Friday, October 30, 2009
Some work and artists that I like
Howard Arkley was an Australian artist who reproduced images of Australian suburbia showing how it can be beautiful and artistic. He used airbrushing to create these. He also used patterns and bright bold colours which I like as they remind me of the pop culture period. He was also heavily into the party and drug scene in Australian music. He produced pictures of musicians in some of his works too.
Andy Warhol- I love Warhols work. I like how he used everyday objects and turned them into art. He was critisised by the art world for this but proved them all wrong when pop art became an influential art movement.
Gilbert and George- I like their work because they use the bright colours like in pop art. I also like their grid system that they use to make up and seperate their works.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Typolution
Typolution is a 3 minute video made by Olivier Beaudoin. The clip uses type only to create its imagery and message. It explores the evolution of our natural world and the destruction of it caused by pollution. Beaudoin has used punctuation and letters to create objects like clouds, trees, flowers, buildings and roads.
I liked this video as it is very apparent to the world we are living in now and what we have done and are doing to our earth. It also makes you think about these issues like climate change. I think the way typography has been used to create every aspect of the clip is very interesting and effective. It shows how you can use various methods to get a message out. It also showed me how graphic design can be used as a way of sort of discussing a serious issue in our society. The music also contributed to the mood of the video and making the viewer think. Music is a very important tool as it can help to change your opinion and feelings instantly.
This video was interesting to watch, just to see another creative way to use typography. I find it good to look at things like this as it can help me with future projects in making creative new designs.
I liked this video as it is very apparent to the world we are living in now and what we have done and are doing to our earth. It also makes you think about these issues like climate change. I think the way typography has been used to create every aspect of the clip is very interesting and effective. It shows how you can use various methods to get a message out. It also showed me how graphic design can be used as a way of sort of discussing a serious issue in our society. The music also contributed to the mood of the video and making the viewer think. Music is a very important tool as it can help to change your opinion and feelings instantly.
This video was interesting to watch, just to see another creative way to use typography. I find it good to look at things like this as it can help me with future projects in making creative new designs.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Salvador Dali- NGV
I went to see the Salvador Dali exhibition with my friends in August. I studied him during studio arts in high school so I was looking forward to seeing his works in person. I enjoy going to see the exhibitions at NGV as the work is obviously amazing but I love the way that they curate them also. Each room has a theme or relates to a period in time. My favourite exhibition I’ve seen here is the Art Deco one last year but I also really enjoyed the Guggenheim one too.
When I was younger I never really appreciated going to see works like this and found it boring. I wouldn’t spend the time to really look at the artwork. Now though I love looking at old classic pieces. I find it truly amazing how some of these works can be hundreds of years old yet the colours are still so vibrant like they have been painted recently. One thing I appreciate about these works is the detail that was put into them, especially considering the lack of advancements they had compared to now. Nowadays with the whole ‘contemporary art’ everyone seems to just go for the abstract ‘modern’ look. I’m sure there are still people out there with the talent like past artists, but unfortunately we never hear or see them any more – or I don’t at least. I think if you can paint like they used to then you really do have amazing talent. Personally I’m not that into the whole abstract look of things.
Back to the Dali exhibition, it was great that they showed a range of work from paintings, drawings, fashion and jewellery to film. The work went through the various stages of his career when he explored surrealism, and subject matter like love, religion, science and the land.
When I was younger I never really appreciated going to see works like this and found it boring. I wouldn’t spend the time to really look at the artwork. Now though I love looking at old classic pieces. I find it truly amazing how some of these works can be hundreds of years old yet the colours are still so vibrant like they have been painted recently. One thing I appreciate about these works is the detail that was put into them, especially considering the lack of advancements they had compared to now. Nowadays with the whole ‘contemporary art’ everyone seems to just go for the abstract ‘modern’ look. I’m sure there are still people out there with the talent like past artists, but unfortunately we never hear or see them any more – or I don’t at least. I think if you can paint like they used to then you really do have amazing talent. Personally I’m not that into the whole abstract look of things.
Back to the Dali exhibition, it was great that they showed a range of work from paintings, drawings, fashion and jewellery to film. The work went through the various stages of his career when he explored surrealism, and subject matter like love, religion, science and the land.
