As you can see in my first post about the interview, I had originally intended on doing Ben Templesmith, the illustrator and co-creator for 30 Days of Night (which is now a major motion picture), as well as many other comics and graphic novels. The interview reflection was due on monday, and i hadn't gotten very much progress on scheduling the interview. Communication was very tough (I am sure that they are all very busy, because I know that they don't have very many employees at IDW) and I found the deadline creeping up on me. I knew that it probably wasn't going to work out, but I really wanted it to because I was so amped on interviewing him. He was totally different than anyone else that was being done. However, sunday night approached and I still had no word from the artist himself, so i knew I had to change my plans.
I decided to do Edmund Piffard, an amazing muralist and painter. I found his art to be truly fascinating. His paintings of nature scenes and the world were so beautiful that it reminded me that there was still beauty left in the world, even if we dont always see it. His art really spoke to me and i really appreciated his attention towards creating the feeling of actually being there, rather than only focusing on the visual aspect. His art seems to incorperate all senses, and it makes it seem as if its moving. It really puts the viewing into the piece. My artist interview proved to be extremely rewarding, and beneficial to me. I learned a lot of good advice including technical and pratical. The main thing that I learned is to follow your goals, and stick to it, don't give up because if you try hard enough, it will come eventually.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Salvation Mountain
I should have blogged about this while it was still fresh, but the impact of it is still in my ricocheting around in my brain. We drove for about two hours our to El Centro (which, if you've never been there is the middle of nowhere). We finally reached our surprise destination, Salvation Mountain. Salvation Mountain... a huge mound of painted adobe thats over 50 feet tall and 150 feet wide. The theme of the art "Jesus is Love". We met the creator, Leonard Knight, who is an older fellow who has spent much of his life building this monument to god. This was one of the coolest things that i have ever seen and i really appreciated it. The beautiful colors, paintings of waterfalls and flowers, biblical qoutes and amazing structures teamed up to be unlike anything I had ever seen. And although I'm not religious, I still found it fascinating, and respect the dedication and effort that leonard has put forth into creating this master piece. I'm sitting here trying to think of words to describe its strange yet amazing nature, but no words in the world (haha or atleast that i know of) can illustrate this wonderous place (and even the picture below doesn't do it justice, for one to truly understand they must experience it in person)
My favorite thing about it was the fact that it was interactive. You could walk up paths, wander around the roofs and crawl through tunnels. I also really like how he incorperated unwanted "trash" into it. Although I'm not sure whether this is what he intended by doing that or not, it sort of conveys the message that everyone is important, and even if you don't look perfect, you're still beautiful in other ways. Awww <3 Im such a sweetheart.
My favorite thing about it was the fact that it was interactive. You could walk up paths, wander around the roofs and crawl through tunnels. I also really like how he incorperated unwanted "trash" into it. Although I'm not sure whether this is what he intended by doing that or not, it sort of conveys the message that everyone is important, and even if you don't look perfect, you're still beautiful in other ways. Awww <3 Im such a sweetheart.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Modern Art and the Nazis
A lot of last week was spent learning about World War II. We learned all about the rise of the USSR and the fascist powers. I found the empowering of the Nazi’s to be extremely fascinating. Hitler and his regime were extremely tricky and manipulating. They basically created own of the most powerful nations by using a combination of hate and fear. Anyways, I wondered how Hitler and the Nazi’s (as well as Stalin and the Bolsheviks) would feel about art.
My predictions were that they would be extremely restricting if not completely abolishing towards art. The reason: art stems from and produces emotion, expression and knowledge. Both the Nazis and the Bolsheviks were keen on containing their nations free-mind and independence of individual citizens to a minimum. In the USSR, propaganda was a huge part of their society; art might be able to reflect some of the negative aspects of their nation and therefore would be a threat.
After researching, I learned that the Nazis did not were not hugely against art, they just had a problem with modern art. It was considered to be un-German or Jewish. The creation of modern art was not allowed and anyone who created it would be punished. The Nazis considered modern art to be degenerate art, and even had an art exhibition with that title that displayed modern art hung randomly on the walls, with humiliating names. The purpose for the exhibition was to inspire disgust in modern art to the public.
Although modern art was disallowed, art, especially classic art was encouraged. Hitler used his power to enforce the production of art, and demanded that only Greek and Roman style art be created. The reason was “[Hitler] saw Greek and Roman art as uncontaminated by Jewish influences. Modern art was [seen as] an act of aesthetic violence by the Jews against the German spirit. Such was true to Hitler even though only Liebermann, Meidner, Freundlich, and Marc Chagall, among those who made significant contributions to the German modernist movement, were Jewish. But Hitler [...] took upon himself the responsibility of deciding who, in matters of culture, thought and acted like a Jew." (Henry Grosshans)
“While modern styles of art were prohibited, the Nazis promoted paintings and sculptures that were narrowly traditional in manner and that exalted the "blood and soil" values of racial purity, militarism, and obedience. Similarly, music was expected to be tonal and free of jazz influence; films and plays were censored.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_art)
My predictions were that they would be extremely restricting if not completely abolishing towards art. The reason: art stems from and produces emotion, expression and knowledge. Both the Nazis and the Bolsheviks were keen on containing their nations free-mind and independence of individual citizens to a minimum. In the USSR, propaganda was a huge part of their society; art might be able to reflect some of the negative aspects of their nation and therefore would be a threat.
After researching, I learned that the Nazis did not were not hugely against art, they just had a problem with modern art. It was considered to be un-German or Jewish. The creation of modern art was not allowed and anyone who created it would be punished. The Nazis considered modern art to be degenerate art, and even had an art exhibition with that title that displayed modern art hung randomly on the walls, with humiliating names. The purpose for the exhibition was to inspire disgust in modern art to the public.
Although modern art was disallowed, art, especially classic art was encouraged. Hitler used his power to enforce the production of art, and demanded that only Greek and Roman style art be created. The reason was “[Hitler] saw Greek and Roman art as uncontaminated by Jewish influences. Modern art was [seen as] an act of aesthetic violence by the Jews against the German spirit. Such was true to Hitler even though only Liebermann, Meidner, Freundlich, and Marc Chagall, among those who made significant contributions to the German modernist movement, were Jewish. But Hitler [...] took upon himself the responsibility of deciding who, in matters of culture, thought and acted like a Jew." (Henry Grosshans)
“While modern styles of art were prohibited, the Nazis promoted paintings and sculptures that were narrowly traditional in manner and that exalted the "blood and soil" values of racial purity, militarism, and obedience. Similarly, music was expected to be tonal and free of jazz influence; films and plays were censored.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenerate_art)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Artist Interview
One necessary component for our art project is to complete an interview with a working artist. I have personally chosen to do mine on a comic book artist because comics are an interest of mine and I find them truly interesting and diverse. They are the hybrid of art and story. Looking for local comic book artists proved to be much difficult than I had expected. Every time I would try to find one, it would just link me to something to do with comic con. And once I found certain artists, there was no way to tell where the lived. I emailed around but haven’t gotten a local artist yet. So I decided to look for local comic publishing companies and contact the artists through them, because I’m guessing that some the artists that they hire will be local. I’ve sent an email to IDW Publishing, and I’m waiting to get a response, but I am pretty confident that I will find a very suitable artist. Some of their comic books include transformers and 30 days of night (which was turned into a major motion picture movie, I’m not too big of a fan of the movie, but the graphic novel was well done).
I’ve compiled a list of questions to ask the Artist:
1. When did you first realize that you wanted to become an artist? A comic book artist?
2. What other artists have influenced you throughout your career? Whose art do you most admire?
3. What does the process for completing your work look like? What mediums do you use?
4. How does the business of a comic book artist look? How are you hired and such?
5. How would you describe your style and how has it changed over the years?
6. How does your art stand out among other artists’?
7. What projects are you currently working on? Do you create your art entirely for business or do you make stuff in your spare time?
