Consumption Project Notes

In my sketchbook I started to list the things that we consume on a daily basis and a list of wearable things. Then I would match the consumed goods that go with a specific wearable thing. I matched the hat with the bulb because it symbolizes me getting an idea. Then, I used a cable cord that was cut to show the insides of the cord. The cable cord symbolized my brain. The  circuits were painted yellow to show that the brain is connected to the bulb but not physically. I hope that the viewer made that assumption before I talked about my project. 


This is an explanation for my project that I  presented in the critique. At home I decided to work on it a little more because I was not pleased with the result. I think that there was too much going on so I decided to concentrate on one object (which is the bulb) and reinforce it with the use of repetition. 


Explanation for my final result (shown in the pictures in my post)


My final piece criticizes, in a humorous way, how we waste energy (light) today. 


-We only need one bulb when we get an idea yet we still have other lighted bulbs that are not in use. 

Edward Burtynsky and Annie Leibovitz

Daily class notes

Edward Burtynsky

Edward's China pictures, I think, spoke to every person in the class. I think he was trying to show how industries enslave those workers. They have a dorm and wear uniforms to even heighten the idea. It made me want to go there and ask them how they feel every morning when they walk into the factory doing the same job every day. The pictures also show how much we rely on goods that are mostly made in China. In China, there are many factories full of equipments that fill rooms to make goods that would suffice most of humanity.

Yes, his other photographs were horrid and disturbing, but he still captured reality without any manipulation of the contents in his photographs, which I find amazing. He finds art in what he sees and takes photos. I think that Edward has the creative eye. I call people who approach art in a different and unexpected way as having the "creative eye"—his eyes see the beauty of what most of us would find repulsive.

Annie Leibovitz

Annie's unmanipulated pictures such as the photos of Mick Jagger's concert had a flowing composition, which I find hard to do if the subjects and objects were not arranged by me. She automatically knows which picture is going to be the perfect picture. The qualities of the pictures are also very high and beautiful. In her photos you see movement, emotion, innovation, and creativeness. I am looking forward to adopting some of her amazing talent of approaching the world in a creative way.

Mint museum visit on 2/17

Daily class notes

The museum was great. So great that I told my family to go visit it. Some works made me see a new side in making art. Preston Singlefary, for example, made a hand blown glass plate that was engraved with a lizard and other shapes and the shadow of that piece had the exact image that was engraved on the glass. So he made use of the shadow that was casted by his piece. Danny Lane's piece was also amazing. It made me think of a rainbow where its colors were made from colorful objects rather than just plain colors. In my opinion the best piece was by Nicholas Arroyave, the "Slashed Piece". It was a piece of clay that was covered with fabric. The fabric was actually slashed with the piece of clay. You can see the inside of the clay piece. It was a clay piece with an unusual and unexpected texture. I like to see common objects approached in an unusual way and that's why his piece grabbed my attention. The material of the fabric also helped show depth of the shapes that are made on the piece.

Nicholas Arroyave- portela, Slashed Piece

Photograph: http://www.jra.org/Get%20Involved/Trips.htm

Thomas Kinkade and Vanessa Beecroft text notes/ Project notes

Project notes/ proposal

In my sketchbook I started to list the things that we consume on a daily basis and a list of wearable things. Then I would match the consumed goods that go with a specific wearable thing. For example, my first idea was to put a light bulb on a hat to symbolize me getting an idea for this project. My fake proposal is similar to this idea. My work is going to be done on sunglasses. The lenses are going to have scenes of what we see daily on television like war, violence, protests and etc. The frames of the lenses are going to have the shape of a television. The scenes are going to be either on the front or back of the lenses. The scenes are going to be arranged next to each other like a collage.

Text Notes

Thomas Kinkade

1. Why did the artist choose these common or popular themes as subjects for his paintings?

2. Which audience is he targeting when making these paintings?

3. Why do the descriptions for both paintings mention “dimensions variable"?

It was interesting to read about an artist who pleases the public with his artworks rather than pleasing himself. Most of the time artists do their best to express themselves in their artworks. However, Kinkade broke that status-quo and followed another status-quo: painting traditional themes such as cottages, garden, waterfalls, bridges, and mountains. These themes or subjects appeal to the majority, because they don't have to think about the meaning of the paintings and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. I also wanted to say that he gained popularity and money in a little amount of time. I think this is the difference between some artists and Kinkade. Some artists and Kinkade have the same goals (popularity and money) but they achieve them in different speeds.

Answers for the three questions

1. Because the artist wants to get the attention of of the majority that appreciate the popular themes of art.

2. People who appreciate common themes of art.

3. Because there are multiples of Thomas Kinkade's works and these multiples come in various sizes or dimensions.

Three questions that prove my critical and creative thinking

1. What was his goal? Fast and convenient way of gaining popularity and money?

2. Who sees the works as coveted (mentioned in the reading)? The artist or the consumer? Coveted enough to make the artist place his own highlight? 

