Blog 5

Well fuck. That was actually a very good read. I'll be honest, at first I thought this story was going to get very old very fast. Then it started to pick up and I read the whole thing strait through. It was nice to have a change in the author's style. Being written by a "bloke" without a PhD made the story more personable. What I really like about the whole plot was that it made me think. I was raised a Christian and I completely believe in a higher power as well as Jesus Christ being my lord and savior. With that said, if someone came up to me and asked how I felt about a picture of Jesus made out of nipples I would probably react like the majority of people Mr. Hornby described. After reading this article, I think I would have a different reaction. Mr. Hornby really pointed out how ignorant people can be.     They focus on one aspect of something and give it a negative feeling. You can find beauty in anything, no matter what it is made out of. That is what I took away from this article.
Of course this was not the most G-rated piece, but it had passion. I'm still not really sure what all of his English nicknames for different people are, but it flowed well with the story. I would like to see where he is today, it would be great if he was now an art connoisseur. I also think that the story could have benefitted with some more background information on Martha, the artist who created Nipple Jesus. In all, I was entertained by this piece and took something quite valuable away from it.

MP 2 pictures

Blog 4

Well, I must say that I really enjoyed reading about Yoko Ono. For me, and I’m sure for most of my peers that have even heard of Yoko Ono, we may only know her as the wife of the legendary John Lennon. I honestly never knew anything about Yoko. I guess I just assumed she too was a musician and a few other random facts that I heard from some Beatles documentaries. After hearing about her intriguing work as an artist, I feel very compelled to explore her work. The idea of completely doing what you’re not supposed to do, or even redefining the concept of art really seems like a fascinating topic that made me think about art in a new way. Things that wouldn’t be considered art, such as simply looking up at the sky, challenges us to look at the true beauty of something that already exists and wasn’t created as art.

            Some pictures of Ono’s art would have been a great aid in visualizing some of her more abstract pieces. I can see how that might be pointless since some of the descriptions of her work are simply instructions, but some examples would have been nice. Also, I really found the style in which Ms. Carver wrote this piece to be a bit repetitive and her fascination with Ono is confusing. She clearly shows respect but she does not explain why she can relate with Ono. In all, it was still an interesting piece and I enjoyed learning about a woman who has lived in the shadow of her famous husband.

MP 1

Special Guests: Michael Kellner and John Tanner

Asymmetrical

Symmetrical

Radial

 

 Person in space

Close up

View of an ant

View of a bird

Stable

Unstable

My name on campus

10 Photos + 1

Blog 3

            After reading the Walker article, I have noticed that rules seems to be a common theme for artists to write about. The big idea, which is different than an artist’s style, is the theme that drives a work of art. And when creating this big idea, rules can be broken. Art is the representation of imagination, and there is no limit or rules with imagination. However, the point of this piece is that artists shouldn’t just slap whatever they think up onto a canvas, though sometimes this works its not the best plan. The best artists have a vision and a plan of execution.

            Although this wasn’t the most entertaining article I’ve ever read, it also became quite repetitive. It seemed to be dancing around the question of the big idea. I also may have had an issue reading this because of its format. Being in a textbook style, it was a bit distracting with many side notes and pictures going on. Overall, the most interesting part of this article was reading about the different artist and sculptors like Jennifer Barlett, who took the challenge of rules and demonstrated that planning and not plan works of art can both be successful.

            I found this article by Barrett much more interesting in the way it presented denotation and connotation. Though it is not difficult to analyze something and pick out the details that imply a certain topic, I found it quite interesting that people of all ages noticed different things about a piece or topic. I guess it also never really occurred to me that the knowledge that we collect from all these images and objects, whether we know we do it or not, makes up our opinion of the culture we live in.

            I liked how the article explored different ages groups and their opinions on a variety of topics, but I also feel that Barrett could have gone much further with his research, perhaps gender or race. Barrett however did mention race, but only briefly. He challenged our culture by stating that we label African-Americans. This I agree with, I do think it will still take many more years to change this. However we are moving in the right direction, with a recently reelected black president. Since this article was written in 2003, I think it would be quite entertaining to hear Barrett’s opinion on our country now.

Blog 2

           I found the Kidd article very interesting in the way it dissected form. Labeled Basic Interlude, the author, who I am assuming was an art professor, presents this text in a lecture format. Kidd discusses size, direction, and depth, but not in any abstract way.  In the simplest context, form dictates the shape of and object or the layout of a system. Kidd took this concept to new heights and offered some in depth opinions. His statements really challenged me to think about these simple things that most of us take for granted. It was also very intriguing for Kidd to make the point that art gives you the freedom of not having to follow rules that we usually associate with form.

           Though Kidd made a lot of great points that got the gears turning in my head, he may have gotten a little too theoretical with some of his analogies. I found many places where he could have simple stated something to make it easier to understand. As a student, I would usually prefer something to be a simple and easy to understand as possible. However, this gave character to the piece and made it more interesting to read.

            Being a fan of basketball, especially our Buckeyes, I found this piece very entertaining, and possibly up there with one of the more influential things I’ve read in my life. Simply, life itself is a game, and as Hickey said, we just need to take a step back and marvel at the beauty of it. He encourages us to allow ourselves to become free from the bondage of the rules that surround our lives. This theme of rules connects to the Kidd text as well and takes it a bit further with the solid analogy of basketball, which more people can relate to.

            I had this article quite easy to follow, but that could be from my knowledge of basketball. For someone that is less familiar with the game, I can see how it may be a little difficult, for instance, they may not know what zone defense is or why it would make the game “less beautiful”. Also, I really can’t decide if I love or hate the ending to this piece. He threw in a personal touch by giving his experience as a writer, but at the same time, he also says if you are not a freelance writer then you wouldn’t understand what he is talking about, and that I don’t agree with. Anyone can find pleasure in something simple, and think deeply about anything or everything. I do this very often, and I’m not a freelance writer.

            Wow, that’s pretty much all I can say about the Weschler article. Before reading this text, my knowledge in the animation department was basically non-existent. I had no idea that so much thought and effort has gone into replicating a human face on a screen. I also really liked the whole connection of the face with someone’s soul. When you think about it, this concept really holds some weight and I feel is a good way to look at the complexity of the problem faced by these animators. And boy did Weschler do his research! He made the story very entertaining and factual at the same time by offering so many experiences he had with different companies and projects he worked.

            The only problem I had with this article was the direction. It seemed like it was heading in the right direction of explaining the process of animation while also coming to a solution for this problem. But, with some false hope, he through a curve ball and said that their solution turned the faces “too real”. It is very hard to visualize this without an image, but for the most part is was rather disappointing. The closing probably saved this piece with Weschler’s explanation the Zeno paradox.

Introduction - ARTEDUC 2520

Hello all! My name is Devon Laughlin, and I am a freshman here at THE Ohio State University. I came into my first semester majoring in chemistry and was on the pre-dentistry track. Since then, I have realized that my true interests lie in the business field, and I hope to find my calling in Fisher. In high school I was actively involved in community service and I hope to continue that in college. In my spare time I enjoy playing ping-pong or working on my car. Well this is really my first art class since middle school, but I am looking forward to getting back to my inner artist, as well as utilizing new technology and techniques that were not available then. I have seen a lot of movies and I believe filmmaking is a very interesting art form. My favorite movies range in genre quite a bit and are: The Shawshank Redemption, Anchorman, Batman – The Dark Knight, Fast and Furious – Tokyo Drift, A Few Good Men. Well that’s me, and I’m looking forward to exploring the world of art this semester!