Jim Condron: Picking Up the Pieces

       On Thursday, November 9th, I attended the artist talk and reception for Jim Condron's art gallery. It was interesting to see and hear Condron discuss his artwork and listen to what he had to say. At first glance and looking solely at the art gallery, I would have thought that Condron was primarily a sculptor. But in reality, he trained as a painter and claims that he does not know the first thing about sculpture. He even said he feels uncomfortable calling his artwork "sculpture." Condron's art takes everyday, mundane objects and transforms them into something visually interesting and smile-worthy. 

       When we visited the gallery during class,  I had no clue what I was looking at. The pieces did not really connect to their titles and it was hard to derive meaning from them. After hearing Jim Condron talk, I learned that not all of his work is random. His mom is dying from ALS and a few of his pieces are meant to reflect that situation. He keeps a running list of phrases and sentences which he pulls from to title his artwork. He told the audience that he is deliberately unclear so his art is subjective to personal meaning. 

       It was also interesting to hear Ann Landi, an art critic from New York, speak about Condron's work and the art world today. When asked about Condron's work she said the first thing that comes to mind is "What's going on?!" She told the audience that art journalism is dwindling and people need to work to bring back traditional art reviews in literature. Condron's work is important because it is eclectic and different and is worth writing about.

The Art of Data Visualization

      At any given moment, our brains are processing millions of different things at the speed of light. Data visualization transforms otherwise complex data into a simpler form. It helps us to make sense of complicated information and perceive it as simple. I liked the end of the video where he talked about how an important aspect of data visualization is leaving room for some interpretation. Interpretation is important because maybe someone else will notice or realize something that the artist had not. It's not a one-sided relationship.
      An aspect of the video that I found interesting was that in data visualization, the creator also takes into consideration his or her own message and what they want to get across. We see data images every single day and it is fascinating to see the amount of thought and work that goes into each visual piece. But I guess that's the point of data visualization. The creator is the one who is supposed to do all the hard work to make it easy for the audience to comprehend the data given.
      The world creates patterns whether we realize it or not. It was interesting to see how charts of flight patterns or maps of all the McDonald's in the country creates a visually pleasing image or pattern. We react just as much to the aesthetic as we do to the actual information. If the visualization does not match the data, the piece will just be a failure. It is important to respect the data and to respect the visuals as well. "How can we see not to confirm, but to see to learn."

Postmodern Mixed Media Phase 2

The piece has many different components of it including images, paper, color, ink, and lines. The piece features a collage of crying or upset babies that was cut up to fit the four corners of the paper. Blue and purple construction paper was used to balance the overwhelming flesh tones of the babies. The focal point is the center where a larger, crying baby face is pasted on the body of a Victoria Secret model. The background features dripping ink blots or splatters.

The connotative meaning of the piece is that it is meant to represent Jean Baudrillard's quote, "There is no aphrodisiac like innocence." The piece make you feel unsettled and chaotic. It can be a little funny at times. There is nothing more annoying than the shrillness of babies crying so this was meant to put a little humorous twist on that. The piece is chaotic and insane. Babies are the essence of innocence, so to compare them with "aphrodisiac" is a little unsettling. When I first read the quote I was taken aback and thought "was this guy into child pornography?" So I took the quote literally and paired crying babies with a Victoria Secret model. The idealogical meaning is how messed up society's view of "sexy" is. While people should be admiring experience and intelligence, Jean Baudrillard says that "innocence" is sexy.

Postmodernism

I found both the readings on postmodernism to be a little confusing. It makes sense that they would be confusing because the contradictory clash of old traditions and modern values is inherently confusing. One question I have regarding the readings is about the difference between places like Disneyland and downtown LA. Were the writers saying that Disneyland is "real" and LA is not? Or were they saying that both places are not real? I was kind of confused about what they were trying to say about that. But I really liked the depiction of new age forms of communication. We see things like that all the time in everyday life but never really stop to think about the origins.

Color Podcast

Color is such an interesting and fascinating concept. Thinking about colors for too long is enough to make your head hurt. When I was younger, I learned that butterflies can see more colors than humans. As a young child, this thought frustrated me to no end. I struggled to wrap my head around the fact that colors that I couldn't see existed. It is impossible to imagine colors you have never seen. The color podcast brought back these thoughts that haunted me as a child. It's kind of like asking the question: "how can you explain or describe color to someone who is blind?" It is nearly impossible.

