Line and Space

One of the ways that i am applying linear concepts is in my work. When we get together with engineers at work and do drawings for each new neighborhood the actual drawings use all of the linear concepts that we learned in these chapters. Each new drawing is actually now a work of art to me. But since I've taken this class i have realized that there is art all around us in our daily lives. We see linear perspectives everywhere in the simplest things, like houses, parks and even businesses. And we see contour lines on clothing and signs and pictures everywhere. It has definitely made my everyday life more appealing in an artistic way. This class has opened up my eyes to all sorts of new things and its still the beginning of class!

Controversial Art

I chose to reflect on the controversy that Maya Ying Lins work caused with her design of the Vietnam Memorial. Unfortunately her design came at a time when there was still a fresh bit of anger and frustration from the war. Add to that, that the artist herself was of asian decent and you had a memorial that was going to cause lots of controversy regardless of the design.
Maya Ying Lins design for the Vietnam Memorial was just one of 1441 entries that came from all races and all ages. They came from Vietnam veterans and people who protested what they believed was an unjust war. What was so special about the process was that everyone accentually had a say so in the design. But when the design was chosen it sparked massive protests and lots of anger because it was such an unconventional memorial. Groups were upset that it was sunken beneath the earth. Others were upset that an asian girl designed it, or that they had to look up the names of the deceased in books to find out where they were carved because it wasnt in order by name but of chronological order by death. All of this mass protest and controversy was of a huge benefit to the project because it brought attention to the memorial and gave veterans a voice to be heard after such a tough war. It also brought veterans together and allowed some to have a sense of pride for the first time after coming home from a war that they couldnt or werent allowed to win.
I have been to the Vietnam Memorial and felt a special presence when i was there that ive only felt one other time, which happened to be at Pearl Harbor. I thought that the design reflected the war almost perfectly and was probably the greatest art project that i have ever seen. I think that the reflection and feeling that Maya was trying to portray in her memorial was dead on to those that fought, those that didnt and to those that knew of someone who died in the war. It was and is a very powerful experience.
I think that a world of conformed art would be an absolute dull world. Art to me is all about vision and design. We are all individuals and see and feel things differently. If we had a set of predetermined standards it would only be seen and appreciated through one pair of eyes, whereas artists who design things in their way open up the creative eyes of all of us and allow us to see things through them. So to me it would be impossible to have a set standard in art. We will always have controversy in all aspects of art and need to have them. Without them we would be living in a world without freedom, of speech and of expression.
From this weeks content i learned that i am a strong supporter of the freedom of expression. I think that minus illegal expression like child pornagraphy all art should be allowed. I was not surprised by anyones responses because we are all individuals and nobody thinks the same. If we did then we would be in a world of dullness.

Visual Literacy Reflections

The thing that i most took from this learning unit was the ability to decipher between form and content. Looking at pictures and different art sculptures in the past, reminded me of music that i would hear. I would get into little arguments with my wife about the supposed meaning of the song. After reading the chapter and listening to the lecture it just shows you that each song, or work of art can be interpreted in so many different ways. Two or more people can look at something and get something totally different out of it. To me that makes art alot more interesting.
So far the Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson has been the most relevant to me. I like that it is made out of earth and that it is changing everyday, even in the smallest manner. What really struck me most about this one is that it disappeared under the lake for a few years and reemerged as a totally different sculpture. It had gone from a man made looking creation to something that had become part of the earth.

The Gates, New York City, Central Park

When I look at Christo and Jean-Claude’s the Gates, New York City, Central park(1979-2005) I have mixed feelings. On one hand it was a beautiful addition to a city whos only artistic draw (besides galleries) is the design of the many skyscrapers. The project helped revitalize the cities economy and brought an estimated 4 million visitors to the area to walk the many paths. I also like how all the material in the project was recycled and donated. What I didn’t like about the project, besides the $21 million spent on a temporary project, was that it was a blatant copy of the Torii gates in Kyoto Japan. I am by no means an expert in art, but I feel that the Gates, New York, Central park was unoriginal and thus an almost total waste. If Christo and Jean-Claude would have given credit to the original creators of the Torii gates I would have found it more appealing and I would have appreciated it more. I have been to central park, and I would have liked to walk the paths of the Gates, but it would have appealed to me more thinking that it was an original work of art

About Me

My name is Mike McLaughlin. I am 31 years old and recently decided to return to school to get my degree in something more fulfilling to me than telecommunications. I presently work for AT&T but decided to change things up so that i can one day go to work with a smile( or at least a partial one). I have four classes remaining to get my transfer to Sac State, one of which is Art 10, and i look forward to moving on after the Fall semester so that i can get my degree in Psychology.