Choose an artwork by one of today's artists and answer the following:
1) What elements in this work read as symbols for some larger idea? And what do you believe they symbolize?
2) What are the main ideas expressed in the piece? Does knowing about the artist’s intentions help in your analysis or do you prefer not to know what they intended to communicate?
3) How does the artist’s overall aesthetic approach affect the way you interpret the content of this piece? You can answer this question by asking, “What if this piece were made another way, in another medium? How would that change my interpretation of it?”
4) Using cognitive theory, what can you say you learned (if anything) from this art work?
2) What are the main ideas expressed in the piece? Does knowing about the artist’s intentions help in your analysis or do you prefer not to know what they intended to communicate?
3) How does the artist’s overall aesthetic approach affect the way you interpret the content of this piece? You can answer this question by asking, “What if this piece were made another way, in another medium? How would that change my interpretation of it?”
4) Using cognitive theory, what can you say you learned (if anything) from this art work?
Joan Mitchell’s “City Landscape” is all about symbolic meanings rather that concrete images. The title implies what the work is, but without the title it looks nothing like what the title implies. The coloring and layering of paint read in congruence with the title act as symbolic images. The title, to me, makes me realize that the colors, layering, and brush stroke represent the bustle of colors and traffic that happen in a city. It’s all about that feeling of mass population and the hecticness of life in the big city. While I don’t know for sure that is the artist’s intention, I’d prefer not to know what it is because for me it would ruin the image and what I see in the painting. I feel that if it was made in another medium it wouldn’t have the same affect. If it was done as sculpture by using lighting, that might be something interesting to see, but to me it wouldn’t have the same overwhelming feeling I get when looking at the piece. Using cognitive theory--meaning “following the interest and internal processes of the brain”—I can say that I learned that not all art needs to be concrete images to produce a positive reaction from a viewer, me. Symbolic representations can sometimes be even more powerful than the actual images themselves.
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Agnes Martin is a classicist, along with the ancients: the Egyptians, the Greeks and Chinese. The main idea expressed in the work is the indeterminate sense of lightness. The work has a cross-hatching grid that is flawless. She emphasizes line and subtle color. This work requires some serious work by the viewer, it requires a trained eye. The fragile traces of lines reminisces Jacques-Louis David’s Death of Socrates with its classicism. I think this work by Martin symbolizes the ideal of perfection. It shows the viewer what man is capable of.
ReplyDeleteMartin’s work emphasizes Taoism, which is living in harmony with the Tao, or the way. It is the natural path that we are destined to take. Her sensitive use of line and color allow the viewer to create their own eternal meaning, with guidelines that she sets. Her use of line create a framework for the imagination, really allowing one to envision. Her small scale elements resemble that of pointillism. This work does nothing for the viewer unless her or she knows art well; it looks like a blank canvas. The interpretation towards the viewer gets lost in the painting, the Taoist sense of Martin’s work lets you feel unrestricted. Its infinite zone allows your imagination to be spread out as if it were on a whiteboard.
In the use of cognitive theory, I can say I learned how information sets the tone for an artworks sense to stimulate activity that may teach someone about the world. The theory has acted to stimulate the functions set by the artist. What we learn also constitutes one of the main reasons we enjoy and value artwork in the first place. I have learned more that cognitivism requires the viewer to be active while engaging with the work of art, which demands the audience’s interpretive engagement.
-Peter
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/finch/finch11-20-06_detail.asp?picnum=1
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ReplyDeleteKiki Smith's "Lying with the Wolf" visually depicts a nude woman embracing a wolf. At first glance, I was initially unnerved by the intimacy between the woman and animal. However, as I began to interpret the work, I became more intrigued by its the seemingly simple and direct composition. Symbolically, I believed the figures were intended to represent the connection that humans have to animals as well as the natural world. I also saw the woman as strong and feminine through her nudity and ability to tame a wild beast.
From research, I learned that Kiki Smith completed this work after a long lapse of drawing humans; she had previously been concerned with drawing animals. She saw a portrait of Saint Genevieve of Paris surrounded by wolves and lambs during a visit to the Louvre that inspired her to begin illustrating the valuable connection between man and beast. Thus, she began a series depicting Genevieve with wolves that show the femininity and strength of the woman who expresses utmost comfort with being one with the animals. This intention definitely contributes to the meaning of the work, but the viewer is allowed to form his or her interpretation based on his or her perspective, especially because Kiki Smith values the ambiguity of art.
