Week Sixteen - Blog: Reflections of AED 200

1. What were you expectations for this course and where they met?

I had many expectations for this course. I think that most of them were met. This course made me appreciate art more than I used to in the past. I found this course to be very enjoyable. I learned that art is another form of communication because the artist can express their feelings through drawing. I learn how to look at art and analyze it to find out what message the artist may be trying to deliver. Only expectation which I had that was not met by this course was learning how to paint. Maybe it would have been different if it wasn't an online class but I still have not developed the skills to use my creativity and present it in the form of art.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?

I think art is everything. Everything around us has artistic qualities to it. Art is not just painting and drawing, it can be sculpting, writing, building, photography...I learned that there is no such thing as "bad art" because everyone has their of transforming an idea into art. 

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now? If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?

My favorite visual artist at the beginning of the course was Leonardo Da Vinci. Even though we did not look into his work as much as I would like in this course, he is still my favorite virtual artist. I think Picasso made a huge influence in the art world with his cubism movement but Da Vinci's work is still famous today. Da Vinci also dedicated his life to many other projects in life and that makes him the most recognized artist today.

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?

If I could take another art class, I would prefer to do it in person rather than online. I learned a lot in this course, but it's easier to learn in a classroom and get immediate feedback from the professor. I took this course online because I thought it would be easier and I would be able to set my own schedule. Taking an online course was less stressful and I enjoyed it. I still believe taking the class in-person would be even more enjoyable and would allow me to learn more about the subject because you don't have to do the work by yourself.

Week 15 - Project #5

Guernica, by Pablo Picasso

Guernica by Pablo Picasso was created as a mural-size canvas painted in oil during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's. This work was contrived by Picasso to portray the tragedies and suffering experienced by the Spanish people during the time period. It serves as a political statement that promotes peace. This painting was seen by millions of people all over the world which helped educate foreigners about the situation in Spain and eventually put an end to the war. This painting would be considered a representational abstract painting because it depicts figures and shapes which are deformed and illogical to symbolically represent an real world event.

To the left, we can see animals such as a horse and a bull. The bull has been a historical animal in Spain for years. To the right of the painting, we can see a person screaming. This brings emotions of despair, pain and suffering. We also see a dead person on the lower left side of the painting. We can see a broken knife and a flower at the bottom of the image. I think he is symbolically showing his discontent with war and soldiers. The light bulb and candle at the top of the image might representing the sun. You can see human with hands and legs of animals (lower right and to the far left) which might be a symbolic way to present how humans have lost their humanity. Overall the image is portraying the suffering and pain brought by war. 

The emotions he was trying to bring to the viewer is also reflection in the colors which he used. The painting is black and white and uses a low degree of value creating balance throughout the whole piece. The lack of colors allows the painting to maintain it's serious and dramatic message.

The greatest strength of the artwork is how it's able to present an anti-war message by using techniques from the expressionism movement to convey an emotional effect on the viewer. The biggest weakness of the work is how Picasso failed to incorporate cubism into his artwork. Picasso helped influence the cubism artistic movement but in his Guernica artwork, he didn't utilize the techniques which were used by him in many of his previous works.

EXTRA CREDIT (FINAL CHANCE!) - Questions about the course.

1. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the best? Why?

I enjoyed the art-making assignments. The best way to learn is by trying. I enjoyed my hands to bring to life what I have in mind. Making my own logo and Mandela was very entertaining and I was able to learn about other cultures.

2. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the least? Why?

My least favorite assignments were the ones in which I was required to watch videos and answer questions related to the video. It would take a long time for the videos to load and play. I enjoyed many of the videos but I believe that the best way to learn is by practicing and looking for information in books. When you read, it is much easier to retain the information afterwards. When you watch a video on the internet about an artist or a certain topic, without doing any actual work/research on your own, you usually dump the details of what you just saw down the memory hole right after the assignment or test is finished.

3. How did you like using BLACKBOARD?

I prefer BLACKBOARD as a tool for online courses rather than ANGEL. Being a transfer student from CUNY, we had to use BLACKBOARD for most of our courses so I was already used to blackboard. I didn't like ANGEL because it seemed amateurish and less organized. 

