Artist: Janet De Boos

Janes DeBoos is a ceramicist from Australia who specializes in practical items such as cups and saucers. I attended a lecture she gave while she was visiting Boise State University this year. The theme of her lecture was collaboration and she mapped how her work moved from her personal studio which supplied local shops in Australia, to her work being featured in exhibitions, to her work with developing mass-produced dishes in China.  

DeBoos expressed how she has always preferred to make practice ceramic pieces, finding that making art for art’s sake isn’t as fulfilling. To bridge the gap between the practical/commercial and the artistic, many of her exhibitions are based around similar with variation, and balance. An example is her exhibit: Vase. In Vase, she has a large, round platter on which a collection of different vessels are positioned and displayed. DeBoos explains that it is the tray that binds the objects together, and therefore makes them a singular object. She is able to stay true to her purpose because each element is able to be sold and used individually, and is not relegated to only being used as a visual object (objectified?).

A collaborative project with a Chinese designer. They created a limited edition bone china set that signature sets now resell for 10k among collectors.

Artist: Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton’s art is primarily expressed through installation exhibits. Her preferred media is textiles, or things that have similar qualities to textiles, such as line and text. Her reason for this speaks directly to her purpose for her art, she identifies the threads which make up the textile as a metaphoric representation of society. Even though each thread is combined with others to make a new object, cloth, it is still recognizable as an individual thread.

 To explore her ideas of individuals connecting she has done such things as using magenta graduals falling along the surface of a wall to represent America’s bloody and secret heritage. Then the walls had highpoints made from plaster to ketch the granules as they fell. Once fully realized the two created words to a poem that related to her theme. throughout the installation, President Lincoln’s second inaugural speech played over speakers.

In another exhibit, she created to rooms an open industrial building, using large panels of shear cloth. Then images where projected on the two panels, one depicting writing, the other reading. The building was left dark, save for the projectors, and viewers were invited to walk amongst the walls and images.

For this last one she used the building of a failed textile plant near her house. I was particularly interested in this idea because of my own endeavors to find a space that I can repurpose for my art, and make available to others to do the same.

Entry Wk 16.2

What do I want my art to evolve into? We were asked that question at the beginning of the semester. At the time I said that I wanted it to evolve into being blue with warm highlights. That is to say, I have to fucking idea. I became an art minor simply to gain some basis to do whatever I was going to do. I have never considered myself an Artist and other than a few fantasies, hadn’t really thought of becoming so. It’s been a year now, this spring semester has been my fourth consecutive term at BSU and my thoughts have fluxuated, but I am still no closer to an idea than at the beginning of the semester.

The original motivation for becoming a part of the Art Department at BSU was because I wanted to take Art 331(?), Carving. That one class has lead me through all of this headache and pain-in-the-ass, and may have killed my GPA (depending on how my final portfolio and journal fair), but it has also introduced me to lots of great people that I wouldn’t have know otherwise. Since I’m still a few classes away from meeting the prerequs, time will tell if it’s been worth it.  

A year ago I thought of combining painting and carpentry, not that I knew anything about painting other than I like looking at paintings. Then I thought I could learn to illustrate my books, or create book art in some fashion. But this drawing class is kicking my ass, a week to go, four drawings each half done, and I had to restart one yesterday, so maybe that is out. I have enjoyed Art 108, creating sculptures, installations, and 3-deminrional compositions (there may not be a difference, but am covering my bases), I feel like I am actually creating something, not just conveying an idea that’s in my head. It’s difficult to explain the difference. When I write I feel as if I’m creating a new world, and when someone reads what I’ve written, they inhabit that world. When I draw, sketch, paint, I feel as if I am just showing something that is in my mind. I don’t feel as if there is anything beyond what is on the picture plane. When I create a 3-demintional object, I’m inhabiting the current world in a more profound manner than my physical being can. Maybe it’s like giving birth, the realization that one has brought a new life into the world. The realization of my sculpture is a new life.

Entry Wk 16.1

This term has been different for me from my past semesters. Taking two art labs is different than taking multiple English classes. It’s very different putting a paper off to the last minute and a drawing, let alone four drawings. I have had difficulties keeping a schedule where I can maintain a steady progress on my drawings.

