Shit in a can. Literally, shit in a can. When looking at said shit in a can, would you think "Hey, what a beautiful piece of art!" or "Hey, why is this guy selling shit in a can?" Piero Manzoni, an Italian artist, seemed to believe that his shit in a can was art. Personally, I can see no artistic value whatsoever in feces that has decomposed for fifty years inside a can, but others do. I tried very hard to understand how Manzoni's creation could be considered art, but I really cannot see past the fact that it is simply human waste in a sealed container. The piece, "Artist's Shit" is a series of various tin cans filled with Manzoni's personal waste. Though there must have been some method to the ninety cans filled with thirty grams of feces, I simply cannot figure what it may be. I am truly baffled that people spend good money on this ridiculous "piece of art." I find it close to impossible to find the intrinsic and extrinsic beauty that "Artist's Shit" possesses to some. I am almost concerned that Piero Manzoni thought that it was perfectly acceptable to sell his feces as art. I can understand selling "Artist's Shit" as a fertilizer, like cow manure, but definitely not as a showpiece next to the Mona Lisa's of this world. Don’t waste your money on useless shit!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
is it art?
I believe that Ai Weiwei's Sunflowers seeds is art and think that he should get all the credit. Over 100 million tiny seeds were hand painted, it doesn't matter to me who painted them. Ai Weiwei was the one who came up with the concept. When architects design a building they get all the credit for building it. The papers don't read build by architect "Bob" and his builders. "Bob" created the design, the workers simply helped execute it. I was reading a little more about Ai Weiwei's piece and the meaning behind it is really powerful. In this piece he is representing people that have been oppressed or killed. Like a sunflower seed before it has been given a chance to grow. When you put so much meaning behind a piece it doesn't matter who did it. The purpose of this piece to be able to remember and honor people who were oppressed or killed and inspire change.
Further Art Explanation:
What would you do if someone came up to you and said " I have a can here, where inside my bathroom remains are placed." Will you either: A) turn around immediatly and never look back, B) Call the police or C) Give the guy 60,000 dollars and label his "piece", art. If you guessed "C", you would be right. Piero Manzoni came up with "Artist's shit" as well as another piece called "Artist's breath" that includes him blowing up a balloon and tying it to a little wooden base. Both would sell for a very generous price! But, staying back to the main topic at hand, is that truly art? From what we know art is a form of expression that can be unique to an individual. So, sticking with that definition, I unfortunately have to say, yes that "Artist's shit and breath" may just be art after all. There both unique to the artist and obviously have some form of expression or he probably wouldn't have created it. I guess one could say the art aspect comes from the simplicity of the whole thing rather than a giant complex piece. In conclusion, art is very broad and constantly questioned but at least every piece has meaning to someone, no matter how weird it may be!
Monday, October 3, 2011
HTM: Explanation of Art.
Art is indescribable. It is an abstract idea that cannot be defined. It could be argued that any object on the entire planet is art. It could also be argued the opposite. It is truly impossible to give a definition of art. Art means something different to everyone. No one person has the authority to judge what actually is art, nor can anyone judge whether it is good or bad. There is no such thing. Art just is.
On the flip side, I do believe people are entitled to their opinion. Everyone has a right to argue what they believe is or isn’t art, but in essence what they are arguing is merely a representative of whether or not they like a given piece of art. While I am not in favor of several of the pieces we looked at today I do believe that all of them should be considered art. Even though I do not particularly like most of them, someone else out there does.
To make one more point, while I do believe that the pieces like Artist’s Breath should be considered art, I feel that the artist is simply making ridiculous things just because he knows that once it has his name on it, it will be worth a fortune. It is impossible to argue that such a piece is not art, but such acts would cause me to dislike him as an artist.
My four Art Experiences :)
Experience 01:
On Thursday, Septmber 29th, I had the absolute pleasure of viewing the Rollins production of The Pillowman.
