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.