Conceptual Art Piece/Group Activity

For our project we executed a conceptual proposal where each student at random chose a slip of paper from a container that instructed what kind of line to draw on a piece of square paper. The students would put there drawn on squares together in order of how they chose the pieces of paper. This happened in order still about 3 times with each student. When we were done the wall was filled with somewhat of an almost there pattern of lines that moved in different ways.

My expectations of this activity was that the pieces of paper would not relate that well together with their different lines because they were chosen at random. It ended up that at points in the piece there was many pattern like tendencies that were made completely by the chance that pieces of paper were chosen in a certain order. I think that this implies that randomness among a system may not show the exact perfect result but rather bring many different suggestions that is a scientific pattern unto itself.

Performing Bubbles

The Piece:
Materials:
-Large white paper
-Bubble stuff and wands (2)
-Food Coloring (2)

What to do:
-Two people choose at random one of two bubble bottles that have already been colored each with a different color
-They have to blow the bubbles onto the paper to make a square outline with the bubble ink
-It is key to have the bubble wand very close to the paper while blowing bubbles.For the best bubbles, the wand should be far enough away from the paper to create a bubble but close enough to for the bubble to touch the paper before it leaves the wand.
-The green bottle makes a square at least 5x5 feet on the inside and the blue bottle makes a bigger square on the outside of that square


The Response:
Over all I felt that the piece was successful in what I was expecting. My participants found ways to work together to make their separate parts without making a huge mess on each other. At one point the outside blue square became more blobs that outlines of bubbles. I expected this because it was expected for the green to finish first and have to wait for the blue. I thought it was a fun activity and that it showed how a tedious activity can really try on a person's patience.

I participated in two other performance pieces. The first was to have a conversation with my partner by saying our phrases backwards. I found it hard to come up with a good response even if I was trying to figure out something really general to say. The second performance piece was with the same partner. We had to say relating words one after the other and then eventually act out relating words. The acting out was hard because we had to first decide what the other person was portraying and then figure out how to act appropriately. It turned out to be really fun.

Performance Fluxus, Gutai, Noveau Realist, Dada

http://www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/visualart/kuhn/intermedia/higgins-s.jpg

A performance artist of recognition from the Fluxus movement would be Dick Higgins. His artwork was considered to be "intermedia." His famous Danger Music scores instructed to do things like number 12 was to "write a thousand symphonies" and number 9 dedicated to Nam June Paik was "volunteer to have your spine removed." Scores were suppose to be short and simple which separates them from "happenings."

From the Gutai movement, Jiro Yoshihara wrote the Gutai manifesto which described that beauty is in decay. He said that things needed to decay to escape their tombs of being painted and molded.

The Nouveau Realist were counterparts to Pop Artists. Yves Klein was an artist of recognition. He did the "Le Saut dans le Vide" which means the leap into the void. He basically jumped off a building to experience the void. He also had immaterial works, like his selling spaces for gold. His explaination waws to let people experience the void, and after his selling he threw the gold into a river.

From the Dada movement Kurt Schwitter made scores as his performance art. He wrote out phonetic notes in German on paper. These had no real form of music theory but were meant to be understood by the viewer.

Bibliography

-"The Fluxus Performance Workbook" edited by Ken Friedman, Owen Smith, and Lauren Sawchyn. A Performance Research e-publication 2002.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutai
-http://www.ashiya-web.or.jp/museum/10us/103education/nyumon_us/manifest_us.htm
-http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=204
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Klein
-http://www.ubu.com/sound/schwitters.html

Kaprow's Shadow Activity

The purpose of the activity was to follow the leaders shadow without talking and notify if you stepped out of the shadow with the noise of two rocks hit together. It was hard to keep completely quite in the activity. Jamie and I would make noises like we were trying to say something but stopped ourselves. It was fun to run towards the person following the shadow and then stop. Because they were faced the other way they could not see you beginning to stop, so they would run out of the shadow. It was also difficult to follow Jamie when we were in the shadow of the tree that let in some light but not enough to keep up with her shadow. I had to guess where she was when we were in the tree's shadow. After a while I stopped worrying if she was behind me and I just had fun running around.

<---LOgos--->

(http://www.mobilewhack.com/Apple-logo.jpg)
(www.wardrivingonline.com/equipment/equipment.htm)


The apple logo is a good example of of a logo that is simple but recognizable as apple no matter how the colors change. The shape is always the same and doesn't require words to let the consumer know that it's obviously apple.

A sign gives a directional and informational representation visually, such as a stop sign. A symbol is more general and is just a representation of something, such as the symbol of a peace sign. Those two are interchangeable in a way like in a girl's bathroom sign is a representation of a female but is also instructional. A logo is something that is designed usually for a company or organization that needs an easily recognizable symbol specifically for them. The target symbol is just a regular symbol, but the company made the two ring red target as an logo for their store. An icon is a symbol and a logo in a way but usually for a purpose such as religion or to suggest something intangible.