The Pillowman tells the story of Katurian (a writer of macabre short stories) and his brother Michal (Katurian’s younger brother that was tortured every night for seven years by his parents as an experiment to enhance Katurian’s writing abilities). As the play begins, we discover that the two siblings have been arrested by a detective and her officer partner and that the reason they are being detained, is because Katurian’s short stories are identical to the murders of two children and that there is a third child missing.
As I do not want to spoil the ending for those that have not had the opportunity to see/read this phenomenal script personally, I will say this:
I was in complete awe while watching this production. Not only is the story’s plot and script well written and detailed, but also every aspect of this particular production was breathtaking. The set was simplistic, and yet, it only enhanced the emotion of the scenes. The lighting and sound FX’s were astonishing and the scene changes were magnificent. Finally, the acting was superb. All five actors/actresses embodied their characters with such raw emotion, that the audience had no choice but to be sucked right into the heart of their tale. This was, by far, one of the best productions I have ever seen and, being an aspiring theatre major, morphed my vision of what a good play is. This performance affected me in a very powerful way, and will continue to linger in my mind for quite some time.
Experience 02
Twilight of the Golds is a play by Jonathan Tolins that I had to read for my RCC. The storyline follows that of a small family: Suzanne and Rob (Married), David (Suzanne’s brother), and Walter and Phyllis (Suzanne and David’s parents). Toward the beginning of the play, we discover that Suzanne is pregnant and that Rob has a connection through is work at Oxford University to get special tests for the baby to see what he/she will be like (healthy, boy/girl, any physical discrepancies, etc.) Well, they get the results and they find out the that only minor detail to the baby is that it has a 90% chance of being “Like David”, which means that the baby will be homosexual. Now to most of us today, this wouldn’t be an issue, but this is what causes the conflict for the play.
After reading this script, I was incredibly moved. I felt not only sympathy for David (read the play if you’d like to find out why ☺), but I also understood where Suzanne and her parents were coming from. I am a very open and accepting person, but I’m also somewhat traditional. So I could see and sympathize with both sides of the argument presented within the production. I for one, don’t think that abortion would even be considered an option for something like this, but that’s what Suzanne and Rob have to decide – and it makes for a very interesting and emotional piece of literature.
Experience 03
Last month, my best friend dragged me to go see Guillermo Del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark. Now, I’ll tolerate ‘scary’ or ‘gory’ movies under certain terms and circumstances, but I refuse to watch them by myself (or with only one other person), or in the theater. Well, that’s what we ended up doing: seeing it together in the theater. I was stressing myself out and I really had no desire to be there, and as the movie started, I was literally sitting with my feet in the chair, squished as far away from the screen as possible.
There were a few moments in the beginning that were extremely alarming and had the entire audience screaming out load, but shortly after the movie started, it lost its shock value. It was more of suspense than a horror movie (nothing like Del Toro’s Insidious). I mean, the story line was great, but the elements needed to make this a scary movie, just weren’t there. I for one, actually enjoyed it, while everyone else was leaving the theater with this depressed look on his or her face, I was smiling and wondering “Maybe I’ll actually buy this one! I quite enjoyed it!”.
Experience 04:
So far, I have been to two of the four RIP shows this season (one of which, I actually saw twice, so it was actually like seeing three of the four). Normally, I would say I’m not a huge improve fan, but slowly, Dr. D and the RIPsters are convincing me to accept this art form. The two shows have both been VOAT performances (Variation On A Theme), and I haven’t left disappointed yet. While I still can’t see myself as being an improvisation actor, I am starting to find the joy and interest in viewing these performances. It probably also helps that I knew many of the RIPsters and that I even have a fair few of them in classes.
While they’re still not my most favorite style of acting, I have enjoyed the shows tremendously. The actors do such a marvelous job, and they always leave you wishing the next show would come sooner. Who knows, maybe by the end of the year, I’ll have seen enough and will have been involved in it enough to even consider auditions for RIP next year myself. At the moment, that’s still a big resounding “No.”, but like I said, “Who knows?”
On Thursday, Septmber 29th, I had the absolute pleasure of viewing the Rollins production of The Pillowman.