8. What advice would you give to a young artist?
9. How would you define art?
I’ve compiled a list of questions to ask the Artist:
1. When did you first realize that you wanted to become an artist? A comic book artist?
2. What other artists have influenced you throughout your career? Whose art do you most admire?
3. What does the process for completing your work look like? What mediums do you use?
4. How does the business of a comic book artist look? How are you hired and such?
5. How would you describe your style and how has it changed over the years?
6. How does your art stand out among other artists’?
7. What projects are you currently working on? Do you create your art entirely for business or do you make stuff in your spare time?
8. What advice would you give to a young artist?
9. How would you define art?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Emyln's Post Response
Today as i was searching through my google reader subscriptions and checking out what other people were blogging about, i found a lot of cool posts. One of the in praticular peaked my interest. It was Emlyn's blog on march 1st. It really got me thinking and wondering several different things.
I've learned a lot about the dada movement over the years. Last year, i saw Ryan and Emylns documentary of manray. And this year we learned about the purpose of it, and how exactly it was implemented. I also was chosen to peer critique Emyln's critques on Duchamp (which i found very interesting, especially his negative review). He did a really good job of speaking about the importance of the movement, but he was also able to putforth the negative aspects of it (even if he didn't truely believe them himself).
Dadaism is an extemely facsinating ideolgy. It's suggesting that by creating anti-art, to match their anti-war ideas. As i have learned, the world often can be reflected through the art of its time. Dada art was made in response to the monstrousity of world war one. They believed that by destroying art, they could destroy the war driven ideas of society.
Emyln later goes on to question todays art. At the time Dadaism was so insane, so bizzare and shocking that it had an amazing impact on art culture. And it really pissed a lot of people off. Emyln wonders (and so do i) if theres anything left that could possibly be that shocking in our modern society.
To answer this question, i really think one has to look at the evolution of art. Throughout the history of mankind, we have been creating art. Whether it be for spiritual, cultural, or personal expression purposes, we have been doing it. Much of the art that we see from the past was created for spiritual purposes. The reason for that is because religion was often put at the top of a civilization and regarded with highest importance. The entrance into the afterlife of was often dependent on the honoring of the god(s). Art was mainly only practiced (or hired) by the higher levels of civilization because they had more money and were able to have the materials. In Egypt, the art they created was to honor the gods and allow a smooth entrance into the afterlife. In ancient Greece, much of the art was for religous purposes, but there were also other purposes like to show beauty. When catholicism came along, art became much more religous again. Slowly, artists started to expiriment with secular art. It was often for portraits of families or scenery. In the 19th and 20th century, art became much more popular and was spread across the classes. The limitations of the previous times became extinct and it was possible for almost anyone to create art.
After almost two hundred years of the modern period in art, it seems almost everything has been expiremented with. It seems that there is no true extreme left to explore. Surrealism has taken the subconcious, dadaism the bizzare. The most complex, random creations are common.
What is there possibly left to explore. My answer: different mediums. Creating art that stimulates different senses. 99% of the art that i have talked about so far has been visual, but what about something that incorperates multiple senses? What if there was a way to have someone understand everything that you wanted? I'm confident that with the availibilty of new technologies, new art will be produced. Taking advantage of the gifts of modern society is a must though. I mean, if the ancient civilizations had all these amazing technoligies as a canvas, im sure as hell they would use them.
I've learned a lot about the dada movement over the years. Last year, i saw Ryan and Emylns documentary of manray. And this year we learned about the purpose of it, and how exactly it was implemented. I also was chosen to peer critique Emyln's critques on Duchamp (which i found very interesting, especially his negative review). He did a really good job of speaking about the importance of the movement, but he was also able to putforth the negative aspects of it (even if he didn't truely believe them himself).
Dadaism is an extemely facsinating ideolgy. It's suggesting that by creating anti-art, to match their anti-war ideas. As i have learned, the world often can be reflected through the art of its time. Dada art was made in response to the monstrousity of world war one. They believed that by destroying art, they could destroy the war driven ideas of society.
Emyln later goes on to question todays art. At the time Dadaism was so insane, so bizzare and shocking that it had an amazing impact on art culture. And it really pissed a lot of people off. Emyln wonders (and so do i) if theres anything left that could possibly be that shocking in our modern society.