My favourite room was the jewellery room as I loved the classic, intricate designs of the pieces but also I just loved the look of it. It was dark with walls lined with padded red velvet creating a very intimate, elegant and high class feel. The pieces were displayed in little black velvet lined, glass fronted boxes helping to provide the intimate feeling. Other rooms had beautiful vintage wallpaper which also created an elegant feeling.
Another work I enjoyed was a Disney film that Dali had done the artwork for. I simply liked it because the music playing was the type they had in old Disney films like Snow White and Peter Pan so it reminded me of them. One controversial work on display was Dali’s film ‘Un Chien Andalou’ made with Luis Bunuel. It is a 16 minute silent film which was controversial because some of the scenes in it, one where they use a knife to cut a women’s eye open. I remember in school, they had to ask permission to be able to show it to us.
I really loved and appreciated this exhibition and wished I had made a time to go back again as it was so busy when I went to see it. I do wish however that they had shown more of his surreal art which is what I knew him for. I really liked these pieces as I found it fascinating how he created them and included hidden images like magic eye where it depends on who and how you look at them as to what you see. Here are some pictures I found on the internet, some of which were taken by a photographer, Marcus Bunyan for the event.
I really loved and appreciated this exhibition and wished I had made a time to go back again as it was so busy when I went to see it. I do wish however that they had shown more of his surreal art which is what I knew him for. I really liked these pieces as I found it fascinating how he created them and included hidden images like magic eye where it depends on who and how you look at them as to what you see. Here are some pictures I found on the internet, some of which were taken by a photographer, Marcus Bunyan for the event.
Slave market with apparition of the invisiblebust of Voltaire, 1940
Shot from the film 'Un Chien Andalou' 1928
Bleeding world, pendant 1953 made from gold, rubies, pearls, diamonds
McClelland Gallery
Ron Mueck created his ‘Wild Man’ sculpture in 2005 and sold it in 2008. I don’t really go to sculpture exhibitions so it was good to see something different. The sculpture ‘Wild Man’ was pretty amazing considering the size and detail of it. I was surprised as how realistic it looked. Everything from the skin tones, hair, expressions to the veins looked perfect. You could even see and imagine the pressure being put on the feet and hands. When you looked at the face of the sculpture, you could see the scared, uneasy look as if we had just walked in on him and he was embarrassed. The size of this piece is obviously what grabs your attention first. I wasn’t expecting the sculpture to be so large and obviously this portrays a strong presence in the room creating the awkward feeling even more. I think that is why Mueck created it so big. Not only to show off the amazing detail but to engage us as viewers in the scene and experience. One thing I appreciate the most about this piece is the amazing amount of work that Mueck has put in. It would’ve taken forever to create something like this with this amount of detail. I personally know I would be able to work this long on something as I would get so frustrated and over it.
I really enjoyed looking at all of the sculptures around the gardens. They were all so unusual and abstract. I didn’t really understand the meaning behind them but thought they looked great and interesting too. I liked the ones made of fake grass as they reminded me of Edward Scissorhands, and the one with all of the rocks hanging from wire to create a pattern. The one with the rocks would have been difficult to construct because all of the wires would have to line up correct. Some of the sculptures like the red sticks layed out on the ground and the cage type one I didn’t like and thought they were a bit pointless. Personally I don’t see how laying red painted sticks on the ground in a pattern is very remarkable.
I really enjoyed this exhibition especially looking at all of the sculptures in the gardens. Some of them were really interesting and it gave me a new appreciation of sculpture.
I really enjoyed looking at all of the sculptures around the gardens. They were all so unusual and abstract. I didn’t really understand the meaning behind them but thought they looked great and interesting too. I liked the ones made of fake grass as they reminded me of Edward Scissorhands, and the one with all of the rocks hanging from wire to create a pattern. The one with the rocks would have been difficult to construct because all of the wires would have to line up correct. Some of the sculptures like the red sticks layed out on the ground and the cage type one I didn’t like and thought they were a bit pointless. Personally I don’t see how laying red painted sticks on the ground in a pattern is very remarkable.
I really enjoyed this exhibition especially looking at all of the sculptures in the gardens. Some of them were really interesting and it gave me a new appreciation of sculpture.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Dwelling
The Dwelling was an exhibition on display at ACCA. I had never been here before and didn’t know that it existed. When I first went into the exhibition I was unsure of what it was about. It was a very dark exhibition so the first time I walked through I found it to be a bit confusing with all the dark corridors and curtains. Once the educational began to explain to us about the exhibition and how all of the artists were exploring another side of the topic ‘the dwelling’ it began to make more sense. When she asked us what we think of the topic the main answers were all about homes. The artists however were looking at it from a different perspective and looking at the dwelling as a spooky, dark and mysterious subject.
