Idea Post #5

September 30, 2010
Idea Post #5

Propaganda


“(Propaganda) proceeds by psychological manipulations, character modifications, by creation of stereotypes useful when the time comes - The two great routes that this sub-propaganda takes are the conditioned reflex and the myth.”
-Jacques Ellul
Source: Ellul, Jacques. "Think Exist." Propaganda . N.p., 2010. Web. 29 Sep 2010.

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society."
-Edward Bernays
Source: Bernays, Edward and Mark Miller. Propaganda. City: Ig Publishing, 2005.

Annotated Bibliography:
Bernays, Edward and Mark Miller. Propaganda. City: Ig Publishing, 2005.
This book is a good resources for the basics of what is propaganda. Organized by sections of usage in time periods, it begins with the propaganda in the world wars. It deals with the necessity of the propaganda in spreading messages.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the correct and effective way to spread a message. Propaganda usually refers to spreading a message in a conniving, devious way but the actual definition just deals with promoting an idea. This need to spread a message in any means possible has been on my mind a lot recently. I am hoping to focus my efforts on distribution of a concept for the next few weeks.

Miguel Palma Questions/Response

Artist Lecture #2 (Sculpture Department)
September 28, 2010

Miguel Palma

1) It looks like your pieces are sort of themed by year. For example, it looks like in 2006, you focused on issues of transportation whereas in 2007 there were a lot of architecture pieces and in 2009 there were pieces based off of scientific phenomena. Do you feel like one piece leads you into another piece? Or do you chose themes for your work each year?

2) Some of the themes of your pieces seem to carry two completely different meanings. "The Race" for example dealt with transportation, but was actually used as a piece to describe how the "artist" works. Do you tend to bring multiple concepts together through a single piece?


Favorite Quotes:
(Because of the language barrier, getting quotes was difficult, but here were my favorites:)

• "The vase became much more interesting in pieces. Then during the restoration, the pieces became rich."
• "The video is quiet nice. You just see a tsunami and people dying."
• "By keeping the worms alive, the piece pies. It's a nice metaphor for life, ya know."
• "It's supposed to have volume, but just imagine Japanese people and American people talking."
• "Did you take any drugs?" -Audience Member. "Yes." -Artist
  

Three words:
Complex, detailed, and large-scale.


Most interesting fact about the artist:
A lot of his work deals with construction and deconstruction to show power of one thing over another. He likes to show these themes in ways that evoke "peace and stability." He is also extremely clever. Sometimes with the language differences it was hard to pick up on his whitty nature, but the best example of his humorous ways lays in his explanation of his safe sculpture. He was commissioned to make an art piece and given a large sum of money to create it. He put all the money in a large safe and sat the safe in the gallery. When the exhibit was over, he spent all the money and said he lost the sculpture in a move. I mean, who does that? And tells the audience about it?


Answer to the original questions:
The answer to my question about the organization of themes by year was not addressed, but it seemed pretty clear that there was no intention in organizing it that way versus another. For him, he said he works on many projects at the same time, and finishes when he finishes, so I think most likely one project led to another in a logical way. My second question about transportation was asked by another audience member and it seems that transportation is just an important issue to him and he tends to make work about pollution, etc.


Most compelling piece:
One of the most powerful pieces to me was the car that he created that had a canvas system attached to the back of the vehicle. The exhaust emissions created landscapes on the canvases as he drove. It was an impressive display of cleverness and effectiveness in proving pollution issues. As Palma put it, "I like low-budget special effects."

Artist Post #4

Artist Post #4

Monday, September 27, 2010

Francis Alys


Francis Alys' work is engaging and interesting. Although my favorite project of his is probably his Seven Walks project in London, I think his piece that relates the most to my work is called Sleepers. Alys begins his project Sleepers while residing in Mexico City. He photographs people sleeping on the streets within walking distance to and from his studio. The interesting part of this, and the part that relates to mine the most, is the fact that he photographs and makes commentary as a foreigner. He is the outsider, and he is the one bringing light to an issue in their society. Similarly, I will be trying to raise awareness about an issue that for me began in a foreign country.