            In past semesters I have had a high level of anxiety, stressing almost to the point of a meltdown over my classes and what I had to do in order to pass them. This term I didn’t have the anxiety, but I also don’t have that last minute drive to get everything done, or die trying. I don’t know which one is worse.   

            Everything is due in only a few days and HOLY SHIT I have so much to do. It feels like the act of going to class actually detracts from the efforts I need to dedicate to finishing up my classes. The irony is that everyone thinks it’s great to take liberal art classes because of the fewer tests and lack of finals. Right now I would love to have a final.

            I also am rethinking my career in the Art Department. I am in my second intro to drawing class and have come to the conclusion that I like sketching and gesture drawings, but am not a fan of lengthy, in-depth,  drawings of a bowl of fruit.

It’s hard to judge this 20 minute shit. What counts? Just the typing? What about the process of considering what to write? What if I search the interwebs for images to represent my theme?  There are times when just figuring out what I want to write about takes an hour, let alone how to write it.

Artist: Edward Gein

Edward Gein was a taxidermist and furniture designer from Wisconsin. Living on his family farm and selling his handmade furniture at local Flee Markets, Gein didn’t receive notoriety until 1951, though not as an Artist or Craftsman. It was discovered that the medium he used to create his works was human remains. His first efforts were from corpses he removed from his home town’s cemetery, much in the same way as Frankenstein, but in time he killed several women from the town. His last victim was found hanging in a room in his house. In addition to his furniture, Gein also created leather clothing. When he was arrested he was wearing a belt made of the nipples of his victims.  

He never talked about his motivations, but it has been speculated that Gein chose women as his victims because he was projecting anger with his mother onto other women who may have either reminded him of her, or that had in their own way crossed him and he was unable to suppurate the two, thereby being pushed over the edge and lead to violence toward them. This escalated to murder. It is also surmised that the reason he chose to make his creations from the remains of his victims was as a way of disposing of their bodies, or as a way of objectifying them, lessoning a possible feelings of guilt after the fact.

Many aspects of Gein’s may seem cliché, but in reality the cliché is based on his case. The resulting investigation, press releases, and trial lead to the creation of the horror/slasher  genre and directly inspired three infamous characters: Norman Bates (a taxidermist with mother issues), Leather face (a serial killer who lived on a farm who butchered and wore his victims), and Buffalo Bill (a serial killer who preyed on women and made their skin into a costume). There aren’t any pictures of Gein’s work available online, but here are two examples that are credited to being replicas of his work.

Entry Wk 15.2

Jumbo Veggie Dog, Upper Clackamas #10, a 60" x 54" painting comprised of oil and garbage on canvas by Robert Dozona in 2009, is composed of bottle caps, empty containers, shampoo bottles, candy wrappers, paint brushes, sponges, hygiene items and a Jumbo Veggie Dog wrapper and other items collected from Oregon’s rivers while Mr. Dozona was on fishing trips.  A landscape depicting a river flowing between groves of trees as the sun rises in the distance is painted over top of the discarded human refuse.  Lines are formed from the objects themselves, rhythm is achieved by repeating items such as toothpaste and tooth brushes. 

          One of the main reasons I like this piece is that is combines the use of found objects in the form of collected garbage with an Abstract composition.  While viewing the art the eye is at first overwhelmed by the goings on, but in time it focus on some piece of trash that the viewer finds appealing, such as a Hershey wrapper.  As I considered the components I started searching for how they worked together to relay the Artist’s message.  Only as I backed away from it and sat on a step as if it was a tree stump or log did I see the river scene and soon realized that I was looking at man’s pollution of nature and could imagine being Robert Dozona, sitting on a stump near this river and seeing the same thing.
  
        This painting emphasizes the wastefulness of our society as well as tells an intimate story about us as a society by displaying what we have thrown away.  Just as archeologists dig up ancient rubbish, the discarded waste of our civilization tells as much of a narrative about us, and possibly even more of one, than just studying the materialistic contributions we have made.  The fact that the artist personally collected the garbage in an effort to preserve the natural resources of the forest and river and to save the indigenous animals from the impacts of such pollution should encourage others, me, to do the same. 

          I believe Mr. Dozona is saying we are too wasteful, both in our consumerism, as well as in our lack of conservation and disregard for our environment.  His use of garbage reflects our consumer waste and pollution on an individual level and leaves me with the feeling of empowerment, that there is something I can do to fix the problem.

