Final project

Here is my short documentary on youth gun violence in Omaha.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT6h22A3IvM

Andrew Goldsworthy Part3

Goldsworthys first major accomplishment in the States was in 1997 when he created "The Storm King Wall" at The Storm King Arts Center in Mountainville, New York. It was a 2,0000 foot long wall made up of natural stone and without mortar that wound its way around trees and into a pond only to reappear on the opposite shore. This project paid homage to the original walls that were built in the same fashion by some of the earliest Europeans to settle in the region.
In the mid 90's Goldsworthy again borrowed from the past when he created "Sheepfolds" in northern England. The result was a number of drystone enclosures that replicated the ancient sheep enclosuress that were dominant in England during that areas reign as the center of the world trade.
Personally I am a big fan of Mr. Goldsworthy. I love to watch him work and to hear him talk about his work. It seems almost therapeutic to me. Almost like listening to a "Sounds of Nature" CD. He has found a way to kind of get back to where it all started by using the same materials that have been available for centuries and centuries.

Andrew Goldsworthy Part2

Goldsworthy was not really a big fan of being stuck in a visual-arts studio all day during college. He longed to be back outdoors where his roots were deeply planted. A truce was made between both worlds when he attended a presentation by Richard Long the father of land art. The presentation inspired Goldsworthy to trek to Morecambe Bay in Lancashire where stones on the shore made up his first natural project.
After college Goldsworthy continued to build his sculptures in the Scottish countryside very seldom seen by others. It wasnt until 1985 when Goldsworthy took on a project at the North Pole titled Touching North did the artist gain the worlds attention. The sculpture consisted of four enormous snow arches.

Art 21 Video

A few things from the Art 21 video in class that stuck out to me where from Judy Pfaff.
The thing that really stood out to me in the case of Judy Pfaff was the amount of people she had working on her projects and as a result of that the overall size of her work. Watching her direct the whole installation made her seem more like of a producer of artwork instead of just an artist. Somewhat similar to Quincy Jones working on Michael Jackson's Thriller album. I doubt Mr. Jones played one single instrument on that record but I guarantee you he was standing over every musicians shoulder telling him/her exactly how to play whatever he was hearing in his head. That's how I envision Judy Pfaff and her process. I have to wonder though if you envision something so massive and you have to use so many different material and you have to enlist so many different people to help you complete your project how much does the completed project resemble exactly what you set out to create in the beginning?

Andy Goldsworthy Part1 8/4/09

Andy Goldsworthy is a "land artist" born of Scottish parents in Chesire, England on July 25, 1956. Although he grew up and attended college in England he now makes Scotland his home with his wife Judith Elizabeth Gregson and his three children James, Holly, Anna and Thomas.
Mr. Goldsworthy uses natural elements such as snow, stone, wood, water, mud, flower petals, or even his own saliva to construct his sculptures. His affection for working with the natural environment was solidified in his younger years as a farm worker and later as a groundskeeper. It was these early experiences that gave birth to his passion of working with the earth. As he stated in an interview for the London Observer "Farming itself is a sculptural process," he said. "Fields are ploughed, bales of hay are stacked, walls are built. The day is spent shaping and re-creating what is around you."

Is this art?

Something that stands out to me after browsing thru the artists posted on the class blog is what I will call the "shock artists." People that throw alot of blood, sex and WTF? in your face to get a reaction. I am all for pushing the envelope. I love when someone does something new that I have never seen or heard before but to also make that something new mean something. Make it make sense. Make it tug at your heartstrings a little or make you rethink the way you think or do things. At that point it then becomes something special to me. To just shock somebody with something that seems unacceptable doesn't take much thought or talent in my mind. I can think of hundreds of photos I could take or pictures I could paint that could shock the shit out of you and probably think of another hundred more tomorrow. But where is the talent in that? What is the statement, the beauty, the pain or emotion in that?

I mentioned earlier about pushing the envelope and I really feel that that's what these artists are tying to do. We've all seen portraits that look amazingly realistic, we've all seen paintings of breathtaking landscapes. The problem is we've seen them for what seems like forever and we are bored with them. All artist feel the need to somewhat reinvent their artform a little bit. The problem is with visual arts the artist has but one second. That initial second that you view his or her piece to make a lasting impression on you. The filmmaker could have hours, a songwriter can have up to 5 minutes to do something you have never experienced before. The visual artist has to say it all in one moment basically so that is why I feel we see so much blood, sex and WTF? To stand out from the crowd in a single moment.

Little Marla

Personally I feel her dad and the gallery owner where both responsible for this whole thing. I feel that they were doctoring up her paintings and passing them off as the work of a 4 year old knowing that it would cause a commotion in the art world. It is also my belief that her mother knew nothing about this and truly believed they were being wrongly persecuted. I really hope I am wrong for the sake of everyone involved but that is what my gut tells me. One thing that sits wrong with me about this film was the reaction of her adult support system when they were questioned about the authenticty of her work. If I were in their shoes and the minute the story flipped and people started questioning my childs work I would of pulled the plug on the whole thing right there. A 4 yr old girls does not need to prove anything to anybody. If however my child was old enough to understand what was happening, wanted to pursue painting as a career and people were doubting the legitimacy of her passion I would help her fight tooth and nail to protect her reputation. If thats what SHE wanted me to do. The reaction of some of the adults in this situation just seemed like they wanted to protect their cash cow.

On another subject and mainly from our discussion about what is art I hope some of you had the chance to watch Pollock on HBO Tuesday night. If you missed it I'm sure it will be on again. I wont go into it much other than to say if was pretty entertaining even for my 8yr old. He watched a little bit of it with me before he went to bed and then we talked about it again in the morning when he woke up. He was kind of curious about his paintings so we did what we always do whenever he is curious about something and Googled him up. That led us to a cool website jacksonpollock.org where you can play Pollock and splash paint all over a canvas. Knock yourself out. However to truly feel the experience you should probably do it while drinking and smoking a cigarette.