Art Exam 1 (chap 1-5)
Complex mask
-1880, Yupik Eskimo, Southwest Alaska, wood, pigments, and feathers -Eskimo societies, shamans fulfill a priestly function by interpreting the spirit world to the people, and interceding for them to the spirits -they enter spirit realm by taking identity of sacred animals in ceremonies that enact ancient myths through chanting, dance, with aid from mask and costumes -Shamanic masks reveal vivid pictures of transformations -this mask shows shaman at top, arms and legs splayed outward -Holds two staffs that culminate in feathers -Body seems to b flayed open, chest cavity is red and red heart at center -Below him, emerging from torso is a seal, a product of self opening -Created to aid in ceremonies of spiritual transformation
Alexander Calders mobiles
-1972, aluminum and steel, National Gallery in Washington D.C. -rely on air movement to perform their dances -as viewers enter and leave the sculpture slowly moves in space -Leader inventor in Kinetic Art, one of first twentieth-century artists who made actual motion a major feature
Art in Worship and Ritual
-Another function of art has been to enhance religious contemplation -most of the worlds religions have found ways to incorporate artists creativity into their sacred rituals, places, and ceremonies. -Many objects created for ritual use look precious, befitting their use in divine ceremonies.
Art as Commentary
-Art has often been used to answer to our need for information. -By providing a visual account of an event or a person, or by expressing an opinion -artists have shaped not only the way people understand their own world but how their culture is viewed by others. -They usually speak in a language that is easy to understand -they view arts primary goal as communication between artist and viewer by means of subject matter (print, impressionist, painterly). -Artists often include personal judgments on conditions, facts, or politics.
The Kiss
-Auguste Rodin, 1886, Marble -Both artworks titled "The Kiss" help us understand the relationship is to compare works that have the same subject but differ greatly in form and content. -They both show how two sculptures interpret an embrace -In Rodins work, the life-size human figures represent Western ideals of the masculine and the feminine -He captured the sensual delight of that highly charged moment when lovers embrace -Our emotions are engaged as we overlook the hardness of the marble from which he carved it -The natural softness of flesh is heightened by the rough texture of the unfinished marble supporting the figures
In a Villa at the Seaside
-Berthe Morisot, 1874, oil on canvas -Impressionist artist, captured what they had seen -Painterly (loose or spontaneous) shows she created it swiftly, perhaps in single sitting -Historians might study this to learn ab feminine dress details and vacation sites of upper classes -The rest of us appreciate a spontaneous, calm moment with the family, captured in delicate, dancing strokes of paint -testifies clearly to what the artist experienced and takes us to a specific place and time
Rock Garden
-Built beginning 1480, Ryoan-ji, Kyoto, Japan -In Zen school of Buddhism, taught can reach enlightenment by spiritual insight and meditation, this is an aid for that -The garden sits before a terrace where Zen monks gather for meditation -Some random rocks protrude from smooth surface of gravel, which is raked -These rocks seem to imitate the most minimal version of nature, like mountains that rise through clouds or islands out at sea -The emptiness of the garden is chief distinguishing feature
The Kiss (newer version)
-Constantin Brancusi, 1916, Limestone -In contrast to Rodins sensuous approach, Brancusi used the solid quality of a block of stone to express lasting love -Minimal cutting of the block, he symbolized rather then illustrated the concept of two becoming one -He chose geometric abstraction rather than representational naturalism to express love -We might say that Rodins work expresses the feelings of love while Brancusi's expresses the idea of love
Pepper #30
-Edward Weston, 1930, photograph -Ordinary things become extraordinary when we see them deeply, to help us truly see Weston created a memorable image on a flat surface with the help of a common pepper -A time exposure of over two hours gave it a quality of glowing light- a living presence that resembles an embrace -Through his sensitivity to form , he revealed how this pepper appeared to him -He says it is a classic, completely satisfying and that its more then a pepper but abstract, in that it is completely outside subject matter. This new pepper takes one beyond the world we know in the conscious mind. -Good example of creative process, worked a 28 years -The texture, light, and shadow, and shape of the pepper is the form that we see, and the content is the meaning that work communicates, for example, sense of wonder ab the natural world.
