John Baldessari: Video Art

I did my paper on Chapter 2: Video Art and admired John Baldessari's work and influences of video art throughout the chapter. 

Mid-term

The chapter i choose was chapter four. I found this chapter to have the most meaning to me.
Walter Benjamin’s essay The Work Of Art In The Age Of Mechanical Reproductions, is an essential reference that addresses issues of art in the age of technology. His issue is where is the art in reproducing a picture, either from a still photo or from any movie camera image. This raises the issue of value that a piece of art holds when it is the only copy.



by Jeff Wall



By Sarah Richards

Mid Term Response

Since we had to write a paper on one of the chapters for class I did a response for mine on Chapter 2. The reason is was Wolf Vostell. He is able to put what he was feeling into a picture. His opinion about art and the video world is one that is very interesting. I wouldn't have stumbled upon him without reading the book. Well there are a lot of artists I wouldn't have known about. At the same time I did see a lot of advertisements that I didn't know that were previously art works (ie. Target). What else is effected by art of the past?

Midterm Artist Response... Bill Viola

Bill Viola is an artist that uses various medium including water-filled tanks that nude models float in, and slabs of black granite as reflective surfaces, and video projectors to display his work. The picture above is from his piece called "Stations". This installation measured 20 feet by 50 feet x 40 feet. It had 5 black granite slabs, 5 projection screens, and a dark room.

This is pretty progressive work for the time he did this (1994). Further works all involved fire or water as the main focal point, and stood from everything from life to death.

His work is worth looking into, in my opinion, so take a look!

Midterm Response

With Pollock’s No. 1 the art world was revolutionized and life was once again infused in art. As Allan Kaprow wrote in Art News in 1958 that “Pollock’s near destruction of this tradition [painting] may well be a return to the point where art was more activity involved in ritual, magic, and life” (p. 36). 

-Jessica Stockton

Midterm Response

Hannah Wilke made me think about the definition of art. Not her work itself in terms of subject matter but the nature of it. Her work "Gestures" is fairly simple. She distorts her face and makes obscene gestures and expressions in a critique of the way that society views women. I can understand and agree with the idea behind this piece and therefore appreciate the idea as artistic. However, the part that makes me reflect on my own definition of art is the fact that this film could be completely reproduced and honestly does not require any talent (I refer only to this one piece and not her work as a whole). Therefore, I was forced to question whether or not talent has to be a part of the equation that determines whether something is art or not. Kind of shook my definition of what art should be...

Midterm Response

In chapter four Rush mentions the artists Anthony Aziz and Sammy Cucher. They are in the section about digitally altered photography, their art is interesting to say the least. They are the artists that edited the faces off of people, making them look alien. It's interesting to me because not only do they edit out the eyes and the mouth, but they keep the bone and skin structure of them. They art is slightly disturbing, but to me it is the future of the art world.

Midterm Response: Oliver Herring

I particularly liked the work of German artist, Oliver Herring. I especially like is sculpture of Gloria  (2004). He asked his friends to pose for him and give the sculptures the title of their first names. "Among his early works were his woven sculptures and performance pieces in which he knitted Mylar, a transparent and reflective material, into human figures, clothing, and furniture" (art:21). 

When I first saw this image in the textbook, I didn't realize it was actually a sculpture. It first caught my eye because I couldn't tell what it was made of/with.

Mayra

Jeff Wall: Artist Response- Midterm

My artist response is on Jeff Wall who's art style was mentioned in Chapter 4 of New Media in Art. We talked briefly about his art in class when we made reference to his popular piece called A Sudden Gust of Wind. Jeff Wall used digital technology to expand the visual possibilities of his work. He used many of the same elements in his pictures that are used in film making This gave some of his pieces the essence of 'cinematography.'The use of many different images in one large image gave it the sense of motion. The piece shown here called View From an Apartment was an interesting piece in that the woman, the items in the apartment, the person sitting on the couch, and the scenery outside were all taken separately. I just love the way it looks!!!

Chad Miltenberger

Artist Response | Midterm

The artist whose style interested me was Lillian Schwartz. A famous piece of hers is titled, Mono/Leo, 1987. This work is a digitally altered image of Leonardo's Mona Lisa combined with a portrait of Leonardo. She produced this work by scanning these images into the computer and altering them in a photo editor. I was interested in this work because it is similar to everyday image altering with Photoshop. It shows that almost anyone who knows how to use an image editor can make art.