Conceptual Art Activity

The activity involved the participation of the entire class, and had each of us draw at random one of four different line drawings. We copied the drawings on to a sheet of paper and then posted them on a wall (this was done 3 times), while never breaking our order. I expected our finished image to appear uninteresting, and without organization - despite the fact that there was much collaboration in making it. My expectations were met, and thus I can say that without knowing the process used to create our piece, one would not give it a second glance. However, conceptual art emphasizes on the ideas/concepts embedded into the constructing process, and therefor the viewer would have to be informed of how our piece was made. The idea in our case may have had something to do with disorder arising from order.

Performance Piece

The purpose of my activity was to find out whether or not the meaning of a conversation could still be conveyed if those conversing spoke backwards to one another. I had initially expected that it was possible, however, with much confusion and stumbling resulting. In actuality, the participants faired better than I thought.

My instructions were as follows:
1. Both participants select a topic to discuss (it can be about anything: a certain class, their mood, a politician, ect).

2. The participants can only speak to one another backwards. For example, "I'm always tired in the morning" would be said as "morning the in tired always I'm."

3. The participants are aloud to write out what they themselves are about to say (to make it easier), but can not write down what the other person has said to them.

4. The participants should not spend time deciphering what the other person had said, but rather quickly respond to what they sink was said.
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Tim classmate their about talk to chose participants the.

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In addition to conducting my performance, I took part in two others. For the first performance, I was required to bounce a ball while walking in a circle, and was not aloud to look directly at the ball. I'm not sure on the exact intentions of the performance, but it was most likely to test motor skills and concentration, and to make me look silly - I lost track of the ball several times. For the second performance, I was told to write an action/word down and present it without words or sound to a partner. I then had to guess the other person's action/word, while they in return guessed mine - somewhat like charades. Naturally, I chose guitar hero.

Performance Art

Above: one of Yves Klein's anthropometries, Vampire.
-image from YvesKlein.com

"Performance art is art in which the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work. It can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any length of time. Performance art can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience. It is opposed to painting or sculpture, for example, where an object constitutes the work."
-www.wikipedia.com

Observing the career of Yves Klein, a French artist who co-founded the new realism movement, you can see that he uses performance art to assist his audiences in understanding the ideas behind his works, as well as to allow them to witness first-hand the processes used to create them (often part of the meaning). Though Klein displayed musical compositions, paintings, and books(all objects which normally constitute the work), he stripped them of what was expected (paintings would have no images, books no words, etc.). This was best witnessed through performance, and was done with the intent of emphasizing the imprint of his subjects, as well as to mix theoretical with philosophical concepts/ideas. Klein's most famous works included his blue monochromes, his anthropometries, and his voids - empty areas he would sell for gold (which would later be thrown away in a river).


Sources: YvesKlein.com, Wikipedia.com

Shadow Activity

The shadow activity required us to follow a partner's shadow around while having one foot on it at all times. Rather than alerting our partner vocally each time we lost track of their shadow, we signaled them by tapping two stones together ; We switched roles with our partner every time the stones were tapped. I expected this activity to be rather monotonous as we only had a small area of the parking lot to work with, and I had assumed that we would only be walking. However, within seconds the activity evolved into a game as my partner and I were trying to lead each other to impractical locations (over bushes, on the other side of fences, and on top of cars) in an attempt to throw one another off. The no-talking rule was quickly ignored as well, since the activity was too energetic for silence. Overall, I would label this activity as being silly, yet interesting.

Logos

After researching logos, I’ve found that they can take the form of either a symbol/icon, a logotype (a company’s unique typeface), or the more common combination of the two. A logo’s purpose is primarily to gain recognition from consumers, which leads to the trust of the brand it is associated with. Logos play a big role in business and advertising, and their colors, fonts and images scarcely repeat between companies in the same industry. Logos can also be used outside of the businesses world; For example the red cross logo.
(information from www.wikipedia.com)

The image at the top is of The Hershey Company’s logo; It is a combination of logotype and a symbol, as the dark brown rectangle is a representation of their product (chocolate).

