Many of my eLecture photos vanished into thin air! I believe the problem has been resolved, but please let me know if you notice a photo that does not show. Thanks!
WebQuest: The Shallot October 28, 2007
The jackalope is a faux species of antlered rabbit. It is said to be highly aggressive, willing to use its antlers to fight. Thus, it is also sometimes called the “warrior rabbit.” In this doctored picture, which appeared on a postcard of indeterminate age, a pair of jackalope scan the horizon of a field in Colorado.
Credit: Museum of Hoaxes.
Retrieved from c|net News
Click here to link to The Shallot: A WebQuest that looks at news, parody, and the art of photograhic manipulation.
Below is a description:
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Spring Break Invaded by Aliens!
Imagine the photographic image that would accompany this headline! Have you ever viewed a celebrity magazine photo that you believe has been altered? Seen an “airbrushed” effect in a fashion magazine? Scrutinized an advertisement that seemed too good to be true?
Examples of photographic truth that have been stretched,manipulated, and outright fabricated are the norm in commercial arts. In this WebQuest, you are on a journey to discover truth, parody and the law. You will then work as an image manipulator for The Shallot, an indie student newspaper of parodies. Your conclusion will answer the following question: Where do you draw the line?
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Please try it out and let me know what you think. Thanks! I really appreciate your feedback.
Children’s Book Project / Studio Work II October 27, 2007
I received the text and some additional information for the children’s book. I like the gist of the book. It is about a young boy who lives with his grandmother and dog. The boy is Mexican, and therefore the book is written in both Spanish and English. The outcome is about embracing what differentiates an individual and acceptance.
Perhaps heeding the advice of a children’s book would help me feel more comfortable with my own work.
It would be nice to work on this type of partnership. The scholastic purpose and multicultural aspect certainly would make for good resume material and would allow me to target a younger group than I typically work with. Creatively speaking, it would be a great motivator to develop an illustration style. She is looking for approximately 19 illustrations, 18 of which would be black and white, 1 of which would be color, accomplished by Spring of 2008. I could set a goal of x number of illustrations for the class and would have to commit to the others by her deadline. There is a grant for printing only (argh!), though my work would be acknowledged and the book copyrighted.
I am awaiting notes, examples, and specs for the book, at which point I will assess and potentially generate an illustration to send to her. To be straightforward, I have explained that my roots are in fashion illustration and that my strength is with a graphic, often exaggerated (vs. realistic) drawing style. Also, at this point, I tend illustrate primarily on the computer. (The above illustrations are screen captures from an interactive guide I did on “green” art supplies.)
(Revised) Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibit: Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter/ Response to Richter October 25, 2007
Standing before Gerhard Richter’s 1989 Atem (Breath) at the Milwaukee Art Museum, one can see a towering, hazy, chromatic waterfall of paint that appears to have been pushed, pulled, and peeled back. The intrigue is overpowering, drawing the viewer in for a very intimate look at the surface of the canvas to further see the process, the layers and textures of the paint. It is difficult to discern, are the brilliantly red and orange bits that are breaking through the vapor additive or subtractive? There is a mysterious playfulness to the texture that forces one to suppress the tactile urge to explore. Instead, there is compromise in a game, where the viewer steps back about twenty-five feet to once again observe painting in its entirety. In doing so, a new area of obscurity is discovered, which then warrants a zoom in to observe, only to repeat the process again.
(Gerhard Richter. Atem (Breath), 1989. Oil on
Canvas. 118 x 98 ¼ “. Milwaukee Art Museum)
One can keep at this game, this practice of looking at Richter’s abstract work, for quite some time. There is great pleasure in enjoying the character and movement of the paint and the wonderment of the work’s construction / de-construction. When exhausted by the game there are still many questions about technique and context. This prompts the viewer to explore beyond mere visual response, for as constructivists Savery and Duffy state:
“Cognitive conflict or puzzlement is the stimulus for learning and determines the organization and nature of what is learned. When we are in a learning environment, there is some stimulus or goal for learning — the learner has a purpose for being there. That goal is not only the stimulus for learning, but it is a primary factor in determining what the learner attends to, what prior experience the learner brings to bear in constructing an understanding, and, basically, what under standing is eventually constructed.” (n. pag.)
As for prior viewer experience, Richter may be familiar for his more widely recognized body of work: his black and white photo paintings, begun in the early 1960’s. As part of the Capital Realists, formed with Sigmar Polke and Konrad Fischer-Lueg, Richter sought to focus on the image rather than the reference, a break from traditional painting constrictions. This, coupled with Richter’s personal roots, has placed him as one of the most sought-after living artists. A November 2003 issue of ARTnews declared Richter as one of the most wanted artists (Thomas) and a May 2004 issue of ARTnews stated that Richter was one of the ten most expensive living artists (Thomas).
