Response to Peers' Blogs.

For this assignment I reviewed two of my classmates' blogs:
Joseph Frangione and Grace Platt. 

For Project 1, I think both of blogs did a great job. All of the pictures included in their slideshows clearly represented the designs and elements. I found a lot of similarities within all three of our slideshows for this project. It seemed clear that we had all kind of went around our daily lives and found things to photograph that would represent all of the required designs and elements. I was really impressed by Grace's photography. She may have used a more professional camera or have some experience with photography. Her photos were very clear and well taken.

For Project 2, only Grace had uploaded her experience from the Albright Knox Gallery visit. I was surprised that there was not one work that we both used. I really appreciated Grace's reflections on each piece she chose to use for this project because it is always interesting to hear how someone else views a piece of art. While I remember looking at some of the pieces that meant something to Grace, I did not have the same connection with them. I find this to be really important because everybody is different and has different life experiences. There are many factors that contribute how a person will view a work of art.

I find it helpful to create these blogs, especially for an online class, because it is a great way to stay connected with classmates. I often have no idea what other students in an online class are doing but with the blogs is valuable to read their reflections to know if I am getting the same things out of a project or exploration. These blogs are a perfect example that a group of people can all be assigned the same thing but will all do something totally different. Many of us went to the exact same art gallery and I hardly saw anyone use the same pieces that I chose. Since we are all in the same class and working on the same assignments, it is helpful to know how this experience varies for each student.

I only received one comment. It was on my elements and principles slideshow. I believe it is valuable to have peers respond, but only if students actually take the time to respond to one another. Although I haven't gotten feedback here on my blog, I do appreciate the comments from my classmates on the discussion posts.

Project # 2 Logo Design

1. Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.
I had a really hard time creating my logo. I am extremely indecisive and don't really consider myself to have any kind of special talent or niche to work with so I didn't really know what direction to go in but it was fun to doodle ideas.

2. Describe the process: creative thinking skills and ideas you used in logo creation.
The process was almost frustrating for me. I really enjoy using photoshop and making flyers and graphic design work but I do not consider myself a creative person and really try to stay away from actual sketching. I have always preferred to use the computer as a tool so drawing ideas was new for me. I tried to think of what represented me but like I said in the first answer, I couldn't think of anything that was "unique" about myself. I really wanted a specific direction to go in and didn't know where to start. I am much more gravitative to font based ideas but in this case I was trying to try something different. As you can see on my initial page of ideas and doodles, I just tried to brainstorm starting with my name, what I like, and what I do. I kind of got hooked on linking my logo to teaching because teaching is my passion and a huge part of who I am. I also tend to like things that are very simplistic but most of the logos I started to draw that were connected teaching were more complicated than simple. Obama made a speech about teachers being "nation builders" and ever since I have liked to think of myself as a "Future Nation Builder." So thats where the ideas including that text came from.

This picture is of my first page of brainstorming:

After this disaster doodle session I went to bed and came back to work on this project again the next day. Although I wasn't completely happy with any of my ideas. I really liked the idea toward the middle with the heart inside the apple with the text "future nation builder." I felt it was simple but still had a design to it that would really link it to teaching. And again, sorry I can't draw but here we go with the apple idea:

And with a little help from my friend Adobe Photoshop CS3:

3. What was the most important discovery you made in the creation of your logo?
The most important discovery I made in the creation of my logo was that I am not totally helpless without the computer! I may not be the best sketch artist in the world but it is possible for me to brainstorm ideas and create a design.

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos, powerpoint, and reading material for this project? What was your opinion of the videos?
The most important information I learned from watching the videos, powerpoint, and reading material for this project was just all the details that I always knew were involved but didn't fully know the exact steps that went into creating a design like this. Like we saw in the video where they were presented with a brand for a company and given some direction but just had to start brainstorming some ideas to go back to the client with some options. There was a lot of back and forth through a deep thought process of what exactly the logo would mean and how it could be used in different formats. Its one thing to want a cool picture for your company but the details are insane. The man representing the DA Group in the What's In a Logo video had thought of everything! I think that video was perfect to show the exact steps of designing a logo.

