Module 10 Blog Post

1.   Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

Video 1 – African Art

            I chose this video because I wanted to learn more about African Art.  When looking over the other assignments for this module I saw we need to make an African mask so I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about African culture and their style of art.  

Video 2 – African Art: : Legacy of Oppression

            I again chose another video about African Art because I wanted to learn more about it and the history of it.  

2.   For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Video 1 – A lot of the artwork they create are made for ceremonial moments in the African Culture.  They are ideas passed down from generations. They also typically represent animals in their rock art.  They have their own style but you are still able to determine they animals.  

Video 2 – This video was interesting because you got to hear people point of view of artwork they saw every day in a museum.  You learn that there is a huge range of African Art styles.

3.   How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The videos talk about art in a different culture as the text does as well.  I don’t think we realize that color or style in our culture can mean something completely different in another culture.  It is important we learn about all cultures and the artwork they create.  Especially as an art educator, we need to retain as much about other cultures we can so we can relate to all of our students.  

4.   What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I think the films go into detail a bit more and give you specific examples of the artworks in these cultures.  It is nice to hear what experts personal feelings are about the African artwork in museums, and hear different points of views.  

Module 9 Project

1.   What was it like using your hand as subject matter for a drawing?

Using my hand as a subject was difficult, but I think it is a good exercise because how much line work and shading can go into it. You don’t think of all the little details of your hand, until you’re looking at it and need to draw the lines that will most support your drawing. 

2.   What media did you select - pencil or charcoal? Why?

I chose pencil because I have always been more comfortable using pencil when creating artwork.  

3.   How did it feel to create a drawing with your non-dominant hand?

It was very difficult and I felt very uncomfortable doing it.  I like having control over my artwork and when using my non dominant hand, I felt like I was no in control of my drawing at all. 

4.   Compare and contrast your final drawings. Do you think they are successful studies?

I think they are somewhat successful.  You can tell what the images are of.  Although they are both a little out of scale and I could not get all the exact details, especially when drawing with my non dominant hand, I still think they are successful studies.  

5.   Would you consider using your non-dominant hand to create artwork in the future?

Probably not, as said before I like having control of my artwork, especially when there is heavy line work.  I am not yet strong enough with my left hand to feel confident using it to create artwork. 

Module 9 Blog Post

1.   Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

Video 1 – Power of Art: 1 Caravaggio

-      I chose this video because I wanted to learn more about Caravaggio.  He is a famous painter and I wanted to know more than I already knew about his life and his artwork.  

Video 2 – The Drawings of Michelangelo

-      I chose this video because I love Michelangelo’s artwork and wanted to learn more about his drawings and how he started a piece of artwork.  

2.   For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Video 1 – Something I learned from Caravaggio was he creates his artwork to be realistic, it’s not always going to be the most flattering, or the prettiest, but the images he painted were what he saw in the real world. His paintings brought to light some tough subjects, but he wasn’t going to shy away from letting the people know the real stories.

Video 2 –   It’s amazing how well rounded of an artist Michelangelo was.  He started as an apprentice which was mostly drawings and sketching of the human body.  He focused on contour line drawings of people and really took into account the true forms. Then the fact he was able to bring those forms to life and create sculpture is truly amazing.  

3.   How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

These videos relate to the reading in the text because they both talk about how art is in our everyday societies.  The people in our past were recreating historical figures the way they wanted to see them.  They created artwork for churches and architecture that fit the time period. We see that stuff as normal or not as incredible because we are used to seeing it, but back then, stained glass was something so amazing and something we need to appreciate more.  

4.   What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I think the films are both very informational.  These two artists are two that any art student should be aware of.  They are both very important to the history of art and I think both of these videos really give us an idea of how they lived, and what they went through to because these artists we think so highly of. 

Module 8 Video Review

1.   Explain why you selected the video you choose from the selection listed above.

The Measure of All Things: Greek Art and the Human Figure – I chose this video because I have always been fascinating with Greek society and Greek art.  I was hoping this video would help me learn more about art and the reason why Greek artists created art the way they did.  

