5.7 presentation

David:
Your presentation was very fascinating and I enjoyed listening to your ideas. I think it's interesting to think about the infinite possibilities of what the draftsman could produce. I think it would be cool if Lewitt provided the same set of instructions to more than one group of draftsmen and then compared the two finished pieces.

Presentations: May 7

1. David: I found this very interesting about this art being more mystical than rational, it's like a leap into the unknown, you explained it very well. Lewitt's open cubes and the use of the three prime colors and the three secondary colors was very interesting as well. I also liked the part about the paintings in the walls of the room that once, painted, were painted over and gone forever. I think my only suggestion is to also talk about his career later on in his life. Very good topic and presentation.

Presentations 5/5-5/7

1.) The Video art presentation was extremely interesting to me. I enjoyed the unconventional topic as it was fresh and very informative. The thesis was well formed and the evidence was dynamic, in particular to the different video art clips shown. I enjoyed how the presentation incorporated different avenues of video art: the rehearsed cough, artist staring at audience, and the 8 second delay piece. All different cases supported thesis impeccably. My question is in regards to the performance of the artist staring at the audience, as a effort to demonstrate the attention span of an individual focusing on an actual artist. Was the audience informed on the purpose of the piece? Loved it!

2.) I enjoyed the focus of the graffiti presentation. The history was presented well and supported thesis correctly, however how exactly will the graffiti pieces pertain to the thesis? I mean are you going to focus on specific graffiti pieces or give a general overview of the practice?

3.) The Lewitt presentation was unique to say the least. The topic seems to be quite broad and alot can be done with the paper. I applaud your effort to refute the argument we read in class early on in the semester. My question pertains to Lewitt's concept of art, he felt as though his vision should be comprehended and done by other artists..however how was this exactly his art? The final product would be an interpretation of what another artist thought his work should be (I guess this statement refers to Lewitts broader descriptions left for other artists). Also did any of the artists that physically painted Lewitt's work in the museums actually get any recognition?

Lewitt In Progress

I thought your presentation was very engaging and you had a very interesting topic. I like that you had a completely different view of Sol Lewitt from anything we've learned and it will be interesting to see how you use your facts to support your thesis. The video you showed in class of one of the museums working on his producing his paintings was shocking because I didn't realize how complicated the instructions were and how Lewitt would keep erasing parts of the paintings in the instructions. You definitely will have an awesome essay to read.

Presentations

David: Your presentation on Sol Lewitt was very interesting. It took a different approach to his work than anything we read or discussed this year. The comparison to the frescos was particularly interesting to me. One thing I have always wondered about Lewitt is if he at least sketches or somehow simulates what the instructions will reproduce before he releases the instructions.

presentation 5/7

David: LeWitt is really an interesting artist. I was very fascinated by open cubes when I first saw it. Your examples of wall drawings are very intriguing too. One point I noted was how you talked about the artwork being beyond the artist, this is very curious contradiction to Warhol and some other artists who we like to talk about their life or intentions when we look at their works. What I did not quite get is why is relinquishing control "mysticism"?

5/5-5/7 Recap: Rothko to LeWitt

Kate: What a story! I find it ironic that he purposely set out to paint depressing and aesthetically unpleasant pieces for the elites who would dine at the Four Seasons, but still agreed to be commissioned. He hated them for their money while he himself was making money. This selection of paintings is very dull and undeserving of appraisal, especially after Rothko himself admitted the attitude he held towards the project. My question is, compared to other pieces by Rothko, how did the Seagram murals detour later collections? Does the popularity of the Seagram murals stem solely from the interesting narrative behind their making or are they outstanding for how they demand genuine contemplation from the observer?

Yiwen: Your presentation was very informative. Like Kevin, you have highlighted forms of art that are not exactly mainstream or commonly addressed in popular Art courses. I noticed that you don’t consider movies and film as video art. My question is: were a film to be produced with a small camcorder would you then classify it video art? Is there a time limit to video art clips? For your paper, I would suggest providing more history about video art, significant contributors, and recent developments in the practice. Great job so far!

Anita: I’m glad you decided to base your research on graffiti art. Personally, I feel this art form merits more recognition and scholastic incorporation than what it currently is given. I noticed that you focus on graffiti’s role in urban redevelopment and how it has altered the aesthetics of inner city neighborhoods. Will you be addressing a particular time period or providing a general history on graffiti art? I suggest, since you’re not addressing specific graffiti artists, to format your discussion on certain cities/communities.

David: Last but certainly not least. LeWitt is a character. I must say that your argument, a comparison between LeWitt’s instruction-production pieces and religious frescoes, is a bold and challenging one. With that said, and since you claim LeWitt had no religious motives when structuring his artwork plans, will your focus be on the architectural designs of the spaces in which his works and frescoes are exhibited? I suggest including in your paper how LeWitt’s work developed throughout his career. Are any of his works displayed outdoors? Has he made any sculptures or are his works all paintings? I applaud you for choosing such a deviant and egocentric artist.

Presentation 5/07

I'm glad you're doing LeWitt, when I was researching him for my discussion/presentation I found his stuff very interesting, complex, and somewhat difficult to sort out. Your thesis is very challenging but you seem to have a strong hold on your key points and what you are trying to prove. I think the Sentences on Conceptual Art seem to support your thesis a little better than his wall paintings do. I also think maybe you should explain how the mystical = the unknown... or is that just assumed?

Last Presentation

After reading your first draft, it was really nice to see the different types of wall drawings by Sol Lewitt. I think your thesis is interesting, bold, and thus could be difficult to defend, especially with Krauss and everyone else is on the other side. While Sol Lewitt's "Sentences" may suggest otherwise, I have to admit that my first instinct when you showed all of those pieces in the beginning was that he was aiming for something rational--they were all geometric, with lines and squares or triangles, and basic colors. This said, I understand where you are going, and your proposal is clear and should be successful, as long as you support it well.

last presentation

I personally don't really understand Sol LeWitt, but I think the comparisons you came up with are really interesting. I like the connection between the frescoes and LeWitt's works. I wonder where you are going with that. Also, what did LeWitt think when he knows that his art works will be covered with white paints after his exhibition is over? Do you think he was influenced by any religious thoughts? It's really cool that he didn't have the wall smoothed before he created his works; it adds interesting texture.

Presentations

Kate: Interesting topic. I like how you have focused on a particular art event to explore some of Rothko's paintings. I did want to hear more of a personal thesis, however. Also there was a lot of good info in your presentation but some of it was repeated in different sections.

Yiwen: You had a clear thesis, which is good. You also seem to have good knowledge of the subject matter. Your thesis could be better developed, though. One thing I thought was that you might want to focus on just one video artist. Acconci seems like an ideal candidate as he was a large portion of your presentation and a very intersting subject offereing a lot of possibilities.

Anite: Your paper would probably benefit from a scope limitation, you're tackling a lot of material. It seemed your thesis was about graffiti artists reclaiming urban space. Who are these graffiti artists? You glanced over that. I felt like I was left knowing only a little more about the subject matter. You can delve deeper.

Presentation 5.3

1.Rothko's paintings are very interesting, with all the vertical lines and color. He felt that Four Season wouldn't value his site specific pieces enough, why did he choose to hung up his art works there at the very first place? Just so he could “torture” the customers of Four Season restaurant? Personal, I think Rothko's paintings worked pretty well with the restaurant environment. Maybe you can talk about the different response when the same art work is displayed in the the restaurant and in the library.
2.The ability of attracting audiences' attention is a good concept. You might want to explain it more. Why are we being attracted to it, while other mediums don't have the equal power to do so? I don't really understand what you are trying to get out of the “Attention” about time. Are you suggesting that in such piece, three dimensions of time coexisted, and only video has the ability to do so? What is the relationship between video and psychological? Video materializes the objects/ people?
3.Street Art and Graffiti. The connection between Vandalism and graffiti's art works is interesting. What is the original motivation beyond the graffiti art? I personally do not like graffiti art, what is the primary goal the artists are trying to achieve? What are the effects graffiti art has that other art forms don't have?

Kate, Yiwen, Anita

Kate: The history behind Rothko's murals is somewhat interesting, but i didn't seem to hear an argument surrounding the topic. I think the story shows how much these abstract paintings can do to the viewer. I never would have imagined thinking of them as windows unless I stared at it for a while. I think you should focus on the viewer's actual experience, and the artist's intention, as they can end up being very different. I can just imagine diners at the four seasons thinking to themselves how lucky they were to be eating this close to a "real Rothko"! Isn't it ridiculous what ;fine art" has become?

Yiwen: Cough made us want to look more than if it were a real person, because it was unreal. However, the pointing one made us want to look away because it was uncomfortable, even though it was just a video. I think this is an interesting contradiction that shows the versatility of the medium of video art. Also, you talked about some performance art pieces, you should be careful to make it clear that you realize those aren't video art. perhaps you should refocus your essay on viewer's comfort level when viewing art, unless your current idea of attention span, time and the unreal is working out okay.

Anita: You said the language used by graffiti artists shows violence towards the city, like "bomb" and "burners", but you also said that those who make graffiti want to reclaim it? This is a little weird sounding. Why would they "attack" the city in order to put their own culture into it? This supports the negative stereotypes surrounding gangs and graffiti. Also, at the end you showed picture of suburbs, but that is not the "urban" redeveloped part where the graffiti is. Isn't graffiti on a person's home a different story from that on a city building full of elites? Lastly, one of the pictures you sowed was of graffiti on a train. How is writing on a train reclaiming the city? It's not even going to stay in the city!

