B.A Portfolio: critique

During my critique with Laura Mongiovi we focused mostly on how my works were gonna be displayed. We discussed the option of framing them. She stated that because my images have a feminine aspect to them that adding frames would give them a sensual feeling. Adding frames to them would also make them precious objects which illustrates how we turn photographs into precious objects in order to immortalize our beauty through photos. She also mentioned the possibility of not framing them and having them coming slightly from the wall creating a space between the wall and the images as to see through the burned whole. By doing this it would give my work more of a human aspect.

B.A Portfolio: week 13 works

This weeks works I'm still getting the progression if decay in the flowers and the graininess of the photo. Once I have gotten to the end result with these I will begin going back and start burning them. I'm really pleased with the way the image is degrading with the repeated process of copying the photo over and over. I would like the image to eventually be unrecognizable with the continuation of copying the image.

B.A Portfolio: week 12 works

In this weeks works I've just been building on to what I've been doing for the past few weeks. With these ones I've started to show the progression of decay with the flowers in the beginning stages of wilting. I also started to use photo copies of the photo in order to get the image to become grainier in its progression of deterioration.

B.A Portfolio: week 12 critique

In the short critique for this week, I heard a lot of comments that I heard during the big critique of invited people. This week I only showed a few of the ones I have done that would show what direction I was going in as I have done several images in the past few weeks. A few comments were about showing the stages of decay with the flowers which I fully intend on doing in future images. Some also were not sure how the burning fit in to the pieces. It was stated that this is because I'm showing aging and decay over time where as the destruction from fire is immediate and rapid.

B.A Portfolio: week 11 works

These images for this week, along with last weeks, are going to be for beginning of the linear progress showing decay and degrading of youth and beauty. This is why none have been burned so as to start the narrative with the peak of youth and beauty.

B.A Portfolio: week 11 reading

On Photography by Susan Sontag

"In photography's early decades, photographs were expect to be idealized images. This is still the aim of most amateur photographers, for whom a beautiful photograph is a photograph of something beautiful. In recent decades, photography has succeeded in somewhat revising, for everybody, the definitions of what is beautiful and ugly." pg 28

Photography has always been used to showcase the beauty of the one photographed. In a way it was used to establish evidence of ones beauty in a youth and beauty obsessed culture. Even in today's society photography is used in magazines to show the readers what the idealized beauty is that society has created.  Photography allows someone to encapsulate ones beauty for as long as the photo last. This grants the photographed person to memorialize their beauty and youth as both begin to fade with age. This ideal is ironic as photograph, eventually too, deteriorate and fade defeating the purpose of photographing oneself. This, I feel, definatly relates to my work as Im using photographs of a beautiful figure but destroying it as to ruin the purpose of the photos. This as allows me to dismantle the importance of beauty and youth by taking away the figure beauty.

B.A Portfolio: week 10 works

This weeks work I'm continuing the idea of exploring our cultures obsession with youth and beauty with more of the same technique as lasts weeks. I have decided in order to show that eventually the beauty will fade with a progression of the photos starting with none burn and ending with nothing but ashes. I also want to keep photo copying the figure over and over so as the image itself will eventually become degraded.

B.A Portfolio: week 10 critique

Having others from outside of the class come in to critique my work was really helpful and encouraging. Many seemed to really like the message I am trying to express and had some really good suggestions as to how to further it. It was suggested in order to show how beauty fades with time it would help to display the images in a linear timeline sort of style so that it creates a narrative of the ageing time lapse. Another way to do this, as suggested, is to show the flowers at different stages of wilting and decay. Also useing women at different ages was suggested though I don't think I will do this as I like the repetiveness of the same figure as a representation of mass produced beauty using the same idea as Andy Warhol with his soup cans. I also thinked the idea of doing different amount of burning of the images to show a decaying with starting with no burn mark to eventually nothing left but ashes.

B.A Portfolio: week 10 reading

Artists Packet

 The reading this week was rather informative for me as I did not know the steps or process of getting ones work into a gallery. Its interesting how even as an artist, one still has to create a resume in order for their work to be considered fro a gallery. This makes it seem like any other type of job. The exercise in the beginning of making a time line of the things one has done is, to me, a wonderful exercise for someone to do even if it's not for a job. It allows one to look back and realize what they have done like how someone can lay out all their past work and begin to see a connection. The idea of an artist packet is to make oneself seem committed and desirable to an art gallery. This packet ends up representing the artists and their work so it is important to create a good packet. This includes getting high quality image of ones work whether from a professional photographer or doing it themselves. The packet needs to be professional so that it reflects well on the artist and their work. A poorly put together packet leads the gallery to think the artists isn't committed or responsible thus making them unappealing to the gallery.

B.A Portfolio: week 9 works

This week I want to continue will the issues of our societies obsession with beauty and how it is temporary and will eventually fade. I still wanted to parallel it with the temporary beauty of flowers. This week I wanted to add another layer of meaning by exploring what different flowers and their colors symbolize. I want to use this symbolism to showcase traits that I feel are more valuable than beauty. In this weeks works I used pink carnations that symbolize gratitude.

B.A Portfolio: week 9 reading

Reading Right

 What I picked up from this reading is that reading is important in every field even in the art field. As the reading stated that with contemporary art, there is a focus on being original and innovated. In order to do this and artist must read and learn techniques and works that have already been done thus making art history important for any artist to learn. Reading also allows for artist to discuss art intelligently with each other, an ability that is greatly admired by others in the every field. I think knowing art history and its iconography is important in enhancing the meaning in ones works because certain icons and symbols can be used to help the viewer understand the message the artist has placed before them. Also mentioned in the reading was how not over thinking ones work and create a balance between the analytical side and the creative side of the brain. With this balance is allows an artist can bring their knowledge and their intuition together in a way that allows them to put everything in to their work. 

