artwhat.

The Ancient Near East

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 05:27:05 -0500

The Sumerians are the first sign of civilization; early peoples give up the dangerous and uncertain life of the hunter/gatherer for the more permanent life of the farmer/herder. Civilization was arranged in city states; they had a code of laws, currency, and value the good of the community over the family (for example, you could not kill a man for family honor because it would damage the community as a whole).

This is also the first instance of written documents; the Sumerian language was made up of pictographs - pictures that indicated words, the early precursor to the hieroglyph. The most famous document found is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which told the story of the King of Uruk.

Unknown, Stonehenge, ca. 2550 - 1600 BCE Megalithic structure,...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 04:39:05 -0500

Unknown, Stonehenge, ca. 2550 - 1600 BCE

Megalithic structure, meaning big stone

Circle is 97’ in diameter, trilithons 24’ high

a ‘henge’ is arrangement of mega stones in a circle + surrounded by a ditch

inside rings are ‘blue stone’ and surround a horse shoe

includes a ‘heel stone’ - a marking stone, marks the spot where the sun rose in the summer solstice; stonehenge is an astronomical observatory, and is remarkably accurate to solar calendar

not sure how they got there since their weight is tremendous; the stones are from Wales

Unknown, Human Figure, (6750-6450 BCE) these figures were...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:53:05 -0500

Unknown, Human Figure, (6750-6450 BCE)

these figures were ritualistically buried

marks the beginnings of monumental artwork; this figure is much larger than the venus of willendorf

the ‘can’t take it with you’ nature reveals some sort of permanent dwelling

Unknown, Hall of Bulls (ca. 15,000 - 13,0000) this was painted...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 03:07:06 -0500

Unknown, Hall of Bulls (ca. 15,000 - 13,0000)

this was painted over time; not representing one particular artist

common subject matter for this era is animals; perhaps serves as a guide for hunters; how to identify different animals, etc.

animals were thought to possess magical properties; performed ritual dances near the paintings to give them luck in hunting; this particular form of reverence came from the fact that their livelihood depended on the food from animals (clothing, building homes, tools from bones, TOTAL USE of the animal) meat/skin/bones

Unknown, Spotted horses and negative hand prints (ca. 22,000...

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:20:06 -0500

Unknown, Spotted horses and negative hand prints (ca. 22,000 BCE)

negative handprints indicate the use of blowpipes to spray the pigment; this is one of the earliest signatures/identification of self there are

200 sites where cave paintings have been found; this one is located at Peche-Merle, France.

red and yellow ochre (natural material used to paint, ground into fine powder/pigment and mixed with water) used reeds and twigs as brushes, and large flat stones to mix and grind paints, like a palette.

Unknown, Venus of Willendorf , (ca. 28,000 - 25,000...

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 16:10:06 -0500

Unknown, Venus of Willendorf , (ca. 28,000 - 25,000 BCE)

limestone is hard, brittle, and difficult to carve; it is a native material to austria

arbitrary name’

named by location and after ‘venus’ greco/ROMAN goddess of love. venus is typically the only goddess depicted as nude, also the ‘ideal beauty’

likely a fertility figure; emphasis on the volume and sexual areas of figure (breasts, pubic area); most prehistoric figures were mostly of women and mostly nude

consider size: since it’s small, it’s portable; the people are nomadic food gatherers, so it’s very important to take art with them

up next on artwhat

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:58:13 -0500

alright, my summer break comes to a close in around two weeks so it’s time to attend to artwhat again.

what you see here is the entirety of my notes from western art ii, which covered the early renaissance to modern day. in the next few weeks, i’ll be dumping all my notes from western art i, starting with paleolithic europe, just so the complete, broad picture is out there.

i’m starting on my major once the fall semester starts up, so what i’ll be posting will be pretty narrow from then on. in the next few months i’ll be dumping all my renaissance history notes, and who knows what class i’ll get into next semester.

enjoy!

Barbara Kruger, We Won’t Play Nature to your Culture,...

Tue, 10 May 2011 13:00:49 -0500

Barbara Kruger, We Won’t Play Nature to your Culture, 1983

third wave feminist art

kruger worked in the publishing industry and started to take commercial images and undermines them with text

leaves it open ended by using pronouns – ‘we’ and ‘your’

challenges expected gender norms

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974 – 1979 emphasis on the...

