Thursday, December 16, 2010

Constucted and ready for worldly interaction...

Ah, this shall be my last post on this project world, however I will continue if you do wish to follow for as long as I remember to.

So here is my final update for my project as its last days of being on display as a class project.

 These images are my field observations as I took images before or after my classes. Unfortunately I only have one image of someone moving the pieces because I have studio classes that run longer then regular classes and un-allowed me to document group interaction as those lecture classes were dismissed.

 This is the only image with student interaction I was able to catch the full week and a half my project was up on display in the main lobby of the fine art building.
The most intriguing piece of information I gained with this particular project was on more than one occasion there was two words in place where I had created only one space. What does this tell us about the way we view art? Yes everybody on the planet has their own opinion, some even become drones and repeat what was taught to them. But there are those very few that go out of their way to create something new, or different. Those are the artists who get their name in another person's conversations. Isn't that what gossip is?

Good or Bad gossip to artists are both great publicity for their artwork, do you know why? It gets an artists name out there! Not every artists creates perfect art that everybody likes every single time they pump out something new.

This art piece I've brainstormed, sketched, developed, and put together has it's own life history behind why I chose the topic "Art is ____." and let my audience answer. The history even goes beyond the time I first came up with the sketches and was even given this opportunity to create something out of a question. Perhaps many centuries philosophers have been asking that very question. I believe it is a question that will never and should never be answered, after all a question without an answer gives us as human beings more opportunities to answer for ourselves.

So go on and answer those unanswered questions, I will continue to do so speaking through my art pieces.



Till the next unanswered question...

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Finished and ready for interaction!

Hello World!

Yep I'm finally finished screenprinting, painting, creating, developing, and playing with my project! Be proud world! And two weeks before school ends too! Now all I have left to do is document my audience as they play with the velcro words.

Today as working on my project I have documented my progress, and the final pictures of what it looks like!!!! yay me!
 Here is an example of the "Art is ____." sample of screenprinted monotype for the section. I printed it multiple times so I had a variety to choose from for that section.


 Lookie Lookie! It's finally finished! The picture on the right is an example of how the words move, each word is interactive and movable via velcro. (please ignore the crappy lighting in any of my images they were all taken from my camera phone)


The finished product up on display on the only easel the building would let me use. I wanted to use the really nice new ones, but they are being used for classes. Darn those art classes using the good easels!!!!  So... tomorrow there will be a white sheet covering the easel so you will not be able to see the crappy looking paint all over it. Gross!


From now on I will be documenting people looking at my art piece, I am hoping that I will also make a sign to encourage people to come up and interact with the piece. Because I feel as if people are afraid to touch pieces of art on display... Also I should probably have an artist statement next to the piece explaining my project and a link to this blog, so that if people choose to they can read more like you are right now. So for those who are actually reading my blog tell your friends and family to come by and change up what you believe art is!



Thank you for reading!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Two weeks left~

Indeed there is only two weeks left in my semester, that means I must have this project finished by this week!

Eeeek! Good thing everything I need to do and have is already at school. It's still a blizzard outside, and I'm back in pullman!

This is screen No. 1
But I've got some great news world! I've been working late in the screenprinting labs monday, and tuesday, and I have achieved a ton of work!

Each word was individually printed with White ink. What a pain!



 Each of these screens above and below are the same size as the large black matt board, one of these will be pasted upon the board for stiffness. Then I will apply a small piece of Velcro to each word so they will be able to be removed from the poster easily and placed in the area "Art is ____ ." exactly where the word SYMBOLIC is placed. However I have not finished screenprinting that area.


I am very optimistic of the results for this project. I also got to use a new technique my screenprinting class learned yesterday in class as a demo. It is called screenprinted monotype, it uses watercolor crayons colored directly on top of the words upon the screen and you create a silkscreen medium and water mixture to overlay upon the color to create a watercolored effect so the color can seep through the screen like when you screenprint. The color upon the paper is never the same effect because the colors run into eachother like in the first image with the rainbow looking colored words.


So that is what I've got done so far this week. The rest of this week will be devoted to pasting the white paper upon the matt board and applying velcro, then I still have to expose and screenprint the "Art is ____ ." area.


At the end of this week I will have images of the poster up in a hallway of the art building!!!!!


Adieu!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Let it snow Let it snow Let it snow~

Hello snowy world!

What a winter wonderland it is out there, and before christmas break none the less! And no I'm not in Pullman either! I've gone home for the thanksgiving break to spend some time with my family. Which also means I will not be able to screenprint my project, but a great thing about me is that once I'm back I will be in full work mode! Nothing to distract me nothing, besides my gorgeous boyfriend, and nothing to keep me from finishing the whole project the week I return to school!

Let's just hope my luck is good and WSU keeps the school open, which they will. They aren't bothered by a bit of snow. (dang) hehehehe


So my update for this week: I'm working on my Advanced Photography final project, which will turn out super neat if I am able to pull it off. The project objective for this week is to shoot macro images of organic plants in which I will turn into "houses" for bugs and other creatures.
I get my new computer this week, a big 27" mac desktop to work hi-deph images using photoshop.

I just hope I'll be able to work well in the snow... we've got 3 inches and counting in 2 days. and I have to shoot outside? This shall be interesting.

 The image on top was the weather outside of my mom's houses' sliding glass door last night. The image just below it was what I woke up to this morning! It tapped out to about 4 inches in the bottom image.
To see the snow level growth look at the bottom of each where the railing ends... cool!!!



