final questions- blog post

1. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the best? Why?

I enjoyed the exhibit where we created a room that represented art.  I chose to make a room full of apples since it as fall and my work came out great.  The project made you think and that is why I liked it.

2. Which assignment did you ENJOY working on the least? Why?

Probably the self portrait just because I do not have great artistic abilities in that aspect.  It was fun to give it a try but I didn't enjoy the assignment overwhelmingly.

 

3. How did you like using ANGEL?

It worked petty well.  Your directions were clear and the site assignments linked well and it worked.

4. If you had the opportunity to change this course:

What would you keep?  I would keep some of the coursework so we learned the basis.  I would keep a few of the projects as well.

What would you remove?  I would remove the amount of homework assigned weekly.  If I had as much work for every other class as I did for this one, I wouldn't have a life.  It wasn't hard work, it just took up a little too much time on a weekly basis for a class that is non-major related.

What would you add?  I don't think anything else needed to be added.

5. Would you recommend this course to your peers?  Yes.  I enjoyed it, just a little less homework amount time per week would be perfect.

6. Please list any other comments you would like to share.  I enjoyed the way you taught for the online environment and hope I did well finishing the final projects to do well overall in the class.

reflections of aed 200

1. What were you expectations for this course and where they met?

My expectations were similar to how the class went.  There was a good amount of work each week which was hard to do meet certain due dates by with a full schedule, work, and playing a sport as a student athlete at school, but I was mostly able to handle it.

2. Now that you've been through this course, What is art? How would you define it now compared to your intial posting?

Art can be expressed in so many different ways and can go down so many different routes.  You can be looking at art, be surrounded by it, or be creating it.  Art is still very hard to define, but I do have a better understanding for it in general.

3. Who was your favorite artist in your original posting and who is your favorite visual artist now?

I do not remember who my favorite artist was at the beginning, but I would have to go with Vincent Van Gogh after seeing his work's at the Albright Knox Art Gallery and throughout are class.  

 If there is a difference, why do you think so? If you have the same favorite artist, why do you think so?

I just noticed that I enjoyed Van Gogh's works over the course of this class.

4. Now that you've completed this course, how do you feel about taking an online course? Is your answer the same as it was in your first posting? How is it the same or different?

I think that online classes can be successful only for certain subjects.  An example of a class that wouldn't work well online would be one where it would be necessary to meet with group members daily and come up with interactive presentations for a business class.  For our class though, I thought it worked well and you did a great job giving us the right tools and understanding to learn while getting our work done in order for you to grade and for others to respond to our work. 

Self Portrait, inspirational pieces, and questions

My inspirational pieces were 

1. Vincent Van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat and Artist's Smock"

-Oil on Cardboard, 40.8 x 32.7 cm, Van Gogh Museum, 1887

2. Anselm Feuerbach- Self-Portrait

-Oil on canvas, 62 x 50 cm, Alte Nationalgalerie, 1873

3. Karl Bryullov Self-Portrait

-Oil on Canvas, 64.1 x 54 cm, The State Tretyakov Gallery, 1848

Photograph I used of myself to create my self-portrait.

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?
I chose the three inspirational pieces because they were all so nicely done.  The detail they used was fantastic.
2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?
I chose to go with a regular pencil because I wanted a sketch looking self portrait.
3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?
I realized that its much harder than it looks to create a good self portrait.  Mine really doesn't look anything like me because of my talent as an artist, but this was a good experience to try.
4. How does this piece represent you?
It does physically represent me at all, but it represents my effort to work towards making a portrait of myself.
5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?
I tried using emphasis, but my ability as a drawer didn't allow as much emphasis as I would have liked on my face.  I also differentiated between light and dark throughout my work.
6. Did you enjoy working on this project?
Yes, I did.  I now know the difficulty of creating an above average self-portrait and it was comical/a learning experience to work on this.
7. What do you think of your final artwork?
It was a nice try, but I wish it could have came out a little better.  Maybe I will let a good artist do a portrait of me next.

art critique blog questions

1. Which projects did you review?
The three projects that I reviewed were the one on Life and Death, the Perfect Day, and Man's Best Friend.  

2. Why did you select the Exhibit you critiqued?
 I chose to go with the exhibit on Man's Best Friend because I found it the most interesting and it was organized nicely.  I had nothing against the other too, I just felt the Life and Death exhibit was too depressing and the Perfect Day just did not excite me as much as the one I chose.