4. What is your opinion of the Discussion Groups in this course?

I think the discussion groups are great. It's not the same as a face-to-face classroom discussion but it's still a good way for students to give read the opinions of other students and receive feedback.

5. Did you participate in any of the extra credit projects in previous modules? If so, what was your opinion of them? (mandala, elgin marbles, culture, art critics)

I am very confident that I will receive at least a B+ for this course but I still participated in ALL the extra credit work in the classroom. My favorite extra credit work was building the Mandela. I learned a lot about the culture and researching why they create it.

6. If you had the opportunity to change this course:

What would you keep?

I would keep the art gallery visits. You can't have an art class without visiting an art gallery at least once and getting to see different artworks from different artists.

What would you remove?

I would remove or do fewer video review assignments. It's easy to write a review of the video by just reading the description and watching the first and last few minutes of the videos. Most people might disagree, but watching documentaries doesn't increase your knowledge on a topic compared to reading and doing research about the artist and his works.

What would you add?

I would add more art-making assignments to this course.

7. Would you recommend this course to your peers?

Yes. I still think an art class is better if taken inside a classroom rather than online. Art classes are better in person because you get more practice and have the professor in the room to give you feedback.

8. Please list any other comments you would like to share.

Stay safe and have a nice summer break!

Project #4: Art Curator Exhibition Reflection

This project was quite simple to work with. It was so simple that I was thinking about changing the theme of the exhibition but decided to stick with my "nature" theme since I was close to the deadline. If I had more time, I would have liked to work with a more complex and original theme. I tried using Google's art tool to search for pieces with "nature" as its main theme. I had to look at each painting presented and select the ones which I thought best fitted the theme I was working on and what artistic elements and principles they portray. I then worked on my presentation and tried to make it as clean and professional as possible. I went over each of my paintings and gave a quick description of what I see, which emotions the art reflects and what message I believe the artwork is trying to transmit. It took a lot of time to organize my work. In the end, none of the paintings I chose for the discussion forum made it into this final project because many of them did not give required details such as year, medium and scale. Overall this was a fun project that helped me see art in a deeper way and study how many artists paint in a symbolic way in order to express their beliefs or interests in a more occult way.

Week Thirteen and Fourteen - Blog: Video Review

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
 
The Lowdown on Lowbrow: West Coast Pop Art: This video art influenced from comic books, B-movies, rock n’ roll, surfing, hot rods, and Cold War imagery. Art historians call it Pop Surrealism and practitioners call it Lowbrow

Displaying Modern Art: The Tate Approach: This video talks about the intellectual and aesthetic issues associated with the display of art. The video looks at the exhibition style Alfred Barr established during his transformation of MoMA in the 1930s. It also shows how Tate curators developed a new method utilizing theme-based museum sections.

 

An Acquiring Mind: Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan: This video talks about Philippe de Montebello. He served as Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for 31 years. It goes through many of his drawings and paintings using watercolors and other painting techniques. It also shows how museum staff are able to keep old paintings looking like new by putting them in water to remove the acidic component in the paper.

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

The videos does relate to the creation of the Art Exhibition project. It gives me ideas which I can utilize when working on the project.

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

 I think the first video added a lot of depth to my understanding. They have added more understanding to the art concepts which I practiced while creating your art exhibition project.

Module Twelve - Blog: Video Review

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

Uncertainty: Modernity and Art: I selected this video because I wanted to learn more about modern art, how it's done and how it has changed the way we make and perceive art.

Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the '50s and '60s: I chose this video because I wanted to learn more about "Pop art" and how it came to be.

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

Uncertainty: Modernity and Art: This video shows how art has changed from the past to our modern time. It shows how artists in the past tried to show what they believed humans should look like and today artists try to obtain an emotional feeling from the viewer of the art. I also learned how Nazi, national socialist, Germany tried to eradicate modern art's uncertainties.

Abstract Expressionism and Pop: Art of the '50s and '60s: The documentary talks about how this style of art was created by the joining of attitudes in American art and European avant-garde art but was rejected and replaced by Pop art. The film went through some artist such as Franz Kline, who focused on color in some of his abstract paintings.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

I believe the text are a simple summary of what the 2 videos talked about. The text and video talks about modern art and some of the famous artists which represent the pop style of art.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

They both increased my knowledge on the topics. I believe the text gave a better understanding because it gave a quick general summary of what both of the videos talk about. I liked Franz Kline work a lot because of how he's work does not make much logical sense but it will make different people see different things depending on how they view it.