My favourite work was ‘Opera for a small room’ 2005 by Janet Cardiff and George Bures-Miller. I liked this work because it engaged you more than others which were just film. I also liked the how the artists found all of these records with the name R.Dennehy on them and designed the room as to what they imagine his room may look like. I find this type of art intriguing as it is though we are looking in on someones life or how the artists imagined it. I also like how this is their vision and R.Dennehy’s real room would most likely be completely different. By making us able to walk around and look in from different angles enabled us to feel engaged in the experience with all the lights and music. I think what made me like this the most was the music and light show plus being able to feel engaged in the piece.
Other pieces I liked were ‘House II: the great artesian basin’ and ‘Talo (the house)’. House II reminded me of a scene in Jamuji. I didn’t really understand the meaning behind it but I just liked the video of it. At first I didn’t like ‘Talo’ but once it was explained that the lady in it had a mental illness, I found it to be very intriguing.
I found this exhibition to be one of the better ones we have seen as it was different and the subject was darker than others. It also engaged you more and I found I had to think about what it was about more.
My favourite work was ‘Opera for a small room’ 2005 by Janet Cardiff and George Bures-Miller. I liked this work because it engaged you more than others which were just film. I also liked the how the artists found all of these records with the name R.Dennehy on them and designed the room as to what they imagine his room may look like. I find this type of art intriguing as it is though we are looking in on someones life or how the artists imagined it. I also like how this is their vision and R.Dennehy’s real room would most likely be completely different. By making us able to walk around and look in from different angles enabled us to feel engaged in the experience with all the lights and music. I think what made me like this the most was the music and light show plus being able to feel engaged in the piece.
Other pieces I liked were ‘House II: the great artesian basin’ and ‘Talo (the house)’. House II reminded me of a scene in Jamuji. I didn’t really understand the meaning behind it but I just liked the video of it. At first I didn’t like ‘Talo’ but once it was explained that the lady in it had a mental illness, I found it to be very intriguing.
I found this exhibition to be one of the better ones we have seen as it was different and the subject was darker than others. It also engaged you more and I found I had to think about what it was about more.
Roger Ballan
Brutal, Tender, Human, Animal- Monash Gallery of Art
Roger Ballen’s exhibition Brutal, Tender, Human, Animal is showing at the Monash Gallery of Art from 4 September until 1 November. The photography ranges from work made in 1983 to 2007. His work is described as unsettling, beautiful, tender and often brutal. Shaune Lakin, Director of the MGA states "Roger Ballen is one of the world's most important photographers. As with all great
works of art, Ballen's photographs are at once beautiful and challenging: they raise serious questions about ethics and social responsibility, class and race. This is a rare opportunity to see some of the most powerful images produced in our lifetime."
Ballen’s photographs document his experience of South African fringe dwellers. Ballan was trained as a geologist and taught himself photography as a hobby. He began to photograph the houses and people he met while looking for potential mining sites in the 1970’s. He travelled to some of the poorest areas where he saw the lonely, isolated characters of the area, which people in the cities chose to ignore. Ballan’s work explores the ‘depth and nuances of …what it means to be a human animal, driven by a range of fitful and barely understood forces’. It moves from documenting the world outside to an imaginary world within.
I thought some Ballan’s work was quite confronting especially the second room. I found it difficult to understand most of his later works in the second room as they were very unusual. The lady who spoke to us said something that I thought was very true however, ‘art is not always about beauty’. I think this was a great point as most people believe art is meant to be a beautiful but sometimes art needs to be shocking to grab people’s attention and make them notice what’s going on in the world.
All of his works seem very bleak, with the message not obvious at first -or that is what I thought. Some of his works included 'man shaving on verandah', Western Transvaal, 1986, and 'Dresie and Casie, twins', Western Transvaal, 1993. 'Man shaving on verandah' showed a old, poor, starving man sitting on the steps of an old building with rubbish scattered around him. When I saw this you could obviously see that he was trying to show how these people live in the dorps but it was hard to tell if there was another meaning behind it. 'Dresie and Casie' was a photo that disturbed many people. Most didn’t like it and didn’t want to look at it. I didn't find it that disturbing because I didn't really understand it.
