Self Critique

The theme for my project was the industrialization of agriculture and its detrimental effect on humans and animals. My first piece used the element pattern. I englarged the size in order to show how big corn has become in the food we consume/farming industry. If given the opportunity to fix this piece I would add more detail and some sort of backround, or at least horizon line to break it up.

The second piece I did was to show the common farmer and how he is being taken over by factory farms. The element was movement. I think I didn't show this element as well as I could have and would fix that. If I could improve this piece I would put more detail in the farmers face and do a little more with the background
My third piece shows the element of balance. This is the one I'm most disappointed about because it didnt turn out like my drawing at all. I'm happy with the composition of the original drawing, but I would do this one over. I would also make it more balanced so the element is easy to see.

My last piece was a chicken on a noose to sybolize their helplessness against cruel factory chicken farms. This piece shows emphasis and economy. I'm very happy with how this piece turned out and how it clearly shows the element

Alice Konitz

Last night I attended the Alice Konitz lecture on her art work. Her presentation consisted of a simple slide show and her personal connection to or the inspiration for a particular piece. She also shared her creative process and described what she was thinking while creating it.

One of the pieces that she showed us was a table. It was covered in this gold foil that created a reflective quality that appealed to me. It was very geometric, and looked as if it was created with three 3 inch rectangular frames. When I saw this it made me think of the "art vs. design" debacle from the first week of class. I felt that this is representative of the elements that we associate with design. It is art, but it is also a functional table that could be used in everyday life. That confuses me.

Most of the pieces she showed us were sculptures; however, there were some 2-D works that were particularly interesting, as they relate to design. She showed us few images of a window treatment that she did for a show on Hollywood Blvd. The 2-d design also depicts the struggle of "art vs. design." To me, it is design because the window treatment was to function as a eye-popping advertisement like display. At the same time, however, it is created by this woman as a depiction of an idea and/or theme.

There were many things that I liked about her work. Of course, I was attracted most to the more geometric and "design"-like works. I feel that her work is fascinating and original, multi-faceted and obscure.

Stina Persson

A friend of mine has been a fan of Stina Persson for a while now, and she introduced me to her when she changed her profile picture to a Persson piece a while back. It's kinda cool because whenever she sees a new one she likes, she usually makes it her default, so every once in a while I get a little taste of new art on facebook.

Stina Persson has a really cool art style, and it's kinda neat to look through her portfolio on the website, especially since we are doing watercolor and have been working with cutting paper as well.


here's the website:
http://www.stinapersson.com/

Alice Konitz Artwork

Last night I attended Alice Konitz's presentation. I had no previous knowledge of the artist and therefore I held no assumptions about her work and had no specific expectations for her. Most of the works she displayed in her sideshow were sculptures (although she did a few mixed media pieces involving images from magazines and paint). Her sculptures typically assumed structural and geometric forms. Many of them resembled man made constructions that served utilitarian functions.

For example, one of the sculptures she did resembled a table, yet was distinctly a new and altered form. The piece had uneven surface so although it may have looked like a table, it could not function as one. This particular work reminded me of the question we debated at the beginning of the semester: what are the differences between art and design? I thought that her work supports the idea that differentiating art from design involves discovering its function.


I was particularly fascinated by the fact that Konitz was so inspired by all that she observed in L.A. She created thought-provoking pieces based on highways, donut shops, food stands, and other undervalued attributes of our surroundings. Perhaps she derived inspiration from these things because she is not a native of California, and thus she may have a fresh perspective on the things many of us take for granted. I am accustomed to looking at and analyzing art created as a commentary on broad social issues. I am still unsure of whether or not I appreciate Konitz's focus on the minutia of everyday life. I felt conflicted about her work: I liked that she was imploring veiwers to think about things that they probably would have never noticed or contemplated (like her monument to the point on a mountain where radio signals change), but I also wondered why she was not making a more blatant argument though her pieces.

In general, I liked the appearance of her artwork. I thought that her choice of more everyday mediums mirrored her attention to the smaller aspects of life. I also really liked the costumes she used in her short film "Owl Society," although I could not discern their function or how they specifically contributed to the film because I was also unable to hear the dialogue. I'm happy I heard Konitz speak and I hope to see more of her work in the future.

