Best of the Week: Texture and Light in Design

                The best idea from class this week is the use of varying textures and consideration of light while designing. This concept first came up in the documentary, Sketches of Frank Gehry, where we saw how the architect Frank Gehry incorporates different textures into his work, which makes his buildings unique, beautiful, and very postmodern. It is also obvious that Gehry puts a lot of thought into how the light of the sun will interact with his buildings while designing them.  It is Gehry’s attention to texture and light that makes him such a great architect.

                Earlier this week we discussed how even the V-show set design was dependent on the elements of texture and lighting. The set includes a few textures, but the one I noticed the most was the horizontally ridged metal used in the background. This was a good texture to use because the colored lights look very vibrant when reflect off of this background. The creative use of lighting was able to effectively set the mood for each act and in some cases, even create the illusion of multiple settings/places on the stage.

                I realized after our class discussions that texture and lighting are the keys to all kinds of 3-D design, including the functional art and furniture design that I enjoy creating.  After reexamining some of my past creations, I realized I have already started to play with different textures in my art.  For example on the bookshelf that I recently refinished, I used two different textures, paint and magazine pictures, to give each of the six shelves a different color and theme.  On a pair of jeans that I decorated a few years ago, I combined many different textures including: paint, fabric, Sharpie markers, patches, and embroidery.

                Now that I have discovered that the elements of texture and lighting can have such an effect on almost any design, I can apply them while designing my works of art. I plan on doing more experimenting with these ideas by incorporating various textures in my future creations. I could also include lights in my designs, which I have not tried yet. I am so glad I was exposed to these ideas, because I am now inspired to take new kinds of artistic risks that I may not have thought of otherwise.

Blogging Around 3

Celia's blog: Best of the Week: Postmodernism and The System

Celia’s blog posting was about her deeper understanding of postmodernism. She mentioned how our discussions on postmodernism helped her to understand the message behind Andy Warhol’s art. She also included her view of the postmodern idea of the inescapable system and how it has affected our society.

Comment:
I can totally relate to your new-found understanding of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup painting. When I first saw this painting, when I was much younger, it was hard for me to think of it as art because to me it was just an exact copy of a soup can that I had seen a million times before. I did not see the point of it or understand it at all. After our discussions on postmodernism in class, I now see that Warhol was referring to (and proving) the fact that everything is the postmodern world is corporate, even art. It’s cool that both of us are now able to understand a painting that we had misread when we saw it before we learned about postmodernism.  I agree with you that the nature of the postmodern world is bittersweet. While it is much more convenient to communicate with friends and family through the network of networks we have created, they can also make interactions much less direct. For better or worse, it is true that everyone is stuck in the system.

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Nina's blog:Connection:Grit,Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison

In Nina’s blog entry she wrote about how important grit is. She examines how grit helped people such as Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison be successful and invent things that have permanently changed how people live.

Comment:
Grit really is an essential concept to carry forward. Grit is important for being successful in all aspects of your life. Grit is what gets things done. Like you mentioned in your post, grit is the number one trait that inventors need in order to create things that change the way that we live. If everyone were to give up on the first try, and did not stick to their goals, the world would be much less advanced as it is today and humans would live completely differently.

iMedia: Jason deCaires Taylor's art

 

              While on the internet I found an online journal called Venues: The Journal of 21st Century Aesthetics - that posts archives of all different types of recent art.  (Link to Venues) Under the sculptures category in this journal, I found a picture of an underwater sculpture, called “Vicissitudes”, that was created by a British sculptor named Jason deCaires Taylor (the image from Venues shown above).  I realized that Taylor’s sculpture is a good example of postmodern art for a number of reasons.

                According to the Venues journal, which explained the Taylor’s art very briefly, the statues Taylor creates are intended to make man-made coral reefs in the sea. I think it is so amazing that his works of art are able to go beyond beauty by also having a positive impact on the underwater environment. I think that Taylor’s environmentally-conscious art is a reaction to the postmodern worldview notion that human’s mastery or manipulation of nature can fail and have negative effects. I believe this because Taylor has found a way to create something to help make up for damage done to coral reefs by human’s actions.  Jason Taylor’s art is evidence that in recent years people have been more environmentally aware than past generations have been, and are more willing to ‘go green’ to help the environment in a variety of ways.

                Another intended function of Taylor’s art that Venues journal mentioned was to confuse archaeologists of the future.  After reading this I thought it was sort of strange and malicious of Taylor for this to be an intended result of his work. Once I thought about it for a second I realized that Taylor may have been responding to another postmodern idea, that it is not possible to have historical authenticity in today’s society.