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:58:48 -0500

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1974 – 1979

emphasis on the female anatomy

monumental dinner table; each side of the triangle is 48 feet, with 13 place settings for a total of 39 important women in history

collaboration between artists from CalArts in media that had traditionally not been recognized as fine arts, such as fiber, ceramics, and metalworking

each place setting tailored to the style of art in which each of these women lived, and each plate is an abstraction of a vagina

example of second wave feminist art

Ana Mendieta, Untitled Work from the Tree of Life Series,...

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:56:30 -0500

Ana Mendieta, Untitled Work from the Tree of Life Series, 1976

often lumped in with the earthworks artists because it has a natural touch performed and photographed in a natural setting

literally covered in earth and posing against a large tree; photographed in iowa and mexico

she was born in cuba and emigrated to the united states at an early age.

This pose is the errant pose; typical of early Christian art. She is communing with spirits, and making connections between her body and nature.

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1969 – 1970 uses natural...

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:54:38 -0500

Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, 1969 – 1970

uses natural materials found on site and manipulates them to create a design that is obviously man made

in the Great Salt Lake in Utah; has an apocalyptic feel to it

interested in entropy, which is the idea that the natural order of the world is that things are moving toward disorder, chaos, and decay; that’s why he chose a place where there is very little life and desolate

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Running Fence, 1972 –...

Tue, 10 May 2011 12:53:17 -0500

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Running Fence, 1972 – 1976

Collaborate to create monumental temporary work placed in a natural setting

Only up for a couple of weeks

A continuous sheet of fabric running through the California countryside; spanned two counties: Sonoma and Marin

24 1/2 miles long and 18 feet high

took them 4 years to negotiate with 59 private ranches to get permission; also had to prepare a 450 page environmental page impact statement; they wanted the end of the fence to go into the ocean, and there was quite a bit of concern about how that would impact the local marine life

prompt the viewer to see the world with fresh eyes by transforming it in a whimsical way, if only for a few weeks

Post Modernism

Wed, 04 May 2011 20:07:14 -0500

Post modernism literally means ‘after modernism’; strange, because we usually use modern as a word to describe something of the now, new, and fresh. However, this is a case of capitalization; Modernism is a specifically historical period that describes a set of values – enlightenment thinking, emphasis on logic and reason, and that truth can be discovered through progress.

The modern world view leads to different things, like the industrial revolution; it is premised on the value of progress, and that industry and technology can bring us all a different way of life. This is a modern idea. Manifest Destiny is also an example of this ‘modern’ ideology; that by expanding westward, this will bring progress to the nation and the uncharted territory.

Modern art starts with the Romantics; they were the first to shun the academy and paint current events. The Realists are turning their attentions to contemporary life, and the Impressionists seek to be the painters of modern life in both content and form. Greenburg is the epitome of a modern critic with his theory that art follows a mainstream that promotes progress and truth.

Most Post Modern thinkers recognize the value of the Modern view, but they recognize the negatives of progress. For example, while Industrialism brought an overall good, it made life very hard for a large group of people. We now realize that an industrial way of living is destroying the planet. Progress cannot continue running without keeping it in check. There is also not one truth that can be discovered through progress and reason. We live in a far more connected world than our ancestors; it’s important to understand different perspectives. For example, Manifest Destiny constituted progress for the white settlers, but not the indigenous people whose cultures are now almost nonexistent.

In art, Post Modernists challenge the notion there is one truth, one ‘valid’ way to make art or one true aesthetic style or medium. This is called pluralism. There is not just one artist identity. They also challenge Greenburg’s mainstream. Artists start embracing a multitude of different materials, processes, narratives, etc. in their work. This is also the first time that identity politics comes into play – we start seeing more female artists accepted and gain success. Also, art history is reexamined, because it was primarily concerned with white men.

Summed up: basically, anything goes.

Bridget Riley, Current, 1964 Technically an op artist (short...

Wed, 04 May 2011 19:59:58 -0500

Bridget Riley, Current, 1964

Technically an op artist (short for optical illusion)

Is minimalist in the way that the paintings deny expressive qualities; use hard edges and smooth surfaces, but remain abstract

Looks three dimensional, but is completely flat

Still technically an abstract arrangement lines; doesn’t use traditional painting techniques (like perspective); instead, the lines give the illusion of volume

Eva Hesse, Rope Piece, 1970 activates the space and reinforces...

Wed, 04 May 2011 19:56:44 -0500

Eva Hesse, Rope Piece, 1970

activates the space and reinforces the three dimensional form

almost taking the expressive aesthetic of Pollock and making it literal; could be interpreted as his drips, but in three dimensions.