I liked part of this exhibition, the first room as I was able to understand it more. The second room I didn’t like because the photos were a lot more unusual and some of the subject matter was really creep. Overall, I thought this exhibition was pretty good considering some of the works were a bit disturbing.
Roger Ballen’s exhibition Brutal, Tender, Human, Animal is showing at the Monash Gallery of Art from 4 September until 1 November. The photography ranges from work made in 1983 to 2007. His work is described as unsettling, beautiful, tender and often brutal. Shaune Lakin, Director of the MGA states "Roger Ballen is one of the world's most important photographers. As with all great
works of art, Ballen's photographs are at once beautiful and challenging: they raise serious questions about ethics and social responsibility, class and race. This is a rare opportunity to see some of the most powerful images produced in our lifetime."
Ballen’s photographs document his experience of South African fringe dwellers. Ballan was trained as a geologist and taught himself photography as a hobby. He began to photograph the houses and people he met while looking for potential mining sites in the 1970’s. He travelled to some of the poorest areas where he saw the lonely, isolated characters of the area, which people in the cities chose to ignore. Ballan’s work explores the ‘depth and nuances of …what it means to be a human animal, driven by a range of fitful and barely understood forces’. It moves from documenting the world outside to an imaginary world within.
I thought some Ballan’s work was quite confronting especially the second room. I found it difficult to understand most of his later works in the second room as they were very unusual. The lady who spoke to us said something that I thought was very true however, ‘art is not always about beauty’. I think this was a great point as most people believe art is meant to be a beautiful but sometimes art needs to be shocking to grab people’s attention and make them notice what’s going on in the world.
All of his works seem very bleak, with the message not obvious at first -or that is what I thought. Some of his works included 'man shaving on verandah', Western Transvaal, 1986, and 'Dresie and Casie, twins', Western Transvaal, 1993. 'Man shaving on verandah' showed a old, poor, starving man sitting on the steps of an old building with rubbish scattered around him. When I saw this you could obviously see that he was trying to show how these people live in the dorps but it was hard to tell if there was another meaning behind it. 'Dresie and Casie' was a photo that disturbed many people. Most didn’t like it and didn’t want to look at it. I didn't find it that disturbing because I didn't really understand it.
I liked part of this exhibition, the first room as I was able to understand it more. The second room I didn’t like because the photos were a lot more unusual and some of the subject matter was really creep. Overall, I thought this exhibition was pretty good considering some of the works were a bit disturbing.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Offering
THE OFFERING
The exhibition ‘The Offering’ was definitely not what I was expecting. I had looked on the website and seen that it was in an old church but I didn’t realise that it was going to be a sculpture/installation art exhibition. When we walked into the building I was very surprised by what I saw with all the floors ripped up and the strips of the wall lay across the floor. I didn’t understand the artwork at all and didn’t really see how it would interest people to come and see this.
While watching the video that accompanied the artwork, the artist began to talk about using the idea of layers to create the artwork. Once he talked about this I began to understand a bit more his meaning behind the artwork. He said that by cutting away the carpet and cutting these panels out of the wall he was pulling back the layers that had been put on the building over the years from the various people who had used the building.
When the artist spoke to us, he further explained the meaning behind the artwork. He talked about his previous works and why he does what he does. I liked what he said about the building being 105 years old and that is the average oldest age you can live to. When you think about it like that, what is happening and what he is doing to the building is kind of symbolic to that.
The question of whether it is art or not depends on the person. Everyone has different opinions and what someone believes is art, someone else might think it isn’t. When I first saw the space, I didn’t really think it was art but after hearing the artist speak, I can understand how it is art just a different form of art that I’m not used to.
Overall, the exhibition is not something that I would be interested in seeing as it was a bit to unusual for me. However, after watching the video and listening to the artist, I can understand the meaning behind the artwork and what they are trying to show.
SLEEPER
The sleeper exhibition was a moving picture exhibition at Dandenong station. There were small screens placed around the station with videos playing of plant life. I didn’t like this exhibtion very much at all. I thought it was weird and kind of pointless. They spoke about how 10,000 people walk through everyday in peak hours alone but really, how many of them would actually stop and look at the screens. Most people wouldn’t even notice because they are in such a hurry to either get to work or go home.
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