                I wanted to learn more about Jason deCaires Taylor and his unique art, so I searched his name and found another site called Twisted Sifter that had a recent article about him. (Link to this article) This page included further information about his work “Vicissitudes”.  Apparently the figures in this sculpture are children from different cultures. The children are holding hands in a circle to represent the idea of unity among people from all over the world. Another interesting element that this site revealed to me about this piece of art is that it has been somewhat transformed since it has been put under water (shown in the image below, found in the Twisted Sifter article). As the sea takes over the role as the artist, Taylor’s sculptures develop new color and decoration, and show how beautiful entropy can turn out to be.

                Another thing that this article brought to my attention is that Jason deCaires Taylor has become very famous for his work. Taylor gained recognition worldwide after creating the very first submerged sculpture park located in the West Indies in 2006. He is also the founder of MUSA in Cancun, Mexico, an underwater museum.  Taylor’s work has been in presented several publications and he has made many appearances on television. Despite the inability to sell his work that is located underwater, he still is able to make commissions on his work, which just goes to show that in the postmodern world that art is a commodity.

                Jason Taylor’s work has showed me that there are always new possibilities when it comes to art and mediums. This inspires me to continue to think divergently while working on my own art so that I could possibly create works that are as ground-breaking as Taylor’s are.  

It Matters: Challenging the Status Quo

     >>Link to article about women in combat<<          

 I was thrilled to learn that we would be focusing on challenging the status quo this quarter in Humanities. I think that it is violations of the status quo that keeps things interesting. Also, I find that the people who have the courage to challenge the status quo are the most inspiring. Without violations of the norm, there would not be any chance for change to occur.

                One example of the status quo being challenged in the U.S. that we discussed in class was the recent change in policy concerning women in the Armed Forces. As of earlier this month, women are now allowed to obtain combat positions. This change in policy disproves the notion that combat duty is only a man’s job; thus challenging a status quo that has existed for all of U.S. history.  As someone who believes in equal opportunities for women, hearing about this change gave me hopes that other opportunities that have previously been off limits to women will soon become available as well.

                In an article I read about the change of the Armed Forces policy, it explained how the current policy is much fairer than it was before. In the conflicts that have been occurring in Afghanistan and Iraq, where there are not any defined battle lines, women serving in ‘non-combat’ positions have ended up in the same/similar high-intensity  situations as their male counterparts. Therefore the new policy is consistent with the realities of these recent conflicts. Now that the policy has been officially changed, much-owed recognition will finally be given to the more than one hundred courageous women who died during their service in the past twelve years. The change also means that women who serve will now receive the benefits that they deserve. In the future, it will be possible for women to reach higher military ranks that require previous combat experience. This is yet another example of how challenging, and eventually changing, the status quo can lead to the development of a more fair system.

                This issue matters to me because it made me realize that women have the level of opportunities that we do today as a result of the actions of the courageous women who have challenged the status-quo in the past. Although women have come a long way since the days before the women’s suffrage movement, women still do not have completely equal opportunities as men in today’s society.  I would love to see a society where it would not be surprising to have a woman as president. Obviously some progress still needs to be made before that can happen, but women’s new opportunities in the military is a sign that shows that the U.S. is still moving in the right direction.

Blogging Around 2

Kristina’s blog: A Tribute to Aristotle: Get Organized

-Kristina’s blog was about the overwhelming task of organizing a big mess of clothes, which is something I have had to do many times. 
 

Comment:

I can totally relate to your clothing organization process. Until last year, I didn’t keep my clothes organized at all. Sometimes I would do big clean ups, only to slowly mess it all up again. One day, I just got sick of it and organized my clothes once and for all. Since then I have kept them pretty neat and in their place, but it does take effort.  It feels great and my room looks a lot better!

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Ashley’s blog: Connection

-This blog post was about her dad's recognition and appreciation of beauty and aesthetics. 

Comment:

It sounds like your Dad has a positive way of thinking. I think it is important to see and look for the beauty that is out in nature and in life in general. I think it’s cool that he observes the forest in all the different seasons, because he doesn't let the weather stop him from observing its beauty, unlike other people who only go outside when it is nice out. I think it’s a lot easier to be happy and content if you notice the beautiful things that life has to offer.

Get Organized: my collage picture binder

                I love creating collages out of cut magazine pictures. Because I collage so often and do a variety of projects, varying in size,theme, and surface, I have made a binder with pocket dividers in it to hold and keep all of my pictures organized. I divide my pictures up into different categories including cut outs of: eyes, animals, fashion, letters / words, random (pictures that don’t fit anywhere else), small, flowers / plants, scenery, patterns, and many more. When making a “random” collage, I chose a few pictures from each category in my binder so that a variety of pictures is included.  When I’m making a themed collage, everything is easy to find and I know just where to look for the pictures I need for that project.  Recently I have been finding / adding a lot of new magazine pictures and doing minimal organizing, so this was the perfect thing to organize. 

