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[cheesyarthistory]

Mungo Thomson - Negative Space

Mungo Thomson's piece Negative Space stems from his idea of "the dumb idea" which is to take simplistic thing and blow it up to grandiose proportions. He took a picture from the Hubble telescope and put it through Photoshop and inverted the colors. To go along with his "dumb idea" process he talks about the fact that he only had to use two fingers to do it. Thomson is interested in the emptiness, or the void of life. The void of outer space is black and the void in the art context is white, thus by inverting the colors our relationship to the space is inverted as well. He says he goes after simple ideas but turns them into magical ideas. 

I thought these were at first very beautiful and interesting to look at. (he has other negative space pieces since it started in 2006) Now that I realize that it's both simplistic yet complex makes it interesting. The fact that is was very simple to make but the meaning behind is complex in its own right, showing the inverted realities and visions of reality and the emptiness if reality. I also liked that he chose to use actual outer space since it was simple and helped the audience relate to the title of the piece. 

[cheesyarthistory]

Why is feminism out of fashion in contemporary art?

The article "Why is feminism out of fashion in contemporary art?" raises some questions about feminism in contemporary art. This article though was posted in 2007 so as of right now it might not be all that relevant since the new "Global Feminism" exhibition is coming about to bring back the second wave of feminism. But I still found the questions and issues interesting in this article. 

She talks about the fact that feminism was beginning to be taken for granted since it was such a broad subject at the time. She also stated that only when equality is reached can we finally accept and lecture on an art piece created by women for what it is and not the social and political issues that might have been behind it. I do find this part interesting since it seems that a lot of women artists' pieces are picked apart by art historians as feminist or relating to feminism and equality rather than the content itself. Granted some of the pieces are specifically made to represent the social issues surrounding feminism, some however, are not but are still talked about as if they are. I would like to live in a world where a piece done by a women doesn't necessarily have to be related to feminism because we have come the point of equality. 

[cheesyarthistory]

Artwork is definitely a way to communicate huge important issues such as this massive global one of garbage littering our oceans. Using visual representation and having the viewer see the mass amounts of garbage in person or at least through a work of art is definitely more impacting than hearing that the ocean is polluted. The artists themselves said that they were shocked that there was so much garbage. It was way larger than they thought there would be and it’s astounding that not a lot of people know about this growing issue. 

 The trash represents the mass consumerism and commodities among people today and how it’s disposed of in an improper manner and most aren't’ even aware that is is ending up on Alaskan beaches as well as other beaches after it passes through the ocean and aquatic wildlife. Consumerism is definitely at an all time high right now and so is concept of commodities. Our society has to own everything just for the sake of owning it and once they are done with it they don’t care how it’s disposed of. With this piece I definitely shows our society how much they actually consume and waste everyday and how it is effecting the wildlife as well as the global life which includes humans. That’s another issue as well, people don’t think it’s going to affect them, just the environment and wildlife, but by effect these aspects it is in turn effecting them because once the environment is effect it effects the climate which then effects how we live and we rely on the wildlife to help sustain us and without them we won’t be here much longer. We need to address this issu

Gyre: Creating Art From a Plastic Ocean (by National Geographic)

This post falls into the category of ‘things I wish I had time to show in class this term but didn’t’.  As many people have discussed on their blogs, global environmental crisis is a concern of many contemporary artists.  Similarly, many artists develop projects that interface or engage with the ocean to think about the global flows and interconnections of commodities and people.  This video chronicles some of the research and development stages of a larger project titled Gyre: The Plastic Ocean, which is currently on view at the Anchorage Museum, Alaska (through Sept. 2014).  The exhibition brings together over 25 artists whose work deals with the relationship between the ocean and the global consumption and disposal of plastic. A gyre is a large swirling vortex on the surface of the ocean that picks up and circulates huge amounts of pollution.  Alaska’s coastline is part of the North Pacific Gyre and thus has become the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic waste from all over the world.  In 2013, three artists (Mark Dion, Pam Longobardi, and Andy Hughes) teamed up with a small group of environmental scientists and conservationists to examine the impacts of plastic waste in this area.  For more on this exhibition (including info. on other artists involved, another short video, and exhibition sponsors and background), check out:

https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/galleries/gyre/index.aspx

[cheesyarthistory]

Rhys Cooper - "Femme Fatal"

This set of screen prints are being shown at Spoke Art Gallery in San Francisco from May 31st to June 21st. The Australian artist takes childhood icons from stories, comics and movies and paints them as influential women to display female power and womanly authority. He uses barbed thorns and ferocious winds in his painting to add to the fierce qualities of these ladies. 

