LIB 101 KANDINSKY IMITATION

Title: “Jsnsnchz Kandinsky Imitation”

Artist: Jason Sanchez

Year: 2013

Medium: Water Color, Paper

          In order to make my work of art I had to understand Kandinsky’s aesthetic and style.  I had to observe what I see and make into my own language what he is trying to show.  I also learnt that he had many opportunities to see sophisticated art and got inspired by some traveling.  Kandinsky saw colors that caught his attention since a young age and it stood with him through out his career.  In his work it may be hard to know what is going on or what represents what but something is being said and that is represented in his style.  Kandinsky’s work gives us a taste of colors and unique shapes that we sometimes can’t identify.  He puts originality to his work that many artists strive to make. 

          In my imitation of Kandinsky, I got inspired by his use of color and distorted shapes.  I used many colors to come as one to make a water painting of a trip I had.  I decided to paint Lake Lucerne, Switzerland since I was inspired by Kandinsky’s traveling.  Lake Lucerne is very laid back and very comfortable.  You don’t feel rushed like New York and the views that can be seen are amazing.  Many shades of blues from the lake to the furthest mountain to the highest of the sky can be seen.  I painted the colors that remind me of Lake Lucerne and made lines to identify with what I remember.  I remember a plus signed flag and many mountains.  Through the use of significant form I was able to create “Jsnsanchz Kandinsky Imitation” in the style of Kandinsky and imitate his art.  

Project #3 illustrate a Story

Frank Kovac | StoryCorps

      While having the option to hear many stories, I decided to chose a story that was different.  Mostly every story was related to some kind of tragic or conflict that didn't grasp my attention but one did.  It's the story about Frank Kovac who was a determined man.  Frank was determined to make something and that something was a planetarium.  At a young age Kovac and his father would get a telescope and see the stars. He worked at the local paper mill because he wasn't very good at math in order to be a astrophisician.  Then one day Kovac and a group of boy scouts went out to see some stars and noticed that the clouds were blocking their view.  Kovac was determined to build a planetarium with no knowledge of engineering.  While beginning this project his father died and he question what he was doing, which led to the finishing product.  Kovac built a planetarium in his backyard that has the largest rotating globe.  He made sure he painted every constellation correctly and made a finished product.  This is very fascinating to me because Kovac was very usual.  He doubted himself, which many people do but even though he doubted himself and his father passed he knew he had to keep going.  It's interesting how much a person can do when something so simple like looking at stars and creating  a planetarium.  Kovac proves that no matter was obstacle there is, there is a way to go!

Field Trip #3

!!DESIGN IN OUR LIVES!!

     Design is all around us.  It can be architectural, fashion, culinary or interior design and they all have an importance to human life.  How we live is based on what is around us and many ideas that were formed around us had to be designed.  On our third trip to the Moma, I had a task to find four pieces that have high function and low function.  This is related to ergonomics, which is the study of functionality.  Functionality to each of us can vary in lifestyle, opinion or idea because we all have different lives and different styles of living.  How we use an item can be different to all of us and we were able to see this in the Moma.  

Samuel Cabot Cochran

Benjamin Wheeler Howes

"Grow" 2005

Thin-film photovoltaics, piezoelectric generators, screenprinted conductive ink encapsulated in ETFE fluropolymer lamination, stainless steel, nylon, neoprene rubber, copper wire, and aluminum.  

     Seeing this wall with this nylon covered "thing" (which I thought in my head) didn't seem useful at all.  I just passed by this piece many times and didn't notice what was so useful init.  I took the chance to discover this pieces ability in the world.  This is a hybrid-energy device that was inspired by ivy.  The "leave" are panes the generate solar power and their fluttering movement generate wind power.  It's also made of recycled materials.  In other words if energy is needed, we can get energy generated from this piece by wind generation and solar panel generation.  Without harming the enviorment we can create energy.  This has high functionality in life if we ever have a black out or need a means of energy in a situation in which we can't get electrical power.  

Martin Ruiz de Azua

"Basic House" 1999

Polyester 

     This is a peculiar piece that is very intriguing.  I first noticed the colour and its shape.  Being called house I didn't find no home in here nor protection, but I was incorrect.  Azua was very creative in this piece.  It's a home on the go or for the homeless.  It can be folded up and packed up and used more than once.  This large square bag is incredible.  An example in which I can use this is during holiday.  Maybe in a cold enviorment, lets say we're going on an expedition in one of the mountains in Iceland.  This "Basic House" is able to be folded into a small square plastic and we are able to carry more on us than a tent if we had one.  It also keeps heat in for  warmth.  This can be also used for the homeless during the winter for there protection of cold.  

Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny

"The Honeycomb Vase "Made by Bees" 2006

Beeswax

     This piece to me is interesting but not sufficient enough for me in everyday use.  Libertiny uses the bees in order to make 3D replicas of objects for prints.  In order to do this you must have the shape inside of the honey comb and wait a while for it to be made.  Even though it's environmentally friendly the process of doing this is too long as suppose to the use of our hands.

Ido Bruno

Arthur Brutter

"EPT: Earthquake Proof Table" 2010

Steel, bind birch and plywood

     This is one marvelous table.  A table has many uses and has high functionality.  Bruno was very thoughtful of this table.  Growing up in New York we don't practice many earthquake drills but in other places around the world do so.  These places have high percentages of earthquakes and one of these places is California.  This table can protect many children.  While other tables can just break on the person underneath the table, this table provides an endurance of weight and can't be easily crushed as the others.

     To me all these pieces that are shown are useful but some more than others.  I determined which one would be more useful to me and in first place it's the "Grow".  Being more green provides a healthy life for our planet and for ourselves.  In second place comes "EPT: Earthquake Proof Table".  The protection of our future generation is very important and we wouldn't want to lose someone from a natural disaster.  A life saved is very worthy and this table could just do that.  "The Honeycomb Vase "Made by Bees" and "House" don't have such use in my life. Printing out objects in real life wouldn't matter to me because I don't design any products nor do I need product models.  It would be very useful to others such as creators of these product models.  "House" is useful for a holiday in Iceland but I don't have any plans to go to Iceland or camping soon.  It's useful for the homeless but I'm not homeless either. All these pieces have good uses but how functional they are is up to the buyer and that is how I learned about ergonomics.  

FIELD TRIP #1!!

At certain times, points of views can be difficult to understand.  Art is very easily able to trick the mind and what we see.  Many times we can put things into certain categories and classify what we see with an idea.  To one's eye, we can categorize what we see in our own mind with art.  During my trip to Moma and Moma P.s.1  I discovered certain works that left me interested and amused.  Three works I found fell into individual identity, cultural identity and historic identity.

The first art work that lead me to find the artist individual's identity was "The Maybe" by Tilda Swinton.I find myself amused by this work of art for many reasons.  This work of art included the artist herself sleeping or what we think is sleeping inside of a glass container with a mattress.  This is performance art and was done in Rome in 1995 and 2013 in the Moma.  When I see an artist do works that have themselves init I usually tend to find it so strong and moving.  In the outside we see just a woman sleeping, but what's going on in her mind and why is it called "The maybe"?  Individual identity comes into play in this work of art by her mind.  We don't know what she is thinking but she's in front of  us for a reason.  Maybe she is thinking about how she is on a long journey and she can't sleep or maybe she is saying she is just like everyone else no matter how successful she is as a person.  Her identity isn't out there saying by her race but this may be her identity of life.  

Individual Identity

Tilda Swinton
"The Maybe"
Living artist, glass, steel, mattress, pillow, linen, water and spectacles
1995/2013

Cultural Identity




Senga Nengudi
"R.S.V.P.I"
Pantyhose and sand
1977

Cultural identity is always around us.  It can be that Celtic painting of an Irish artist or to the sculptures we find on holiday while visiting the Carribean islands.  Culture is what people usually find to be in people's race, being and homeland.  That is very true but culture is much more than that.  No person from the same country  with the same upbringing are the same.  Culture can be a group you're part of and this artist made it clear what group she is part of.  This work of art shares a culture of a group of feminist.  Feminism deals with woman and their equality.  As soon as I saw this work of art, I knew it had meant something strong.  To the stretching of the material and how it falls in the corner made me wonder what was she trying to say.  Being a feminist and a male made me see what this female artist was trying to say.  She is tired of the equality woman get and how unfair certain people get treated.  This artwork represents a human being taking as much as they can while being treated the way they are.  Something so simple is being said but in the manner they show it is very intriguing.  Nengudi may not show her culture easily in this but after we conclude what she is saying we clearly see who she is and what group she is a part of.  Her culture just isn't her race but her gender, life and idea are.

