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I really like Arturo Herrera’s work. I like how he plays with collage and is trying to invent something new out of it. I personally like collage and it is my favorite thing about art in school, besides ink (or sharpie). It might have to do with the fact that it adds different textures, colors, and shapes. It doesn’t even have to make sense, it can be just abstract or design. Here is what appears to be a castle lost in lines, or an ant looking through glass. That is what is nice about art, you can make it what ever you want, whether the viewer or in the artist.

While looking up Arturo, I found Matthew Ritchie. Love, love the craziness and how jammed packed his work is. His art is a piece that can be looked at for a long time or even days apart and something would be discovered each time. Ritchie’s work looks similar in some aspects as Herrera’s. It could be the harsh black and light possibly watercolor parts. The layers and layers of object's  shapes are interesting. They look like explosions. He also does installation work and this, in my opinion, brings his work to life and off the wall. 

Memory

I am repeating myself again by saying that I don’t have much to say about this episode. Maybe I am tired or just wasn’t wowed. I just want to talk about Hiroshi Sugimoto. I really love photography and really wish I knew a “proper” way of doing it. I thought it was interesting that he doesn’t do any of the new wave technology. He prefers to shoot with the natural light. I respect that, but technology can enhance a photo so much more. When I think of the traditional way of photograph, and looking at a photo like that, I think it is just beautiful. I guess I like the idea of editing a photo.

Here are photos of a dress collection that Sugimoto shot (kind of reminds me of editorial work that would be seen in a magazine).    

Another group of work that Hiroshi Sugimoto focused on was out of focused work. I am not sure what I think of it. I like it and then don’t. I think it messes with my eyes, as if my contacts are not in, and that bothers me. 

Power

Cai Guo-Qiang’s work is what I would consider art. His art presented in the episode is so creative, and yet pulled from the traditions of the Chinese. The gunpowder works were my favorite. He describes how to work with the material, which is what anyone would do, if they were specializing in it. I guess it just threw me off guard that it was gunpowder. It wasn’t just smeared but actually set off (blown up). The piece below is my favorite because I like the contrast between the colors. It reminds me of ink. I like the dark dominate figure and also what it is over shadowing, which seems to be people or a person in the left hand corner. This might sound bizarre, but the black residue from the gunpowder and the semi burnt light brown/tan color surrounding it, resembles the shading of a tattoo. In my opinion the tall figure could be a tree or a giant figure/monster. The second piece of four panels is also shown because I just think that it is beautiful. The little specs of yellow and the sort of blue, gray grass makes the object (tree) pop and makes it the tree recognizable.

Guo-Qiang also is consistence with his art. The exhibits picture below of the tigers and cars are similar. They are suspended in the air. He said that he didn’t like the heaviness of the object when it is on the ground. The objects in the air become more interesting and help tell the story. A story is something that he also mentioned. The notebook that is folded out is a way to see a story, “reading the story,” and not just looking at the picture. So in essence the cars and animals are frames of a story.    

Humor

Raymond Pettibon was my favorite artist out the Humor episode. I am not sure of the titles of the pictures below, but I’m not sure they really even need any. It was interesting that a bunch of Raymond’s work is writing base and that is his first passion. He doesn’t feel the need to separate the two or no need to pick one over the other. His style is coming from a comic perspective. His images are about personal and what is out in the world. Pettibon has a few alter egos like Gumbie and Va-Voom that show up in his work, as well as presidents and celebrities. Other figures and actions show up in his work and that is his way of not respecting them, and has anger towards them.

He addresses many issues in his work and though it raises politically based work, it is not. Pettibon likes to hit every angle. In my opinion I believe he knows a lot about different types of people and what they might be thinking in their head. That then can translate into the writing. I don’t think I fully understand his works. Some of them I get and others I don’t. I guess it depends on if they are personal or fit a specific time. In the episode he talked about how most of his work was failure. I am not sure what he meant by that, but maybe his message was not translated or understood. From the humor aspect, I think the comic style with words and harsh lines give it a comedic feel.      

Time

I personally hate sculpting myself. We just don’t fit together. Martin Puryear however has it down when it comes to working with wood and sometimes other materials. I have an appreciation for sculptors and it could be because I don’t enjoy doing what they do or that I know that I could never produce anything like that. I thought his latter piece was neat because it appeared to becoming from the sky or suspended in air. I believe this was the point when he was talking about artificial perspective. He also mentioned that he did not care to explain his work too much because it was in the work itself. The title of the episode, related to Puryear’s explanation that the work doesn’t have to relate or translate to what is going on at the time. Rather that it will eventually find its place even though we are unfamiliar with it. 

Below is a Puryear’s piece in Los Angeles, California, called That Profile. It is made out of stainless steel and bronze. This shape showed up in Martin Puryear’s segment multiple times. This organic shape resembles a head shape. As said before, he works with wood, so when he takes on other material projects, he collaborates with others who have different skills. It is important to him personally and believes that others should invite people with different skills to impose their input on the work. This will open artist thinking and possibly lead it in a better direction.

I quickly want to end with Vija Celmins. Her work habit is fairly odd, but in her view is therapeutic and brings her closer to her work. The work has memory. I thought it was interesting that she would do a painting nine times and erasing it, or painting over it in-between. She is very detailed and accurate. I like to work that way sometimes, or at least in the beginning. I really enjoyed her space/star/comet painting during the show. 

Loss & Desire

Gabriel Orozco had been the most unique artist that I have seen on Art 21. It was interesting how he doesn’t have a studio and prefers not to work in one because he believes it keeps one out of reality. It isolates, that is why he works outside and photographs his curiosities, and his camera is his awareness. In the video he went shopping with his wife and to me it seems he was childlike and got distracted. This photo below is an example that.  

Orozco will take everyday life things and warp then into art. In the video the modified car looked complete normal being viewed from the side and then slowly turns and a looks liked it was smashed together. It is so bizarre but could be our reality if there were individual futuristic single person cars. Another piece that he did was the four-way ping-pong table with no net and a pond in the middle. It is fun. It is game art. 

Stories

These artists upheld the title of the episode. Kara Walker’s art, pictured here, was interesting because her black silhouette and white background were so simple. It made the story and the characters stand out. I liked how what the characters were doing and who or what they were interacting with was important. The two pictures are slightly different. One is, as I explained before, a white wall and black silhouette. The room is also round. The second one has a light colored back ground, with again black silhouette. The neat thing is that the viewer becomes part of the work because their shadow shows up along with the silhouettes. I believe Kara Walker said this was about the slaves turning on their master and using everyday utensils to do it. I like silhouettes because of the harsh contrast.

Kiki Smith was an interesting individual. I like how she talked about art being the representation of the inside, and art being a way to think. Smith said that she grew up very Adams family like, saying that she grew up around death. An example was when she said she would draw or design dead sculptures of birds. She also talked about witches and this picture below reminds me of this. Also she said she likes seeing her sculptures off the ground. 

Consumption

This episode presented Michael Ray Charles, Matthew Barney, Andrea Zittel, and Mel Chin. To be completely honest, this is the first episode where I feel like I was not inspired by their work. No one caught my eye. I don’t have much to say in this post except that it made me aware that not everyone will understand or like your work.

I also realized, that artists are crazy or at least a little crazy (briefly mentioned in class the other day). To me these artists seem to be stuck in their own little world. Making their world, ideas, and dreams through art. They create so that they themselves understand or try to understand the art. 

This picture is of the Revival Field, which is what Mel Chin talked about. This is his Science-Art work. A certain type of plant helps take the toxics and metals out the soil. This then helps then harvest the plants and renews the soil to a natural state.