Cooper's signature style with his immense detail and vibrant colors turn these pieces into war like banners and gives them an aggressive aesthetic. He uses this to transform ideological social constructs of femininity to create an amazing twist of female heroines. Femme Fatale explores the communal social consciousness by presenting figures that are both instantly recognizable yet also utterly brand new and unique. 

This definitely can tie into feminism using a new pop cultured way and doing it with a traditional medium of screen prints. This shows female power and authority to the newer generation with instantly recognizable characters that the younger audience knows and can identify with. I feel that more contemporary art needs to be like this so it can speak of social issues such as feminism to the younger masses in a way that is easily understandable to them. I was instantly drawn to this gallery set through the first picture of Maleficent. The colors are so rich and the composition and posing of the woman is very powerful yet seductive. It shows that women can be both authoritative and alluring without loosing any respect or power. 

[cheesyarthistory]

A woman-of-color who writes poetry or paints or dances or makes movies knows there is no escape from race or gender when she is writing or painting. She can’t take off her color and sex and leave them at the door or her study or studio. Nor can she leave behind her history. Art is about identity, among other things, and her creativity is political.

Gloria Anzaldúa, Making Face/Making Soul: Haciendo Caras — Creative and Cultural Perspectives by Women of Color  (via jalwhite)

Gloria Anzaldúa was one of the feminist theorists cited throughout the reading assigned for today’s class about Global Feminisms and was also an incredibly important feminist theorist. Especially in light of today’s discussion about feminisms and intersectionality I thought I’d use this opportunity to write a little bit about Anzaldúa, as she’s been very influential in the way I view feminism. 

Anzaldúa is probably most well known for her contribution of the term mestiza to feminism - this term would have actually probably been useful for today’s class discussion, as it describes a state of being “beyond binary” and Anzaldúa uses to describe women (but I think its appropriate for people of all genders - Anzaldúa came into the scene after 2nd wave feminism) who are aware of their different, perhaps conflicting, but meshing identities. I think this translates for lots of people into ideas of intersectionality, but Anzaldúa uses it to refer to individuals who may not feel as though they fit into boxes neatly (as Muuqi’s video illustrated!) and this is a term that encompasses these ideas. 

Anzaldúa’s conception of this term came from personal experiences of feelings of not belonging within the different races that made up her family - as well as from living in the borderlands on the US/Mexico border in Texas. 

Anzaldúa also uses the term Borderlands (notice the capitalized B!) to describe the margins - or metaphorical spaces existing where cultural differences also exist - including race, class and gender. These ‘crossings’ create new possibilities for communication across boundaries, but can also sometimes be the site of conflict. 

I chose this quote because I think it encompasses so many ideas we went over briefly today, and were explored in the reading for today. The idea of intersectionality is important to my feminism, and this quote helps to explain these ideas in an accessible way. We all have different identities that we cannot separate or filter out when necessary - they are all constantly a part of us and at times we may notice one identity more than another, but this doesn’t mean that other parts are therefore gone. 

In terms of the ideas presented within discussion of Global Feminisms I find Anzaldúa’s ideas particularly helpful, as her work helped to inspire many ideas behind the goal’s of this exhibition. I am curious if everyone thinks that this exhibition might be considered a Borderland - as all of the different cultural ideas, ways of feminism etc. are present - and while there is hopefully no conflict, there is possibility for new communications and connections across metaphorical borders between artists working in different cultural and national contexts. 

I’d also urge anyone who is remotely interested to look up Anzaldúa - she has lots of amazing work, and utilizes both Spanish and English simultaneously in her writing - which can be fun (and perhaps challenging if you don’t speak Spanish). 