As pointed out in class, the artist's drawings give reference to storybooks. The figures have naturalistic features, but they're drawn in a mystical, cartoonish style similar to illustrations in fairytales. To me, this increases the impact of the artist's choice to convey a message through an imaginary scene; fairytales are not based on true stories, but they convey aspects of reality through a storyline that teaches a moral lesson.
In the Art 21 video on Kiki Smith, she stated how art moves from our "insides" to the outside world and is a representation of our insides. This statement relates to cognitive theory and Collingwood's quote that "Imagination is thus the new form which feeling takes when transformed by the activity of consciousness." The brain of any viewer or artist is shaped biologically by mental processes and environmental stimuli. That internal process creates a perspective from which the individual can express or interpret art by consciously engaging with it.
Joan Mitchell's painting, "City Landscape," immediately offers up some symbolism to the viewer due to the artist's choice of title for the work. The myriad colors she uses could symbolize many different aspects of a city landscape such as the reds and yellows representing car lights, or the blues and greens representing street signs. Each color brings to mind a different object one would see in a city. To me, the grey and tan blocks in the top third of the painting symbolize tall concrete buildings that are masked by smog or haze. The overall chaoticness of the brushstrokes as well as colors mashing into each other suggest the chaos of a crowded and busy city street that is alive with movement. I think I would like to know what the artist intended with the work, but that would inevitably change my interpretation of it. Perhaps not knowing will leave me wanting to re-visit the piece at a later time to see if my interpretation has changed. I think there are definitely ways in which the artist could achieve the same idea by using a different medium, but what is also very important with this piece is how the artist created it. The emotions she was feeling while making this work were transfered into it through the slashing brushstrokes where it appears that her unconscious was behind the movements of her hands and in her choice of colors. Using cognitive theory, I can interpret the emotions that the artist was feeling while creating the work and also how she came to the the certain result.
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In viewing Louise Bourgeois’ Cell (Glass Spheres with Hands), there is an obvious tension and anxiety projected as four glass orbs, seated on worn, wooden chairs, surround a table atop which sit a pair of tightly clasped hands rendered in marble that are caught forever in a wringing motion. The material Bourgeois chose greatly enhances the impact this work has. I think that this work captures emotion in a profound way and could perhaps lose that profundity if presented in a different medium. The delicacy of the glass spheres is juxtaposed with the permanence of the marble hands while the surrounding room is greatly worn-down and weathered. From the little that I know of Bourgeois’ past, I can make connections between her distressing family life as a child and this work. The wringing marble hands could signify the long-term tension she experienced while the spheres convey fragility, that at any moment one may tumble to the ground and shatter, as well as anxiety as they are all poised around the table, seemingly watching and waiting. The wear and tear of the rest of the cell adds to the notion that Bourgeois’ childhood was a battlefield, albeit a silent, tense battlefield. The fact that this work is an installation, a tangible object that one can interact with, adds to the emotive quality of the work. Bourgeois has transported the viewer to this particular moment of anxiety that she has created and allows them to be spectator. I think that the presentation of emotion in the form of an installation with broken windows and disjointed body parts sends a strong message; so much so that the ins and outs of Bourgeois’ personal life are not required in order for the viewer to interpret the work. Bourgeois mentioned in the Art21 video that if the viewer gets nothing from her work, she has not done her job and I believe that Bourgeois has succeeded with Cell.
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LOUISE BOURGEOIS: CELL
ReplyDeleteIn the installation “Cell (Glass Spheres and Hands),” Louise Bourgeois uses several symbols to tell the story of her childhood. Starting with the cell itself, she pairs the organic definition of “cell” (a building block of organisms) with the correctional idea of cell (prison) to create something both haunting and enchanting. Like Louise famously stated, “My childhood never lost its magic, it never lost its mystery, and it never lost its drama.” That’s why she pulled most all of her work’s inspiration from her youth. But, as we can see in the manifestation of her pieces, her childhood was anything but a fairytale.
Louise’s childhood was one of confinement, isolation, vulnerability, brokenness, and betrayal--themes that can easily be seen in her work. Take, for example, the shattered glass. Brokenness. The excised hands. Vulnerability. The cell itself. Confinement. Every object within the cell has a variety of symbolic meanings and helps to shape the story of Bourgeois’ past. An observant viewer could pinpoint these themes easily without knowing the specifics due to the strength of her symbolism. However, I must admit I loved knowing her intentions as I analyzed her work—not only because it helped me analyze it more easily but mainly because background info always helps me appreciate the artist herself more.
