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I admit. I wanted to study for Urban Dynamics during the lecture for the exam I had the next day, but she and what she had to say actually interested me. Conservation of materials.
As an artist, conservation of my work is always in the back of my mind, how long will this last, until class, next week, next year, the next hundred years....It was interesting to find that the materials that I thought would last for a while because of their density and weight, actually die away like any other material. It's scary almost, to realize that even the strongest material has weak spots. Being a painter, or thinking about it, also worried me when I saw the Mark Rothko paintings. Painting has been around for so long. The paintings that I look at in museums seem like they were done freshly this morning. I need to harness that longevity. I don't want to though. I'd rather not think about how long materials are going to last and if my colors are going to fade away to nothing. I want ephemeral works...okay, I want my works to last forever, or at least for a very long time, but I don't want to put in the time that will make it last through time...but it was a good heads up for the future.
This one was a lot more interesting and informative but unfortunately I never caught his name. He was German though, I do know that.
He said a lot of things but through the accent and some of the fluff, he made some really profound points. He talked more about art making and how technology has always been used but has been separate. We as artists don't think of factory work and mass production as art and individual and unique. He gave some examples of artists who have tried to bridge the gap between factory work and art work. Duchamp was one example with his fountain.
In the mix of this, he explained that by doing what Duchamp did he reskilled the artists hands instead of deskilling. In other words, just because he didn't necessarily make the fountain he did create art with his hands, but he used his hands artistically in a way that's never been done before or thought of.
It was pretty interesting. He was nice and his accent was soothing to the ears. What he said really made sense. I thought that Andy Warhol was also someone who did something on a similar lines by adding in mass production and making it art with his soup cans and multiples.
The speaker talked about how artists view themselves as above the masses and omnipresent in a way and everyone else who isn't is grounded and limited by their view. Warhol and others bridged the gap by including everyday objects and this idea of mass production to ground the artist. It also gives recognition to machines and the mechanical way of working because artistry is seen as human and unique and good while factory mass production is cold and non individualized and therefore bad.
I looked up ordinary things, very small objects, and amy orr's website, which are links on Jille's blog. I really enjoyed them, especially the very small objects. It is unbelievable to think that some of those objects were as small as 2mm. Woah, I just pictured it! Ordinary things amused me because they had a different one for each day. Some of them I got and some were a little too jumbled for me to understand. I liked the ones that were made with the bottle caps. The design aesthetic was interesting to see from day to day and the message was always simple but funny and profound in some way.Amy Orr's was cool. I'm intriged with that kind of approach to art. The innovation. I would be a little upset if that happened to be one of my credit cards but...the work itself is beautiful.
I went to this weeks lecture with my roommate, Adrianne. It wasn't the most interesting lecture...but the speaker was Scott Rigby who is the founder of BASEKAMP. I'm not too sure what that is. I think it's some sort of exhibition program .Something that was interesting was these potlucks that he performs every Tuesday, and they're art related. Interesting way to get together with people and eat, socialize, and talk art.
I saw the movie Helvetica and I was surprised at how excited everyone was over this text that seems to be the only real text that people use anyways. When I really thought about it, unless the text was something like monotype corvisa or some other variation, most of what we write with likes times new roman or arial is helvetica which is basically a text with no meaning behind it. It's the most neutral way to write.Since I don't have a camera...this is Hellvetica though it can be even more basic.
This blog was a little more informative. We had a guest, Peter Hanley. He was there to help us learn how to use the computer to its fullest advantage. He gave insights to specific websites and links while also entertaining us with his witty style and comentary. I saw some freshly familiar faces in the crowd as well.
We had our first lecture a few days ago. It was an introductory one that gave us information on the school and work study opportunities though I wasn't able to take him up on his offer. I did meet one girl though, Kim.
Why have I come to Tyler? It's a great school in a great location. The money I received wasn't so great but that's what I get for procrastinating until the day before.
So far, I've been at Temple University for an entire week (seven days) and I feel like I've been here for years. I'm not sure if that's a good thing as of yet, but I have to remind myself constantly not to be so quick to make assumptions because the year has only begun.
It's strange to think that I'll be living in Philadelphia instead of Baltimore until December. I feel like it's already December. The air gets just a little cooler everyday, I'm getting more acquainted with the girls in my hall, (Peabody, third floor) and I wonder when my "college life" will really begin...and in reality, it already has.
