Modern Art despite Modernism

(To be honest I sorta forgot what we were supposed to respond to, so I'm responding to whatever the interactive essay thing from the Museum of Modern art that was on the syllabus)
While abstractions are interesting, I prefer works of art that have a form to them.  However, works with geometric patterns such as Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie bring a smile to my face.  Perhaps it is Broadway Boogie Woogie in particular, as it is reminiscent of the colors of lego blocks I used to play with when I was a child.  When things appeared simpler...
I am also fascinated by the semi-photo realism of romanticism paintings (grammar?), which is what lead me to Odd Nerdrum (who I found a few days before Professor Wellman showed some of his works to the class), who uses human forms reminiscent of romanticism but are in environments of surrealistic quality.  A few of his paintings, such as arrest- have a sort of lava-like swirls of color in the background that reminds me of the works by Jackson Pollock like Full Fathom Five, except the swirls general flow and follow the human forms.

Digital Painting

I found this interesting:

If you watch carefully during the coloring stage, for example the skin tone- there are only solid blocks of color.  Variations in the color are achieved through gray scale shading, and perhaps some subtle modifications to the base underneath.
And here I was still choosing different colors to achieve different shades in my digital art...

Raid my "Digital Artness" folder!

I thought I'd grab one of the digitally inked drawings I have kicking around and post it.  I don't know why, not like anyone will see it.
I like the way the purple and the blue colors seem to harmoniously  interact... At least I'm good with choosing colors :)

Anyway, I'll throw in the original pencil just for fun, because I want to make your eyes bleed at my horrible drawing skills.  In my defense I never had any formal training (unless you count a few years of tae kwon do which I have forgotten by now).

An ekphrastic flag

 Flag

Jasper Johns (1954-55)

Unresolved in your heart
in the mind
in the body.
A collection forms together
like leaves in the autumn.
Fused together they lay.

Mr Orton gives Mr. Schrodinger a run for his money
Yes and no.
Light and Dark.
Positive and Negative.
Yet none of these they show.

Laid in a plan
of intricate design
as a whole showing a flag
in your eyes and mine

going out upon a limb.

Random Drawing

I seem to be doing this quite a bit recently.  I don't know why, maybe because I am finally starting to be satisfied with my skills with a pencil    |:c)

 

Gumi (2012)

Joshua Nye

This character is not an original, but a rendition of a character created by Yamaha for their "Vocaloid" program, which allows the user to create songs in the style of "J-Pop".  The program uses voice samples from famous actors and actresses and digitally manipulates them.  It is essentially (and referred to as) a "Digital Diva".  There are currently a few dozen different versions floating around, each with a different anime style character representative of the program.

The age of the human singer has passed.

Drifting

Odd Nerdrum (2007)

This is a rather interesting piece.  It is reminiscent of a romantic painting, yet there is a sort of surrealism that lends it to modern painting, specifically the swirls of colors on the woman's right arm and above the male form.

Early Morning

Odd Nerdrum (2006)

Nerdrum declares himself a kitsch artist, being rather cynical of modern art.  However, an artist who calls himself (or herself) a kitsch artist is in fact supporting the philosophical movement of the same name.  This "kitsch" is a sort of return to the classic romanticism and narrative form of painting.

Philisophically, it focuses on the importance of humans, tending to ignore the appearance of the supernatural (such as religion).  In addition it ignores the view that artists should follow the zeitgeist (spirit of the current time period), with an emphasis on individualism.

Interestingly enough, Odd Nerdrum is in prison for tax evasion.

Data
Joshua Nye 2012

Similar to the previous post, I thought I'd liven things up with some of my own art (albeit a bit of an older piece).  If you want an explanation for this piece, I'll unwillingly provide one:
In the modern age there is a sort of obsessive fetishism surrounding technology to the point that the persona we take on when interaction through digital worlds becomes almost as real as ourselves.

I thought I'd liven things up a bit with one of my digital drawings.

Lava paint

"The splayed-out, lava like quality of painting today indicates a desire to move with the freedom and abstractness of pollock without succumbing to a result that can be reduced to a whole defined by a coherent, continuous surface." (Stella, 60)

Stella indicates that the art today strives to be like pollocks, in which there is no absolute definable form.  This allows a work to be viewed in multiple ways, invoking a reaction unlike a painting that has defined shapes.

Three paintings to discuss for my term paper

I do so dislike the title, but I can think of nothing else suitable.

