Art Experience Review

I went to an art gallery while at home and viewed a variety of paintings until one caught my eye. The one that stood out to me was Portrait of my Father by Stephen Kaltenbach because it draws all your attention to it right when you enter the room. It hangs on a wall all to itself because the artwork is so big. The painting is of an older gentleman with a face that is struggling to find life. He looks sad and weak. The painting is in black and white when you first look at it; however, as you stand very close to the panting, you don’t see the image of a face, you see various patterns in light colors and white stripes that look like strings. I thought that the white stripes were actual pieces of string that come out of the painting, but it was just white paint used to bring out the face to show the aging. When you first look at this enormous painting, you just see black and white and an old man that looks like he is barely staying alive. As you look away from the painting, then look back you begin to see a little color come out. The more you look away and then look back at this painting, you begin to see more and more color where you didn’t see it before. The color was in places where you would expect to see it on any other person, in the cheeks, the eyes and around their forehead.
When learning about information about the artist of this painting, I began to understand more about the painting and what it represents and why the artist painted it. This painting shows the struggle with life that his father had to face with trying to stay alive. I can relate to this painting because I had to go through seeing my grandfather fight cancer to stay alive. The emotion in the artwork reminded me of my emotions that I had seeing my grandfather slowly lose life. “Through light, color and pattern, the gestural energy of the Abstract Expressionists is combined with the minute detail and hyper-realism of the Photo Realists. Overlaying the entire composition is a radiant psychedelic tracery that acts as metaphor for God’s presence at death.” This quote from the Museum’s information, located next to the painting. It really describes the image and I feel that it helped me look more in dept at the image. I think that the color, light and pattern that is shown gives the image energy when you think it can’t have any. It gives viewers hope that though the father of Kaltenbach is dying, his spirit and everything he had is still with us.
When I first saw this painting, I was intrigued by the artwork and color behind it. After learning more about the artist and why he felt he painted it, I could relate to it and feel the same feelings that the artist was feeling. I felt a connection with the painting and it made me appreciate the piece that much more.

My ten words that I used to describe what I see as myself being an artist are:
1. Color
2. Lines
3. Emotions
4. Lifestyle
5. Creative
6. Free
7. Encouraged
8. Open
9. Heart
10. Passion

Spirituality

How do you define “spirituality”?
I define spirituality by believing in the spirits. I think that those who are spiritual are the ones that turn to God for answers and look to him for help when they need it. I think spirituality can be something shared and cherished by everyone and anyone. You can be spiritual or you cannot be spiritual. I think that I am a spiritual person because I think sometimes that people who have passed away are always present with you in some way and help you make decisions even when you don’t think they are helping. I think that they are looking out for you and want what’s best.

Does spirituality differ from religion?
I think that they do differ but they relate to each other too. Religion is the set of beliefs relating to the cause, nature and purpose of the universe. Regarding that term, I think that spirituality can be a set of beliefs relating to the purpose of nature. There are so many different religions but they all adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices. I think that religion can bring out the spirituality in a person by helping them with turning to the spirits and believing in things. People can be spiritual without having a religion. It depends how the person is raised and their personal beliefs. For example, witchcraft is not a religion but pertains to spirituality.

How do you define “creativity”?
I define creativity when someone comes up with something original. I think that there are so many different ways to be creative in this world that it amazes me to see what people can make up. Creativity can also come from combining idea’s to simplify a variety of them into one. For example, the new iPhone combines Internet, media and everything else a regular cell phone does into 1 piece of device with a touch screen. I would have never thought of doing making something like that. You can be creative through art by including objects or colors that are normally not used. Musicians are all creative because they write and create songs with different ballads.

What is the source of creativity?
The source of creativity can come from anything. You can get ideas from: art, movies, music, fashion, books, classes, people, colors, pictures, anything. By being surrounded with the world and what it offers can allow you to be creative in a different way. If you use one idea and combine it with another idea you might come up with a brand new product. I am not as creative as others, but I still feel that I can be creative when I need to, whether its by doing a project differently or designing a different outfit.

Horror Article Part 2

This article talks about how many people enjoy being scared. The author states how there are 3 types of names that relate to fear of something related to horror: Necrophobia, the fear of the dead, Autophobia, the fear of being along, and Xenophobia, and the fear of strangers, aliens and foreigners. Each relate to the future and not knowing what is going to happen, which related to horror movies. You never know what is going to happen. It is sudden, which makes viewers jump and keep engaged. L. Vincent Poupard states in the article, “horror writing is based on the exploitation of fear. No matter what type of horror genre that someone writes in, exploitation of fear has to be present to be considered as horror.” I associate horror movies with having two qualities that make it a horror movie, blood and fear. When I was watching the Buff video, they mentioned that they try to create characters that provide fear that people sense when they see them, associating them with someone who is evil. You get a sense of an evil character based on how they act and the actions they take. In the PowerPoint about what qualities are related to horror films, one is that the plot contains frightening and unexpected incidents, which causes the audience to be surprised by what suddenly happened. It also states that a horror film includes violence, sometime graphic violence.
Between reading all the articles online and blackboard, it seems the authors all had the same understanding of what horror films featured. They all mention that those types of movies are for fun and create a different feeling and emotions for viewers who chose to watch them.