Presentations May 5

Kate: If Rothko wanted the rich to suffer, why then would he take down his piece and move it to a museum? To make the less-rich suffer as well? And as far as Ms Hoy's reference to landscape/portrait goes, in what ways can Rothko's pieces be interpreted? Is this paradigm of orientation really just our means of grasping his art work by analyzing its relationship to traditional painting, since otherwise his art is so abstract that we supposedly don't have much to work with?

Yiwen: Thanks for making the class a physical experiment by having us watch a video and noting our attention span. It made me feel uncomfortable and I don't feel the results reflected the viewpoint you claim to take. The Time-Delay room really isn't as confusing as you say it is, unless of course the cameras have the monitors in view... because then the camera would delay an already delayed playback, which would then be rerecorded as it is played back in front of the cameras and delayed again. Now that's confusing. And how again was Vito Acconci video art? You seemed more to be focused on discomfort... art. Sounds more relevant to Chris Burden and violence art than to video art.

Anita: I don't know what city you were talking about, or if this was some generic scenario or something, since you weren't very specific. Regardless, you spoke of a city being rebuilt. You said that the graffiti was made to "take back the city" which is an act of possession, so this complicates the art's relationship to commodification in a different way; though the art itself isn't a sellable item, it is aiding in the possession of the city space. It seems like it might be more interesting to talk about the futility of permanently acquiring the city through graffiti art, since the "goal" is supposedly to take back the city, but since graffiti is easily painted over this is obviously an impossible task, and so maybe some of these tensions between time and materiality manifest themselves in the art itself? Also, just a thought, if the city wasn't owned by the graffiti artists to begin with, don't you think that rebuilding the city would be somebody else's way of taking the city back from the graffiti artists?

Presentations 5.5.09

Kate: I really liked how you incorporated the technical aspect of the paintings by both the use of colors and the use of vertical and horizontal lines. This being said, I think it would be great if you expanded on the idea and storyline behind the painting. I found the relationship between Rothko and the hotel to be one of the more intriguing aspects of the presentation and would love for it to be further explained.

Yiwen: Great set up on your presentation. It was a good idea to present each idea and then wrap it back into your thesis and main points. Your whole idea of this new generation of video art is something that I had never really processed. When I became more aware of this I immediately wanted to compare the main similarities and differences of video art compared to the more historic style of art. I think your thesis on attention span, time, and reality are all good angles, but make sure you can tie them all together cohesively.

Anita: I really like how you dug deep into the culture of graffiti art. I definitely agree with you that graffiti art is a form of anti-modernism. I am interested in seeing if there are two sides to the story on this issue. Do you feel that all graffiti art is done in bad taste and for the wrong reasons or do you feel that most graffiti art is done in good taste and for the right reasons? Or is it a combination of both.

MAY 5TH Presentations

Kate: I thought you Rothko was really interesting when I read your essay, but it was even cooler being able to see the actual paintings and the four seasons hotel that was supposed to host the paintings. I liked how you showed the grimness of the colors and discussed the vertical lines and the enormity of these paintings. I could definitely see how they would make people feel like they were trapped in a prison when surrounded by them. 

Yiwen: You had a very good presentation and you clearly pointed out what you wanted to prove in your essay. The video of the cough was a good example of showing how video is unreal and so produced to be something that it's in reality is not. It just shows how fake everything is and how disturbing it becomes when people push it to be real. I liked how every time you showed a piece, you would right after relate it back to your thesis and explain how it pertains to it.

Anita: Your subject on graffiti art was very interesting and different from the last presentation on graffiti art. I like that you focus on the irony of street art and economy. Making the graffiti mainstream defeats its whole purpose to be anti-modernist, anti-modern redevelopment, and taking back power. You have a lot to work with, good job!

Presentations

Kate: I think your topic is really interesting and that you can go pretty deep with it. I enjoyed learning about the history and complications behind the piece, as well as Rothko's inspiration for it from the library in Florence. The piece definitely reminded me of Rothko's chapel that we studied earlier in the year, with the whole idea of the use of open space, so you could probably explore this in your paper.

Yiwen: The points you made in your paper and presentation were very good, I think. I know that I was freaked out by the pointing video and the coughing one as well, so when you talked about the audience feeling uncomfortable and looking away, I definitely knew what you meant. I think I looked away after like 5 seconds. The Time Delay video was really interesting to me as well, and I think you could really get into the unique effect of this idea of a 4th dimension with all of the examples you proposed.

Anita: I think your thesis is very straightforward and easy to understand, with the whole idea of being anti-capitalism and against the mainstream. I think you should go even deeper to explore different types of grafitti from the types we usually see in urban streets and walls, such as the yes men or the billboard thing that we saw a bit of at the end. People have been trying to fight the mainstream through art for years, but I feel that grafitti is the only type that hasn't in some way given in to capitalism.

5/5 Presentations

Kate – I liked how you really incorporated this discussion of the location along with what artwork would result from knowing what the location might be like. I especially liked your comparison with the chapel/church in discussing how this theme transpired over to the Seagram murals. I think this should further be explained.

Yiwen – The whole time and attention captivating video art really caught my attention. I guess I never saw video this way – as a sort of challenge to my perception of art. I think it might not be such a bad idea to incorporate discussion about mainstream videos and how we’re okay seeing these – there’s no real sense of challenge or feeling weird although we are fully captivated by them, i.e. “most shocking videos”.

Anita – I would definitely include what Meredith brought into discussion at the end of class. If your take is that graffiti art is a way of reclaiming the urban space by literally taking over a space through art, then I would do a compare/contrast with what we’re shown in class.

4th round of presentation

Kate: Your presentation about the Seagull murals by Rothko was really unique. Rothko’s aim of “ruining the appetite” of those restaurant goers was really interesting. I wonder why four seasons hotel choose him to do the decorations. I think your paper would be really good if you can further discuss this mural and its site-specificity.

Anita: I am really convinced by your point on how graffiti art is a form of anti-modernism and how you supported your case with history of city-planning, etc. I also found how you differentiated graffiti-like art and real graffiti really interesting. Perhaps you would like to talk more about the concept of “making the place uglier than it already is” that some artists have. Also, I don’t quite get why they thought that creativity in art school equals to capitalism.

presentations on 5.5.09

Kate: You said that he said that he wanted to torture the guests of the Four Seasons Restaurant but then decided he wanted his pieces to have more committed audiences, so did he still create his pieces to disgust and torture even though he put them in a museum?
I also think that you should explain the significance of the horizontal and vertical paintings.

Jiwen: You said that video medium cannot capture what physically does not exist but with today's digital and computer graphics do you think that has changed?

Anita: You said that graffiti artists were purposely defying laws and making things ugly. Do you agree with Jazzmin in that some artists are making political points and rebelling against the ordinary?

Presentations 5/05

Kate - The story behind the Seagram murals is very interesting and makes for a good background for your paper. I think, in addition to the whole vertical vs. horizontal idea, the pt. of view and perspective of the paintings, how they were meant to be viewed, and it's importance in site-specificity is critical and could maybe be explored more.

Yiwen - The examples of video art you showed were very unique and thought provoking, especially the one about past-future split attention (Graham, i think?) Video definitely offers a new angle by exploring another dimension. I like that you discussed what video lacks too, despite all its cool new features.

Anita - I like that you took a new angle on the many street art presentations so far. I think comparing and contrasting graffiti with advertising (capitalism's art) is a good angle and approach to take in discussing the purpose of graffiti and uglifying the city.

Presentations

Yuen: Your topic on video art was creative and unique. I have watched some of Vito Acconci's pieces earlier in the year, and was ultimately too creeped out to pursue any further research of his work. I wonder why exactly 8 seconds was chosen for the dual room installation. Would any longer or any shorter not have had an optimal effect? I would be interested to see you explore the relationship between eye contact and attention span.

Anita: I liked your presentation on street art and graffiti. I thought it was especially interesting that some artists do not view their creations as art, yet purely as vandalism. This to me begs the question about whether these creations are ultimately considered art even though they were not made with the intention of being classified as art. If these pieces are vandalism can they still be art?

presentations 3

I liked the Rothko presentation because of its specific orientation towards particular paintings. I liked that a site specific location was picked and how it related to our class with a new spectrum. It was interesting that he wanted to make rich people feel uncomfortable, and i imagine that his art had made him somewhat rich. I agree with meredtih in that a connection to the rothko chapel would be a good way to compare the seagram 9.

The idea of video art was great. I thought the examples were all really interesting and the notion that the video allows people to continually stair without feeling uncomfortable. i thought there should be other connections int he presentation, maybe to the TV article we read or some videos of chris burden. I think film as a genre and not just film as art should be included. A video can discuss many things and including notions of past, present, future.

I thought this street art/ graffiti presentation was also good. I liked that it was different than the first graffiti presentation, and both were very good. this presentation highlighted the importance of graffiti as art being illegal, and legalizing it turns it into an institution taking away urban voices. i also like dthe idea of graffiti being free art for people to view. One does not have to be a rich high art lover to see graffiti in the streets.

