Title of Event: Studio Art Major Senior Exhibition by Natalie Ring
Date & Time of Event: Tuesday, February 14th
Location of Event: Holmes Hall
Type of event: Senior Exhibition/ Art Show
Archives for February 2022
Natalie Patterson Matthew Barney Essay
Natalie Patterson
Professor Meiser
Matthew Barney Essay
Matthew Barney is a mixed media artist that derives drawings and sculptural works from his elaborately produced films. Known for his fascination with anatomy, anthropology, and nature, Barney created Water Cast 6: a sculptural work that serves as both a still, three-dimensional piece and a documentation of an action. Through a unique process of pouring metal into a combination of clay and water, Barney creates a sculpture that documents the path of the material weaving through the clay mixture. Upon first glance, the bronze sculpture appears delicate and fragile, yet the tone of the piece indicates a sense of natural power and sublime status. Without the information of how this sculpture came to be, one may assume it was formed by some kind of dangerous, quick pouring action.
The poured bronze sculpture is displayed over three planks of wood. Two of the pieces, longer than the third, are stacked on top of one another in parallel while the smaller third plank is placed at a slight angle. The angle of the plank adds to the rhythm of the sculpture by forcing the viewer’s vision towards the separated piece of bronze that sits flat on the floor of the gallery space. The main part of the bronze structure has a protruding tube-like section that further directs the viewer towards the separated small piece of bronze in a triangular fashion.
Created in 2015 and one of fourteen works in the series, this work, in particular, has several identifiable attributes. First, this work, although rather large in size reaching 130.8 x 200.7 x 299.7 cm, takes up a rather short rectangular block of space that is low to the ground in comparison to the viewer. This, in turn, enables the viewer to fully navigate the nooks and turns of the bronze without any optical issues like some that would occur if the sculpture took up more vertical height. Mirroring some kind of explosion, Barney displays this piece as a sculpture in the round rather than one meant to be shown against a wall. This further illustrates to the viewer that Barney intended for the viewers to inspect the entirety of the piece without facing obstacles.
Like many of Barney’s sculptural works, the idea of casting water into a sculpture followed a film of his titled, “River of Fundament” that also featured the collaboration of artist Jonathan Bepler. The film has a protagonist that reincarnates three times throughout the film into different bodies. Each time, the actor wakes up in a river of feces below a Brooklyn Heights apartment. With this pairing of the film’s narrative and the sculptural work, the viewer better comprehends the choice of bronze, a brown-toned metal, to represent the reincarnation into a river of feces. In particular, the smaller, separated part of the bronze is alluded to being birthed from the main component of the structure. In all, Barney’s work combines visual narrative with physical representations of a plot to intensify the viewer’s experience when viewing the works as a pair.
https://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en/collection/artworks/water-cast-6
Luong Vu, artsXpose #2
Title of Event: Creative Careers – Curating Exhibitions for Contemporary Artists
Date & Time of Event: 6pm – 7pm, February 10
Location of Event: Zoom Meeting
Type of event: Visual Arts Talk
Angela Meckley, Project #1 Collage and Sketches
Angela Meckley, ArtsXpose #2
Title of Event: Studio Art Major Senior Exhibition by Natalie Ring
Date & Time of Event: Thursday February 10th @ 5pm
Location of Event: Holmes Hall
Type of event: Senior Exhibition/ Art Show
ArtXpose #2 – Alec Freytag
Title: Shark Tank – Studio Art Major Senior Exhibition by Natalie Ring
Date/Time: Thursday, February 10th, 5p
Location: Holmes Hall
Event Type: Reception/Open gallery
1.) Provide a brief detail-oriented technical description or summary of the event you attended.
Natalie Ring presented her senior studio art gallery, a series of 5 oil paintings depicting sharks and women. Natalie was at the gallery during the event answering any questions about the work. She briefly explained the pieces and why she had a passion for this project, but mainly allowed the viewers to enjoy the work.
2.) Use the section below to write a well-structured paragraph focusing on your personal critical insight/response to the event. How did you interpret or react to what was presented to you?
I think this event and series in particular is very important at Bucknell. Natalie created this series to show the danger that women are put in here at Bucknell, as it almost feels like sharks are circling them every time they go to a party or are just out at night. The gallery gave me a claustrophobic feeling because it was small, which helped to make me feel like I was inside of a shark tank. I think Natalie did a really good job of setting up the space and making use of it. The only critique I have is that I wish there would have been more detail on each specific piece. There was a general explanation of the artists vision for each piece but I would have loved to have read a small description of each piece individually.
3.) What information, ideas, images, etc. most impressed you and why?
From when I first set foot in the room, I was amazed by how immersive it was. All 5 of the works in the series were depicting sharks circling women and utilized a palate of greens, blues, and white. This blueish theme was mimicked with the lights all having a blue tint, as well as layers of blue wrap being put on the glass entrance walls. This made me feel like I was actually in a shark tank, an experience that Natalie definitely wanted to capture for the viewer. Upon closer inspection, I loved to see how detailed each of her pieces were, with very smooth and realistic shadows and painting on the women and the sharks.
4.) Overall, how would you rate this event (10 being the most worthwhile)?
9
5.) Justify your rating in the question above:
Like I stated above, I have hardly any critiques for this gallery and felt fully immersed in the experience. The gallery is up until February 18th so I would highly recommend going!
ArtXpose #1 – Alec Freytag
Title: Creative Careers – Curating Exhibitions for Contemporary Artists
Date/Time: Thursday, February 10th, 6p
Location: Zoom
Event Type: Presentation and Q&A
Michael Duncan ArtXpose #1
Title of Event: Creative Careers – Curating Exhibitions for Contemporary Artists
Date & Time of Event: Thursday, February 10th, 6 pm
Location of Event: Zoom
Type of event: Presentation followed by Q&A
Natalie Patterson Putto
Project 1 Research Assignments – Reilly Babcock
Part 1: Writing Assignment
I chose a set of three objects for this project. They are three pigs about six inches tall and 3 inches wide. They are made of a very weird plaster type material. Each pig has been assigned a position— one has its hands covering its mouth, another has its hands covering its eyes, and the last one is supposed to be covering its ears, but instead it was a duplicate, so I altered it to have no arms. These little pigs are denoting the concept of see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil. This concept is usually shown through monkeys— the three wise monkeys. Typically, this means that you should avoid sin. The pigs, to me, carry connotations of the meat industry and poor treatment of animals. I find the objects weird because they are cute and happy yet showing such serious connotations about sin. I plan to connect the idea surrounding ignoring sinful things to the horrors of the meat industry. I want to juxtapose the cutesy nature of these little pigs with disgusting hanging meats.
Part 2: Collage Assignment
Part 3: Sketch Assignment