An Unpopular War

Now this is a real challenge! I have never worked with Garage Band or Audacity, so it was fun, to say the least! I wanted to create an abstract piece about the events following and including 9/11; a bit of an anti war statement. I wanted to substitute musical sounds for military sounds, for example drums beats for soldiers, synthesizer for weapon sounds, etc.

I was a little foggy on the directions for this project, so this might be out in right field, but I liked the outcome.

I am fascinated by the concept of synethsesia, (spelling..ugh), the condition some people have when they are able to combine some of their senses, rather than having them operate independently. An example is when a person can feel the size and texture of numbers or they can taste music. I personally think this could be a possibility for everyone, it's just not something we have given the opportunity to refine. Or perhaps it is a recent evolution, who knows. But this assignment brought out these thoughts once again for me. When one uses music to feel or see something, that person moves beyond the use of a sense working independently. We all do that right? So why not try to take it further? How does music taste? What feelings are generated by different colors? What do you hear when you taste certain food? Its fascinating stuff if you think about it. Artistic people are prone to synethsesia more than others. Don't tell me you haven't thought about it.........hello?

http://www.public.asu.edu/~dniva

Timothy Leary

Wow! Is Illustrator FRUSTRATING! It must be one of those programs that once you get it, you love it....meaning right now, I'm hating it! UGH!
Now that I vented, I wanted to say that Timothy Leary is my inspiration for this last Illustrator post. He was a fascinating man with a plethora of radical ideas. What developed into ongoing acid trips started out as research into the beneficial effects of psychedelic mushrooms on emotional disorders. Whatever one may think about his methods, there is a renewed interest in mushroom therapy. He epitomized the culture of the 60's and 70's, advocating for peace and freedom.
I wanted to do so much more with this piece, but my own lack of Illustrator intelligence inhibited me, so for now I put Leary's photo, turned vector, on a psychedelic background and put his famous quote "Turn on, Tune in Drop out" which spoke of taking a group acid trip. The only clever thing I accomplished was swirling the background right at his winked eye....in retrospect, it's not all that clever. I know, Professor Peter, no self deprecating allowed. It does look like a poster design I could buy at Hippie Gypsy :)

Rosa

The concept for this image is to create a very stark contrast between black and white. This is a picture of Rosa Parks, the "international icon of resistance to racial segregation." It is an absurd notion that a person merits a seat on a public bus or not based on the color of one's skin. I wanted to reflect this thought in making Rosa a figure that is both black and white and neither black nor white. I also wanted to put her in a stark environment that is static and not at all organic; much like the abomination of racism. I didn't really need to do another version of this assignment, but I had an idea I wanted to play with. I also want to continue to attempt to conquer the beast of Illustrator, ugh!

Andy Warhol

I copied every quote I could find published from Andy Warhol (in the background), I am a bit obsessed and very curious about this amazing man! I also thought his quote "I am a deeply superficial person" was brilliant and SO Andy Warhol! This didn't qualify for the vector assignment since I didn't consult the directions until I was done....oops! It was done in Photoshop, not Illustrator, but it was great practice none the less.
As far as the vision for this piece, I wanted to show the complexity of Warhol along with the "superficiality" by putting the 3 Warhols on the same plane. Mounting it all on a backdrop of quotes by Warhol is designed to echo the theme that his thoughts were the genius of his work.

Beethoven

Beethoven's statement, "What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself. There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven" may seem arrogant but then again how many people could write and conduct the 9th symphony while profoundly deaf? This piece is made up of quotes from Beethoven about music, substituted for the lines, in an attempt to show that music is what Beethoven was made of.

Abstract

This exercise is my attempt at abstract, perhaps not a forte, definitely not my genre. I envisioned a patchwork of letters, no meaning to the letters, just an aesthetic different look on each to create a single piece. Abstract is a challenge for me. As I study the masters of the modern art movement, I'm not sure that they loved their pieces, especially when they were eliciting a response that was more about shock value. If you are trying to say something with your art and you are challenging long held traditions about how art should look, do you have to like it? I'm not sure, I don't think I do.

