Category: Uncategorized

1. How is Warhol able to turn in “off” and based upon the article does he not care about the work?                         He turns “off” so to speak, by using the nothing-to-lose mentality and to just rely on his own ability and that of all the people he works with. I think he does not care too much about his work. He seems to have an distant relationship with his work, as versed in “that was just to pay rent in the factory” when referring to a certain project. He even repeatedly says the phrase, “It doesn’t really matter” and variations of it throughout the article, both specific to his work and just his philosophy for life in general. He is not pushing a certain meaning or agenda in his works, which he admits with “I’m not trying to educate people to see things or feel things in my paintings.” He cares some because he refers to his creating as “playing becuase work is play when it’s something you like.” Therefore, he cares about his work in that he finds some enjoyment in it, but he does not care about it to the extent that arguably the majority of artists do, in that he does not put his identity into his work and does not push a certain message or feeling through his work.
2. Why is the article relevant to the last project?With the amount of pictures that we had to do, this attitude of “nothing-to-lose” would have been beneficial at at least some part of the process. If we were to get too precious about every picture, we would have never finished on time. We could afford to be that way on at least some of the pictures, probably near the beginning, but to get it done, we needed to do a multitude of shots with some effort in them, but not too much thought. Some of these kinds of pictures actually came out better than the thoroughly planned and emotionally attached ones, and I heard about some other students feeling the same way.

Personal Reflection

1. Do you become self-conscious of your ideas?
   The short answer is not really. I am pretty imaginative and inventive, so I realize I mostly feel confident about my ideas. I feel strong about them and want to see them come to fruition. So that is not really a problem. Where insecurities may arise in the art making process is the beginning of the actual creation of the idea. I suspect that everyone else has more resources than me, more transportation than me, more technical know-how than me. Also, I become very indecisive about choosing the material, or the size of the paper, the “temperature” of the paper, or things like that. However, I do not have time to go down that mental rabbit hole because of the pace of the assignments for this class. And even with art projects outside of this class, I feel that mental thing comes up and gives me some stress, but I kind of ignore it to create the thing. So in making art things for class and my own things alike, I kind of feel strong about my ideas, feel unequipped skill-wise or resource-wise, and it does not feel great, but I then just try to accept that I do not have the money or transportation or know-how as some of my peers, and just try to do what I can with what I do have and learn little tid-bits from my peers along to way. I’m here to learn, not to blow other people away, though I do try to do my best.
2. What do you think of the nothing-to-lose attitude? What are it’s pros and cons?A nothing-to-lose attitude is creating with an attitude of “let’s just explore, just for the sake of, and see what happens.” I think in a world of impassioned, but crippled with insecurity artists, this can be beneficial. It is beneficial in that it can give the artist to ability to get past insecurities and just create. It gives freedom and confidence. However, what I find lacking in the “nothing-to-lose” attitude is a lack of passion or attachment to the work. It is a little indifferent to the content of the work.

 

Box link: https://stedwards.box.com/s/waosxpg52ovsia3sdb373cswpzg5hkuy

1. Based upon the readings the word design comes with many definitions. Across all the readings what are some examples of these differences?

Greenberg, in his article, “Recentness of Sculpture,” describes “Good Design” as “where Pop, Op, Assemblage, and the rest of Novelty art live.” In other words, he sees design as an umbrella for these certain sub-categories of art. Paul Rand, in “Politics of Design,” defines it as a “problem-solving activity” or something that can gracefully fit the needs of humanity. Vilem Flusser, in his article “About the Word Design,” more looks at the semantics of the word, linking it with the words “cunning,” for the noun, “to fashion” as a verb, among multiple others, the Latin route being literally “sign.” Hal Foster defines it as a “florid kind of decoration” in his article “Design and Crime,” which, like fashion, changes with the centuries and can go in and out of style. In other words, it is a category for subcategories of art, a problem-solver, a word with multiple connotations and denotations from different linguistic route, and an era-sensitive décor.

2. How does misunderstanding or rather multiple definitions of a singular word effect how we perceive design? Be sure to reference the four articles.

It may cause the perception of Design as in the “eye of the beholder” as with beauty. This, however, may become problematic, in that it makes “design” a more elusive concept, rather than the specific stance that each article has, such as a category for art versus the more abstract definition of a problem-solver. This vagueness makes it more subjective to judge design as “good” or “bad” with some areas for critique, but no definite guidelines that ideological groups can agree on.

Personal Reflection:

1. How do you suppose you could better prepare yourself as a maker of aesthetic objects/ideas?

I have an Art major and an Education minor so as to become an Art teacher. I do want to teach, but the dream is to be a free-lance artist. I have written down in my journal from the VISU class in the Jones auditorium last semester several things about the art industry and how to prepare yourself to be a professional artist. I am not so as of a “10,000 hour rule” kind of gal, but I am a “write a page each day, end the year with a novel” kind of gal (it is nearly the same thing, I just like that one better become it seems more attainable). I am in the process of slowly integrating practice more regularly into my schedule. I would love to internship at Women and their Work. I have a Facebook page for a social media presence to build, but I will also create a website as was suggested in the class. I have a technician friend who is willing to help me create one.

