Artist Blog: Matthew Sporzynski 2/28/10

During our last class session, Ashleigh Hobson recommended Matthew Sporzynski. When I tried to google him, I realized I was very familiar with his work. Sporzynski creates paper sculptures for the life/home improvement magazine, Real Simple. While the artist doesn't' have his own web page, there is a demand for it. Real Simple reports comments, "If he's not famous, he should be." They also have received, "Please tell us something about Matthew Sporzynski." Does Real Simple own his soul? Apparently the artist is a graphic designer and works as professor at the parsons the new school of design. He has also created promotional materials for the MoMa, Estee Lauder and Ralph Lauren. Last night I dug up a Real Simple magazine from 2007, there were 4 pages scattered throughout the issues with his work relating to summer. Sporzynski succeeded in creating a swimming pool out of paper, delicious ice cream pops and a paper jar filled with lightning bugs all dedicated to celebrating the month of July. Can you even image what his portfolio would look like?

Idea Post 2/25

This will be a pretty short post since I just met with Paul today. Most of what I'm going to talk about will be in the Senior Portfolio Critique Blog. As of now, I have recently ordered the book Papercraft:Design and Art with Paper by R. Klanten, S. Ehmann, and B. Meyer

This book supposedly presents innovative work that ranges in size from large installations to miniscule crafty sculptures. I'm looking forward to seeing these quirky works.

Artist Blog (DOUBLE SPECIAL!) 2/21/10

Greta Anderson: I stumbled across this artist this weekend just by following various art blogs and their links. I planned to write about Greta Anderson today and for some reason her website has up and vanished! According to the a web hosting company, her domain has expired. If and when she re-opens her site, I will be sure to post the link. Luckily, I managed to grab some images off the blog I had found her on. Greta takes gorgeous imagery. While she seems to have a variety of interests, her series "the standins" are breathtaking. In this small series, she photographs human subjects in natural environments which dominate the frame. I am really attracted to her imagery as she manages to capture pristine details of the natural foliage creating a sense of utopia. The composition of this series makes me realize that I want to create similar environments. If I do include a human subject I would like to have them photographed minimally so that the background is dominant and overwhelming. I hope that my photographs carry the same sense of mythicism and fantasy.

Justine Smith: works primarily with paper. I have been researching paper artists as I am turning to that medium. I was impressed with Smith's production. Using bank notes (dollar bills and currency from other countries) she creates collages, prints and sculptures. Smith is interested in the concept of money and how it impacts every aspect of our being. I was particularly interested in her sculptural money flowers. She titles her work as specimens and photographs the sculptures in acrylic or glass domes, thus presenting the pieces individually as a museum would. Smith has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally. She lives and works in London.

2/18/10 Idea Post

Recently, I presented my issues to Tom about the upcoming work for senior portfolio. I explained that I felt like I had come to a dead end with my work. I was reconsidering turning to an old concept I had worked with, the themes of my childhood. We dove into a deep conversation, as he tried to guide me to find a connection between my fascination of childhood and that of nature. When we ended our conversation, Tom left me on the edge as he smiled and told me that the connection was very obvious. He prescribed to me the collection of poems, "Leaves of Grass," By Walt Whitman.

Eager to find inspiration, I went to the library and checked out the book. I've always had problems reading poetry. I can acknowledge that there is beauty in the creation and masterful language. The poems are pages and pages long, and I found myself losing interest and confused. I was looking for some deep message. I put down the book and decided to research the Internet. My excitement returned when I saw an analysis of the poems. They were described as "exalting the body and the material world. Influenced by the Transcendentalist movement,itself an offshoot of Romanticism, Whitman's poetry praises nature and the individual human's role in it."(Wikipedia) Returning to the poems, I became frustrated by not finding this message. However, I was enamored with the language he used to describe nature. Whitman writes of virgin soil and of mystic nights. I'm envious that he was able to convey his experiences with such success.

Abandoning this book, I still pondered Tom's so-called connection. As I went on to have a meeting with Paul, I began to re-think the subject matter and presentation. I walked away reconsidering every aspect of my work. I am now considering using nature as a backdrop rather than the subject. I realized there is another text that I can reference. The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett can be considered a classic novel of children's literature. I grew up reading this book frequently, as it was one of the only books in English that I owned in Thailand during my summers. As a gardner hobbyist, my mother has always sported her green thumb. I never had an interest in gardening, but now I find the elements of the plant biology fascinating. I have memories of elementary science class when we would grow lima beans in a plastic cup. The opacity of the glass gave us access to watch the roots extend. Now as an adult in college, I have always been interested in growing a vegetable and herb garden.

I believe I found the connection between my obsessiveness with my childhood and nature. I plan on constructing a garden using the mass marketing materials. I want to create something similar to a "secret garden" where I can build and interact with my work. I'm looking forward to creating something fantastical so that my interactions with the habitat will be of wonder and play.

Artist Lecture #2: Hank Willis Thomas

Yesterday Virginia Commonwealth University hosted an artist lecture by Hank Willis Thomas. Interestingly, Thomas presented his work in a different manner than other visiting artists. At the beginning, he spent a good amount of time showing us his first pieces of work. While I was unimpressed and slightly turned off by his frame photographs, I soon realized the purpose. Thomas was completely exposing himself, allowing us to literally follow his development. Once I understood this, I began to relate to him and enjoy his creative process. Boy, did his concepts really develop!

Thomas considers himself a "visual cultural archaeologist," which follows his process of harvesting and collecting imagery to appropriate. Thomas views logos as,"our nation's hieroglyphs." Explaining that he was intrigued as to how generations to come would analyze our current culture. Thomas showed us examples of work from his series B(r)anded, which focuses on the use of African American male body in advertisements. I was fascinated by the connections he had made.Using the popular symbols of Nike and Cotton, he appropriated the symbols into works that connected modern day industries with slaves. By manipulating the language and visuals of advertising, Thomas is achieving accessibility to his viewers.

Thomas also showed a film called, "Winter in America." The animation film outlines the story of his cousin's murder. Using G.I. Joe figurines, Thomas collaborated with Kambui Olujimi to create a short film which sports the underlying message of how violence is systematically portrayed in America. After showing the film, he shared still frame photographs that had been made into a book. I think this piece alone truly showcased his technical abilities as a photographer. The images were beautifully composed and included perfectly captured lens flare. While the subject was depressing, I found this to be his most attractive piece.

While he showed many other works, some of them being collaborative films and re-contextualized imagery. I was most influenced by Thomas' ideas. He seemed to have an eye for analyzing culture and society. Many of the things he said sent my mind reeling as I was pushed to reconsider commodities and elements of design. One of the things that I was most astonished by to what extent Thomas appropriated. This clearly shocked the audience of students, as we have attended classes that have preached copyright and extreme avoidance. Thomas showed us the image, "Priceless" he created using advertising language. Using an image from his cousin's funeral, he added text which mimics that of an Mastercard advisement, "9mm Pistol: $79, 3-piece suit: $250, gold chain $400, new socks: $2 Bullet: 60 cents, Picking out the perfect casket for your son: priceless." In the left hand corner, the logo for Mastercard. This photograph was displayed on the exterior of the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama for 6 months. It created such a stir in the town that Fox 5 News had a story about the piece. When a student questioned the issue of showcasing work involving a corporate logo, Thomas joked that, "There's no such thing as bad press. When would the credit card company ever have the opportunity to be on the wall of a museum." I think that by seeing this lecture, Thomas will has opened up a window of possibilities for the student artist at VCU. I doubt that they will cower in fear of appropriation and the copyright issues. Overall, I think he was a very influential speaker for our school.

Visit his website here.