#3 Serena Ho: Marcel Duchamp's Bicycle Wheel

I personally hate this piece but I think Duchamp's work pushes conventional notions of what art is. He believed that simply through the act of choosing already made objects and signing his name, he was creating "art." Although the word "art" consists of millions of various forms of creative expression, I wonder if there are/ should be boundaries to what can be considered art. I mean, Duchamp didn't really even construct anything in this piece, so I'm pretty skeptical as to whether he can claim it fully as his own artwork.

#2 Serena Ho: Fantasia

I chose this picture from Fantasia because I think it is a great example of art as technology. Animation and cinema are forms of artistic expression that bridge "traditional" forms of art (painting, drawing, etc.) with modern technologies. As technology improves, the number of ways one can express oneself grow even larger, and make possible new modes of creativity that have never been seen before.

#1: Serena Ho: Stormtroops Advancing Under Gas by Otto Dix

Otto Dix is a post-war German artist. I've always been captivated by his unique aesthetic and the power his pictures convey. Following World War II, Dix attempted to capture the nightmare and brutality of his own experiences as a soldier in the German army through his artwork. And that is what I think art ultimately is: a vehicle to express your beliefs and feelings to the world.

Thi

JeeHyun Choi #3: Plastic Surgery

I thought about what I mentioned earlier, that art delivers sense of beauty both to the maker and the viewer. I wonder then, if plastic surgeries should be considered art too. The aim, afterall, is outward beauty. Does this make plastic surgeons artists who are expressing their creativity and talent with other human faces as a canvas? I'm not sure.

#3 - Ephraim Dagadu: Negative Luminance

This is a picture of some flowers shot in negative light. This appeals to me as art because it shows something that is not realistic. You can't walk down the street and see flowers, or anything else, in this light in everyday life. Art can not only re-frame the world around us, but create new worlds. This appeals to me because this image creates an imaginary world where light is reversed.

Meleha Ahmad #3: Energy in Art

This is a pen and ink piece called “Crowley” by a small time artist named Andrew Mariano. I came across it on the internet under “energy in art.” Mariano believes that psychedelic art such as this piece can be used in psychotherapy. This presents art in a new light perhaps, as not only as soothing and peaceful, but also a piece of energy that can act as a healer. The above piece, with its soft contours and waves feels almost alive; in fact you can almost feel the energy in it. I believe that when an artist paints or draws, in fact, the energy that goes into its creation is communicated to its viewers. This is what makes art so powerful and effective to its viewers.

Sonia Kim.3: Fibonacci Sequence

Readers of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code might find the sequence familiar:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, ..

However, as much as Brown focused on the artistic merit of works such as the Mona Lisa, I also appreciate the aesthetics of mathematics and science. Art has always utilized methods in math and science; however, I think there still exists a gap between the palpable emotion and public fascination with art and the mental cohesiveness and conceptual elegance of math. The Fibonacci sequence has the sometimes awkward position of manifesting itself in elements we traditionally consider beautiful: flowers, shells etc.

Possibly the most curious aspect of the Fibonacci sequence lies in its universality. Art currently prides itself on its level of subjectivity, freed from the dictates of a national academy or of royal taste. However, does the Fibonacci sequence hold that perhaps we might not be as free to choose what we deem beautiful/artistic as we would think? For this concept hinges upon the importance of scientific laws (or for the religiously minded, God)--an element that supersedes much of human control.

Of course, much art has been created to consciously oppose traditional standards of aesthetics, social taste etc. And through these efforts, ugliness, poverty, and diversity have become part of the worldview of art. However, by their very opposing stance, do they too, in the end, cede to the fact that something about art is universal.....that there is such a thing as good or bad art?

Sonia Kim.2: Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Surrounded Islands

I respond to Christo and Jeanne Claude's work because there are so many different avenues to their appreciation. I first experienced this piece as a picture in an art history book; therefore, I reacted purely visually to a photograph that exuded simplicity and grace.