(via maryvest)

All of our identities are what make us who we are. We are never any one of these taken separately. Someone can't just be known as a black person if they are also a painter. They are who they are because they are the black painter. That's how I see this and the quote is definitely useful in understanding how someone puts everything that is them into their works of art. You can't have just have one quality. All the qualities put together are what makes a person who they are as an individual. And even though it would be convenient to be able to just "take off" certain parts to fit in to certain cultures and societies such as a women of color artist taking off her gender and her race to be socially accepted among the majority of male white artists, then she wouldn't be who she is and her art would speak the same way as it would if she were a white male. Being a female artist of color is what makes her art special and even though there are obstacles, overcoming those is what makes it so much more rewarding in the end. 

I do consider this exhibition a Borderland since it is exhibiting many different cultures from many different areas in many different ways. Everyone is meeting at the borderline of the exhibition and choosing to cross it to learn other cultures and identities and learn that we are all equal yet all different with our different personalities and art styles that still all speak to the same ideas of feminism and culture among women artists around the world. Learning that everyone has certain parts of their identities that match other people but no two people have the same combination of identities which is why we are all special individuals. 

[cheesyarthistory]

I feel like white people can't win when it comes to racism against themselves. I'm saying this as a white person that no matter what you say or do it's somehow deemed racist. With make in cosplay if you decided to do a character that is a person of color and you decide to darken your skin to match the character more accurately you are said to be "black facing" and that is racist, but if you decided to avoid the black facing and just use your regular white skin you are said to be "white washing" and that is racist. The same can be applied to art, at least in this day and age. If someone decided to paint or draw or do something that was related to black culture or just POC culture in general and the artist is a white person, if they mess something up it can be deemed racist, but if they choose not to do an art piece that depicted POC culture someone might ask if they are racist for not painting POC. It's a vicious cycle we live in that no matter what it's racist. 

I know it's definitely like that on Tumblr. Everyone has an opinion about race and are ready to pull the race card out at any moment and talk about white privilege and what not without fully understanding the aspects of what's going on. The majority are not educated in white privilege or racism, but now there's this handy blog post with many different ways to learn and become educated in racism and white privilege so that they don't look like an idiot when they begin preaching to the world about racism. 

This is a resource post for all the Good White Person™s out there. You know, the ones who say things like “It’s not my fault I’m white! Don’t generalize white people!”, or “I’m appreciating your culture! You should be proud!”, or “Why do you hate all white people, look I’m a special snowflake who’s not racist give me an award for meeting the minimum requirements for being a decent human being”. Well, if you are actually interested in understanding racism and how it ties into cultural appropriation, please read instead of endlessly badgering PoCs on tumblr with your cliched, unoriginal arguments and repeating the same questions over and over.

On White Privilege aka don’t blame me just because I’m white:

It’s Not My Fault I Was Born White: Basics of White Privilege x

Racial Divide x

Endless Examples of White Privilege x

You Cannot Know What It’s Like To Be A Racial Minority x

Intersectional Feminism x

White Privilege Does Not Mean White People Have Perfect Lives x

White Privilege and White Supremacy: A Presentation x

You Will Never Experience Racism x

Understanding White Privilege x

White Privilege and Double Standards x

Systematic White Ignorance x

The Invisibility of White Privilege x

The Luxury of White Privilege x

White Privilege: The Harry Potter Analogy x

Privilege Denial Bingo x

Privilege and Cost x

Check Your Privilege 101 x

Whiteness x

Whiteness is Not A Culture x

White Privilege and Racism x

Deeply Embarrassed White People Talk About Race x

When White Anti Racists Talk About ~Their Struggle~ x

White Privilege As A System x

On Reverse Racism aka you are being racist against white people:

Are White People Racially Oppressed x

White People, the new Racial Minority x

People Don’t Value Pale Skin!! x

There Is No Such Thing As Reverse Racism x

Racism vs. Not Racism x

But White People Are Discriminated Against In Foreign Countries x

The Myth of Reverse Racism: Why Cracker is Not N**** x

Satire: A Step Wise Guide on Being Reverse Racist x

Racism Against White People vs. Racism Against POCs x

On Cultural Appropriation aka I’m just appreciating your culture:

