Unity in the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Upon visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art I had not the slightest idea of what type of works I was specifically looking for. I entered with an open mind hoping something would come to me. As it did. I’m a fan of portraits, but when viewing the collection in the Metropolitan I became a fan of group pictures. Something about seeing people working together, sharing the same space, just being united made me realize what I want my project to be about. Unity.

The first piece of work I saw was the “Marble sarcophagus with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens.” Apparently this piece is about the muses and the sirens having a musical competition where the muses are beating the sirens whom use their music to lure men. What captured me about this piece beside its obvious beauty is the way they all look connected. They all look interested in each other even though it is a competition they are in. They all seem interconnected and it glorifies the definition of unity.

The second piece I saw was the “Asmat Bis Poles.” This piece is another sculpture of the Asmat people representing those who have died. Each figure on the pole represents a person who has died and become ancestors. This really interested me because of the fact that even when their people die, they continue to celebrate them. Although we do that today in funerals, its never as big as a “memorial feast” and we almost never make sculptures of each other and present them to the community. This showed a very dedicated form of unity.

The last piece I will discuss is “The Family of Claude Terrasse.” Whether it was my hunger, or the fact that I was just on a picnic with my family the day before visiting the museum this piece definitely caught my eye. The way the family looks as if they are communicating and solely enjoying each others company, they define what a united family looks like. It reminded me of the fun I had with my family and how families seem to come together regardless of situations. Family being the first form of unity we experience and in this painting it shows.

Unity is important to me and to almost everyone else because nobody likes to be fully alone. We all need somebody; therefore my curator project will be based on the beauty that is unity.

"Marble sarcophagus with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens" 3rd quarter of 3rd century A.D. Greek and Roman Art. 

"Asmat People Bis Pole" Late 1950s. Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas

Pierre Bonnard. "The Family of Claude Terrasse." 1899. Modern and Contemporary Art

Perino del Vaga. "The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist" ca. 1524-26. European Paintings

Emanuel Leutze. "Washington Crossing the Delaware." 1851. American Paintings and Sculptures

Seymour Joesph Guy. "The Contest for the Bouquet: The Family of Robert Gordon in their New York Dining-Room." 1866. American Paintings and Sculptures

Walker Evans. "Detail of Hands from "Proletarian Unity" Panel of Diego Rivera's Mural for the New Worker's School, New York City." July–August 1933. Photographs

Ercole or Giulio Cesare Procaccini. "Pietà." 17th century. Drawings and Prints.

Anne Goldthwaite. "The Green Sofa." 1930-40. American Paintings and Sculptures

John Gutmann "Final Examination, U.C. Berkeley, California." 1947. Photographs

John Gutmann. "Two Women in Love." 1937. Photographs

Paolo Veronese. "Mars and Venus United by Love." 1570s. European paintings

Morris Engel. "Coney Island, New York" 1941. Photographs

Edgar Degas. "The Dance Class." 1874. European Paintings.

Debbie Grossman. "The Fae and Doris Caudill Family Eating Dinner in Their Dugout." 2010. Photographs

Chelsea Galleries Reaction

It’s funny to realize that not only is art considered a hobby, a pastime, or an ordinary interest, it is also a luxury to own. There price varies from slightly inexpensive depending on the artist, to hundred thousand dollars if you are very well known.  When visiting The Metro Pictures and the Barbara Gladstone Galleries I found works that as a consumer I would definitely purchase and another that I’d prefer to just look at where they are currently.

The Metro Pictures gallery had work from an artist named Cindy Sherman. Previously I have seen her work and was slightly interested just because I feel that if I was an artist my work would be almost identical, solely portraits of myself. One of her pieces “Untitled” 2010/2011 portrays here in what seems to be the country in a crop field, yet she is dressed semi formal. As a consumer, Cindy’s work would be something I would enjoy having in my home, even if it is of another person. The other artwork i would purchase as a consumer is "Untitled" where she is standing by a tree with a nice nature background and she is yet again dressed formally. Sherman’s work also has a sense of humor in them that makes them even more enjoyable.

The Barbara Gladstone Gallery starred an artist named Anish Kapoor. In the gallery there was a 22 part piece named Ga Gu Ma. They were pretty large in size which automatically made me think I would not want it in my house. Also, as I read, since art is expensive you should choose something you ultimately enjoy looking at, and these sculptures were quite the contrary. The sculptures have a way of making you stare at them to try and figure out what exactly they are. It’s like one of those scenarios in movies where they are scared but are still going toward where the noise is coming from. With the sculptures I was confused but couldn’t look away.

Art is a luxury that not everyone can afford which is why it is available for everyone to see. Because of their prices you must think long and hard if it is something you want to own forever, because you wouldn’t want to sell it cheaper than what you originally paid for. Therefore, a person’s own taste comes strongly, if not the only consideration, when buying a piece of work.

