Madeline Joy

7_Mission

Typically, I would never put the words “creative” and “responsibility” in the same sentence, except if I were saying, “creative minds tend to forget about responsibility” which tends to be true in my case. I always felt that creativity meant flying by the seat of your pants, rolling with the punches, and acting impulsively by doing what you feel is new and exciting at the moment (again, using personal experiences as a reference). Creativity makes your mind atwitter, and clutters it with flashy thoughts, that tend to cloud judgment and, whoops, forget about responsibilities.

            On the other hand, thinking about “creative responsibility” in terms of making art, the first thought that comes to mind is creating what you feel will be the most beneficial, whether it be to an audience or just to yourself.

            For example. Say you are aware of a country torn by war and injustice, a country clenched in the iron fist of a malicious leader. The people have no voice, and no way to help themselves out of their unfortunate situation. Their cries for help are muffled by their own government. As an artist on the outside looking in, it is your “creative responsibility” to create works of art that work in a way that makes people aware of the ailing country and its dire situation. The Third of May by Goya, Guernica by Picasso, or war photography can be a good example of what I am trying to describe in this situation.

            One artist that really intrigued me was Victoria Vesna. She states that as human, we “seem more attuned to our wants than our satisfactions” (In the Making, pg. 284).  She claims that the generation we live in now only exists digitally. We are numbers, we are databases, where has the humanity, the flesh and blood gone? In her work, she attempts to “create” time, to expand one’s lifetime. She creates smoke signals, shouts, and does whatever else possible to avoid technology.

            The other artist that I really resonated with was Alix Lambert. She feels that life should be full of “real” experiences, once telling her students to go to a hospital and observe a surgical procedure. I too feel that life can be full of pomp and circumstance, and that we do not experience life enough. Life encompasses all ranges of emotions, both good and bad times. Therefore, if our life is only filled with good, we are only living half lives. How can we ever grow as people if we are only living half lives?

            Both artists seemed to want to work with the concept of the human life span, whether it be to extend it or to enrich it. I feel a healthy dose of both of these artists would make for a rather fulfilled life.  

Madison Assignment

            Through all of the differences between the exhibits at the MMoCA, there were two that I thought related in a very subtle manner.

            Walking through the Tierra y Libertad exhibit, it was easy to bypass important pieces. Most of the pieces were in black and white, and seemed to be mostly, if not all, prints. Without first learning about the background behind the pieces, I thought the exhibit had a feeling of monotony to it. I felt like all of the pieces blended together in a way that caused them to become the same print over and over. It was not until I stopped to look at the E. Pluribus Unum gallery that I started to, strangely enough, pay more attention to the Tierra y Libertad gallery.

            In my opinion, the two galleries act as a sort of time line, a map of events. Made during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), many of the pieces depicted victorious scenes. They were not scenes of war, but rather ones that showed the Mexican people at their proudest moment. Some prints, such as Diego Rivera’s Escuela al Aire Libre, 1932, shows a young woman sitting in a ring of children reading them a book. The children sit and listen attentively to their teacher, as she passes on her knowledge. The print shows the everyday in Mexico, and I feel that it helps to communicate the patriotism of the Mexican people during the revolution. The same can be said for the print entitled Zapatista. This not only shows pride in the Mexican side of the revolution, it depicts one brave man going to fight for his rights, his country. The feel of this exhibition is one swelling with pride as the Mexican people are at the cusp of freedom.

            On the other side of the spectrum, E. Pluribus Unum shows what happens after freedom is obtained. This exhibit interested me greatly from the start. I enjoyed how it showed different views of America from numerous artists. Looking at the collection, I tried to view it and gather information from the pieces as if I was an outsider. From what I could see, pretending that I knew nothing on American culture, I gathered that America was money hungry country filled with ordinary people doing very ordinary things. Yet, despite this, some people still seek refuge in the American dream, as evident from the piece entitled Un Sueno Libre by Juan Sanchez (1987). America as I know it is just as I interpreted it as an “outsider.” I feel that it has taken its freedom for granted, and does not see freedom as the Mexicans saw it during their revolution in the 19^th century. After freedom is obtained, I feel our country got too comfortable with the idea of liberation, and settled into being a country full potential, yet not making a move to reach that potential. One of the pictures that lead me to this belief was Dassel, Minnesota by Paul Shambroom (1999). I feel the photo says a lot about our country. It shows the everyday functions of a country that no longer has to answer to a higher power, yet I get a sense of how our own freedom is taken for granted. Perhaps what would become of Mexico after freedom was obtained could have been determined by the E. Pluribus Unum gallery.

