Chaos in Interpretation, and a reflection on the semester

Visual Analysis of Final Art Project -


My art project, which I have named "Chaos in Interpretation", is an artistic response to Mark Rothko and his color field paintings.
The two visual elements that I feel most contribute to my piece are Composition and Technique. In terms of composition, there is an asymmetrical composition, with an eye path that starts from the center and moves in a counter-clockwise rotation. The piece is composed of painted circles of varying sizes put onto a larger backdrop of ink. In terms of technique, in order to make the center circle I first painted a color field in the style of Rothko (although much smaller than he would usually paint) and then cut it into a circular form. Afterwards, I cut more asymmetrical circles and on each put one of the colors used to create the original circle, all of this glued to a backdrop of ink on paper. The ink was applied by mixing ink with water and pouring it onto the paper, then using a bamboo brush to move the ink around before tilting the paper back and forth to spread it haphazardly.
I wanted my piece to be representative of how Rothko felt about people trying to define him and his paintings, and how he believed something was lost when people appreciated a painting not for its own sake, but as a monetary investment. The center painting, done in the style of Rothko's color fields, is cut from its original rectangular shape into a circle, and the other circles of the component colors represent critics attempt to analyze his work and find meaning. It represents the meaning that gets lost when people try to take something apart. When viewed outside of the painting as a whole, the colors take on a different shade even though the same paint was used, because when they aren't viewed in context you can't see how they blend, and when viewed alone they look different. Also, the technique I used in creating the piece, the asymmetrical orientation of the smaller paintings on the larger backdrop, helps to show disorganization and chaos, which is representative of the lost meaning when people try to assign meaning to an art piece out of context.



Reflection on the semester
I had a lot of fun in this class, and the one thing that I think I can most use from this class is my new knowledge of ink and its various uses. Ink is my new favorite medium for art, specifically splattering ink, I find it works well with my disorganized art style. The only thing I would say could make the class better would be perhaps a chance to use more mediums. I had fun with acrylics and ink, but I would love to learn about more mediums.

Art Events - Greek Pottery and Crankies

At the greek pottery art event we learned that all the items in the collection that were on display were acquired by one man's grave robbing efforts in Italy. The vase that interested me most was one that depicted what the display said was Hermes dressed as Dionysus riding a donkey going towards a woman, although the only reason they thought it was Hermes instead of Dionysus was because he was holding Hermes's staff. Personally I think that it is much more likely Dionysus was just having too much fun and ended up taking his staff.

The Crankies were wonderful, with the lighting effects and the shadow puppets and the excellent background music. I think my favorite part about it was when she was explaining that most american folk ghost stories usually don't have anything actually happen in them aside from "a ghost showed up", so she edited the stories a bit to make the ghost actually do something for the purpose of better storytelling.

Return to the BMA

Whitescapes

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Original

Subvertizing

Robert Motherwell - Africa

Acrylic on linen, I could not find much information on the authors thoughts or methods when making this painting. The contrast of light and dark combined with the image of what seems to be a stone arch with someone walking on top of it, or perhaps the roots of a tree, gives the idea of adventure and mystery.

Morris Louis - Untitled 5-76

This abstract expressionist painting is based on many different methods of composition, Louis uses varying methods from textured brushstrokes, splashed droplets, and liquid stains.

Mark Rothko - Black Over Reds (black on red)

From the late 1940s until death, Rothko created abstract paintings characterized by hovering rectangular form. Black over reds is marked by the use of dark coloration and contrasts. I find this painting interesting because it reminds me of both a window, a door, and a garage at the same time. It gives the notion of depth and three dimensional visuals.

Student Art Event

I greatly enjoyed the art on display at the student gallery on Thursday, specifically how the artist used mirrors or the idea of mirroring in many of the works. In this work in particular, we see a contrast between the natural beauty of rock and the man made wall of a dam.

Looking at this picture, I see the continued theme of reflection, in although in this case its almost as if the reflection is giving you a glimpse into the past as opposed to how an object currently is.

My Thoughts On Visibility by Italo Calvino

I found Visibility to be very interesting, although I did not agree with the authors points on what feeds the imagination. Italo Calvino near the end of the reading seems to suggest that it is a tragedy that so many people are caught up films and digital media as opposed to the print media he grew up on, he fears that it may have a negative effect on the development of human imagination, the furthering of our mental growth. If anything, I believe that the accessibility of the internet will help human imagination soar to new heights. If, as Calvino says, people's imaginations in the past were limited by what visual images they could conjure based on their own personal experience and things they have seen in their lives, how much more should people today be able to fantasize? If the activity of our imaginations is determined by how much we have seen and experienced, should not the incredible diversity of media at our fingertips today increase our potential stock of things to imagine? I believe that if anything, the opportunities to experience things which would otherwise be outside of your sphere of knowledge through the internet is possibly the best thing that ever happened to creativity and imagination.