ink flows extremely smoothly and my lines are fluid. While the plus about using a pencil is that I can erase if I make a mistake and not have to start all over again, you don't get those crisp lines that I would if I were using a nib and ink. The reason I didn't use a nib and ink for this complex one is because I had to incorporate color for the project, and I only have black and gold ink on hand. I wanted to use the same medium throughout and thought it would look weird with the crispness of the ink and the softness of the colored pencil.
4. The most important thing that I learned from the materials provided to use as reference for this project is that designing a logo is very labor intensive and a lot of thinking and research goes into making a logo before one final one is chosen. I thought it was interesting how such a small change to a logo like adding two rings to a bullseye and making it 5 instead of 3 for the company logo was such a big decision. I really liked the repackaging the brand video: when they said that they had to bring in scientists and researchers and this huge team of lots of people just to repackage the Marmite (something I thought would have been simple and quick) was very labor intensive and took a lot of time. I had no idea that would have been such an intense process!