The Horse
-Fernando Botero, 2008, Bronze, Plaza Centenario, Monterrey, Mexico -immense mass -bulging legs and neck intensified by horses short backbone, bringing four legs together like strong pillars -mass of horse goes beyond what mere muscle produced, giving inflated look -legs in position of rest and head points toward ground, form that does not interact with surrounding space -example of closed form
Art As Self-Expression
-For most of human history, this has not been a primary reason for creating art -In recent times, however, particularly when a great deal of art is sold as a private possession, this type of art has increasingly become one of arts most common functions -Art fulfills an expressive function when an artist conveys information about his or her personality or feelings or worldview, aside from a social cause, market demand, commissioning ruler, or aesthetic urge. -Such art becomes a meeting site between artist and viewer, the viewer feeling empathy and gaining an understanding of the creators personality. -We all derive comfort from the fact that others in the world are similar to ourselves, and artists various modes of self-expression reach out to us in hopes of establishing a bond. -Self-portraiture has traditionally been an important way that artists reach out to us -Assemblage
Representational Art
-Intended to faithfully depict the appearance of things -Figurative Art: When humans are the subject matter of the work -Subject: The objects depicted in the artwork. Even abstracted art often has a subject.
Nocturne: Blue and Gold- Old Battersea Bridge
-James Abbott McNeill Whistler, 1872-1875, oil on canvas -He captured the subtle variations of blue in the sky and water against flickering city lights below a fireworks display. -The fading light renders this scene almost monochromatic or based mostly on one color. -He made the bridge taller and thinner than it really was -He also suppressed details in the urban scene before him to yield a balanced set of related shapes -The moment is tranquil, as the days activities have ended and the Thames River is smooth, while a lone boatman paddles home. -Whistler believes that arts only goal is to be beauty -Here he transformed a humdrum zone of London into a quietly poetic moment
Trio
-Jennifer Bartlett, 2008, enamel over silkscreen grid on baked enamel, steel plates, overall installed, 45 plates -analogous colors -viewers can mentally select primaries, secondary's, and intermediates in each of squares -each of three rows has different wave pattern, creates effect of pale light reflecting off gently ripped surface of water -resembles scientific investigation of the properties of analogous color
Monkey Puzzle
-Keith Haring, 1988, Acrylic on canvas -uses complementary color schemes, emphasizing two hues directly opposite of each other on color wheel -When mixed together form neutral grays but when side by side as pure hues they contrast strongly and intensify -Red-orange and blue-green tend to vibrate more bc close in value, produce cool/warm contrast -yellow and violet provide strongest value contrast -example of several complementary pairs, all in one disk -some cases, commentary apir is in one of the bodies, in others the pair includes the surrounding stripe -black background heightens the strident impact
Ginzer
-Kiki Smith, 2000, Etching, aquatint, and drypoint on mold made paper -Type of print made up almost entirely of lines, with little shading or color -she etched lines in a metal plate to create her cat -she drew one line for each hair -eyes and foot pads slightly shaded but everything else was done with line -captured cats flexible limbs and back as Ginzer reclined but also hint of cats wild side in mount and alert eyes
Bismark, North Dakota
-Lee Friedlander, 2002, photograph -Many intersecting and contrasting linear paths form the composition -wires, poles, railings, buildings edges, and the shadows they cast all present themselves as lines in this work
Sky and Water 1
-M.C. Escher, 1938, woodcut -Interaction between figure and ground -Upper half we see dark geese on a white ground -move down page the light upper background becomes fish against a black background -in middle fish and geese interlock and don't know whats ground and figure -as awareness shifts, objects trade places, a phenomenon called figure groundr eversal.
