Responses

18 April 2016

Field Trip Response: Chelsea Gallery Hopping

One of my favorite galleries we visited on the trip to Chelsea was the Anton Kern Gallery that housed the Anne Collier exhibit. Collier's portraits include magazine covers, vintage album covers, and other publications for the source of the subject matter. This current exhibit featured her new series, "Women Crying." Tightly cropped and incredibly dramatic, these images are taken of women crying on album or magazine covers or other publications alike. 

I enjoyed the extreme and dramatic close-ups of the women crying. I would not have known that the subject matter was an album cover rather than an actual human if I was not told beforehand. The intense lighting and dramatization created by the framing of the photograph highlight the complexity and hide the fact that it is a photo of an album cover and not a real person crying. 

These relate to our 4D class because Collier disregards the notion that her photographs are products of appropriation. We learned about appropriation and the act of taking previous works of art or media alike and manipulating it to have a new meaning is the works of appropriation. Rather than think of her works as appropriation, Collier believes she is creating still-lives. 

Traditionally, still-life pieces have been created through drawing or painting; Collier is taking a different approach and creating still-life images through photography. I think this is a unique way to take on the action of creating a still-life because I believe that photography is just as important and effective as drawing or painting. In the beginning of the photography era, it was not highly regarded as it was said to not have the touch of the artist. I disagree, for I think that the artist creates the image, just with different tools than a drawer or painter would use. Collier is taking still-lives to a new level and giving them a new meaning through this new context.

Through the use of tight cropping, Collier emphasizes the emotions of the women crying through the dramatization and exploration of framing. The images are large in scale, opening themselves up to the viewer and becoming vulnerable. The viewer can clearly see and comprehend the emotions being reflected in the piece through the large scale formatting. Collier carefully selects the vintage album covers and crying women she will photograph, ultimately changing the original intent to create a whole new meaning through the aesthetic of the character and the emotions portrayed. 

Another Anne Collier piece I enjoy is titled Cut. It is another still-life photograph, depicting a photo of an eye being cut by a paper cutter. It is visually interesting as the black and white dramatizes the scene. There also seems to be two separate photos of eyes apparent in the piece, playing with the viewer's perception and perspective. I also enjoyed this piece because it is a reference to Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel's short film, Un Chien Andalou, where a woman's eye is cut by a razor. Collier's image plays with the ideals of surrealism and still-life photography.

In a lot of my photography, I like to play with the ideas of surrealism and portraiture, which is why Collier's pieces stood out to me. The intensity of each piece - the dramatization - captured my attention immediately as I became immersed in the large scale photographs. I love the use of other materials as her subject matter, as I would never have thought to use vintage album covers, magazine covers, calendars, and other publications alike as subjects for photographs. I think that Collier's work shows that photography can be just as powerful as a drawing or painting still-life.

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Einstein's Dreams Response 5

(p. 116 - 140)

One of my favorite passages from this reading can be found in "22 June 1905." In this world, the future is fixed, as Lightman explains, "Every action, every thought, every breath of wind, every flight of birds is completely determined, forever... In a world of fixed future, life is an infinite corridor of rooms, one room lit at each moment, the next room dark but prepared. We walk from room to room, look into the room that is lit, the present moment, then walk on. We do not know the rooms ahead, but we know we cannot change them. We are spectators of our lives... In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action is already chosen, there can be no freedom of choice. In a world of fixed future, no person is responsible. The rooms are already arranged" (125-127). I thought that this was a very interesting state of time, having the future determined for you. To me, that is a very scary thought - not having a choice in what will happen in the future. Combined with not knowing what will happen, but knowing you cannot change what will happen is definitely a weird thought to process. I like to think that everything happens for a reason, but I believe that my choices and actions help determine what my future will look like; that unlike this world Lightman explains, my choices helps my future form, rather than it be predetermined.

