Erte Research

Since I am new to Roski and don't know too much about famous artists and their styles, I decided to educate myself on another one of the artists from the design principles assignment.

His name is Erte and I love his romantic style. The French artist's work consist of stagnant figures, he does a great job at still creating movement within the piece. This is something that I personally struggled with in my preliminary sketches of the design principle assignment.

Erte is also exceptional at creating balance within a piece without it looking completely balanced. He uses the Rule of Thirds in the third piece. I absolutely love his work and hope to learn even more about him in the future.

Artsy Video

I came across this very artsy and imaginative video the other week when on Youtube. I don't want to give away too much about it before you watch, but this video is an advertisement for Tiji TV of France. I think they did a very good job with taking into account the audience that they were targeting. Also, they were very creative with their ideas.

This idea/concept is very interesting to me because in addition to loving engineering and art, I am also intrigued by marketing and advertising.  It's a cute video. Enjoy!

Spider Web Art

For our final project, my group is focusing on the Nature Lab exhibit at the Natural History Museum. In our preliminary sketches, we focused a lot on spider webs and how we could create an interesting poster through that. So of course I decided to do a little research on my own about spider-web art. The artist I found is Tomas Saraceno of Argentina. He does work with large-scale spider webs like the one below.

I love how the web is 3D just like they are in real life. Also,  the black background works really well to show the detail and elaboration of the web.

It is imperative to know that Saraceno does not create the webs himself. Instead he uses actual spiders in a closed area to build the webs. Naturally, spiders only spin their webs in 1D space. Therefore, Saraceno and his team are constantly moving the orientation of the web, to create the 3D look.

Here is another picture of his work.


His exhibits can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Hamburger Bahnhof.

http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/881828/tomas-saraceno-co-opts-the-communal-habits-of-beatnik-spiders

More on Shibori Dye

After participating in the Shibori dyeing that took place two weeks ago, I became very intrigued. I have done plenty of cloth dyeing before, but this dye seemed to be so much more rich and special. Therefore, I decided to do some more research on it.

Shibori dye stems from Japanese decent dating all the way back to the 8th century. The term "shibori" actually comes from the verb "shiboru," which means to wring or squeeze. This term is very fitting as there are so many ways to manipulate the cloth to create such beautiful patterns. We were able to see some of those patterns in class and at the final workshop. One specific technique is called Kumo Shibori. For this design the user must scrunch small portions of the cloth very tightly. This design looks random and spider-web-like.



Arashi Shibori is another technique. The cloth is wrapped around a pole tightly with thread and then compressed. Once it is dyed, it turns out like this:


Itajime Shibori  is my favorite that I have seen. This design is created through accordion folds and pressed between two hard objects. Therefore, the dye can only reach the exposed cloth. The end result looks like below!


http://blog.needsupply.com/2013/04/21/shibori-a-short-history/

Maude White

Okay, as some of you know I have become recently enamored by cut paper artwork.  Wandering Pinterest, I came across this artist - Maude White.  I'm completely fascinated and determined to learn how to do this.

I thought you guys might be as excited as I am about her...

Here is her website.
http://bravebirdpaperart.com/

Katie.

Robert Montgomery

I'm finding myself intrigued by this artist.  I particularly enjoy his Fire Poems...

Here is his website, if you guys are interested, as well as an article of his recent show...

http://www.robertmontgomery.org/robertmontgomery.org/16.html

http://www.someslashthings.com/online-magazine/2014/12/2/someart-robert-montgomery-opening-event-at-ajl-gallery-berlin

Petal Fashion

Fashion designs using flower petals. I found these and thought other people would be interesting in seeing them!

Art Walk

I ended up making it out to the brewery art walk which was amazing.  The space is massive and it was practically a maze of artist studios and living spaces.  I think that they have 2 of these open houses per year, so I will be sure to go to the other one as well.  The best part of it all though was that you got to see all the artist's work, and then ask them questions if you had any.  It was a very rare experience to be able to have access to the creator of every single piece there is to see at the place.