2. What are things you currently do to practice your creative muscle?

To be honest, I do not do this critical practice as regularly as I would like to. Most of the time, I do not do much art outside of the assignments for this class. As a college student, it is challenging to find a chunk of time free from assignments or other obligations. However, I have spent these last couple of Friday nights making art pieces for a couple of hours while playing music. That was very life-giving, and I hope to keep the practice to continuously apply the concepts learned from this class to my own art style and express those concepts through my lens. I understand practice is critical to growth. My plan right now is to make the Friday night practice a regular thing and build from there. Carve out other chunks of time from my routine.

My Drawing professor, Michael Massey, once said, “you do not need to be actually drawing in order to become a better artist.” He went on to explain that you can become a better artist by studying the world around you with your eye, study other art pieces, etc. In that sense, I do practice with my eye often. I try to make it easy on myself to see various pieces of art per day to study and expand my ideas of what art can be. I follow several artists on social media. I like to think sometimes, “how did they make that?” and try to get into the head of the artists and think what steps would they have taken for that particular piece.

What is the purpose of a designer, do they always work for a stakeholder?

1. To fulfill a need involving either technology or tradition in a “definite situation.” (“Good Design: What is it for?”) A designer works “through and for other people.” (“Is a Designer an Artist?”) Do they always work for a stakeholder? From what I have read from the articles and what I have seen in real life, I would say for the most part.
2. Is the artist always a self-expressive narcissist?

Norman Potter describes design as a “humbler” way to serve man than art. That is because design can be for things like serve as a more tangible function that art, and artists are more certain about themselves and if their personal expression is in their art and if others enjoy their art. That being said, I think that it may seem that artists are more self-serving. However, this may not always be the case, for there are artists who make art to impart certain messages to the world, to speak for those who cannot, try to right wrongs, etc.

3. Can the designer/artist exist?

Most pf the articles seem to point to the notion of them being separate things that work in a similar way and can sometimes work together. But I think the authors of the articles would find it a bit of a stretch to say that artists are designers and designers are artists.

Personal Reflection

1. What is your personal view of the difference between the designer and the artist?

A designer is more specialized than an artist and more work for companies, whereas artists can work for companies but a lot of times for work for themselves or strive to work for themselves.

2. Which are you, why?

I am an artist because I do not know much about design and for me, the term “artist” feels more liberating than designer. I feel like since its tasks may be a little less specific and a little broader, which may in certain ways be a bad thing, I feel like the possibilities for me are endless. Also, and I may be wrong, but I kind of associate more neat works for designers like logos. That it not my style—I like a lot of detail and chaos.

1. Based upon the reading how are priorities set for specific projects? Or in other words, what is it that determines the guidelines for given projects?

Priorities include what you define as success, as versed Superflex’s response to Asa Nacking’s question as to whether or not the Biogas project was a success, “[there are] several aspects that may be more or less successful.” In other words, you need to define the certain aspect, that if achieved, would indicate success for a particular project. For Superflex, it was the fact that their project enabled dialogue. Another priority can be whether the work is to be specific or broad. Specific or broad when it comes to disciples (should the project be exclusive to one field, art for example, or crossover different disciplines such as, what Maria Lind in her article, “What If?” calls “hybrids,” which are projects that can intertwine art, politics, design or film?)

2. How does the artist/ designer approach decision making differently or do they?

Artists and Graphic Designers share similar questions that influence their decisions Both question “genre boundaries and subject areas” in their processes (“What If?” by Maria Lind). Both use “methods or tools” in their decision-making. Graphic designers are “liberated from the weight of art history,” as Mathias Augustyniak puts it in the “Royal College of Art discussion,” “and therefore able to approach the notion of art with a degree of nonchalance.” “Nonchalance” may be baffling to an artist as a way of approaching art. Then perhaps it can follow that artists may approach their craft and therefore make decisions from a more abstract perspective, while designers may be coming a little more from a place of technicality. Augustyniak also asserts that “artists seem to insist on positioning themselves outside of the real world in this exclusive space called art,” conversely inferring that designers may be more likely or willing to work with several different disciplines outside of their specific field when making decisions on projects.

Personal Reflection

1. How do you make decisions? Are they based upon anything substantial? Why or why not?

I make artistic decisions based on what effect that I want to piece to have/what kind of emotion I want it to evoke. I also make decisions as to where I want the eye to first land, and how I can make that so. This is because my high school art teacher made me aware of the eye of the viewer and how if you do certain things, you can change where the eye first goes to, which is arguably the most important information, which intertwines with what effect it has and eventually the certain emotion that I want a piece to provoke.

2. How do you know when something is “good” or working?

When I can look at the piece as a whole after getting a new perspective from having left it alone for a while and my first impression is the certain effect or emotion that I originally wanted to create. If my eye goes where I want them to go. If there is a sense of “completeness.” If it successfully communicates the elusive, abstract thing that was inside me when creating it. If I took any chances. It is important to me that I at least took one risk in making the piece and that will give me some satisfaction, because I know that that is the only way I will grow and I want to grow. I will possibly feel more successful if the risk actually turned out well in a dynamic way than if it ruined the piece, so that is a way of measuring the success of the piece. If I jumped and the net caught me. But I am concerned with whether or not I took a risk before concerning myself with whether or not it turned out like how I envisioned or hoped.