Another one of my favorite passages from this reading can be found in "28 June 1905." Lightman describes a world in which time will freeze: "This flock of nightingales is time. Time flutters and fidgets and hops with these birds. Trap one of these nightingales beneath a bell jar and time stops. The moment is frozen for all people and trees and soil caught within" (137). Lightman explains that children do not seek to catch a nightingale, as time already moves too slow for them, while adults and the elderly yearn to catch one, as they want time to slow down. I can sympathize with the elderly in this world, as I can already feel time moving so quickly. I remember being in elementary school, and the school days would seem so long. At some point in high school, my sense of time changed, as everything has been moving at a faster pace. Suddenly I was a senior, finished with high school, and am now in college. Time is moving way too fast for my liking, and there are definitely times where I would like to slow it down. This passage is definitely one of my favorites in the whole book because I can truly relate to the feelings expressed in this world of trying to freeze time.

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29 February 2016

Einstein's Dreams Response 4

(p. 95 - 115)

One of my favorite passages from this reading can be found in "11 June 1905." Lightman explains, "In this world, time is a line that terminates at the present, both in reality and in the mind. In this world, no person can imagine the future... In a world without future, each parting of friends is a death. In a world without future, each loneliness is final... In a world without future, beyond the present lies nothingness, and people cling tot he present as if hanging from a cliff. A person who cannot imagine the future is a person who cannot contemplate the results of his actions... They recount each memory, each action taken, each cause and effect, and are fascinated by how events have delivered them to this moment, the last moment of the world, the termination of the line that is time" (100-101), that in this world, there is no future - the future cannot be imagined - and that each moment can be the end of the world for all they know. I thought that this was such a cool concept of time - the idea that we would not have the ability to imagine our future. That would definitely make me think about my actions, but I am not sure if I would be cautious of my actions, or go with the flow. Since we have the ability to imagine the future, the idea of not being able to imagine the future scares me a little bit, for I like the comfort of knowing that as of right now, I do have a future ahead of me. 

Another one of my favorite passages from this reading can be found in "15 June 1905." Lightman discusses the idea that in this world, time is a visible dimension, and that people choose their motion along the axis of time. One of his examples states, "A young woman lies on her bed... She stares at the photograph, then out into time. The future is beckoning. She makes up her mind. Without finishing her packing, she rushes out of the house, this point of her life, rushes straight to the future. She rushes past one year ahead, five years, ten years, twenty years, finally puts on the brakes" (105) and continues to say that she was moving so fast that she did not stop moving until she was 50. Years and years of her life flew by, with her barely experiencing them. I just loved this description of time, as it is heartbreaking that she wanted to escape one moment of time, but missed experiencing many others. As I like the idea of skipping past uncomfortable moments, I believe that it could be flawed as you never know where you will end up after each moment. I would not want to miss out on key moments in my life like the woman did. 

In "10 June 1905" Lightman describes how in this world, time works: "In a world where time cannot be measured, there are no clocks, no calendars, no definite appointments. Events are triggered by other events, not by time... In a world where time is a quality, events are recorded by the color of the sky, the tone f the boatman's call on the Aare, the feeling of happiness or fear when a person comes into the room" (97-98). In this world, there is no measure of time. The passing of time is indicated by the changes of light, feelings, and each event. There are no restraints, as people essentially go with the flow. I thought that this was cool, as sometimes it is nice to just let time pass, and not have to be following a time clock. I feel that it could become confusing, and definitely could mess things up. I think there would need to be somewhat of a balance, as I think that some things would fall apart without time constraints.

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29 February 2016

Wafaa Bilal: Making the Invisible Visible

I thought that Bilal's lecture was very intriguing -- along with his work. I love how committed he is to his work and emotionally invested he is in his work. His pure emotional drive is what really pushes his work, making it stand out. The fact that he had surgery to have a camera placed in the back of his skull that would record and takes pictures is the epitome of dedication. Along with the paintball project, he even extended his series an extra day due to the high demand of participants

This was a cool way of seeing what we are learning in class being performed in reality. I thought it was really cool how people at home had the ability to fire the gun, as he stood in the room. It's crazy how many people wanted to participate - and how many people tried to hack into his performance. The fact that his work angered people so much where they tried to take over his projects and shut them down speaks volumes on the impact his work is having on his viewers. 