The Pillowman tells the story of Katurian (a writer of macabre short stories) and his brother Michal (Katurian’s younger brother that was tortured every night for seven years by his parents as an experiment to enhance Katurian’s writing abilities). As the play begins, we discover that the two siblings have been arrested by a detective and her officer partner and that the reason they are being detained, is because Katurian’s short stories are identical to the murders of two children and that there is a third child missing.
As I do not want to spoil the ending for those that have not had the opportunity to see/read this phenomenal script personally, I will say this:
I was in complete awe while watching this production. Not only is the story’s plot and script well written and detailed, but also every aspect of this particular production was breathtaking. The set was simplistic, and yet, it only enhanced the emotion of the scenes. The lighting and sound FX’s were astonishing and the scene changes were magnificent. Finally, the acting was superb. All five actors/actresses embodied their characters with such raw emotion, that the audience had no choice but to be sucked right into the heart of their tale. This was, by far, one of the best productions I have ever seen and, being an aspiring theatre major, morphed my vision of what a good play is. This performance affected me in a very powerful way, and will continue to linger in my mind for quite some time.
Experience 02
Twilight of the Golds is a play by Jonathan Tolins that I had to read for my RCC. The storyline follows that of a small family: Suzanne and Rob (Married), David (Suzanne’s brother), and Walter and Phyllis (Suzanne and David’s parents). Toward the beginning of the play, we discover that Suzanne is pregnant and that Rob has a connection through is work at Oxford University to get special tests for the baby to see what he/she will be like (healthy, boy/girl, any physical discrepancies, etc.) Well, they get the results and they find out the that only minor detail to the baby is that it has a 90% chance of being “Like David”, which means that the baby will be homosexual. Now to most of us today, this wouldn’t be an issue, but this is what causes the conflict for the play.
After reading this script, I was incredibly moved. I felt not only sympathy for David (read the play if you’d like to find out why ☺), but I also understood where Suzanne and her parents were coming from. I am a very open and accepting person, but I’m also somewhat traditional. So I could see and sympathize with both sides of the argument presented within the production. I for one, don’t think that abortion would even be considered an option for something like this, but that’s what Suzanne and Rob have to decide – and it makes for a very interesting and emotional piece of literature.
Experience 03
Last month, my best friend dragged me to go see Guillermo Del Toro’s Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark. Now, I’ll tolerate ‘scary’ or ‘gory’ movies under certain terms and circumstances, but I refuse to watch them by myself (or with only one other person), or in the theater. Well, that’s what we ended up doing: seeing it together in the theater. I was stressing myself out and I really had no desire to be there, and as the movie started, I was literally sitting with my feet in the chair, squished as far away from the screen as possible.
There were a few moments in the beginning that were extremely alarming and had the entire audience screaming out load, but shortly after the movie started, it lost its shock value. It was more of suspense than a horror movie (nothing like Del Toro’s Insidious). I mean, the story line was great, but the elements needed to make this a scary movie, just weren’t there. I for one, actually enjoyed it, while everyone else was leaving the theater with this depressed look on his or her face, I was smiling and wondering “Maybe I’ll actually buy this one! I quite enjoyed it!”.
Experience 04:
So far, I have been to two of the four RIP shows this season (one of which, I actually saw twice, so it was actually like seeing three of the four). Normally, I would say I’m not a huge improve fan, but slowly, Dr. D and the RIPsters are convincing me to accept this art form. The two shows have both been VOAT performances (Variation On A Theme), and I haven’t left disappointed yet. While I still can’t see myself as being an improvisation actor, I am starting to find the joy and interest in viewing these performances. It probably also helps that I knew many of the RIPsters and that I even have a fair few of them in classes.
While they’re still not my most favorite style of acting, I have enjoyed the shows tremendously. The actors do such a marvelous job, and they always leave you wishing the next show would come sooner. Who knows, maybe by the end of the year, I’ll have seen enough and will have been involved in it enough to even consider auditions for RIP next year myself. At the moment, that’s still a big resounding “No.”, but like I said, “Who knows?”
Art Reaction: What is Art?
