Michelle Lopez

where does she get inspiration?
is she a sculptor?
does she create art for her or an audience?

as i read i realized these questions really had no relevance to what i was readig. her story was one about her and the media and success. she seems very humble and makes it clear that she doesnt think she ready as an artist to be in the media. the funny thing about that is that the media chooses when youre ready. if they think your worth talking about then they will. that in itself should tell you that you are mature enough as an artist to be in the media. not only that, but the fact that she has a galley partnership and is an accomplished artist so young shows that she has what it takes to be exposed. me on the other hand, im not anywhere ready for the "big time". Im still trying to figure out my direction whereas it seems she already found her way. id be honored to be where she is and would just take the media as it comes

Mariko Mori

why the different mediums?
is the work spiritual?
what exactly is her mediums?

i really like how she is using her pieces to show how she sees technology and nature could co-exist. personally i would love if they could co-exist but i dont see that happening. technology is pulling us away from nature. we no longer depend on the things we have in nature to get us by. we dont get to the outdoors. we stay home and watch television or listen to music. technology is having a good and bad effect on us. obviously it has help give us resource and entertainment, but its made us lazy and we take to much for granted. there has always been a stuggle between nature and technology and there always will be that struggle.

why use the new media to depict ancient things?
does the use of technology show shes for it or against it?
is this just a fantasy or does she really think it would happen

Kim Jones

Questions

1. what is his inspiration?
2. Why is his work done walking down streets?
3. Does his work deal with fact and fiction?

answers and insights:

i can relate to him because he went from drawing(a 2-d medium) to sculpture(a 3-d medium). I like how he took his fantasy of war, his fight with polio, his reality of war, and used them all in his work as he grew older. he used all his life experiences to make his art. i like how he makes his altar ego his piece. his alter ego is the mudman and he uses his sculpture in a performance piece. this is a way for him to use his experiences and talk to others. art is a great way to get to meet new people and have conversations with them. its wierd that all his work deals more with generalizations between what real and pretend and how it becomes fact and fiction. i kind of wonder if he didnt walk down a boulevard and he just sat in a down town area if he'd have he same effect. If i saw him walking down the street i think i would be a little bit freaked out to talk to him so i so how did he come up with this as a way to talk to people?

Scott Grieger

Questions:

1. What is behind the "be here now" installation?
2. What work does he typically do and why?
3. why does he do what he does?

Answers and insights

i really am intrigued by his stuff. the sheer size of his installations kind of show that is very important. i could sit there for a while and just look at his stuff trying to figure out what is going on, unlike i would with kinkead. I love how he took symbols and logos, important beliefs, relationships between military and religion, and things someone really wouldnt associate together and he juxtoposes these images to make intriguing work. i think his work is based on anthropological/cultural things because thats what he knows and what calls out to him.

other questions

1. is his stuff controverial?
2. would his stuff be so moving without the juxtopostions?
3. what if he did them on a grander scale like in an open park rather than in a gallery?

Thomas kinkead

questions:

1. are his lanscapes representing anything?
2. does his paintings come from anything that have happened to him?
3. who does he do his paintings for?

answers and random insights

I chose to do thomas kinkead because ive actually heard of him before. I have seen a few of his paintings and not really cared for them to much. I think he just wants to give people their fantasies and not do what he wants to do. I think thats what makes his painting boring to me. I dont relate to it and i dont feel it has any meaning. he makes his paintings for everyone and he markets them that way. his work doesnt provoke any thought, its all aesthetic pleasure

other questions:

1. Will it stay so popular or will people get tired of it?
2. if it would be conceptual, would i really like it then?

the art world expands

Contemporary art is very rich, diverse, and unpredictable. this allows for more diverse subject matter, interesting choices of media, and many new artists. with older forms of art such as Renaissance, the predominate medium was painting with a little bit of sculture. it is so much more interesting to see new mediums, such as movie making, mixed media, photography, and so on becuse you wonder why the artist chose to do that. did it have something to do with the concept or do they just like the medium? i also like the fact that with contemporary art, you can have multiple subject matter and multi media in the same piece. it's just more interesting to see the variety than looking at the same stuff over and over again. i guess that why i dont necessarily care for art history and what makes it boring.