Artist: Goran Fazil

2 February 2012. I met up with a group of fellow Art enthusiasts at the gallery in the Student Union Building, where Goran Fazil  opened an exhibition called Propitiation of War in Contemporary World. Utilizing a variety of techniques, such as combining 2D and 3D elements to create depth and perspective (such as looking past piles of rubble to see distant buildings), and using ink and graphite drawings on maps and political documents to heighten awareness of the impact those documents have on people’s lives. I was particular interested in the drawings where the US Constitution was used as the picture plane. In these drawings, the negative space was darkened in with cross-hatching, as was values to the subjects, but the paper was left exposed to create the white spaces. These compositions represented the founding fathers debating these documents     

The last two installments were a wall sculpture of grey rectilinear objects which could be viewed through suspended, framed translucent panels, and clay statues of people in a verity of positions placed on canvas tarps on the gallery floor. Wire caricatures with pencils were drawing lines between and over the statues. The first represented aerial images of a war-stricken landscape, and the second depicted how national boarders effect the individual.

After viewing the installations, we attended a discussion with the artists. He explained that his inspiration was how society has been taught that war was a natural occurrence and to be excepting of it. He also discussed how texts and documents can become sacred which, at that point, are considered absolute by one group of people, while opposing groups have their own sacred documents. Once something becomes absolute in a person’s mind, argued Fazil there is no room for discussion and war is the only alternative to address these differences. For this reason he chose to use such documents as a his media to facilitate an open dialog. In the course of the forum, Fazil also explained how the current exhibit relates to earlier ones in subject matter and purpose, drawing attention to different aspects of war and how they influence groups of people. 

Entry Wk 15.1

Plastic Bottles, 2007 by Chris Jordan using pigmented inkjet print (60”x120”) represents 2 million disposable bottles in a kind of endless sea with a gentle current.  The composition achieves balance and rhythm by the repetition of disposable bottles throughout the piece.  Once you are close enough to read the labels, Coke, Sprite, Vitamin Water, Dasani, Pepsi, Arrow Head, the bottles have natural lines, but from only a few feet away these merge into the aforementioned sea of blue-gray plastic and the lines are lost into oblivion with the exception of where they create the illusion of motion.  There is no area of interest to capture the eye, no direction of composition to follow, no story to decipher.  It is a statement, if not a lecture, and just as uninteresting.

It is my opinion that Plastic Bottles delivers less of an impact than Jumbo Veggie Dog because it is more abstract in representing its message, just one minute aspect of our waste is drowning our environment, and more acutely specific in its scope, disposable bottles, than the garbage painting; Plastic Bottles engages me on an intellectual level rather than an emotional one.  I know that America is the largest consuming nation in the world, and, thereby, also produces the most waste.  According to an article on the Stanford University recycling program site, the EPA estimates that Americans only recycle 30 percent of that waste and the Idaho Recycling and Waste Management Directory suggests that Idahoans recycles an even lesser amount because the pressure of land consumption is low. 

The message of Plastic Bottles is too big for me to feel effected by it on an individual level.  Jumbo Veggie Dog however is much more personal.  Rather than commenting on how wasteful 300,000,000 people are, it focuses on how wasteful the few hundred that frequent the artist’s favorite river are.  This idea is more “where I live,” it leaves me with a feeling that I can have a direct impact on the outcome of this issue and allows me to take a side.  Another reason Plastic Bottles is less meaningful to me is that I already limit my use of disposable bottles, were as Jumbo Veggie Dog uses a variety of discarded refuse which helps me see a bigger problem than the transporting of liquids.  The camping maxim: pack it in, pack it out, would make a good correlating message for this painting.

Book Art Project

Museums

The piece is a framed window comprised of inter connecting lines and combinations of opaque colored glass, and clear glass. It is mostly rectilinear with the acceptation of a single circelinear form at the top left. The color elements are mostly warm hues with the exception of a single blue pane, and a few black ones. The entirety is incased in a wooden frame. The artifact is an original and is mounted on the wall and positioned at eye level with an accompanying plaque with text describing the piece and some background information. The text reads:

Window, 1912

Oak, colored glass, and leading

 

Frank Lloyd Wright

(American 1867-1959), designer

 

Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection, 1995. 182

My first impression was the contrast between the intermixed glass and the lines created by the leading. The presentation resembles a flag, which is echoed in the flag-esque form opposite the circelinear form. I believe the purpose was to represent his concepts of architecture.  