The Basics x

Identifying Appropriation x

But When We Wear It … x

Why Can’t I Wear It (Hipster Headdresses) x

Not Yours x

If You Take The Bindi x

White People Do It Better x

Multiculturalism and Appropriation x

Cultural Appropriation and Portrayals In Print Media x

Diminishing the Cultural Significance of the Bindi x

The Cultural Appropriation Bingo x

Why We’re Fed Up of Your Responses x

Identities Are Not Costumes x

Hinduism And Appropriation x

Religion and Privilege x

Bindis Are Cool x

Exotic India x

What’s Wrong With Cultural Appropriation x

Racism, Bindis and Ganesh Tattoos x

BUT YOU’RE SPEAKING ENGLISH! x

Cultural Appropriation Trolls x

Guide to Being An Appropriating Douchefuck x

New Age ~Culture Mixing~ x

In case you’re tired of the prose, here’s poetry x

Why You Shouldn’t Wear A Bindi x

Appropriating and Sharing x

Our Culture is A Punchline Until It’s a Trend x

Homage Or Insult x

Tattoos and Appropriation x

Bollywood is Not Synonymous With Indian x

College Party Costumes and Stereotypes x

Dotheads x

Bindis and Racist Humour x

Hindu Iconography x 

Misuse of Hindu Iconography x

Your Appreciation Doesn’t Help Us x

Assorted Vials of White Tears and Miscellaneous Antidotes aka I can’t change that I’m white/not all whites are racist/we are all humans:

Unoriginal Arguments Refuted x

Quick Checklist: You Might Be Racist If x

Your Opinion Isn’t Necessary x

I’m Not Responsible For My Ancestors x

The Kumbayah Myth x

Proud to Be White x

Good White Person x

We Don’t Hate White People x

Brutality of Colonialism And Why You Can’t Tell Us To Forget the Past x

People Who Claim Not To See Race Are More Likely to Be Racist x

All Races are Beautiful Said the White Girl x 

Race Blindness Is A Luxury x

Well, You’re Racist For Calling Me Racist x

I’ve Read About Its Significance, I Know What It Means

Angry Because Someone Called You Racist x

We’re Not All Like That x

People Only Care About This Trivial Shit On The Internet x

I Can’t Apologize for Being Born White, It’s Not My Fault x

Why Can’t You Tell Me What I’m Doing Wrong x

It’s Easy to Be Color Blind When You’re White x

A Diagrammatic Guide To White Tears x

Conversations I’m Sick Of Having With White People x

Why Do You Hate White People x

I’m Trying To Be Cultured x

Sisyphean Conundrum x

What is Your Problem x

We Are All Human, We All Bleed Red x

It’s Just A Bindi x

How Not To Respond To Accusations of Racism x

I’m Italian And 0.009% Native American x

What White People Think Racism Means: A Venn Diagram x

White Guilt x

White Pride!!!111!!! x

I Like *Insert Foreign Country* I Want To Live There x

You Have So Much Hate, Fighting Fire With Fire Won’t Help x

BooHoo, Don’t Call Me Racist x

Not Everything Ended With Your Ancestors x

The Racist Reaction x

I Don’t See Why That Is Racist x

Crummy Apologies x

Okay. I agree. I’ve been socially conditioned not to notice racism and recognize my privilege. What can I do?

Listen x

A Step Wise Guide x

I don’t care about this bullshit; you’re making a big deal out of nothing, go home and delete your blog:

The Clueless White Person Bus x

[cheesyarthistory]

Faced with the infinite resources of the Internet, selection has emerged as a key operation: We build new files from existing components, rather than creating from scratch. Artists whose work revolves around choosing objects for display or who reuse previous art are foregrounding the importance of selection strategies, even when the outcome is decisively analog. Questions of originality and authorship are no longer the point; instead, the emphasis is on a meaningful recontextualization of existing artifacts.

Clare Biship "Digital Divide"

With this quote I feel like this is definitely what contemporary art is doing now or just art in this century in general. We are no longer called "original" artists because everything has already been done. It's now at the point that we as artists either enhance or reinvent an already existing artwork or idea. Like the quote says, the emphasis is indeed on recontextualization of existing pieces. How can someone make it their own piece even though it was originally someone else's idea who probably got it from someone else. 

