Maria the Korean Bride- Performance Art Project

Maria the Korean Bride is a woman who has been investigating the meaning of marriage in the United
States by marrying in each of our 50 states as a performance art project.  She started this project after receiving a lot of negativity about being a young and attractive unmarried Asian American woman. She really doesn't offer up any explaination or comment about the marriages on her website or photos. There is only a small blurb about why she decided to start this project. The rest is up for interpretation and exploration of the viewer.

It seems to me that she has chosen some stereotypical icons or type of people typical to each state. For instance she married a native Hawaiian in Hawaii and a gay couple in San Fransisco. Perhaps this is her protest to the very stereotype she has been fighting- a Korean woman who is unmarried must have something wrong with her. This assumption is mostly comming from the older generation. She is wearing the traditional dress of a Korean Bride which can also mean she is using another symbol of tradition in Korean culture as a way of communicating her message. In her message she looks very forlorn and kind of passive with a little bit of shame while the groom(s) all look happy and excited for the big day. Of course if a woman is only getting married because it is expected of her and the man is marrying so he can complete a perfect picture of his worth and life, this would be a typical  emotion and expression for bride and groom.




Alaska

  http://www.mariathekoreanbride.com/



Wyoming, marrying a 5th generation cowboy

 




Anyone Can Draw

I enjoyed the exercise and lesson about how anyone can draw in class on Tuesday. The analogy that Glenn used about a six year old being able to do anything with a lot of practice made a lot of sense. When you're young, around six years old, everyone tells you that you can do anything if you try really hard and practice. Being so young and idealic, not yet having those feelings of  self doubt and crippling fear of failure, we all felt we could do and acheive anything.

I was trying to show my seven year old how to draw a mouse for her homework. She was upset and said she couldn't draw good. I told her she could draw great and that I would help her. I showed her how to draw a simple mouse out of the letter "D" laying down. Her confidence was immediately boosted and she continued to draw the rest of her homework assignment without my help.  After the drawing exercise and lecture last week on how any of us can draw, I too got the same kind of confidence boost about my drawing abilities.

It's a shame that schools have not continued with art instruction classes. I see how easy it is for younger kids to pick up drawing and they learn so easily when they are young little "sponges" just craving for instruction. Learning a "cool" skill like drawing and painting could be a great confidence booster in children who may be struggling socially or scholastically. Sometime a little boost can go a long way for little ones. Art instruction should be included with writing instruction. They are all just lines, after all, right?

Dr Kavorkian was an Artist?!!




Fever, Jack Kavorkian

 

Brotherhood, Jack Kavorkian


Today I was watching the afternoon news and was intrigued to hear a story that the art work of Dr. Jack Kavorkian is going up for auction. I had no clue he was an artist, but appearantly he was a very talented painter, poet and composer. The currator who was being interviewed said his pieces are expected to fetch over 150,00.00$ After seeing some of his pieces, I am actually very impressed. He uses his knowledge as a physicain and his experiences with death, dying and illness to bring the subjects of his paintings to life with such gusto and intensity. While the theme of his paintings are mostly on the darker side, I find his work enjoyable.
The painting entitled Fever, depicted above really emulates how it feels to be sick with fever. The anatomically correct figure with the intense color of heat can make someone understand what being sick with a fever actually feels like.


Dr. Kavorkian makes use of political satire in a creative and cheeky way in his works. A perfect example is For He Is Raised. It shows Easter Bunnies as The Three Apostles raising Jesus from an Easter Egg. The message I got from it is that bunnies, eggs, jelly beans and fun stuff are more important to some than the actual reason for the season of Easter. The holiday of Easter has been totally commercialized. The message in painting is very hard hitting and may be considered offensive to some.

For He Is Raised



Jack Kavorkian has definately not been one to shy away from controversy. He used the medium and method of political expression of art as those have for hundreds of years. He was an extremely controversial character, even having a movie about his life made about him. He has had numerous prime time specials about his life and work as a physicain who pioneer physicain assisted suicide. His work has made all of us question our feelings about death and dying, terminal illness and our own automony versus the law and values of American society. It is no wonder that many people would hope to own a piece of Kavorkian's origional artwork.