Blog 5: Art Gallery Visit #1

Albright Knox Art Gallery

I really enjoyed the visit to the art gallery! It is funny how you drive right past something every day and never take the initiative to check it out until you are told to. I thought it was awesome that they have the "Life of Pop, London to Warhol" exhibit there for the summer so I got to see a lot of the Andy Warhol work that is in our text and from some of the videos we've seen. I really appreciated seeing the Campell's 100 Soup Cans in real life after knowing more about Warhol and his work.

A.) Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

The Tree by Agnes Martin made an impact on me because it was in the first room of paintings I was looking at and the majority of them were lines, stripes, or circles with only one or two different colors. As you can tell by this picture, there is not a lot of color in this work. I was kind of thinking, "What is going on with this piece?" as I walked closer to it. It is hard to tell but this piece was pretty much just a giant grid of squares. When I looked at the information I couldn't figure out what this had to do with a tree. I actually spent a good amount of time staring at the grid and thinking about trees. When I got home I found this quote from the artist, “When I first made a grid,” Martin said, “I happened to be thinking of the innocence of trees and then this grid came into my mind and I thought it represented innocence . . . and so I painted it and then I was satisfied. I thought, this is my vision.” Martin made fine vertical lines and lightly shaded horizontal bands in oil and pencil, softening the geometric structure, which seems to expand beyond the confines of the canvas. For Martin the grid evoked not a human measure but an ethereal one—the boundless order or transcendent reality associated with Eastern philosophies.
http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/agnes-martin/the-tree-1964

Untitled #1373 by Petah Coyne not only made an lasting impression on me but was my favorite work from the whole gallery along with, "Interior: Monet's Blue Foyer." These silk flowers were covered in wax. It was not only pretty but just so interesting. I wanted to be able touch the flowers so badly! The strings of wax reminded me of strands of hot glue from a glue gun. This work was so intriguing because I was just thinking about how long it must have taken to make and what kind of wax they used and how they melted the wax. As beautiful as I thought this piece was, I also found it to be kind of creepy because the flowers were not bright or blooming, they were wilting and the colors were so neutral. This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen!


B.) Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?


My favorite work from the gallery that I made a connection with was Mickalene Thomas' "Interior: Monet's Blue Foyer, 2012." This picture that I took and other pictures I found online of this work just don't cut it for this piece! You have to see it in real life to appreciate it. This painting was huge and was almost completely alone in the room it was in. It may sound silly to most but the rhinestones spoke to me! As a young girl in my early twenties, I definitely loved and related to this painting. The sparkly rhinestones, the colors, prints, and whole feel just reminded me of myself and my own apartment. It was so pretty!
 
The second work that I connected with was Round Trip by Helen Frankenthaler. I liked this painting because I saw it from the side at first and slowly approached it. At first when I was looking at this painting it reminded me of a road trip for some reason. The two red areas toward the top of the painting resembled aviator sunglasses to me and below looked like rivers, bridges, roads, and people. I immediately felt a sense of traveling and excitement before I looked over and read the information. I found it funny that the painting was called "Round Trip" and it reminded me of a road trip. I love to take long road trips in the car and have been across the country many times so I was connected to this painting through the idea of being on the road.


C.) Which artworks would I like to know more about? Why?

The first work I would like to know more about is shown in the pictures above. "Untitled" by Lee Bontecou. The first picture I took directly facing the work did not do justice to the dimension that the work has so I took the second photo from the side to try and show how it is coming away from the wall. The information says it was made from welded steel, canvas, and wire. I wanted to touch this piece so badly. (I didn't of course!) When I googled the artist to find out more information about this piece, I was surprised to learn that Lee Bontecou is actually a woman. I felt silly for assuming that it was a man who would make this, so this fact alone opened my eyes to not jumping to conclusions when it comes to art. She has many more pieces that are similar to this one that were created with the same materials of welded steel and wire.
 
The second work I would like to know about is this collage. At the gallery there was no information next to the piece but I snapped a picture and was able to search the image in google and found out that it was part of the pop art movement so it might have been a piece that is only in the gallery temporarily with the rest of the pop art and Andy Warhol exhibit. I was excited that I was able to find it by searching with the picture though. I was able to find out that this piece was by artist, John McHale. He was a member of the Independent Group of artists from London and I believe this piece is titled "First Contact" from 1958.

