Photoshop

Art isn't just about what is done with paper and pencil, or paint on canvas. With the technologies that we have now, art can also be done on computers using several different programs. Photoshop is one of these. With photoshop, so many different things can be done to a picutre not only to make it better, but to change it totally. Someone can easily take a picture of something and alter it in such a way in photoshop, it would look totally different. But not only that, they can create something (like the picture above) starting with just a blank white page. It is amazing how with the technologies that we have now, art has a wide range of what it can be.

Sidewalk Chalk Art

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECeGwg7Cm0A

Many of you have probably already seen some forwarded email or youtube clip on sidewalk chalk art, but i think that it's just amazing to see everytime you look at it. And it only works when you're looking at it from the right angle. This clip is of artist Julian Beever and his sidewalk chalk art.

Art is everywhere

So while I was waiting for the MARTA train today on my way home for the weekend, I saw this piece of artwork hanging on the wall. I didn't really expect to see such a thing while waiting at an underground train station. I couldn't really make out what the shapes and stuff were except for the yellow lizard right in the middle. I guess that's what the focus might be on since it captures the viewers attention right when they look at it.

And once I saw it, I realized that art can really be found anywhere and everywhere. If you just look at a building, it is art because somebody designed it. Even outside of the high museum there were artistic structures that were really fascinating. Even the ice cream swirl outside the Ferst Center is an artistic structure that is found on campus.

Debris of an Automobile Giving Birth to a Blind Horse Biting a Telephone

So I finally decided which of Dali's paintings I am going to do for the visual art assignment. I'm going to be doing Debris of an Automobile Giving Birth to a Blind Horse Biting a Telephone. It's a really long title for a painting. One of the reasons that I chose this painting was because there is so much going on; it is almost as if a story is being told. The main subject in the picture is a horse, but not just a regular horse. It is one that is being transformed into to a automobile, as the title insists. One notable thing in the painting is the light source. There are only two visible light sources in the painting, the hanging light bulb in the foreground and the moon in the distance. Another reason I chose this painting is because there is only one color scheme that Dali has used; he only uses dark colors in the painting to get the effect of the night life depicted. The title of the painting tells a lot about what is going on in the painting itself. It basically summarizes the big picture of the painting.

Visual Assignment

I still haven't decided which visual artwork I am going to do for the project that we have been assigned. I would like to do one of Dali's paintings, but there's just too many to choose from. I need to pick something that captures my attention right when i look at it. Otherwise, i think that i will have a hard time trying to figure out what to write about. If I enjoy the painting, then i believe that i will probably not have much difficulty writing 5 pages (double spaced) on it. I need something that has a lot of color in it. I don't want one of his religious paintings, or one with his wife in it. I wouldn't mind doing one of his surrealist paintings; I think that there are many different ways that one can go with surrealism in interpreting what is going on in the painting. I might pick one of the paintings above, but I'm still not quiet sure.

Semoitics and Art History

This article wasn't the most interesting thing that I have read. I thought it was really boring and I was really confused through out most of it. I believe the reason for this was because the audience that this article was intended for was more for people who enjoy art and are critics. The audience is expected to know a lot about what the author's talking about. The whole article is very factual, and it is not really approaching the audience. However, to make it easier for the readers the author has done several things. One is that there are titles for each of the sections. This way, the readers get a heads up as to what the section is going to be about. Another thing that the author does is give analogies and examples to help explain his message. There are also a lot of footnotes included in the article, for those who actually want to go and read them. One thing that I did learn from this article was about semoitics. Prior to reading this article, I had no clue what semoitics was, nor had I even heard of the word. But I came to know that semiotics is the study of signs; the study of language. So what does semiotics have to do with art? One has to look at the different aspects of a piece of artwork in order to find the symbols and representations of different objects to find hidden meanings in them.

Response

I would like to respond to how in the Berger essay, it described how the caption of a painting can make a differnce in the way a viewer views the painting. That is something that never really crossed my mind until I looked at the example of the two pictures in the essay. It made me realize how important titles of paintings really are. By just looking at the title, it can change the whole way a viewer interprets a painting. This all ties in with perspective and can be related to literature as well. In novels we have stories that are written in different perspectives, from a first person narrator to a third person narrator. And the story that is told is seen differently from whatever perspective you are in. Same with paintings, the way you look at a painting may depend on what perspective you are looking at it. At the High Museum, there was one painting of Dali that up close it just seemed like a bunch of dots, but if you moved further back you were able to see the face of a woman. Technology has enabled us to see in different perspectives. Yet, back in the day, artists were still able to create works from a different perspective without the aid of these modern technologies that we have today.

High Museum Visit

Even though I have lived in Atlanta for a while, I have never been to the High Museum, so when I went there a few days ago, I didn't really know what to expect. But as soon as I walked inside, I was really amazed. The first thing that I saw was the 3-D sculptures of the fruit on the main floor. They looked so real, but just a lot bigger. Then we went to see the Dali Exhibit, and I have to say that it was really amazing. I realized that from what we were discussing in class, that art is all about perspective. And Dali is definitely an artist who took perspective into thought. The way that he did some of his paintings just made it look as if it were 3-D. Not only did I see art in the High Museum, but also as Ashley and I were walking to the museum itself. We were going to take Marta, but then we just decided to walk it. And I have to say it was worth it, because it was a very scenic tour.