Poupard V., ‘What is the Essence of Horror?’ The People’s Media Company. Retrieved November 4, 2007, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/244671/what_is_the_essence_of_horror_an_analysis.html

Horror Article Part 1

This article discusses why people, specifically teenagers, like horror films. It says that younger people are more likely to play the video games that express violence because the age between becoming an adult and being a child is when most teenagers explore horror and what it feels like to be scared. The author, Leon Rappopor, states that the human characteristic is to explore the boundaries where they can tolerate fear and anxiety and then master those by working them out. Watching scary movies is an easy and safe way to learn how to tolerate fear because you will either be at a movie theater or in your living room with friends or family. He also states that as people grow up, they need to test their limits to discover what they like and can tolerate. If you never experience sitting through a scary movie, you will never know your limits or how much you can tolerate, because it varies from person to person.
In the reading Paradox of Horror, it states, “the majority of horror works are pure entertainment they aim simply at providing their audience with enjoyable experiences. Take these points together, the simplest, most straightforward explanations of the phenomenon of horror is that sometimes people enjoy being scared.” (Pg. 298) Just as Rappopor states in his article, both authors conclude that horror is a source of entertainment for people and are considered a fun activity for people to gather and take part of.

Rappopor, J., (1997). ‘WHY WE LIKE TO WATCH SCARY MOVIES’, K-State Media Relations and Marketing. Retrieved November 4, 2007, from
http://www.k-state.edu/media/WEB/News/NewsReleases/listscarymovies.html

Personal Beliefs and Values

Every day, I dress the same. I usually wear workout shorts or sweats, a t-shirt and a comfy sweatshirt. I always put my hair up into a messy bun because I don’t like to straighten it since it takes a long time. I do dress up for work and for special occasions, but it rarely happens, to people always tease me. I love to dress up and do may make-up and hair. When I do dress up, it shows that I care more about what I’m going to, it has that much more of an affect. Since being in college, my style has become more “in” with the latest style. I began buying designer clothes, and noticing fashion a lot more than I used to. I think being surround by so many individuals helped me see so many different styles people have. I think I enjoy wearing athletic clothing because I love sports. I am constantly playing tennis and working out, plus I am a huge sports fan so I’m sporting clothing gear for my teams. I grew up in an athletic family so wearing sporty clothes is what I am used to. My grandma has always expressed how she didn’t want any of her grandchildren to get tattoos. Since I was younger, I have always had that in the back of my mind. Even though I can hide it from her if I did get one, I just don’t like lying to her. Recently though, my cousin did get one and she talked to him about it, but she knows that he is the rebel out of her 11 grandkids. Regardless of her rule, she still loves him and I think that is the most important part. She still supports him unconditionally, which shows our family that we can still break a few rules and still have as much support as we did before.
The choices I make reflect my life in every which way. I make educated decisions based on what is right and what is wrong. I have learned to be smart and make the right choices because I have seen what happens when I don’t. I am a person who learns from her mistakes. Sometimes I have to make the mistake more than once, but I eventually learn. I work hard at everything I do, putting in all the effort I have. Sometimes it doesn’t show through, such as in grades, but if I know that I worked hard and did everything I could, then I am happy. I also make choices in what I want I think best benefits me. If I am educated enough on the topic, then I will choose the choice that affects me most.
My family has many different values and beliefs that I have grown up following. My family has always supported me in life, from sports to school to all my other activities. They help me solve problems when I was struggling to find answers, but not giving too much inform which made me still try to solve it. To this day, my parents and the rest of my family help me with my life problems. I think having them to guide me also makes me learn and know that if something fails, I have my parents to go to for more support.
Based on my beliefs and values and my style, I have not let that stop me from being friends with people that I have a connection with. I also have friends who aren’t that into sports, but we find a connection through something else. I love meeting new people with different fashion tastes, because then I learn a new style and it gives me something to experience with for myself. My friends vary from how they express themselves. Some of them dress that same way I do, while others are more trendy. I like being surround by different various because then I see so much more.

Food and Art Together

Silberman, V. (2002, May). Art Business News. [On-line Article]
Retrieved October 19, 2007 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HMU/is_5_29/ai_85916888/pg_1


I enjoyed reading this article because it described many different artists who use food, such as chocolate syrup, honey, jams, beans and tomato sauce in their art pieces. This article opened with a story about how Alisoun Meehan held a truck show event called Dining Haul: Sweets, with the theme of pastries, sugar and chocolate. She paired five award winning New York pastry chefs with five emerging New York artists to create projects, which were then featured in trucks. Artists are beginning to get more creative by using different types of food in their projects. Many galleries are beginning to feature food art and making it the main focus of some exhibits they put on.
Tanja Maka explains that “food is a major part of our everyday lives, and when it is used by an artist to communicate a message, it is transformed into a new medium that departs from its everyday associations." I thought this quote explains how people are beginning to step out of their shell and take chances by using food in their pieces, which is something that not many artists are experiencing. People are becoming more creative with how they express themselves. Maka also states that food art attracts her attention by how artists “use food to communicate very different issues. It can be about waste, abundance, consumption, eating disorders, gender roles and the aging process and sensuality.” (Pg. 1) This quote made me realize that you can use food in artwork to express all these emotions and problems. You can use food in artwork to help get your point across, and it might have a bigger effect on the viewer as well.
This article was more focused on they way artists could incorporate food into their art pieces. Compared to the other readings, movies and radio segment that we had this week, I couldn’t think that this article relates to fast food or slow food, since when artists are creating this art food pieces, they are taking their time to make it perfect, since it is not being served to anyone, only being displayed to viewers.