This is where i find art, especially contemporary art, to be very difficult, especially for me personally. I have a tendency to not be "original" and I stem off of a bunch of different references when I try to create something because nothing is truly original. I guess I'm the embodiment of the contemporary digital artist according to this article, but not really since it doesn't have enough of my "artistic voice" in it. So I must reinvent an already existing piece, but put enough of "myself" in it to make it seem like an original by me when really it's just a sort of copy of another artist's work. This is why contemporary art is just so damn confusing! 

[cheesyarthistory]

Chalermchai Kositpipat was born February 15, 1955 in Thailand and is a Thai visual artist that usually paints but as you can see above he is also an architect. His artwork is heavily influenced by Buddhist religion and culture. He was the first visual arts honoree for the inaugural Silpathorn Award, created in 2004 to honor living Thai contemporary artists at mid-career. Unfortunately on May 5th 2014 the temple was hit by an earthquake and heavily damaged. On May 6th Chalermchai announced that he would demolish the temple and not rebuild it but on the 7th, after an engineering expert team went through and confirmed that all structures were in tacked, Chalermchai decided that he would rebuild the temple to its former glory in two years time. 

The detail that has gone into this temple is absolutely astounding. The fact that this artist is originally and predominantly a painter and can still build this beautifully abstract and unusual yet wonderful structure just blows my mind! When they say he’s a visual artist you immediately can tell because this temple is definitely visually stunning. The ornate details that go into every single structure and room, all with Buddhist influence and imagery which he stays true to. It is definitely contemporary since it doesn’t resemble any other traditional Buddhist temple anywhere around the world. It is a one of a kind and sort of a statement piece. The statement being that Buddhist culture can be very visual and it shows the foreign audience the beauties of the religion and the culture.

The Beauty Of Wat Rong Khun Temple  

Wat Rong Khun temple is unique in that it was built entirely in white with reflection triggering of luminous glass mosaic mirrors embedded in the white plaster. The temple is an idea Mr Chalermchai Kositpipat, one of Thailand’s most famous artists, who wanted to build a temple all in white to signify the purity of the Buddha. It’s a Buddhist temple located in Northern Thailand just outside the city of Chiang Rai. The artist continues to puts his religious beliefs and his desire to enrich Buddhism in Thailand into the design of contemporary art. Construction of the White Temple is Khun Chalemchai master work, which he described as an offering to the Buddha and his beloved country

This temple designed by the architect in 1997 by the former a former painter, Chalermchai Kositpipat, stunning temples are such that with a combination of traditional Thai architecture and surrealism or fantasy

[cheesyarthistory]

I do believe that cosplay is indeed an art form but I know that it is not the contemporary art form that is of popularity today. Yes the artful skill that is put into making these cosplays and props is definitely worth mentioning but it is all fan based. This is part of fan art and fan culture not contemporary art culture. That is why cosplay will probably never be mentioned in the lists of today's modern art but is slowly growing to become it's own art style. I feel that cosplay should stand away from contemporary art and not try to branch onto it because it is participatory fan culture and and fan art. That, like I said, is a whole different category that I feel shouldn't be lumped with contemporary art or just modern art in general. 

Modern art tends to express social issues, emotional history, and abstract realism, which in all honesty, I find quite boring, unless it's some how interactive or related to digital art. Cosplay is fan culture, a participatory art style that is both fun and expressive and does not have to have some deep meaning behind why it is done. Most make cosplay because they either enjoy dressing up as their favorite character, or they enjoy creating the costume and learning new sewing and crafting technics. Cosplayers are artists but more like seamstresses and sculptors and occasionally painters. They are indeed artists but not the artist that will be put up in a museum. They will be usually seen on blogs, internet sites and photography galleries. Cosplay is art, just a different kind of art. 

COSPLAY: Yay or Nay? 

Perhaps some of the most contemporary work yet, cosplay (short for “costume play”) is a form of work that combines the craftsmanship of costuming, painting, cosmetic work and acting yet there is little talk in the art world as cosplay being an art form. 