However, as a project, I realized that there is nothing simple about coordinating the surrounding of several Miami islands with swaths of fabric and nothing graceful about working with bureaucracies and carting away preexisting garbage from the islands.

Due to the magnitude of the project, Christo and Jeanne-Claude enlisted the help of marine biologists, attorneys, ornithologists, mammal experts, building contracters etc. I see this work as a reference to the past when projects such as the building of the Great Pyramids required the cooperation of an entire society or even to the present organizations such as research universities and corporations which are expert at amassing manpower and information. However bureaucratic the construction of public monuments and the development of corporations may seem, I also appreciate the fact that Christo and Jeanne-Claude are using art as a medium to/of social justice (by constructing through only environmentally friendly methods and by creating a truly public piece of art). I think Christo and Jeanne-Claude manifested very modern thoughts (technology, artificial materials, information) in a way that adds to the environment, instead of something that is separate from (ie. the Internet) or something that harms (ie. cars) it.

Unfortunately, just as knowledge is a slippery thing to keep, the "architecture" of the islands was dismantled after a short period....leaving only other art mediums (photos, text) in its place.

Sonia Kim.1: Leonardo Solaas' Migrations

I first came across Solaas work (Note that I didn't call him an artist; I leave that up for you to decide) a year ago when I was surfing the Web. He's a philosophy major who is self taught in computer mediums and now makes a living designing web sites.

A lot (if not all) of the art I see today is derivatory; it has origins from another art form, style, artist etc. I suppose that this thought that original ideas are harder to come across reflect the overarching postmodern theme of today's society (Remember how many times that one annoying kid mentioned "postmodern" in your section?). However, it is interesting to see that when certain forms of art seem more derivatory than others, they are considered "lesser art" (ie. reproductions of famous art are seen as less "art-ful" than say a painting in the Renaissance).
I find Solaas' piece, Migrations, fascinating because it is conceptual yet does not presume that he is the primary architect of his enterprise. He specifically mentions that the text comes from two different sources, the BBC and Don Quixote, and primarily acts as the medium through which these two texts "speak." I think it's a nice reference back to the times when artists were seen as craftsmen instead of the modern stereotype of the egotistical crazy.

Before I forget, The Link: http://www.solaas.com.ar/leo/node/6

One of the reasons why this piece continues to intrigue is the fact that although the piece itself is somewhat simplistically constructed, the ideas are established compellingly enough so that they stay in my mind afterwards. I am interested to see the work of a person who focuses on bridging the connections between mediums (text and images) in a format that is not normally considered artistic (the Internet). Words have the potential to be visual and now I see that they can be architectural, active (like active voice in English class), and living.

#1,2,3,4,5 Rachel Rieder: Don't Trash Art

One man’s art is another man’s trash, yet in the 5 images of artwork that I chose, collaborators Tim Noble and Sue Webster have created art OUT OF trash. Their sculptures originally appear to be discarded piles of rubbish, yet when a light is shown on them properly, they unveil their secret. Each creation’s shadow tells a story; revealing that things are not what they may originally seem to be, and that art can be found even in the most disgusting dumpster.  Their art is unexpected, yet simultaneously, it evokes an emotion, interest, and contemplation.    In this piece, Noble and Webster create a shadow that turns out to be merely the sum of its parts.  The motorcycle might be merely be made of bolts and scrap metal, yet it yearns for the road.              

        Noble and Webster  actually construct their own shadows. Noble embodies power and strength, while Webster radiates a certain tiredness of spirit. Yet both pieces are constructed out of the same medium: garbage.                                           

Again, Noble and webster utilize trash to create their own shadows. The piled garbage is disgusting, yet it is art because they have created something thought provoking. One wonders what the characters, with their wine an cigarette, are doing, and why they hide behind the trash.

The trash that the pair used in this piece embodies the silhouette that they created from it. The mechanical pieces are old-fashioned and look complicated, while the man looks high tempered, persnickety and endearing.

Noble and Webster yet again portray themselves in an interesting "light".