Alys attended the Institute of Architecture in Venice before he moved to Mexico City. He works in many mediums including video, photography, painting, animation, and writing. He travels frequently for his work with the David Zwirner Gallery, but always finds his way back to Mexico City. His work has been shown in an extraordinary amount of exhibitions around the world including Tate Modern in London, The Renaissance Society in Chicago, The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and many more internationally.


Quotes:
"The periods of not moving forward or not pushing are also important- things are moving through inertia."

"It's like being a double agent. No matter how long I've been away, I have one foot in a European culture, and one foot out. Maybe I enjoy having a double reading, having both an insider and an outsider point of view. A lot of my work plays on that double status."

Source: Alys, Francis. Seven Walks; London, 2004-5. London: Artangel, 2005. Print


Links:
Gallery Reps
Interview
Artist Website

Idea Post #4

Idea Post #4

September 23, 2010

Distribution (of art)

Relation:
I am honestly feeling a little lost about the direction to go with my work this week. The only thing I feel like has remained constant in my head has been the idea of distribution. Figuring out how, where, and to whom to distribute these images has been plaguing me. I feel like I should really worry about how to effectively capture my concept before anything else, but the idea of distribution won't leave my head. I feel like this post was mandatory to ease my mind and let me concentrate on the image before getting the image out there.



Quotes:

A blind man can make art if what is in his mind can be passed to another mind in some tangible form.
-Sol LeWitt

Just as the development of earth art and installation art stemmed from the idea of taking art out of the galleries, the basis of my involvement with public art is a continuation of wall drawings.
-Sol LeWitt


Annotated Bibliography:

Rushton, Alan et.al. The Handbook of Logistics and Distribution Management. London: Kogan Page, 2006.
This book doesn't have anything to do with distributing artwork, but for this post I figured I should look into the means of distribution itself first. This book deals with the logistics of distributing anything. It goes through warehousing, product shipping, and different ways to move product around different locations.

Artist Post #3

Artist Post #3

September 19, 2010


Wendy Ewald

Relation: The main relation between Wendy Ewald's work and my own lies in her project called "Literacy through Photography." The theme in her work and my own is similar. We both want to help raise awareness for a youth oriented issue through the art of photography. In Ewald's case, LTP urges children to explore their world through photography and then promotes pairing writing with their images. The writing is used to help literacy in children, and the photography is used as a way for the children and teachers to see into each other's lives. Since 1992, in Durham, North Carolina, Ewald has held LTP workshops every year to further this project.


Bio: Although I chose the Literacy for Photography project to relate to my theme, almost all of Ewald's work has dealt with helping teachers, children, and families in locations all over the world including Columbia, India, South Africa, Holland, Mexico, and the United States. In all of her projects with children, she always encourages the children to work on documenting their family and their life. Ewald sometimes writes on the negatives the children took herself, making the viewer think about who the real artist was... the child who took the photograph or the observer who added the text. Her list of accomplishments, awards, and exhibitions is incredibly impressive.


Ewald Quotes:
"The only thing that should move is this finger right here. You have to make a decision about what you want in your picture to be the most important thing, and which you want to be in focus. You want to be the most important thing?"

"I am an artist and I need to see pictures that show me what the world is like. And the way to get those pictures is by constructing a situation in which... in which I teach, and the product of that teaching are the images."
Source: Brown, Jeffery. "Online Newshour." PBS, 07 Mar 2002. Web. 19 Sep 2010. .


Links:
Gallery Representation
Interview
Artist's LTP Blog
Artist's Website: Coming Soon

(Note: All images in this blog post are from Literacy Through Photography Workshops- the photographs were taken by participants and the text was added by Ewald.)

Idea Post #3

Idea Post #3

September 16, 2010

Communication


The dilemma I am currently facing with my work is proper communication. I have a solid concept and I feel like it is imperative for me to get the message out there in an effective way. As I consider the options for doing this, I am faced with various questions about the concept of communication?
How do I get the idea to travel?
How can I effectively portray my opinion and voice?
How do I achieve an open exchange of communication in my art?
Can I involve the audiences ideas with my own? Have the viewers communicate back to me?
How do you safely spread an idea in impoverished inner-city areas?
How do I allow the voice of others to enter your thought-process?
How do I get the voice of others to spread even further? To other viewers?