Duchamp

In "The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors" the piece is suppose to be taken in visually and verbally. It is referred to as "anti-retinal" in which the painting is suppose to be on the surface of the mind. At first glance the piece to me seemed random and unexplainable by the title. In the notes in the Green Box the mechanical nature of the piece really comes into view. The representations of how the top panel of the bride is stripped and relates to the bottom panel of the bachelors can only be seen when the Green Notes are read. Two things that really bother me about the notes in the Green box is that there are elements that were not in the piece and that the movement can be confused. The elements that seemed to play a key part in the mechanism of the action of the bride and the bachelors are not present, such as the "splash" along with other movement elements. It seems like Duchamp relays the unfinished details in the Green Notes as almost an apology for not actually finishing the piece. Also on the Duchamp website it really pulls together how all the parts are suppose to move, then and only then did I feel like I could see what was going on. (http://www.p22.com/projects/duchamp.html)

Wall Coverings, Fabric Prints, Floor tiles... etc... etc.. patterns

(lizplummer.com/blog/category/city-guilds/)
As I was looking through at many of the different patterns I found some trends. Wall coverings were similar on a general website because all of them had a floral pattern or very floral looking abstract pattern. Fabric prints as well had a very general pattern, either having floral prints, stripes, or other repetitions of something. What they both have in common is that usually these floral or organic shapes were patterned in a grid so that they were evenly balanced and distributed on the wall or cloth. Floor tiles also followed a grid, but some of the tiles would break into other geometric shapes to cause a pattern effect. Overall a grid pattern can be seen in the floor tile examples that I found. Then I looked up Islamic patterns knowing from class that these patterns were solely suppose to be nonsubjective. I found it really interesting that none of the pieces I saw from Islamic art were subjective or suggestive, but still had the same rhythm and effect as floral prints.

(www.donghia.com/textiles/wallcovering/)(http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/category/aga-khan-institutions/aga-khan-program-in-islamic-architecture/)

GESTALT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gestalt is a configuration or pattern having traits that cannot be derived from it's summation of individual parts, but works as a whole.
[http://people.csail.mit.edu/fredo/ArtAndScienceOfDepiction/figGroundVasa.gif] definition
[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gestalt] picture

Value Scale and Composition

The process of making a ten step scale was an easy activity. I used prior knowledge to estimate how much I would have to adjust my sections in value so that I could evenly range from white to black. One thing I found difficult was to make each section look like a unified value that was both even and flat. Overall I think that I maybe could have been more creative with the shape of my scale.





When I was creating my drawing I made up each step as it came. I started with the overlapping circles in the middle and as I added other elements I kept in mind balance and composition. I think that value affects composition because it creates a balance that leads your eyes around a piece. Also it makes a piece interesting because it creates opportunities for colors to portray different feelings.

Value Composition (just picture)

Line/Shape Activity & String Activity

Line and Shape Activity:
I thought that the line and shape activity was interesting. I thought I would do it without thinking but as I started I tried to concentrate on composition. I was thinking about balance in the two line panels and in the shape panels I was thinking about negative space. Overall I thought that the activity was interesting even though it appeared simplistic.

String Activity:
I wasn't sure what the string activity was suppose to teach us. It was a fun activity overall and really had everyone interacting. I never thought about the composition of how the string was suppose to look or shapes that the negative spaces in the strings made. I really thought that the best thing about the activity was the team work it took to get it all untangled and the communication that we used.

Line and Shape

1. Which of the images a,b,c, or d are lines?
-All of them are lines, they can be considered lines of different thicknesses. A and B are lines that have varying thicknesses, C is a very thick short line, and D is a line that has an organic variation of thickness.
2. Which of the images a,b,c, or d are shapes?
-All of them are shapes because their thickness create edges that create lines. A has three lines that make up a triangular shape. B has two lines that are parallel in the middle and then slope to join at the ends. C has 4 lines that make up a parallelogram. D has one line that follows a random organic pattern.
3. What makes a line?
- A line is something that does not necessarily have a single plane that it sits on
4. What makes a shape?
-A shape is composed of lines and has a specific plane which it is on

Critique 1

Describe:
This is a vertical piece that has an area of light blue tones descending from the upper right hand corner of the piece. This blue toned area curves from left back to the right side of the piece as it moves downwards. The outline of this area is nonlinear and has an organic randomness to where it stops while still following a basic flow downward. The downward motion ends at the objects in the foreground. The horizon line is gives a feeling of great depth because it is less define than the objects in the foreground of the piece. The colors of the main part of the piece are browns while the color of a focal object in the foreground is bright. The darker figures that border the lighter areas have a glow around the edges. The movement is also slow.

Interpret:
The tone of the piece is very calm and tranquil. The characters in the foreground are very small compared to the rest of the painting. The bright colors and how the light illuminates them gives them importance as the focal point in such a vast looking landscape. There is a biblical theme with the Madonna and child surrounded by angels whose attention is on the child. How large the sky is shows the importance of what is above compared to the landscape that only takes up the bottom third of the page. The yellow, gold lighting makes the picture warm feeling. The movement not being fast makes the characters feel welcome in the environment.

Evaluate:
I like this piece because it gets the point across that the figures are important that are in the foreground without them having to be the biggest thing in the picture. The bright colors of the characters and the movement towards the characters shows that they are important to the entire piece since the background bends and points to them. The lighting also gives importance to the characters because of the contrast of shadows on the characters.