Presentation: May 5

1. Kate: The Seagrum murals are very interesting about how the colors are and the height and how the artist put them in the restaurant to try to "ruin the appetite" of the people eating there. You explore how he was commissioned to paint for the 4 Seasons, but he created it for what he thought the vibe of the restaurant was, and later put his art elsewhere because the people were more focused on eating that viewing his art. I think this was very interesting and my only advice may be to talk more about the art as architechture, and how he justifies his art as that.

2. Yiwen: I really liked this topic, very unique and brought up things that I haven't thought about. I liked the thesis on the trade-off between extending the attention span of te audience and expressing the unreal. "The Cough" example was very good. I liked how you talked about the manipulation of time and how you showed us also what videos lacked. I was a bit unclear about the "unreal" part of your thesis though.

3. Anita: Street are and graffiti is a good topic. and teh question of whether it shouldbe considered vandalism is very controversal. I found it interesting when you said that this art being vandalism was one of the characteristics that makes it even better, and that where the work was chosen to be created at had a big factor on it (advertisement on a bulleton board vs. other random places that te graffiti artist choses). I think it was a very good presentation. Maybe you can also incorporate what was brought up when we looked at Jazzmin's presentation in relation to murals (in Alfredo's).

Presentations

Ryan: I really enjoyed your presentation about Andy Warhol, although I don't personally like him very much. After listening to the reasons behind his works, though, how he's trying to make a statement about mass production and consumption and the irony behind his Che and Mao pieces, it's difficult not to have some appreciation for his work. I found it really ironic that he's making what seems to be a critical statement about these things, yet he himself falls into the trap. You should really go into that in your paper...it's an interesting point.

Sierra: I thought your presentation was very well organized, which means your paper will probably be well-structured. You gave a very thorough compare/contrast between the two pieces, and it's always interesting to learn about how artists can spark controversy and then change society's view of things.

Brianna: I really liked how you used lots of different sources and genres to prove your point. The advertisements were outrageous to me. You had some great examples of objectification--the whole idea of the cutting off the women's heads from the photographs to put emphasis on sexual body parts in ads catered toward men.

Great Topic! The presentation of Andy Warhol was extremely interesting! I enjoyed the portion on Warhol's commodification of celebrities, it was very insightful and I hope that this research paper dives more into the subject. It was also ironic how communist political figures such as Che were being commodified, although their focal purpose in life was to fight against the act of consumerism. I expect this research paper to be well structured for the presentation was very cohesive and informative. A personal question of mine would be, it appears that Warhol generally uses the same silk screening method for his art works, thus why was the public so responsive to his art if it was somewhat monotonous throughout his years?

The Joan Miro presentation appears to have great potential to be a good research paper. The topic was interesting however the thesis was a bit ambiguous, appeared to be a biographical presentation. The fact that Miro painted women as monsters was intriguing to me, and perhaps the research paper should explain that in much more detail.

Olympia Edward Mant Presentation was wonderful. The thesis was well structured and concise. I enjoyed the dissection of both paintings and the detail explanation of what each symbol meant.

presentations 3

i found doing my own presentation to be incredibly insightful. I think using only pictures without any words besides the quote were useful because it forced me to think on the spot and thus conceptualize and articulate the material to my class mates in a different way. Thus, not only was i recieving insight from my peers, but listening to my own words proved to be useful. It made me realize what i needed to add to my rough draft to make it more cohesive. The thought about andy warhol as an icon himself will help me as well as the notiuon that the everyday objects that he created became iconic such as the brillo boxes.

I thought that the joan miro presentation was really cool, but a thesis definitely needs to be devised. What is funny to me is that i have seen many miro paintings and never once realized that they were representational in any way. I always just imagined them to be abstract to the point where only feelings were portrayed and not actual figures. However, i learned from the presentation that he was doing surreal depictions of mostly female bodies and stars, skies, and birds. I liked the presentation and the art work but i think something more defining should be said about Miro.

I wish i did not leave early so i could have critiqued the other presentations. Sorry. I'm sure they were great

Presentations 4.30.09

Ryan: I was waiting for someone to write a paper on Andy Warhol. His art is so interesting, and he is one of those artists whose lifestyle was so much a part of/similar to the production of his art. I would say you need to make your thesis a little more clear with the commodity topic. Make sure your argument is not something that is already pre-conceived about his style. I think it is widely accepted that he was depicting the mass consumerism of society at the time. Otherwise, good analysis of his different pieces.

Karen: Miro is a very interesting artist, and you definitely took on a challenge with your paper. I am interested to see what kind of claim you pull out of his pieces. I see some importance in the fact that you said he painted women in really ugly form. Maybe you could elaborate on the common themes in all of his works that you noticed.

Brianna: I really like your topic and it is definitely something that has taken over especially in terms of consumerism. I think you are onto something and possibly focusing on what Meredith suggested about the change in focus of different pieces as case studies: the gaze in olympia, to the naked body of the women in the D&G add, to the focus of specific body parts in the perfume ads. These are all incredibly interesting. The one thing I think you need to tighten up is what you analyze. You started out with artworks and paintings, then moved completely to advertisment which I think are two different genre's of art. If you want to include the older paintings, maybe you could look at really recent painting as well, not just advertisements.

4/30 Final Presentations

Ryan – I really like how you make the claim that Andy Warhol’s life takes on the meaning behind the painting. It’s indeed pretty creative and a claim that I honestly believe can only be made about a couple of artist.

Karen – Sorry for not being able to pursue your original thesis. I suggest you only change your thesis slightly but still pursue something around those lines.

Sierra – I greatly enjoyed your compare/contrast among the two paintings. I would definitely include some discussion on the name of painting but would continue with your idea on how these differences speak about society and our notions of nudity vs. nakedness.

Bree – I got a kick out your presentation. I like how you pursue this concept of “objectification” of women, but what about men? Do men equally get objectified as the consumers of women objectification? I think this would add a new dimension to your claims.

4.30 Presentation

1.The concept of how Andy Warhol created the cycle of art into commodity and commodity into art is really interesting. I believe that's what he's intended to do. You mentioned how he first put art into album covers, but what would you say about the album covers before him? They are not considered art? I see that you are linking this concept with consumerism, you might want to make it into a clearer statement. I kind of understand the connection but also quite puzzled at the same time. Other than that, I really want to read your paper 'cause I'm personally interested in this topic as well.
2.I see how you focused on Joan Miró's works, are you just demonstrating the transitions of his art style? or is there a further analysis behind it? maybe you can talk about what influenced him maybe?
3.Manet's Olympia, compare with Venus. changed of genre of nude art. I would not necessary say that the painting of Olympia took the sexual gaze away; it is still there though. Are you gonna dig into the feminism at the time? I really like Olympia, there's so much to talk about. It would be a very interesting paper. You might want to point out some evidence from the painting to prove that she is in a higher class.
4.Revolution of female nudes. I like your topic. I've always wondered that how the standard for female nudity change throughout times. So has female nudity always be objectified? How would you distinguish between “art” and “objectifying”?

Presentations

Ryan: Your subject matter was interesting but your thesis could be more focused. Art is commodity and commodity is art...but what's it all about?

Karen: Miro, yes. I wonder what you'll settle on for your thesis. As you know, I liked your last one.

Sierra: Your choice to focus on one work really helped you keep the scope tight. Your thesis, I think, is that Manet is reflecting something about society. This is a very broad claim, and it is probably applicable to nearly every artist. Maybe be a little more specific.

Brie: I think you have a lot of potential in your paper but that it hasn't been fully realized. What do you mean by "objectify?" This is an area which has received a lot of coverage so you may have to find a new way to approach it. It sounded like you had something you wanted to say...

presentations

Ryan - i like the idea of looking at Andy Warhol's work and how all of his work can be seen as a commodity but isn't that what he wanted when he produced his work? didn't he want to depict the consumer culture?

Karen - talked about Joan Miro. you talked about the fact that Joan used lots of women and birds in his paintings so that could be an interesting topic to explore in your paper.

Sierna- i really liked this presentation and i think that where you are going with it is really good.

3rd round of presentation

Ryan: Your presentation on Andy Warhol and consumerism was really interesting, especially the quote on how a coke is a coke, no matter how rich or powerful one is. I found your argument on the commodification of art, people and the artist himself really convincing. I would like to see what kind of silhouette screen Andy Warhol does of himself and whether it is different from what he did for the celebrities.

Karen: I can’t say that I know who Miro was before your presentation and it was really enlightening. I thought that Miro’s paintings looked closer to Cubism than Surrealism especially with Dawn Perfumed by a Shower of Gold 1954. I was kind of wondering why Miro chose to paint woman, birds, star and sky. What is the rationale behind his choice?

Sierra: Your comparison between Manet’s Olympia and Titian’s Venus of Urbino was really detailed, organized and comprehensive. I didn’t quite get the point about how Olympia having brighter lighting compared to Venus of Urbino makes it more like a scene in everyday life though.
Brianna: Your usage of Gucci, Dolce Gabbana and etc advertisements to compare with traditional paintings was really intriguing. To me, the most interesting point you made was that the ads pictured just the body and not the face so there is an absence of eye contact. Linking that to the power of the gaze in Olympia was really thought-provoking.