Bourgeois’ overall aestheic approach definitely impacted the way I interpreted her work. Her use of life-size sculptural pieces was vital to projecting the drama she desired. It brought her story to life and made it much more powerful than if she had created a painting or small-scale version of the room. Moreover, her use of glass balls to represent isolation, confinement, and fragility, and rock-hard hands to represent both strength and vulnerability added to her story in a way that no other medium could. Medium was vital to the interpretation of the story.
Through this artwork, I got a glimpse into the life of Louise Bourgeois. Her struggles, her thoughts, and her fears. I got a glimpse into the life of so many children to grow up in broken families, feeling sad and isolated, and I saw how dramatically that hurt can effect people for their entire lives. For the most part, I like to believe that people overcome these painful childhood events throughout the course of their lives and find ways to find happiness or recreate themselves after they escape the bounds of their family home. But as Louise demonstrated, this is not always the case and sometimes that pain carries on throughout a person’s entire life. Sad but true.
IMAGE LINK: http://www.kelua.com/louise_cells.jpg
In Louise Bourgeois’ sculptural installation, “Arch of Hysteria” depicts a male form hanging from the ceiling in an exaggerated arch position. This sculpture is very expressive and symbolic of human pain. The rigidity of the body, detail of the straining muscles, and the glossy finish that emphasizes all these elements contribute to the idea of pain, both emotionally and physically. It is hard for one to look at this piece and not cringe at the position and feel discomfort themselves.
ReplyDeleteBourgeois’ work is deeply emotional and references her turbulent childhood, sexuality, and the human form. In “Arch of Hysteria” Bourgeois references nineteenth-century neurologist Jean Martin Charcot who used his female patients to document hysteria. The hysterical arch- “an intense muscular contraction, resulting in immobility and paralysis of the limbs”- shows the extreme emotional toll on the human mind and expresses it in a physical action. Knowing the artist’s intention helps me understand the piece more and I am able to focus my interpretation where I can pick out more details in the piece that refers to the meaning.
The silver nitrate patina that covers the piece accentuates all the ridges of the body and makes them stand out. The reflective quality of the finish also allows the viewer to see their reflection on the work that helps create a stronger connection between viewer and work of art. The combination of the hanging form, a shiny finish, and larger than life scale sends a strong message to the viewer and helps creates and intensity and overwhelming emotions for the viewer.
I believe that Louise Bourgeois creates works of art that are phenomenal and very expressive. Although not all viewers may experience the meaning that Louise intended, her work cannot help but elicit emotion from its viewer. For me, this piece was very thought provoking and somewhat disturbing by depicting such a violent action and represents pain and fear that everyone feels sometime in their life. Bourgeois was successful in creating a strong emotional reaction from me that she believes is so important to do when making art.
http://artnews.org/karstengreve/?exi=16424&Karsten_Greve&Louise_Bourgeois_A_Stretch_Of_Time_40_Jahre_Karsten_Greve_K_ln
Bourgeois’ work focuses on an incident in her life as a child, which are more expressionist thoughts than cognitivist. I think her choice of works in the Art 21 video with stones and hands were representative of this theme, along with the cages which paralleled her family structure. The affair was mostly contained to the family, but it was complicated, almost messy, on the inside. Knowing the artist’s intentions behind her works definitely helped in the viewers evaluation of the pieces. For example, the works of her cages most clearly relate to her troublesome relationship with her father, and communicates these ideas clearly upon knowing the background story.
ReplyDeleteShe has said to “work out” the things that bother her through her work, such as her complaints. She claims that “Work puts an order in disorder and control over chaos”. Clearly, her artwork is a way of expressing herself and her emotions, hence her connection to the Expressionists. The book also says her art “It seems based on her deeply felt life experiences, which she is able to form into visual works of art that communicate emotionally with the viewer”. This being sad,, I believe that even after knowing the basis behind the works of art that were created, the viewer would have a difficult time bringing a separate, or their own interpretation into the work than what Bourgeois intended.
I like the way she uses installations and brings found objects into sculptures. I think it helps to communicate the ideas behind her work, especially in the case of The Spider and similar works of hers. I think there would even be a difference viewing the sculptures in person rather than in a photograph in our textbook. They probably have a different point when viewing them live and life-sized and communicate in a deeper way. If the piece were made in any other medium, it would not have the sharp points that the metal suggests. The message would be much different if say, the cage was created in a painting, or done by printmaking.
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