The Gourmet (War)





Very Still Life



Nearer My God To Thee

Helen Hardin

Helen Hardin  or Tsa-sah-wee-eh, "Little Standing Spruce"

 May 28, 1943 – June 9, 1984



Helen Hardin





Changing Woman part of The Women Series



Helen Hardin, Bird, Oil on Board, 18" x 13"



                                                                  

Listening woman, part of the Women Series

A quote by Helen about the above painting - "Listening Woman is the woman I am only becoming now. She's the speaker, she's the person who's more objective, the listener and the compassionate person."

 Medicine Woman, part of the woman series created during her illness



Metamorphasis



 Helen Hardin, Blue Corn Maiden, Acrylic on Panel, 10" x 6"




Helen Hardin, Mimbres Fish, circa 1983, Acrylic on Panel, 9" x 9"

 



                              

Changing Woman, Life and Art of Helen Hardin
Biography



Pablita Velarde, Helen Hardin's mother, who was also a well know artist. However, she was never as famous as her daughter in the art world.

Old Father Story Teller, Pablita Velarde
Very traditional depiction of Native American culture. A contrast to Helen's cubism style

Pablita Velarde



Helen and her daughter Margaret







Margaret Bagshaw, Messages
Margaret is Helen's daughter who is also an artist. She has a gallery called the Golden Dawn Gallery showing the works of her mother, grandmother and her own works







Fun with Japanes Prints

I've always been a fan of Japanese prints. They are simple yet incredibly complex at the same time. They are simple in that the blocks of color are bold and the images and their message pretty straight forward. However all the work that went into creating them makes them incredible complex. Making the prints was a group effort requiring precision and editing by all involved.

Buntsu, Cherry Blossoms 1960

To create a print the artist would initially create a painting and would then have to translate the painting into a way of printing many copies of it. If the painter would try to paint the same painting over and over, it would most likely turn out different each time. However, creating prints ensured exact replication.  By creating prints, the artist would be able to have his work seen and owned by many.

Yoshu Chikanobu

A Lady in Waiting Hands The Noh Mask to an Actor in The Chiyoda Palace, 1895

The print by Chikanobu, shown above, shows how complex the prints can be. Each block had its own color and had to be lined up exactly to create the replica perfectly. If only one block and color were off, even just the slightest, the entire painting would be ruined. This was all done before computers and modern technology. It is just amazing to see how exact each artist and block maker had to be in order to create each print. The prints are even more stunning than an actual painting once you realize all the work that went into its creation.

Collage Art

I really enjoy collage art because of the interesting ways things that are separate and have nothing to do with one another can come together to make an interesting single peice. When you look at a collage, you can see the big picture but you can also see cool stories and smaller works of art in the smaller peices making up the big picture.
This collage is by Romare Bearden and is entitled Mysteries. The different angles and faces create an almost alien like being. The peices come together in almost a natural way but remain slightly mismatched to create interest in the peice.
This type of graphic collage art is my favorite. I love how the individual tiny peices create shadow and color blocks in the piece. I love the ones that are made up of hundreds of photos to create one larger image. The time and effort that goes into these peices to create the perfect color and scheme is amazing.
The photo is made up of hundreds of smaller images to create a picture with some what of a Monet quality to it. It's fun and interesting even though it may be considered a bit cheezy, I still like it a lot.

The Obama collage is pretty interesting and also delivers a strong politcal message without any words or offensive images.

Campus Art Field Trip

Walking around campus last Tuesday evening was a lot of fun. On a scavanger hunt for artistic happenings in cement and iron campus was pretty cool. There was a lot more beauty and "art works" than I expected to find.

My personal favorite was the tire tracks on the sidewalk with the slash going through it. It was bold and told a story that had feeling behind it. Those tracks weren't made on purpose and most likely could not have been created to look as cool on purpose. Knowing that the tracks were made by cop cars made the art work even more bold.

I also liked the rock tree near the art building. I walked by it a few times the past year and I would notice changes in it, but never gave it much thought. But after seeing it up close and talking about it, I see that there are actually more stones on the iron portion of the tree than before. I'm not sure why there are, but there are definately a few more added since last semester. I wonder if a stone is added with each graduating class? Maybe a continuing sculpture that will be full of rocks and stones in a few years. Pretty cool.