Molotov Man

Entry Wk 14.2

I want to own a commercial Art studio one day. I had a lead on a property this past semester, but before I could get the capitol raised the property was bought in a cash deal. I still desire to have a studio, Ambrose Studios and Gallery, but I haven’t pursued it since then. Once classes are done I’ll follow up with some leads for support that I have been given.

            This property is the second one that I thought would have suited my needs well but failed to materialize. The first was a second floor office that I could have rented for $250 a month, and because I would have been the only tenant, I could have utilized the rest of the floor for storage or discrete events. Unfortunately, that time the building’s owners decided to convert it to apartments, with some storefronts on the main level, so that went away. I am trying to understanding and stay encouraged, but it is proving more difficult to do.

My idea is to have a place that offers room for a teaching space, a small gallery space, and individual studios, enough that the rent for each space will be affordable and that collectively they can cover expenses. Originally the idea came to me that trying to make sculptures or staging still lives to draw in my living room with four teenage and preteen children, pets, and a mother who is sometime oblivious to her surroundings. I was looking for an office space that I could divide up and sublet. Talking to some of the other artists in Mountain Home, and a couple professors, I altered my plan slightly. I’ve even visited other studios around Boise and in Seattle, learning how they are run, incorporating new ideas into my own business plan.

           

Artist: Erik Boker

Like Edward Gein, Erik Boker admits to being inspired by taxidermy as well as medical journals. Unlike Gein, Boker has chosen commercial products as his media, presenting objects in unexpected ways, inviting the viewer to evaluate their relationship with the subject. When asked about his influences he gives a laundry list: “Artifact. Ephemera. Anthropology. Frank Zappa. Kurt Vonnegut. Mark Dion. Martin Kippenberger. John Prine. Charlie White. John Kricfalusi. Harold from Harold and Maude. A good story...”

Book Art

Artist: Ed and Nancy Kienholtz

Paper Cuts

Entry Wk 14.1

     When I lived in Germany my family and I traveled the local areas as well as a few of the conjoining countries. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any of the art museums in Germany, but we did visit countless castles and cathedrals. In Trier is a Cathedral that dates back to when the town was a Roman post. It is said to have been founded by Constantine’s mother as she traveled throughout the down world as an ambassador of the new religion. Of the artifacts entrusted there is a sliver of the “True Cross” as well as Jesus’ tunic that the Roman soldiers gambled for. Unfortunately all of my pictures from here were taken on a friend’s camera and I wasn’t able to get copies before they moved. The cathedral at Trier is the most amazing one that I saw while I lived in Europe, including the famed Notre Dame.

 

     Another cathedral I visited was that in Mainz. The cathedral was constructed from sandstone and therefore is constantly undergoing restoration, because the stone deteriorates rapidly (relative to other stone). Inside there the walls were lined with small private chapels which were really out coves that had individual alters, confessionals and pews for patrons and their families to have private masses way from, well, the masses. Each of these chapels were comprised of three walls build into the design of the cathedral and were decorated with hand carved wood, stone, and paintings that often predated the renaissance.

    


      Among the renovations were the stain glass windows. In addition to the stereotypical depictions of religious scenes, the windows chronicled the lineage of Bishops that served there from the time it was originally built.

Amungs the statuary and other artifacts are three murals that had been destroyed and repainted so many times that in the 19th century they were painted on canvas and adhered to the stone surface of the wall. Sense then, each time the wall is effected by renovation the canvas is simply removed, stored, and replaced.

Artist: Damian Hurst

Skeleton and Skin

Artist: Annette Messager

Entry Wk 13.2

The Picture of Dorian Gray was written by Oscar Wilde in 1891. In the Preface Wilde discusses his definition of art. I have provided it here for your convenience.

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

 The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

 Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

 There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

 The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

 The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved. No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style. No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything. Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art. From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself. We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless.

 OSCAR WILDE

This view of art isn’t held only by Wilde. Even 121 years later I know people who would agree with this description. Over the past several months I have come to understand art as being a form of expression that is meant, at a minimum, to illicit an emotional or intellectual response from the viewer. With in “what art is”, there is a virtual cornucopia of “what is art”.