Book Reference:
Mckay, Matthew et.al. Messages: the Communication Skills Book. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications, 1995.

This book helps you learn how to spread a message. Not dealing with one type of communication over another, it covers the basics of communicating your thoughts person-to-person or in larger groups. Although I need to figure out how to communicate through a piece of art, this book deals with communication in almost every way possible: body language, therapist-to-client, negotiation, making contact, assertiveness, etc.

Quotes:
"Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution."
-Ansel Adams

"As communicators, artists should not just portray a subject. Their work should be a window to the thoughts and inner workings of their artist lives and minds."
-Elizabeth Azzolina

Wafaa Bilal Question/Response

Artist Lecture #1
Preparation Questions
September 15, 2010

Wafaa Bilal

1) How did you decide to approach the issue of Iraq War Casualties as a tattoo? How do your friends/family feel about you paying homage to your brother and other causalities in such a personal way? As the tragedies continue, do you continue to add dots to your tattoo? If so, how regularly?

2) How many images create the composites in the "Human Condition" series? They seem so unreal, where did the images come from for the background? Do the figures in the images know what role they are playing in your symbolic role?


Artist Lecture #1
September 16, 2010
Response

Out of all the lectures I have attended over the years at VCU, this one was probably my favorite. The passion behind Wafaa Bilal's speech and work mixed with his calm, humorous demeanor while discussing such painful and political topics made this lecture a pleasure to attend. Bilal speaks mostly about "dynamic work" defined by him as "a platform in which all possible end-states are unknown." All of his works deal with a series of conflicts that he has categorized as:
Conflict zone vs. comfort zone
Aesthetic pleasure vs aesthetic pain
Virtual platform vs physical platform
The body has its own language
Dynamic Work

My favorite quote from the lecture was probably: "If you either get under people's skin and push their buttons, or just try to educate them, it's a success. Just a reaction is success for an artist."

But there were several other memorable quotes from today, serious and humorous:

• "I see the artist as a platform initiator rather than someone who imposes ideas on others."
• "Even the refusal to do a political act, is a political act."
• "...but that's what art's supposed to do- it's supposed to inform, it's supposed to educate, it's supposed to be a way of life."
• "And I asked them, 'is there a PETA for Iraqis?'"
• "I thought the Al Qaeda had put out porn- but it was really hunting President Bush... I was so disappointed."
• "I'm a product of their [my parents] dysfunction; I'm the middle child."
• "If you say 'I'm gonna assassinate the president,' you expect the FBI will show up at your door."
• "The Modern Man becomes a Trojan Horse because of technology- there is no safe place. I embrace technology to help raise awareness in a time-efficient way."
• "If I believe in something, why shouldn't I speak out?"
• "By putting a face to the issues it brings people from their comfort zone to see the conflict zone."
• "The project determines the medium, not the other way around."
• "In the end, I just want to raise awareness and encourage others to speak out."

I feel that the artist's work and practice could probably be summarized with the words: engaging, political, and dynamic.

I think the most interesting thing I learned about the artist was just the sheer amount of support and hate both going his way during his projects. It's amazing that an artist can generate that much buzz mid-project. My favorite examples of this are (1) the "Virtual Human Shield," a group of Bilal's supporters who banned together to try and block access to the paintball website and spare shots from flying Bilal's way, and also (2) the fact that Bob Murch was removed from office and stands trial for power abuse in direct response to his censorship over Bilal. Bilal's art project's spoke to a huge number of people who didn't just talk about his effect, but took action. It's amazing.

My question about the series with the composite images was not answered, because that series wasn't even shown. And I think I know the answer to my first question. I had many questions about the "And Counting" series, with the back tattoos, and I think they were all answered in his explanation of the situation.

The video game was truly amazing and I feel like it was the most powerful. The artwork itself isn't what blows me away, but the insane reaction to it is mind-boggling. Hearing Bilal describe his reasons behind the project and his struggles to keep it up in galleries was one thing, but hearing the recordings of radio-show call-ins and news footage was just incredible. This was definitely the most powerful of his pieces, to me.