                In preparation for this major organization process, I bought a wider and sturdier binder than I was using before. As I transferred the binder dividers (that have pockets which hold the pictures), one by one and I noted which categories of pictures needed organizing / editing, and which were okay. For a few categories of pictures, I took out all of the pictures and decided to keep them where they were, move them, or remove (usually if it too cut up or damaged). Next, I decided that certain categories should be eliminated from the binder and by the time  was done new categories took their place. Lastly, I went through my pile of unorganized pictures that were starting to pile up in the back and put them in the correct categories in my new organized binder. 

                 Now, my pictures binder is more organized than ever before.  Although it had most of the same categories before, it was not half as organized as it is now. Surprisingly, I didn’t find myself bored while organizing my binder; in fact the process was a pretty pleasant one. Now that I’m done, I feel accomplished to have tackled the task of organizing this thing and I feel relieved that it is so much easier to find the pictures that I need.

                From now on I want my binder to be organized and I will put time into keeping it that way. I was into organizing things before, but this process made me realize that by taking even a short amount of time and patience, you can turn an almost mess into something very organized and nice looking. It also made me realize that my bookshelf could use some organizing, even though it isn't "messy" yet.  I now thing that organizing should be done before something becomes a mess, instead of after the fact because it’s always so much harder and takes so much longer if you wait to do so. As of recently I have been more organized than I had been earlier in my life. As a result, my room is cleaner, my school work / supplies are neater, and I feel like I generally forget / lose fewer things than before. Now that I have realized how simply keeping things organized can make life so much easier, I will try to not let my things get messy in the future.

An Inconvenient Truth: society’s implied inferiority of women

Although women have come a long way in terms of being treated equal in society, I think we still have a somewhat long way to go. And that really disappoints me. I swear; nothing makes me more upset than when I see evidence of implied male gender superiority. I use the term "implied inferiority / superiority" because I believe and I KNOW that both genders are completely equal. But unfortunately, society has created gender roles, stereotypes, and expectations that severely limit women. I find it inconveniently true that throughout history (and even in today’s world) women have been considered inferior to men. 

It's impossible to pin point exactly when the first examples of implied male superiority occurred, but I was able to track this idea back to about the year 300 B.C., while reading Sophie’s World. Aristotle lived from 384 to 322 B.C. , and during his lifetime he came to be a very influential philosopher. Unfortunately, he had an extremely unfair view on women. Aristotle believed that women were an unfinished or flawed version of man, which implies that women are the inferior gender. He also believed that a child only inherits traits from their father, which is ridiculous and scientifically incorrect. It is proven that a baby has both of its parents’ characteristics. Unlike what Aristotle believed, both genders are equally important in the reproduction and raising- children process. The worst part of Aristotle’s incorrect belief is that the church adapted and carried on a similar view of women too. Because the church is still such an influential institutions, examples of sexism against women STILL occur regularly in society. 

Now that I am more conscious of the implied inferiority of women, the first question I have is: why? Also: how could that be an accepted belief? I know that women are just as “smart” and just as capable of doing everything that men can do. It frustrates me that there are so many examples of society believing the opposite. It is unfair and extremely unproductive for society to hold women on a lower level than men. A woman is just as likely as a man to come up with a cure for a disease or make an important scientific discovery, yet for much of history women were not allowed to have input in many male dominated fields. And that is truly tragic. How much more could have humans discovered if women had been allowed to contribute more ideas in the course of history?! 

Today, on top of being considered somewhat inferior, an unfair amount of responsibilities now lay on many women’s shoulders. For example, it was mentioned in my psychology textbook that typically, if both spouses work and have children that the mother will still be expected to handle most if not all of the child- raising responsibilities. I mean, come on how unfair is that? Parenting, housework (such as cooking and cleaning), and even financial responsibilities should be split fairly among both partners, especially if both spouses work outside of the home, which is a reality for many people in the modern world.

Women also experience injustice in the work place. According to a Times article I found online, women on average only make about 77 cents on a men’s dollar, according to information from the latest census. Another trend that negatively affects women is that educated women tend to take lower-paying, traditionally female-held positions such as teachers and nurses, while equally educated men will often take higher paying positions such as doctors and lawyers. The article states that it true that women are often (but not always) discriminated against in the workplace. 

I am determined to live my life ignoring the implied gender roles and expectations that exist in society as much as possible. I know for fact that both genders are equal; despite what society implies, and that is all that matters to me. I hope that in the future, society can exist without any inequality between the genders. Whether this type of equality is possible or not, I do not know, but I can only hope that it could be a reality that I am able to see when I’m older. I would love to see a woman be elected president. I don’t want them to be just any woman, but a woman that is just as qualified and as intelligent as any  of the 44 men who have  been elected president. And I know that there are (and always have been) qualified women out there; they just haven’t been given a fair opportunity due to implied male superiority. 

Sources 

Fitzpatrick, Laura. "Why Do Women Still Earn Less Than Men?" www.time.com.Time U.S., 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. 

<http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html>.

Gaarder, Jostein. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1994. Print.