That is a more daunting question which I am still working on defining. In a recent conversation with a fellow art student about how anything that defines a culture can be defined as Art. He stumped with asking is sports was art.

For more on this subject, refer to the topic: Jordan Tate.

Artist: James Luna

Entry Wk 13.1 Those Kitshy Gnomes

Stories of the garden gnomes and me:

My unbeknown trip down the rabbit hole of kitsch.

So there I was, sitting at my dining room table in Germany with a group of friends, playing  Dungeons and Dragons  when an idea struck me:

How awesome would a Frankenstein movie mob comprised of gnomes be?

It was worth a few laughs, then filed to the unconscious self. Sometime later, let’s say months later for the sake of plot progression, my beautiful life partner, mother of my children, and wife, Krista, and I were in a local home decorating store when I saw a display of gnome like figurines (I was later told the Germans call them Dwarves, silly Germans), so I bought a few. Then I bought a few more. Then I had somewhere around 20+ gnomes, at least half a dozen owls (the antagonists of the mob, mercenaries, land-pirates, and ninjas), weapons, siege engine, and land-pirate ship. Then I wrote the short story below to chronicle the events that lead to this army of gnomes that I had positioned in the front yard of my base housing unit. In case you’re wondering, there was an armistice between the owls and gnomes for Christmas where Father Gnome visited with gifts for all.

          Rather than simply buying and placing the gnome figurines around my yard, I segregated them into five factions, and then festooned each faction accordingly. The first was the mob of farmers of which I simply used hot glue to position the accompanying farming implements into weapons by securing them at one end of the handle while the functional end sat erect like in the movies.

The second group where the mercenaries of which I taped off and spray painted grey “armor” on them. I then purchased some lego-esque weapons and made a spall catapult and harness for the engine to be transported by war-snails, designed and printed a banner.

Faction three was the pirates which I didn’t alter the figures but I did add axles and buggy wheels to a plastic boat and designed and printed a pirate flag a work (lots of spare time as the night shift supervisor).

Next I created a team of ninjas (not to take sides in the ninja/pirate debate) which I treated the same as the mercenaries, only with black paint. The ninjas were suspended from the overhang of our porch, descending behind the invading owls.

The smallest faction was a sacrificial young gnome that represented the owls eating a gnomish youth, causing the rest of the narrative. The owls weren’t altered, but I did work to arrange them for maximum visibility from my front door.

Oh the Gnome-anity

By

E. James Packer

Picture if you will, the small community of Possum Trot and its plain country folk, peacefully passing thru life.  Until one fateful day when someone, bent on destruction and ending their way of life, came in the night like a phantom and started stealing away their children.  When the humble, some would even say simple, members of the community went to confront their tormentor their efforts to protect their own kind were responded to with increased violence as even more of these monsters came in to prey upon them and those most precious to them. 

          If this was happening to farmers in some far off country the world’s leaders would be up in arms.  If it was a military tyrant with the wrong political alliances it would be called genocide and people from all nations and races would come together as one voice demanding a stop to the violence. There is no outcry, no rallies for help and worse yet, there are organizations that even come to the aid of these vicious killers and plead on their behalf!
          If this was to happen to a human city, town, or village it would be unthinkable but, when it is young gnomes being feed on by carnivorous owls, it is ignored by society.  Billions of dollars have been raised and hundreds of thousands of military troops have been sent to stop genocides in far off locations, but now it is happening in my front yard and there is no out cry, no news coverage!  Where are the relief and aid organizations? Mercenaries are not cheap! 
          It started much as I described above, a small community of gnomes making a life for themselves amongst the foliage in my front yard (I had arranged protection and legal status with the local authorities for them but, this tale of woe is not about me) when a bird of prey caught sight of them and started harassing the small community.  The be grieved community leaders came together and attempted to shoo off the threat with a pitiful show of arms by creating a mob armed with farming implementations.  This proved to be ineffective as more owls came to add to their distress.  In a short time the birds of prey were devouring the gnomish children in plain view of their parents (gnomish children resemble naked mice to those who are curious about the nature of these malicious acts) and leaving there gruesome and gory carcasses strewn about the edges of their community.  Now outraged and failing at their attempts to drive off the butchers, the community leaders turned to the Green Thumb Clan, an infamous band of gnomish mercenaries, best known for their deadly use of their snail driven siege engines; though soldiers of their caliber are not inexpensive, so it is hoped that the conflict will come to a decisive end quickly.  As word of the Gnome’s plight move around other gnomish communities One Eye Red and his lot of land pirates caught wind of it in their sails and set coarse for the distant landlocked location in their trusted land worthy ship, the Rabid Squirrel. At some point the gnome ninja’s appeared, but who knows where ninjas come from? 
          And that is where their tale of horror has left the poor creatures.  Even now, women and children are prisoners of fear in their own burrows while armed mobs take shifts wandering the streets with those brave souls who must venture out to provide for their grief stricken families.  Will aid come soon enough?  What are you willing to do to aid these pitiful souls?  When will the world open their eyes and harts to this horrific situation? 

