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.

Artist Lecture #1: Alec Soth

Alec Soth followed his fascination of the American landscape to document the world and celebrate its uniqueness. By doing so, he has a strange collection of images that seem almost deadpan, but with further investiagtion the connections between the work begins to plant seeds of thought and curiousity for the viewer. Soth's work mainly stems from the roadtrips he has taken alongside the Mississippi river. Ironically, there is only a few images of the actual river included. The series is more of beds, houses and other subjects which resided alongside the body of water.Through out the lecture Soth put a huge emphasis on the need and desire to "hitting the road." He quite romanticized the idea, explaining his process, "trying to move through space to connect the dots." He related his traveling to "being out there and moving" and the images that he was creating as the connecting tie.

What I enjoyed most about his lecture is that he made references to historical photographers as well as those he admired and respected. I believe this gives great insight into an artist mind, the audience has a deeper understanding to the meaning and inspiration behind the work. Soth frequently mentioned the works of Robert Frank, William Eggleston and Lee Friedlander. It reminded me greatly of our own student process, the need to know and recognize artists that relate to us. I was impressed that Soth spoke so openly and so admiringly about these artists. This earned my respect. Soth didn't seem full of himself even though he has an extensive amounts of recognition and awards.

My favorite project Soth presented was his participation in a magazine article, The Most Beautiful Girl in Georgia. I was highly amused by this idea, the search for such a particular ridiculous thing. The way he described his process and the adventure was amusing, the clincher is the images he shows of his find: the back of the womans head. Soth also tells of another treasure hunt: The Loneliest Man in Missouri. Soth's catch--a nightime nurse who frequents strip clubs everynight. Something about these themes, his finds, really speaks to me. I enjoy the idea these bizzare quests. I found this to be very inspirational and I hope to come up with my own expedition, who knows, I've always wanted to find the world's cutest cupcake. Hmmm...

Here are some images of Alec Soth's work, enjoy!

Research Blog: The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms

"The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms" is a comprehensive illustrated glossary comprising over 2400 terms commonly used to describe vascular plants. The book also provides definitions to botanical terminology.

I am head over heels with this book. I have always been attracted to anatomical drawings of skeletons, animals and plants. While I have seen much beautiful sketches with color, the best thing about this book is the lengthy definitions. I have never been exposed to this language outside of the absolute bare minimum given in high school biology.

Have you heard of any of this?

hose-in hose: The unusual arrangement of flowers in some forms of Primula vulgaris (Primrose and P.veris (cowslip), in which the flowers are in pairs, one growing from the center of the other. (page 97)

(They even provide a cross reference image!!!)

corymb: A racemose inflorescence with pedicels of different lengths, causing the flower cluster to be flat-topped. (page 122)

rhizophore: In the genus Selaginella, a leaf-less branch which arises from the fork in the stem and grows downwards, putting out roots when it reaches the ground
(page 208)

(This is pretty crazy looking)

The natural wonders, that even small plants provide. The only thing I wish about this book was that it would also list information where these plants are most commonly found. The glossary also had some great visual information on leaves.


It seems that I have used a variety of compound leaves, Paripinnate as well as Tripinnate. In some of my other compositions I have used Palmatifid leaves as well as Pinnnatisect leaves, both classified as "simple leaves." I found studying this book and learning the scientific terminology for my subject really interesting. I look forward to learning more about botany. I included some pages from the book that were pretty interesting.

Artist Lecture #4: Amy Hauft

Amy Hauft is the chair of the Sculpture Department here at Virginia Commonwealth University Last night she gave a very brief lecture at the Anderson Gallery where her piece, "Counter Re-formation" is installed.

Hauft generally works to create large architectural pieces, intending for the sculpture to resemble a landscape. Hauft explained that landscapes and "arcane" craft are very essential to her artistic process. I didn't know what arcane meant, but I looked it up:

arcane-adjective
known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric: She knew a lot about Sanskrit grammar and other arcane matter.

This would make sense, as Hauft delved into the historical background behind her piece. The center of the work was a small sugar sculpture staircase inspired by a wooden model she had seen in at a Cooper Hewit show. She related the wooden staircase to a DNA strand and was so interested in the model that she convinced the curators at the museum to allow her to measure the piece. Hauft has replicated the staircase using melted sugar cane to twice the original size.
Speaking about her technique, I learned that the use of sugar is indeed an arcane craft, having been frequently used in the 16th and 17th century. Hauft sought out Ivan Day, a culinary artist who specializes in the ephemeral art in cooking. Ivan Day provided antique cookbooks and taught Hauft the craft of sugar molding.

Hauft provided insight into this obsolete art form. Apparently the artisans used these sugar sculptures as a way to imitate porcelain, due to the high price of porcelain craft. By the Baroque Era, the artisans had mastered the medium so well that they could create intricate small gardens. By exploring this time period, Hauft was also inspired to incorporate a dessert table modeled after a table Louis XIV has possessed.

The overall goal of the piece is for the viewer to experience a physical experience they would have in the outdoors. The table and it's contents are supposed to imply an icy landscape. Hauft mentioned that she was inspired by the heavy snowdrifts that would cover cars. Another important aspect of this piece was the inclusion of a staircase. "Couner Re-formation" had been previously shown at the University of Western Michigan. At this location, the audience had accessibility to viewing the art from above. Due to some of architecutal set backs, Hauft installed a staircase so that the viewers of the piece have the opportunity to view the piece in a similar matter. Hauft believes that the best way to understand how everything is in relation to each other is to have an above view. This sculpture functions to allow everyone a strong physical experience within the space.

Application for Show #3: Smithsonian magazine 7th Annual Photo Contest

This is the image that I submitted: