Post #11 – Reading and GRQs – Margot Lovejoy – The Camera as Artificial Eye and the Influence of Tools

I thought the camera obscura was a very intriguing invention in its time. While today's cameras are vastly improved versions of this early design, the mechanics of how it captured photographs was very interesting. The long process of wetting a silver plate, installing it into the camera obscura, and waiting until the perfect hour to take the shot. Sometimes, it was not even a perfect shot; It could either be too dark or too bright to make anything out in the shot. 

1.)    Camera obscura, Camera Obscura

2.)    Light-sensitive chemistry

3.)    Daguerreotype

4.)    Negative/Positive

5.)    "Aura"

6.)    Commodity value

7.)    Exhibition value

8.)    Cult value, Cult value

9.)    Photomontage

10.)    Appropriated elements

11.)    Cinematography

12.)    Photomechanical reproduction

13.)    Eadweard Muybridge

14.)    Jules-Etienne Marey

15.)    The Dadaists

16.)    Heartfield

17.)    Walter Benjamin

Post #16 — Lecture — Electronic Media and Performance

Electronic media uses VHS tapes, DVDs, streaming, neon lights, and barcodes, as well as audio and video recordings. Basically, virtual reality becomes more and more realistic. Some examples of shows/films that utilize the concept of virtual reality could be "Sword Art Online," and "Free Guy." These mechanical forms of digital entertainment were often used for the education of the military and law enforcement. Mass media is essentially the worldwide web of social media platforms that are connected via the internet. Walter Benjamin has a lot to say about the television system: "The eye of the camera is different from our own eyes. We have a type of visual interpretation that can be tricked by the screens. The mass consumption of objects can be used for political gain, and can be used to take advantage of the gullibility of humans. I can no longer think what I want to think; my thoughts have been replaced by moving images." He also believed that televisions were stealing the "aura" and authenticity of art pieces through their wide connections across the country. Art is slowly becoming more scientific than philosophical. In short, Benjamin is very skeptical and suspicious of television systems and their uses in this Age of Mechanical Reproduction. An example of political use could be the footage of the first American landing on  the moon. 600,000,000 million people worldwide were glued to their old screens for this moment. This footage would later be uncovered (or rather, rediscovered) and preserved by the U.S. government space agency, NASA. Still, some people deny this footage's reality, as they believe that it is "fake news." Videos and art, when spread across the internet, could be edited to look real, so people are rather skeptical, as Benjamin once was.

DISCUSSION:

The first experimental film, "DISCONNECTED," was an interesting take on how social media affects people. The likes and numbers engraved on the woman's shoulder could be seen as a mark, a burden that some people must bear to make themselves feel more significant. Really, the woman feels unhappy, depressed, and desperate about her online situation. Another experimental film, "Experimental Film," (yes) can be noted for its absolutely confusing visuals that do not give an exact explanation as to what is going on. It keeps the viewers guessing, as there is no definitive, or in-your-face, plot for the film. It could be an alien invasion, the deadliness of drugs and smoking, or the grief of losing a loved one.

Post #10 – Lecture – Photography and Printed Media

    The camera obscura was first used as "optical mechanical aid". In its first few years of use, artists have used it to help in their observation in nature. The way the camera obscura worked was by light passing through its lens (or pinhole) onto transparent paper, upside-down. Personally, I think the physics of how a photograph appears from the camera obscura upside-down is rather peculiar, especially in comparison to today's cameras that take pictures on the right side. Many different camera designs followed this camera obscura. In 1839, Louis Daguerre would invent the daguerreotype, which would receive some "swift negative reactions from conservative circles." 

DISCUSSION:

In the present days, we have removed the criteria of religion in art, but we still utilize the churches and praise the art that were both created back in the days of the Renaissance. We no longer focus solely on perfectly detailed art, and we consider practically anything as art, even an upside-down urinal. Impressionists were people whose abstract art was rejected by the critics at the time. Surrealism was a way of creating fantastical unrealistic art. Back then, we had very limited supplies to create our art. Nowadays, we have plenty of shops to purchase such supplies. Besides, art can be created with simple, everyday objects. Photographs could also be copied with much more ease as Gutenberg's printing press. In sculptures, there is also more movement integrated into sculptures, depicting that the sculpture is more lively. We now have the freedom to create whatever art we wish, using whatever items we choose. 

Post #9 — Reading and GRQs — Renaissance and Modern Art

The Industrial Revolution and its Modern Art --

·       Major changes from 1760 - 1840.

·       New technology.

o   Railroads and steam trains.

o   Bigger and better factories.

o   Mechanized manufacturing and mass-production.

·       Modernism was a “break from the past”.

o   Search for new forms of expression; new ways to make art.