Object (breakfast in Fur)
-Meret Oppenheim, 1936, fur covered cup, saucer, and spoon -rude tactile ecperience -presented intentionally contradictory object deisgned to evoke storng responses ranging from revulsion to amusement
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
-Mya Lin, The Mall, Washington, D.C., 1980-1982, black granite -Aroused controversy -250 ft long, V-shaped wall bears the names of 60,000 American servicemen/women who died or missing from controversial war -chronological list, unprecedented among the monuments of the National Mall -Resistance to the work was so great that a further monument was commissioned, statue of three soldiers -Attracted thousands of visitors, appreciated the solemnity of black granite walls and personal attention involved -Influenced many other public memorials, inscribing names of all commemorated people has become more common
1st light (light crossed out)
-Paul Chan, 2005, digital video projection, 14 mins -uses light from digital projector to display haunting creations -series of seven -installed projector at various angles so sent irregular window of light onto floor or wall -over series, a variety of objects seems to tumble or glide or fall through projected field of light -shadows of pets, people, luggage, locomotives -light that has been struck out, that's why light is crossed out -looks like witnessing some silent catastrophe, as laws of gravity are suspended and everything has come loose from its moorings
Versailles
-Pierre Patel, 1665, oil on canvas, Chateau de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, France -Built enormous palace and formal garden designed to surpass all others in its splendor -Interior was decorated with many artworks that depicted his exploits -purpose of palace was to symbolize the strength of his monarchy and to impress the nobility with his power
The School of Athens
-Raphael, 1508, Fresco -Grand architectural setting in the Renaissance style to provide appropriate space for his depiction of the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle and other important thinkers -Size of each figure drawn to scale according to distance from viewer, thus entire group seems natural -Lines superimposed over painting reveal basic one-point perspective system used -Cube in foreground is not parallel to picture plane or to painted architecture and is in twi-point perspective -Used perspective as emphasis -Infer Plato and Aristotle most important figures bc of their placement at center of receding archways in the zone of greatest implied depth
La Trahison des Images
-Rene Magritte, oil on canvas, 1929 -The title means "The Treachery of Images" and suggest the visual game that the artist had in mind -Hes a Belgian painter and he shows a different relationship between art and reality -The subject appears to be a pipe but written in French on the paining are the words "This is not a pipe"
Prevalence of Ritual: Tidings
-Romare Bearden In 1967 -Twentieth-century American artist -Showed a different type of creativity in his depictions of the daily life he witnessed in the rural South and in Harlem, New York City -He created a photomontage using borrowed picture fragments with a few muted colors to portray a mood of melancholy and longing. -In the work, a winged figure seems to comfort an introspective women who holds a flower, suggesting the story of the Christian Annunciation -A train implies departure perhaps from this world or simply to a better life in the North -In this photomontage, Bearden was concerned with the effectiveness of his communication to others but important was his own inner need for creative expression
Art for Commemoration
-Something done as an aid to memory. -Some is personal, as we each hold memories of people important in our lives. -But its more often a more public art, perhaps celebrating a significant person or event, or honoring patriotic actions. -Overall, any kind connects us with the chain of humanity that stretches back for millennia, making human life seem more significant and valuable. -Visual imagery has played a decisive role in most types.
Art for Persuasion
-Splendid government buildings, public monuments, television commercials, and music videos all harness the power of art to influence action and opinion. -They invite and urge us to do or think things that we may not have otherwise thought of. -Some use inspiration, reminding us of ideals that we already share, and urging us to emulate and learn from them. -Classical Greek sculptures usually encouraged an ideal of sober self-restraint, this idealism was also a trend in Europe during Renaissance -Some types can be literal and others use symbolic language to help instill proper behavior -today companies and organizations use posters, billboards, and advertising layouts to attempt to convince us to buy or believe something. -Artists have also used such media to criticize or influence values and public opinion
Abstraction of a Cow series
-Theo Van Doesburg -top two images: Composition (The Cow), 1917, Pencil on paper -Bottom Left: Composition, 1917, Tempera, oil, and charcoal on paper -Bottom Right: Composition 8, 1918, Oil on canvas -Hes an early modern artists in Europe who embraced abstraction -The artist apparently wanted to see how far he could abstract the cow through simplification and still have his images symbolize the essence of the animal -Used the subject as a point of departure for a composition made up of colored rectangles -If just looked at final painting we would think its nonrepresentational
Occupy LA Mural
-Unknown artist, 2011, poster paint on wood panels -Artist commentaries often include personal judgments on conditions, facts, or politics -Huge mural that made such a statement about our contemporary economy -At the center is an octopus that personifies the Federal Reserve Bank -It grasps the city, bundles of cash, and a foreclosed home in its tentacles -In lower right, Monopoly board game guy announces "You're bankrupt" -Left edge, another tentacle lifts a balance in which 1% outweighs 99% -Below scale "Scott Olsen" refers to an Iraq war veteran injured in protest with Occupy group few weeks before -Not subtle and oversimplifies the causes of 2008 economic downturn but embodied the artists commentary on urgently important subject
Art for Delight
-Visual delight in a work of art can take many forms, including an appreciation of beauty or decoration, or delight in an element of surprise (Aesthetics, Classical). -Most definitions of beauty in painting include a pleasant or inspiring subject, thoughtful execution, and a harmonious balance of colors in a pleasing arrangement (monochromatic). -The decoration of useful objects is another source of delight, and a decorative urge has motivated a great deal of creativity throughout history (slip). -A contemporary type of delight is surprise, when we see something recognizable but unexpected.