Sign-a thing whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence, occurrence, or advent of something else.
Symbol-a material object representing something, often something immaterial
Icon-a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it.
(definitions from www.dictionary.com)

Duchamp

(image from Wikipedia)

At first glance, Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even” seemed like an image that anyone could create - randomly dispersed doodles, possibly representing something personal and therefor inscrutable (since the visuals alone do not convey the purpose). However, after visually examining the piece it became apparent that organization was present, as certain shape/tone clusters formed perceptible [yet abstract] objects. Even more noticeable, a horizontal line divided the piece into two sections. Because time was spent arranging the image’s content, Duchamp had some intention of making his work visually appealing. Still, the image’s aesthetics do not convey its meaning, and it was not until Duchamp’s notes were presented that I began to understand The Bride. It is a sequence, not a static image, that depicts female and male interaction (in all ways conceivable), and the luck associated with a woman accepting her suitors’ proposals ( not necessarily for marriage). However, to be able to “see” this perpetual chain of events, one must read the notes and relate them to the objects found in the image. In addition, many crucial “parts” exist only in the notes, primarily those that flow (belong to several sections of the event), such as the malic gas and the shots. Without the visuals, the notes themselves would be gibberish, since they would no longer be referencing something. Overall, there are no faults I can assign this piece, except that it is incomplete. Though Duchamp presents us with abstract forms, he provides insight as to what they actually are through his notes. By combining the two types of information presented to us, written and visual, we are able to appreciate Duchamp’s piece as a very unique and thought out collection of ideas.

Patterns in Repetition

I find it interesting that so many things rely on a repeated single unit for their aesthetic appeal: floor tiles, wall coverings, fabric prints, and Islamic architecture. Observing their designs, I noticed how they could be broken down into a single square (the single unit), being simple or complex, that contains every object of the overall design. Sometimes the single unit contains 1/2 or 1/4 of an object, and requires adjacent units to make that object identifiable. With Islamic architecture, it is the same principle, except adapted for spherical shapes (domes).

Above you can see that the single unit (outlined in blue) is more triangular than square, and when repeated 8 times, it completes the 360 degree design of the dome. Also, you can see that one of the objects of the design requires 2 single units to be seen (circled in green). To conclude, designs are not as intricate as they may appear, since they are really formed by a repeating single unit. These units can be arranged in a numerous amount of ways, therefor many designs show only one possible arrangement out of hundreds.

Gestalt

(picture from Google images)

"Gestalt is a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts"
-dictionary.com

Looking at the above image, you can either see a man playing the saxophone, or a woman's face. These to figures are not created by the positive space, but rather how our brains perceive the positive against the negative. Thus the meaning of the image is greater than its actually parts, because it requires more than the positive to define it.

Tone

When creating the ten interval tonal scale, I found it easiest to start with the darkest shade (6B) and work up towards the lightest (4H). Had ten intervals not been sufficient in creating a steady scale from 6B to 4H, I would still be guaranteed strong contrast with dark and mid-level tones to go against the already white background. While working on the scale I made two observations which I later integrated into my drawing. I first noted that against the white background, my eyes were drawn toward the dark 6B circle over the much lighter 4H circle. This lead me to conclude that areas with a large variation in tone (high contrast), attract the eye more so than monotonous areas. I believe that if I had switched the sizes between the two circles, I'd have still glanced toward the darker one. My second observation occurred when I accidentally overlapped two circles of the same tone, and created a darker tone in between. To recreate the overlapping effect in my drawing, I simply drew a dark shape between two lighter shapes.

String Project

The string project was a fun experience, since the web evolved spontaneously rather than through collaboration, allowing little reaction time to the enclosing strings. Most people seemed to be running circles around the room and looping the string in a confounded manner (difficult to undo the web), or trying to free themselves from the web itself. I don't think many people had lines and shapes in mind while making the web, but it did tie into the unit since the web was nothing more than lines forming shapes. I think with some planning we could of made some interesting patterns out of the strings. Overall, the project was enjoyable.

Line-Shape

Which of the images are lines:
A,B, and C
Which of the images are shapes:
A,B,C, and D
What makes a line:
A line is a solid figure that is capable of forming a flat perimeter; Depending on their thickness, lines can be shapes.
What makes a shape:
A shape is a closed figure (enclosed by lines); Some shapes can be lines (if solid).

Nozkowski Critique 9-10-07

Description: The image contains several small rectangular shapes which drastically increase in size, and decrease in distance from one another. This occurs roughly halfway down the piece, and 1/8 of the way from the left border. In addition, the shapes elongate both vertically and horizontally, further enhancing their rectangular features. At the bottom right corner of the piece, the shapes return to their original form. The color of the rectangles is dark brown, however the ones surrounding the bottom right corner vary in color (sea green, sky blue, red, olive, etc...). The background of the piece is an offset white.

Interpretation: The sudden change in proportion, color, and size occurring from top left to bottom right, followed by an even more drastic return to normalcy, creates a sensation of disrupted growth. Our eyes are then drawn back to the starting point (top left corner), due to the similarity between the shapes of the top left and bottom right corners, and are meant to repeat the process.

Evaluate: Overall the piece is successful, because it provides constant visual stimulation. It is clear that much thought was placed into the making of the piece, because of the individual proportions of each shape. Also, the squares are not aligned in a grid, but carefully positioned to create curves in the background that pull towards the bottom right corner.