Final Finale

For my final project I did Pride, Sloth, and Lust. My project basically completely changed from my original idea, and although i dont have bubble charts to go along with the pictures new movies were used for inspiration. Mirror Mask was used for pride, The Big Lebowski was used for sloth and Wild at heart was used for Lust. I had my one idea pretty solid in my head but I kept seeing signs pointing me toward lust so i couldnt resist the idea. And although lust is my least favorite, as it was given really little to no attention I do like the concepts behind pride and sloth. The colors are all symbolic and follow the guidlines set out by the color guidline website.

Photoshoped Picasso

Here is my photoshoped painting, the original is below.

Seven Deadly Sins

for the seven deadly sins first I watched the Big Lebowski for Sloth, then I was going to watch Lust, Caution for Lust but that didnt quite happen. But then I thought of the craft, and I realized it was perfect for envy, greed and wrath so I have a bubble chart for all 3 of these sins, but based only around the Craft. these sins are all based around Nancy (the one that goes a but nutty by the end of the movie). I based my color pallate around a sunset, and the effects of light, as light and the colors it creates inspire me.
Envy will be based on muted tones of gold and greens. It will also have alot of grays.



Greed will be based on rich tones of gold and incorporating rich tones of the colors used in the other two drawings.





Wrath will use pale blues, red and gold. It will also greatly incorporate black





And here is rough sketch of what i would tentivly say is going to be a tryptich, the gold tones in all 3 will tie the peice together.

Photoshop Edits

I have my photoshoped peice...it is Picasso's L Absinthe I changed the colors to a blue scheme,but unfortunatly the finished peice is on my computer...which is dead...and has a busted cord. So until someone is kind enough to lend me a cord, or i get mine fixed, or just redo it this is all there is...also can anyone tell me how to put the color palate onto the blog? thaaaanks

Musics and Value

My song was Cocorosie "Terrible Angels." I made a collage and used whimsical childlike items while still retaining a serious and darker feel to the entire peice. Cocorosie are very childlike and use toys and objects with funny noises in their songs. The songs however are usually dark and sad, the noises are also often scary and strange, eventhough they may be common toys.

Space

This did not work out quite the way I wanted, It's actually a bit of a failure...

ICA-Louise Bourgeois

In her first solo exhibit in sixty years, Louise Bourgeois work is complex and intriguing. Her pieces are heavily loaded with memories and emotions of her past and childhood. Her sculptures succeed at being a comfort as well threatening works of art. The two pieces I selected are “Spider” 1996 and “Cell (Hand and Mirrors)” 1995. Both works fully employ the materials they are made with, as well as the space around them. The negative space is just as much a part of the sculpture as the sculpture itself.



Louise Bourgeois “Spider” is a 10 ft bronze sculpture with a bulbous body looming overhead supported by eight gigantic legs. The piece is at first unnerving, as the huge beast seems ready to attack. The piece represents however protection and comfort, a tribute to her mother.



A sense of space is created by the spider’s spindly legs, which jut out into corners before their long descent to the ground. The extension of the spider’s legs is great, yet all the legs are held in tight, but one protecting the space it has created. The space is not just negative space, but a solid part of the sculpture. It almost feels intrusive to step inside. The space “Spider” creates is protected and held as if an actual spider was protecting its offspring. This protection would solidify the intimidation of the sculpture, if it were not for the one stretched leg. The outstretched leg seems like an arm preparing for an embrace, which draws us in and allows us to feel the comfort intended by “Spider”.



The Second piece I chose was from a series called “Cells”, a series of sculptures made with found and made objects. These sculptures depict emotions and memories. This piece, “Cell (hands and mirror) is the smallest of the series.



“Cell”(Hands and Mirror) shows a cell of doors and windows that open up to a slab of raw pink marble with two fragmented hands curled painfully upon each other. The interior is lined with mirrors, which give a kaleidoscopic view of the sculpture as you circle around it. Bourgeois says there is “my reality and there is your reality, both of which are constantly changing.” This sculpture captures that so perfectly.
The open doors of the piece almost invite you to step inside of the piece, but the giant slab of marble blocks you, creating a claustrophobic space as opposed to an open one. The sculpture seems to be a comment on being trapped within ones own cell, trapped inside the mind. It is both a comforting and safe space, but you are also trapped within. No one can really see what is actually inside your mind, your reality, so by circling we are constantly getting a new view of what is inside. We are welcomed in, and yet we are still very shut out. It gives feelings of both loneliness as well as protection.

Shape

At the moment I am not in Boston and don't have the best of resources, so this is the best I can produce for the moment... sorry.


The digital just made it very blurry and unclear...





and the scanner cut some of it off, still distorted...

Line

My line drawing, a reinterpretation of the Manet's painting, using the same basic form of the subjects and space.

Finding the Story

Finding the Story: Take Two

Let's see how this round goes...

