Blog Topic: Video Reviews

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

2. Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Exhibition project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

3. What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to the understanding of the art concepts you practiced while creating your curation project?

1.         After watching both The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art and An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan, I have learned several interesting facts in relation to the wide array of different art styles and origins. The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art highlighted the introduction and boom of an “underground” visual art movement that arose in Los Angeles during the late 1970s called lowbrow. I also learned that lowbrow is a popular and widespread urbanized movement that includes many aspects of surrealism with common features of punk music, hot-rods, and other urban subculture. Furthermore, in An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan, I’ve learned a lot about museum director Philippe de Montebello’s fascinating journey in bringing innovation to the Met in New York City. Montebello’s long impressive journey at the Met brought forth thousands of pieces of art—most of which derive from rare collections all over the world.  

2.         These videos do an amazing job of heightening my knowledge and understanding of how to go about our exhibition project. The Lowdown on Lowbrow inspired my decision to base my project on urban contemporary art because how much of an impact it has on younger audiences and also because of the colorful and bold impressions it leaves on audiences too.

3.         These two films bring great value in helping me understand the key concepts and being confident enough to choose one theme and stick with it. Before watching the videos, I was in awe at the amount of options I had in choosing a theme, but after watching, I was inspired to stick with the theme I chose.

Module 12 Video Review

1)         The reasoning behind my specific selection of videos for this week’s module came as a result of being inspired by Warhol’s works at a young age. I often would use aspects of his artistic elements to inspire my photography—which in turn influenced my other selection of the Hockney on Photography video.

2)         Some of the key concepts I’ve learned after watching both Andy Warhol: Images of an Image and Hockney on Photography were very complex and interesting. Andy Warhol: Images of an Image highlights his involvement in the Pop Arts movement during the 50s and 60s and even being considered the “founding father” of it. Furthermore, he forwards society's obsession with mass culture and allowed it to become the subject of art in and of itself. Using his many unique techniques including as isolation, repetition and color placement, Warhol brought to the world of art his views on materialism, politics, economics and the media. Hockney on Photography demonstrates David Hockney’s photography journey which exemplifies the basics of still-image photography. Furthermore, I’ve learned that Hockney’s “signature” style included the use of photos that have a lot of depth, feeling, and emotion, as he watches people go about their normal lives and captures moments of it.

3)         These constructive ideas relate to our reading in the text because they pretty much visually demonstrate each respective artistic movement in a manner that makes the viewer understand in far greater detail in relation to simple reading about it in the text.

4)          These two video add to my deeper understanding of the complexities of each art form in a manner that I was not aware of before. Since I am a visual leaner, I found it easier to understand the topics discussed in each video.

Art Gallery Visit #2

Step 1: Exhibition

1. What is the title of the exhibit?

•Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?

•Modernist Art, Contemporary Art

Step 2: The Gallery: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

1. What type of lighting is used?

•The entire gallery utilized cool-white fluorescent lighting to help the artworks pop.

2. What colors are used on the walls?

•The majority of the gallery’s walls were painted white with a distinctive matte finish.

3. What materials are used in the interior architecture of the space?

•Grey cement reinforced floors, matte white walls, rope-like security barrier surrounding all artwork, and cool-white fluorescent lighting above all pieces.

4. How is the movement of the viewer through the gallery space?

•The moment of the spectating viewers was very fluid and intriguing as seen in the photos. I’ve noticed that viewers were spending an extended amount of time at the artwork in this museum than at any other museum I’ve been to before.

Step 3: Artwork

1. How are the artworks organized?

•The artworks at this gallery were in no particular order. However, they were externally isolated/spaced out from other displays. Also, there were some separate exhibitions that were located in private areas of the gallery.

2. How are the artworks similar?

•In terms of artistic style, all showcases here were modern works with some of them having the same artists behind their creation.

3. How are the artworks different

•These exhibits differ from each other with the type of materials used. No one material choice was the same which adds a unique character to each piece and makes the viewer easily distinguish them from each other.

4. How are the artworks framed?

•Two of the three works I’ve chosen were framed. However, these frames were used as an accent to better enhance the works rather than some sort of security/protective device.

5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?

•Each work is identified using a white card highlighting its title, media, artist, year, and a brief description of the creation in bold black lettering.

6. What is the proximity of the artwork to each other?

•The proximity of each display varies depending on the scale of the work. However, the majority of the displays are divided into 15-inch marginal gaps.

Step 4: Art Criticism

Artist: Ellsworth Kelly

Title: Running White (1959)

Media: Oil on Canvas

1) Description: A large white oval along with a short white line accented with a black background.

2) Analysis: The Elements used are line and blue. The Principals used are emphasis and rhythm.

3) Bracketing: This showcase reminds of a black hole that’s found in space and also a spiral that is cut short.

4) Interpretations: I believe that this artist wanted to convey the power of contemporary minimalism.

 

Artist: Max Ernst

Title: The Sea (1928)

Media: Oil and plaster on burlap

1) Description: Space inspired artwork with aspects of abstract colors, shapes, and lines to bring the piece together.

2) Analysis: The Elements used are line, shape, value, texture, and color. The principals used are variety and harmony.

3) Bracketing: The piece instantly reminds me of outer space and the moon’s orbit around the solar system.

4) Interpretation: I think that this artist wanted to create the essence of space and the beauty that comes with it.

Artist: Mario Merz

Title: Fall of the House of Usher (1979)

Media: Oil, metallic, paint, charcoal on canvas, neon fixture and rock.

1) Description: Extremely abstract design with the use of eye-catching materials and lighting. The Very large scale which adds its uniqueness.

2) Analysis: The Elements used are line, shape, color, and texture. The Principles used are balance, gradation and variety.

3) Bracketing: This eye-catching showcase reminds me of the dark and creative aspects of the psychedelic movements of the 1970s.

4) Interpretation: I think this showcase demonstrates the artist's emotional feelings at the time of its creation. The title is very complex and along with the scale and design of the piece —makes one wonder about his mental state.

What did you think of visiting the Gallery and purposefully looking at the exhibition from a different perspective - the physical space, the architecture, theme, etc.?

•After this gallery visit, I realized how much the environment can impact the overall perception of artwork. Each visual variable plays an intricate part in having a synergistic effect in bringing each showcase to life.