Tuesday 30 October 2012

Surrealist Sculptors

Surrealist scuplture a movement which is quite new to me but I found some interesting pieces while researching the topic.      
                                          
 Xooang Choi
'Islets of Aspergers Type IX' by Xooang Choi
'Islets of Aspergers Type  IV' by Xooang Choi
'The Wings' by Xooang Choi

'Lobster Telephone' by Salvador Dali
'Fur Teacup' by Meret Oppenheim
'The Blind Watchmaker' (Artist unknown)


Animation Project Post #3

After researching a number of different artists and movements and I began to notice I was been drawn towards a lot of portraiture and figurative studies. Eventually I came across some work by Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). His style focuses mainly on surrealist sculpture but also painting and printmaking. He was born in Switzerland and is son to post-impressionist painter Giovanni Giacometti.

I find his sculpture to be most intriguing.Tall, narrow figures with unusual perspectives. He grew disappointed of his sculptures of the human form in the late 1930's, eventually destroying most of his work. Re-approaching his work, he began to take into account how tiny the human figure is in his field of vision and working mostly from memory. His figures are recognised by there rough surface and also the elongated, stretched limbs, heads and torso.

'Walking Man' by Alberto Giacometti
Here is an interesting insight into Giocometti's style and how paints his figures.


Sunday 21 October 2012

Animation Project Post #2

After borrowing a book from the library Vitamin D: New Perspectives In Drawing, I came across an artist called Christian Holstad. He is an American artist based in Brooklyn, New York. His work varies between painting to sculpture but I also found some charcoal drawings that I found very interesting. He uses old newspaper cut outs and erases some of the original ink and draws a new image, incorporating parts of the initial image. I think this style could work well in an animated format.
Defending Decisions by Christain Holstad

Held Hearts and Bated Breath by Christain Holstad

( Vitamin D: New Perspectve In Drawing. 741.9243 ISBN 9780714845456 Author: Emma Dexter)

Animation Project Post #1


For this animation project, I was initially grabbed by the charcoal animations. The simplicity in the hard labour and the beauty in the dusty mess. The first artist to grab my attention was William Kentridge. He is from South Africa and is best known for his animated films and their heavy subject matter. His mediums vary between charcoal, putty rubbers and also paper collage. 

Debate

Q. Did the person who defaced the Rothko work add to the work or disgrace the artist?


"Vladimir Umanets, A Potential Piece of Yellowism."

It's easy to view this as a thoughtless act of vandalism but after a bit of research on Vladimir Umanets, it is clear that he had purpose and reasoning behind his bold statement. He is part of a collective known as Yellowism. They believe that it is not an art movement but rather a 'new context in a contemporary world'.

Manifesto of Yellowism
In my opinion I think that Umanets is breaking all the rules and has created a new context, almost a recycling approach to old, exhausted art work. Like artist before him, such as Duchamp's urinal, he has simple put a signature onto something that isn't his and by doing so, created a whirlwind of controversy. His radical act has made the public uncomfortable by questioning peoples idea of what makes art valuable i.e. the context, the craft or maybe just the artist signature. 

I feel he has taken something that we have already gotten an educational value  from and added new thought and ideas. By ignoring the money aspect, propelling our thinking of a possible new context that could thrive in the future art world.

BBC Article

Sunday 14 October 2012

L2L Presentations

 Other mind maps from the presentation:

First one is a Michael Craig Martin inspired mind
Michael Craig Martin Mind Map 1
map by Mary Byrne. He is an Irish artist based in England, that has produced mainly conceptual art pieces such as 'An Oak Tree'.
Michael Craig Martin Mind Map 2


The second mind map is also a sculpture based piece of origami, inspired by Tuner prize winner Rachael Whiteread by Sophie Egan. Whiteread has produced many controversial pieces and has often fallening under the 'is is art?' category, winning both the best and worst artist in the same year.

Wassily Kandinsky Mind Map

Photos of my Kandinsky inspired mind map. Inspired by his 'Composition VIII'.




Artist Presentation: Wassily Kandinsky

My artist presentation was on Wassily Kandinsky. A Russian artist who defined the abstract movement during the the early 20th Century. His work took inspiration from surrealism and impressionist painters such as Monet. Kandinsky often talks of his jealousy towards musicians and the freedom they have to explore their art with various sound and notes. He began to practice this 'freedom' philosophy on canvas through the form of abstract art.

"A parallel between colour and music can only be relative - just as a violin can warm shades of tone, so yellow has shades, which can be expressed by various instruments"

He went on to create some of the most influential art such as Composition VII and Similar Circles. Inspiring such artists as Hans Hartung, Jackson Pollock and the action paint movement.

Composition VII

Similar Circles

Book References: 759.7 DVC 1866-1944: A Revolution in Painting
                                 759.4  The Journey to Abstracting
                                 704.948 Covering The Spiritual in Art

Friday 5 October 2012

Mind Map Research

 
Tony Buzan is an English author and educational consultant. He is a proponent of the techniques of mind mapping] and mental literacy.


http://www.thinkbuzan.com/us/company/about/tony-buzan

Culture Night

Some photos from the Juxtify exhibtion located off Eyre Square in Galway. It involved various painting, ceramic and print workshops throughout the day. I was lucky enough to take part in the night, helping with the layout and hanging of the various pieces.
Ceramics 1

Ceramics 2

Print

Print Wall

Print Wall

Gallery

http://juxtifyproductions.weebly.com/