3. What challenges did you face in writing the critique article and how did you overcome them?
I had to really think about the exhibit in detail as if I was actually at an exhibit viewing each work with the next.  I tried picturing it all in my head and this helped me imagine how it would all look on walls, etc.

4. How do you feel about critiquing your peers work?
It is nice to see what others have to say, because we can gain more knowledge and learn by helping one another.  Everyone has different ideas and opinions and as long as they are mostly positive, critiquing is a good tool. 

5. Would you like to read the critique your peers wrote about your Art Curation Project?
Sure, I wouldn't take it too personally regardless if what they said was right or wrong because what is trash to one individual could look like treasure to another.  I'm sure I would get a few solid ideas I could use to better my exhibit.

6. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your finished article and why?
I would give my finished article about an honest 8 because writing is definitely not one of my strong points.  I tried to be a good critic to the best of my abilities.

7. Did you enjoy working on this project?
Yes, it gave us a look from a different perspective.  Instead of creating the exhibit, we were critiquing an exhibit that already existed, which was nice to do.

art criticism, short video blog posting-questions

1.
Greenberg on Art Criticism- the video surrounds Greenberg and TJ Clark, who is a historian.  Greenberg discusses the relationships between art and history and also about the nature of value judegements in criticism.  Greenberg feels that the best art of the last 50 years has primarily been abstract.  This video is old and I found it funny that the individuals in it were smoking cigarettes.  


Greenberg on Pollock- this video has to do with Greenberg and Clark sitting down to discuss and reflect on the work of the late Jackson Pollock.  He was very eccentric, yet his approach to painting was very practical.  They reflected on some of his work that never materialized and Greenberg talked about firsthand observations of the artist in his studio.


Intro. to Italian Ren- In this video, you see how each great art master learned and developed their techniques and worked on top of those ideas to become great themselves.  Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and many other greats were innovative and came up with new ideas while also building on others.  Great works from these artists demonstrate the Roman influence on Renaissance art.


Stories from the Inside Pages- this video features Dr. Dwight DeWerth-Pallmeyer who spent months traveling the country while interviewing prestigious commentators.  He got a great look at criticism as an art form, the social value of critic's work, and the variety of ways that these great critics began their career, which is pretty fascinating.  These critics have such a drive and passion for their work.  They go about their work in a very professional manner as well.


The Colonial Encounter-  In this video, we see film clips, photographs, etc. from renowned art historians.  We are able to see offerings from museum collections.  The program shows and takes a look at the ways in which Western prejudice, ethnography, and art consumption have counteracted authentic dialog.  


Jackson Pollock- Fried & Clark Conversation-  This video shows Clark, who is mostly a history of art scholar, and Michael Fried, who is a proponent of aesthetically based views of painting and sculpture.  In this program, we see the two discuss 2 of Jackson Pollock's works in which they try to come to some sort of understanding with each other.  They have there differences, and go into small details on what they feel is right and wrong.


2.
These videos do somewhat relate to my Art Criticism Project because they show different viewpoints and different understandings on how to critique art.  You have to try to be unbiased and go about your criticism in a proper manner, which was shown well in the video where Dr. Dwight interviewed so many great critics.  You were able to see how they did what they do for a living and were able to pick up some ideas and pointers from that as well as parts of the other videos.


3.
I enjoyed most of these short films.  The film that interviewed great critics was my favorite because I felt I was able to take some ideas away from that program the most.  I feel that they all gave us ideas and to get a better grasp on art criticism as a whole.

Project #4- Art In Ice Hockey

I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project.  I was able to take great works of art, break them down, and examine them closely, while taking the history of them and sharing them with others.  When you are passionate about a certain area or topic, you enjoy working on that more than something you find less interesting.  After seeing one of the sample slide shows for a project, I saw how it related to very depressing images, and I feel that I would not nearly enjoy working with that as much as I did with the sport of Hockey as my main topic for my exhibit.  I hope I was able to teach other individuals a few new facts while breaking down the artwork in an understanding fashion.  I understand that even though the topic of Hockey is of great interest to me, it might not be as much to others.  I am looking forward to seeing other individuals projects as well and seeing how they incorporated their works together.