Art 21 Presentation

Odile and Odette clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLmS3ruy5LA

Yinka Shonibare:
http://www.art21.org/videos/segment-yinka-shonibare-mbe-in-transformation

https://africa.si.edu/exhibits/shonibare/odette.html

What riding my bike has taught me about white privilege:
http://qz.com/257474/what-riding-my-bike-has-taught-me-about-white-privilege/

Discussion questions posed:

What is white privilege?

What makes it hard to accept white privilege?

Where do we go from there?

Art vs. Design

         The first main difference that I felt between art and design is that design is commercially rooted. It is about selling something to someone. Another thing I noticed is that art and design both deal with accessibility of meaning, but in completely different ways. Design seeks to be universal in interpretation. Designers focus on aesthetics as a means to make their concepts or information so blatant that nothing distracts the audience from receiving that message, or even worse, misunderstanding that message. On the other hand, in art it is often cliche if the concept is obvious at first glance to viewers. Most artists want viewers to find meaning through time and consideration of a piece, and they often allow the viewer to make interpretations of their own.

Modern Art

Modern Art could simply be defined as art that lacks deception. It's a painting that is just paint on the canvas, not trying to be something else, like a basket of fruit. It's flat and two dimensional. True to its nature.

One of my favorite parts from "The Painted Word," reading was where Wolfe suggested that when viewers look at literary paintings they approach such work with "mental baggage." Though this may especially be true in relation to literary paintings, I feel that this is also true in any work, and I think that is beautiful. Every person has their own thoughts and experiences and no matter how hard an artist tries, those will somehow find their way into the viewer's interpretation of the work.

I also appreciate the idea from Greenberg's article that modern art became pure. I like the idea that paint on a canvas is almost a humbling expression--what you see is what you get. On the other hand, this single interpretation of what painting should be can also be very limiting. Dan Barney says that art is about asking what is possible. When you define painting as only being two dimensional and about the paint I feel that many possibilities are being missed. However I do recognize the value that this perspective played during the time, and how it has helped art's continuity to today.

Art in America Article

The article I read was an interview between Keltie Ferris and Daniel Belasco. As Belasco asks about her work, Ferris says that she wants her work to be accessible for anyone and very autonomous. Though I find that there is value in Ferris’ stance towards autonomy and accessibility, I find her opinions to be contradictory. It is clear that Ferris is against institutionalism, as her work seeks to avoid the backstories of conceptual practice and contextual importance, yet she is clearly a part of the institutionalist group as she displays work in high-end art museums, museums that cater to a very specific audience.

Mike Birbiglia & Ira Glass Response

I think that both of these pieces show a certain wisdom about each artist. The difference between being knowledgable and wise is that wisdom includes experience. It is easy to see that both artists have gone through many experiences, enough to the point where they can see the major points in their careers that got them to where they are.

I really found it interesting how Mike Birbiglia included quitting as one of his 6 tips. Most often any sort of feedback you get from the experts is keep trying and work hard. However I think by including this step, it forces us to be honest with ourselves, and what we hope to accomplish. For example personally for me, it isn't very important for me to show in big galleries or to become a well known artist. So maybe by seeing that I accept that, and put my energy elsewhere. Art for me has always been something centered around other people. So a path in art education seems to fit those passions better than something else would have.

I also liked Ira Glass' idea about our abilities catching up with our taste. I often feel this way when observing teachers or thinking about the type of teacher I want to be. Sometimes I don't exactly know what to do to be that teacher, but thats where practice comes in. We have to keep doing it. Put in the time. Pay the price. It reminds me of the book 10,000 hours by Malcom Gladwell. It's the idea that we need to put 10,000 hours into something before we become an expert.

Aesthetic Images