(Gerhard Richter. Familie im Schnee (Family in the Snow), 1966. Oil on
Canvas. 21 x 27 ¾ “.Catalogue Raisonné: 80-8.)
With this thought in mind, one is left with the question: how and where do Richter’s abstract paintings fit in to his body of work? The answer is not so accessible as with the photo paintings. The challenge of the unknown, after seeing Atem in the Milwaukee Art Museum, prompts some digging to uncover examples or dialogue about similar works. Coming up virtually empty-handed, the art world rises to the challenge with Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The show includes two works that bare resemblance to Atem:
• Schwann (2) (Swan [2]) of 1989
• Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Painting) of 1990
Both paintings demonstrate the same engulfing scale, and both encapsulate the same kind of shrouded manipulation of paint as Atem. The characteristic dragging of paint and the layers that seemed to be peeled back (or not) in focused areas are apparent.
Schwann (2) is likely a first view, due to its placement. It hangs at the end of the gallery as if suspended in mid-air, with particle-like paint gestures floating in static. Again, there is a sense of break-through, but in a less imposing way. The bright, small flashes of pigment are like the slivers of light just after a storm. The storm is the dark grey veil that dominates the center of the canvas. How amazing that, though this painting is so much about blackness, the color prevails. To the left, on another gallery wall is Abstraktes Bild. This painting churns, with murky paint pushing in from the upper right side of the canvas and then directly across. This is intermingled with distinctive pierces of saturated color, but there are also vertical scratches that run deep into the paint texture.
Viewing Schwann (2), and Abstraktes Bild not only provides insight into constructing a greater understanding about Atem, but also begins to put Richter’s abstracts into larger context. Whereas the Milwaukee exhibit only provides artist, title, medium and date, the Philadelphia exhibit provides a story. The wall text explained that Richter, Kiefer, and Polke began to create in a post-Nazi Germany, at a time when visual and written art did not readily address the open wounds of the country. Further research would indicate Richter’s Uncle Rudi died a young Nazi officer, while his mentally disabled aunt was imprisoned in a Hitler euthanasia camp, quite a juxtaposition. All three artists in the Philadelphia exhibit consequently sought to break free of ideologies and “reconsider the possibilities of pictorial practice.” (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Notations: Kiefer, Polke, Richter, wall text). Specifically, Richter deals with his own family contrast by remaining quietly, steadfastly protective within his work.
For Richter, that means a shrouding of recognizable associations, beginning with the blurred subjects of the photo paintings and continuing with the abstracts. Looking at the history of Richter’s paintings, the abstracts have always been there, perhaps as an alternate, synchronous expression to the photo paintings, an opportunity to further explore the integrity of medium. Surprisingly, as stated on Richter’s own website, he is not interested in the purity of art, but rather in finding beauty in the ordinary. He
“has shrunk from giving a psychological insight into his art, leaving his admirers and critics guessing and at times confused. According to him, his work forms from structures and ideas that surround him, nothing more profound than that.” (www.gerhard-richter.com/biography)
As a viewer, one does feel something more profound in the gut, and it is driven by emotion. Perplexity, even frustration is present. It comes from being manipulated, just as the paint, into discovering the form and texture on the canvas. One can really sit with this for an extended amount of time, discovering idiosyncrasies at each turn and having a true sense of wonder about how these moments were created. Simultaneously, the mind connects these visual revelations with quiet, perhaps even supernatural emotions. Something better and brighter is subtlely attempting to push through the dark haze. Like healing, it will not come quickly, but will stay its course. This ultimately is what the viewer attends to: the light within. And it can be interpreted and described in a myriad of ways.
Works Cited
“Biography.” Official Gerhard Richter website. 21 October 2007
Lewis, Frank C., et al. Building A Masterpiece: Milwaukee Art Museum. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2001.
Savery, John R, and Thomas M. Duffy. “Problem Based Learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework.” Constructivist Learning Environments: Case Studies in Instructional Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1985.
Thomas, Kelly Devine. “The 10 Most Expensive Living Artists”. ARTnews 103.5 (2004).
Thomas, Kelly Devine. “The Most Wanted Works of Art”. ARTnews 102.10 (2003).
Anatomy of A Response: Part II October 24, 2007
So I’ve managed to procrastinate on revising my Richter revised response. I started it the day before it was due and finished up this morning (the day it was due). I believe the challenge I mentioned in my early post was a bit intimidating. When you are responding to art, you really have to put a bit of yourself out there, your viewpoint, and have the confidence, not only to stand behind it, but also to realize that revision does not equal negative criticism. Revising and expanding upon my original submission, I realized just how narrow my original scope was. I will definitely post the revision for comparison.
Gegenüberstellung (1), 1988, 112 cm X 102 cm, Oil on canvas
Catalogue Raisonné: 671-1