                                                Anish Kooper
                                                "Ga Gu Ma"
                                                 2011-12

Cindy Sherman
"Untitled"
2010/2011
MP# 513

Cindy Sherman
"Untitled"
2010-2011
MP# 514

Sculpture Center Reaction

The space in which an artwork exists can play a huge role on the way it is viewed. As obvious as this seems, the installation of art is under appreciated. It's uncommon, at least for me, to appreciate what the curator does. Of course this changed when I once became the curator. When viewing Bill Bollinger: The Retrospective as strange as I found his artwork, the setting and positions of certain things made it that much more interesting.

My favorite piece was the "Droplight." this piece was as simple as a wire and a lit lightbulb. At first glance I thought it was part of the gallery instead of part of the exhibition. It's placement left an imprint on me. A lightbulb on the floor? I guess that was the point. It grabbed my attention immensely, it wasn't an ordinary sight. When you think of light, you think of hanging from a ceiling, or even a lamp, but never laid across the floor. The placement definitely made this piece more than just a wire and lightbulb.

Another pice that got my attention was the "Rope Piece." This was two ropes against the wall that stretched off to the floor. The way it was placed made this piece rather interesting. In the basement there were two other "Rope Piece" which didn't grasp my attention the way this one did, and one hung from the ceiling while the other lied across the floor. The way the rope connected between the wall and floor at a certain angle called attention to it.

Lastly, in the basement there was an untitled piece of barrel with what looked like dirty water. This piece didn't even look like it was a part of the exhibition because of how perfect it fit in its environment. The basement alone looked like a dungeon, an old creepy place, so this steel barrel with dirty water looked like it belonged there. Great job on the curators part. Placement does have a great effect on how people view things. And even though. I did not understand most of the pieces in this exhibition, I cannot deny that they were pretty interesting.

Bill Bollinger
"Droplight"
1969

Bill Bollinger
"Rope Piece"
1967 (2011)

Bill Bollinger
"untitled"
1970 (steel barrel, water)

Design in Our Lives

            To me, the artistic part and design of the things in our everyday life, never really played a big role. I never took the time to pay attention to the design of things we use constantly. I realized this after visiting the MoMA. It may have a lot to do with the fact that I am not the most artistic person in the world, and although I may notice the beauty or uniqueness of something, that’s as much depth as I put into the thought of design. In the Architecture and Design Galleries, I saw a couple of pieces of work with such unique design, but their functionality was rather questionable, while others made perfect sense.

            My favorite piece of work was the “Sea Shelter.” This is a piece designed to be an alternative and safer version of a raft. When you are caught in a sea storm a raft is not the easiest and safest place to go, the sea shelter than becomes convenient. I believe the “Sea Shelter” has high functionality because of the simplicity that is using it. The “Sea Shelter” becomes an easy route to safety with handle bars on the side, steps to enter that are below the water surface, and it can be maneuvered to face anybody who is trying to enter. The other piece i believed to have high functionality was the "Nature-City." "Nature-City" is more of a sketch, or blueprint on what a group of artist think the ideal neighborhood would be. I labeled this piece high functionality because of the way it projected such a good environmental space where people are constantly surrounded by nature, it is bound to be a great living environment. They also make everything run on water, rather than any other mean of power. That already makes the neighborhood, an ideal one.

             In the Low functionality category though, I placed "Knork Fork and Spoon." At a first glance I thought this was a different and quite interesting twist to the 'Spork.' After paying closer attention I realized it seemed pretty dangerous to eat with the utility. You would have to turn the utensil sideways and it will most likely become an uncomfortable eating experience. Eating it frontward, like we normally do would be impossible due to the sharpness of it. The other one in the low functionality category is the "Experimental Plywood Recliner." This piece was beautifully designed, something that would be found in an Ikea magazine, yet I labeled it low functionality because i don't see how anyone, by any means would want to sit on something so uncomfortable. With furniture, i know design plays a big role, but i strongly believe comfort plays an even bigger role. Maybe a person who is deeply into house decoration will enjoy having it there just to be viewed. But as for its purpose, to sit and be comfortable, I don't not think it has a high functionality.

            The way art and design go together is unappreciated, at least it was to me. They go hand in hand, and I just did not realize it. The design of something does greatly influence whether or not it is going to function properly, and that is something I never truly payed close attention to.

Herbert von Thaden
"Experimental Plywood Recliner"
Plywood
1947

Maria Benktzon and Sven-Eric Juhlin
"Knork Fork and Spoon"
Polycarbonate, ABS, and stainless steel
1978

Nikhil Garde, Elle-Mie Ejdrup Hansen, Brnabas Wetton, Michael Frederiksen
"Sea Shelter"
Nylon and rubber
2004

Michael Etzel, Gerald E. Frug, Sean McLaughlin, John Parker, John McMorrough, James Lima, Jason Loiselle, Eric Sanderson.
"Nature-City"

Illustrate A Story

This Story was on Romance. What interested me was that a wedding had come about from parents trying to set their kids up. To narrate, it started with a young ladies mother who became diagnosed with breast cancer. Due to her leaving her job she no longer had health care and had to sell her house to pay her bills, and ended up renting a home who belonged to a father of a young man. The parents then wanted to set up their kids. When they finally met, they didn't really click. They young ladies mother though, did not give up, she called the young man every day for a week to help her move. In that week the young adults spent a lot of time together and by the end, they began dating. Today, they are happily married. 