B.A Portfolio: week 8 works

This weeks works I wanted to express how in our society we value beauty and constantly adorned ourselves with different objects to obtain high standards of beauty. I chose to cover the faces with flowers because universally flowers are regarded as being beautiful. I also chose flowers because though they are beautiful eventually they wither and die. I did this to parallel with the fact that beauty doesn't last forever as everyone grows old. For some of the images I want to keep the image pretty as a subtle way of expressing the above thought. With the others I wanted to make it a bit more obvious how beauty fades by experimenting with ways of destroying the images as to take away some of their beauty.

B.A Portfolio: week 8 critique

In the one on one critique we discussed me simplifying my work by creating more works with one or to elements rather than creating a few complex images. It was suggested that in doing this it would help to find the meaning with in my work. We also talked about how the images seemed to be about how we adorned ourselves with certain things many of them from nature. This could lead to a possible exploration as to why we adorn ourselves with objects and why with things from nature. We also discussed how to play with the prettiness of the images. There's the possibility of creating the images where they become ridiculously pretty or to make the images pretty and the destroy them. 

B.A Portfolio: week 8 reading

Art History, Frames & Filters

A lot of the meaning found in art comes from the historical context in which the piece is done. This historical context seeps in to art sometimes will out the artist even realizing is. Artist might not also purposely set out to create a piece that reflects on social, cultural or political issues they are facing at the time they are creating the piece. Every artist is influence by their experiences and thoughts that occur in their daily lives. These experiences shape who a person is and shapes the work an artist creates. Sometimes when an artist puts meaning within their work but this meaning may be changed by the different interpretations of its viewers. When an individual looks at an art piece of reads a book or even what a movie, they bring their own meaning to the works because of their different cultural backgrounds and experiences from the artist or creator.  Though the artists inputs their intended meaning into the work, every piece is open to different interpretation and meanings because of those who view the work.

B.A. Portfolio:week 7 reading

Manifestos

In his manifesto, Tzara writes about people being individuals and following their own "boomboom", that is their own drum beat so to speak. He expresses his belief in artist doing things in their own way and not what is the accepted norm. They area also encouraged to have their own opinions that go against the opinion of others. He views art as a private affair and the artist works are produced for themselves. When an artist puts their opinions and thoughts into an art work it becomes something private for the artist is expressing their personal thoughts.
Yoshihara's manifesto seems to focus on what abstract art should be. He states that artists have been using material in the wrong way as to not letting the materials present their own material self. Artist are using materials in a way they makes the an illusion by loading them with false significance and forcing them to take on the appearance of something else. He states that Gutai art doesn't change the material but brings it to life by connecting oneself with the materials to create an undiscovered world.

B.A. Portfolio: week 7 works

Influences:
by Elise Wehle

Final works:

This weeks work I wanted to explore layering by doing it by hand. I took images and cut them up many into different shapes and arranged them onto the portraits. The first set of images by Elise Wehle influenced me to cut a design in to the first work. Adding the components of the different images allowed me to take the change the portraits out of being a portrait of certain people. With this technique of layering I would like to create a "portrait" of the models using cut up images that represent what they hold important or things that they think about constantly. Also we were required to do 8 consecutive hours in the studio. This challenge was rather difficult for me as I get restless so working on something for that long of a period was rather uncomfortable for me. I found that the more consecutive time I spent on a piece the more I began to nick pick at it. This led me to keep trying to fix little things in the piece that could have been left alone. Typically I spend a few hours at a time on a piece and go back to it with fresh eyes.

B.A. Portfolio: week 7 critique

With looking back at past work in association with my current work for portfolio, it was noted that in my work I use layers to combine different elements. It seems that the layering of elements is important though I'm not sure in what way I put importance in the layering. The layering was also brought to my attention with the video assignment as I projected my images on to myself. Going forward I will attempt to explore with more layering and with putting my self in to my work.

B.A Portfolio: week 6 reading

Museums

Money and art seem to go hand to hand whether its an artist selling their work or museums and galleries finding funding for exhibitions. With in the reading it is noted that when museums first began to emerge they were not open to the general public and only the elite and upper classes of society were granted access to view art. Having knowledge of art and/or owning art work was seen as something that separated the upper class from the lower class. When museums first began to be funded it was those of higher societal ranking that invested money creating an underlying censorship as those who invested had a slight input into what was included into the museum. Having what was considered "good taste" in art was also associated with being apart of the elite upper class. It was those with money that seemed to determine what was good art and what wasn't and what art should be valued and what art shouldn't. It seems strange to think of art in a way that was for the elite as in today's society museums and art are so easily accessible with museums open to the general public and with computers capable of viewing artwork. Also in today's society art in general is greatly under valued and appreciated as funding for art education throughout every level of education is being reduced.

B.A Portfolio: week 5 works

Final Works:

This week I continued experimenting with ways of layering images and creating different effects with layering. With the first two I wanted to keep with the double layering of the portraits with an image with in them while keeping the background a solid color. In the middle second image I wanted to comment on the issue of losing farmlands as more and more cities are being built. The left figure is layered with a scene of a farm while the right figure is layered with a city landscape. Where the two figures overlap the farm and the city blend in to each other. The last image a forest scene is seen with a human figure peeking through. With in the figure I layered an image of cut down trees in order to comment on the issue of cutting down the rain forest and several other forest.