El Fin

I can safely say that this is the most bizarre class I have ever taken not just in college, but in my life. But I really, really enjoyed it. I am not one for the traditional, "by the book," kind of classes where you know exactly what to expect. This class was something different everyday, I would feel 15 different emotions on one class sitting. I will say that some of the more extreme footage we watched was a little hard for me to watch (I don't like needles going into skin, the sewing the lips shut literally made me feel sick). But I think its really important for people to be exposed to these different forms of art, there is so much emphasis on the traditional schools of art that I feel it must be frustrating sometimes for the more abstract artists to gain equal appreciation. I will admit that before this class I had the attitude that the strange works of art were not really art, I used to think they were silly. But through this class, I have learned to look at them in their context.

I also feel more comfortable with being myself and expressing myself when it comes to art. The performance art was a great experience for me because when it was assigned I remember thinking to myself like no way I can't do this. Then when I actually did it, I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, I didn't care anymore. I actually wished, looking back, that I had done something a little more crazy. I really liked the way the class was taught in that there were never strict guidlines set. We were free to be creative in just about any way we wanted. It was a fun and exciting class, I loved coming back from class and telling my roomate all the crazy things I saw. I even brought my brother to the syllabus page and told him to check out some of the links. I really enjoyed this class and everything I learned, I'll never forget it, even if I wanted too. :-)

Video Art Final

This scares me a bit...

Ryan Trecartin, A Family Finds Entertainment

Ryan Trecartin

Its nice to look into the work of a artist that is relatively close to my generation. Ryan Trecartin was born in 1981 and I was born in 1988...close enough. It was interesting to find out that a common theme resides in his work..."commodity anxiety, spiritual nihilism, and community value." I found this information on a website titled Saatchi Gallery.

Ryan seems to work with similar methods to those of Andy Warhol as he "...works with a posse of his close mates." Ryan encourages the insight and opinions of his friends and their involvement is important to him. It was interesting to find out that Ryan is a hurricane Katrin refugee and while he currently resides in Los Angeles he has produced World Wall, which is a commemorative piece attributed to the disasterous effects of hurricane Katrina. He worked alongside another artist by the name of Lizze Finch. I always love to see works of art that have a deeper meaning and to know that the artist really put their heart into it. Thats part of the reason I have always been such a fan of art because art can be the expression of the not so literal aspects of one's life, it doesn't necessarily depend on logic to make sense of it all.

Now for a more obscure piece, Ryan created Mother . This piece is not as impressive to me as The Wall but I can appreciate it none-the-less, as explained on the website, Ryan's works are often compilations of efforts from numerous artists. He is big on collective effort and group cooperation. It is refreshing to see because he is not all about his ego and producing arts that are solely his own.

Pipilotti Rist

Homo sapiens sapiens, 2007

Homo sapiens sapiens, 2005

Pipilotti Rist

First of all, I visited her website and I automatically was attracted to its layout and aesthetics. I began by browsing through her gallery. I read a little background on her and my favorite thing I learned about her was that her favorite number is 54 and she is "against taboos and stereotypes with emotion and humour..." My favorite number is 2 and its nice to know other people still have favorite numbers. She both works and lives in Zurich as well as the mountains of Switzerland since 2004, the clean air and desolate location I would assume has an influence on her creativity.

I absolutely love her work. It is beautiful, the colors are bright, the context of her work is fresh. This particular piece I can not take my eyes off of. It takes up an entire room, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling. Pour Your Body Out is its titles and it incorporates both audio and video. The images are larger than life and they change, I can only imagine what its like standing in front if it. As of 2008, this piece was in The MoMa in New York City, hopefully its still there because I would love to visit it this summer.

Another beautiful installation of hers in my opinion is Tyngdkraft, var min van (Gravity be my friend), interesting title and amazing work. I love the fact that her installations are interactive, it is a nice change from the usual restrictions museums have of not being able to touch or photograph the art you are seeing. People can lay down and stare up at the work in this particular piece, and people can still engage by leaning against a column or standing anywhere in the room really. I have loved what work I have seen thus far and she is definitely an artist I would like to keep tabs on...