Art and Life

I visited the Crane House today to check out our fellow classmate, Marcus Siu's installation.  His installation was complemented by a gallery of his father's, Siu Hao-ming.  Siu Hao-ming's gallery consisted of long exposure photography transferred on to aluminum.  Marcus's intstallation was in a room of a considerable size with the floor covered in packed down dirt.  Towards the center of the room, pine needles were inserted into the dirt to look like grass.  My initial reaction was to run my fingers through the blades of "grass".  The pine needles didn't feel as sharp as most do.  I remembered what Marcus had said about wanting his audience to walk on the "grass", so i walked on it.  If I wasn't afraid of looking like a total weirdo, I would've liked to take my shoes and socks off so i could walk on the grass with my bare feet.  I then began to wonder about all of the dirt.  It was packed down to create a surface resembling one found...

My first philosophy class at U of L was Intro to Philosophy, taught by Professor Arthur Johnson (a.k.a.: A.T.J.)*.  As those who introduce you to something you grow to love often do, ATJ left a lasting impression on me.  Before learning about influential philosophers, like Nietzsche,  ATJ would often start his lecture by saying something along the lines of, "There could be an entire class taught on this philosopher, but since we only have 50 minutes today...". *If you have an interest in philosophy and can handle an 8:00 a.m. class (this is the only time that his class is offered) I highly recommend that you take Professor Johnson's course!!  It is PHIL  Why, you might ask, am I talking about a teacher a had a year ago? Today, after having the oppurtunity to attend Osborne Wiggins' lecture on Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy, A.T.J.'s quote was validated.  I could spend a whole academic year in a class about Nietzsche and the thinkers who followed hi...

"when we perceive a thing to be beautiful, it is because we instinctively recognize the rightness of the thing. this means we have revealed to us a glimpse of something essentially of the fibre of our own nature... a flash of truth stimulates us, and we have a vision of harmonies not understood to-day, though perhaps to be to-morrow." Frank Lloyd Wright Formalism Perhaps art's inability to be defined is a part of its definition.  Art can serve many purposes.  It can teach, explore, heal, or simply put a smile on your face.  Wright's quote about beauty relates to the ideas of formalism and form.   Form deals with the compositional elements of art such as line, shape, color and texture.  A f ormalist approach is one way of understanding the characteristics and goals of art.  The formalist school of thought teaches that the most important aspect of a piece is the initial aesthetic response experienced by the viewer.  From a this point of view, othe...

http://video.pbs.org/video/2170070012/ The fashion of an artist is a subject I ponder often. Whether or not an artist is fashion conscious, it’s safe to say most of us non-nudists have to make decisions about whatever it is we cover ourselves in to face the day. The PBS video I watched had a series short interviews with a diverse group of artists about their style. WK Interact, an artist working in NYC, chooses to wear mostly black because he feels the color suits his "black and white city". Wearing only black is a simple way to dress, but this style choice still reflects Interact's attraction to functionality. Interact’s involvement in street art is apparent in influences his outfits, or as he likes to call them, "his gear". Dressing in black is a way for Interact to blend in with his surroundings and go unnoticed while creating his illegal art. I was really excited to see Tara McPherson talk about her fashion in comparison to her art. I am attracted to ...