Blog Entry #4

ART: 21-Place

1: I think that it can work both ways. We can change a place to suite what we need to do with it to make it the way we want. The other way works too in that we can work around the place to achieve something we want.

2: Richard Serra was influenced by big ships, and some of the images seemed to have some influence from them. Most of what we saw of his works were giant metal sheets curved and set up in a specific way.
Sally Mann was mostly influenced by the South, and she did some landscaping and pictures of her kids. Since she grew up in the South, most of her works have a Southern influence to it.
Margret Kilgallen and Barry McGee were influenced by art on the streets and on trains. They like the graffiti seen on walls of streets, and they prefer things that are done with the hand. They like to go to train yards and put their art there and also look at what other people have done too. They see that some people go back to the trains after some years and update their signature.
Pepon Osorio’s influence came from a barber shop that his father too him to. He cried when he was getting his hair cut, and one of his works entitled “No Crying at the Barber Shop” obviously had the influence of his first experience at a barber shop.

3: The program showed that a person can make a place a form of art like some of Osorio’s works, and we can also change the place to suite our needs.

4: I would have to say I feel most connected to Kilgallen and McGee, because I also think that hand done things are better. After you make something with your hands, you feel a sense of satisfaction when you are finished. Also, when they talk about the graffiti on the streets I think that it is art too and some people just think that it is polluting the streets, but I do not think it is.

5: The metals used in Serra’s works made his works pretty large. It was massive like many big ships. Sally Mann’s works were pretty much standard size photos, some were a little bigger though. Kilgallen and McGee’s works were massive as well; they filled big walls like they would on the streets. Osorio’s works were basically the size of the room he was doing, since he was doing installations.

6: Basement of first house in Upper Sandusky-creepy. Elementary school-exciting. Second house in Napoleon-comfortable. Parents’ restaurant-dreary. First house in Waterville-mysterious.

7: Our second house in Napoleon was the most comfortable place I can remember being. The objects that occupy the house are typical things that people have in a house, so couches, tables, televisions, beds and the like were all a part of the place. Lighting was pretty decent, at night time the lights we turn on would be good enough to light the house to see well. When I was little I did find the basement of the house a little bit frightening. Even though it was a finished basement, it sometimes had an eerie to it. During the night-time, it can get very dark because there were only about two windows and they were pretty small. When I got a bit older it became less scary and was actually a comfortable place to sleep because of the darkness.


ART: 21-Stories

1: I think that in today’s society, stories of hero’s are told a lot. In some recent movies concerning some recent events, like September 11th, there have been many films on some of the fallen hero’s during that time. Hero’s from the past are still being shown, like films depicting World War II. Passing down stories of hero’s gives some people the feeling of respect towards others defending our country.

2: Some stories may get lost because we may not understand them well or they may not relate to us at the time, so we may just forget about them. The stories that are still being told are very memorable and may have a high significance to a majority of the population and they may be able to relate better.

3: The artists use sketchbooks to get their ideas onto paper and keep it there for later on or just to get it on paper as soon as a new idea comes to mind. I think that a sketchbook is a work of art because it represents the ideas of the artist, even though it may not be a completed thing, but a simple sketch can be a work of art. It can be considered a step in the making of the final product and the steps are just as important as the final outcome.

4: The most memorable place that comes to mind was our second house in Napoleon. I spent a few years living at the house, and it was a pretty comfortable place to live. I remember feeling some frustration at some times for no apparent reason. There really was not much dreaming going on, but just thinking about growing up. The strongest feeling that I remember was sitting outside at night on a clear night and looking at the stars in the sky, and then hearing a train’s horn in the distance going off. In that situation, when I heard the horn going off in the distance, I would feel a bit of depression and the feeling of being an insignificant person.

Now, I can say that most of the things still stand true to the place. It was still a pretty comfortable place to live and as for hearing a train on a calm night, I still get the feeling of being depressed, but it also makes me happy because it would bring back the memories of some of my childhood.

Blog Entry #3

1. Before this Blog Assignment, had you ever kept a journal, diary, or blog?
No

2. Before this Blog Assignment, had you ever written about art before?
Once

3. Have you ever written for fun (poetry, fiction or non, journalistic, or research)?
Never

4. When writing, do you use a dictionary or thesaurus?
Neither

5. If given a chance, would you rather discuss art verbally or through written means?
Written

6. How would you rate your overall vocabulary?
Average

7. How would you rate your vocabulary of art terminology?
Average

8. How would you rate your writing abilities?
Average

9. How would you rate your writing abilities when writing about art?
Insecure

10. How would you rate your ability to use specific vocabulary when writing?
Average