3. How do you rework projects to make them work?

I usually just work with whatever went wrong in the piece and figure out what I can do with it to make it look intentional in the piece. It depends on the medium. If I am working with pencil, I’ll consider if I can just erase it without it being too noticeable. If I’m working with paint, I shall do what my high school art teacher said to do and paint over it! If it is a pen mark or sharpie, something non-erasable/non-cover-up-able, I usually do the same thing three times to make it look intentional and see if it contributed well to the piece.

Visual Dictionary Worksheet-15y0i2v

Graphingjournal- doodles-21a7970

This poem is a conceptual line in that it begins in reality, then transitions into fantasy, explores the realm of fantasy, then gently returns to reality. It is about being in class and then spacing out, then really spacing out, then “waking” back up to reality.

My object is a simple, yet classic-looking black mug. I initially wanted something unsuspecting, so that it would have the maximum impact when I placed it in odd scenarios. I later also wanted something that was breakable so that I could have the dynamic of breaking my object near the end of the photos, so as to make art out of its broken pieces

1. In this photo, the mug is acting as a mirror, reflecting my smile in particular in its  warped way. I love the angle, all the variations of black and white, but for the touches of color in my reflection. I love the effect the light is having on the whole scene.
2.  I find the idea of accidentally stepping on a mug absurd. Also, this picture is a bit illusionary in that the placement makes it seem as if the tree in the background is coming out of the mug, out of my shoe.

3. I like how intimate this picture is on the solitary buried mug. It is mysterious because it makes a viewer wonder why a newer looking mug would be buried. Also, mugs are not often associated with the outside world. 

4. This photo has stark variations of black and white. It emits a certain mood. It has intensity. There is a certain dynamic of placing the mug right beneath a light source in a darker room.

5. The mug is personified as it sits on a chair watching the sunset. I must add I am fascinated with the shapes of the power lines and how they contribute ti the whole photo. 

6. I wanted to capture something as mighty as the sun with something as humble and mundane as the mug, as if the mug is scooping up the sun or the sun is peaking out from it. Almost everything in this photo is a silhouette. 

7. I do not often see photos of spills, so I wanted to explore that. I love how the water has a reflection of what is above the mug and table, which is the trees, so the viewer feels as if he or she were looking down and up simultaneously.

8. The mug almost becomes one of the several shadows in this photo. I love the tension of the sharp corners leading to something with soft shapes. 

9. This picture is meant to depict pain. “Shattered” ideals if you will. Which conceptually leads to the next and last photo. 

10. This photo is meant to represent how people who are broken can pick up their pieces and heal by making something beautiful out of them, possibly something that could help others in their journeys.

Remaining 90 images: https://stedwards.app.box.com/folder/17481845048?sortColumn=date&sortDirection=desc&pageSize=20&pageNumber=4

If the first couple of images were swapped with any other pair, let us say the ones on pages four and five, the logic of my sequence would break down because it is meant to start from the perspective of the first character, the “girl who is seeing the city for the first time.” If the viewer would notice, all the poems are told from third-person. All except the first poem, which is told from first-person. Therefore, conceptually, the first character is observing all the other characters as she roams the city for the first time and takes in the sights.

I have changed the font from the automatic one to Bodoni 72, because I wanted something simple and not too flashy, as the book is supposed to have a pensive mood, as if the viewer/reader were wondering through the city themselves, simultaneously wondering through their thoughts, and Bodoni 72 fit that character. I moved the pages numbers a little more inward, because they were so close to the edge of the pages that I almost chopped them off when trimming.

Part 1: Reflection on this semester and course. Feel free to write any and all comments here. We want and appreciate your feedback (both positive and critical).

I genuinely really enjoyed this class. I learn better from lectures rather than group work, and this class was mainly lectures. I thought that the study tips/organizing/prioritizing stuff in the beginning of the year was so helpful, practical, and relevant to real life. They were things that you could quickly and easily implement that would have a big impact on you being on top of your assignments and other obligations (and less stressed. Any less stress helps). I like the more relaxed yet effective teaching style. The only thing I have to complain about is the cussing. I’m all for joking and being real, but it is just not professional. Plus, it is inconsiderate for people who do not cuss because it may make them feel uncomfortable. I like that there are several professors so you get several perspectives. This class, the students and professors had a sense of humor about themselves and about life in general and I could appreciate that, especially at the end of a school day. A wide array of fascinating information was presented. I love how we not only learned about our own fields, but also those of our arts peers. Making it open for questions after each lecture was just easy access to a wealth of experience and knowledge. I found it highly encouraging with the guest speakers coming in and breaking down how to have the careers we want. It helped to put a face to the career, because before this class, it could be a little overwhelming for students as a whole to be taught how to be successful in your chosen field without humanity and personal advice and stories to back it up. It almost felt like you were going into that industry alone, like feeling your way around in the dark. But now the daunting, abstract road to success is now looking real and attainable.