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24 February 2015

Einstein's Dreams Response 3 

(p. 53 - 94)

One of my favorite passages from this reading was "14 May 1905." Lightman discusses the difference as one gets closer to the center of time -- time freezes closer to the center of time. I love thinking about the idea of time standing still, and Lightman says, "Some say it is best not to go near the center of time. Life is a vessel of sadness, but it is noble to live life, and without time there is no life. Others disagree. They would rather have an eternity of contentment, even if that eternity were fixed and frozen, like a butterfly mounted in a case" (56). Everyone has moments where they would rather stay there forever than move on, and I loved how Lighman touched on this subject.

Another favorite passage from this reading was "9 June 1905." I loved how Lightman brings up the concept of The Nows and The Laters. It is such a cool concept -- what would you do if you knew you lived forever? As I was reading this passage, I was wondering who I would be more like -- The Nows or The Laters? Then Lightman says, "Such is the cost of immortality. No person is whole. No person is free. Over time, some have determined that the only way to live is to die. In death, a man or a woman is free of the weight of the past" (94), and that struck me -- as it is true. The thought of time eventually running out -- death -- serves as motivation for humans to fully live their lives and to make the most of their time on Earth. 

In this section of reading, in "20 May 1905," held my favorite example of how time works: "For it is only habit and memory that dulls the physical passion. Without memory, each night is the first night, each morning is the first morning, each kiss and touch are the first. A world without memory is a world of the present. The past only exists in books, in documents. In order to know himself, each person carries his own Book of Live, which is filled with the history of his life" (62-63). Memories serve as time stamps for us, as they allow us to remember the past as we are the present. To my understanding, memories serve as reminder that we are in the present, we have a past, and that there is a future where we will make more memories. Memories happen in the past, but are experienced in the present -- the feeling, the nostalgia is felt in the present. 

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10 February 2016

Einstein's Dreams Response 2 

(p. 22 - 52)

One of my favorite passages from this reading was "26 April 1905." In this passage, Lightman discussed the relationship between time passing and closeness to the center of the Earth. He described the different types of people - people who lived in houses on stilts in the mountains to avoid aging, while people would "lounge under the trees that grow in the valleys, swim leisurely in the lakes that like at warmer altitudes, roll on level ground. They hardly look at their watches and cannot tell you if it is Monday or Thursday. When the others rush by them and scoff, they just smile" (24). He talked about the people who wanted to live longer would rarely come down to the ground, and if they did, they would hurry their transactions so they wouldn't waste a second longer of aging. In reality, their worry and stress of living longer caused them to age quicker. I enjoyed this passage because it really emphasizes the need to stop stressing and live in the moment. It shows that people worry too much about the future and need to focus on the present. Will worrying about the future impact the outcome?

Another passage that I enjoyed from this reading was "10 May 1905." Lightman talks about towns being stuck in certain time periods based on the architecture, saying: "Hypothetically, time might be smooth or rough, prickly or silky, hard or soft. But in this world, the texture of time happens to be sticky. Portions of towns become stuck in some moment in history and do not get out. So, too, individual people become stuck in some point of their lives and do not get free" (47). He goes on to discuss how people too become stuck in a moment of their life and fail to live in the present. I love his metaphor of towns being stuck in time periods due to architecture; I immediately think of Paris. When I think of Paris, I think of it's architecture and how quaint and vintage it is, bringing me back to the 1900's. On the other hand, when I think of Toronto, I think of more modern times based on the large modern-style architecture in the city. I love how this led into the discussion of people becoming stuck in time, and how being stuck in a certain time they are alone and unhappy. Can one person be happy stuck in a certain moment of time? I don't think so; I believe that they will be sad that they are not in that moment anymore. It just reminds me to live in the moment and be happy in the present.