Presentations

Ryan: I liked your points on how Warhol's production of multiple prints is a form of mass consumption and the implications of that in relation to the art. I think you have some really interesting material with the last few slides on turning people, especially well known public figures, into consumer goods through art. I would be interested to see if there were any public reactions from any of the subjects and if Warhol got permission from any of his subjects beforehand.

Karen: The topic of women depicted as monsters is especially interesting and could be further looked into and analyzed. Why exactly is it considered beautiful to be a monster and how did this portrayal come about? How do people react to the fact that the artist is a male depicting females in this way?

Sierra: I really enjoyed your comparison of the two paintings, and I think you did a great job analyzing the differences and similarities thoroughly. The red arrows were a great addition to specifically show where the common points lied. I would be interested to explore the topic of the subject being a prostitute and what controversy existed from that.

Bri: Your presentation was very interesting. I liked that you were able to bring the concept around to modern times, consumerism, and advertising. The topic of the gaze, and inclusion of a face is a particuarly interesting subject matter and I would be interested to see if you could trace a series of images back to see how this has been used throughout recent times in ads and less recent times in paintings.

Presentations from April 30

Ryan: your topic was really interesting, I like the fact that your research with Andy Warhol's art revolve around the positive aspect of consumerism. I think your coca cola example was nice, how it is an item consumed by the poor and the rich.

Karen: In you presentation, you presented some very abstract art. I think Miro's paintings are difficult to understand, besides its themes of nature and women and stars. I thinks it's interesting how Miro uses such abstract and unconventional art to portray these simple nature-ish things.

Sierra: What were some of the publics' reaction to Manet's "Olympia"? You mentioned a lot of good points in your presentation, and made some good analyzes of the two paintings. You mention that his art was like changing the genre of nude art by revealing actually life situations, does his works also spans being just nude art?

Brianna: You covered a lot during your presentations. I thought it was interesting how you covered the change through time of how female nudity is used and portrayed by the public. I was wondering if you would be covering why there are these changes and its influences.

Presentations: April 30

1. Ryan: I like how your focus is very clear. Very good thesis and I liked the pieces you brought up, and how they relate to the commodification of art and the lifestyle of consumption. I really thought the quote about the coke was interesting: "a coke is a coke- all the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good."

2. Karen: You had a lot of art examples and explained everything well, and the purpose of the paintings, I guess the only thing you need to do is work on a thesis. But you have a lot of good information to work with.

3. Sierra: I really enjoyed your presentation. I liked it a lot, there's a lot of controversy and differences between these paintings that is just so interesting. I love this topic. There's so much you can use. Your presentation was very clear and organized, and I think this will be a very good paper.

4. Brianna: I liked this topic a lot. Interesting to hear about this in this way, about sexuality and consumerism and all the really bold and riske things that are used as advertisement, because apparently the products are as bold and riske. About the woman's gaze, I think incorporating the gaze more will be very good, because it seems to be the central thing.

Presentations 4/30

Ryan - I really like that you incorporated Warhol's lifestyle and his selling-out and how that was sort of his long-standing performance art piece. I also like the fact that through his screen-printing, Warhol could disguise race and take it out the picture -something that is such a prominent part of politics, celebrities, etc. I like that you're taking interesting angles about Warhol, and not doing a generic thesis on his critic American mass consumerism.

Karen - I can see why you wanted to focus your original thesis on Miro as a person in addition to his artwork. The fact that he tried hard not to be categorized into any art movement, and the transcendental quality of his work is very unique and thought-provoking. Maybe you can explore the nature and themes he depicts in his art work and any sort of trend that may have with his life/background, rather than his intentions?

Sierra - I really like that you really focused your paper on these two paintings, and are analyzing specific details (gaze, hand, etc). I also think it is good that you are tying all of this in to the history and what was going on in Paris at the time - petit bourgeuosis, and contrast the changing idea of passive vs. active beauty and its place in society.

Brianna - Like Meredith mentioned in class, I think a really good and consistent theme through all your works is the female gaze. It is also interesting how you started incorporating mainly fashion ads (vs. gallery art) -both are consumer driven works, but ad's are even more so. You could probably also explore the idea of the female nude in art for consumption and how that has evolved through time.

4/30 Recap: Warhol to Evolution of Nudes

Ryan: Andy Warhol’s life and work has always intrigued me to the brink of intimidation. Fortunately, you demystified him for me. I think your focus is very clear and I like that you arranged the works in your presentation to somewhat parallel their order in the Warhol exhibition at the De Young. I’m curious to know if the Brillo soap boxes are the only work he did in sculpture-form. I know that the sides of these boxes are also silkscreened, are you then arguing that whether he had created Brillo boxes or a silkscreen of Brillo soap (like the one he made with Campbell’s soup) that there is an overreaching theme of hyper-consumerism?

Karen: First I want to applaud you for choosing to research a Surrealist artist. I find that Surrealism is like Poetry; only the artist and the poet themselves know what’s going on. But Dali is even more complicated because his paintings are so loud and not exactly aesthetically-pleasing. I liked how you brought in the general theme about his characterizations of women. I’ve never heard anything more ironic. While he claims he admires female beauty, I find no other work that monster-izes woman more than his own. Since you had to redevelop your thesis, I would suggest you examine Dali’s focus on women and analyze the grotesqueness of female characterizations in his paintings.

Sierra: I really enjoyed your presentation for its clear focus and smooth transitions. You prove that there is much to say about a single painting and how social relations influence the scenes they depict. You have a strong thesis. The only thing I would add to your research is a brief summary on whether this reforming-the-nude attitude is exemplified in more works by Manet.

Brianna: From Holy Virgin to Disposable Sex Icon, it is surprising to see how the purpose of nude female artworks has changed over the years. Hyper-consumerism has allowed for sex to be used as an object for marketing, transforming the act itself from an intimate engagement to a public activity which earns social status. And this is very unfortunate. You have a great topic to work with. My only suggestion is that your research observe the same medium, either painting or photography. Or if you decide to keep a combination of the two, identify why photography is used today to reflect this notion of hyper-sexuality and consumerism.

Ryan, Karen, Sierra, Brianna

Ryan: I think it is interesting how Warhol chose a wide variety of subjects for his work, from celebrities to carcrashes, soup cans to himself, and yet the same thing happens with each work, something is turned into an inexpensive object that can be bought and sold and hung up in a museum or a person's home. You talked about his life style and how he hung out with the rich and famous a lot. I wonder what can be said about the superficiality of his life, and if this tranlastes through to his work. For example, I read somewhere he wore wigs. Oh yeah and about the whole idea of his art being turned into consumerism, campbell's soup made a disposible paper dress called the "souper dress" that was printed with warhol soup cans that they used to promote their product. And Warol himself also made a "brillo" dress for one of his show openings...


Karen: I kind of like how even though Miro's work doesn't really have recognizable figures in it, they are not purely abstract. I wonder what the significance of the women birds and stars was? I saw lots of stars but i didn't really see women or birds. Maybe you could focus on why he chose to depict women in that way?

Sierra: Your paper is really interesting, it's just that I don't feel it is all that original. It would be nice if you could find a way to link it to the class more concretely... Maybe say something about what painting a whore does to the value of the piece, and how people feel about it know.. I mean no one cares whether she was a prostitue or a princess, it's famous because it's manet...


Brianna: I think looking at the objectification of women, and the use of their bodies in advertisement is interesting, but why did you start out with traditional nude paintings? I feel like you should look at some old time ads that don't use naked women. The jump from that 1930's painting to contemporary advertisements just felt too big. Another way to transition would be to find some contemporary art that objectifies women, but that might be harder.

Brittany, Jazzmin, Phyllis, Sara

Brittany: In the most famous melting clocks painting, you said the blob in the middle is supposed to be a self portrait and then you said you could almost make out a figure. it you turn your head 90 degrees to the left, you can see an eyebrow and the lashes of a closed eye...

Jazzmin: I liked how you began, with a very strong sounding thesis. However, you didn't seem to prove it, and i don't see the relation to Basquiat. I thought you were going to show that graffiti art can show one what the expectation of an individual in a specific society were, but instead you starting talking about how Basquiat was really great. Also, you thesis sounded great, but maybe more for an anthropology or sociology paper than art history.

Phyllis: I love Oldenburg, I was going to do a comparison with his floor cake and something else for our last paper. I think its interesting that his art can be so large scale yet still allow people to walk right by it, like the clothespin. Maybe you could talk about public art and how if a piece is in a museum (floor cake) versus in a public corner (clothespin) people look at it differently.

Sara: Your presentation got cut off, so I'm not so sure the purpose of the comparisons at the end, but it seemed like it was going to be very interesting. I liked the idea of the three types of women, do you know the origin of this classification scheme? Like, is it commonly known, or did you come up with it, or was it from your research? Were you saying that feminist art uses the image of the holy mother to show that there's more types of women?

Presentations for April 28

Timaj:
How is it that you differentiate between the "real" and the "perceived"? What we know is what we perceive, that is as real as we can get... there are, after all, different arrays of color (ultraviolet etc) that humans cannot see, which are just as real as the spectrum that humans can see. The comparison with the camera would be interesting to dissect, since cameras were thought to somewhat "replace" artists because of the camera's ability to instantly replicate a scene, and yet that haystack painting that took several distances into account, and which didn't look very real at all, was supposed to be imitating a camera? That's almost paradoxical...