To answer this question, i really think one has to look at the evolution of art. Throughout the history of mankind, we have been creating art. Whether it be for spiritual, cultural, or personal expression purposes, we have been doing it. Much of the art that we see from the past was created for spiritual purposes. The reason for that is because religion was often put at the top of a civilization and regarded with highest importance. The entrance into the afterlife of was often dependent on the honoring of the god(s). Art was mainly only practiced (or hired) by the higher levels of civilization because they had more money and were able to have the materials. In Egypt, the art they created was to honor the gods and allow a smooth entrance into the afterlife. In ancient Greece, much of the art was for religous purposes, but there were also other purposes like to show beauty. When catholicism came along, art became much more religous again. Slowly, artists started to expiriment with secular art. It was often for portraits of families or scenery. In the 19th and 20th century, art became much more popular and was spread across the classes. The limitations of the previous times became extinct and it was possible for almost anyone to create art.
After almost two hundred years of the modern period in art, it seems almost everything has been expiremented with. It seems that there is no true extreme left to explore. Surrealism has taken the subconcious, dadaism the bizzare. The most complex, random creations are common.
What is there possibly left to explore. My answer: different mediums. Creating art that stimulates different senses. 99% of the art that i have talked about so far has been visual, but what about something that incorperates multiple senses? What if there was a way to have someone understand everything that you wanted? I'm confident that with the availibilty of new technologies, new art will be produced. Taking advantage of the gifts of modern society is a must though. I mean, if the ancient civilizations had all these amazing technoligies as a canvas, im sure as hell they would use them.
Poetry Phase 2
The poetry that i mentioned before was not the final step of the project. After completing all our different pieces, we were asked to choose one to take to the next level. The "next level" could mean any form of art that you wanted. I chose to do an flash animation on my poem, "32". I chose to do this because it was probably my most poem that had a lot of visual symbolism in it. I figured that recreating the symbolism in a flash would be very interesting and put my animating skills to the test. I chose to approach my animation in a frame by frame way, which meant having to draw each frame individually, giving it a more abstract, natural feel. I've been wanting to try out this style for a while and i think that it fit perfectly witht the tone of the poem. On friday, we had a very relaxed art exhibition which allowed our class to view eachothers final pieces. It was really relaxed and a really good time. I was very impressed with my fellow class mates art. I liked the diversity and it was cool to see how people have there seperate approaches in going about their creation, but they all did amazing jobs on it. Some people chose to do graphic design pieces, collages, photography series, and paintings.
Heres my original poem:
Teeth clenched hard
The more I try to open
The tighter they shut
They shatter
Blood and teeth
Ah shit.
What will people think when they see me?
The mirror
The fucking mirror
Looking back at me so sinister
--that can’t be me
No. Look at those eyes
They’re facing different directions
A sick sense of satisfaction fills my brain
I spit my blood into the sink
This can’t be real
This can’t be real
Phase 2:
Heres my original poem:
Teeth clenched hard
The more I try to open
The tighter they shut
They shatter
Blood and teeth
Ah shit.
What will people think when they see me?
The mirror
The fucking mirror
Looking back at me so sinister
--that can’t be me
No. Look at those eyes
They’re facing different directions
A sick sense of satisfaction fills my brain
I spit my blood into the sink
This can’t be real
This can’t be real
Phase 2:
Poetry Recap
A couple months ago, i had to create several different poetry pieces. I had a really good time with this because i don't write too much poetry (sometimes song lyrics, if that counts). But in this instance, i was able to really express my own personal ideas. I really liked trying out the many different poetry forms (sonnet, now, freeform, and one where the goal was to create a poem that had a different purpose, like a recipe or index). It was really cool getting to expiriment around and try things that i wasn't framiliar with. I'm pretty happy with outcome of my poems, but i feel that i could have done them much better, luckily, poetry is something that i can do anytime and i don't need any materials (just a pen and paper). Lately i've been thinking a lot about life and trying to find out why everything is like it is. I've also been trying to find out what's really important in my life.
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