In my opinion, Art Now seminar in New York was:
- Inspiring, because I was able to draw ideas, concepts, and new ways of doing things from both contemporary artists and older artists whom I had never seen or heard of before.
- Eye opening, because it showed me that sometimes art is are for the sake of art. Sometimes a piece is not successful because it looks beautiful or expresses a strong message, sometimes it is just showing you something from a new angle.
- Provoking, because sometimes I did NOT enjoy what was presented to me. The work if Jeff Coons 'Made in Heaven' series specifically made me question whether what he was doing was actually art at all.
When walking through the galleries in Chelsea, DUMBO (Brooklyn) and uptown galleries, I thought that the most unusual media Encountered was was the glass and mirrors installation called 'tunnel of love'. Although I have seen glass work before I thought that paired together with the distorting mirrors and lights in the room made for a unique effect.
Although I did not appreciate all of Jeff Koons' work, there is something to be said for his approach to materials and process. When some of us asked about Jeff Koons, we found out that he does not put together a majority of his works. Instead he hired people to work for him in a similar fashion to the 'paint by number' method.
One set of contemporary works that I found powerful was Lee Friedlander's series, "Blush sweat and tears" (to see pictures of this, and all other works mentioned in this commentary, please view any of the photo sections on the web titled, 'pictures') I found int intriguing because it showed modeling in an extremely vulnerable thing, perhaps even negative. This is in direct contrast with the idea that models are at the pinnacle of beauty and fashion. I also enjoyed that the artist avoided the cliche of models fighting anorexia or other eating disorders. It's not that anorexia awareness is not also important, but I feel that it is a much more common idea the focusing on the process of modeling itself.
Art I observed on the New York trip has definitely already influenced my own work, especially in terms of stone work (see journal). Going to different catholic cathedrals, such as the cathedral of St. john the Divine let me see monumental size stone works in person, which is much different then seeing a picture. Seeing older works was very meaningful to me as an artist, because it is such a dramatic experience that it made me feel more connected with both the work, and the work that I am personally trying to accomplish.
I think and hope that film photography will make a huge come back as an art movement in the next 10 years. Photography lets you capture life as it is, or allows you to make placements and compositions to display a specific concepts. The process of film draws you closer to your own work, and I think that it has a different look to it then digital pictures.
The Metropolitan Museum of art was BY FAR my favorite museum at the trip. If you want to know what art is, that is the museum to go too. They had an extremely wide collection, so I was able to see art that spread out across the face of time, and splayed through different cultures. I really enjoyed the Met's collection of ceramic vessels, antique furniture, and Indonesian art displaying different gods and mythologies.
Top 5 experiences.
-Discussing EVERYTHING (concepts, ideas, techniques, why or why not something qualified as are, why a piece was strong or weak) with the group members, especially Sarah.
-Going to the Met.
-Going to China town, and Coney island on free day. I had my film camera with me and was able to work on a personal project with fresh inspiration from everything I had seen.
-Street are on the whole trip. How underground artists build up following
-Seinfeld diner.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Journal entries
To see more on individual artworks, artists, or movements, please look for commentaries in the pictures sections.
Thurs,
October 9
Today we left for New York. There are ten of us total going on the trip. Sarah and I are room-mates. That makes me happy.
When we got to New York, we drove through part of Manhattan then we all went together to check into our hostel rooms. After that we walked through Broadway and 15th street to find someplace to eat for dinner. While we where walking Phil took us into this really weird little shop that had a bunch of severed manikins and creepy dolls, and some other weird things that I will not mention in this journal. It was interesting.
We ended up eating outside at an Italian cafe type place. I had zucchini rolls with goat cheese (I really love goat cheese) and some baguette bread. I also tasted some of Phil's wine, but it was a little too dry for my taste.
Tomorrow we will be looking through museums and stuff, but for today we are done adventuring. Hopefully, this will be a fun week.
-Hannah
Friday,
October 10
Today started out with lots of walking around (thankful that I brought good shoes) It was cool seeing all the different architecture and tall buildings around the city. The group also spotted some eat looking street art. I took pictures of my favorite ones. *to see pictures + commentary, please view additional sections.
We also went through many galleries featuring works from contemporary artists. I especially enjoyed going into one room called, "The love tunnel" which had some funky glass sculpture/installations. A lot of the photography we looked at was also really cool.
After lunch we went to the center of film photography which had a lot of international photographs. It was cool seeing pictures and reading about the culture that went along with it. After the film photography center we went to St. Patrick's cathedral, which was huge, and lastly we all went to the museum of modern art. The best part of this particular museum was a helicopter suspended from the ceiling, and also getting to see the famous 'Starr Night' by Van Gogh in real life.
Saturday
October 11
The biggest museum of today (and my own personal favorite) was the MET. (short for metropolitan). We also visited the Guggenheim and Whitney museum of contemporary art that day, but in my opinion the other two did not compare with me. The Met was HUGE and there was a super wide variety of artwork. I really loved the large collection of antique grandfather clocks, ceramic pieces, and glass work.
For dinner we got to eat at the seinfeld diner. That was pretty cool. Lastly we went to a HUGE cathedral. (st John the divine) It had large sculptures everywhere and it has beautiful windows. I really enjoyed the old looking stone work like that.
-Hannah
Sunday,
October 12
Today we started off at the Brooklyn museum, host of 'The dinner party' which is a large piece made by a huge collaboration of all female artists. Although I thought that the idea of the work was an interesting concept, the piece itself did not speak to me. Sarah and I had a lot of discussions over artwork on this trip, and this was definitely a heavily discussed piece. The conversation was about how while both of us thought that feminism was a just cause, we did not think that the way to achieve equality was to parade artistic vagina's around on plates. First off, this was emphasizing women's difference from men, when one of the arguments for feminism is that in settings such as the workplace, gender bias should not exist and people of any gender should be thought of as the same. Later we learned that the feminists who created 'The dinner party' had a different viewpoint of what feminism should be then their later counterparts that sparked what feminism tends to mean today. The earlier feminists put a lot of emphasis on the vagina because they wanted to emphasize the femininity of women.