Art is a form of expression, but that expression should be portrayed without causing physical, mental, or any type of harm to another person or creature. In the case of Guillermo Habacuc Vargas’s piece, where he put a starving dog on display in a museum and asked the patrons to not feed or water it: this would not classify as art. Yes, anyone could have (in opposition to the posted restraint) given the poor, dying creature at least a small morsel or ration of water, but that isn’t really the point. The act of confining the canine to one room, eliminating all means of survival, and then allowing people to view and interact around the creature is, to be frank, inhuman and cruel. This poor animal suffered great amounts of pain, depression, and starvation before he finally decided to release his will to live. How, in any sense of the “composition”, is this right? This poor dog had no means of speaking for itself, let along fighting for its right to live. This project was done against the animals will, and therefore, should not be considered art. Now, if Guillermo would have locked himself in a room and refused to give his body any of the nutrients needed for survival, then, yes, I would allow that to be considered art because he was acting in accordance to his own free will.
The last thing that really pains me, is the fact that Guillermo was act to repeat the heinous exhibit a second time. Not only was he sick and twisted enough to put one creature through this, but a committee of multiple people loved his “art” enough to ask him to condemn another innocent creature to death? It makes my stomach cringe to even think of such a thing happening twice.
The last thing that really pains me, is the fact that Guillermo was act to repeat the heinous exhibit a second time. Not only was he sick and twisted enough to put one creature through this, but a committee of multiple people loved his “art” enough to ask him to condemn another innocent creature to death? It makes my stomach cringe to even think of such a thing happening twice.
The Pillowman
Last week I saw the Pillowman at the Fred Stone with my RCC. I found the play to be brilliant. The actors were cast perfectly for their roles. Though the play was dark, I found it to be incredibly moving. The Fred was a perfect setting for the play. The space was really transformed for the play. I am disappointed that the Pillowman is already over because I would have loved to see it again.
Legacy of Light
At the beginning of the school year, I saw the play Legacy of Light with my RCC. The play is about women who have to sacrifice their careers for their families and their families for their careers. The play contrasts a modern-day woman who is also a scientist and another female scientist from 200 years ago. It was interesting to see the struggle that women still have today between work and family. The play was performed at Mad Cow Theatre downtown, and the small stage made an intimate feeling between the actors and the audience. I definitely enjoyed Legacy of Light and would recommend it to anyone who had an interest in seeing it.
Contagion
I saw Contagion with my RCC on opening weekend. I was not entirely thrilled to see the movie to begin with, so my expectations were somewhat exceeded. The plot line was pretty basic and the movie seemed to last three hours, though it was just under two. My favorite part of the movie would have to be the end, when the disease comes full circle. The concept of the film is interesting, but it's not my cup of tea. I don't want to give away the ending of this movie for those who haven't seen it, but if I didn't have to attend the film, I probably would have never gone.
Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance
Last weekend Breanna and I drove to St. Pete to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams. We saw Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance at the 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheater. The concert was amazing. Matt & Kim opened for the bands, starting a high-energy feel with the crowd. My Chem's light show was really exciting and made the crowd go wild. After, Blink-182 performed and because they were headlining, they had the best set-up of the three bands. Everything from their light show, to their song sequence was perfectly planned out. This concert was amazing and definitely was a reminder of why I love live music.
Maitland Art Festival
Yesterday i went to the Maitland art festival. I loved being able to see all the different forms of art.
I really loved this photograph. It caught my eye from a couple of booths down because of the different shades of blue and orange. I love how the clouds around the sun look as if they are burning, then there are deep blue clouds around them.
I thought this painting was really cool. If you looked at the painting from far away it looked like a very simple painting, but when you got up close you could see that i was a collage. I had never seen a collage that was painted. The only collages that I have ever seen were put together with pieces of paper glued to it.
I really liked these glass ornaments. I love how they are all different, and cant imagine how much time and skill it takes to make something as beautiful as these. You cant tell for the picture but, they were all shining in the sun and casting a rainbow of colors all over the ground. To me the display was creating art. It was like art creating unintentional art.Friday, September 30, 2011
Art Occurrence 3
This past weekend I attended the Symphony concert in Jacksonville. The concert was conducted by Maestro Fabio Mechetti and consisted of American classical works.
