Kathleen's Work

I really enjoyed Kathleen's text piece because of the way it fit so perfectly into the space that she choose. The area was full of lush green trees, which reflected in the mirrors on the boards with thoughtful quotes written on them. I also liked that the boards were large and black because they felt sharp and solid which created contrast against the natural background. Overall, i think making the boards interactive with chalk was a good choice, because it shows that she did get the reaction from her viewers that she wanted, however i would have liked to see them without writing. Before the chalk writing the piece had an beautiful subtle aspect that I enjoyed. I would like to see it installed in another location.

Art House

I went to art house tonight, and I enjoyed it a lot since I was unable to make it last year. I liked the entertainment, the food, ( even thought I didn't get in line to have any ) the little photo booth / pin idea, and the fact that everyone was there and it was just a fun time. However, I wasn't super impressed with most of the work. I know that there is much better work, especially from electronic media. The best pieces were in the advanced painting and drawing studios, and though I did not catch the artists name, one of my favorites was the large pencil drawings that included scenes of Jesus and large crowds of people and something that appeared to be the inauguration. The drawings were very well composed and had great perspective and depth. All in all I saw a bunch of people and had fun.

A Penny for your Thoughts

I had a lot of fun with this project and really got into it. Tuesday was a little hard, not a lot of technical difficulties, but I was on a twelve foot latter for six and a half hours tying knots. :/ It was a good learning experience to see what it is really like installing something relatively difficult by myslef, and also a good lesson on being prepared. I brought everything I needed, except sunscreen! The seemingly simplest little thing like bringing sunscreen when you are going to be putting work up in the sun for hours and hours. I had to run to the bookstore and get some when I realized I was getting a little more than tan :P All in all, a great time. I also really enjoyed walking around and seeing everyone elses projects. It seems like mostly everyone stepped out of the box and really did something new for them, and I think we should all be proud. I'll be posting my review of someones work ( I think Kathleen's ) at a later date. I got some great pictures for her piece :)

Summaries- Public Art as Text

Four Stages of Public Art

This essay explains the four stages of public art according to Roy Bhaskar’s formulation of a four-stage dialectic, which is the practice of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments. The stages are aligned with historical stages, and trace the transformations in the possibilities for public art. It talks about the different possibilities of public art, and how all types of public art in different locations encourage viewers to react and engage in different ways.

The first stage is non-unity, or of something “not being the same” as it was. This is how Bhaskar begins any argument that has to do with transformations. In the case of public art, the first stage is putting some art in some public space. It is the change that makes the non-unity of the art that is not the same as the art of the past.

The second stage is negation. Because the first stage did not include a connection between the making of art and the reception of that art by the public, this stage is the one where “the relationship between subject and object becoming visible.” This is the realization that the form of public art is changing the reaction of the audience to something other than it would have been without the art. Artists realize that the work is not detached from the public and therefore also change their art making process depending on how they think or want the public to view and understand it.

The third stance is totality, or the reciprocal relationship between the two stages. In public art this means that there is a conversation between the meaning of the artist and the meanings of the viewers.

The last stage is the practice of transformation, or the self transformation. Which in turns of public art means that it continues to transform the possibilities of what public art might be. So, this kind of art is difficult to judge because it is always transforming. Simply the act of attempting to define it is helping to change it more.

Protect us From What we Know

This article is about Jenny Holzer’s most recent work, in which she has used declassified government documents, that we made available through the Freedom of Information Act. as the source for her text based artwork. The work is done on silk-screens, which is a new and different medium of work for her. She tries to stick to using black and which because it gives her work the official feel of the documents, but in a larger than life bold manner. Holzer sees the documents as physical objects with specific visual qualities, and wants to stay as true to that as possible. The most significant visual aspect is the government censorship of the material before it is released, abstracting her work. She blacks out names and identifications, as well as some large sections. Her most notable screen is a large black and white print of the Phoenic memo, which was a warning to New York about a possible coordinated effort by Bin Laden to send students to the US to attend civil aviation universities and colleges. Her work is unique because it allows viewers to piece together the missing information and interpret the documents on their own