We went to Phil's diner for lunch, and down under Manhattan bridge, which had a very nice view of the river. After that the group separated. Sarah, Miriam, Aaron, and I all went decided to go to china town. We ended up spending about 4 hours there. Whilst in china town we found a tea shop that became me and Sarah's new favorite spot. We tried a mango tea that was excellent. All in all I think it was a pretty good day.
-Hannah
Monday,
October 13
Finally today we got some free time! First thing this morning, me, Sarah, Miriam, and Aaron all took the ferry around Statan island to go past the statue of liberty. We also took the subway all the way to coney island spent while at the beach. I took some photographs there at the theme park that the island is known for. I thought that the structure of the rides would be a good visual for my 'looking up' project in film photography. After all that we finished up with a second and third trip to china town, with provolone pizza for dinner in little Italy between stops.
-Hannah
END
Thurs,
October 9
Today we left for New York. There are ten of us total going on the trip. Sarah and I are room-mates. That makes me happy.
When we got to New York, we drove through part of Manhattan then we all went together to check into our hostel rooms. After that we walked through Broadway and 15th street to find someplace to eat for dinner. While we where walking Phil took us into this really weird little shop that had a bunch of severed manikins and creepy dolls, and some other weird things that I will not mention in this journal. It was interesting.
We ended up eating outside at an Italian cafe type place. I had zucchini rolls with goat cheese (I really love goat cheese) and some baguette bread. I also tasted some of Phil's wine, but it was a little too dry for my taste.
Tomorrow we will be looking through museums and stuff, but for today we are done adventuring. Hopefully, this will be a fun week.
-Hannah
Friday,
October 10
Today started out with lots of walking around (thankful that I brought good shoes) It was cool seeing all the different architecture and tall buildings around the city. The group also spotted some eat looking street art. I took pictures of my favorite ones. *to see pictures + commentary, please view additional sections.
We also went through many galleries featuring works from contemporary artists. I especially enjoyed going into one room called, "The love tunnel" which had some funky glass sculpture/installations. A lot of the photography we looked at was also really cool.
After lunch we went to the center of film photography which had a lot of international photographs. It was cool seeing pictures and reading about the culture that went along with it. After the film photography center we went to St. Patrick's cathedral, which was huge, and lastly we all went to the museum of modern art. The best part of this particular museum was a helicopter suspended from the ceiling, and also getting to see the famous 'Starr Night' by Van Gogh in real life.
Saturday
October 11
The biggest museum of today (and my own personal favorite) was the MET. (short for metropolitan). We also visited the Guggenheim and Whitney museum of contemporary art that day, but in my opinion the other two did not compare with me. The Met was HUGE and there was a super wide variety of artwork. I really loved the large collection of antique grandfather clocks, ceramic pieces, and glass work.
For dinner we got to eat at the seinfeld diner. That was pretty cool. Lastly we went to a HUGE cathedral. (st John the divine) It had large sculptures everywhere and it has beautiful windows. I really enjoyed the old looking stone work like that.
-Hannah
Sunday,
October 12
Today we started off at the Brooklyn museum, host of 'The dinner party' which is a large piece made by a huge collaboration of all female artists. Although I thought that the idea of the work was an interesting concept, the piece itself did not speak to me. Sarah and I had a lot of discussions over artwork on this trip, and this was definitely a heavily discussed piece. The conversation was about how while both of us thought that feminism was a just cause, we did not think that the way to achieve equality was to parade artistic vagina's around on plates. First off, this was emphasizing women's difference from men, when one of the arguments for feminism is that in settings such as the workplace, gender bias should not exist and people of any gender should be thought of as the same. Later we learned that the feminists who created 'The dinner party' had a different viewpoint of what feminism should be then their later counterparts that sparked what feminism tends to mean today. The earlier feminists put a lot of emphasis on the vagina because they wanted to emphasize the femininity of women.
We went to Phil's diner for lunch, and down under Manhattan bridge, which had a very nice view of the river. After that the group separated. Sarah, Miriam, Aaron, and I all went decided to go to china town. We ended up spending about 4 hours there. Whilst in china town we found a tea shop that became me and Sarah's new favorite spot. We tried a mango tea that was excellent. All in all I think it was a pretty good day.
-Hannah
Monday,
October 13
Finally today we got some free time! First thing this morning, me, Sarah, Miriam, and Aaron all took the ferry around Statan island to go past the statue of liberty. We also took the subway all the way to coney island spent while at the beach. I took some photographs there at the theme park that the island is known for. I thought that the structure of the rides would be a good visual for my 'looking up' project in film photography. After all that we finished up with a second and third trip to china town, with provolone pizza for dinner in little Italy between stops.
-Hannah
END
Monday, November 17, 2014
FILM photography
Film Photography
After visiting the film photography center, and also seeing how many artists in new york were practicing film photography. I think that film is definitely making a come-back as an artistic movement. I think and hope that we will continue to see more if it in the future. I personally really enjoy film photography. It had been a new experience trying it out this semester, but I am very glad that I did. I have felt alot of personal artistic growth having experienced it, and I feel like I connect more to the world around me now. I think that working with film forces you to think more about what you are doing, and the process of development attaches you to the work. When I look at the works of others I feel the same kind of connection.
Pictures - Collection of papers maps and post cards
The shoe exhibit was something I enjoyed ALOT. It emphasized both the beauty and construction of the high heel, and also told the story of how much pain women go through in order to appear more beautiful.
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