Brittany:
About the painting of the 'dream seconds before waking up', you would tell us that the tigers looked like the bee, and that the gun represented a bee sting, and that the multi-joined elephant represented desire... but all of that was present in the painting anyway. There was still a pomegranate with a bee around it, there was still a woman in a position that would probably suggest desire, and these things are all much clearer a symbol than the symbols themselves. So then what is the point of the symbols? What relevance does the title actually have to some more complicated reality of surrealist art? Does the arbitrariness of the symbols' presence merely demonstrate how loose connections in our brain can manifest in an instant? Does this focus on arbitrariness take away from any meaning the piece might otherwise have?

Jazzmin:
I had always believed that, in closer knit underground communities anyway, graffitti art was a marker of the artist's presence, rather than serving the artist as a way to express their opinion under the veil of anonymity. Take Basquiat for example, he had a style that was unmistakably his own. As for commissioned pieces, is the artist still anonymous? If it's legal, then the artist can paint in broad daylight... actually I think I remember you saying that some artists didn't like doing commissioned pieces. Speaking about legality of pieces, does the artist really care if their piece gets painted over, if they know they don't have a legal right to paint in that spot? Does the temporary existence of such large, striking murals actually affect the art in a positive way (other than to serve as a thrill to the artist)?

1.) Timaj- Very interesting and presented well. I enjoyed the thorough explanations as to why Renaissance art was revolutionary, as it was very detailed and focused. However, the thesis was a bit broad, perhaps narrow it down? In regards to the elaboration on Monet, that was perfect, as it gave me a better understanding of your topic.

2.) The Dali presentation was entertaining and is a great research topic. I would highlight why Dali's purpose for his paintings are really ambiguous. The connection made during the presentation of Dali painting what he saw in his dreams was really good, perhaps elaborate more on this?

3.) I loved the Feminism in Chicano Art, it was very informative and organized. Overall I expect the research paper to very interesting! The history of the movement was explained very well and the presentation of specific cases such as Madre Metiza supported the thesis perfectly. LOVED IT!

2nd round of presentation

Timaj: Monet’s Sunrise is one of my favorite paintings. Your discussion of impressionism and the techniques related is really interesting. Your mentioned that impressionist artists tried to paint the “air that surrounds”. I am curious about what exactly is the air that surrounds?

Brittany: I like your analysis of the surrealist paintings and what each figure symbolized. I didn’t quite understand how Sigmund Freud’s ideas are related to these paintings though. How is the “expression of the subconscious” related to the “dreams”? What exactly is the “lengthy narrative” involved in dreaming?

Jazzmin: Your presentation was very well structured. I liked how you gave a definition of grafitti art, talked about its variety and gave a history on it. The theme of the need for rebellion while having the fear of being condemned is very interesting.

Phyllis: Oldenburg and Van Bruggen’s sculptures are really fascinating. I’ve seen the bow and arrow sculpture from the Bay bridge for many times now but I never knew that it was a sculpture by Oldenburg. I am interested to find out, other than the scale, why did the artist chose these specific objects like lipstick, light switches, clothespin, shuttlecock and etc?

Sara: The various painting you showed of the mother figure of the mixed race population. The detailed comparison between Our Lady and Virgin Mary was really interesting too. Maybe you would like to explain the significance of each of the changed symbol too. I like how the feminist artist’s defend herself against the accusation towards her work also.

Presentation 4.28

1. I love Impressionism personally. Your analysis of the color use and the impressionism's painting techniques was really good. There is so much to talk about Impressionism, comparing it with Realism. However, why are you comparing painters before Impressionism? How did Impressionism influence the art after it? I didn't really get what is your thesis for the paper.

2. I think there is a lot of meanings and motivations behind Surrealist. I suggest that you might want to explain more about Freud's philosophy on “subconsciousness”. How did it inspire surrealism? You talked about symbols a lot, which were very interesting.

3, Graffiti takes on a political approach. The connection between the society awareness and graffiti is very interesting. There are so many different types of graffiti because the culture difference. Is graffiti powerful enough of to achieve what it is trying to achieve? You have a lot of information there about graffiti. I think your paper will be a really good.

4.This series of art work is very interesting, and I like how you connect them with our normal perspective toward the same objects. You said a lot of different things about each piece, if you could make them all come together, that would be really nice. Another question, why did you choose all the large scale ones?

5. I don't really know anything about Chicano art. I've only seen it I don't really understand why they would portrait the virgin that way. What is the piece trying to tell the viewers? Just the gender bias?

Presentations 4.28.09

Timaj: When writing a research paper on Impressionism, the sky is the limit. There are so many different angles and topics you have to choose from. I liked the examples you showed in class, and you were very informing about the characteristics of Impressionist art. However, I think I missed what your idea was, the argument that is specific to your paper. Impressionism is definitely different from other eras of art, so what kind of claim have you made about this contrast? Try to make a thesis that isn't something already commonly accepted in the art world. Something that is unique or takes a different angle possibly. Good job!

Brittany: I think Dali has some incredibly interesting work. You are definitely touching on a connection that we haven’t covered thus far in our class, and that is the relationship between psychology and art. In addition I think you talked about science and his art as well. Your presentation offered some really good interpretations of Dali’s art from other scholars and/or artists, but for your paper I would say to try and make a claim about these interpretations, or make your own conclusions/interpretations. It would be interesting to see what you see in his work, if you agree with existing literature, etc.

Jazzmin: I really like your topic on graffiti art. Although there is ancient history on it, I think it is definitely something that relates more to our generation in terms of popularity and understanding. I liked how you have decided to look at specific case studies. Your presentation was very informing. However, I was a little lost on the thesis. You said it was something about subculture dialog and making something transparent? For your paper, I would say definitely make sure to explain how these cases support your thesis. Also, just curious (doesn’t need to be in your paper), but the case studies you showed artists with completely different styles of art. For example Jean Michele Basquiat’s child-like graffiti compared to the elaborate murals and/or feminist movement. Do you see a similarities between all types of graffiti like this?

Phyllis: Whimsical art like the pieces you are researching is so fun and unique. I was in San Francisco on Tuesday night and to my surprise I ran into the bow and arrow on the Embarcadero. You showed a lot of examples of this kind of art in your presentation, but the only thing I missed was some more explanation of your thesis and focus on the metamorphic characteristics of the art as well as political issues if there are any. I think you definitely have a lot to work with, and it will be really interesting to research and learn about what kinds of interpretations have come out of existing literature or even what the average observer takes away after viewing/coming in contact with this type of art.

Sara: Your presentation was very informative, and I think the topic you are dealing with is very interesting and motivational. You made a good point to emphasize the qualities of the art from the artists perspective rather than the usual viewer/critic perspective. In terms of your paper and feminism in Chicano art, it is definitely a broad topic, so I am interested to see how you will narrow it down to a specific thesis and decide which of the many topics you will choose to cover in your research paper. You showed a lot of examples of feminism in Chicano art that cover a broad timeline, but for the limits of our paper, you might be able to deliver a very strong argument by studying just two or three specific case studies/artists/pieces to present your argument. Over all you have a lot of information available on this issue and it’s a very inspiring topic.

Presentations 4/28/09

Timaj: The topic and coverage was interesting but I wasn't sure what your thesis was. There were also a lot of interpretations given which needed to be supported in some way.

Brittany: Same here. There were many many interpretations of Dali's paintings, and the things which appear in them. Where do these interpretations come from? Why was he painting an elephant from a foreign culture? Etc.?

Jazzmin: Your thesis was solid (but needed to be followed up more), and so were your choice of case studies. Two things stuck out as odd: 1) you called Basquiat the "first black artist" a number of times. Clearly, he was not the first black artist. What did you mean, exactly? 2) Be careful throwing the term "genius" (again, in reference to Basquiat) around.

Phyllis: Great topic, interesting material. What's your thesis?

Sarah: While I followed your presentation there were a number of words/phrases that I don't know. You may want to explain what some of these non-english terms mean.

4/28 Recap: Impressionism to Graffiti Art

Timaj: I have always been a fan of Impressionist art; it embodies a combination of poetry and painting that is very evocative and I really enjoy viewing. You provide a very thorough analysis of this particular art movement and briefly discussed the techniques used to produce the respective artworks. Also, you truly bring a focus to your research by analyzing Monet’s work in particular and contrasting Impressionist pieces with works from before this period. As a minor suggestion, try to contrast Monet’s work to other Impressionist artists and inform the reader why he is one of the most noted painters of this time.

Brittany: There is much to address about Salvador Dali’s work; Surrealism is such a spectacle that an entire semester course could be devoted to this single artistic period. But you’re off to a great start! Your interpretation of the two paintings, "One Second Before Awakening from a Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate" and “The Persistence of Memory” (which I believe are the two paintings you’re focusing on), is very informative and concise. However, in order to tighten your thesis, I would encourage you to analyze a single recurring theme in Dali’s paintings, such as clocks which allude to the perception of time.

Phyllis: I had no idea who had produced the sculpture of the bow and arrow at the Embarcadero until you told me. You made some great points about Oldenburg, including his monumental sculptures and the humorous undertone they each carry. I agree with Karen in that you should contrast (or associate) Oldenburg’s pieces as being site-specific.