I am interested to see the new work Bilal has in store for us.

Artist Post #2

Artist Post #2

September 13, 2010


Philip Lorca-DiCorcia


Background:

Philip-Lorca DiCorcia became interested in photography in the 70s, and graduated from Yale University in 1979 with a Master of Fine Arts. By 1984, he was already a successful freelance photographer for many magazines including Fortune and Esquire. Now living in New York, DiCorcia’s current work borders somewhere between “pseudo-documentary and cinematic.” He works hard to combine candids with artificial light. He straddles a line between contriving and controlling an image and leaving it up it up to spontaneity.

Relation:

The artist I chose this week is Philip-Lorca DiCorcia, but I want to focus on one body of work in particular, DiCorcia’s “Heads” series. In this series, DiCorcia sticks with his usual style using a blend of street photography and portraiture. He sets up a strobe light in a specific spot on a New York City street and as the crowds go by, DiCorcia waits with a telephoto lens for that perfect moment. As a stranger unknowingly steps into the light, DiCorcia captures that perfect blend of planned and unplanned. This series really speaks to me not only because of it’s creative technique, but mainly because of how the final images look. In these images, the subjects have a perfect, crisp light on them while it appears to be nighttime around them and there is little detail in their surroundings. For my work in this class, I will be using a very similar lighting style in half of my images. I aim to have a crisp light, like DiCorcia, except use a warmer colored light to emulate a street light.

Quotes:

'I choose photographs where my presence is not important...Only a child looked at me once.'

'They think I'm violating their rights. Maybe I am.'

Source:

"Philip-Lorca diCorcia: choice, non-event and truth." Otur; Art and writing practice and theory. N.p., 04 Feb 2003. Web. 12 Sep 2010. .

Links:

Gallery Rep

Website

Interview

Idea Post #2

Idea Post #2
September 9, 2010

Heroin

How to even get into this post.. hmm. Well in trying to relate a word to my concept, I figured I would start out with some broad topics that got me interested in my concept in the first place. Honestly, my knowledge of drug use in general is pretty limited, so if heroin was going to be my word this week, some research was definitely necessary. So, here are the facts: sometimes called "the perfect whatever drug," heroin is an opiate drug that is synthesized from morphine from Asian poppy plants. Regardless of the method (injection, snorting or smoking), heroin enters the brain where is is converted back to morphine and binds to the opioid receptors in the brain, causing a feeling of euphoria and relaxation. This rush of euphoria is followed by dry mouth, warm flushing of the skin, heaviness of the extremities, and clouded mental functioning. 23% of people who try heroin once become addicts.

My senior portfolio project is going to deal with the reasons that are standing between you and your dreams- the reasons you can't achieve your goals. The time I spent in Ireland this summer really inspired this project. Heroin is an appropriate starting point for this project considering the area I worked in in Dublin had 61% heroin use. The insanely high heroin use in this area alone affects the children, the families, and the area as a whole to an astonishing degree.


Quotes from heroin addict turned psychologist, Dr. Melinda Tyler:

• "It should be as easy to get into treatment as it is to buy a drug on the street—and that is the bottom line."
• "I strongly feel that many cases of addictions are genetically driven; therefore, I feel it is so important for parents who know of addiction in their immediate or extended family to talk about those dangers with their kids."

Source:
Sundene Nicole, Dr. "An Interview with a Heroin Addict turned Psychologist." Kitchen Table Medicine November 5, 2008: n. pag. Web. 8 Sep 2010. .


More Information?
Annotated Bibliography:

Sixx, Nikki and Ian Gittins. The Heroin Diaries. New York: VH1 Books, 2007.
This is a book you should look into if you want an unusual source. This book won't give you the medical facts about heroin, it will give you the painstaking details of a famous addict, Nikki Sixx. The book takes you through addiction, withdrawal, and more addiction first hand.