Project 2!

I began my project in a panicked state as I rattled my brains for a theme that could be somewhat related to my artist models Karl Benjamin and Cassandre. Lego was the best I could think of so I rolled with that. I took a lot of inspiration for my drawings from Cassandre's posters and also from the Bauhaus movement which was coincidentally around the same era that lego was made, 1932. 

I am really happy with the way mine turned out after battling with gluing and having to re-do one. 

clockwise from the top left they are movement, balance, proportion, emphasis and economy.

The Art of Clean Up

I've been meaning to post the link to Ursus Wehrli's artwork for a couple of weeks now. He's a Swedish artist with a book called "The Art of Cleanup"

It's unbelievably satisfying and I thought I'd share. I've posted some examples and you can find some more here. 

Brewery Art Walk

I just found out about an event called the Brewery Art Walk which takes place downtown on October 25-26.  The Brewery where this is has actually been converted into a massive art space which houses over 100 resident artists and their studios.  The art ranges in everything from sculpture, to photography, to fashion, and anything else imaginable.  Needless to say there will be plenty to see, and admission is free!
http://breweryartwalk.com

Audubon Cover

I really loved this month's cover of the Audubon Magazine. I have been using it to get inspired for my design project this week. It is an image that has been created by a graphic designer using smaller images of birds with different degrees of light and opacity.

KAWS

I cannot wait to go see the KAWS display at Honor Fraser Gallery, showing from 9/13 to 10/31.  I love his work, both the paintings and figures.  His signature twists on pop culture figures always peak my interest.  More info on this at http://www.honorfraser.com/?s=upcoming.  If you have never heard of KAWS, you should check him out, because his work is worth a look, especially when you take into account how much merchandise and propaganda he has been able to create across more than a few industries.

Hi guys I'm Alice, I'm a BFA major and am from New Zealand!
These are some photos from my school portfolio which I based on the Christchurch earthquakes. Some of my artist models were Josef Koudelka and Aaron Siskind.

enojoy!

My Trip to the MOMA

Hello! Over president's weekend, I was stuck in the FREEZING cold in New York City. However, this gave me the incentive to do something productive and indoors--visiting the MOMA! Although I have been a handful of times, I always learn about new artists and find artists that I love and want to potentially follow or learn more about. One photographer's collection that caught my attention was Robert Frank's. According to the description next to his display, the photographs were "color instant prints (Polaroid) with hand-applied paint and collage." This display and mix of artistry really created dynamic and depth within each photograph. Some pictures had words, some didn't, but together created some a message. I would definitely check him out online or at another gallery/museum.

Hi guys!
I thought I would share a design I really love with everyone just for fun. A few years ago, I visited a friend of mine who had the most interesting stuffed animal sitting on her bed. I instantly fell in love with this stuffed rabbit with a mustache and had to get one for myself. After doing some research, I found out the little guy was called a "labbit" and was a creation of Kidrobot. Kidrobot produces what they call pop art and "designer" toys, most of which has kind of an adult or mature spin on it. Anyhow, after snagging up my first labbit, I later found out Kidrobot had created a mini one, and I had to have it. So my labbit on my bed was joined by one more little companion. A few months later they created a mega labbit (not kidding this thing is about 2 feet long and 1 foot high) and not your average stuffed animal. I had grown so in love with these guys and ended up with one more, basically having them take over all my space. I just thought I would share this with everyone, because I consider these guys art, and everyone who sees them can't get enough! So check out http://www.kidrobot.com and some of their awesome stuff! And here's a few picture of my labbits so you all can understand how fun they are!

Los Angeles Art Convention

How great is it that we could attend a well-known art convention just a mile down from USC? I was blown away with how many artists and the diversity of artists the convention had on display. It was nice to walk around and recognize artists, such as Damien Hirst and Mr. Brainwash, and also discover knew artists that intrigued me. I was very fascinated by Craig Alan’s work—most of his artwork had a 3-dimentional aspect. I was also very intrigued by Edie Nadelhaft’s work. For example, he had a display of pills with different abbreviations on them, which brought a light, witty vibe to the white wall (see photo below).