Alice Konitz

Yesterday night, I attended Alice Konitz’s presentation regarding her sculpture. Basically, the talk consisted of her going over each of her selected pieces and sharing her creative process and inspiration for each one. I noticed that she draws a lot of influences from California’s desert landscape and also from the local places that she frequents. For example, one of her pieces, the general form of a camping trailer, is made of plexiglass so that light would filter through and one would be able to see the landscape through and from within the structure. Her work also reveals a fascination with architecture, as shown through her taco stand, which is an abstract representation of an actual taco stand and she emphasizes economy in that piece by making it from paper, and keeping the structure simple. She also created a glass prism-like structure that she referred to as a “kaleidoscope”, which combines landscape and architecture.

I asked her about the use of goldleaf in her piece called “Portable Curtain” and why she chose that particular material. To her, gold is a “fake material…that pretends to be what it is, but is also perfect in what is is.” Also, it appears that often she uses materials that she has at the time, and creates a piece depending on the space she is provided. There seems to be no boundary or rule as to what she creates or why she creates it, and she is randomly inspired by the daily structures she sees, one of which is a donut shop near her house.

Konitz also creates films that revolve around her sculpture. She made a series of pieces called “Owl Society”, some of which are in the related film. It was difficult to hear the actors’ dialogue because of the poor audio, so unfortunately, I was not able to fully comprehend the meaning of the movie. However, I noticed that the characters’ costumes included a circle motif that mirrored that of her sculpture that was featured in the film, and the movie seemed to revolve a theme of obscurity.

I had always thought that art is meaningful as long as it carried some sort of societal implication, but Konitz showed how art can simply be an intimate reflection of the artist’s personal life.

p r o j e c t #2

The theme of my project was food. Food interested me because it is a daily part of every human beings life. I see food as an art form, not just something to be consumed. The items I chose to do had a beautiful quality to me. The actual design of the ice cream cone is not only inventive but interesting to look at. The bottle popping with liquid emerging is a harmonious action. The noodles on the fork seem simple but are more complex when one thinks of how they are tangled in the medal. The lollipops are not as easy to recognize at first glance but were my favorite item in the end.

Alice Konitz: Whitney Wiese

AlICE KÖNITZ:

I attended the alice KÖNITZ lecture of her artwork. Initially, alice came to California because she was inspired by the desert landscape. she Created a peice that consisted of a trailer placed in a desert landscape. she removed everything inside and took off the roof in order to see the sky and its different light stages. Another interest of alice's was taco stands. the fact that people can watch their food being prepared was amazing to her. she then created "Taco Stand." alice KÖNITZ has an attraction to owls because of their eyes. The fact that they are very human-like with eyes on fornt of their head, unlike most birds was very interesting to her. most of alice's work was 3d. I enjoyed this lecture very much and really liked listening to her.

-alice peeking inside her trailer piece. (right)

Alice Konitz

Tonight Alice Konitz came and spoke to students at USC and I was given the opportunity to hear about her art.. She is a sculptor. Her sculptures are never completely finished and leave room for interpretation. They "deny resolution" and are monumentally based. Alice focuses on how you physically relate to the sculpture, and how it fits into the space provided. Her pieces deal with light as well.

Some of her pieces are "Stone Curtain" and "Shelf" which can shift in space and vary the height and fit

"Taco Stand" was based off of architecture of a taco stand she saw. Konitz was very drawn to the structure and the people coming in and out to get food. Alice is also very interested in owls because they are very human-like because their eyes are set in the front of their heads instead of the sides. She has done many pieces based on owls, including a film.

She has also been very inspired by architecture of the freeway. Alice has constructed and is trying to construct monuments in Glendale. Alice has also done storefront patterns, exhibited in museums, and has and will continue to be a huge force in the sculpture world

Project #2

These are my pictures for design project #2. My theme was music festival posters becuase I have a passion for music, love to go to music festivals, and every festival incorporates so much art into the event, so it's a combination of my two passions. As inspiration I looked at push pins studios and milton glaser. The Coachella one to the right is an emphasis of economy inspired by the bob dylan poster. I also used similar design elements in the love fest one which is balance. I infused the text as part of the picture (her afro). The Do Lab one represents motion with the flowing hair blowing of bubbles. This one was actually inspired by an actual picture of myself at the Do Lab in Coachella. The Warped Tour one is also balance. This was inspired by an actual warped tour poster. I was very happy with my outcome, but if i were to improve i would add more contrast and more of a focal point in my pieces.

