Final- paper sculpture project notes

The idea of making a flat and plain material into something three-dimensional and interesting is an amazing result. I wanted to experience this amazement so I decided to work with only printer paper and see how this plain material that we use every day to print our documents can turn itself into something artistic and beautiful.  As for the design, I went on the internet and looked for interesting shapes that you can make out of paper (origami-like) and so I found this diamond/ spiral shaped design. After I made 10 copies of the design, I decided to work a little bit with it and see what I can make. The result was the design below.

If I have another chance to make this again, I would make it bigger than life-size and hung from the ceiling almost like a chandelier.  I like pieces that are hung; it gives this elegant feeling especially to my piece. I really liked how my piece turned out. The photo that really shows illusion and shows another side of my project is the last one. I made my piece spin and took photos and as you can see that was really effective.



                                             

Harvey B. Grantt Center 4/28

Harvey B. Grantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture.

Woman Washing Clothes by Charles H. Alston, oil on pastel on paper, 30.5"x20.5" ca. 1970.

In this drawing, I was surprised to find bold black outlines. Most artists try to avoid even thin black outlines to let objects in the drawings or paintings become three-dimensional. However, in this drawing, Alston did not have a problem making the woman and the pot three-dimensional. The black bold lines also made the subjects pop from the background. The pop effect worked well, because the woman's skin color is the same as the background.

My Mother Told Me I am Chinese; painting lesson, Maria Magdalena, polaroid prints.

I think this artwork grabbed every viewer's attention. First of all, it was bigger than life-size, and second of all, it was realistic looking, which makes you want to relate to the subject in the work. The artwork also gave me the feeling of unity between two ethnicities/races: African-American and Chinese. I also love the meaning behind the white pigment that is spread all over the African-American girl's skin. It gives the viewer a message that the girl is trying to be convinced that she is Chinese because her mother told her so.

Political poster project notes

I chose this theme because I am a Palestinian, its in my blood. Palestine is still a political issue till this day--Palestinians still struggle to live in peace in Palestine. I also wanted to express my nationality in a different way this time. First, I tried it with a T-shirt with a Kuffiya pattern and now I expressed Palestine by using a famous icon--Hanzala. I really liked the idea of alternating a famous icon to get my point across.

Like you said I should tell the viewers what is Hanzala waiting for. I should add this message on the poster "Waiting for peace..." in Palestine which is shown by the colors of the flag I should not add the word "Palestine". I should figure out a way to make my viewers familiarized with this icon without me describing what is this icon, or how famous it is, which will be a little difficult but I will try.

                                                     

Student Union DIGITALLY INCLINED2 4/19

The compass by Karen Pierce
 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/catch-rosie/5137735929/

I liked this photograph very much. There is an illusion of the girl as if she is lifted by the balloons, but I think if the quantity of the balloons were a little more it would’ve reinforced this idea. May be even change the color of the balloons to white to match the background of the picture, which is the sky. I know that it is not a critique and that it is already displayed in a gallery to be judged, but I just want to write about what I think about this image. My drawing teacher used to say: "never draw the subject of your drawing in the center of your paper because your drawing will be too fixed and rigid". She always advised us to draw a still life from a different angle. In this image the subject, the girl, is in the center. I think that if she took the photo while the girl is on the edge of the picture frame it would've been more interesting to look at.

BFA Show in Rowe Arts 4/14



http://nsgarris.blogspot.com/2010/09/taking-out-last-nights-sorrow.html



The work that was most interesting in style was Nicholas Garris' Those Modern Evangelicals. His style is different in the way he draws, applies his colors and how he works with the texture and composition of his work. Also, his titles for the works are most interesting. There was a work for him that I saw in the last visit in Rowe arts where he drew a man throwing trash in the garbage bin in daylight and the title was "Taking out last night’s sorrow". Who knew that you can also be artistic in the way you title your work. The title also could change the viewer's preconceived thought of the painting. I plainly thought he was throwing trash in the garbage bin. That is what he is realistically doing, but there is a symbolic meaning behind it.

Project notes/ brainstorm

This is my topic (finally) the domino effect / revolution in the Middle East. I will do a video of the domino effect that we all know, where the domino pieces one after the other. I will make the dots of the domino pieces match the colors of the tunisian, libyan, egyptian, syrian,... flags. (The rest of the countries who are protesting for their soon-to-be democratic nation. I will make some dominoe pieces resistant to the push that begins the fall of the dominoes because some nations have not achieved what they wanted from the government. Its going to be on video.

CHANGED THE WHOLE IDEA ( MY NEW PROJECT NOTES IS MADE ON 4/26)

Daniel Joseph Martinez and Wenda Gu 4/14

Text notes

Daniel Joseph Martinez

- What is the work about? His work is mostly about exposing political, economical and social issues in the world of today. He wants people to express their suppressed feeling about such issues.

- How does he provoke the viewers? By exposing issues that affect people today.  That helps people relate to what he is trying to help them expose.

- What does he expose? People’s feelings about social, economical and social issues.

- Has his work inspired change? Social, political, economical change? I don’t think so, but however there was one positive outcome which was an anniversary for the artwork that the minority students held.

Wenda Gu

- What is attractive or repulsive about his work? The repulsive part about his work is the medium he used for the Oedipus Refound series. However, the medium he used for the United Nations-China Movement: Temple of Heaven (1998) was a genius move. Hair as a symbol of unity. This artwork was not like any other work I have ever seen. It makes you feel (even though I just read about it) the aesthetics of unity by making the viewers from different ethnicities feel the same feeling of frustration when they see the work because the writings are pseudo-scripts of the languages included.

- Is it political? Why? Yes because his work is reflecting on unification between different ethnicities by using the human body as a solution.

- What is his goal through his art? His goal is to show viewers that we are all one. (In short, Unity between different nationalities).

-Has he gone too far? Yes. For the sake of accomplish his goal he is willing to impregnate one woman from each continent is a bit too much. There will be no unification between people anyway. Symbolically yes. Having kids that are multiracial, but in reality people will still discriminate against people who look different including his "multiracial kids" (not yet).