The Kiss (1908-1909)
Gustav Klimpt

In class Kimpt is never mentioned (at least to my recollection to the time of the writing) which somewhat saddens me.  I've enjoyed the various pieces I've seen (via google image search) done by him.  Thomson described it as a sort of balance between death and sexuality.   Here the squares on the man indicate the stereotypical sexist view of men being solid and strong.  On the other hand the woman is filled with circles, which indicate a sort of softness, further emphasized by many of the circles appearing squished.  The blending of the two figures shows how the couple is loosing themselves in their love .  The use of geometric shapes reminds me of cubism, even though cubism itself wasn't developed by Picasso for a few years.

Some Klimt Kitsch.

Winne the Pooh

Tommervik

This is a character from many children's memories :Winnie the Pooh.  A less chaotic cubist painting, the bear can be clearly seen.  However parts of the figure are fading into the background, indicative that this character is beginning to fade from children.

Star Wars
Tommervik

And finally a cubist view of an ATAT from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.  The segmentation of the body and legs gives the vehicle multiple views, such as walking and stumbling (as many would remember from the famous scene with the A-Wing fighters and their tow lines).



One may wonder why I chose these.  I find the three pictures interesting, but even more interesting is how little of an impact they make on me.  There is more of an impression made when one is able to view a work of art in person (such as the texture of the medium, canvas, etc), however with the age of information virtually any piece of art can be found without having to walk around.  With such a vast amount of art available, the impressions and "auras" (as Walter Benjamin put it) are not as powerful as they were.

A red melancholy
born with a baptism of fire
created from the depths of the soul
living in the minds of others
to be sworn as a dark cape.

Red as a rose
the source of life will flow,
flow off the cape
down the river
to an ocean
an ocean of black.

Ocean, dark as night
within lay a creature.
Neither man, nor animal
for it only exists
because others will it to.

I suppose this is more surreal than cubist.  I actually don't know what I was trying to do with this picture, just hastily sketching what I saw and what I thought.

That poem about zombies on Tuesday reminded me of this song:

Which I find just as haunting as Lana Del Ray's song "Videogames".  This song "Zombie" is about the "troubles" in Ireland, that spanned from the 1960's to about 1998 in Northern Ireland.  It was a conflict between Catholics and Protestants that some claim was large enough to be an actual war (BBC dismissed this notion).

This song was released in 1994 by The Cranberries, who are an Irish rock band.

A Mesostic

                           man kno W s no law
                                cre A ting chaos where he walks
                      sowing dest R uction when he talks
                       eating the  G ood heart
                                     O f his fellow man
                      lamenting his D isgusting fate
     turning into a pitiful Mephi S topheles







Color flow

A blue Melencholy
created in the leaves of sleep
born upon the ashes of ice
upon a field of wheat.
Alive in the darkness
dark in the aliveness
created by the gods of time
as light shines upon the blue
residing in the rainbow
a rainbow of the earth.

Henri Matisse's self portrait.

The general hues in general give the painting a sort of brown earthen feel, despite the white counter top and pitcher in the background.  It is interesting how some of Matisse's skin tones match the brown (possibly wooden) part of the counter top.

The palate he is holding appears to be flat, as well as several slightly varying perspectives used, most notable in the palate, the floor/chair/ suitcase and the counter in the background.

Matisse's left leg (bearing in mind that this was painted by looking in the mirror) or the leg closes to the viewer appears a little warped and disjointed, giving the illusion Matisse had quite a large bottom.

Un petit examen

Ah, Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon.  It is considered the first true modern painting.  There are various reasons why this is, but to keep this post short I shall list 3:

1)  The use of tribal masks
      The two women on the right have faces that resemble masks more than faces.  This sets a sort of standard that is still used today.

2) Geometric shapes
      The most noticeable is the breast of the masked woman in the background (upper right corner).  The breast appears to be a cube, but like Theirry's figure, one cannot tell for sure if the cube is concave or convex.

3) Disjointed Bodies
     Pretty obvious, but the disjointedness of the figures portray the emotion of the scene and what Picasso had on his mind when making it.  If I remember correctly he had almost caught syphilis (or maybe it was some other social disease).


Food for thought:

1)  How did industrialization catalyze the creation of modern life, and in effect modern art?

2)  Since I've enjoyed the art I've seen of Gustav Klimt's, how does he establish the mood of his pieces through color and tone?

3)  How did people living "modern" lifestyles in cities (around many people, mind you) still live isolated lives?

Short Isolation
An attempt at an ironic dialogue, because who what's to be isolated and lonely?  Not me!