Artist Entry #1

Artist Entry #1

September 6, 2010

Garry Wiongrad

Although Garry Winograd is not a contemporary artist (lived 1928-1984) I chose to feature him because I feel like the topics in his work relate to some of the topics I would like to deal with in senior portfolio. A lot of Winograd's work is shot in a black and white, gritty, very stylized way, which is not at all how I would like to broach the subject. I still felt like it was necessary to explore his work because the themes overlap so much. Some of Winograd's work deals with close up views of sex and drugs in youth. He began working with women, street scenes, and animals and progressed into darker images of youthful drug addiction in the American Heartland. Winograd shot without a theme, concept, or a direction... he shot what was interesting to him. In this fashion, his work jumps all over the place, but it is his "darker" work that really interests me. In my work, I would also like to explore these darker issues in youth, so his work really pertains to my current level of thought.

Winograd's background was in painting. He was a painter who was "always seduced by cameras" and when he stumbled upon a darkroom at the school where he was taking painting classes (Columbia University), there was no going back. He began in advertising photography and in the commercial world, then moved onto teaching and focused on his personal artwork. Many have referred to Winograd's style as "street photography with a snapshot aesthetic" and to that Winograd rolls his eyes. He says he is a still photographer, and all other classifications are stupid. The way Winograd goes about choosing his subject matter, location, lighting, etc is interesting to me and a bit annoying actually. In interviews, any time he is asked about his technique, how he makes his photographic decisions, etc, his answers are always the same. He doesn't chose subject matter, he just looks for whatever's interesting and if it isn't interesting.. he questions why. He uses a Lieca because he prefers them, but whenever looking at photographs (his or anyone elses) he never tries to think about what they used, or how they did it. He says the how isn't important. When asked how/why he makes his images complex while putting humor in them he says it isn't that complicated and this is why he "never wants to get involved" with those kinds of questions. The way he seems to plan (or not plan) his work is interesting to me. Not my style, but intriguing nonetheless.

Quotes from interviews:

(He was just told he is referred to the central photographer of the generation)

"What has it got to do with working? When I'm photographing, I don't have that kind of nonsense running around in my head. I'm photographing. It's irrelevant in the end, so it doesn't mean a thing. It's not going to make me do better work or worse work as I can see it now."

Source: Diamonstein, Barbara . Visions and Images: American Photographers on Photography. New York: Rizoli, 1982. Print.

"I don't have anything to say in any picture. My only interest in photography is to see what something looks like as a photograph. I have no preconceptions."

Source: Resnick, Mason (1988). Coffee and Workprints: A Workshop With Garry Winogrand. Originally published in Modern Photography, June 1988. Republished online by Black and White World.

Links:

• Interview with Garry Winograd
• Museum that represents him... and here's another one.
• Website (Garry Winograd died in 1984...kinda before artist's website era.. so this is a link to his page on the site of the gallery that represents him.)

Idea Post #1

Idea Post #1

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Typography

"No other design discipline requires so much learning and training and fontography and by no other aspect can amateurs be so easily distinguished from professionals. To be font literate, a designer has to study the history and the principles of font design."
- Dmitry Kirsanov

"Geometry can produce legible letter but art alone makes them beautiful. Art begins where geometry ends, and imparts to letters a character transcending mere measurement."

- Paul Standard

Typography is the study and the art of arranging text, type design, and type glyphs (individual marks on paper or written medium.) Typography is based on the precise selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing) and kerning (space between letters.) Originating in the first dies and punches used to make seals and currency, typography has become a true art form. Typography has been on my mind a lot lately, probably stemming from my love of fonts. I love the way the choice in font is not only a major design principle and key element in a piece, but how much this seemingly simple choice can completely alter the look and feel of something. I'm pretty sure my work for senior portfolio won't have anything to do with fonts and typography specifically, but I think my interest in typeface says a lot about the way I work. To me, text, type, fonts, and the arrangement of letters is an organized, precise, and particular system. Type is structured and neat, most of the time. It is unified and reliable. I feel like my work ethic and my system for creating art is similar to the way I feel about text. Or at least, that's what I strive for. I chose the word typography this week because I want to work in an orderly, scheduled, and structured fashion. I want my images to be clean, crisp, and precise. I want the message I send to be clear and effective, no matter what the message is.

For more information:
Meggs, Philip and Roy Mckelvey. Revival of the Fittest. Washington: RC Publications, 2000.