JeeHyun Choi#2: T-shirts

I hate to soud like I'm advertising, but I think everyone should take a look at this site: www.Threadless.com

I personally think that this is the greatest culmination of just pure brilliance on the web. It is an open community where artists and designers submit their visual ideas and have the viewers pick the best work. The work gets printed on T shirts and are sold internationally. I love browsing through the site because it constantly inspires me and makes me laugh. I think anyone can find a bit of whatever they consider art within the T shirt designs on this website.

JeeHyun Choi #1: From a piece of paper

I used to run a club titled the Oriental Paper Art Club at my high school. It was a huge part of my life and not surprisingly, origami is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the word "art."
Origami as a whole possesses many dimensions that relate to my definition of art; it brings about creativity, beauty, and emotion from both the maker and the viewer. The resulting object, such as the mantis in the picture, is of course the most visble, tangible, and impressing aspect to many people. However to me, it is the process of rendering the object that defines origami as a true form of art. Because every fold that goes into making the objecjt is pivotal to the end result, the maker must have a huge dedication and passion towards the process. One mistake can distort the end result. I have been surprised many times throughout my paper club sessions to find an incredible level of concentration and intensity in the members. Their emotions shows in their posture, faces, and the unmoving eyes. The will for creation and beauty that goes into the art makes the work inevitablely admirable.

01, 02, + 03 - John Haenle: #1) Petah Coyne's Untitled #978 #2) Adolph Gottlieb's Dialogue 1 #3) "No Second Troy"

#1) I first saw this sculpture in an art gallery near my house in Buffalo, NY.  I wish they showed the other side of it too because on the other side are the faces of the two women (who are meant to be the Virgin Mary) who's cloaks you can see in this picture.  I think that it's art because I remember when I saw it, it evoked several different emotions within me, such as calmness and serenity when looking at this side, but a more uneasy feeling when looking at the other side, because the other side isn't as refined as this one.  I think for something to be art, it needs to evoke a feeling in the person viewing it.

#2) I love how this looks like it could be graffiti, or it could be a person with two different colored eyes and a crazy mustache, or whatever the viewer views it as.  Sometimes good art should be able to be viewed from different perspectives.


#3) NO SECOND TROY

by: W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)

Why should I blame her that she filled my days
With misery, or that she would of late
Have taught to ignorant men most violent ways,
Or hurled the little streets upon the great,
Had they but courage equal to desire?
What could have made her peaceful with a mind
That nobleness made simple as a fire,
With beauty like a tightened bow, a kind
That is not natural in an age like this,
Being high and solitary and most stern?
Why, what could she have done, being what she is?
Was there another Troy for her to burn?

"No Second Troy" is reprinted from The Green Helmet and Other Poems.
W.B. Yeats. Dundrum: Cuala Press, 1910.

I feel that art is art, no matter what form the canvas takes. Here for instance, I think the art is in the way Yeats uses the English language, and the image that the poem paints for me while reading it. The individual is the one who decides whether something is art or not. So, I think that anything can be art.

#3 - Asad Jan: Testing the Limits

We must accept that art is subjective, that while there are many forms of art that we may find appealing, there are many that do not. I feel it is important nonetheless that as many forms of art be explored as possible because, in my opinion, it is more important that the artist be satisfied by his work than the viewer. This YouTube clip is a short preview of a the 'Triadic Ballet" by renowned German artist/sculptor/choreographer Oskar Schlemmar. I find it completely bizarre, but choose to acknowledge it as art in a different medium that is a product of immense creativity and innovation. Hitler, however, found it degenerate and banned his art in Nazi Germany. My favourite part of the clip is from 1:06 to 1:31 (I couldn't find any more of the dance with the disc costumes online - there are some other parts of it that are fantastic).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMDtwC76HjA&feature=related

(I don't know why the entire link isn't appearing on the blog, but the last word of the URL is 'related', not 'relat')

02- Lydia Magyar: Nitrozac's Dogcow and her Puppies

01- Lydia Magyar: William Wegman's Weimaraners

#2 - Asad Jan: No one (can get in the way of what I'm feeling)

Art needs to evoke emotion and make you think about the subject matter. This piece genuinely makes me sad - the poor fellow looks miserable. At the same time I try to picture what kind of a face he is making had he not been wearing the clown's make-up. The painting as a whole is ironic because after all he is a clown, he's not meant to be a killjoy.