3. Is he planning on expressing himself in an artwork?

Vanessa Beecroft

1. What is the point of the artwork?

2. Is she reinforcing the idea of women being objectified?

3. What is the viewer supposed to gain from this artwork?

At first I was trying to convince myself with the idea that she made this performance art to symbolize her confusion with the surrounding search of herself. Then I shifted to the idea that she constructed this artwork to show the media-constructed standards that women measure themselves daily and I think that she was reinforcing that idea. The female audience will not change the way they judge themselves due to this artwork. The reading mentioned information about her work, display, audience expectations, how she chose the audience for her artwork. In the last paragraph, the author was trying to show how unbalanced she was and that she did not have a final, stable and convincing answer to why she chose this media for an artwork. I like the idea that she did a series of her work in different countries. She matched the theme of each group of models with the setting they were in. But what is she trying to convey with all of this. I want to know her point of view. To me, I think that she placed these models to show how hard most women work on their appearances to get to that perfect media-constructed look.

Answers for the three questions

1. I think that the artwork's point was to show how hard women work on themselves to get to that "perfect" state and that the number of models reinforced that idea.

2. I think yes.

3. For me, media affects our appearance, daily lives and actions.

Three questions that prove my critical and creative thinking

1. Is she planning to make artworks that show the negative effects of plastic surgery (when plastic surgery is not necessary)? I think this would be a great idea for her next work.

2. If she lessened the number of models would her work be as strong?

3. If she added a woman who doesn’t look as "perfect" as the models in the composition what would that add to her artwork? It could be a psychological experiment where the audience can become the participant of the experiment and Beecroft can record the results and place them next to the artwork.

Rowe Building: Students' Artworks 2/10/11

Daily class notes

My least favorite artwork was the "yes you can" graphic design/ digital print. The overflow of objects in the artwork made it look crammed and the color scheme was not well chosen. The gridded background didn't add anything to the piece. I think that he could have made the gridded background useful by making
 it smaller as it goes farther from view to give dimension to the piece.


My favorite artwork or artworks were by Sara Catapand (I hope I got her last name right): "Functionally/ Non-functional Clay" and the "Inverted Series". The viewer automatically gets the "wow" expression. The 1st artwork was beautiful and very attention grabbing. The texture of the clay piece was unexpected. You expect to see a smooth textured clay vessel. Yet, her piece had this spikiness that makes you not want to touch it, but admire the technique that was used. The colors (turquoise and golden yellow) were very elegant together. The way the colors were applied to the piece was genius. The turquoise was on the ends of the spikes while the golden yellow was at the roots. Then at the bottom of the clay piece, as the spikes got smaller, the golden yellow was plainly used to signify that something was happening at the bottom. The inverted series were also unique in style: a detailed spiked texture but from the inside. However,  I would rather have her works displayed next to each other rather than separating them.

Project #2: Consumption

List of consumables for one hour:
Water, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, towel, lotion, light, clothes, tea, cereal, gas, car, cell phone, TV, and i-pod.

List of consumables for a day:
Water, soap, light, toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, lotion, cereal, (food), tea. music, deodorant, furniture, perfume, roller skates, cell phone, shampoo, conditioner, washing machine, drying machine, i-pod, TV, computer, car, gas, heat and air conditioning.

These products come from many factories and industries from around the world. We need these products for entertainment, transportation, communication, hygiene and survival.

-Entertainment products can cost up to 700 dollars.
-A car can cost up to 15,000 dollars.
-Communication devices can cost up to 500 dollars.
-Hygiene products cost 40 dollars total (minimum). (Washing and drying machine can cost up to 600 dollars).
-Food, energy,water, light, and heat can cost up to 1000 dollars (minimum).

Identity Project Notes

Whenever there is a chance to represent myself in a project, I always choose the Palestinian theme. Maybe it is a bad thing to stick to one theme, but I don’t see it that way. Because the composition, medium and content changes in each artwork. For example, in drawing two we had to do a diorama of any theme and then draw what we see using color pencils. My theme was about the process of making the Palestinian traditional clothing. May be the work about my Palestinian culture can become a series of some sort. I also wanted to say that I chose my nationality as a theme, because I like to share information about my culture and traditions.

I loved how my identity project turned out. I got the idea of combining the flag with a section from the Palestinian traditional clothing in class when we were watching the "Art of the 21st Century". I remembered my drawing teacher when she used to tell us to sketch anything that comes to our minds while we are watching the art of the 21st century. So while I was watching art of the 21st century in Concept Studio, I started to sketch ideas for my identity project. Then, I found the perfect idea. At home, I sketched how my piece should look, implemented details, and chose the medium. I was going to buy different colored fabric and yarn to make the details, but then I thought why not use something that represents Palestine (keffiyeh) instead of using yarn for my details. This way it will make my piece more harmonious and coherent with my theme. Finally, I got the final look on my sketch book and started to make my identity project. Here is the result.

My sketches

As I worked on my project my design kept on changing to a more simpler version .

I took the section at the top as a base for my shirt's design