Blog 4: Art Material Exploration 1: Exploring Value and The Subtractive Color Theory

1. I thought it was interesting creating the Value Scale and Color Wheel. The Value Scale was easy to set up, but surprisingly difficult to control the shades. It was hard for me to find a rhythm using the charcoal seeing as it is not a tool I normally use. The feeling of the charcoal against the paper bothered me. The Color Wheel is fun. As I am an education major, we often use color mixing with children as young as toddlers and have them exploring color combinations like this. It was interesting for me to start with the magenta, cyan, and yellow and to use acrylic paints.

2. I preferred the paint over the charcoal. Painting can be so therapeutic and it was fun to mix the colors together to create a new color.

3. The most important discovery in the creation of these studies was the idea of using cyan, magenta, and yellow rather than just blue, red, and yellow.

4. The Value Scale video explained a lot. Creating a gradient can take a lot of time and patience like the one in the video. He was very precise about everything he did from preparing the scale to sharpening and filing the pencils. Although I tried this a couple times, I was unable to produce the look of even and consistent steps as he explained in the video.

Project #1 Elements and Principles of Design

Photobucket Story

Blog 3: Color Theory and Emotional Effects

1. Describe color and its effects on emotions. Use appropriate vocabulary of color in your posting.
There is no other visual element that provides a more pleasurable experience than color. There have been psychological studies of the effects of color and how they impact people's moods that have led to the way the world is colored around us. According to chapter 4, red is believed to increase appetite and food consumption which way restaurants often decorate in red, just as blue is said to be relaxing and calming to even lower blood pressure. The harmonies of colors and color schemes that are created using complementary colors all provide viewers with different experiences. Harmonies in combinations of lights and pigments allow color to be fluid and take the viewer's eyes to different places of the work as well as brining the work to life for the viewer.

2. What is a theoretical aspect of color that most intrigues/fascinates you?
I am most fascinated by the way light changes color because all colors are dependent on light. The way light changes the way we view colors is fascinating and as we saw in the Color Video, can be very frustrating for the artist. The woman, June, in the video kept saying "It's not the right light..." She was frustrated with the way her painting of Venice was coming along when she was creating inside her London studio. It just wasn't the same. The video also showed a moment where they were riding in a gondola along the water ways of Venice and they were talking about the way the light reflects off of the water to change the colors of their surroundings. We were then able to see them go under a bridge where you could vividly see the reflections from the sun reflect off of the water and running along the underside of the bridge. The lighting brings so much life and fluidness to the way colors run.

3. In the color video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and its effects on emotions?
In the color video, the thing that made the biggest impact to me in regards of color and its effects on emotions was probably just watching June's story of creating her painting. She spoke about wanting to create a feeling of well being through the painting and really struggled with her use of colors to bring that message through. I liked the way she painted fluidly so that the painting was "kept alive." It was interesting to learn about how much lighting effects colors and even how Titian mimicked in paint the effect of light in his painting The Assumption to reflect color everywhere just as it is in real life. I believe the lighting surround the colors makes the paintings look so realistic.

4. In the feelings video, what made the biggest impact on you in regards to color and its effects on emotions?
In the feelings video, the thing that made the biggest impact to me in regards of color and its effect on emotions was that there was history behind the point in time where art actually changed to reflect feelings. It is amazing that there were always the religious paintings in churches and hung to show familiar bible stories but everything changed when the paintings grew with artistic techniques that could intensify the stories so that people could emotionally identify with them. And then the whole idea from trying to change people's minds that god is making all of the decisions to David and Goya's works expressing that hell is something we make for ourselves and we control our own actions.

