Semester Long Final

BOOOOOOOM!!

JEREMY KORESKI

     There are almost no words to describe this perfectly natural photograph. I was completely entranced as soon as I scrolled to it. I could immediately escape into a beautiful, peaceful world with no distraction. This shot gives off such an elegant flow of nature from tranquillity to the fierce force of nature moving the rapids. It shows the calmness of the shadowing clouds of the snow white mountaintops to tall forests and at last, the continuous currents. This spectacular photo wraps up the daily roller coaster we can experience in our lives but for me, I can set all that aside and become relaxed after looking at what beauty nature expresses.  

Contemporary Art Daily

Paul Lee at Maccarone

     

     This contemporary art is too bland of a photo for me but stepping back and applying it to life just comes naturally for me. The first thing I thought of when looking at this photo was it was some type of ladder. Then I started to think of how we go up or down with our individual lives. My perspective is starting at the bottom of the ladder and making steps "upward" to improve my life to reach that final positive goal. Or, we can start out innocent at the top of the ladder in life and take steps that negatively lead us to rock "bottom." This is just my interpretation of this image before I even looked into the artists' meaning. His press release gives this description of his work, "With washcloths and towels cut up, hand sewn together and dyed with ink, the materials absorbing function – a mirror to the skin – is displaced. The gradual loss of a cell’s increment is redefined by space and light, with desire punctuated by color. Suggesting a state of movement on and through these objects, within their layers of absence the viewer takes on, unravels and shares an object’s space in a pure state. Lee is known for sculptures that reference the body while emitting a physical intimacy, yet these new larger works restate his consideration of the human tactile experience in an expanded domain" (Paul Lee Press Release). 

Urbanautica

‘Kodachrome’

I didn't really have anything attract me within this article at first. I was more interested in just learning the story behind these three photographs posted above.  As I read the article, however, I actually found quite a few things appealing of this photographer. Matthew Marks was hosting, for the first time in the United States an exhibit of 25 of Luighi's Ghirri 1978 seminal publication. I was excited to learn this photographer spent his "working time" photographing in Italy, since that is where my great-grandfather is from. I don't know what all Italy's landscape looks like so I was fascinated to look at how, "Ghirri presents his surroundings in the book in tightly cropped images, making photographs of photographs and recording the Italian landscape through its advertisements, postcards, potted plants, walls, windows, and people." It is obvious, as this article backs up, that this artist took shots of reality through the surroundings he was involved in, which I was more than interested to look into. 

Triangle Triangle

Edward Burtynsky

The first photograph is what caught my attention to click on this artists' name and view his images. I read his statement/bio, and being a nature lover, was instantly connected to his intended point through these photos, in my understanding. He says, "Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in my work. ... We are drawn by desire - a chance at good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success." What he is saying is completely true, we have these magnificent photographs to prove our industrial success however, nature is suffering because of our over- and misuse of her resources for our industrial, everyday demands. Burtynsky shows the excellent contradiction of our concern for our environment's health but a continuous need to consume nature's provided materials. 

Art 21 Blog

Creative Killing

  So the picture I posted above is eye catching and kept me reading this article. I have never really played a video game but how could I not have heard about them?! Lots of friends and people around me go crazy about video game marathons and playing them for hours at a time. To me, I don't see the point because your just sitting with a screen and made-up scenes and characters shooting something in a fantasy so to speak. However, this article shined a light on the broader picture of how these maybe pointless video games could actually impact thought processes of the unstable-or possibly make them unstable towards our society. The article explains how people-even children-shoot at objects other than "space aliens and fuzzy pixilated rockets." The author noticed a teenager playing a "sniper" type video game where a family was crossing the street and without hesitation, the kid picked them off to rack up more points. Later, the author said how a player could rack up more points for "creative" kills-of people!! So the point is, video game developers could and should have a significant impact on ending violent killing of people oriented video games. Which in turn, could possibly have a positive impact towards violence in our society. 

NY Times Art & Design

Going With the Flow

I was interested in this article for the interesting fact it was discussing waterways and comparing how another country dealt with their issues. I enjoyed thinking of how much "Water management here depends on hard science and meticulous study." The first picture is of the Dutch's idea to try and solve a flooding issue for the residents and their properties. The second photo is New York's failure to have a flood control system in place before disaster struck. I read the whole article and took into account what the author meant because I actually greatly disagreed with how the Dutch was taking away their farmland in order to "improve" flooding control. If the location of the land is that threatening, then the populous shouldn't be allowed to live there-and I believe that for everywhere (New York, New Jersey shores,etc.). Although, I can see each vantage point, it's just this wouldn't have to be an issue if there was not people living in hazardous locations. 

Night/Long Exposure

Conscientious

Margret Durow

     There wasn't much to this article at all except leading to this talented photographers website. The first photograph in this sequence is what attracted me to this article. I loved the women's defined silhouette and sort of a beautiful, mysterious look to it. So, her "article" was "written" within her photographs for me. My reaction was this great connection and a sense of similarity to what I would like to take pictures of and/or have experienced as a young adult. Therefore, this particular slideshow of Margaret Durow's photos was my favorite and most inspiring since I can relate to the story of youth being told through them. 

Lenscratch

Rebecca Reeve

     The title of the website/article were both intriguing, however, I had to read further into the article and look at the rest of the pictures before I was captured. There were many photos that thoroughly caught my attention and some that appalled me throughout this website. Although, this nature and curtain photograph was my top pick, simply because of the calmness and simplicity it brings about. I didn't read the article until after seeing this photo. The article was about a project by Rebecca Reeve. She describes her inspiration for her photographs from a common ritual in Europe where family members, of loved ones who've passed, would cover mirrors and paintings of landscapes so their spirit would not have trouble leaving this world. The covering of landscapes made this artist realize what would we do without those "escapes." She uses the Everglades as an example of "beautiful vistas." Thus, this is where she shoots her photographs for this project--great idea I think. This especially intrigued me to read and look further into her article. 

     Although knowing that the curtains serve as several functions, I connect closest with her perspective of how they re-attach us to the "wilderness experience" by, as she says, reversing how we urbanized societies are shutting out "light." Reeve's says it best when explaining the ritual of why the deceased person's soul may wish to stay in this world, "The ritual seemed, by extension, to be a confirmation of the deeply moving experience that one often feels in the natural environment..."  

     Perfectly capturing the simplistic, white curtain surrounded by the knock out gracefulness of nature herself, Reeve's inspires me to want to capture such meaningful photographs.     

PaintChip Scavenger Hunt

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Glasstire

New prints of classic films at the MFAH

The intriguing part of this article was the title. I simply love watching classic movies, as this photo illustrates one of my favorite, "To Kill a Mockingbird." The article speaks about how movie lovers have rarely gone and seen a movie in the best way possible- through an enormous cinema screen. Half of the supposed "movie-lovers" never actually go out to the theatre to get the full cinematic experience. Basically, people have started to lean on the convenience of a push of their Netflix remote button, thus loose the personal connection of theatre attractions. I personally would love to go to this showing of "movie masterpieces." I was completely interested from the start with just a glimpse of the title and seeing this picture of my favorite classic. Therefore, I was compelled to continue reading and now I wish to go to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and enjoy the true cinematic experience.