Final Project

Ninja!

I relate to the protagonist in that my life never had much discipline when in came to my studies prior to art school. However, once I came to Tyler, I felt like I became more disciplined and passionate about my work. In relation to the 36th chamber, like him, I want to teach others my craft and hopefully inspire or nurture their artistic ventures. Shaolin requires a great deal of discipline and practice. Nothing is usually achieved on the first try, but if you work hard and don't quit, the product can be rewarding and beneficial. This is the idea of perseverance. Our life as an artist and the world that encompasses that does not span on a small scale. It embodies who we are and what we live for. On top of that, the vitality of it relies on perseverance. I wouldn't say that artists are monks (they're completely different concepts and purposes), but they require a great deal of dedication like monks. I feel like a comparison depends on the perspective of each individual. In my opinion, its more because it has more importance and relevance to me and my interests. Once I get out of school I feel like it might be harder to find time to do my personal work, but I hope to find a job in the art field that allows me some freedom to work on my ideas. I just want to be able to explore and continue to learn new things, while simultaneously making a name for myself in the art world. It will be tough, but it will definitely be worth it.

Lecture

The lecture on Thursday was definitely interesting. I found it hard to relate to the speaker, but I did enjoy his work. My favorite parts of his work were his paintings and his black and white sculptures. They were definitely the style I'm interested in. I also enjoyed his sense of design and aesthetic. However, I wasn't as impressed with the videos. Yes, they were interesting in terms of transformation and how they seemed to create complex abstract imagery through realized images, but simultaneously, I didn't feel like it was his original work. I more saw them as funky spoofs of these various videos. If he had taken his own videos and manipulated them, it would have been much more interesting. I was inspired by some of his work, but he wasn't necessarily my favorite artist.

MFA Show

When I first walked through this show, I was extremely confused. I honestly thought that it wasn’t worth my time to be there. There were things that I was definitely interested in, and some of them I thought were well done in terms of craft and how they were put together. However, I couldn’t understand the concept and content it was trying to present the viewer. From what I saw, it was a bunch of random objects that were put together in odd forms and center in a room lined with sparse amounts of photos. However, when I looked at it further and took a closer look throughout the entire show, the pieces began to fit better together. It actually helped watching the video first. Some lines popped out from the video like, “I’m tucking you in… Don’t fail me.” This spoke to me more than the random objects I had seen before, because the words “Don’t fail me” I relate to. Listening to that and seeing the images throughout made me think of the idea of love versus lust and the fragility of it all… The disappointment amidst the chance and hope for success… It all seemed to manifest in my mind, because it’s something I struggle with personally. Then when I looked through the show again, I began to notice different things that related to this concept. The marble with the pit made me think of a void, something that was missing, and the candle wax made me think of romance. So the pair makes me think of the void and emptiness left by romance. I’m not sure what the paper had to do with it, and I’m not even sure if it was meant to be there. The photos and such made me think of lust and the complications of attraction and love. And the photo hanging loosely on the wall signifies the fragile situation, the thought that maybe it will drop and come undone in moments. The objects and their placement also began taking textual forms. For example, the wire actually spelled out the text/technological version of I love you forever (I <3 u 4e). this almost undermines the actual value of the phrase, just like the text version does. The whole show just spoke to me about this topic, and the placement of the objects almost forces you to truly reflect on it while walking in and walking out.

5 x 5 Matisse Pattern Drawing

Way to Go Disney.

When I went to see this piece for a second time, the experience was a bit different than the first. Somehow, though, it reminded me of when I saw it a few months ago in art history. I definitely spent more time there than I had the first time, mostly because I did not have to work on extra classwork or ridiculous assignments that I could honestly care less about. This time, I spent time just sitting there and admiring the piece without as much concern for needing time to make it to the modern art section or the Greek sculpture segment of the museum. Last time, I remember feeling almost hopeful about the piece. I felt as if it had captured the essence of what truth and love and the sacrifice of oneself to another was. However, maybe due to current circumstances, I felt differently this time. I felt almost sad. I felt like the statue, while still capturing that essence was almost a lie. One thought that came to mind in that instance was the effect of a Disney movie. As a child, we all remember being bombarded by these movies and stereotypical views on love, fairytales, and the happily ever after. I know that I personally loved the princess movies, as any typical girl would. My favorite was Beauty and the Beast. You could put that movie on at any time, and I’d be sitting there mesmerized by the screen. It was pathetic but fantastic in other ways. However, after watching the princess movies, I somehow formulated that typical view of love and that life will be a fairytale where everything will work out and there will be that happily ever after in the end. But after looking at this piece, I started realizing that maybe it is not true. Nothing in reality is perfect or always happy, and even if there might be happy, there will not be a perfect happy ending in which my prince and I ride off into the sunset followed by chirping, cartoon birds and making our way to the palace. Because after all, I’m bound to be a princess. Life is not like that. It’s hard, it’s lonely, and most of all, it’s a journey. Those fairy tales were a lie, and looking at this sculpture, I realized that all of my views on love and how one day I’ll find “the one” and live happily ever after was pretty much complete crap. At first I just began to doubt it. I thought life doesn’t work that way. Not everyone will find someone that they will end up married with 4 children, living in the suburbs, eventually having grandchildren and celebrating their 75^th wedding anniversary still madly in love. Welcome to the twenty-first century... Now, I’m not saying it’s not possible. It definitely is. I’m just stating that I would rather not believe it and live with lower expectations. I’ve come to hate the disappointment I experience every time someone lets me down. So instead, I will be, to be corny, the master of my own fate. Now, staring at the statue I started remembering how I felt when I saw it last and how it seemed perfect. Then, after spending much more time with it and drawing it, I began to realize its imperfections. I saw how ambiguous some areas of the piece were. The hand is oddly huge and almost begins to consume the woman. The details of the face are lost and areas where the body meets the stone become general and lost as if they dissolve into the rock. This almost verified the idea that something I saw and thought was perfect truly wasn’t. Everything has flaws, though some may be small enough to be overlooked. This statue almost proved to me that something beautiful can still exist, but we need to stop believing that there won’t be an imperfection or two along the way. Stop living in a delusion and start living in the moment when we can clearly observe our surroundings and acknowledge some truths that we may have avoided previously. It’s amazing, but I almost feel as if this sculpture evoked some kind of epiphany in my response just based on when I went to visit it. And I can say that I’m glad it did.

