For this assignment, I watched five videos that culminated in about sixty minutes of watch time. These included: “Kiki Smith: The Fabric Workshop,” Kiki Smith in “Stories,” Damián Ortega in “Mexico City,” “Rashid Johnson Keeps His Cool,” and Theaster Gates in “Chicago.” In both videos about Kiki Smith, she spoke a lot about process more than anything. She really appreciates the time it takes to create her works. She enjoys learning new processes and techniques and appreciates the work it takes to get to the finished product. In the first video, she decides to work with other people to create pieces she imagined but does not have the tools, skills, or time to create. Kiki likes to reuse pieces of works to create new ones; she has papier-mâché sculptures, used to create molds, that she cuts up and reconfigures to make new positions. It would be easier and faster to just make a new one, but she enjoys this process. Damián Ortega also spoke about the use of specific materials in his process. Much of his work has a lot to do with recontextualizing objects. His use of everyday objects allows for him to incorporate cultural significance into his pieces. Even if the materials are not easily seen in the finished piece, they are incorporating the cultural significance they hold. Another interesting aspect of his process is tools; he spoke about the need to sometimes create new tools to accomplish a specific goal. Rashid Johnson speaks a bit on what messages certain materials hold. He has a strong interest in applications of different materials and how they can be applied. His interest stemmed from his initial use of nineteenth century photographing materials, which have such a specific process of chemical and types of paper. Lastly, Theaster Gates deals frequently with the use of found materials. There are many things that people get rid of because they see no more use for them, but he sees how they can be used for a new purpose. When his father, who was a roofer by trade, retried, he inherited all of his father’s tools and old materials. Gates decided to use them to create art and included his father in the process.
Archives for April 2022
Art 21 assignment 2
The first artist whose work I watched was Kevin Beasley. Kevin’s work deals with confronting the history and dark past associated with who you are and your identity, specifically the history of slaves and black americans. He rejects the notion of “moving on” and “forgetting” simply because it was so long ago. He challenges the viewer to confront the American south for what it was and how those effects are still seen and heard today. He deals with not only what history looks like in the material sense but what it sounds like. His work is a powerful confrontation with the daily lives of people who lived not so long ago. The second artist I watched was Doreen Garner, another black American whose work deals with racial relations in this country. Her work is disturbing in physical nature and is mostly very realistic, skin-like body parts bloody and sewn together. Like Kevin, a large part of her work deals with the slave trade and how that history has shaped all of us. It was interesting to hear her talk about how since she has shifted to dealing more with whiteness as opposed to blackness, she has been getting less of a reaction and her art hasn’t been selling. She grapples with what that says about the art world and whether she feels more at home as a sculptor in a material sense or as a tattoo artist personally with the community. The last artist who I explored was Leonardo Drew who focuses on the importance of travel and his work is largely a reaction and an outward expression of his experiences. All three artist as black americans all have one thing in common: their work is an expression of how they see the world whether it is challenging history, confronting the realities of one’s identity, or turning views into sculpture.
ArtsXpose #4 – Jingyi Zhou
Title of Event: Cleveland Museum of Art
Date & Time of Event: Saturday April 9th, 2022
Location of Event: Cleveland, Ohio
Type of event: Art Gallery
Jingyi Zhou – Art21 Contemporary Sculpture Assignment 2
I choose to look at Ai Weiwei, who is a an outspoken human rights activist, and often uses sculpture as his means of communicating to the public. He even said that being an artist gives him more freedom to talk about politics, because people will accept art more than simply politics.
In one of his interviews, Ai Weiwei talks about a project which has 2000 backpacks symbolizing the 2000 students died in an earthquake. The backpacks are neatly organized in huge blocks, and a sound device reads out all the names of the students. The sculpture is called Untitled (2011), and the soundtrack is called Remembrance (2010). Through this project, Ai Weiwei is trying to convey a sense of empathy through directly viewing something that’s closely related to these students – backpacks. But I find Ai Weiwei’s work a little bit confusing, because some of them are highly repetitious, and uses ready-made materials. This is very similar to Duchamp’s works, who’s famous for the urinal. I don’t see a lot of point in art in both of the artists.
Angela Meckley-Project #3- Parts 3 & 4
For my third sculpture, I would like to borrow a strategy from Anthony Howe’s kinetic sculptures. I like the movement of his sculptures, and I would like to incorporate movement into my sculpture as well.
Jingyi Zhou – Project 3 part 3&4
For this project, I’m borrowing the symmetric features from Tracey Sarsfield’s Reflected. I like the interconnection from the two similar figures, and the wires connecting them. For my own project, I’ll develop a 3-stage human relationship process, and incorporate the symmetric structure.
Haley Griffin Art21 Contemporary Sculpture Assignment- 2
First I watched one of Andrea Zittel’s interviews where Wagon Station was highlighted. Wagon station is a residency that is the intersection of both privacy and collaboration for artists. The designs intentionally highlight the environment. From this interview, I wanted to look at themes within my work of creating a subversive space but at a much smaller scale. Then, I watched Mary Reid Kelley speak on the play You Make Me Illiad Play. This looked into the history of women during the First World War. This looked at the traumas that women have faced, and the lack of opportunities they have been presented with across history. From here I watched two interviews with Jeff Koon where he discussed themes such as sense of self, potential, and interaction among other themes. One of the most interesting themes discussed was that Koons believes that objects themselves are valueless until a value is given by the viewer. The most interesting takeaway from Koon’s interviews was the emphasis on viewer experience and the interaction between art and the viewer. This is something I want people to experience when they look at my own work within my third project.
Shadow art by Tim Noble and Sue Webster. I want to incorporate the use of shadows in my project.
Aiden Smith – Washed Ashore by Angela Haseltine Pozzi
Like this sculpture, I intend to use trash or other materials that cause pollution in my project to try to show what the planet is becoming.