As I read slogans and headlines to save endangered owls I am filled with seething outrage.  Save the spotted owl.  THE SPOTTED OWL! What of all the nameless gnomes those owls ate into extinction; who cried out to save them?  It was not the trees that gave the retched beasts sustenance; it was the flesh of the little people!      

I implore you, good people, to write to your local governing bodies, to the Forestry Department, and to aid agencies such as the Red Cross, demanding action be taken.  Educate yourselves on the contributions these noble, good natured, resilient people have made to other races.  And find a place in your own hearts and homes to help shelter victims of this needless conflict.  On behalf of the gnomish community of Possum Trot, and others throughout the world, thank you.

Artist: Christian Boltanski

Transformation

Transformations, changing one thing into another thing. At its basic elements, from nothingness, to life, to fertilizer is the original transformation process. In art there is the idea of transformation were the artist takes an object and makes a new object from it, not just plant food. Well, in some instances the artist does both, takes something dead and makes it into art while it becomes fertilizer (the Vivarium in Seattle) or stops the fertilization process (the corpse exhibit).

But I digress.

In this assignment we were asked to take found objects and transform them into artworks. Your humbly inspired narrator took a lonely, discarded, outdated text book and reused it to make a soup boul. I then filled the newly created soup bowl with vegetarian alphabet soup, placed it on a serving tray, and figuratively offered to spoon feed the vegetarian education (it had no meat) to the viewer.

A lot of consideration went into the design and execution of this concept. What book to use? How to present it? And so on. Originally I was going to use an EDUCATION book and simply place it on a stand and call it good (once transforming it into a bowl that is), but was unable to A) find such a book for $1.99, and B) considered the audiences perceptions and rethought the presentation. After scouring the numerous second hand stores at St. Vincent De Paul’s on Broadway, I bought three books: a sociology book, and education book, and an American history book. I also bought a wicker serving tray, matching silverware set (red, because its art), and a vase (long a or short a is up to you).Of the three books I ultimately chose the sociology book.

The next consideration was what to use in the bowl. I originally was going to have a breakfast display and use Alphabet cereal. But they no long distribute Alphabet cereal to Idaho. You can by it on Amazon for $24 a case though. So I settled for Campbell’s soup.

After playing around with a few smaller details, the rest is history. The only improvement I should have considered harder was to use red, white, and blue flowers to specify American Education.

Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial

1.      Describe what you see, including location context and physical space.

The AFHRM is located off of Capital and River, next to the Boise Library and Log Cabin, along the Green Belt in an open plot of land. When you approach the memorial there is a low wall running along the front of it and an information kiosk. Central of the memorial is a high wall with a window through which a bronze statue of Anne Frank, standing of a chair, hiding a book behind her, is positioned to be climbing through the window. In front of the statue are half-round rows of white marble benches.

Behind the statue is a set of stairs leading down to the Green Belt along which is several large plaques and a stone block. Around the statue are several displays of text and images addressing different aspects of human rights. To the far side of the statue is a waterfall and pond that falls between walls of quotes from public figures on related topics.    

2.      Describe the varying degrees of representation.

The memorial is very text heavy, numerous plaques surround the viewer. The text comes in printed form, posted on narrating sound boxes, cast bronze plaques, and engraved into stone slabs.

In addition to the text, there are a few visual elements in 2 and 3-D. The central statue is the window and figured described previously, then there are laser etched bronze images of different scenes related to human rights.