                    

The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood.

When viewing an artwork it is an automatic instinct to feel something toward it, you either like it or you don't. After paying closer attention, those feelings might be subject to change. Speaking on behalf of myself I can say that once I get to understand an artwork a little better, I begin to appreciate it and disliking it is no longer an option. In some cases though, I can't get a piece of art to stick to me, due to my taste I just do not like the artwork. When visiting the MoMa Ps1 I found three pieces of art that I will discuss here including one that I liked, one that I didn't, and one that I did not understand.

When viewing the "Henry Taylor" exhibit there was a painting entitled "Wegrett". This was the painting I disliked. I did not like that it looked like a logo for brand. I also didn't like the fact that there was a little boy on his knees with dirty feet in front of a woman who looked angry. This painting brought upon me a sense of negativity. In the same room there was a painting in regards to Sean Bell, a black man who was killed. When seeing this painting I thought about a boy asking for forgiveness and although that is not a bad thing, I did not feel it should have been in the same room as the painting of Sean Bell. I guess what makes me dislike this painting is the placement of it.

The exhibit I did like was that of "Janet Cardiff: The Forty Part Motet." This was a room that contained 40 speakers and was playing a 14 minute long 40 track sound recording of "Spem in Alium Nunquam habui" by Thomas Tallis. When in this room you heard a beautiful melodic harmony of artist singing as one. But as the author encouraged walking among the speakers you were able to hear individually each artist that was singing. Out of each speaker you heard a different voice, different words. But when standing in the middle of the room they all sounded as one. It was interesting and beautiful at the same time.

The piece I did not understand was called "chicken burrito, beef burrito." The title alone was quite rare. This piece was an empty room with two speakers hanging on the wall playing music. That is all there was to the piece. The song playing didn't have anything to do with burritos, and there was nothing else in the room. I did not understand the connection, maybe if I would have stayed longer something in the song would relate to the title but as I listened I just could not make a connection.

Art is special in the way that not everyone will say the same thing about specific art works. With art you are able to interpret what you please from the art, but it is crucial to try to understand it from the artist point of view. Even though people may have different opinions on different artworks it is very much possible to appreciate them all.

Henry Taylor
"Wegrett"
Acrylic and collage on linen
2006

Janet Cardiff
"The Forty Part Motet"
40-track sound recording (14:00 minutes), 40 speakers
1957

"chicken burrito, beef burrito"

Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

               Identity, whether it be personal, cultural or historical is solely based upon how one views it. Although society categorizes it with one definition, it is easy to describe it in various ways. I was able to visit the Museum of Modern art where in two exhibits one being “Cindy Sherman”, the other “Contemporary Galleries: 1980- Now” I found pieces of art that by my definitions described a sense of personal, cultural, and historical identity.

                In the Contemporary Gallery one of the artworks displayed was “Tormented Self Portrait” by Ashley Bickerton. As I viewed this, I automatically thought of products. It was a collage of different logos representing consumer products. Altogether it was a representation of different brand names which came across as a type of cultural identity. Within different cultures different products are used. In the American culture, for the most part, brand names are particularly important. Viewing this specific artwork made me think about how different people really are. The brand names displayed were foreign to me, but as a couple passed behind me they knew almost every single one of them. I believe the artist; Ashley Bickerton was focusing on representing a particular group making this work fit into a category of cultural identity.

                Another piece of artwork that stood out to me in the Contemporary Gallery was that of Doris Salcedo with “Atrabiliarios.” As I came across it, it was simply old mistreated shoes in the wall. A bit confused I read a reading posted on the wall. These shoes were a representation of people who disappeared during the Colombian Civil War that began in the 1960’s, making it fit into historical identity, or lack there of. This artwork was a unique way of showing respect to those who are no longer with us.

                Last but not least and artwork that came across as personal identity was one in Cindy Shermans display. “Doll Clothes” is a film that was transferred to DVD. In the film there is a doll that is going through pages of clothing for her, seems as though she is looking for something in her taste. She finds a dress, puts it on, just to be later grabbed by a hand, have the dress taken off of her and placed back inside the page. This represented personal identity because the doll was looking for something she liked, but then forced to change. I translated that to a sense of imprisonment where she can’t express herself the way she wanted.

                Identity is the state or fact of being the same as one described. So although we have general ideas as to what cultural, historical and personal identity is, it can be described or shown as different things. The examples I’ve discussed from the Cindy Sherman and Contemporary Galleries: 1980-Now exhibits, are only pieces that came across as identity to me. For the most part, just like art, expression of identity depends on who views it.

Ashley Bickerton

“Tormented Self Portrait”

Synthetic Paint, bronze powder and lacquer on wood, aluminum, rubber, plastic, leather, chrome-plated steel and canvas.

1987-88

Doris Salcedo

“Atrabiliarios”

Wall installation with plywood, shoes, animal fiber, thread, and sheepskin, six niches

1992-93

Cindy Sherman

“Doll Clothes”

16mm film transferred to DVD 

1975