Jazzmin: I grew up in an inner-city neighborhood in San Diego, and admit I hold deep appreciation for graffiti art. More than an artistic production, I feel graffiti narrates the experiences of the Chicano(a)/Latino(a) population and serve as informal history books to our heritage and lifestyle which tries to defy consumerist and individualistic American values. Graffiti art is a celebration of identity and of resistance to a monoculture, and deserves equal admiration to any painting exhibited at the Guggenheim. I applaud your careful research and sincere appreciation of this movement. You provide a valid comparison between modern urban graffiti art to that of the Bedouin culture. Great presentation!

Presentations: April 28

1. Britney: I liked learning about the soft watches because I have seen that piece before, but didn't know much about it. You had good information in your presentation, I liked it. Maybe for something you can also explore why surrealists engage in this symbolic process. Very good.

2. Jazzmin: I really liked your presentation, very interesting! With a lot of information, I really liked the two views of graffiti you presented and also about Bedowin's graffiti and idea of social identity. I think it would be interesting to explore about what we were talking about at the end of class, about the difference of murals and graffiti, maybe having to do with one being a rebellious act and the other more formal.

3. Phyllis: I found all the pieces you presented very interesting, I think my favorite was about the clothespin. I enjoyed learning about all these pieces. I think, though, that you should try to make your thesis more apparent when talking about the pieces, it seemed a bit lost about what the thesis was after awhile, but very good presentation.

4. Sara: I liked learning about Feminism in Chicano art. I liked how you used "Our Lady" to show your points by the comparison, there is a lot of things going on between the two different piece. Very good analysis. I think you have a lot of information to write about.

feedback 2

Tumaj- i really like that you are doing impressionist art. i think to strengthen your argument you need to be more specific than just how impressionist art was revolutionary because every movement can be considered revolutionary in some form or another

Brittany - Your discussion of Dali was interesting, but it could be stronger if you tie in more aspects other than the symbolism of the paintings. 

Jasmin - I really liked your discussion of Graffiti art. i think the making an argument about the preservation of culture you touched on could make for a good paper.

Phyllis - you want to focus on the metamorphic qualities of shuttlecocks. this sounds like an interesting idea.

Sarah - i really enjoyed your discussion on chicano feminism. the Virgin Mary seems to be your thesis which i would agree with. Also comparing two of the virgin mary's might make for an interesting paper. 

Presentations

Tamaj: I like your take on impressionism. I would try to formulate a more distinct thesis, especially one that incorporates the motives/ inspirations of the artists of the paintings you selected. With impressionism, you are able to research the historical backgrounds of those paintings and see the influence they had on art in later times. Try to speak a bit louder during presentations.

Brittany: I really enjoyed your connection between Freud and Dali. I think you have a lot of information to expand upon and the paintings are certainly complex and presumably loaded with meaning and inspiration from a variety of sources. I would research the reactions to his works and what exactly he intended the viewer to think, wonder, and experience by viewing and contemplating his work, or if he was just merely painting his own dreams without an intent.

Jasmin: Your presentation on graffiti art was captivating. I was unaware about the definite distinction between the two kinds of graffiti art. The commissioned painting of the woman in one of the first slides was unbelievably beautiful. I had a notion of graffiti in my mind as ugly or just merely large letters, yet that mural broadened my horizons. Perhaps this may add to your argument in some way in that many people can have their opinions altered regarding graffiti once they realize the beauty in it, especially through commissioned pieces.

Phyllis: I really enjoyed your presentation. The unique pieces are very interesting I think. I would be curious what the intent of the creator was, because the sculptures are bit trippy. They make the viewer aware of their own size, and make them question their relationship to everyday objects from the perspective of an ant, essentially.

Karen: Your presentation on feminism in Chicano art was interesting. I liked how you were able to contrast the images of the virgin Mary. What I wonder about your topic is whether or not male artists exist in this field. What do men think of such feminist pieces? Are they accepted? Is there revolt for defacing a sacred image? Are the female artists religious?

Presentations for April 28

Phyllis: I think you picked a really interesting topic. I think you mentioned that your thesis is along the lines of how Oldenbury uses arrangement and sizes to change the interpretations of the art. From your research, do you think that the public that has access to his art works fully understands the purpose of his art works? Some of the art works shown in class do have a very comical element to them, do these have and underlying meaning or were they only created for pure aesthetic purposes?
Sara: Your researched must have been very interesting, because you seemed very into the topics of your presentations. I understand that this was the Feminist Chicano Art, but where there a lot of male supports for the movement at the time? who were the main audience of the works created by these different female artists. How did the general population react to Alma Lopez'a "Our Lady"?

Presentations 4/28

Timaj - I like that you are talking about Impressionism as a movement, but are still focusing in on specific works and artists. It was brought up how some people say that Impressionism was made possible because of photography. This is a really interesting angle and I think you could definitely do a lot with the idea if you wanted to explore it more.

Brittany - I'm glad you're doing Dali! I really like him and think his stuff is really thought-provoking and has a lot of depth. I wasn't too clear with what your thesis is though. You brought up a lot of interesting information on Dali as a person, his fascination with Freud, the symbolism, etc. I just think you need to narrow down your scope and define your argument a little better.

Jazzmin - I really like your subject and the way you presented it -looking at 3 case studies drawing from different angles of graffiti, its history and its future direction. However, I was a little confused on how the last one, Basquiat, related to the idea of community graffiti and graffiti as dialogue, since it seems like you focused more on his individual life and works, and a little less on how he fit into the whole movement and community.

Sara - I'm sad you had to cut your presentation short - it seemed like you had so so much to say on your subject and all the works you chose. It's very clear that you care a lot about the subject. I like that you gave some history on Chicano females while still using key art pieces. My only suggestion would be to narrow down your focus and make the flow of your argument more linear. (You were also rushed through your presentation so I'm sure it would have been more clear if you could have taken your time)

presentations from 4/28

Tamaj – I really liked your presentation and I believe you have taken on the big challenge since there is so much to say about impressionism and Monet. I definitely like the artwork you have selected and the distinction you are making between impressionism and what was being painted before this movement. I would definitely incorporate how photography may have influenced Monet or Impressionism.

Brittany – There is a ton to speak about Salvador Dali and Surrealism. You should attempt to narrow your focus to perhaps why you have chosen this artwork. I would definitely bring in the discussion about Freud and dream interpretation, but I wouldn’t go beyond this because I think it may ultimately clutter what you have to say about the art.

Jazzmin – I really enjoyed your discussion on graffiti art, more specifically your discussion comparing and contrasting LA Graffiti with other forms of graffiti. I suggest you bring up the distinction between graffiti and murals, maybe by focusing on commissioned artworks versus non-commissioned artworks.

Phyllis – I felt like you have a lot to say about the sculptures. This art is definitely something different than from what we’ve been studying in class. I guess my only suggestion is to really narrow down your thesis or focus. I would bring up this notion of utility vs. aesthetics when examining the sculptures.

Sara – Your presentation was great. You have a ton to say about the second muralist movement and you should definitely contrast how this movement differs from Mexican Muralism. My only suggestion is to narrow down your thesis, you have so many artworks you can incorporate in your discussion that it makes it difficult to choose one over the other.

Presentations 4/28

Timaj: I enjoyed learning about impressionism, and how the artists aimed to "paint the air" around all of the objects that conventional artists try to portray. You showed very clearly how the non-impressionist artists would paint scenes in a very posed way, whereas impressionists used a more "candid" approach. Perhaps you could go into why they decided to change their method of painting so drastically.

Brittany: Dali is one of my favorite artists, so it was nice to learn about his works. I thought it was really interesting how he basically draws his dreams and incorporates Freud's theories as well. It struck me during your presentation that the interpretation of Dali's paintings is essentially just as vague or subjective as Freud's (or anyone's, really) ability to interpret dreams.

Jazmin: The graffiti art you showed us was awesome! I especially liked learning about the recent women's movement in graffiti. I thought those were the best works :) It was also very interesting to learn that graffiti started off as far back as in ancient Greece! I thought that a good point was the whole effect of it being illegal, how that appeals to some artists, and community members' view of it as opposed to commissioned art.

Phyllis: I liked the humor behind Claes Oldenburg and Coosie Van Bruggen's work, and I've always wondered what that huge arrow in SF was. I really liked your thesis, and thought that you gave great examples for how they change the function and view of simple objects. It would be interesting to know why they chose certain objects for each landmark (the arrow for SF, the clothespin in Philadephia)--is there a specific reason they chose those objects? It's almost like site-specific art.

Sara: Your topic was something I had no prior knowledge of, so it was very nice to learn something completely new! I actually really liked Alma Lopez's controversial "Our Lady"; I thought it was humorous and empowering for women in some way. And for all the historical negativity toward La Malinche spearheaded by men, I liked the idea of women today taking a stand in favor of her. Maybe you could go further into why feminists today chose her to focus on, rather than other women. I mean, she's not alive anymore, so why is it important for them to do this?

April 28 Presentations

Tamaj: I really like your subject of impressionism and I really like learning about how these artists painted scenes according to their emotions and by using unique brush techniques. You gave a good analyzation of each of the paintings and how they displayed impressionist works. So your thesis is to show how the impressionist depicted real life scenes in a different way. I think you have a good focus but maybe elaborate a little more on the impressionist era like what provoked them to paint with emotion. Otherwise good presentation!