There is also a water feature with a waterfall and pond positioned below a wall of quotes and images.

As one walks through the memorial, the walkways are dotted with small boxes, complete with crank. Upon turning said crank, rather than a demonic clown, a recorded voice greets the visitor.

3.      What are visual elements/principles that dominate in the memorial?

The prominent elements are stone and bronze. These, combined with the messages of tolerance, respect and justice, give a sense of importance and endurance.  

4.      Is this memorial site-specific? Explain.

Yes, it is site-specific. The planning and construction of the memorial was designed to take advantage of the visitors of the nearby cultural centers (museums/library/public parks/etc.). The design was also meant to take advantage of the natural environment of the river, topography, and trees.

5.      Who created, designed and funded this memorial?

Kurt Karst design the layout of the memorial and was funded by donations. Greg Stone designed the Anne Frank statue that you have read so much about. This was sponsored by school fundraisers.

6.      How does the text/ word elements function?

The text elements function as educational, and thought provoking.

7.      Reflecting on your answers to the previous questions, what do you think was the intended meaning/function? Explain what is communicated.

At first glance the plaques, engravings, and literature seems overwhelming, but this may add to the purpose of the memorial, emphasizing the seemingly uberwhelming issue of human rights and the tragedies that have lead to the necessity of such a memorial. As the viewer moves around, among, and through the text elements, they begin to realize the diverse backgrounds of human rights champions, making the cause relatable to the Everyman.

 8.      In your opinion, how successful is this memorial? Explain.

I think the success of the memorial is ambiguous. When one thinks of Anne Frank, the connotation is very specific to her ordeals and trials, even though she suffered from violations of human rights, she is not commonly thought of as a human rights poster-child. Then there are the interactive aspects of the memorial, the audible features that give a more in depth understanding of the exhibits are not obvious as to what they are, and in some places their use is crucial, such as understanding what the purpose of the stone block at the bottom of the stairs is for.

The stairs lead to another issue, the lower level of the memorial isn’t obvious, unless you are curious, or taking the Green Belt, that whole area seems disconnected. And I didn’t understand the water feature.

When I visited the memorial, there was a school group on a fieldtrip there. I followed one of the smaller groups of students around and listened to one of the curators ask the students if they understood what a particular element of the memorial was expressing. Once a student answered, the curator answered something to the effect of “Well, that’s close enough, because you’re a civilian”. At that point I walked away before I was asked to leave after pointing out the irony of her statement under the circumstances.  

Artist: Frank Turner

            Born to the son of a knight and the daughter of a Bishop, Frank Turner became a musically inclined in high school. He spent several years bouncing from one band to the next, being in such unknowns (and near unknowns) as: Million Dead, Reuben, The Record Buying Public, Kneejerk, Badger Doritos, Albuquerque Meat Hat, and Dive Dive, Turner decided it was time to go solo when his last band, Million Dead, dissolved over conflicting egos.

            When asked, Turner responded that his decision to strike it out on his own was the next logical step. He enjoyed the atmosphere of touring and being with fans, but didn’t want to deal with the headaches of bands, to which he had an abundance of experience. This logical decision paid off as he was awarded Best Male Solo by New Music Express Awards (NME) in England this year.

            Although he is considered folk-punk (I don’t even know what that means), his genre repertoire is matched only by the number of bands he was a part of, but mostly he gravitated around subsets of punk, hardcore, and alternative. His motivations for his songs is to further the genres he plays in and the bring awareness to issues he is concerned about such as politics. Turner sees the songs as “skeletons” as he has referred to them in several interviews found on line. He believes that once a song is written, how its performed for the audience is what fleshes it out. Turner believes in the duality of folk and punk, keeping traditions, but challenging the establishment and finding what works for you.

