From my understanding of the reading a topic and a theme are different because a topic is a broad area that can contain countless perspectives, and those perspectives can generate themes. When deciding on the direction of an exhibition it is probably more important to focus on a creating a theme. A good theme will give more direction to an exhibition. For our assignment we have to focus on issues in contemporary American society. A topic could be any number of things such as technology, which is very general. A theme could be about the dependency on technology that has developed in a leading first world country. Then the exhibit can work toward exploring the questions like who, what, when, where, and why.
6.R.1
The purpose of this reading was to better understand the curatorial process and what the responsibilities of an exhibition maker are. The ultimate responsibility of the person creating an exhibition is the artwork. Their responsibility to art is met by making a lot of decisions, lighting, signage, fonts, wall color, brochures etc. They must make all of these decisions in the best interest of the art so it can be consumed by the audience in its intended form. This means it must aid the purpose of the work, talk to the artist about that, and not change the perspective.
3.M.3
There is no doubt that Louise Bourgeois is a very expressionistic artist. She did so in an interesting way with her abstract sculptures. While also using other mediums Bourgeois was most successful with her sculptures. Her sculptures are more successful because they are able to entice the audience into an ambiguous discussion of the work leading into further discussions. While her inspiration and thought behind the work has a very unique meaning in her memory. Bourgeois created new symbols for the feelings and emotional states she experienced as a child. These unique symbols, focusing solely on emotional experience, provoke discussion and thought on a myriad of ideas and experiences.
3.M.2
Tropes are a figure of speech and are used commonly. The most common and easy to spot examples for me exist on screens. Such as the damsel in distress, or the wise old teacher. In Bourgeois’ work she uses existing tropes and creates her own visuals to go represent those. She also creates or brings to light lesser known tropes such as her piece Femme Maison. The piece relates to a struggle many woman may connect with; a feeling of obligation to a household even though they want to explore their own life. These tropes she explores are mostly self reflecting but as a good artist she knows people are all similar and that many will be able to connect.
3.M.1
As discussed in the wiki, everything is a sign. And that sign is created by the signifier (stop sign) and a signified (the drivers who stop). Bourgeois work in this clip are mostly symbolic signs and represents ideas, mostly evolving around ethics and morals. She wants to convey different viewpoints along with the different feelings that come along with that life. An example she uses is the little girl’s and grandmother’s hands. She says how the little girl is helpless and she wants to convey that feeling along with the feeling of relief from the grandmother’s hands supporting the younger hands.
2.W.2 gallery1
During my time at Abington, as a requirement for the art major, I have taken at least 3 art history courses. It is expected that you will look at a multitude of works from across the world and throughout history. Depending on the specific subject of the class you will see different works that influenced or reflected that time. Even I can understand that there is something to be learned from these works of art whether it represents a message or lesson that words don’t translate as well or just a lesson in history. However, knowing that a work of art is important and trying to be inspired looking at some painting from hundreds of year ago while sitting 30 feet away from a dull projector is still a difficult task for me. Also I think many art majors can agree there is a small amount of B.S. that goes into art critiques and discussions about works, especially in an art history class. A lot of times it can be tough to view the world through the eyes of a long since dead artist who lived in a completely different world compared to ours. The process usually starts with silence from the class until the teacher gives some insight on the painting, artist, or time during which it was created. Even though it can be boring in a classroom the process of analyzing works while at Abington has actually made a difference in how I approach works of art knowing there is an idea to be pulled from every work. It can even be a fun challenge to try and extract these ideas, albeit stressful when there isn’t a professor to guide the discussion. So with a more in-depth understanding of how to analyze art I could go back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the first time since being in college and not just look at work on a surface level. I still have a hard time forcing myself to stop every work and try to understand it. Instead I walked through like it was a department store and I would browse until I found works that compelled me to take a second look.