The concert began with the Star Spangled Banner. Maestro Mechetti is very known for doing this to start every concert season. Everyone stood including those in the orchestra who were able. The effect was quite marvelous and an excellent way to begin the first concert of the year for the Jacksonville Symphony.
The official program began after that. The first piece for the evening was by Ives and was quite exciting and well played by the orchestra. After that, we heard Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. The pianist for the concerto was a 17-year-old Asian man whose first name I cannot remember; his last name was Tao. He was an outstanding pianist who gave a wonderful performance of a very difficult Gershwin work.
The final piece on the concert was Copeland’s Third Symphony. It’s a marvelous work filled with wonderful melodies and intriguing harmonies. I found this piece to be really enjoyable and probably my favorite of the evening. All things considered, it was a very good concert and a great way for the Jacksonville Symphony to begin their season.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Art Occurrence 2
For extra credit in my RCC class I had to see a film in the Global Film Festival. The film that I chose to see was Semper Fi, which was about Camp Lejeune in North Carolina that had toxic chemicals in the drinking water from 1957-1987. The chemicals that all the Marine Corps were drinking had an effect on hundreds of people that lived there. The effects that it had on everyone was that babies were being born with important organs missing or that many children and adults were getting cancer. Before watching this film I really didn’t know what to expect and thought it would be boring, but I really found it interesting. Seeing what those people went through and not told about what could happen is very sad. It left a mark on me in the end.
Art Occurrence 1
Friday night Hailey and I went to the movies and saw the new movie Abduction. This is the new movie with Taylor Lautner starring as the lead role. I found the movie really entertaining throughout the entire time. When I first saw the previews I wasn’t quite sure if it would be a movie that I enjoyed, but surprisingly enough it was. Abduction was an action-based movie that also was romantic. The movie was about a code that was stolen and the bad guys wanted it back. If I was able to go see the movie again I would!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Art Occurence 4
So time to let you guys in on my dirty little secret. As embarrassed as I am to say it, I like Teen Fiction. I know, I know not the greatest stuff on the planet but that's not the point. So my friend let me borrow City of Angels. It's the fourth book in The Mortal Instrument Series by Cassandra Clare. Lets just say it was amazing. Sure it's a stereotype supernatural romance but the action sequences are really. It's set in this world of Shadowhunters (Nephilim) and Downworlders (Demons, Vampires, Werewolves etc) There are political tensions and tons of inter-societal tensions. We learn exactly what the Mark of Cain rune will do. My favorite thing about the about the book is that Lilith shows up. Lilith mythology is some of my favorite types of mythology. We also get a more in depth view into the werewolf society. No wonder it's a New York Times Bestseller. All of you should read the series!
Art Occurence 3
I watched the movie Contagion with my RCC. I didn't really enjoy it. It's been done before. This one was a bit ridiculous. The focus was pretty much on trying to make us paranoid about what we touch and how often we touch our faces. It was a bit ridiculous. Man did Matt Damon get fat for the role. Well anyway, yeah the plot while decent was full of holes. The science was incorrect and they covered it up by playing music over the science parts. The most ridiculous part of it was when they show you the origins of the disease. Highly, highly improbable. If I wasn't for the fact that I was with my RCC I probably would have walked out of the theater thirty minutes into the movie.
Art Occurence 2
I went to see a RIP : Cut To performance and it was amazing. The house was packed and people were being turned away even though the performance was at eleven at night. RIP : Cut To is a style of improv that involves movie language and moving backwards and forwards through time. This time Jaz and Christian and were the main character's of the improv movie. (Thank God this one didn't involve Brian masturbating) Anyway they were old high school friends who liked each other but never had anything develop because of Alexa's meddling. It was very funny and interesting. Lots of laughs. I forced a friend of mine to go with cause she just needed a break from her studies. Watching the RIP shows makes me want to audition for RIP.
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