#1 - Asad Jan: Truck Art

Not everyone has access to an easel and oils, photography equipment and the like. Truck and bus drivers in Pakistan manage to find their own way to express themselves - by using their livelihood as their canvas. Landscapes, scenes from folklore and Pakistani heritage are most usually depicted on every surface.While the vehicle may end up looking like quite an eye-sore, I find it significant that people to whom 'good' art is of no consequence still find an outlet of expression and, I would call it art for the reason that it is a means for the common man to exercise talent and perpetuate culture.

#3 - Lauren Reimnitz: Escher dragon

Escher is one of my favorite artists because he uses repetition of seemingly simple designs to create very complex and twisted images (somewhat like the Dali image I posted of Galatea of the Spheres). Art should be creative and occasionally be used to create images that normally would not be possible. Escher embodies these in creating a style of art in which he uses illusion. 

#2- Lauren Reimnitz: Galatea of the Spheres (Salvador Dali)

This piece is named Galatea of the Spheres, created by Salvador Dali. This is one of my favorite of Dali's works of art. I like that he uses a repetition of spheres to create the image of the woman he loves, Gala. In doing so, the artwork is basically mathematical and repetitive, yet the spheres are construed and colored in such a way that they give form to the image of a seemingly bare-shouldered Gala, who is turning her head in closing her eyes in some sort of emotion that makes one wonder. Art should sometimes surprise others and make them wonder. This work of art invokes a lot of questions about the intentions of the artist.

#1 - Lauren Reimnitz: Yosemite Reflection

This is a picture I took while backpacking in Yosemite Park, California. I think that art includes a capability to  recognize beauty in nature and capture it with a camera/canvas. In this photograph, a mountain and its surrounding trees are reflected in a lake, casting a mirror image. Part of the beauty in this image are the contrasting shades of  blue in the sky and in the lake.

#2 - Ephraim Dagadu: Magnetosphere Visualizer

Art should evoke some type of emotion. What that emotion is differs from person to person. I consider this Magnetosphere visualizer image, as well as all other visualizer images, art because it evokes the emotions of happiness, peacefulness, and euphoria from me using an abstract array of colors and patterns.

#1 - Ephraim Dagadu: Watermelon Flower

This is one of the works of Takashi Itoh. Instead of using stone or ice to carve sculptures, he uses watermelons as his medium. Art should be innovative and re-frame how we look at things. It should show us something that we never would have realized otherwise. What is an ordinary fruit for one becomes a way to express the beauty of nature for another.

#3 - Caitlin Clark - Everyday Art

As I was walking to class today I passed by a pile of discarded cardboard boxes and it made me think that maybe someone saw them and thought they were, in some odd way, beautiful. When I reached my class and entered the building, I again wondered if someone viewed the combination of materials as a building purely for purpose and not as a work of art. My morning adventures led me to the assertion that only individuals through their own preferences are able define something as 'art'. Our opinions are undeniably diverse and so are our definitions of art. Here is a picture I found of a field of flowers in striped pattern. Obviously, a natural landscape would lack such direct patterns but I picked it because the picture could possibly demonstrate how someone views their surroundings as art. For some, the natural patterns stick out and they see an unprecedented beauty the human hand alone cannot create. For others, trash along the street or discarded items could be art... it all depends on the viewers prefrences

Meleha Ahmad #2: Diatoms

This is a larger colored version of a black and white picture that I found a few years ago in a dictionary, under the term “Diatoms.” Diatoms are a group of unicellular organisms belonging to the Kingdom, Protoctista. They originate from the early Jurassic Period. I think that diatoms are the perfect proof that art is natural, that it comes from a higher power. Although this picture is slightly blurry, it is clear that each diatom has its own beauty, with a design so intricate that not even an electron microscope can capture. I also think that just the way each diatom is separate from each other, but exists in a colony like this one, every person is separate from the other, but somehow must coexist with the other in order to prosper.