The Met: Eternal Spring by Auguste Rodin

When I first saw this sculpture I wasn’t sure what to think of it or what I was even feeling. I guess the first instinctual emotion was awe? I have always been in love with classic sculpture and 3 dimensional works. Not as much the two dimensional unfortunately. There’s just something about the sculptures that resonate in me and that I can’t get enough of. Sometimes I just want to stare at it for several hours, because I almost feel like it deserves that much appreciation. I guess I’m weird for feeling that, but whatever. As for this specific piece, there was something special about it. I’ve been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City two times now, and each time I see this sculpture, it’s as if I’m seeing something new or it affects me in a different way. I guess it depends on what I’m going through at the time, or maybe how I’m feeling before I go? Maybe, since I have gone two separate times that have a fair amount of time in between, it is all about what happened between that. The first time I went and saw this piece, it almost made me sad. I can’t particularly pinpoint exactly what I was feeling, but it was almost as if seeing the piece had some kind of melancholy vibe that I couldn’t get over. I think it was all about what was going on at the time personally, so seeing that piece affected me in such a way that was characteristic of what was on my mind and how my emotions were kind of overwhelming me in general. As I said in class, my emotions play a huge role in my art and perception of it. The second time I saw this piece, it was something completely different. Instead of feeling sad or melancholy, I felt almost a sense of longing and in a weird sense, I felt content. Content to be there, content with the piece, content with myself and how my life was going, content with the future, and in all honesty, even a comfort that (here comes the cheese…) I might have what this piece signifies to me someday. When I see this piece I see something more than just a fantastic sculpture that’s a part of classical art history. I think about what it’s trying to say to me, and in being honest with myself, it was a lot more advanced than feeling that teenage, angsty sadness and melancholy that I felt the first time. Looking back, I felt almost like I should have just listened to a sappy love song and I would have gotten the same feeling. This made me feel almost ashamed. To me, this sculpture comments on the ideas of love, trust, and the complete sacrifice of oneself for another. I know that’s a lot, and it’s still on the verge of that sappy love song, teenage yearning for some deeper love or whatever… But this was different. This was something deeper and wasn’t revolving around my own needs or wants or thoughts. They did still play a part, but they weren’t the complete reason that sat there for a long while just staring at the piece even though I’ve seen it before. I have to admit that the first thing that went through my mind was “I hope to have that someday”, but it became even more than that after a while. Obviously, I saw love, because that’s the obvious theme of the piece. The first things you see are two lovers in each other’s arms, kissing, completely in love, etc. However, when I took the time to really look at it, I saw something else. I saw this sense of trust which surprised me, because in terms of these kinds of scenarios and the idea of love, I have little trust. This is for multiple reasons, but we don’t need to get into that. I think that’s why this statue made me hope for something. It almost was a sign for me that there are such things as pure love and trust and the comfort and this complete surrender that each gave to the other. Most other pieces have no captured something like that for me before, so for this one to capture everything and for me to have this kind of epiphany in the middle of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, sitting on a wooden bench, was impressive and memorable. I now have a connection with that piece emotionally, and also in the sense that it relates on a weird level to me and to others that have taken the time to look at it for even more than just a great sculpture and a piece of classical art.

"The point is, that every pieces of art changes your whole perception of the rest of the world, for the rest of your life. And it's not a joke! And if it doesn't, then it's not art, it's a commodity."

-Lawrence Weiner

It's not necessarily the difference between what is art and what is a commodity. At this point in time, most types of art have become a commodity and still retain the ability to change your life in some fashion. In some ways, it's made to sell instead of being made just for the sake of creating, whereas its also made to make a bold statement. In today's world, there really are no limits. At any rate, I do think that art should be able to change your life or some have impact; it's just a question of how.