            I found both of these exhibits to be very intriguing when it came to the human figure. I learned in my RPM, Illustration Media, that body language is very important in determining the feel of a piece. How the character stands, what he or she is doing, even in what direction they are looking holds an element of importance. In the pieces mentioned before in the Tierra y Libertad gallery, I got a feel of pride and nationalism from the pieces. The figure in Zapatista is a very good example of this. The man stands proudly, gun at the read in case anyone should threaten his precious home. In Dassel, Minnesota, I sense an air of boredom, as if the women would rather be anywhere else in the world.

            All in all, it was a good trip, and I learned more than I thought I would after reflecting on the galleries from the MMoCA trip. 

6_Symposium

Going into the symposium, I had no idea what, or if, I would learn.  I was pleasantly surprised by the symposium. I learned from Chip Kidd that design doesn’t always have to be a deep, painfully long process. It can sometimes be on a whim, thought up on the spot, or not have a backstory. It can be a fun process that can be as simple as throwing water on a piece of printer paper, or tracing a T-Rex skeleton. From talking to the artists at heir booths, I learned to be very patient when looking for a job. I also know now to learn to sell myself, and become business savvy. I think I learned the most from the illustrator, Mitch.  When I asked him about the illustration field h=in general, he didn’t sugarcoat the situation. You have to be very patient. Illustration will not be a full time career right of the bat. You have to stay upbeat, and never give up. It’s all about chasing a dream and doing what you love. On a more technical note, we were told that to be a successful illustrator, one has to be willing to work with people, and tailor work to their specifications. You have to be a people person, social and easy going and flexible. You have to be a businessperson, as well and know ho to sell yourself and your work. All in all, he had very good advise that I know all of us present will remember for when we go out into the field.

Of all of the people that I visited, I have to say that Mitch was my favorite. Not just because he currently had a job in my field of choice, but because he was so personable and engaging. He answered questions thoroughly and precisely.

5_New Exchanges

Of all the exhibits in the Layton Gallery, I was particularly drawn towards the one on the wall right inside the entrance. The exhibit was a collage of very different pieces from very different artists. It had every thing from abstract photography to realistic portrait paintings. The contras between the pieces is what drew me in, but =one artist in particular caught my eye, Nina Nolte. Her candid paintings of people really spoke to me, as portraiture is my favorite kind of art.

            Walking into the gallery, one sees nothing that looks like a normal gallery- stark, white, with pieces hung carefully o n the wall, and far out of reach. In this gallery, however, the exhibits were small and intimate. One could feel as if they could actually get close with the pieces. There were prints of paintings and photography, pictures of volunteers working with children, and small watercolors of other art galleries that looked like they were not complete painting, but merely passing thoughts. There were tables and chairs in the middle of the gallery and along the walls, inviting people to spend more time in the space and sit down and study the works. It was almost like being in a library, with art instead of books.

            Since our discussions in UV as of late have been of judging art and what we can and cannot efficiently judge, I found the first gallery particularly interesting .The gallery presented pieces in  a way that juxtaposed them with other pieces that had nothing to do with the next. This allowed people to see a wide variety of beautiful art. The range Looking at the gallery as a whole, I believe that it was organized in a way that read like a book. It had an introduction, the exhibit with the wide range of pieces, a body that was viewer friendly with snapshots of volunteers working with kids on art and crafts, and finally ended with some fine art, paintings of paintings. The way the last pieces presented themselves was so nonchalant, that they seemed as if someone had taken sketches from a sketchbook, ripped them out, and taped them to the wall. Some may argue that this was too informal, but I felt that it made them friendlier, more accessible. Overall, I enjoyed the gallery, and felt as if I had gained some kind of knowledge about art judgment from it.

            

Statement and Visual

To describe myself as an artist is something I tend to tiptoe around because, well, I’m not quite sure who I am yet. I can only describe who I am right now, at this moment.

Right now, I am a first year art student, and the bulk of my work comes from homework assignments. I plan in the future to be an illustration major. When I am not working on schoolwork, I am inspired by the humanity around me. I like to do pieces that focus on the individual person. My favorite pieces are portraits, not just the physical appearance of the person, but also their personality, the way they are, and what makes them different. I love trying to portray emotions and that which makes us utterly human. Focusing on the exact opposite is also something I love to depict. From the individual to masses of humanity, whether we are functioning as an individual or one massive organism with the rest of mankind, I believe that we live both for who we are individually, and for society as a whole.

I also tend to be inspired by current events. Lately, it seems that the media has been bombarded by news of the SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA acts. Between the Occupy movements, protests and general uprising of the American people, I have truly developed a fear for what the future of our generation has in store. I’m terrified of the unknown, in what lays ahead.  To confront this, I try to incorporate aspects of the ‘50’s in my character designs. The 50’s are typically depicted as a happier time, the quintessential America as opposed to the shell that it is now. This helps me forget about the problems of our home for a short period of time.

This may not be true a year from now, perhaps not even a week from now. At the moment, I will consider this not as an artist statement, but as more of a snapshot, all a part of my artistic development.

4_Love Vs. Hate