Britney: You gave a good brief history on the Salvador Dali and the surrealist movement. I thought it was very interesting how Salvador used ideas from Sigmund Freud to express subconsciousness through his art work. This is a very interesting aspect of the art pieces. You stated a lot of fact from different sources and it showed that you did a lot of good research but try to state one coherent idea and then use your sources to back up your claim. 

Jazzmin: I really liked your presentation! You were very engaging and graffiti art is such an interesting subject. I've always been fond of it and I really enjoyed learning about the different kinds of graffiti art and all the history behind it beginning from Greek times. I liked that you focused on specific cases and people therefore there wasn't a lot of information scattered everywhere. You were very enthusiastic and overall you had a really good presentation and a very good thesis.

Phyllis: I really enjoyed the art sculptures you showed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosie Van Bruggen. Their pieces were very entertaining and definitely humorous. I also liked how depending on where you viewed the sculpture, it looked differently. You did a very thorough discussion on each of his works and what they represented. So are you focusing on the metamorphic quality of his work? I wasn't exactly sure what your thesis was, but overall you did a good presentation.

Sara: The second muralist movement was very interesting. You have a good focus and a good analyzation of each of the different paintings that you showed. It's interesting how all these paintings show women being vulnerable and embarrassed and how this relates to the views of that time. I think you have a lot of good information to work with!

Presentations from 4.28

Timaj: Why do you think the impressionists were trying to differ from photographs?

Jazzmin: I really enjoyed your presentation and your argument. However, I'm wondering if you think that all graffiti artist gang members are rebelling against American ways--maybe they're just fighting against each other.

Phyllis: Most people probably don't know what Oldenberg's artwork means. What do you think Oldenberg wants the public to think of his artwork?

Sara: Do you think that Alma's paintings should have been accepted in the museum or do you think that they were inappropriate?

Presentations from 4.23

Alfredo: I like how you pointed out how the paintings show the inferiority of the Mexicans inside of such an important government building. I also like the analysis of small parts of the painting and definitely think that this will allow for a great research paper.

Audrey:I liked your idea of materiality devaluing art. However, in your presentation you didn't explain it much and I think it will make a very interesting paper to expand on both sides of the argument.

Michelle: I thought the sculptures you showed were cool and I wanted to know more about them. In your paper you should talk more about how superflat and anime relate. It would be interesting to talk about the anime tv shows too.

Kevin: I like your topic, I almost chose kinetic sculptures for mine. I think it would be interesting to compare the different types you discussed in your presentation.

Amanda: You said that Flavin wanted his art to just be light without any meaning behind it, but people constantly tried to interpret it. Do you think he wanted to see what people would say about it?

presentations 2

1) the first presentation was good but i think more needs to be said about impressionism and more artists should be in the paper. I think it should be more then just a comparison of impressionists from other art forms, but also impressionists from each other and what they were trying to accomplish. I thought the comparison to photography was very interesting and a good point to make.

2) Starting a presentation with a brief history on the artist is always a good idea to me, and thus i thought the dali presentation was good. Once again, i think a stronger connection should be made between both other surrealists and then other forms of art work that was occurring during the same time. I thought the relation to freud and dreams was interesting as well, and i was not aware of that. I know that Dali does other forms of work other then painting and i think those should be discussed to create a strong surrealist argument concerning dali.

3) the graffiti presentation was amazing. Perfect. I liked that it started with a thesis and then used three diverse movements and a brief history in order to prove that thesis. I liked the work that was shown and the points that were made, and i expect that the paper will be very well organized and structured based on the presentation. I also liked how the actual term graffiti was defined with multiple definitions showing the different perspectives.

4) I liked the oldenburg presentation but i felt like somehting was missing. It just needs to be more argumentative i think. the thesis said how his works added to new associations and interpretations but those need to be defined more explicitly and proven with more discussion on his work. I liked the talk on soft sculpture though and the idea that the skill of the artist is taken out as the gravity makes its impact.

5) I thought this presentation was very good and important. It described different variations of teh virgin mary through a feminist and gay rights activist perspective in which i ahd never thought about. It described an artwork that i did not think of as art for some reason, and i never stopped to take notice of the virgin mary as artwork. I think a lot of important points were made about the connection between the authority of religion and the rights of females in the artwork.

Presentation post #1

Audrey; I enjoyed the refreshing view of classical art, and it was interesting for you to note that classical greek sculptures were not made for the sake of art. I always thought that they took pride in their sculptures, since ancient Greece's claim to fame was their dedication to knowledge and perfection... it did not occur to me that such ambition was likely seperate from their "need for art".

Michelle; I wasn't sure what you were trying to say during your presentation... all I got from it was that there are a lot of anime addicts, and something about a consumer fetish or whatever its called. Is it this consumerism that ensures the continual production of anime? Does this habit of consumerism take away from the meaning or quality of the art?

Amanda; I thought it was funny that Flavin’s homages to people were actually subtle criticisms :)

Alfredo; I was a little confuse why you would begin your presentation by using the word "muralism"… I felt almost certain that you would use that word to describe some sort of feature that only murals have, perhaps a detracting qualiity. Allow me to explain. Murals have the tendency to portray some historical moment, and in the particular case of Diego Rivera's colonizacion de Mexico, it is a moment that the artist didn't actually witness or live through; and yet, you spoke of him as associating himself with the aztecs, spoke of how the mural was accepted, regardless of how gruesome the mural was. So perhaps this tendency to accept the art for its historical significance can be attributed to a so called "muralism."

Presentations #1

1.) Diego Rivera- I thought that the presentation was very thorough and well-thought out, however the thesis was a little ambiguous. There is most definitely great potential for a research paper on the mural located in Palacio Nacional, however the thesis should be on something detailed and focused.

2.) The Vistuality/materiality presentation was very interesting however a solid thesis must be created. There was alot of material covered, i.e. Warhol. However, I am not sure as to how this piece will incorporate with the visuality and materiality of jade and Renaissance art. Also, I personally think that it would interesting to mention why particular artists use jade with impurities.

3.) Super Flat Art-extremely intriguing and I personally would want to read this research paper. The parallel and associations of one artists impact on consumers worldwide was fascinating.

feedback

Alfredo- i like that he gave a brief history of the murals. It is a very interesting topic and once he narrows down what he want to talk about i think it will be a very interesting paper

Audrey- there were lots of ideas, but i think you really need to focus in on one or two pieces of artwork and analyze them. Also make sure your argument is not something we already believe to be true, but i think the whole visuality vs materiality will be interesting once an argument is in place. 

Michelle - very good and clear proposal. There is a lot of research to work with. From what she researched already, it should be a very interesting paper. Also i would just pick one or two artworks and just analyze those.

Kevin - did a good job explaining the relationship between machine and man. Once he narrows down the topic it will be a very good paper

Amanda- talked about dan flavin. not quite sure the direction she is going with the paper, but the artwork was very interesting. 

first presentations

1) i thought Alfredo's presentation was the perfect style of presenting. He gave a brief history, showed the exact artwork he was discussing, and laid bared the problems and critiques he was trying to develop and understand. The class was able to add to the discussion as well as be very interested. Plus, i thought the artwork at hand was very interesting.

2) I thought the presentation on the comparison of the visuality and materiality of artwork needs more coinciding examples. I think, during similar times periods people were using both topics, and thus rather then comparing the two topics through different eras, i think there should be more of a focus on either the past or the present. I think trying to encompass the time period from early greek to renaissance to andy warhol is a bit much.

3)The Takashi Murakami presentation was very interesting. I think it is a good look at cultural aspects of japanese art as well as the presence and critique of one particular artist. Again, the brief history of both japanese culture and the artist are helpful, and a look at the artists repertoire was also helpful. It is a comprehensive look at the artist as well as the social implications of the art, and i think the thesis is developing nicely.

4) The machine art was interesting but confusing. My main questions are what is the main thesis, the thought of machines making art, machines as art, or art as machines. I think the topic is interesting but the thesis needs a little more work to create an argument.

5) I thought the Dan Flavin presentation was interesting but a stronger point needs to be made as to why Flavin is unique and adds new "light" to the art world. What does Dan Falvin do that is so important and how does he contribute to the museum space. Otherwise, all the photos and artworks were very cool, and the presentation went smoothly.

Alfredo, Audrey, Michelle, Kevin

Alfredo: I think your topic can be very interesting and rewarding if you go about it the right way. rather than focus on the historical aspects too much, I think you should try to find a way to relate it more to the class. Your title was "Mexican Muralism" but I feel that is misleading if you only talk about Rivera's work. I think it might be fun to look at other murals, both those that might have inspired his and those inspired by his, and look at the similarities and differences.

Audrey: I think you should narrow your topic a bit. Trying to include renaissance, jade, and warhol is pretty ambitious! I think your research will be very important to deciding which direction you go. Whatever claim you make has to be backed up by some evidence written by someone else... no matter how interesting or compelling your argument alone may be. Perhaps the tension of quality vs. quantity hints at the same thing as visuality/ materiality? Visuality seems like it can include materiality... like perhaps a fake jade carving doesn't have as much value to us not just because it's fake, but because it's a low quality fake. Also, doesn't it seem like the most expensive stones would be saved for the most skilled craftsmen?

Michelle: Your topic definately sounds fun to research. Is 'superflat' art named for it's appearance, that the art literally lacks depth, or for the shallowness of it's meaning? (Or both?) Also, are there other artists that do it besides the one you showed us in class. lastly, I'm wondering if the sculptures you showed us are relevent, are they considered 'superflat' too, or are they just by the same artist/ group of anime geeks?