looking at sculpture formally

This handout talks about how talks about how form, processes, materials, presentation, and so on have different effects on sculpture. i can relate to this because i am a sculpture. craftsmanship can have a massive part in getting your idea across. for instance, i've made things that would have wouldnt get the point accross if i had used the materials i used or constructed it the way i did. One time i made a chair that was made out of broken skateboards and ramp materials to show part of my personality. If i wouldnt have made the backing of the chair in the manner that they make ramps, or not used ramp materials, people would quite get the concept. it would have just been a lounge chair where you sit on broken skateboards. The point of this is to show that the use of materials, presentation, and form have a say in how your work is interpreted

The story tells it

often times a works meaning could change. As a viewer or an artist, life experiences have an effect on the meaning of a piece. Where the work is placed can change the meaning of a piece. What is going on in the world when that piece is made or when its viewed has an impact of what the meaning is. For instance, the identity project we just did had a particular meening to me. it was to show that three particular images make me who i am. a skateboard for what i do, a cross for my religious upbringing, and the fact that it looks like a gravemarker for the lessons ive learned through the losses of people. Now if i would have placed it on the side of a road, it would have taken the form of a monument honoring someone, instead of showing who i am and the generalization it shows. if someone else had lost someone maybe they would have a different intake of it. it just goes to show that just because i made it one way, it could have many different meanings and different experiences make the meaning change

An incomlete manifesto for growth

there were a few things that stood out that could really push me to grow as an artist.

1. Begin anywhere: "not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis." that is very true. Alot of times i just dont know where to begin and i end up getting nowhere fast. An art teacher i had in high school used to always tell me if i didnt have any ideas, i just need to keep drawing or brainstorm instead of focusing on the fact that i dont know where to go. i just need to start somewhere because that is better than nothing.
2. Collaborate: i love to collaborate with people cuz that get my mind flowing. thats usually where i get more ideas, better ideas, and more creative ones as well
3. blank: being blank or open would allow me to get new ideas and work on new processes that would allow me to grow.
4. Stay up late: this could be interesting because when i become deproved of sleep, i do things i normally wouldnt do and that could be great source for inspiration
5. taking breaks and going to different places: sometimes when im in a jam i like to take a break and come back or go to a different spot because it gives me new or rejuvenated creativity.

accumulation project week 6

With this being such a hectic week i havent been able to think or focus too much on the accumulation project. So far everything is still the same.

Who, me?

"Who, me?"
18"x12"x1/2"
broken skateboards and already existing structure




Identity Project: this project really helped me figure out who I am, where i came from, and helped me realize some situations that have shaped the person i am today.

abiding images: skateboards, cross, and gravestone markers

I chose these images/objects because they have greatly affected my life and who i've become. I chose skateboards because thats what i do. I have been doing it since i was 14 or so and i am now 21 so that has taken up alot of my life. It's one of the few things i have been able to commit to in my life. Another image is the cross. I was grew up in a christian home and was raised with those values. Sometimes i stray away from those values but ultimately those values are how i live my live and how i make decisions about my life. And the last thing image that has shaped me is a gravestone marker. In my life ive seen all too many people that i know, and who are close to me, die or have near death experiences. This has fueled me to live life to the fullest as well as remember the negative things life throws at you. All of these things have shaped me to the person i am today and who knows who i'd be, where i'd be, or what situations i'd have gotten into.


Form: I chose to use the skateboards as my materials to make my sculpture for a few reasons. First, i used it because thats what i had. Secondly, skateboarding is how i was connected to one of my friends, who actually died while he was skating. And i used the broken skateboards to symbolize the broken feelings that come with death and grieve. I chose to use the cross because its used as a gravestone marker as well as a reference to religion and the peace and hope that comes through god in time of very emotional experience. I chose to have the cross falling to symolize the "falling" of the people close to me. I wanted to put my peace in a place that had an eerie feeling to it because thats how i feel about death, so i put it in front of a run down shack in the gardens on campus. I wanted to keep the scratches in the skateboard to show that it is a skateboard and i thought because it is broken, used, and has character i should leave the edges of the form rough.

accumulation week 5

i am starting to do some reseach on alternate ways to make energy and trying to make the connection between that and recycling. so far its not going the way i want it to, so hopefully it gets better

accumulation project week 3

Now i have 2 13 gallon trashbags full of empty 12 oz soda cans. I have all diffent kinds ranging from pepsi and mountain dew to sunkist and yoohoos. I will probably make the sculpture with wire to hold my cans in the form i want it to be, but that might change. I still have a bunch of cans to collect before i figure out exactly what i want to build.