Tang Teaching Museum Visit

For our final entry we will be discussing our trip to the Fred Tomaselli exhibit at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College. The particular exhibit we saw displayed work from early on in his career and also recent paintings and prints. Unfortunately, we do not have any pictures of our own, but we were able to find some pictures of his works on the Museum’s website.

Tomaselli creates his artwork by using literal objects such as pills and plants along with a range of images including flowers, birds, and anatomical illustrations that are carefully cut. His work is incredible to see in person because when you look at via the Internet you cannot really tell that he is using actual objects. When we saw his work the three of us were really mesmerized by the incredible details and the patterns he creates are very eye catching. With further research we found that Tomaselli collages these real materials, photographs, and paint and then uses a clear epoxy resin to hold the differing layers and objects together on top of wood paneling. The three of us particularly liked his Untitled piece below.

The leaves that are placed at the bottom of the wood paneling are real along with the flowers and there were also mushrooms used. It also incorporated photo collage and the two anatomical cutouts. Overall, our museum trip was really enjoyable and the three of us have a lot of respect for the immense amount of detail and hard work Tomaselli puts into his work. We also learned that seeing artwork in person is extremely different and a lot more rewarding than merely looking at pictures on line.

"Jack the Dripper" - Ashley Caputo

"Jack the Dripper", also known as Jackson Pollack is a very recognizable name when it comes to abstract expressionism. He seems to be most famous for his paintings that showcase his "Drip Technique". After looking through a lot of his pieces the one that jumped out to me the most was entitled No.5, 1948. I really enjoy the painting because of the color and organized fashion that it presents, even though it seems to be all over the place. It looks like a painting that someone without such artistic talent could attempt to replicate, however I think would fail miserably because people don't understand the time and effort that goes into these "drips".

Apparently it was very popular with many other people and was was sold to an anonymous buyer for a record breaking US $140 million.

20 x 200 - Ashley Caputo

After looking through a decent amount of the artwork listed on the website 20 x 200, I found a handful of them interesting. However, I don't think I could see myself purchasing prints for over $20. I did find a few prints that I would purchase. The one that jumped at me the most was one entitled Super Rally, So Help Me . I don't really agree or understand the explanation of the picture but the perception I initially got from it reminded me of high school . I really enjoyed high school and spirit week and sporting events were some of my favorite moments. My high school colors were of those in the picture, red, blue and white.

Marcus Coates-Erin Hepper

On Tuesday we watched a very interesting video on artist Marcus Coates, who consults a non conscious world of animals and birds to seek relevant information for clients. His work includes film pieces, sculpture, sound, costumes, photography, and revolves around human relationships with animals. As we saw in the video, Coates often times assumes the identity of a particular animal by imitating its appearance through costume, enacting its habits, and use of the animals perceived language. Through his many performances he has addressed many issues including: prostitution, regeneration, and swine-flu. Coates has said that, "I feel that my imagination can be put to good use socially, even politically."

I think Coates' method of expressing issues is extremely odd and definitely out of the ordinary, but I still respect his effort in trying to address important world issues. I don't plan on seeing any of Coates' work any time soon, but watching the video and finding out more information about him was an eye opening experience and a whole new aspect of contemporary art I am now aware of.

79 Moons - $20 Art I Would Buy

This piece is called 79 Moons, and is by Penelope Umbrico. It is part of a series called Suns from Flickr. Of all the artwork that I browsed on the 20x200 site, this is the one that I would most likely buy for my own house. I like that it is a mystical piece, and is not just an image of a chair or face or something boring like that. The moons here are all different sizes and colors, and make me think of being outdoors in the warm months. I also like the shinyness and brightness of the piece. Overall, I definately feel that this is a great piece of artwork that I would totally purchase!

Pierre Huyghe-Erin Hepper

Today in class we got to learn more about French artist Pierre Huyghe. I was intrigued by his work so I just looked up some more information on him and wanted to view more of his work. I found a lot of information on one of his particular works entitled "Third Memory." This was created in 1999 and takes clips from the 1975 film "Dog Day Afternoon," starring Al Pacino, which is based on the true story of a bank robbery in Brookyln committed by John Woytowicz. Huyghe's work is a two channel video projection showing clips from the film and then clips showing images of the real account. The idea is that the "first memory" is that of the original crime, the "second memory" is that of the film based on the crime, and the "third memory" is a blurring of the documented and the imagined. After researching this particular piece I had a lot more respect for Huyghe because of the fact that the purpose and message behind his work is actually really interesting and significant. I also have a lot of respect for him because the message his work conveys isn't really hard to decipher or a far stretch of the imagination. Its fairly obvious but is displayed in a really unique way. The "third memory," the meshing of reality, history, memory, and fiction, is something that happens SO incredibly often, especially in today's society that is full of media coverage and distortion. I think Huyghe's piece opens viewers eyes up to the fact that we must be aware that there are different perspectives and "memories"for each story

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"Spencer Tunick"-Erin Hepper

During todays class I was very taken back by the work of Spencer Tunick. At first I was somewhat grossed out by his unconventional method of creating art, but upon visiting his own website I found some more pieces that were really interesting to look at. I could definitely see how people could find Tunick's work offensive, but I would really encourage them to take a second look at his pieces. At first all I could see was nudity, but once I looked past that I really began to grow an appreciation for his unique work. The piece below really caught my attention because of the surroudnings. Most of his other works seem to take place in more urban environments and I really loved how this piece was in a natural setting. I also really liked how after I looked at the image for a while the people almost disappeared and seemed like they just fit in the with the mountain range. Furthermore, on Tunick's website he had a much smaller section that had images of individuals as opposed to large groups. I found these to have less of an impact, but I still have a great appreciation for the creativity and unique concepts Tunick uses.