Why not? Individuals or teams of people get together and create costumes, from the simple to the elaborate, to emulate their favorite characters and icons from manga, television, film, comics, books, video games and so on to best create the character in the real world. Thousands of people undertake the challenge of cosplay all over the world, some so masterful that they have gained a name for themselves within the underground culture of cosplay. Cosplay creates a sense of community that can cross cultural boundaries because, at its roots, it is simply another way to express one’s enjoyment of something. This method of enjoyment has become so broad and diverse that there are conventions across the globe designated specifically to cosplay, sporting competitions for costumes, performed skits, and special events for the cosplay crowd to all take part in. 

Such a community has surfaced from the enjoyment of something, yet when asked, a number of people do not consider this art. Some consider cosplay downright unhealthy, calling it an unnatural obsession with characters or icons that waste time energy and money. Yet few would say the same of a film or stage performance, which require all of the same aspects of cosplay, only packaged differently. Cosplay would be something very difficult to place within an art institution or sent on a world tour, just as it is difficult to monazite and track with value over time. But while it is difficult, I don’t believe the time, energy and passion put into this practice should be shoved into a subculture or unhealthy hobby. 

I ask my classmates, those who are interested, what do you think? Is cosplay art? Why or why not? How can it push into the art consciousness and gain some professional merit? 

[cheesyarthistory]

FLUIDIC - Sculpture in Motion

This wondrous interactive art installation was designed by WHITEvoid for Hyundai's Advance Design Center. The installation ran from April 9th to the 14th of 2013 in the Temporary Museum for New Design in Milan. The piece combines high-power laser projectors and point cloud technology along with audience interaction to create a stellar performance piece. The point cloud consists of 12,000 translucent spheres that arranged through a complex computer algorithm. The algorithm observes the positions of the spheres and relays the information back to the eight high-speed laster projectors that send out beams that scan through the arrangement. Accompanied with 3D cameras to observe the audience it makes this piece interactive at all points of view. 

Hyundai's design philosophy for their cars is that design is always moving and free and fluid. If it were static it wouldn't be interesting, engaging or imaginative. With this installation it show this philosophy visually to the audience and how design isn't completely set. It is constantly moving, constantly changing. I feel that this is how the new art frontier is moving with digital art. Contemporary art is going to start becoming more digital and I really do enjoy that since I am a digital art major. Interactive installations like this that use both science and technology to weave together something so visually stimulating blow my mind. I wish more art pieces were interactive like this because it helps engage the audience with art and and design wether it be visually, physically, or emotionally. 

[cheesyarthistory]

Opinions on "Global Feminisms"

Upon reading the internet article and the Maura Reilly essay about “Global Feminism” I sort of have mixed feelings about it. At first I thought it was a great exhibition since it was going to represent women artists from different countries instead of focusing on the contemporary idea of western centered art practices and theories. In Reilly’s essay she talks about the problem for women in the art world today is still racism. Even though women have made great strides in the art world they still fall vastly short to male artists and especially women of color or non Euro-American origin. In one exhibition it said that about thirty percent of the art displayed was by women and only seven percent of that was created by women of color or non Euro-American origin. With this exhibition people get to see the cultural identities of a multitude of women from at least fifty different countries.

Though after reading the internet article it was stated that the majority if the exhibition is taken up by one artist named Ms Chicago. So that makes me wonder they are even really displaying all the different cultures like they said they would. I’m all about equality and culture but if the majority of the exhibition is being occupied by one artist, especially one that is American, bugs me a little. I did read an interview about her piece and she says that her struggle as a feminist artist is still fresh and she’s still fighting the fight for feminist artwork. Yeah I understand she would be struggling since women are still struggling in the art world today but what about the women of color? I believe they might be struggling a little more and deserve to have more of their work showcased an an exhibition that says they are promoting cultural diversity among women artists.

[cheesyarthistory]

MoMA Art Lab iPad App

http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia

This is a link to a the MoMA site and a small video that explains the app and shows it in action. (since I've been posting a lot of pics and vids I decided I'll just talk about this one)

To sum up the app, it let's people of all ages experience creativity and to create art in any shape or form through interactive games and guidelines. It talks about how artists use lines and shapes to create modern contemporary art or even art before contemporary. It gives people understanding to the basics of art making and then let's people go free to create something new and exciting and then they can also share it through social networks and email. 