Composition VI
-Wassily Kandinaky, oil on canvas -Wassily was leader in Expressionist movement of early modern Germany, reached out by beginning with inner feelings -Hoped to create art that responded to "inner necessity" or emotional stirrings of soul, rather then response to what he saw in world -Abstract works, attempted to translate the swirl and surge of inner spiritual energies into color and form -This piece renders a restless and aroused inner state, an experience probably not unknown to most viewers -Usually named his work after musical forms, bc wanted to communicate as music -Hoped souls of viewers would resonate with rhythms and colors of his paintings, and infect viewers with the same emotions that he felt while creating them
A Smoke Backstage
-William Harnett, 1877, oil on canvas -Representational art and the most real looking paintings are in a style called trompe l'oeil--"fool the eye" -the assembled objects are close to life size
directional forces
-influence the way we look at a work of art -paths for the eye to follow, provided by actual or implied lines
Nuestro Pueblo
-means our town and is more commonly known as the Watts Towers -Mixed media 1921-1954 -Creator Sabatino "Simon" Rodia exemplifies the artist who visualizes new possibilities for ordinary materials -Worked on it for 33 years, making it from cast-off materials such as metal pipes and bed frames held together with steel reinforcing rods, mesh, and mortar -He built it without power tools, rivets, welds, or bolts -The towers rose in his triangular backyard, he covered their surfaces with bits and pieces of broken dishes, tile, melted bottle glass, shells, and other colorful junk -The towers are testimony to the artists creativity and perseverance -"I had it in mind to do something big and I did it"
Nonrepresentational Art
-nonobjective art -art free of direct influence from nature or reality. Nonrepresentational work is often more formal. It focuses on the aesthetics of the piece, how/why/what makes it look appealing
unity and variety
-oneness or wholeness, a work of art achieves unity when its parts seem necessary to the whole -variety provides diversity, acts to counter unity -balance between the two that can yield interesting compositions
Major Purposes and Functions of Art
-to Delight, to Commemorate, as Commentary, for Worship and Ritual, to Persuade, as a means of Self-Expression -Many works of art may fulfill more than one function; art that is persuasive may also delight with its beauty; a religious work may also express the creators personal quest for transcendence; a commemorative piece may also inform us. Yet all art meets one human need or another, and has the power to shape our lives in many ways.
emphasis and subordination
-use to draw our attention to an area, if it is specific spot or figure its focal point -position, contrast, color, intensity, and size can all be used to create emphasis -through subordination, artist creates neutral areas of lesser interest that keep us from being distracted from area of emphasis
Monochromatic
A color scheme limited to variations of one hue; a hue with its tints and/or shades.
Iconography
A set of conventional meanings attached to images. The symbolic meanings of subjects and signs used to convey ideas important to particular cultures or religions, and the conventions governing the use of such forms. for example, in traditional Christian art, a key symbolizes Saint Peter, to whom Christ gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven. An hourglass symbolizes the passage of time.
mass
A two-dimensional area is called a shape, but a three-dimensional area is called a mass: the physical bulk of a solid body of material.
representational
Art in which it is the artists intention to present again or represent a particular subject, especially pertaining to realistic portrayal of subject matter.