Edouard Manet was a French Painter of the 19th Century. His painting The Luncheon on the Grass (1863) was of great controversy and rejected by the Paris Salon. Today it marks one of the beginnings of modern art.

The painting features a woman lunching in the nude along side two fully dressed men. There is another woman in the background. Manet pairs an unconventional approach to this painting, with blatant influence from older and notable works of art.
The pose of the three lunching on the grass is taken directly from the etching done by Marcantoni Raimondi, Urteil des Paris (1515). This etching was done from a drawing of Raphael's.


This painting was met with such controversy and rejected from the Salon for a few reasons. One was the manner in which Manet completed the painting, while still incorporating such classical works of art. Besides the reference to Raimondi, is a traditional still life in the left bottom corner, and a shocking new take on a nude figure. The strokes of the painting are broad and appear “unfinished” especially in the background, which gives the background a flat appearance. The entire scene appears unreal. It is set outdoors, but the lack of depth and unnatural lighting creates the sense of a studio setting made to resemble the outdoors.

But the more prevelant reason it was met with such controversy was the nude woman. This was by no means the first time Paris had seen a nude woman painted, but it was the manner in which she was presented. She was not drawn out to represent virginity, or even to represent her beauty. But she sits, unflatteringly, amongst two men fully clothed. She stares directly at the viewer and is unapologetic about her nudity. She is assertive, and a woman, especially naked one, should not be assertive. She should be submissive and to be taken at will. It was a disgrace to see such a display in a painting.

The viewer's eyes are automatically drawn to the naked woman. The lighting throughout the entire painting is unnatural, adding to the illusion of a studio set scene. However, the light on the woman is even more so than the rest. The light is stark and draws our eyes toward it. She seems to even glow. The light on the woman makes her appear drawn out from the rest of the painting. Not only does the background seem like an artificial studio backdrop, but even the men she is sitting with seem to be on a seperate level to her.


Our eyes are not only drawn in by the light and the color, but by the pictorial movement as well. The trees bring our eyes down. Various other objects, like the man’s arm, leg and small shadows coming off of the tree act ass little arrows directing us right to her. The mass of the tree on the right and the branch in the upper left corner also direct our attention toward the woman. The grouping of clothing and fruit do as well. And although the men seem to not be paying any attention to her it does appear the woman in the background is staring directly at her.

Manet does not only bring our attention directly toward the woman, but he does so by still retaining a balance and sense of harmony. He does this through the positive objects in the painting, such as the trees, as well as with the shapes created by the negative space. The angles of the trees are all balanced out by a repetition and also variation of the direction the angle is in. The curve of the woman's back is also replicated in some of the trees, which continues to hold balance, as well as draw even more attention to her. The still life in the bottom left hand corner is balanced by the boat in the background. Just as the tree in the foreground on the right is balanced out by the tree all the way to left. These two pairs also balance eachother, and the cross lines produced by them, again, focuses our attention to the woman in the center.

And finally he retains harmony through the placement, repetition and the shapes created in the negative space. The shape in which we find the main subjects is a triangle. This triangle is the basic shape our eyes follow when we follow the lines that dictate the pictorial movement. This basic triangular shape is then repeated many times throughout the painting in its negative space. This Holds regularity, and balances the negative space against the positive space by giving it shape, as opposed to just open and ambiguous space.

Almost Crimes-Guerilla Art

Our first project-Guerilla Art.

For this project I made two stencils. It was tedious, but quite fun, and something I have wanted to get into for a while now.
Both are in response to upcoming trends in my generation. One generally strong and prevailing theme of today is the increased amount of physical and sexual ambiguity. I think this is wonderful. It is absurd to encase ones appearance within the set out parameters of "feminine" and "masculine." The words masculine and feminine are not synonymous with male and female. Male and female has to do with genitalia. Masculinity and femininity are traits, and really have little to do with one's genitalia. It is just as usual for a man to possess feminine traits as it is for a woman. So for my first stencil I have two faces about to kiss. They could be two girls, they could be two boys, they could be a boy and a girl. The point is you can't be really sure. Whatever the case is, they're here, they could be queer (they may not who knows), and they want to share their love with the world.
For the time being they are just up on my door. Lame, I know. I was shy and nervous with the first ones. I assure you though I had way too much fun with the second to not continue a bit in the guerilla art spectrum. If I put anymore up I'll try to put them up here.

The second stencil was a response to the marketed version of individuality that is prevalent today. It's poking fun at an image, which was originally employed for individuality, but has now become a gross overproduction by today's market.

This one was placed on strange grey box inhabiting trendy street corner in Brookline.


I forgot on the first to take a picture of the environment pre stenciling, so here is another placed on trendy dumpster located in trendy Boston...
It's a bit unclear by the hasty paint job, but the stencil says "Marketable Individualism"


These were supposed to be up prior to this date, but due to misunderstanding on my part they were not. Ah well, so much for punctuality.

I Am Blogged

I HasBlogsNow. A day late and a dollar short, but nonetheless here it is, my first blog/blogpost.