#7 Response to Kaprow “Blurring of art and life”

     In the article "Blurring of Art and Life", the author discusses the relationship between art and life. The art is through life everywhere. Kaprow points out that many arts are in our daily life, they are normal that we usually ignore them. Just like what we did in micro-project 2, paying attention to everything that we usually ignore and make it piece of art, Kaprow observed the behavior of brushing teeth. This kind of art is not the art we usually think which are displayed in gallery. It present a different style of art.

     However, I don’t agree with the idea that everything in daily life can be piece of art. Although art is from life, it should be more than what it is we usually think. Also, the art is from eyes of the beholder, it is more about personal opinion. Whether a piece is art depends on the opinion of its viewer.

MP2: Map

     This was my way to classroom. I stayed at my friend's those days, on the east of High. I used to take  the school bus ER. It was only 2 minutes from my friend's home to the bus stop, but it took me 1 minute more that day because of taking pictures. On my way downstair, I smelled the laundry which is on the first floor. Then, I walked to the bus stop at 13th Ave & Summit. When waiting for the bus, I felt hungry and ate a galorna bar. It was too sweet, but I couldn't find any water. When we passed the Physical Research Building by bus, there were many motocycles parking on the side, which I never noticed before. They were shiny under the sun. I got off at Summit to Neil & 17th Ave. It showed a beautiful scene of people reading in the shade of trees. Then, I walked to the stadium, our classroom, where I found some water finally.
     In this project, I took a screen shot from google map as my basic map, and inserted some pictures in different layers. This was my first time using photoshop, and I really enjoy it.

#6 Response to “Cardiff, Miller and the Power of Sound"

     It is interesting that the author introduce the art of sound in this way. I thought art was personal opinion, but in the article, Cardiff and Miller perform art together, even collaborate on their first date. They have lots of things in common, including grown environment. That may be the reason why they could work together - they have similar values and their opinions are not contradictory. My favorite part is "Dark Pool", their first official work. They made a great piece, even though it was a hard time. It was more self-portrait than an artificial work. That is what I thought of art - comes from life, but larger than life.
     I don't quite understand the "Forest" part. Is it actually a piece of work or a performance practices? Is it all about acoustic but not visual? I was confused when it comes to this word, and I don't understand why they often compared other work with it.

#4 Response to Hornby “Nipple Jesus”

     “Nipple Jesus” is a story about the destruction of a picture. In the article, Dave was very sad when the painting got reined, because he thought it was a nice work. However, the artist of the picture was happy, because he thought that was the purpose of contemporary art. Dave didn’t know much about art, but he loved the picture. In my perspective, that should be the essence of art, that everyone can have his own opinion and enjoy the art. The style of the article is quite casual, and it is easy to follow.

     It is mentioned that the galleries are similar. Actually, they are quite different, even though the style of some galleries semblable. I didn’t learn much about art, I can’t explain the art in words, or maybe I can’t get the author’s point, but I can feel the spirit of art inside which make me excited.

Micro-Assignment 1

 1. Asymmetrical image

2. Symmetrical image

3. Radial image 

 4. Person and their surrounding space

 5. Person up close

 6. An image from the point of view of an ant

 7. An image from the point of view of a bird

 8. A stable image

 9. An unstable image

10. My name on campus

Questions:

     It was quite different from the previous experience. Although they were both required to take ten photos on anything, the second project followed some directions so that I could think about the composition. Besides, this project was more interesting. Because I could learn the view of photography in practice, and the skill I learnt can be used in my future project. Also, I was pretty enjoyable at my pictures this time. My favorite is the image from the point of view of an ant. I seldom took pictures from that view. It was a really interesting experience, and the picture came out to be beautiful.

Pictures

#3 Response to the Walker and Barrett articles

In “Big Idea and Artmaking”, Walker defines big idea distinct with theme or subject matter. Theme is not necessarily the same as the big idea. The theme may only be one aspect of the big idea. Subject matter is the specific topic, whereas the big idea refers to the general concept. Personal interest is important in developing ideas.

I’m a little confused about those three subjects who comes the first. If one comes up with something, that is supposed to be the theme. Then, comes the big idea. What artists make should be driven by his inspiration. How could big idea be the first one to think about?

In “Interpreting Visual Culture”, Barrett explain two ways to interpret art, denotation and connotation. Denotation is pretty much what you see directly, while connotation refers to what it means behind. It is also said that people of all ages are able to decipher messages in a picture after being taught.

In my perspective, the ability of interpreting visual arts is inherent, but should not gain from education. As born with imagination, we do not want to strangle it, the ability of deciphering need to retain, but it is not what you gain from learning. Educators should focus more on how to develop the skill, not just teaching what it is.