Considered a post minimalist; while she shares some similarity with minimalists, she challenges typical conventions.

Uses a lot of natural materials; if the materials are synthetic, then she uses them in such a way to make them look organic.

This is what stands her apart from minimalists; instead of geometric, inorganic shapes, she makes work that is more natural and organic.

Minimalism

Wed, 04 May 2011 19:41:19 -0500

Like pop art, Minimalism critiques Abstract Expressionism, but in a very different way. It is primarily a sculptural movement. Minimalists, like Pop Artists, create objects that are crafted in such a way that they don’t make the hand of the artists present – no expressive brush marks, very smooth surfaces etc. However, they uphold the ‘Greenburgian’ idea in the purity of the medium. Abstract Expressionists asserted the purity of painting by treating the paint like paint. Minimalists approach their work the same way; they reassert the qualities that are specific to sculpture (three dimensional form, volume, mass, weight; tend to be neutral in color, because the material should be pure/true).

However, Greenburg did not approve of minimalism. Minimalism is not really about the object; instead, it is inspired by Gestalt Theory. The theory states that we, as human beings, understand the world through our spacial and visual relationships and experiences which allow us to understand our relationship to our environment. For example, when someone puts something behind their back, we understand that it is behind their back. A baby, however, does not understand this because they have not experienced this yet. They’re not trying to make sculptural objects; they are trying to create art about spacial relationships. They deny the self referentiality and expressionism of Abstract Expressionists.

Michael Freed, student of Greenburg, described Minimalism as ‘theatrical’; it’s contingent upon the viewer. It requires, to some degree, viewer participation and all of their prior visual experience in order to be meaningful. These works are not self referential or self contained. Therefore, they are not pure; they are imitating theater.

Judd, Untitled, 1969 This piece is called Untitled because he...

Wed, 04 May 2011 19:31:17 -0500

Judd, Untitled, 1969

This piece is called Untitled because he did not want to create any symbolic associations.

Every decision that he makes is specifically geared so that the objects themselves have no meaning, because the meaning is not about the objects, but their relationship to their environment.

Made from industrial materials; he has them manufactured to his exact specifications; highly polished steel frames and clear Plexiglas.

Objects are scaled to the human body; an average human being can almost see the top of the boxes but not quite. If they are any smaller, they become objects; if they’re any larger, they become monuments. They function in-between the two.

He wanted to make ‘one thing after another’; he doesn’t just make one object because then it would be an object/sculpture, two would be a pair, three has symbolic meanings (trinity), but four starts a series.

Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) On Caterpillar Tracks, 1969 In...

Mon, 02 May 2011 20:17:20 -0500

Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) On Caterpillar Tracks, 1969

In 1969, the Vietnam War was going on; most of the protests took place at college campuses by college students

Delivered this sculpture, unsolicited, to the office of the resident of Yale; act of guerrilla art; needless to say, this was taken away, but was rebuilt. In the second version, the lipstick was inflatable.

Caterpillar tracks from a tank, and instead of a gun, there is a tube of lipstick; juxtaposition alludes to

Lipstick is an item that is considered a very feminine object, but is put in a very phallic context on top of the tank; a humorous way to criticize the war

Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962 Starts to use celebrities in his...

Mon, 02 May 2011 20:13:48 -0500

Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962

Starts to use celebrities in his work to promote his celebrity images; he often takes photos of them and keeps them around in his studio; ‘The Factory’ became a hang out

In 1962, Monroe committed suicide; this work was started two weeks after her death. The image used in this was from 10 years previous; a publicity shot from her film Niagara, when she was at her prime

At the time of her death, she was ‘too old’ for Hollywood and directors began rejecting her role because of this; she was completely constructed and built by Hollywood, and then they reject her.

Exaggerates her color to exaggerate her artificiality

In the right panel, the ink in the screen is allowed to run out as the image goes down the line until she fades away

Richard Hamilton, Just what is it that makes today’s homes so...

Mon, 02 May 2011 20:10:41 -0500

Richard Hamilton, Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing, 1956

in England, pop artists called themselves the ‘independent group’; they came from a different political climate; Europe was devastated by the war, and thanks to television, America starts to become exported world wide

young artists see this depiction of America’s consumer culture and see a romantic vision of it, and make fun of it as well

collage taken from advertising and other sources

commentary on how commercials make people completely inadequate

canned food on the table; people were forced to eat canned food because there was not a lot of food to go around