BOBBLEBLOGGLECIRCUS: 2013

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Reflection: What is art and who decides?

Madison Deitch

Mr. Nagle

IB Art SL I/II

1. Dec. 2013

Reflection: What is art and who decides?

As a child, my favorite games to play were those on paper, one of which was played by finishing a piece of art with a partner or group of friends. The catch was that we were not allowed to tell each other what we were thinking. Usually, each player would use the same medium as the others, but in participating in our class project, I realized that mixed media, when used "correctly," can create beautiful and even meaningful masterpieces. Now, it is clear to me that by working with other artists, we can learn from each other and help each other grow, artistically. This group project also helped me personally with working within time constraints, since we were “speed-painting” for a maximum of two minutes on each piece. However, it was much less daunting to work on small pieces than it would have been to work on larger ones. Also, the whole idea of grouping pieces together and presenting them that way made me think of the pieces thematically rather than by which ones just looked nice. All of the pieces within the assortment needed to share a common motif or quality. Joyce Kim and I put together a collection with the common theme of contrast, but the word, “contrast” did not apply only to black and white; we included complementary colors as well. For the most part, we considered each of the pieces to be art, simply because they were meant to be called “art.” This project has definitely influenced me to include more abstract pieces, since I have learned to think of pieces as more than the subject matter within them.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

500 Essay

Madison Deitch

Mr. Nagle

IB Art SL I/II

5. Nov. 2013

Drawing is comparable to dancing, because the final project requires energy, balance, and movement. Creating art is much more energy-consuming than it may seem. Correct positioning is often necessary to form a successful piece of art. If an artist does not have the energy to stand, he does not have the energy necessary to produce to accurate piece of art. Precise artwork, especially in observational drawing, takes a certain level of control over body position. Standing while creating art, increases the artist’s energy and also encourages him to step away. The simple act of walking away from the piece and viewing it from a distance can open the eyes of the artist to mistakes that had not appeared while he was too close the drawing. Just like music, artwork requires rhythm. Art should flow like a dancer. Also, as in a group dance, elements of a piece of art should work together. In order to have a completed piece, balance must also be considered. Asymmetrical or symmetrical balance should be incorporated into artwork. I did an artist’s page on Leonardo da Vinci’s Study of a Horse no. 105, and I learned the importance of reference photographs. I could not have drawn a horse in such detail without having studied the pictured. Body positioning is a much bigger factor in my artwork than I had really ever considered before.

Gestalt principles are so incredibly intriguing, because they seem to play tricks on the mind. The viewer of a work of art could see a unified whole when in reality, his mind is assuming that there are lines where there are none. In other cases, proximity can be used to convince a viewer that there are parts of a whole to make up something greater, and this is a common technique in connection with symbolism. For instance, a young artist affected by the incidents of September eleventh created a piece in which hearts were in close enough proximity to each other that they formed two arrangements that resembled the twin towers. Above the two forms are more hearts with wings; this could symbolize the victims of 9/11 as they ascend to the afterlife, or it could symbolize those affected rebuilding the towers by coming together, with common troubles, to support each other. Gestalt principles can be used in creative ways to get a point across.

Every time I get discouraged in my mathematics courses, I remind myself that math is important for art too. In fact, quite a few of the most famous works of art known today include mathematics. The Golden Mean, represented by the Greek letter “phi,” is a commonly used rule in the world of art. It is applicable to face structure, architecture, and spirals. This mathematical rule has been used by many a famed artist, including Leonardo Da Vinci in Vitruvian Man, Michelangelo in Creation of Adam, and Benjamin West in The Death of General Wolfe. According to the Golden Mean, a “perfectly proportioned” human should a height that is .618 times the height of his navel. Things like this are especially important to me as an artist, because I am interested in the field of characters and figures in art. Therefore, I am genuinely glad that such studies were included in my homework.