Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Hear hear for a little change?

I think yes. This blog has been slowly mutating and evolving from what it was initially going to be, which is totally okay. Well, as of now it's going to be basically a small look into my digital sketchbook. Time to stop worrying and start making. I've been reading a book that's amazing at pinpointing all the fears that collide that cause a person to stop making artwork. It's sad but true and I've fallen victim.

How's it going to change? Well you'll have to see. But as for now, check it. It's a short post.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Dada's Influence

This is the final section of a way too long paper final I had write for my DADA class last semester. I reread it all a few days ago and kind of liked it--so here's my sort of tribute to DADA, the weirdest/most effective art movement I've studied yet. This particular paper is actually more about my class however...but whatever. Here it is:


Dada…is an experience. This wonderful class has definitely been an experience. The reason that I call it an experience and not just a class, or a concept, is because it has taken all of me, my thoughts, talents, and abilities to truly understand the concepts presented in the book and in class. Therefore, I now have been cursed, or blessed depending on who you ask, to see Dada in everything. Whenever I walk down the street or am anywhere and see someone challenging the norms, defining themselves in their own way, or, especially, experimenting with different methods or means of getting from point A to point B using whatever facet, one of my first thoughts is, “that’s so Dada.”
On the simplest level, take a look at how Dada has influenced our class; it has opened people up to each other in ways that other art history classes are not able to. We are put under false identities or maybe actually real ones for once, by being given nick-names. As silly or ridiculous as they may be, it is like being put behind a mask, an aid to participate freely and not have your name tarnished. No one knows your real name, after all. Considering Dada is heavily based on getting back to the basics and finding the underlying truth of art, it makes perfect sense that one would need to able to go within themselves, where truth lies, to understand it. We have all begun to open up and contribute various skills to the classroom. As I have told a few classmates, “learning what Dada is has been one the most miserable but rewarding things I have had to do. Miserable because of the crazy videos and pieces of art that one has to go through to understand it, but rewarding by the freedom it gives an artist to work without rules.”
On a slightly more sophisticated level, I have noticed direct relations from Dada to modern society; elements of the movement that have leaked their way through time and are now still going strong. Look at typography, for instance, the play on letters and words through styles that are directly related to our early twentieth century counterparts. Montages, whether through video or through the use of collage, are everywhere; in advertisement, movies, and cork boards. One step further, in my own art work. My art, though unintentionally, is a derivative of ideas presented back in the Dada periods. Otherwise, by now, art would be so restricted to rules and specific styles that the freedom that I can have when doing something abstract would be lost.
The contradictions presented by Dada, order and chaos, logic and just because, specifically in reference to art, are confusing and frustrating to think about but, I think, necessary for every artist who wants to know why they are creating anything. So what are Dada’s influences and where are they? Well, going off the definition that Dada is everything and nothing; its influences are everywhere but nowhere.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Cutie Boutique

 Wonder Woman.

Well, it is about that time again. School is running its course like a determined train (but weather I'm finding out is its weakness!).  I'm totally not ready for it.  I've got several other projects on my plate that I've been working on that I would rather work on than school projects. But! This is where I am and what I have been served and I plan to work fervently at being the best I can be at it--surely I'll reap the benefits at some point? That's what I keep telling myself anyway.
A good while back whenever I first made the crazy decision to pursue art as a major, I was given a book to read by someone who is well versed in the perils and rewards of making art; the title of the book is Art and Fear. An excerpt on perfection and hard work:
       "The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on its quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pounds of pots rate and "a", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot -- albeit a perfect one -- to get an "A". Well, came grading time a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work -- and learning from their mistakes -- the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."

 
 "Ker CHA!"


"Take that, Goliath!"
This book has so much to offer anyone participating in any form of art. I'll probably be posting another one soonish solely about it soonish but as for now, that's all you get.  The above story brings me comfort in my constant juggling of ideas and wants. I have done so much random Stuff but can't seem to make direction of any of it. Hopefully all of it will come together. Fingers crossed.

Samuel and Emma are here. They are both so full of...character. And I love it! They'll run back and forth having conversations with each other and I have no idea what either of them are saying. Just earlier I was eating with my mom and the kids at Maebob's and Emma said something neither nor I could interpret. We looked at each other puzzled then to Samuel and said, "Samuel, what is it that your sister is saying??" He repeated it just as she did as if that word were perfectly clear. Out of ideas my mom and I just dropped it and assumed we never figure it out--they just have their own language. To give closure to that story, though, apparently she was asking for something that sounded like "Sah-K" which translates to "napkin".

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to god. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.
finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:4-9.

"Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or swerve from them.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
lover her, and she will watch over you.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding." Proverbs 4:5-7

Among other new things I will be focusing on this semester, I'll be allotting my early Tuesday mornings to leading a guys Bible study where we'll be trekking through the book of Proverbs. I feel right about it but incredibly nervous--who am I to be leading other guys through the study of a book based on the subject of wisdom? I'm surely not the wisest cracker.  But I am willing and that's all that is asked of me so let's do this thing. Anyone interested feel free to join!

Deeper spirituality. Photography. Fundraising. Marketing. Senior project. Videos. Presentations. Stories. Old people. Friendships.
All the above are things that are on my mind with ideas attached already for the beginning of this semester not including things associated with work!