2.   For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Video 1: More Human than Human – Some key things I learned from this video was I don’t think we will truly ever know what our ancestors were thinking when creating carvings, paintings and other artworks in our past.  We can speculate and try and understand it as best we can, but we will never know the truth.  And I think that’s okay because we’re able to make our own meaning out of it, make meaning that is important to us.  

Video 2 – I think it in interesting how the spoke about how the figures with big stomachs were pregnant, but if they had stripes, then they had already given birth.  I have always found in intriguing the way art historians can find meaning in the small details of all artwork.  Obviously that comes from studying art for a long time.  I would think art historians have to spend so much time studying artwork to find similarities and connections they can make between them to come up with what they believe is being represented in them.  

3.   How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

I think they relate to the tex because they talk about the meaning behind the body language and symbols that we have found in ancient art. We can assume what we want about these and make informative ideas about them.  

4.   What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I think the films were both very informative because like I said before, we never will truly know what these artworks mean.  We can make connections and create ideas about what different styles mean but will we truly ever know for sure the meaning behind these artworks. The thing we can pull out of these artworks of figures is, this is what we can assume are images of their everyday life.  I believe they were documenting what was going on around them and the created what the people around them were doing.  Regardless of what people believe the meanings to be, these artworks are something so great, considering the materials they had to use to create art. They couldn’t go to the store and pick up paints they needed and knives they thought would be easiest to use, they creating these tools and materials themselves to artwork.   

Architecture Video Review

1.    For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Video 1 – “Last Call for Planet Earth..”

-      We use energy and resources in everything we do, even if we don’t see it first hand.  Even art and creating architecture, we need to be aware of how much energy we are using.  The art world needs to be just as aware of climate change as anyone else.  We need to be creative in finding ways to make architecture use as little energy as possible.  Finding ways to utilize natural light and energy.  

Video 2 – “Architecture as Art..”

-      I think we often forget that architecture is an art form.  We create art to make it aesthetically pleasing to the eye, even if our message isn’t very pretty.  We make art to be captivating.  Why is architecture any different?  Architecture is made to be functional and aesthetically captivating to someone who may need to use the architecture.    

2.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

-      As the videos talked about, the reading also discussing the trial and error of architecture and making it useful to what it will be used for.  Not every building is going to be built the same.  They are carefuly crafted, designed and planned to strategically find ways to make the buildings as functional as they can be.  

3.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of Architecture?

-      When looking at architecture, you don’t always think about how much time, effort, and thinking goes into the creation of buildings.  Same goes for bridge, for me, I think there are blue prints available or created and you do what you have to do, to make the structure fit where you need it.  But so much more thinking goes into architecture of these structures and I don’t think we realize that.  It makes you think about how precise we need to be, and how aware we as a society need to be about our world, climate change is affecting everything that we do, as it should be.  Architecture is something we use every day, we live in it, we work in it, we shop in it.  It should be something we think about more, because the design of it is so important to how we function as a society.  Architecture needs to be functional. 

4.    Why did you choose the films that you watched?

-      I chose the first video because it seemed like something we as a society don’t often think about, and to be honest I definitely don’t think about.  When a building is being built, I don’t think how it will pollute our air or how it will change our energy resources, so I thought it was important to learn more about that, especially as someone in the art world.  

-      The second video I chose, was about architecture being and art form, and about Frank Gehry.  I have always been interesting in Gehry’s architecture since seeing the Walt Disney Concert Hall that he designed.  So much thought and design goes into his architecture and they truly are works of art.  

Video Review

1.   For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Through the Eyes of the Sculptor– I don’t think non artists realize how much work, time, effort and research goes into creating a piece of artwork. Often I think these artworks are taken for granted, people don’t realize how truly incredible they are. I have never been much of a sculptor and definitely have never created anything from limestone, but I have learned about it.  This video showed me again, just how time consuming it is to create a great sculpture.  The don’t just appear overnight.  Think about the creation of David, back then they had no resources really other than trial and error to create that sculpture.  We have a little bit more help now, with books and even the internet.  You have to be passionate to create something of this scale and this time consuming, it’s not easy work.  You cannot erase your mistake, you can only keep chipping away. You have to have patience and know you may fail many times before you succeed.  