#2- Caitlin Clark- Caveman Drawing

-Found in a cave in France depicting a man being attacked by a bison

Although this is a primitive caveman drawing, it is an expression by the artist. There is no realistic features of this piece but I hold it in equally high regard as what we deem today as masterpieces simply because it conveys so much to the viewers. The characters acting out the most basic conflict of man v. nature, the dominance of the bison and the overemphasis on the sexual organs give us insight to the culture with which this group of people lived and some of the daily struggles they were forced to survive. Chronologically one of the first, I feel that this work, in all its simplicity, defines art not by its intricacy, or technique, but because the artist created it as a form of expression.

I can imagine artists simply creating on a whim with no real inspiration, simply throwing things together. Is that still art? I say yes, because at that moment the artist was then expressing his boredom or potentially apathy. There has to be a reason for someone to create, even if that reason isn't readily conveyed through their work, I still deem it a defining point of art.

John Haenle - A little further

#1- Caitlin Clark: sidewalk art

This is a series of works by Julian Beever. All of the images are created with simple sidewalk chalk with extremely skewed proportions so that from the right angle they appear completely lifelike. They stand as definite pieces of artwork and demonstrate that art can be created anywhere within the artist imagination, having the potential to inspire people from all walks of life. The crowded, flawed sidewalks became a canvas for Beever as well as a display for all that passed. I view art as something that has the ability to affect its viewer in someway. From the rushed businessmen to the homeless, Beever's creations evoke some sort emotion. Some may feel surprised or overwhelmed with wonder while others ultimately may find inspiration--all of which are responses and demonstrative of the effects of art.

Ariel Isaacs #1: Hopi Rug

To make art, there is a level of skill involved. There needs to be both vision and progression, but there also needs to be work. I chose this rug as an example of something that is art because, although it is very traditional and in few ways revolutionary, there is an aesthetic beauty in its creation. Whoever made it worked very hard on it, and had a concrete vision of what they were trying to accomplish. Not all art needs to be revolutionary, there is something to be said for tradition.

Ariel Isaacs #2: Maus

Maus is a graphic novel written by Art Speigleman about the Holocaust. I think that it is art because it made people think and portrayed this terrible event in human history in a new way. In using animals to portray groups of people, he allows people to feel comfortable confronting history in a new way. It was also a very personal experience for him, and the fact that the book is a very personal piece makes it art.

Ariel Isaacs #3: Gustav Moreau, Prometheus

This is a painting by the French symbolist painter Gustav Moreau. I saw it when I went to the Moreau museum in Paris. To me, this painting is a work of art because of the new interpretation it brings to a familiar story, the story of Prometheus. The painting shows an eagle eating his liver as he sits imprisoned on a hill. The artist portrays Prometheus looking stoically in the distance and litters the rest of the painting with obscure symbols. Though I do not know what the artist's intention was in putting in every detail (and, the question can be raised if the intention even matters), to me, the level of detail and the way in which he portrays this familiar story makes this painting a work of art. He is clearly saying something about human nature.

Meleha Ahmad #1: Hundertwasser

I think art challenges you to question the norms that society, so stealthily, instills in you. It forces you to a more primitive state of mind, untainted by what is and what is not “normal” or “physically possible.” It begs you to ask the question: why not? Why can’t the world be a colorful place like the one shown in Hundertwasser’s painting, “The 30 Day Fax Picture.” Why can’t a man be larger than a building? Why can’t he have two (super-imposed) heads? Why can’t trees grow on top of buildings? Art enables you to create a world in which these questions don’t need to have scientific answers; where anything is probable.

#3 - Oona Curley: Richard Serra

This is a picture I took at the Richard Serra exhibit at the MoMA this summer. I remember walking through his sculptures and suddenly looking at my experiences of life in general in a very different way. It made me feel much smaller, just because of the hugeness of the sculpture, but also somehow contained or guided by something bigger, something communal. Something more important. I think that art allows you to look at your life in different ways and reassess your values and ideas.