Isolation!
The exquisite loneliness.
Darkness!  Exquisite darkness,
where we cannot think.
No one for miles?
Isn't that what we all wish for?
Never to talk to another
person again, yes, that is
what we want!
Never again to walk the street
Never again to sit in the park
Never to talk with a friend!
Isolation of our own will!

A Poem-Type Thing

On blackened grass I sit, above my home.
Below me, scattered about my home lay as that of autumn leaves
yet their color that of parchment.
Vast leviathans approach
Their color comparable to the darkest of midnight
yet they bask in a glow.
Perhaps that is the color of man's heart.
Blackened, twisted arms reach towards the sky
never again to bask in the warm sun
But instead bask in the glow of a new one.
As I look down to find myself vanishing in the warmth
I only think of how fun it was, while it lasted.
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A Vacation on a Canvas

 

I took a vacation and visited "The Sultan of Morocco and his entourage", a nice little painting by Eugene Delacroix in 1845.  And here is what I found:


Overall:
In the foreground a Sultan sits on his horse, a servant close by with an unusual parasol for his master.  The horse has dark tones, with the posture of its head making it reminiscent of a skull.  It stands out, as most of the other tones in the rest of the picture are earthen.  Surrounding the sultan are what appears to be either other important people or his servants, which balance each other out in a fashion.  It is of note, however than the sultan's clothing is relatively simple compared to the soldiers in the foreground.
The background is a clear blue sky behind what may be Morocco.  There are plants growing on the top and side of the wall, with some fissures running here and there, giving an aged look.  The entrance to the city is balanced with a higher concentration of green (plants) on the opposite side of the panting.  Many of what appear to be soldiers are standing in front of the walls to Morocco in the middle ground.  What appear to be either spears or muskets in their right hands and wearing red embellishments in the form of various sashes, turbans and pointed hats.  However behind the soldiers there is what appears to be what could be perhaps average citizens of the day, hoping to get a glimpse of the Sultan.

Color and Form:
Many of the colors used are of earthen tone.  Many figures in the background are only able to be recognized as people is either due to the red hats they wear or the contrast of their clothing to the color of their faces.  It is interesting how many people in the foreground and some in the middle ground do not have this sort of contrast.
The Sultan makes a central figure, however his "entourage" surrounds him.  The expressions generally seem to be than of perhaps exasperation, as if the formalities here are a bother.
The Sultan's horse makes a most striking figure, because unlike its surroundings, it has a blue color to it, which not only helps draw the attention to the figure of the sultan, but combined with the horse's posture seemed to give it a supernatural look.
It is of note that the figure leading the horse is looking right at the viewer, as if this were a picture -breaking the fourth wall, as it were.
A trapezoid is created at the hooves of the sultan's steed, creating a sense that this was perhaps a pose especially for this painting.  Also, a triangle is formed between the sultan's parisol and the sultan himself.  In the background the Walls of Morocco  make a border between the sky and the ground, in a skewed rectangular fashion.

FIRST POST     ^w^


So, first post I guess.
To get a good grasp of who I am, let me tell you what I am not.  Yet, some parts are truth, but I'll leave that for you, dear reader, what is true and what is not.


    I grew up in a small, suburban community in the North Eastern corner of Vermont,  however due to the nature of my personality I had as a child, I did not have many friends, and did not get along well with my two brothers.
    I suppose the catalyst was in the first grade, during some form of schoolyard rough play.  I had become angry, and as a result incapacitated a fellow student for a better portion of the day, to the point of where his memory of the incident became nonexistent.
    From that point on my temperament had gained me a negative kind of notoriety, to the point where I had few friends, if I could even call them friends, as we never were close.
    It is not that I was actually being malicious.  I had a strong sense of justice, and would not condone harassment to fellow students.  However many thought my actions were unprovoked and the antagonists gave themselves the appearance of the victims.
    This sort of thing continued into high school, (which was a nice little urban one in my hometown).  I would not tolerate harassment to myself or others who I was acquainted with.
    As a result of my reputation (and somewhat immature attitudes) any romantic relations failed to even begin, which led to a high school career of uninteresting boredom, at least on that front.
    However, as my high school years progressed I gained more friends (as they had heard less about my reputation), and by my senior year I had found myself a nice little niche in a gaming club (to the point where I dressed up in costume on 2 occasions).
   Graduation flew by, and my first 1 and a half years of college passed by in a blur, but at the same time took an eternity.
And here I am now.