I think this is a creative, clever, and fun app for those aspiring to be an artist, especially young children. It has interactive learning and shapes and gives yo guide lines and ideas for getting started or you can just straight up start doodling. This let's artists create art anywhere since the iPad is portable and is interactive and fun for younger children. I do understand that this could raise the argument of children not using the traditional sense of art making such as drawing on paper or painting on a canvas, but maybe someone doesn't have access to those items or they are more comfortable dragging and dropping shapes onto a screen. Like I said, this is a creative way for budding artists, or even those who want to dabble in art making but didn't feel they had the chops to do it such not being especially great at drawing but with this app you can use shapes and lines and learn the basics to create any sort of artwork you want. 

[cheesyarthistory]

Los Intocables (The Untouchables) by Erik Ravelo

Cuban artis Erik Ravelo does a shocking photo set of the issues that effect children around the world today. The photos represent the cross that children must bear from the oppressors in the pictures. The children are crucified to the oppressors. Ravelo seeks to reaffirm the right of children to be protected and report abuse suffered by them in countries such as Brazil, Syria, Thailand, the United States, and Japan. 

The first image represents the pedophilia in the Vatican. The second image represents child sexual abuse in tourism in Thailand. The third image refers to the war in Syria. The fourth image refers to the trafficking of organs on the black market, where most of the victims are children from poor countries. The fifth image represents the effect of weapons free in the Untied States. The final sixth image refers to child obesity, blaming the big fast food companies. There are other photos that represent education and nuclear wars as well in his photo set. 

These images show a deep message and issue with the protection of children around the world. Some of these were shocking to me such as the organs on the black market come from children in poor countries. That scares me that these children aren't be protected and that people are getting away with this. The photo set really sends a message to those who don't know (such as myself) and let's people know that action must be taken to protect these children. 

[cheesyarthistory]

What's wrong with contemporary art: Jane Deeth at TEDxHobart

In this video Jane Deeth explains the differences between contemporary art and art before that and how viewers view contemporary art. She explains that viewer are usually angry at the fact that some of the pieces such as a Jackson Pollock piece could easily be done by their six-year-old but they aren't making millions of dollars. Or that the piece is too ordinary or just plain weird and it makes the viewer feel uncomfortable. I will admit that I was that sort of viewer of contemporary art until I took an art history lecture class on contemporary and modern art as well as this class. 

She states that people need to "listen" to the artwork. Her example to explain the idea of "listening" was to imagine that the artwork is a misunderstood and misbehaving child and the viewer was a frustrated parent. The parent needs to stop and listen to the child to figure out why they are misbehaving instead of just either ignoring it or trying to make them happy so they stop misbehaving without figuring out the reason they started in the first place. The viewer needs to stop and "listen" to the artwork and figure out why it is the way it is, such as the meaning behind the piece and why the artist decided to go about the piece in that way. 

I've begun to "listen" to contemporary artwork more now that I've learned how to listen. Though there are some pieces where I'm still the angry frustrated and confused parent who doesn't want to deal with the misunderstood misbehaving child such as the White on White paintings where the artist is "exploring the properties of the canvas." Those pieces still annoy me and frustrate me that they are considered "art" when it really is just white paint on a white canvas. This kind of relates to the earlier post that had about how come art has to have some deep meaning. It sort of relates in the way that you can just put white paint on a canvas and it's art if you have some deep meaning behind is such as "exploring the properties of the canvas." 

This video though does help explain contemporary art to those who still haven't learned out to "listen" yet. I know that I learned a few more things about contemporary art such as the analogy she used and that she also states that contemporary art is hard to follow because it does everything wrong related to traditional artwork but that is what makes contemporary art right in the sense of art. 

[cheesyarthistory]

I watched this Yes Men episode in my EMDA Theory and Practice class. It surprises me that the businesses and corporations do take them seriously sometimes. Especially something like this. Though I think they didn't take the suit seriously but the concept of being able to watch your third world workforce from anywhere. I'm also surprised that these guys haven't been arrested and put in prison for impersonating a national website such as the World Trade Organization. 