It is easy to imagine a dog's world which is either in blue/yellow tones or is black and white. It is simple to eliminate color from our palette but incredibly difficult to add color. While humans normally have 3 color receptors, creatures like butterflies have 5 or 6, and even more unbelievable, mantis shrimp have 16 color receptors. A creature so small and insignificant lives in a more vibrant world than humans. But apparently, there are some women who have 4 color receptors. The podcast discussed how hard it is to determine the accuracy of this fact.

We don't think about how much color affects our every day life. Color determines what clothes we wear and what foods we eat. This podcast reminded me of an experiment I once saw. People ate skittles blindfolded and were unable to differentiate between flavors even though each skittle has a different flavor. Humans associate colors with mood. People associate with different colors and tend to gravitate towards different colors. I started to think, "what if I am seeing green but another sees 'red'?" How do we know that we are all seeing the same colors with the same names?

There has been a trend on the internet for a while now where people post an image and then debate the colors of the object. This was first seen with "the dress" where some people saw black and blue and others saw white and gold. "The dress" sparked arguments all over. How could someone be seeing something so opposite of me? Last week an image of a shoe went around the internet. Some said it was white and pink, and others said mint and grey. People were again divided. How do you determine who is correct when so many people are convinced on what colors they are seeing?

Whitescapes

The first photo is a picture of the bottom of a frosting can against the dry-erase white board in my living room. It was taken with the lights on and no flash. The second photo is the same image but taken with the lights off and with the flash of my camera on. Although the can of frosting and white board are classified as white, they all look different in both images. The contrast of the frosting can makes both the backgrounds look grey rather than white. The lighting in the first image makes the frosting can look darker and creamier than the bottom image. The can in the bottom image looks more white than the first image because of the strong contrast with the white board. The white board in the bottom picture has a darker grey tone than the top image. 

Subvertisement Project

Original Advertisement 

My Altered Advertisement 

Baltimore Museum of Art

1. My favorite artist at the Baltimore Museum of Art was definitely Henri Matisse. I found all of his paintings visually pleasing and interesting to look at. I really enjoyed his painting "Young Woman at the Window, Sunset." This painting style is expressionism and was painted by Matisse in 1921. After further research, I discovered that Matisse painted many images of women near windows. I find this fact very intriguing and I wonder why he was drawn to that style. This painting reminds me of a scene out of a movie. The woman is looking longingly out the window at the beach. The sunset adds extra beauty to the painting. The focal point of this painting is the woman and the composition is leading lines. The path of the window frame leads to the woman and my eye is automatically drawn to her. It seems as though the lines and patterns on her clothing add to this visual effect. I admire the color choice that Matisse went with and this painting leaves me with a happy, content feeling.

Young Woman at the Window, Sunset by Henri Matisse

2. I found this painting to be fascinating because it was labeled an odalisque. This term was used to refer to women, "often scantily dressed in North African or Middle Eastern costume, who recline in ornately decorated prints." This statement is kind of ironic seeing that the woman in this Matisse painting is fully clothed with only a small amount of skin revealed. This painting is visually pleasing because of the leading lines. The woman is the focal point but is accentuated by the lines that draw my eye to her. The lines in the floor, wallpaper, and chair all lead to the woman. The business of the background really contrasts with the simpleness of the woman on the chair. This painting makes me feel very relaxed and calm. I think the position of the woman reclining, makes the person viewing this painting feel comfortable as well.

Seated Odalisque, Left Leg Bent by Henri Matisse

3. I also enjoyed this painting by Alfred Sisley. This painting was made in 1882 and is oil on canvas. This painting radiated a sense of tranquility and peace. Although there are small figures in this painting, nature is the dominant force here. The brush strokes are very soft yet prominent and you could really see where the artist put his brush down and picked it up again. I see the rule of thirds in this painting. The sky, trees, and foreground are equally separated. This adds visual symmetry and balance to the painting. I admire Sisley's color choice. I like the pastel blues and greens he used. This painting looks very natural and peaceful.