Historic Identity






Andy Warhol
"Campbell's Soup Cans"
Synthetic polymer paint on thirty-two canvases.
1962

Historic identity is shown in many works of art.  What we usually consider to be historic art is old pieces from our old times.  History is the past, present and future.  Moma is a museum that shows us modern art.  Andy Warhol is a recent artist even though he has passed his work is very modern.  Historic art is much more than wars and what has happened.  It can be what is conveyed and how we feel.  We've all had campbell's soup once in our lives at least once.  With all these flavors warhol has painted we get to experience that time we had the soup.  It beings memories to our mind with our food or it can just be the commercial we see on t.v.  Historic art doesn't have to be dramatic or be from something from a war but it can be abstract art.  Andy Warhol does great at bringing historic art to the table and showing us an emotion and memory.  His art shows more than just objects in our eyes, it conveys a memory from our past and that's our history.  


Individual, cultural and historic identity are present in many works of art.  How the artist makes us see it is up to them but the way we see it is up to us.  we are all individuals and people sometimes can't notice others ideas.  Individual identity is what we can perceive and how we perceive is what I believe.  Cultural identity is many things.  Many groups of people are all part of there own culture.  Historic identity will always be with us forever and it's part of our lives.  All these identities show us how we can see works of art in our eyes.  The art that is shown here shows that there are endless possibilities of showing any kind of identities.

Project#2 Narrative Digital Collage

Certain arts can tell a story with out the use of any words or letters, and this digital collage does just that!

This is a story about a boy, not any boy but a boy who is on a journey.

Every piece that is attached to this collage has a meaning. 

On the left we see many faces of a person with a tongue out.  

As strange as it seems, this person is like a spirit watching over the boy and with her tongue, she is directioning this boy.

On her tongue we see a silhouette of a person who is looking for something!

This something many people search for and its the story of this whole collage.

If you look closely there are people flying in the sky with one bird in different directions.

This shows the effort in what they are looking for and it means a lot to this person because there are many subjects in the sky.

The Eiffel tower and Empire State Building are also present with the houses of curaçao.

These all together represent a journey with no boundaries.

This boy is willing to search anywhere for what he wants.

Last but not least there are 2 figures in the foreground. 

A boy in a hat and behind him is his mind.  

He is the only physical one but his mind is always with him and behind him! 

He is searching for what he wants and that direction can be anywhere but he always has his mind just in case!

In simple terms this is a collage about a boy who is trying to find happiness!!!!

WHAT IS GOOD ART?



     Good art, is there such thing? There sure is! Good Art to me is what a work can make me feel and if they did it in a successful way.  Art doesn't have to be perfect nor be realistic.  It can be a dot on a blank canvas or many painted scribbles over a huge canvas that may take a wall.  Maybe there is a journey of how they did the art and even though it may not be beautiful, it can be a strong piece.

     This is a self-portrait Picasso made and to me this is good art.  Even though it's not realistic I still feel and see a story behind this.  I question myself what is he looking at and why is he looking down? I feel as he is showing a more vulnerable side of himself through this painting.  A painting in which he shows he is still human even though he can paint original portraits.  This piece makes me feel as if there is a little bit of myself init and I want to know this story.  Picasso just paints a person but maybe he painted this person a certain way to see what we can make out of it and if it matches with what he thought.



WHAT IS BAD ART?



     Bad art! where do we all begin? Maybe we can't draw people, or draw that chair but we can for sure be creative.  I certainly don't believe in bad art but maybe we can name it weak art.  For example lets say those elementary drawings we drew in class that made us laugh in high school.  Even though they weren't drawn to perfection they still had an effect on people.  As well what about hotel art?  Most of the time we just walk right by it.  Does that mean that it's bad or is just weak?

     This piece is called "The Kill"   and it's in the MOMA!  This piece isn't bad but it's not strong I feel lost into this work and it's sort of like a labyrinth of red lines.  I'm trying to make a story but it doesn't feel as strong as I want it to but the more I look at it I feel something.  It takes a while but maybe if there was something more to offer I would feel a bit better.  I don't believe this is bad art because I don't believe in bad art, it's just not strong as the others but I feel a little interest into this piece.  If the artist wanted to make me feel lost into this painting then he sure did a good job but to me no art isn't bad!