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3 February 2016

Article Responses

I found Allan Kaprow's article on how to make happenings very interesting. First, I liked how he listed the 11 steps - or 11 rules of the game. I thought it was interesting as to how he referred to creating a happening as a game, and there are rules we need to follow. I thought it was a cool way to teach fellow artists how to get started on creating a happening, while being very informative. Rather than just teaching the reader how to create a happening, Kaprow took the article one step further as to provide examples. The inclusion of different examples of happenings was interesting, as I thought they would be more complicated then they actually are. In Kaprow's article, I learned that performance art should avoid being practiced. I would think that if I was doing a performance art piece, I would want to know what I was doing and how it would play out, but Kaprow made an excellent point - it would not be as natural. It goes along with his next point and last rule, avoid performing happenings as if you are putting on a show for an audience. It takes away from the happening and does not allow you to totally be present in the performance.

After watching part of Marina Abramovic's documentary on Netflix, I was excited to learn more about the process and am happy that this article covers one of the dancer's experiences. I found it really interesting that the things she took away from the whole process of preparing and performing Abramovic's work. The process and performance changed her life - her diet, sleep, and thoughts. Bailey says she studied dance for the year before starting Abramovic's project and said how closed off she was. That was interesting to me, because I have always associated dance to an act of opening yourself up. I never thought that dance could be restricting, but hearing Bailey's explanation made sense. Her experiences made me realize that performance art is more than just the initial performance. I learned that rather than the outcome, it is about the process. It is about the energy and the growth during the whole process that help shape the outcome. Overall I thought Bailey's experience with Abramovic and her work is amazing and something only someone who is really dedicated and determined to performance art could partake in.

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1 February 2016

Einstein's Dreams - Response 1
(p. 3 - 21)

Einstein's Dreams discusses time in an intriguing and interesting way. I have thought about the concept of time here and there, but dismiss my thoughts as I continue on with my busy life. I love how the beginning of the book has touched on the idea of decisions impacting the future. That is one thing I think about all of the time: Would my life be different if I did not do this or that? What would have happened - where would I be - if I did this? And so on. I like to believe that things happen for a reason, but still find myself wondering how different things would be right now if I had done some things differently. One of my favorite passages from this section of reading can be found on pages 14 through 17 - "19 April 1905." The idea of there being three different worlds - three different possible events - that could change the course of the man's life made me curious. How do we decide what to do when one action could possibly change the course of our life forever? How do we know if our life is going in one direction, but one action - one misstep perhaps - could possibly change the course of our life? One line that stuck with me from this passage is found on page 17: "In time, there are an infinity of worlds." I think this stood out to me because it seems to be true, yet I have not thought of time like that. While I think that everything happens for a reason, it is hard not to wonder if a single action can - or could have - change my future.

Another passage that I found interesting can be found on pages 18 - 21 - "24 April 1905." I enjoyed the description of the two types of times - mechanical and body time. First, the descriptions of each - "The first [mechanical] is as rigid and metallic as a massive pendulum of iron that swings back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. The second [body] squirms and wriggles like a bluefish in a bay. The first is unyielding, predetermined. The second makes up its mind as it goes along" (18). As I continued reading I wondered, how can someone live by only one of these ideas of times? There are days when I solely depend on body time - what I like to think of as going with the flow - yet there are other days when my day is so busy that I must rely on the clock - doing certain things at certain times whether I want to or not. After reading this passage, I think I mainly follow body time. I do think it could be extremely hard to only believe in one time. I think in our world, everyone - whether they want to believe it or not - must live in both mechanical and body time. The passage says, "there are those who think their bodies don't exist. They live by mechanical time" (19), but I don't think you can live in this world and completely rely on mechanical time. There are definitely times where my schedule can be so busy that I need to do certain things at certain times whether I want to or not; however, when I have a day where I don't need to follow that routine, I enjoy being able to go with the flow and doing things at my own pace rather than follow a clock. Based on my experiences, I don't think it would be enjoyable to solely rely on mechanical time, but it does work to get one through the day. I really enjoyed this passage as it made me think about my routines and actions and made me think about my time in general.