Poplars on a River Bank by Alfred Sisley

Ways of Seeing

The way people view images has changed radically over centuries. As technology advances, so does the way people view images or see art. It used to be that certain paintings could only be seen in their original location. But in today’s day and age, famous paintings can be duplicated, photographed, and viewed millions of times by millions of people on many different screens or canvases. In John Berger’s series “Ways of Seeing,” one of his statements really stood out to me. In regard to famous images he says, “As you look at them now on your screen, your wallpaper is round them. Your window is opposite them. Your carpet is below them. At the same moment, they are on many other screens, surrounded by different objects, different colors, different sounds. You are seeing them in the context of your own life. They are surrounded not by gilt frames, but by the familiarity of the room you are in, and the people around you.” In years previous, people only heard about famous paintings through literature. Today, people don’t even have to leave their house to experience Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Virgin of the Rocks.”

But there is something to be said about actually experiencing viewing an original image in its original state and location. There is a certain magic about being able to view first-hand the authenticity of a famous painting or sculpture. Everything is reproducible today thanks to the camera. So why do people still venture to different countries to view the original? It is because a reproduction will never encompass the beauty of seeing an original painting in its whole, life-size glory. It is an experience that cannot be replicated by seeing a duplicate.

In opposition, modern day technology can help to enhance and add details to classic art that couldn’t be done before.  The camera allows a still painting to have movement. In the video, John Berger shows a painting set to music from an opera which adds a new dimension to a formerly still painting. The painting was able to transform and have deeper meaning. The meaning of a painting can change depending on the context in which it is viewed. The impact of a painting can be modified due to replication. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but a different thing. For example, my roommate has a giant tapestry of Starry Night hanging in our hallway. The Starry Night is currently at the Museum of Modern Art where thousands of people view it daily. But The Starry Night is also viewed daily in our small Loyola apartment.

Visibility

Italo Calvino’s article, Visibility, proposes a very interesting concept of how we visualize things. The first type of imaginative process starts with the word and ends with the visual image. The second type of imaginative process begins with the visual imagine and concludes with the verbal expression. It is easy to say that this is true but when I sat down and truly thought about it, I believe that both of these thought processes can happen simultaneously.

As a writer, I constantly have words, images, and concepts flowing through by brain at all times of the day. Sometimes I will see a single image of a scene or I’ll see phrases and words that I find interesting. But I have also experienced the processes that Calvino describes in his article. There have been times when I only see an image and then create a story revolving around that image, letting the words fall into place naturally. Or, I’ll start with words and let the image write itself.

I liked the example of a movie that Calvino used in his article. A film is the perfect representation of images to words and words to images. I especially liked the quote, “This mental cinema is always at work in each one of us, and it always has been, even before the invention of the cinema. Nor does it ever stop projecting images before our mind’s eye.” I can see how visibility relates to visual art. Sometimes artist have feelings or concepts in mind and then use art as a way to release the visual representation of those ideas into the world.

The Whole Ball of Wax

Art is an inevitable and unavoidable aspect of daily life. In his article, "The Whole Ball of Wax," Jerry Saltz says that "Art is not optional; it is necessary. It is part of the whole ball of wax." Famous works of art like the Mona Lisa, Starry Night, American Gothic, the statue of David, and The Persistence of Memory, are all images that people have seen numerous times whether or not they register in their brains. In various classes I have analyzed and studied these pieces of art countless times and each time I discover something new or see the image through a different lens.

Oscar Wilde's quote, "The moment you think you understand a work of art it's dead for you," really resonated with me. I agree with him completely as looking at art is a process in itself. Art forces a person to explore new ways of thinking and viewing the way the world works. I also believe that is is nearly impossible to completely understand a work of art because I always find new things to analyze and different world issues to relate the artwork to.

Art can't change the world by itself. Art has the potential to influence human outlook. So by proxy, art can change the world. Art has the ability to alter and affect a person's mood and attitude. In Saltz's article he points out what painter Gaylen Gerber said in the days after September 11. Gerber claimed that going to the Art Institute of Chicago and "looking at shiny furniture form the '60s and '70s that in some way, maybe because of its superficial, and ultra-clean look, made me feel a little better." Although this may sound a little bizarre to some, his outlook definitely made sense to me. After a major tragedy in my life, a good friend of mine sent me a picture every single day. At first it simply annoyed me, but after a while, it centered me and gave me a semblance of hope during a dark time in my life. So yes, I believe that art can change the world.