01 - Rassi: Banksy's {Soldier-Beth,Flower,Girl-TV,Pissing Guard}

Banksy's drawings for the most part immediately elicit a strong emotional response from the viewer. I feel as if one needs to view a few examples of his work to get a sense of his style; I'll briefly comment on four of my favorite street drawings of his around London."Something is wrong with this picture." A number of Banksy's pieces explore the same theme involving a soldier and a young girl. Innocence certainly has relevance here.
(Disregarding that traffic lines aren't painted with rollers) Ever become bored of the repetition of your daily 9-5 routine? Have you ever taken a risk to put a smile on someone's face?
He did a really good job capturing her facial expression in this one. Personally, I feel the message being conveyed here is the strongest of those out of the four.
Not every day you find a Queen's Guardsman taking a piss on the side of a building. Note his stern glare.

03 - Asia Del Bonis: Axis: Bold As Love

Artists are bold and they take risks. If they weren't this way, all art would look the same. The world would be boring and everyone would strive to mimic one style. Look, listen and learn about many types of art. Doing so feeds the imagination and one can develop their own unique creativity.  

#2 - Oona Curley: Art is Life

I really like this quote. I like that it highlights the fact that art is sort of way of life. Art is unavoidable. It is how we express ourselves, even if that is simply in breathing. So much of what we do naturally, on a day to day basis, is beautiful, and is some sort of manifestation of how we think and feel. I think that its very possible to live art.

#1 - Oona Curley: The blank canvas

Out of pure curiosity, I googled "What is art?" and this was the first image that came up. I've never really entirely understood the blank canvas as a work of art. I think that art is the expression of a feeling, which helps explain the huge spectrum of the things that we choose to call art. Since human emotion is so varied, so is the art that humans produce. I suppose that the blank canvas shows us that art doesn't have to be impressive (anyone could paint an entire canvas one color), but it has to say something, it has to convey an emotion. Simplicity can still be beautiful.

Ju Li Khing: #3 Anime Art

I believe that this drawing shows that anime is more than just another type of cartoon for children (and many adults, albeit secretly:) Anime conveys subtle emotions and a certain casual elegance that makes for a very attractive combination. This picture radiates a sort of sad tranquility; we are drawn to her face almost immediately, even though the piece is full of elements. The lock of hair across her face makes it as if she had been interrupted and was looking up suddenly. There is movement in the piece from the long, flowing silvery webs stretched across the picture, and the dark clouds in the background that seem to move towards each other. I feel as though I could stare at this picture all day and continue discovering new elements within the picture.

Ju Li Khing: #2 Does This Look Familiar?

This picture was taken by my sister, the avid photographer of nature, in a park in Malaysia. She managed to highlight the beauty of a simple flower that is often overlooked amidst the other plants in the park. Note, especially, the insect on the flower. It is subtle, yet with it the picture has all the elements of a complete garden. This picture may look like any other picture of a flower, but how often is it that we take the time to actually notice such flowers in real life?

(They really do exist outside photos like this)

03- Janice Kim: Vigee-Le Brun's Self Portrait in a Straw Hat

For me, art is something that can be interpreted in many different ways depending on the viewer's age, sex, emotional state, etc. When I saw this painting I was in a very self-doubting and insecure state, so the artist's confident depiction of herself was strikingly beautiful. I somehow felt as if she was challenging me! :)

02- Janice Kim: Hoogstraten's peepshow

This peepshow has one open side that shows what is painted in the inside of the box, and two peepholes on the other sides that are closed. The painting seen from the open side looks absurd, as the angles together do not make any sense. But seen from the peepholes, the whole box turns into a very real, three dimensional house. For me, art is also math and science :)

01- Janice Kim: Monet's Water-Lilies

For me, art is human's reinterpretation of nature. Monet's water lilies do not look a lot like real water lilies, but they're how Monet saw and recreated them to be. And they are beautiful :)