If you did not get a chance to experience this art convention, I encourage you to visit next year!

GAGOSIAN GALLERY DISPLAYS WORK OF RICHARD AVEDON

The famous GAGOSIAN GALLERY in Beverly Hills had a exhibition on the work of Richard Avedon during my first semester of school. For those who are unfamiliar with Richard Avedon, he is a photographer known for his fashion/women photography. 

In one section of the gallery, the room was dark, with lighted pictures of different famous women. I loved how there were just small pops of striking colors. I was drawn in to each small picture, observing the different lights/pigments.

The rest of the gallery (completely separate from the dark room) had a very calming feel, with tones of white, blue and grey. I liked how some photographs were very large and spread out, so that there was white space in between—it made the room feel taller and more spacious. It was appropriate for the calm approach to his room. 

It was really interesting to see how many women Avedon had photographed too, women famous in both this time and also women that perhaps our parents and grandparents knew very well. And yet, women who are currently alive or those who have passed, were all jumbled together on one wall—there was not a defined pattern to how he displayed each photo, because each photo had equal importance.

I encourage everyone to check out his work, as well as to check the website of the Gagosian Gallery to see what exhibitions are coming up! 
For more information, here is a link--I would definitely check out some of Avedon's work! 
http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/richard-avedon--november-01-2013

Hello!

Hello everyone! I'm Sydney. The close ones call me Syd, or variations of that: Syd Squid or Sydles. Your call! I am from Aspen, Colorado, born and raised. Yes, I've grown up skiing and I hope that I can be considered a good skier (since that is usually the first question I am asked). I am a sophomore and anxious to decide on a major. I do plan to minor in communication design and french. 

I love Los Angeles and knew that I wanted to go to school in a big city when I was applying to college. There is still a lot of exploring that I want to do but so far a few of my favorite areas are, Culver city, Larchmont street, and Abbott Kinney. 

I also love design. I love figuring out what draws me to look at an object or product for a second longer, or how I could better design what it is that I am looking at. This includes interesting architecture such as, Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, or any type of advertisements. Art in general, really. My mom graduated college as a graphic design major and my dad is an architect, so hopefully I have some artistic gene. 

Over this long weekend, I was walking in Beverly Hills after dinner with some friends from school. We passed one of my favorite stores, Maxfield Bleu, and in the window were two "clothes horses" that caught my eye. I was drawn to the large scale of these two horse sculptures in the windows, as well as the layers and textures of the white cloth that covered these animals. I also loved the play on words since "clothes horse" is a drying frame for washed clothes to dry on. I thought I'd share this with you since I was so intrigued by them. Enjoy!

Introduction: Ella Charon

Hello to all!

I'm Ella.  I am a Freshman Spring admit, so I am among the newest of the students at USC.  I am from Baltimore, Maryland and extremely excited to be living on the west coast after experiencing many years of brutal winters.  I am a Fine Arts major in Roski and my area of interest is photography.  Being in a design class is a completely new experience for me, but after just two classes, I feel eager for the rest of the semester and all this class has to offer to help me improve my design skills.

For this first blog post, I would like to share an art initiative that was born in my hometown.  I came across the Baltimore Love Project my senior year of high school when its founder, Scott Burkholder, came to speak at my school on Valentine's Day.  The end of my senior year, I interned with the Project for two weeks.  During this time, I learned so much about the flourishing art community in Baltimore and witnessed how powerful art can be to people.

The Project aims to connect people from different parts of the city through public murals, all of the same design, hands spelling out the word LOVE.  They are truly beautiful to me, and during my internship, I painted an actual mural with Michael Owen, co-founder and designer for the Project!

Check out the website to learn more: baltimoreloveproject.com 
Check out Michael Owen's other artwork: michaelowenart.com

Here are some pictures of the mural I helped to paint

Here are some other beautiful murals that Michael has painted in Baltimore that inspire me every time I drive or walk past them