Art Gallery Visit #2

 Art Gallery Website:

http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/artgallery/default2.asp

Step 1: The Exhibition

Questions about the exhibit:

1. What is the title of the exhibit?

The Emotionalists

2. What is the theme of the exhibition?

20 Years of Making Art

Step 2: The Gallery

Questions about the physical space:

1. What type of lighting is used?

 It uses artificial overhead lighting that is not too light or bright.

2. What colors are used on the walls?

The walls in the art gallery are white

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

The floor of most of the gallery is made from wood. Glass is used to cover some of the exhibits in the gallery. The gallery also uses arches instead of doors which makes the atmosphere more open.  

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

The gallery is divided into different sections. It is very easy to find what you want by just walking into the section that's related to the theme of what you want to find. The gallery is small but it still presents a great pieces with different backgrounds.

 

Step 3: The Artwork

Questions about the artwork:

1. How are the artworks organized?

The artwork is organized by exhibit and artist.

2. How are the artworks similar?

 The artworks are similar with the others in their section. There is an exhibit which is just African influenced art and another which is more Asian themed. The ones in the African section are mostly sculptures made of out ceramic.

3. How are the artworks different?

The gallery presents different artworks with different history and culture. Each artwork has a different meaning and increases your knowledge of that specific culture or artist.

4. How are the artworks framed?

 The artwork is framed differently depending on which area of the gallery you are in. In some areas of the gallery the paintings are framed one next to the other on the same height. Most of the sculptures in the art gallery is placed behind glass in the middle of the hall.

5. How are the artworks identified and labeled?

 Next to most of the artworks, there's a rectangular plaque which gives you the artist, date and other relevant information about the artwork.

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

 I noticed that larger paintings are placed farther away from each other than the smaller ones. The art gallery does not look crowded with paintings placed on the wall. There is enough space between each piece.

Step 4: Art Criticism Exercise





Artist: Piotr Betlej
Title: Conversation
Media: Oil on canvas
Date: Unknown
Size: 19.5 x 24 inch

 This painting displays a man with long hair smoking (to the right), another white male with a mustache (to the left) and a red-haired woman talking on the phone. The emphasis of the painting is solely placed on the woman because of her facial expression and demeanor.  By looking at the shape of her mouth and the lines in her forehead we can argue that she is not in a good situation or something bad has happened. The dominant color in the painting is red, from the woman's shirt and cheeks, which helps portray the feelings the artist is trying to present. Proportion and scale are also used in this painting. The people in the back of the painting don't look in a positive mood, which tells me the artist is probably trying to tell the story that the woman is in some kind of danger.





Artist: Marcin Bondarowicz
Title: Illustration 2
Media: Pastel on paper
Date: 2013
Size: 17 x 12 inch

This painting is seems very symbolic. It is the image of a bird but it's wings seem to show the outside of a building. On upper right wing, we can see a fire. The bottom of the painting is a city or town. The artist uses patterns in the creation of the bird's wings. There is also proportion and harmony in the way the picture is divided between the ground and the sky. I believe the emphasis in the painting is placed on the fire of the bird's wing. The image overall is very dark in color but the red fire immediately attracts your eye in that direction. The work reminds me of nature and I believe the artist is trying to send a message about how cities and modern civilization are destroying nature.

Artist: Marcin Bondarowicz
Title: Illustration 1
Media: Pastel on paper
Date: 2013
Size: 20 x 28 inch


This painting shows proportion and harmony between the sea and the blue sky. The sailboat has many different faces. The brown ship seems to be traveling in the direction the faces are looking. The facial expressions in the artwork display a negative mood. The artist is probably trying to portray his feelings when he left his country or a place which he loved. 



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.?

I thought that visiting the art gallery was fun.  It's not my first visit to the gallery but every time I go there, there is something new to see. The decorations and architecture in each exhibit room really reflects the surrounding pieces of art. There are also many activities in the art gallery that you can take part in but I was not able to at this time. It is easy to figure out which culture each artwork is trying to display. Even though the art gallery is small, it still felt like you were visiting different museums in different parts of the world each time you went inside an exhibit.