2.W.1 module2
Jeff Koon’s is a sculpture artist who causes a lot of friction in the art world for his controversial artwork. Most of his artwork would fall under kitsch because it doesn’t create any deep thought while analyzing it, any conversation around his work usually revolves around the head scratching question of how he makes millions of dollars from his art. Even worse is his Made in Heaven collection which has pieces that are basically pornography. The only reason I wouldn’t say it is porn is because his pieces are made by hand and it isn’t just photographs and videos, but it still has a shallow meaning. I think any one with half a mind and a simple background in art can ascertain that Jeff Koon’s artwork is very shallow. It lacks any sense of what makes art important. It doesn’t tell an important story, or give some unique perspective of the world. It looks very cool and that’s about as deep as his art is.
Plato and Aristotle are two Ancient Greek philosophers who wrote about art and its place in society. They both accepted art as an imitation of the real world, however had divergent thought on its value in society. I believe they would both have a tough time accepting Koon’s art.
Plato didn’t like the idea of realism in art since it is removed thrice from the ideal image. 1) the ideal image created in the mind, 2)the actual creation of the object, 3) the recreation of the image through. In Plato’s ideal world art “must be subjected to critical scrutiny” (Barrett p.24) before we allow into the world since it has an impact on us and can effect us psychologically. That being said I believe Koon’s art is basic and doesn’t have a negative theme or topic, if it has one at all, so there’s a chance it would be accepted in this ideal world. You have to look past the centuries of difference between the two artist, and one quote made me realize Plato would accept Koon’s cookie cutter creations, “There are correct values, to which works of art are subservient, and it is not the role of the artist to invent, critique, or alter them” (Barrett p.24). It is very possible Koon’s work could be shown in some children’s museum for beauty appreciation as Plato suggested.
Aristotle however valued art much more as a representation. Believing the representation of art is positive and is an outlet, “Aristotle, however, disagrees and argues that such experience are good because they offer us vicarious satisfactions of our own antisocial tendencies and make us less likely to act out what we experience in art” (Barrett p.25). Aristotle’s less exclusive view on art may seem more accommodating to Koon’s work yet I would disagree. Aristotle was focused on the beauty of art and the ways it can enrich our lives. That being said I don’t think much of Koon’s work displays innate beauty. Maybe you could make a case for the beauty in the perfection of some his works like the metal balloon dogs, however, the Greek idea of beauty doesn’t seem to account for perfection since it is not natural.
Citations:
Barrett, Terry. Why Is That Art?: Aesthetics and Criticism of Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press, 2017.
3.R.3
Tropes are figurative language that we use on a regular basisand can sometime snot even realize we use them. An example is when asking for a tissue or napkin many people will say “Hand me a kleenex”. Kleenex is a specific product but the connotation that has been created in society is so that most people would understand the statement really just means “my nose is running get me a tissue before I use my sleeve”.
Metaphor: The lake was a mirror.
Metonym: To be successful you have to grind.
Synechdoche: Let’s play frisbee.
Irony: Saying “Good hands” if someone drops a ball.
3.R.2
This reading gave a detailed definition of what a sign is and what makes something a sign. A sign consists of the signifier (STOP sign) and the signified (driver who stops their car). If a sign is not obeyed than it is basically not a sign. I think. Signs can also be broken down into three categories Iconic sign, which resembles the signified for example a map. Indexical sign, correlates to the signified(Check Mark>>Good Job/Finished). Symbolic sign, abstracts the signified, the flag of a country.
My examples of the three types of symbols are as follows:
Iconic:
Indexical:
Symbolic:
3.R.1
This chapter explains Expressionism and Cognitivism and how these ways of thinking about art were formed as reactions to previous movements. Both of these ideas about art have a similar definition of what constitutes art. That is, art is an expression of the world we exist in and our experiences during life, and these art forms are sometimes the only or best way to convey the thoughts we cannot yet articulate. Where they differ is that the Cognitive view of art places a high level of value on art as knowledge, because art is often a representation of unique thoughts and feelings. Giving the idea that art is the early stage of unique and complex thought that should be further studied.