Glass and Ceramics– Similar to the other video, we take a lot of things for granted.  I don’t think we think about how many things in our lives are created from glass.  We don’t think twice about it, because it’s always been available to us.  We don’t think about the process of how things became the way they did.  For me I usually assume, a machine did it.  But how, who built these machines? Other machines?  At some point humans were the beginning of this process, people shaped glass first.  This is another process people take for granted.  So much trial and error went into the creation of glass products.  We have machines that do the hard work for us, we have cut out great experiences and techniques just so we can have things faster and in bigger quantities.  Glass has lost its value because of what we can create with it using machines.  

2.   How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The reading talks about all the types of techniques people used to make art, and when we see these techniques in textbooks, we think they are historic ways of creating art.  But in reality, people still use them.  The same way, people use hand tools to create sculptures.  Just because we have machines doesn’t mean the old ways of creating art are no longer usable.  Sometimes not using different technologies to create art is easier for the artist because they have learned the processes.  The process of creating art is just as important as the finished piece. 

3.   What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics: Sculpture, Installation, and Craft?

I think these videos are important to show how time consuming and the hard work that goes into creating these artworks.  Many take them for granted cause they’ve always been around, but they are something quite remarkable.  They add depth to understanding these topics because like I have said, people  don’t realize how much work it takes for them to be created.  You have to think about everything when creating glass and sculpture. Both glass and sculptures aren’t just being created to be put into a museum.  They are being created to serve a purpose, and I think sometimes people forget that.  

Blog Reviews

1.   Hyperlink the Blogs you reviewed into your Blog

https://allydemski.blogspot.com

https://zenlinez.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 looked at I definitely could see the element or principle that they assigned to the photo, but as I have always said, most images contain more than one element or principle and I definitely saw that in their photos.  What I also liked about both of their photographs projects was that they proved that the elements and principles can be found anywhere. The first blog I went to, he took all his photos at an abandoned hospital and was able to take images to still meet the criteria.  And the same with the second blog I looked at, all her photos were taken in everyday scenarios and it just goes to show that you don’t have to go to far to find that art is all around us, all the time.  

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?

None of the images I saw in either of the blogs I looked at were the same as the ones I had chosen.  One reason for that was because someone went to a completely different museum than I did, which I think is great because it’s another perspective for us to see more artwork and the thoughts that people have on them. The other blog post was from the same museum but different artworks, but what was great was the artworks we chose were similar in theme.  I think the artworks they chose were ones that I would have really enjoyed seeing, and will probably go back to see.  Some of the artworks he chose were sculptures that were outside, and the day I went to the museum wasn’t the best day to be outside, so I was enjoying the artwork inside the museum.  Some of the reasons they chose the artwork were similar to reasons I chose my artworks. One of which was we both chose artworks that had a sense of illusion.  They both created depth and really played with your mind a bit when observing them.   

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?

Yes, like I said in response to the last question, some of the sculptures that I saw in one of the blogs I really would like to go look at in person.  The photographs definitely give you a sense of understanding, but you can always learn more when you see an artwork up close and really get that visual of it.  

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 think it’s very valuable to hear what others have to say. We all have our own minds filled with thoughts and ideas.  I think even if we were all told to go and look at the same paintings we would all find different ways to articulate what we see.  And we often would have very differing comments and thoughts about the artwork, and I think it’s great to hear what others are saying, and then you can be able to see more in the artwork, and maybe learn more about it.  By listening to others, you gain more exposure and thoughts/ideas about something.  

6.    Check your Blog and read comments posted by your Peers. Do you find their comments helpful?

I definitely find them to be helpful, even just gaining another perspective will help us grow as artists and just as people.  Nothing should ever be taken personal, you should take things as opportunities to grow and become better.