Vector Exercise

Looking for a way to "explore the use of TYPE as abstract shape." Although I am new to illustrator, I had a great time doing this exercise. I actually did a few different words but settled on "Weeds" because of aesthetic value more than theory. I was intrigued by this particular font because it seemed so organic. With that in mind, I experimented with tools and found one that created leaves, so I went a bit overboard, much like weeds tend to do. I also brought in some lines to frame the word, and attempted to make them feel like a fence, thus creating positeve and negative space. I had fun!

Book Design

The book design project is suppose to "explore how images and text generate a range of ideas and emotions." On Wednesday I went to the Falun Dafa art exhibit at the Memorial Union; it illicited quite a few emotions, so I thought it would be a great subject to create a fictious book cover for. The picture is actually a painting from the exhibit and I laid a photo of prison bars over the top. The text paragraph would probably be on the back of an actual book, although I looked through quite a few examples of books on Amazon and some do have a generous amount of text on them. I used quite a few effects on the text and am pleased with the final outcome. I have to say, I went to the exhibit directly after my bike had been stolen from the campus. I went in feeling pretty sorry for myself, but left with an entirely different set of emotions. I hope this book cover does the same for you.

"Ghosts of ASU"

Exploring the concept of time in photography has endless possibilities. I attempted to show that our past is always with us in "Ghosts of ASU." In my composition, it appears that only one young man can actually see the ghosts of the past, or perhaps he is the only one paying attention to it.

Another question to ponder, "Is it possible to assess and evaluate art? If so, what is good art, and conversely, how can one determine what is bad art?"... as posed by Peter, Professor extraordinare.

Art is subjective, based entirely on opinion. It used to be, it seems, that art was "good" if it best represented the real thing. The ancient greeks strove to understand and capture the perfection of man, for example. The better the likeness, the better the ability of the artist. But when photography came on the scene, art, for the sake of recording a person or event changed. What was the point of painting something good that you could photograph perfectly. So art became more about interpretation; accurate representation was no longer vital. I am, of course, speaking in huge generalities. Not all of history followed this pattern, there have always been artists that have taken independent paths. But generally speaking, at the turn of the twentieth century, modern art became more about what was understood, interpreted and experienced in a piece of art; enjoying it wasn't even a prerequisite of fine art. This time period in art's history was controversial to say the least. Some may question how can Jackson Pollock's paint drizzles be compared to the works of Rembrandt. And furthermore, what makes Brillo Boxes a work of art just because Andy Warhol says it is. The way art had been traditionally understood was being challenged and redefined. As cliche as it may seem, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. As I said at the beginning, art is subjective. Whether it is a cultural difference or merely just an individual taste, different people like different things. Therefore, I don't believe one can classify any art as bad. As I have studied works of art throughout history, my standard for what kind of art I appreciate has changed drastically. I have tried to understand the artist and the context that the work has been created in. As I understand more, I appreciate more. Perhaps this is a principle that translates to all areas of life. Just a thought!

What is art?

Typically art is an elusive subject in terms of definition. Art is a means to communicate through the senses. It can be entertaining, informative or controversial. Whether one's feelings that art evokes are good or bad, art is successful if it stirs its viewers. The most tragic result, for any artist, in my opinion is an audience's indifference toward their art.

"Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it." M. Scott Peck

Self Portraits can invoke a sense of pride and at the same time be a painful journey. For my contribution I have opted to reflect in the mirror of time.

I tried to portray a picture of myself that was vulnerably self revealing. I chose a current picture and then added the elements of a child's face, depicting the past and an old woman's face, the future. I set these all in a background of a clock. In my life, age is staring at me constantly. I generally am the oldest student in my classes. Changing careers at this point in my life was never the plan, but became a necessity. It is both the hardest thing I have ever done and the most exciting. There is a part of me that still feels young and childish, but I also realize that I look through the eyes of an old woman. Time is melting away, urgency constricts my breath, and regret haunts me; thus the melting effect on the clock.

But the beauty is I value myself enough to change my life, to change my time, to change my future. I am grateful for the opportunity and strength to do that; and it makes every experience and every class and every classmate a joy added to my life and journey.

Can't wait for another great class! Trying to figure out this blog!

Starting a new blog

New experience, starting a new blog! Welcome!