Kathe Kollwitz

Kathe Kollwitz's work is very haunting and bold. Her work captures the emotion of her subjects with such realism that one can almost feel the pain and suffering radiating off the pages.

She sufferred many tragedies in her life, including the death of her son, grandson and younger brother. These deaths seemed to have definately had an impact on her work as it is usually the subject of her drawings and prints.
In this drawing, she is showing a happy moment between mother and child, rather than horrifying and sad moments as she would usually create. The happiness seems almost fake and does not have as much impact as her drawings portraying a darker subject. Did she intend to make the feelings of the above drawing fake? Or did her feelings of fear about death have a greater impact on her psyche and thus make her drawings about death more prominent?
Here in The Sacrifice, a mother appears to be sacrificing her child. Given the time it was painted, she may have been referencing the sacrafice of her children to war.
As a mother myself, the thought of loosing a child is my worst nightmare and biggest fear. I can see how the worry of Kathe Kollwitz over loosing her children and seeing the impact the loss of a child has on a family influenced her work.

French Graffitti Artist Bansky

The pioneer french graffitti artist Bansky has done some amazing work. While I do not condone defacing public property, I do enjoy his work.  His impromptu use of existing common objects and fixtures in the environment is witty and comical. There is also a message ingrained in his artwork that speaks volumes without being openly or so "in your face" as other graffitti messages. The satire and dark humor in his work is brilliant and so well executed, that it is sometimes difficult to be offended by it.

He started off making small rats stensils along the buildings in Paris and from there began creating more intriquete and larger stensil paintings.
His paintings were usually directly corelated with an issue pertaining to the building or area he created them on. This one for example is on a Sexual Health Building. The art work was not deamed offensive and the public enjoyed and supported it, so it was not removed. It's a very cheeking message and a bit commical portrayal of a serious message. It definately gets ones attention.
 This painting is near Bethlehelm, which is a stark contrast to what life is like for children there. The choice of art and where he chooses to create is what demonstrates his messages so well.

Graffitti vs. Artistic Expression

I enjoyed the movie Bomb It watched in class the other night. It really offerred some insight to the culture of Taggers and Graffitti artists.
In my opinion, tagging is vandalism. Graffitti art that is commissioned or desired on a piece of property is art. While art has always been considered controversial, I don't think vandalizing someone's property is ever ok. This image of graffitti is actually pretty cool. I like how the stairs look like they are actually floating across the platform. However, someone is going to have to clean this off the subway platform which will be using tax payers funds. Those funds could definately be going towards something more useful to the public than cleaning up someone's artistic expression.

There are some really offensive tags written in public places. Also, tagging is usually connected to gang activity and crime. There is a big difference between artstic expression and pure vandalism.

Last week traffic was backed up on Katella because the right lane needed to be closed while the graffitti clean up crew worked on removing some tagging on a wall. What a waste of time for all of us commuters. I'm sure the tagger was enjoying the mess he created, which is part of the rush of tagging.

A Day Without Electricity

So I tried going a day without electricity all week long and each day I have failed, until last night. I finally just decided to go to bed super early.  It was a nice excuse to get a break from having to stay up all hours caring for a screaming three month old!
So this is how our day went....
The baby and I woke up around 9:30 and I ate cereal and made tea with the gas stove instead of microwave. The rest of the day until her nap we all played and talked and went for a walk in the neighborhood. I wasn't distracted by the computer, cell phone or T.V. so I was able to get some bills taken care of. I still do my bills the old school way with a check book and stamps, so this was easy for me to do without electricity. I got some cleaning and organizing done and wrote a couple of letters to family. It's nice to not have such a distraction from electronic devices that are time vampires. I realized how much time is sucked out of my day watching T.V., using my I-Phone and playing on the computer.
My day was so relaxing just hanging out in the quiet of the day and enjoying my kids. My oldest, however, was getting irritated about not having the T.V. on. She kept asking me what she did wrong and why I wouldn't let her watch it. Daddy took her to a local carnival to get her out of the house and I took a much needed nap in the evening. Once it got dark, I went to bed with the baby and used the usually annoying and super bright street lamp outside my bedroom window as a night light when I needed to get up in the middle of the night for feedings and a diaper change.
This project made my realize that I could get things done without the microwave and computer. My family had a hard time dealing with it, but I felt my day was more relaxing because of it.