Kevin: You stole the main thing I thought would add a twist to your paper already, the idea of animals making art and if that was art. Whether you should focus on who is the artist or bring up some thesis based on the man/machine thing I am not sure. I think who is the artist is more related to the class, like if the machine makes art is it really art? Is the physical qualityof it being paint on paper enough to call it "art"? This is short because I already helped you out a bunch =P

Presentations 4.23.09

Alfredo: I think you chose a really interesting and unique topic. Diego Rivera's work is amazing, and murals are a fascinating topic to look at with their extroardinary size and depth of content. Your presentation was very thorough and you covered a lot of great points about the relationship between the art and its location, including issues of politics. One thing I wonder is how he chose the content of his pieces. More specifically, why did he only do most of his works on the ancient tribes and colonizers? Or has he painted artwork with other stories behind them other than the native/colonizer conflict?

Audrey: I think Jade art is really beautiful and have potential for a really interesting research proposal. When I went to the Stanford Art Museum they had all different forms and colors of ancient jade scultpures made by indigenous people. You could probably find some more information on their website about it. In terms of your paper and presentation, I wasn't sure how you wanted to include Andy Warhol's work into your thesis, but I would suggest narrowing your topic to focus on just the jade art and possibly the renaissance paintings. Keeping it simple yet insightful is probably the best idea for conveying a clear analysis. Keep up with the research on the material vs. visual aspects of value in artwork like these and I think you will have a really interesting paper!

Michelle: First off, WOW! I think your paper topic definitely has the hook to draw your readers in. Your presentation was really thorough, and you covered all the important background aspects of superflat art: the historical context, motivation behind the design, the connection to relevant social/political issues, etc. The one thing I would say about narrowing your focus would be to keep the ideas of consumerism, anime, trends, and culture in terms of the art itself. There is definitely a lot to say about these issues in Japan even without the presence of art, and its easy to get caught up on general topics rather than narrowing it down. I really enjoyed your topic so definitely keep focusing on Takara's sculpting and your research paper is going to be super fun and interesting to read!

Kevin: I think you brought up a genre of art that isn't commonly recognized, and it would be cool to see what people think of this style of art. The sky is the limit with machine art, which you revealed to us with the vast array of examples, many that are completely different in style and function. It would be interesting to see who all these different artists are that all have a common interest in machinery as art. There is definitely a lot of potential for a research paper, but make sure you figure out one question you want to ask and talk about to narrow down your thesis. Maybe you could look at a one or even a few artists or pieces of machine art and analyze and/or compare them to make your argument more specific and cohesive.

Amanda: One of the most interesting things that you touched upon was how Flavin doesn't really have any meaning behind his pieces. I think this is so funny because even so, people think they can always pull information and underlying meanings out from everything whether it be art, books, movies, etc. It would be interesting to write a paper that researches the context of art that supposedly has no meaning, and to look at what existing literature has said about Flavin's works. I think you there are a lot of different angles you could take in you research. There are so many questions for an artist who is so different (in a good way) from most artists we have studied. Is there a connection between any of his works? similarities or differences? What is his though process in creating and/or planning his artwork? You definitely have a lot of things you can talk about for an interesting paper!

Presentation 4.23

Alfredo: Your presentation was so organized and well presented. You gave a lot of historical informations, and they elaborated with your topic really well. One suggestion is that you might want to consider the relationship between the Rivera and his viewers, what kind of message is he trying to send out? Other than that, I really think you would have a very sound argument for your paper.

Michelle: I really like your topic. It is very interesting. I personally like Asian contemporary art a lot. Just a few questions regarding to "super flat." How does this particular type of art works influence the later art works (ex. sculptures)? Is the aesthetic value here focused on works of no meaning? Also, i think the connection between the clothing style and window display were really cool.

Kevin: I like how you are not going too far/ deep into who IS the artist. I think you should explain more about the tension between human and machine. The concept of machine is the art is really cool.

Amanda: Discuss more about the personal ecstasy, why religious is related? because of the color? Also, I think your discussion about the use of museum space is very interesting, you might want to talk about about it. Lastly, maybe you might want to discussion the relationship between his art works and fashion, how they work together, and do they help each other in a sense?

4/23 Recap: Rivera to Flavin

Alfredo: Your presentation was clear and very informative. There is much history associated with the Rivera mural you’re analyzing in your paper, and you provided a concise summary in your presentation. Indeed, the mural is so grand that one can even write a thesis about it. I would only suggest that you further address in your paper the organization of the piece; indicate that the panels generally follow a chronological order from top to bottom. Also, since Rivera was a main contributor to the 1st Mexican muralist movement, briefly associate La Colonización o La Llegada de Hernán Cortes a Veracruz to other pieces of his, and note how his work set precedent for the 2nd muralist movement in the post-Cold War era. Other than that, awesome insight!

Audrey: We could dedicate an entire course to contrasting materiality with visuality, but you managed to address them very nicely in your research paper. However, because each theme is so extensive and respective to each work of art, I would highly suggest you concentrate on the materiality vs. visuality of only jade art, for example. This would really consolidate your paper to more manageable thesis. But jade art is a true beauty, I saw an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego back when I was in high school, and it was fascinating.

Michelle: The narrative behind the Hiropon sculptures was very interesting. I like the approach you take regarding modern Japanese art surrounding a hyper-consumerist social structure which seeks endless reinvention. To make your paper stronger, I would encourage you to focus on modern art. Unless you’re seeking to compare and contrast Ukiyo-e art with Superflat art, I suggest basing your research on a single category, whether Superflat art or not.

Kevin: With, the promulgation of minimalist and performance art, machines may just well be the next method of producing innovative art. Though some of your examples were completely bizarre and eerie, you truly expand our definition of art and its purpose. This category of art is rarely addressed in Art courses, certainly not to the extent of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, but you make a valid point: all is art when the artist intends it to be. The only comment I have for your presentation is to clean up your thesis and try focusing on two or three artists preferably from the same time period.

Amanda: I am glad you focused your research on Flavin, his work is very radical and completely challenges institutionalized perceptions of aesthetics and meaning within artworks. What is most puzzling is that he himself is unsure of the meaning behind his pieces! Will it be that art, of whatever form, lose deeper meaning? Has Flavin written anything to explain how his productions relate to one another, or is it merely a hobby? I really encourage you to provide a critique of his work.

1st round of presentation

Alfredo: I found your presentation really informative as I have no previous knowledge about Mexican Muralism at all. The background history you talked about is very detailed and really helped in understanding the painting you chose. The point you made about the location of the work was the most interesting point to me and I think it would be great if you further talk about the significance of this venue in your paper.

Audrey: I really liked how you contrasted renaissance paintings with jade art. I am also find your argument, about how different people use visuality and materiality differently in valuing artwork, really convincing. Maybe other than looking at Warhol’s works, you would also like to consider materiality in renaissance sculptures.

Michelle: I found your presentation on Superflat really intriguing. Murakami’s works that combined nihonga and anime art looked really cool, the LV bag designs were especially cute. I think about the point you made about Japanese youth dressing up on that particular street, you might want to consider the culture of cosplay. Also, just a side note, is the artist Murakami somehow related to the famous novelist Murakami?

Kevin: Those machines you showed were really cool looking, though that tinguely alter you showed was slightly freakish with the skulls and all that. What was the purpose and message of that work? What does the fact that it moves change about the work?

Amanda: I loved the works of Dan Flavin that you showed, especially the ones building structures out of fluorescent lamp, not just combining them on walls. You mentioned that a lot of Flavin’s works are untitled. Is there a particular reason why he does not want to name them?

Presentations for 4/23

Alfredo: as noted in class you have a lot of material to work with, I think i difficult part for you will be trying to narrow down to a few greater subjects and themes. From your presentation, I got the sense that you will be writing about the politics and history of Mexico and how that has influence Mexican muralism. So I think it would be a good idea to include well summarized historical facts in your essay for those who may only have a slight understanding of the history of Mexico.
Audrey: I understand that you will be writing about visuality and materiality. In your presentation you talked about arts from ancient Greece, paintings from the time period of Renaissance art, and art made from jade. I was wondering if you will be questioning why there is this greater importance in visuality versus materiality and vise verse in these different art works? Do you think maybe cultural differences has anything to do with it?
Michelle: I think that this is a really interesting topic. I'm not into anime myself but some of my friends are. From your presentation, I got the sense that you will be writing about how Japan's lost of identity lead to superflat art and tying it in with consumerism. I was wondering how big is this superflat business? Is it popular with majority of the Japanese population, or only the younger generation?
Kevin: your topic reminded me of those spin-tops I used to play with, where there is a marker replaced for the tip of the spin-top. In my opinion, I think that the person who created the machine would be considered the artists even though the machine is creating the art. The person creating the machine must of had some kind of vision of what types/kinds 0f art works would be created by the machine. I think the element of uncertainty of what art can be created by the machine helps defines the type of art created.
Amanda: I find a similarity between your topic and Michelle's topic. Both topics kind of touch on art work that may not have any deeper meaning than just the aesthetics. You bring up an important question about how art should be viewed. In my opinion, it should depend on the viewers itself. I think that individual interpretations are important for appreciating the art work.