Long Live The Queen lyrics

I was sipping on a whiskey when i got that call
my friend Lex was lying in the hospital
she'd been pretty sick for about half the year
but it seemed like this time the end was drawing near
so i dropped my plans and jumped the next london train
I found her laid up and it alot of pain
her eyes met mine and then i understood
that the weather forecast wasnt looking too good
So i sat and spun her storys for a little while
Tried to raise her mood and tried to raise a smile
but she silenced all my ramblings with the shake of a head
drew me close to listen and this is what she said:

"Now you live to dance another day
but now you have to dance for the two of us
so stop looking so damn depressed
sing with all your heart the queen is dead yeah"
She told me she was sick with all the hospital food
of doctors, distant relatives draining her blood
she said "i know im dying ... but im not finished just yet im dying for a drink and for a ciggarett"
so we hatched a plan to book ourselves a cheep hotel
the Center of the city, and to raise some hell
lay waste to all the clubs
and when everyone else is long asleep
then we will know were good and done

"You live to dance another day
but now you have to dance for the two of us
so stop looking so damn depressed
sing with all your heart the queen is dead "
South londons not the same anymore
the queen is dead, the last of the greats!
has finally gone to bed

Well i was working on some words when sarah called me up
she said that lex had gone to sleep and wasnt waking up
well even though i knew that there was nothing to be done
i felt bad for not been there and now well she was gone
so i tried to think what Lex would want me to do
at times like this when i was feeling blue
so, gathered up ome friends and spread the sad,sad news
and we headed to the city for a drink or too
and we sang:

"we live to dance another day
its jut now we have to dance for one more of us
so stop looking so damn depressed
sing with all our hearts
LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"

http://www.elyrics.net/read/f/frank-turner-lyrics/long-live-the-queen-lyrics.html

Artist: Fred Wilson

Artist: Gauguin

Gauguin

When my wife and I went to Seattle recently, the Seattle Art Museum was hosting a Gauguin exhibition. Previously I only knew of his work from art history and the like, which focused on his Polynesian women paintings, but the exhibit covered a much more impressive span of his works, from his French paintings to woodcuttings to the Polynesians.

            What impressed me was his versatility as a painter. Some were full of vibrant colors and impressionist style, capturing the feelings of the seen while giving only the general ideas of the people and landscape, others were more subdued but very detailed portraits with more controlled brush strokes and realistic color scenes.

            Something I learned from the exhibit was the Gauguin was, and still is, considered the most skilled woodcut artist of his time and brought the genre into prominence during his life. On one wall was a painting of a street scene under the Eiffel Tower. The work was a large mural, maybe 10 ft by 15 ft (I think on canvas, but I don’t remember just now). Krista and I commented on how we had a similar photograph, though not as large. Then we read the name plaque and realized it was a woodcut.

Artist: Erwin Wurm

Kitsch

Kitsch: a German word meaning tasteless or tacky in regards to art. It is applied to things that are considered “curtsy” or don’t have any value in themselves, such as mass produced objects. Examples of these are lawn decorations like gnomes and pink flamingos, or velvet Elvises from the 1970s. Regardless of the negative connotation or derogator nature, and possibly because of it, some Artists strive to explore this genre of Art. Two of these Artists are, Jeff Koons and Odd Nerdrum.

Jeff Koons has made a living making kitsch. Unfortunately there is little available explaining why he has chosen to do so. If one were to peruse his website his biography would only herald his accomplishments and inform of his showings, but not enlighten one on his motivations and purpose.  In interviews he seems to play coy, only saying that his art is either without intended meaning, or that it is meant to challenge the viewer in their understanding of art-which sounds much like Duchamp when he argued for found objects being artistic.

           

Alternatively, Odd Nerdrum has been abundantly clear on his motivations for being a Kitsch painter, making the distinction that he is not an Artist. From the few articles that I read on this Norwegian painter, he chose to label his works as kitsch because they were of a style that was considered outdated and overplayed by the critics and academic artists at the time of his self discovery and exploration, a style of representationalism that allowed him to express himself in a way that other suggest styles wouldn’t.   

 

Artist: Laurie Blakeslee

I have been schooled by Professor Laurie Blakeslee for two semesters. She has proven to be knowledgeable and insightful on the topics she lectures on. As an artist, I have only ever seen her photography work, both in exhibition and via slides. Her work tends to focus on reconceptualizing images or ideas. The best description I have found of her work is from the site: Hey, Hot Shot; a Jen Bekman Project.

 “originally trained as a painter, continues in the tradition of subversion of meaning through her photo-based collage work in the body of work Styled Life. Recalling catalogs and fashion magazines of her childhood, Blakeslee alters and re-photographs these excerpted images "...with the intention of interrogating the original purpose these images present—the myth that consumer goods hold the promise of happiness, self-worth and most importantly, social status."