Line and Space

I learned so much about line and space in chapters 5 and 6. After learning the material I see things differently. I have a painting in my house of Venice, Italy, I never really paid any attention to the linear perspective. Now I see the different lines and the dimension. Today I went outside and looked down the street, the car in the distance, the plants on the right overlap and create an illusion of space behind them. Another example of line and space in my everyday life is where I work, Carmax. The cars are lined up on straight rows. If you look on one side of the isle the end gets narrower. Now, I will pay more attention to the line and space around me. I'm excited to look at more art work because I have a better understanding of content, form, line and space.

Controversial Art

We will always have controversy in the world because everybody is different and entitled to their own opinions. Controversy is good for society because it keeps people thinking. If people stop debating over issues our world would be boring and meaningless. Controversial art benefits our society in so many different ways. It allows us to view images we might not have seen if art was regulated. It allows us to expand our minds and wonder; what is this artist trying to tell us. By regulating art we would be completely undermining its true meaning. Artists would feel like they have produced works that are politically correct. We have enough politics in the world and art doesn’t need to be regulated like everything else. Imagine, Picasso or Guillermo Gomez-Pena being regulated or having a predetermined standard. Would their true artistic abilities shine in their works? The answer is no! By having true art in the world our imagination has no boundary. I really loved Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Roberto Sifuentes’ work, The Temple of Confessions, 1994. This image is very shocking to many people who view it. Images like this spark controversy. Without the work of art where would debate be?

Before watching “Maya Lin: Strong Clear Vision,” I wondered why would there be controversy over the Vietnam War Memorial design. Personally I have been to the site. It’s incredible! Everybody is quiet and reflecting on the whole situation. The names seem as if they are staring at you and all you can think about is the vast amount. You think about the story behind each one and how they felt being away from there families. You start to think about the families these people left behind and the ultimate sacrifice they made. I wondered what it would be like to die on foreign soil. What you don’t think about is the politics behind the war. I think that would be an insult to the names on the walls. After watching the video I understood why there was controversy. Both sides of the issue had excellent points on how the memorial should look. People who were opposed were right to voice their beliefs because everybody has that constitutional right. It seemed like the people against the wall wanted a cookie cutter type of memorial. If the memorial looked like every other memorial where would the meaning be? Maya Lin did a great job at designing the memorial and I understand the meaning of the work completely. She had to put up with a lot of controversy just to express herself.

Finally, I learned a lot in this chapter. I believe art should have no boundaries unless people would actually get physically hurt. I learned that controversial art is good for society because it inspires free thinking and debate. I also learned that art we thought was controversy years ago eventually becomes accepted. Nothing shocks me because we live in a world where anything can and will happen. As long as controversy art exist, we exist.

Visual Literacy Reflections

This chapter made me view art in a whole different light. Learning the difference between form and content will help me interpret art in the future. I also now know how to identify the three general visual interpretations of art, representational, abstract and nonobjective. I'm happy to know that art is not one dimensional and has a different meaning to different viewers. Finally, what was most interesting in this chapter was iconography. The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami by Jan van Eyck, has such great detail and symbolic references. My favorite part of the painting is the round mirror on the back wall because it has their back side reflection, now that's detail!

A World of Art

Christo and Jeanne-Claude's, The Gates is amazing and my favorite work of art in this chapter. The flowing saffron-colored fabric looks beautiful through out Central Park. When I see the aerial view of the gates it reminds me of orange dominoes, lined up and ready to be knocked down.
I like how the actual piece of art changes with the weather. The sun and the wind changes the fabrics color and shape. The Gates also reminds me of Tic-Tac candy boxes and orange flavored pez.
I wish that I would have had a chance to see The Gates in person before they took it down. I can also appreciate that all the materials used were recycled.

About Me

Hello Everyone,

My name is James and I live in Roseville with my wife, Kim and daughter Olivia. I have one more semester at Sierra before I transfer to Sac State in Spring 2008. I am a Business major and have been looking forward to taking this class. I am excited about reading the blogs and commenting back. Good Luck, JB