Implied motion example
Berninin's Apollo and Daphne
line that describes mass and volume
Catlett's Sharecropper
Atmospheric perspective and relative size
Church's heart of the Andes
Folk Art
Creators making work within an artistic style or tradition , usually without formal (academic) training
Examples of art as commentary: Delacroix
Delacroix
Example of art as commentary
Delacroix and Goya
Amorphous Shape
Frankenthaler
Organic/biomorphic shape examples
Gaudi and Murray
Folk Art example
Gee's Bend quilts
Example of art as commentary: Goya
Goya
contrast
Is the juxtaposition of strongly dissimilar elements. Dramatic effects can b produced when dark is set against light, large against small, bright colors against dull
space
Its the indefinable, general receptacle of all things. How artists organize it in the works they make is one of their most important creative considerations.
iconography and content example
Jan van Eyck's Giovani Arnolfi and his Bride
Examples of representative of art as self expression
Kahlo's Self Portrait with Monkey, Munch's the Scream, and Dali's Persistence of Memory
content
Meaning or message communicated by a work of art, including its emotional, intellectual, symbolic, thematic, and narrative connotations.
Representative of non-representational art exampke
Mondrian and Kandinsky
Texture
Refers to the tactile qualities of surfaces, or to the visual representation of those qualities.
Examples of alternative notions of art for worship: Rothkos chapel
Rothkos chapel
Example of alternative notions of art for worship
Rothkos chapel and the Mihrab from mosque at Ishfahan
implied time and motion example
Shiva as King of Dance
Geometric Shape
Smith's Cubi
Examples of art that delights because of beauty
The Mona Lisa and Discobolus
creativity
The ability to bring forth- to create- something new that has value. The value is key; it is not enough just to be ori9ginal, it has to say something, do something, make you think something. All art is a creative pursuit, but not all creativity is related to art.
shape
The expanse within the outline of a two-dimensional area or within the outer boundaries of a three-dimensional object
light
The segment of the spectrum of electromagnetic energy that stimulates the eyes and produces visual sensations
Aesthetics
The study and philosophy of the quality and nature of sensory responses related to, but not limited by, the concept of beauty.
time and motion
Time is fourth dimension, in which events occur in succession. bc we live in an environment combining space and time, our experience of time often depends on our movement in space, and vise versa. Although time itself is invisible, it can be made perceptible in art. Time and motion become major elements in visual media such as film, video, and kinetic. sculpture
Examples of art that commemorates: Warhol's four Marilyns
Warhol's four Marilyns
Example of art that commemorates
Warhol's four Marilyns, Ringgolds Tar Beach, and Chicago's the Dinner Party
Actual and Implied contour lines examples
Weston's Knees and Picasso's Portrait of Stravinsky
Mass example
Whiteread's Holocaust Memorial
color
a component of light, affects us directly by modifying our thoughts, moods, actions, and even our health
medium
a particular material along with its accompanying technique; a specific type of artistic technique or means of expression determined by the use of particular materials. Example include oil paint, marble, and video
mixed-media
art made with a combination of different materials
abstract
art that is based on natural appearances but departs significantly from them. Forms are modified or changed to varying degrees.
Principles of design
balance, unity and variety, scale and proportion, emphasis and subordination, directional forces, contrast, repetition and rhythm
Balance
distribution of weight, whether actual or visual, in a composition
form
in the broadest sense, the total physical characteristics of an event or object. Usually describes the visual elements of a work of art that create meaning, for example: A huge, looming shape in a painting is a form that may create haunting or foreboding meaning.
Visual Elements of Art
line, shape, color, light, texture, space, time and motion, mass
Line
our basic means for recording and symbolizing ideas, observations, and feelings; it is a primary means of visual communication
Content
refers to the message or meaning of the work of art - what the artist expresses or communicates to the viewer
Example of art that persuades
the Great Pyramid and Shirin Neshat's Speechless
Example of alternative notions of art for worship: the Mihrab from mosque at Ishfahan
the Mihrab from mosque at Ishfahan
Idealism
the representation of subjects in an ideal or perfect state or form
photomontage
using borrowed picture fragments with a few muted colors to portray a mood of melancholy and longing
work of art
when the artist makes or puts in front of us for viewing. The visual object that embodies the idea the artist wanted to communicate.
non-objective
without recognizable objects. also called nonrepresentational- Art without reference to anything outside itself- without representation.