Blog 2: Videos and CNN Article

1. For each video and article list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
-In the Aesthetics: Philosophy of the Arts videos, the key concepts for me were the evolution of how we describe aesthetics today. Beginning with the very early ideas of Plato, who believed art was just imperfect copies of a perfect idea and that only one idea could present itself through the senses, and that idea was beauty. Plato held a low opinion of artists and poets and focused more on the idea that, "There is a beauty by which all things are beautiful." Throughout the video we are introduced to several theories by some of the most famous philosophers to touch base on each of the different ideas. Over time each one had their own ideas on aesthetics and added something to the way beauty is seen. While Plato didn't even consider artists or poets to understand aesthetics, over time aesthetics grew to not only be part of art and poetry, but also music, playwriting, sculpting, and many other art forms.

-In the CARTA video, Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics, the key concepts explained the connection between science and art. How the human brain responds to art, why some art produces pleasure to our minds, and how artists intentionally create art to have powerful effects on the mind. Every act of perception involves judgement. There is an aesthetic "jolt" when the brain figures something out through viewing art.

-In the CNN Article, "What the Brain Draws From: Art and Neuroscience" the idea that art is created by artists who have figured out how to create an illusion of something that is not there and to make it feel real and bring pleasure. Humans recognize familiar things in art. The article describes elements within art that humans recognize and drawn to such as lines, faces, color, and expression. I found Picasso's quote to be really interesting, "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth..." because even with all of the exaggerations and distortions within art, the brain always causes us to see the reality even if it is not the objective reality.

2. Which philosophers theory on aesthetics do you feel is most important? Be sure to mention name, era, and contribution.
Each philosopher introduced a lot of important ideas to contribute to aesthetics. It is hard to say which would be considered most important, but if I had to pick just one, I would say Arthur Schopenhauer of the 18th century not not only had a great theory, but believed music was the highest of the fine arts, the romantic art, and the art of his century. His most important contribution to aesthetics was his theory on music as the "embodiment of will." Schopenhauer believed that, "Music above all, embodies the will to live through its incessant momentum and energy." Schopenhauer saw aesthetic contemplation as a way to escape pain or suffering. I think this is something almost everyone can relate to. There are always times in life when we want to escape. Life can be hard and challenging at times but there are ways to see the beauty again and I think that one of the most common escapes to peace for people is music. Schopenhauer deemed music to be "a timeless, universal, language which is comprehended everywhere, and can imbue global enthusiasm, if in possession of a significant melody."

3. What do you think about Changeux and Ramachandran scientific view of aesthetics and art? What was the most interesting fact you discovered from each speaker's lecture?
I think Changeux and Ramachandran's scientific view of aesthetics and art was really interesting. I have never really thought about the science of art before and Ramachandran speaking about science and humanities meeting in the human brain was fascinating. Although I thought that all of his examples explaining the 8 Laws of Aesthetics were interesting, I really tapped into the rule of symmetry. Symmetry is appealing universally and even animals have a preference to symmetry. Ramachandran explains that in nature, most biological objects are symmetrical. Animals coming into contact with prey, predator, or a mate is arousing. Symmetrical architecture in famous buildings such as the Taj Mahal does not have to be there but it is pleasing to look at. I liked this part of his lecture because it gave me insight as to why I have a personal preference toward symmetrical things. I definitely favor symmetrical art and even in decorating or arranging things in my house, I obsess about the balance.

4. How do the videos and article relate to the readings in the text?
The videos and articles relate to the readings in the text because somehow art is always linked to beauty. While the text explains what art is and different types of art whether it be representational, abstract, or nonrepresentational, no matter what style or meaning within the art, there is always an aesthetics in the work that comes from the artist and is seen by the audience.

5. What is your opinion of the films and article? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics in your reading in the text?
I really enjoyed the Aesthetics video and I thought it was valuable to hear a little bit about several of the philosopher's theory. The video definitely opened my mind to some new ideas about what it means for something to be beautiful and what beauty and aesthetics means to me. Honestly the CARTA film was almost over my head, especially with Changeux's heavy accent I found it hard to follow (Even when turning on the captions, which were way off!). I did enjoy Ramachandran's lecture and thought that the 8 laws of aesthetics were really fascinating, especially when he was giving examples of each one. The article was really helpful in tying everything together because I think the article laid out the ideas in the most simplest form. The understanding of aesthetics is much deeper that what we have read (so far) in the text. The videos and article really added a deeper understanding of the complexity of aesthetics within art.