·       Impressionists were people whose art pieces were rejected by the Academia.

o   Created their own galleries.

¾    Claude Monet.

o   Followers of Impressionists would learn of this art style and utilize it to create their own arts.

o   Focused quite a bit on nature.

o   Less “movement” in Impressionist art.

·       Less religious art; leisurely activities and talking about the here-and-now.

o   Light and vibrant atmosphere.

·       Édouard Manet was a massively influential artist for Impressionists.

o   Bar at the Folies-Bergère.

·       Walter Benjamin was a Marxist and German/Jewish philosopher and social critic.

o   Everything he says will influence Modernists.

o   Believed that original art pieces were “losing their aura”.

o   Modern forms of art would only focus on politics, according to him.

·       Clement Greenberg was a controversial, yet influential and important “Formalist”.

o   Some citizens thought he was an amazing artist, and some thought the complete opposite.

o   “Paintings should be two-dimensional,” and, “sculptures should be three-dimensional.”

·       Formalists were art critics who see an image’s value in its visuals, instead of its meaning.

o   Formal analysis.

·       Jackson Pollack was a jerk, but brilliant drip-painter/abstract artist.

·       Abstract Art was a form of art where there is no meaning behind the design of a piece.

o    Intense, light art.

o   Random splatters of paint; they are actually symbolic of differentiation.

·       Surrealism is the idea of creating art that is strange, abnormal, or unrealistic.

o   Salvador Dali becomes insanely famous for his dream-like, unnatural art style.

·       Cubism is an art form where subjects are divided into different sections.

o   Flat (but vibrant) colors and lots of lines; two dimensional figures.

·       Fauvism uses more random paint.

·       Minimalism insists on using very little detail and materials to create a piece.

o   Minimalists’ art was not about meaning.

 

1.)

Post #8 – Lecture – Renaissance Modern and Abstract Art

The Renaissance would begin in Italy, between the 14th and 16th centuries. During this period, the Roman Catholic Church started losing power. People began to question after three popes claimed to be the real pope and started favoring the old Naturalism over following religions. The Renaissance practically spread and influenced other countries like wildfire. The "Three Masters" of this period were Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Oddly enough, Leonardo never documented his experimental paintings and designs. Meanwhile, Michelangelo’s best work has to be "The 16th Chapel", a ceiling full of religious artwork. Raphael was apparently the youngest of the three masters.  Leonardo Da Vinci was one of many "High Renaissance artists" in these days. He worked on creating the deadliest war weapons, despite loving nature and animals, and felt that science and art were together. He would also create the Vitruvian Man in 1490. Michelangelo was a painter, sculptor, poet, and architect who studied what the human body was like. His technique involves applying plaster, drawing cartoons (figures on paper) over the plaster, then patting charcoals along the lines, and painting within the lines. He created The Last Judgement, Battle of the Centaurs, and David, which took four years (from 1401 to 1404) to complete. David soon became Michelangelo’s most famous sculpture, weighing 12,478 lbs.. Raphael studied with the Duke of the Royal’s Court and was most famous for his humanistic paintings: Madonna of the Goldfinch, and The School of Athens. As time pasted, Linear Perspective was expanded upon, presenting mathematically accurate imagery. In early Renaissance art, many forms of art would be learned and experimented with. Pilgrimages were early paintings that showcased what people saw along their journeys. Frescoes were watercolor paintings that showed religious events of the past. Mannerism used rich, bright colors and moved away from realism. The later Industrial Revolution and its Modernistic Art would give birth to major changes from 1760 - 1840. New technology in the forms of  railroads and steam trains would be born from bigger and better factories through mechanized manufacturing and mass-production. Modernism was a “break from the past,” a search for new forms of expression; new ways to make art. Impressionists were people whose art pieces were rejected by the Academia and later created their own galleries full of their abstract art. Abstract art was basically "art that was ahead of its time." Édouard Manet was also a massively influential artist for Impressionists, especially with his own abstract art: Bar at the Folies-Bergère painting. Followers of Impressionists would learn of this art style and utilize it to create their own arts. They focused more on nature, less “movement”, less religion, and more light and vibrant atmospheres in Impressionist art.

DISCUSSION:

Modernism has no true definition, but it mainly suggests "moving on from past traditions". It is a movement, against the Renaissance, to change art. Impressionists were avant-garde artists who would create abstract art, free of religious figures and rules. Walter Benjamin, Marxist and German/Jewish philosopher, would suggest that mass production is removing the "aura" of works of art. Clement Greenburg would state that paintings should be two-dimensional, and sculptures should be three-dimensional. Greenburg also found himself interested in Jackson Pollack's "drip/action painting" and Picasso's depressive painting; abstract art. Little by little, we are eliminating the ways of the Renaissance. Over time, many variants of art would be born from Modernism.