Public Space, Public Art, and Public Life

For those of you who were wondering about those random blue poles by Tommy Trojan, they are an installation by Chris Janney titled “Sonic Forest”. “Sonic Forest” combines public space, music, and architecture into a form that elicits human interaction; every time you wave your hand in front of the pole, it makes nature sounds (it also makes you late to class). Though I was unable to attend the opening reception, I did listen in on the discussion afterward that featured not only Janney, but Scott Fisher, chair of the Interactive Media Division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts; Anne Bray, director of LA Freewaves, Ted Tanner, LA Live executive committee member, Qingyun Ma, Dean of the USC School of Architecture, and Robert Kraft, composer and CEO of Fox Music, Inc.

What was interesting was how their conversations touched upon concerns as to how one would define art, which were topics that we discussed in class. Janney and Kraft uses Marcel Duchamp’s famous urinal piece to illustrate how art is the manipulation of perception. Janney explains that Duchamp flipped the urinal upside down, stripping it of its former utility as a plumbing fixture, while giving it the potential to become something else, and it is this alteration of its use that makes this piece a work of art. Also, art is a reflection of a culture’s history and socioeconomic situation in that time the artwork is produced, so in reference to Duchamp’s urinal, our society today would probably view it as simply a urinal and nothing more. Meanwhile, the moderator of the panel, Martin Kaplan, defines art as “the intention of getting attention and to hold onto people’s focus.” The group also discussed the relation between art and public space, as well as their impact on their audience. Bray believes that the term “art” creates distance between the artist and the viewer since this word seems to intimidate the common observer, as society stereotypically associates the subject of art with a particular circle of people. Meanwhile, Janney feels that the artist cannot be both the participant in a work of art and its observer at the same time, because the creator has a different perspective and experience than the critic that reflects upon it. As for public spaces, Qingyun Ma believes that a space first has to be commercial, before becoming an area intended for people (or public space). As an example, he alluded to the buildings in downtown LA, where only 1/10 of a building is meant for pedestrians and visitors while the rest is strictly commercial. He claims that this is why we fail to see pedestrians on the street who frequent downtown LA for leisure or recreation; most of them do not stay, nor do they have a reason to. Overall, it was an enlightening talk that offered interesting perspectives on many of the impalpable interactions between art, architecture, and people that we often overlook.

Died Young, Stayed Pretty

This post is long overdue, but nevertheless, here it goes:

A couple of weeks ago, I went to watch “Died Young, Stayed Pretty”, Eileen Yaghoobian’s documentary that explores the underground poster culture in America, with a slight emphasis on punk rock influences. The artists featured in the film are largely unknown, quite eccentric, and somewhat vulgar. For example, one scene of the movie focused on an artist who was tampering with a touch-sensitive lamp and every time the light turned on, he would make explosion noises. Even now, I am still mystified as to what he was trying to convey. Another notable character was Art Charney, who made a poster for the band Von Zippers. The poster featured famous figures with zippers over their mouths, and he goes over each one by comically insulting the depicted celebrities.

On the other hand, the artists also carry strong and valid opinions regarding the demise of poster culture and how many of the artworks that are representative of our times are not found in a gallery, but on random poles in the streets. Yaghoobian successfully exposes this particular sector of the population, as well as their work, in all its raw and obscene glory. One of the characters interviewed referred to this movement as “…the purest form of art that our culture has.” It is also probably the most ephemeral, and Yaghoobian tries to not only capture but preserve this form of art.

Despite the documentary’s thought-provoking topic, I did not find it to be engaging nor clear. The film is composed of interviews with various artists, and their ideas did not really seem to relate to one another, making the point of their statements hard to follow. Also, the movie lacked a sense of direction since Yaghoobian left it up to the artists’ sporadic statements to shape and frame the film’s message. Without providing any parameters or some form of a narrative, the documentary appears to be nothing more than a string of fragmented sentences and images of rock posters. Though its themes were meaningful, its convoluted execution undermined the impact of these messages.

