Title of Event: Samek Student Art Exhibit
Date & Time of Event: Sunday, April 24th, 4 pm
Location of Event: Samek Art Gallery
Type of event: Self Guided Tour
Michael Duncan Second ART21
After watching 60 minutes’ worth of Art21 videos, I walked away with a few gained insights and ideas. This time around, I focused on watching videos of artists who used 3D sculpture as their form of expression and excluded performative pieces. One very intriguing concept I appreciated learning about was the idea that the past is only remembered through the 5 senses that we used to experience it and that to accurately represent it we must accurately represent these 5 senses. I also really appreciated the desire to produce pieces that do not scream a specific interpretation right away but rather slow down the interpretation response and allow anyone to take away important topics from the work. Finally, I want to touch on a more physical technique that was brought to my attention that I would like to incorporate into my work technique which is the act of splitting workpieces systematically into simple geometric shapes and focusing on these regions one at a time.
Michael Duncan Final Project: Borrow a Strategy
I intend to borrow the use of holes and sheltering to express vulnerability within my work.
Michael Duncan: Final Project
For the final project, I wanted to focus on the paradox of how as we become more comfortable in various situations we become more vulnerable at the same time. I chose this topic mainly due to the fact that it is something I am faced a lot throughout my life. I feel like almost all the aspects of my life are met with this same paradox, and I am often left on the side of putting walls up to avoid this vulnerability or being ignorant to this vulnerability until eventually I am left wounded.
This problem is often caused by people becoming too relaxed after they have had the same outcome over and over again. When they continually receive the same outcome over and over again they begin to forget what dangerous outcomes are also possible, they begin to believe that their familiar outcome is the only outcome. This false sense of security then leads people to put their guards down and start taking far fewer precautions than they did at the beginning, making them more susceptible to the unlikely but harsh outcomes.
Ten tangible people/places/things that are associated with this are:
1.) Free Soloing
2.) Not putting in protection
3.) Not studying hard for exams
4.) Not wearing a seat belt
5.) Not wearing safety glasses
6.) Swimming alone
7.) Drinking and driving
8.) Driving fast
9.) falling in love
10.) Growing Close to people
Michael Duncan Art21 Assignment
After watching various videos on contemporary artists, I was able to build a better understanding of contemporary art and a larger appreciation regarding its value. In the past, I have felt contemporary art often was similar to “beating a dead horse”. In other words, I have felt many pieces really are just elaborate unnecessary theatrics that use third-level topics as an excuse for their existence. Some of these videos did not change my mind on this, I felt like they were honestly products of poor craftsmanship, and suffered from allowing various components of them to be accepted as “good enough.” However, two videos, in particular, helped change my point of view on the point of contemporary art. The one video opened my eyes to how contemporary art can be used as a way to formulate a group of people in a manner that made it very easy for them to break social barriers and connect and interact as immediately. This usage really impressed me, since creating scenarios like this in the absence of alcohol or drugs is very difficult and it amazed me how well art contended in doing so. The second concept that really increased my appreciation for the value of contemporary art was how the creation of this art can reconstitute an experience that would have otherwise been lost to history. This idea is very powerful to me because I believe it is very important to learn from our past and without a record of our past we have nothing to improve off of.
Michael Duncan ArtsXpose #3
Title of Event: Angela Meckley, Senior Student Art Exhibition
Date & Time of Event: Friday, March 4th, 5-8 pm
Location of Event: Holmes Hall
Type of Event: Art Exhibition
Michael Duncan ArtsXpose #2
Title of Event: Photography and Video Art in the Internet Age.
Date & Time of Event: Friday, March 4th, 3 pm
Location of Event: Samek Art Gallery
Type of event: Guided walkthrough
Michael Duncan Project 2 Part 4
Michael Duncan-Borrow a Strategy
Moss Lady – Dale Doebert
I intend to borrow the integration of natural items into a human expressing somber happiness.
Michael Duncan Project 2
My shrine will focus on immersing oneself in nature. This is a phenomenon that is important to me because nature is a place that is impartial to any observer. Nature is a place where the stresses and toils of society do not exist. Nature to me presents the truest forms of joy, the most gorgeous examples of beauty, and the rawest reminders of who you are. I specifically want to represent the vastness of nature how it is so much greater than one but also represent the intimacy it presents in how although it may be much greater than you, you still can choose to be a part of it. I would like to flirt with these topics through the use of scaling, maybe by placing a person next to a natural object and showing a sharp distinction in size. To address the intimacy of nature I would like to somehow physically connect a body part of a person to an aspect of nature being represented. I plan on making this shrine to set on my desk so if I ever become an engineer and begin living a terribly mundane life, hopefully after just sitting at a desk and staring at this piece for hours, I will find the courage to chase after the true, simple joys of life.