The other one we watched in class where they said they were a spokesperson for the company that was responsible for all the deaths in the power plant explosion in India is another one where I'm surprised that they weren't arrested. (though I'm not sure whether or not they have been arrested for these stunts, but I'm assuming they got out of it since they keep on doing more presentations) 

With the Management Leisure Suit the design of it was obviously trying to show that big businesses are getting high and mighty or if we plan to use puns for this, they are getting "cocky." But also it is showing that businesses are showing their power of dominance with surveillance but with the design putting the television screen into a phallic shape extension is shows the display of power dominance in an over exaggerated physical representation so the businesses and corporations can see how ridiculous this idea really is. 

The Yes Men Management Leisure Suit was one of the first Yes Men interventions, staged in a World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Finland in the early 2000s.  As discussed in class, The Yes Men produce fake websites of large-scale financial organizations and corporations that very closely mimic the real sites maintained by these entities.  However, The Yes Men seek to provide a more honest picture of what such entities do, paying particular attention to the human impact of neoliberal globalization.  Their performances are developed as they inevitably receive invitations to speak at professional conferences and press interviews by people who mistake their fake website with the actual website of, in this case the WTO.  The Yes Men always accept these invitations and use them as the springboard for releasing a new critique on the logic of neoliberalism and global capitalism.  Initially, they assumed that their performances and ideas were so over-the-top that everyone would instantly understood that it was a spoof. What they’ve often found is that the audiences of various events take them quite seriously. 

In this performance, The Yes Men reveal their Management Leisure Suit, a garment that allows a manager in the first world observe his/her underpaid workforce in distant off-shore locations, all while maintaining a busy lifestyle at home!

For more on The Yes Men:

http://theyesmen.org/

[cheesyarthistory]

Artist: Cassandria Blackmore

Cassandria Blackmore was born August 24, 1968 in California and spent part of her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving and growing up on a self sustaining farm in Oregon. This is where she learned that everything has a process and that creativity is integral to existing She studied at Lewis and Clark College, completed independent studies in Yorkshire, England and completed her Bachelors of Fine Arts at Pacific Northwest College of Art. 

Her artworks goes beyond the traditional glass work and paintings and into the contemporary art world. They are considered as reverse paintings. Blackmore takes paintings and cures them then shatters them. She says that it is like breaking down the image and restoring it to another version of itself. Her work is collected internationally and exhibited in galleries and museums across the country. She has received the prestigious Hauberg Fellowship for painting on glass as well as honored as the Renwick Smithsonian artist of the month in 2006. 

I find these pieces very interesting. I was watching an interview and she said that before she figured out her style she painting a self portrait but was furious by it so she threw it to the ground and it shattered and she liked how the shattered glass painting looked. Art can come from all kinds of places even when you don't intend it to happen such as her smashing it and thus her style was born. 

[cheesyarthistory]

This piece Five Words in Green Neon by the contemporary artist Joseph Kosuth has no deep meaning behind it. No inner issue, It is literally meant to be what it is which happens to be the title of it, five words in green neon. The reason I am posting this piece is because this is an issue that I am struggling with right now with art. Why must art have some deep meaning or inner voice to it that speaks out to the audience and tells them what the artist is trying to convey? Why can't great art just be five words in green neon and that's it?

I feel artists today are taking themselves a little too seriously. Some of the "deep meanings" I hear about contemporary art pieces make me laugh because when I look at the picture I really don't see that. I feel like the art critic or the artist is making something up so it sounds deep and meaningful. Now granted, there a lot of artists out there that use their work to express issues and feelings, I guess I should say the vast majority of artists do this. But there are some artists (like myself) that don't always convey a deep meaning. I understand that this piece and the artist are asking the question of what is the nature of art. But it is also literally what it is, five words in green neon. 

Why can't art just be fun and exciting? Why does every piece of artwork have to have some deep meaning or inner voice. What if I decided to draw a picture of a butt because I thought it was funny and it looked awesome. Does there have to be a meaning behind it? So basically I want to convey what this artist is conveying and ask the question that is what is the nature of art and what makes art 'art' and why must it have some inner meaning.