Alice Konitz

I was not sure what to expect with tonight’s presentation with Alice Konitz. I am not familiar with her work and I have little knowledge of sculpture. Her presentation was interesting. Before I went over to the presentation I looked up her work online and was eager to hear the details behind the pieces. I realized after she spoke that having her there to speak about her work was particularly helpful in helping me understand her pieces.
From what I understood from her presentation, Alice Konitz’s work is very personal. The ideas that she uses for inspiration come from her observations gathered from her day-to-day life. Many of her pieces are derived from Los Angeles architecture including both structures like freeways and buildings like a 24-hour dounut shop.
One of her projects called “Owl Society” particularly revealed to me how personal her sculptures are. Konitz created pieces around owls because she felt that owls were particularly interesting birds. Unlike most birds, owls are one of the few birds that have eyes on the same plane of their head.
I am still unsure about the meaning of many of her pieces, but her presentation helped cement her style and beliefs. She definitely explores the ideas she finds inspiring and her pieces reflect her exploration.

ALICE KÖNITZ

I attended the Alice Könitz powerpoint show and I got to see her work. The work is mainly structural, taking a heavy influence from modern architecture around the city. Most of Alice's work seems to be objects that reference architecture, rather than something that could be used as part of an actual edifice or construct, but she keeps a healthy balance of both by having installations of public artwork. She really wants to put something up in century city because of the urban retro design feel that it has. 

Personally, my favorite work of hers was a small piece that she did that was sort of an abstract representation of a freeway that she takes a liking to. The history behind the freeway is that it was stopped mid construction, so there is kind of a random platform that she likes to visit and look from. As part of a more functional artistic project that she would like to carryout, she wants to build an elevator that can take people up to the platform in order to look at the view from it. I think its a really interesting concept because I find it really funny how something so vast and concrete could be stopped mid construction. Although it may seem like a wasted space at first glance, Alice is someone who is attempting to make something of it.  

The small scale sculpture that she did was sort of two platforms combined together, but combined in a way that someone could not really tell what it is supposed to be solely by looking at it. Once she explained the freeway story it really took to my liking and I enjoyed the piece for its representation of something so vast through such simple miniscule platforms.  

Project 2

For project 2 my theme focused on the people of Brazilian Favelas (the slums). I visited there this summer and was inspired by the huge cultural melting pot within their artistic world. For my inspirational artist, I chose Shepard Fairey. I am a huge admirer of his work, and thought it would be legit to use his diverse artistic ideas with my theme.

1. Movement

In this piece I took a close up of a woman's face wearing a headdress. In Brazil, the women wear extravagant headdresses that have so much movement and vibrancy. They mostly wear them during parades and music related situations, but with all the noise and commotion it is a crazy visual sight to experience. I thought this would be perfect for a movement composition. The bottom left corner starts with her eye and I wanted to have the piece move from there, adding movement and giving a sense of her walking or some kind of direction. The feathers in the headdress add a lot of direction that flows. I also tried to break the one direction with the band going more of a horizontal direction rather than diagonal, and her hair with a vertical direction. I think the feathers are overpowering the piece a little bit, and should have added a little more variety in direction.

2. Balance

In this piece I did a close up of a woman's face wrapped in a

scarf. I made her face more of bold white definitions and contrasted it with the intricate details of the scarf. In this piece, the scarf has a lot of movement and repetition, but it creates balance for the viewers eye because you keep going back and forth from her face to the scarf.

3. Emphasis and Economy

In this piece I took a man looking outside of his window. I wanted to simplify the piece and not give as much detail how I did in the other pieces. I thought with this I could really add a defined focus to the man. I used thin lines and blacked out most of the other window which framed the man in. Also, I played around with the white and used negative space with his arms and hands leaning out of the window to create more of an emphasis to him so he wouldn't be completely framed into the window.

4. Repetition

In this piece I did a close up of a female's chest. In Brazil, the people's clothing are always vibrant with pattern and I thought it would be fun to experiment repetition with this subject. I made her body bold with black defined lines to emphasize the repeated pattern on her bikini. I used this specific pattern because I thought it gave a nice sense of curves and added depth/volume and direction to her body and the overall composition.

Stefan Bucher @ AIGA Make/Think