Well everyone stay safe, keep warm, and don't travel in this weather unless you have to.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Designing, Doing, and being Productive

Hello again World,

I would like to start out saying that my back is feeling better as of my last post, I still don't know exactly why I still have back pain but I'm glad it's not as bad as the first week. This week I was able to continue back to my Screenprinting project, and I'll tell you I'm eager to start seeing it come together!

This post will mainly be filled with images of my progress from this week.
This is me cutting pieces for the poster. Oh I should probably post to you my idea sketches, so you know what the heck I'm actually doing.
 Rough Sketch 1: Unused but useful ideas
 This is where I thought about having a box to put the words inside.


These are the Real final sketches for my Idea:

 Below: a re-visited sketch to add more to define the idea.


 Below: This is a sample of the first image (in this blog) with what I was cutting up. Each block will have a word screenprinted upon it. Underneath each block of word on the 1st layer will be a colorful and colorful design screenprinted white paper layer, which I will adhesive to the matt board.
Also each block will have velcro attached to the back so the viewer will be able to unattach any word at will and place it inside the blank spot.
Below: in this blank spot will be posted a direct screenprinted extra layer that I will leave the background black so the piece will pop.

That's all for now folks! I'm currently being kidnapped by my friend to go play Lego Harry Potter. I'll keep you informed with other information that I develop.

Later World!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Life sometimes just sucks...

Hello crule world,

I apologize for not posting for a while, I mean to yesterday however I had to go to the Emergency room instead.
Here is my story:

"I was emitted to the ER with pains in my back not allowing me to move well or at all. They did some normal tests and asked me questions about my condition. like the typical doctor examination.

Then they said they could give me a pin point muscle relaxer right where the spot of my back was knotted up. They soon realized that was not enough numbing for me, so they gave me an IV with morphine, anti-anxiety shot, and an anti-inflammatory shot.
After some loopy fun time under a heated blanket they sent me home with Prescriptions for Muscle relaxers and hydrocodon.
So I'll be flying high for the next couple of days! Oooh and I got a physical therapy note so when I start feeling better it will help me get back to the right motion and bending... and breathing.
Yay my life..."


So that's what happened yesterday for me. Before that happened I had gone into the print studio all ready and pumped to work on my project, I had done quite a bit then I went to get lunch with my boyfriend we came back to the studio to eat some subway when a tweak in my back, that recurres every once in a while, however this time it got worse and  my boyfriend went to pop my back like he usually does but this time it backfired and brought me to tears. So he rushed me to the ER and you know the rest of the story.

So I was not able to make progress on my project, and will be working extra hard next week to make up for it. I will have my print finished by the end of next week so I can post them up around campus and document student interaction. Also when I posted my question "what is art in one word" to my facebook I received quite a bit of useful terms. So I may have enough words to start the design in Photoshop.

Till I get more progress I bid you adieu and Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Deer, Pumkins, and new ideas

Hello world,

I'm back from a weekend of cold weather, camo and new experiences. Oh and new ideas for my project. What? Camo you say? Yes I went hunting for deer for my first time this weekend, and boy am I sore! I don't remember the last time I did that much exercise. No luck on actually getting a deer but we did see some! And a really cool thing, we were about 125yards from a coyote! Cool experience!
And as I was sitting in the same stop for 4 hours on saturday I pondered about my project...

Today I will be posting on facebook asking my friends and family what they think is Art in one word. I thought this was the easiest way to get a bunch of answers so that I can start designing the poster in Photoshop. I would love to print everything on Pictarico (see through paper) however I don't have the right resources that I had at my previous school, like the color profile for printing on that paper or the access to the paper. So I'll improvise and print on regular paper and use baby oil to make the paper see through except where the ink is. This allows where the ink is to create a blockage so when I expose the screen to a very powerful UV light it creates the image on the screen. Like shining light through 2 pieces of paper to trace the image underneath.

cool hua?

 This is a bit of a rough sketch I have been working through with what my poster will look like. Ignore the one on the right, this is just how I get ideas flowing through my head. This is the first draft of the drawn image of the poster on the left. Just to get a rough idea for you my audience. Where there are circles with crossed out symbols are where the pieces I am going to design could be placed over. I am hoping I get enough attention with this poster that it will ignite a spark in my audiences' minds to make them think without even realizing they are doing it. That's the most important part of my artwork, creating a conversation within the human mind without them even realizing it.

That's what I believe a good teacher should be able to achieve in their teachings. Human beings learn and retain information better if they are benefiting from the learning experience, we don't listen to something that is uninteresting, so why should art be like that? Especially mine. That's why I found screenprinting so fascinating. I can combing photography with a medium that can use hand drawn images or digital negatives. I can create my own intriguing image to a specific audience or a group of people. The possibilities are limitless! I am most inspired from an artist called John Baldessari. He is an old man with a great personality! I first stumbled upon him when researching for a paper on my final project for Intermediate Screenprinting at my old school last year. Baldessari was originally a painter using acrylics, but then got into photography as he got older and used both knowledge to create a whole new mixed medium art form. You can learn more about him in the Art:21 archive (Season 5: Episode: Systems) which states:

"Synthesizing photomontage, painting, and language, Baldessari's deadpan visual juxtapositions equate images with words and illuminate, confound, and challenge meaning. He upends commonly held expectations of how images function, often by drawing the viewer's attention to minor details, absences, or the spaces between things. By placing colorful dots over faces, obscuring portions of scenes, or juxtaposing stock photographs with quixotic phrases, he injects humor and dissonance into vernacular imagery."
 
Above: John Baldessari wish a sample of images behind him. Below: a sample of his work.


Now that would be my dream job to work hands on with him! Internship of a Lifetime!
 
Go checkout his work and I'll add more progress of my work tomorrow! Maybe I'll even have a rough draft of the poster to post...
Adieu world!