Fused: Mural

"Believing is Seeing"

Summary of "Believing is Seeing" written by Mary Anne Staniszewski

When I first learned we were required to buy two books for this course, one of which is a "chapter book" I was a little weary.  I didn't know how this "chapter book" was going to capture my interest in digital media.  What kind of "chapter books" are even written when it comes to learning about digital media - that MIGHT possibly be interesting?  To my surprise I cruised through this book in only two days!  I was so sucked in, and quite frankly - intrigued.  I am even thinking of requiring my AP art students to read this book during the summer!  I loved her perspective or LENS into the art world.  She brings up many important topics which some people refuse to question.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book because of the unfiltered look into our world's art history - or in her terms - simply the history of our visual past.  

MY Mandala :)

I chose a few different pictures for this project, some of which I had edited, and others that were simple snapshots.  I played around with round shapes and square shapes.  I changed the sizes of these shapes, as well as the direction in which they faced.  I am most happy with the vibrancy of my colors - I wish I had had more time to experiment in photoshop in hopes to come up with a few final mandalas. 

Final Project Proposal

Project Description/Plan

 I am choosing to learn a new application for my iPhone.  This application is called Fused: Double Exposure, Video and Photo Blender.  This app allows you to blend videos, photos or even a combination of both - and it's FREE

My plan is to teach myself how to use the app, and challenge myself to create some interesting pieces of art that evoke thought and are aesthetically pleasing. 

Below are some final pieces I have "fused" together...

I've also included my original pictures to show how I overlaid and combined the exposures.

 

Where Are All The Women Artists?

At this point I've finished reading "Believing is Seeing".  I really enjoyed this book because of the clear, concise explanations accompanied by the visual piece of artwork.  I loved how the book described the chronological changes in "art" throughout the years.  She didn't miss a beat!  I want to have my next AP art students read this over the summer before school.  I think this book is unbiased and very informative!

As for the article "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" by Linda Nochlin, I have different feelings.  I think she asked fantastic questions throughout the article, however I'm not sure her answers really answered anything for me.  Quite frankly, Nochlin continued to create confusion for me as the article progressed.  She was simply throwing words into the void.

"There are no women equivalents for Michelangelo or Remrandt, Delacroix or Cezanne, Picasso or Matisese, or even, in very recent times, for de Koonight or Warhol, any more than there are black American equivalents for the same.  If there actually were large numbers of "hidden" great women artists, or if there really, should be different standards for women's art as opposed to men's--and one can't have it both ways--then what are feminists fighting for? If women have in fact achieved the same status as men in the arts, then the status quo is fine as it is."

This is one of the places where Nochlin actually gives me an answer, however her answer states how each should have different standards, which leaves us as women-hopeless.  Why should we have different standards, it puts us on a different level.

I think the simple answer to "Where Are All The Women Artists?" - is that women weren't given the same opportunity as men, to be educated in the arts.  Which left women without the tools to become masters of the arts like Michelangelo or Rembrandt etc.  These women didn't have the opportunity to build their skills or even toy with the option to have the potential of reaching the quality of work we see in museums across the world.

What is Art?

Believing is Seeing, Creating the Culture of Art by Mary Anne Staniszewski

Reaction From Chapter 1: What is Art?

Before opening "Believing is Seeing,"I had a deep feeling of procrastination.  To be honest I wasn't looking forward to reading a book that was dated, and had a book cover that looked a bit cliche.  I guess I should have listened to the life lesson of not judging a book by it's cover!  After reading the first FOUR chapters in only an hour I realized how sucked into this book I really was! I even flagged certain pages and quotes that caught my attention with ripped post-it notes.  Some statements even made me smile-which rarely happens when reading a book for a class!  Mostly, the first chapter was highly engaging for me because of the images that supported the text.  When Mary visually questioned what art IS it really made me think.  She was highly engaging with her questioning and supporting evidence.  Most people DO consider objects and paintings from the time of the Venus of Willendorf, 25,000-20,000 B.C. until now, ART.  However Mary made me think, are they really art?  Were they made for artistic purposes or simply for documentation, story telling, rituals or religion?  Probably a little bit of everything!! I feel like it may be a little unfair to say "this was not Art."

Stopped Motion Video : DUDE
Working on this video was a blast.  My team worked so well together and had everything prepared. Our original plan was to photograph our film in black and white and also included a few extra scenes.  However with the time permitted and the way in which things were panning out, we decided to omit the extra scenes.  Our choice to keep the film in color was unanamous.  We all loved how the blues and greens looked in our photos.  I think it was a good choice.  The final video turned out better than I could have imagined.  The music lined up perfectly with the actions in the film.  Even though it was a blast and turned out well, I'm not sure stopped animation is something I would continue to persue.  It is so detail orianted and requires a TON of patience!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0Ar2bZt7k

Personal Photo Portfolio

http://averillmcdowelldigitalart.weebly.com/

Gone Fishin'

The storyline for our stopped motion animation film follows a robot into the wilderness and documents his journey throughout the duration of a day.  This robot/dude hops into a boat on the edge of a body of water.  He pushes himself optimistically into the water to begin his day of fishing.  Our backdrop shows a rural mountainous landscape with only wild animals to keep our dude company.  He starts his journey at sunrise excited for his day.  As he is fishing he endures the monotony of being in the middle of a body of water by himself without a single catch of the day.  He becomes frustrated and ready to give up, when he finally catches a fish!  This fish pulls him out of the boat and into the depths of the water.  As our dude reaches the surface, his boat is long gone.  Dude swims to the shore where he builds himself a fire to keep warm.  At this time of day the sun is beginning to set.  As he warms himself by the fire the decides to cast one last line out of boredom.  To his surprise he catches a perfectly sized fish for his belly!

The story ends with Dude and his fish smiling at the camera.  This whole stopped motion will be filmed in black and white to show the beauty and simplicity of the shapes and lines.  

Here is a link to a black and white stopped motion: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Yn5mVtgco 

Stopped-Motion Animation/Photo with Text

 The Boxtrolls

This film used stopped-motion animation, 3D printing and cutting edge technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1El1xVRrkA

 I chose this photo because of the text in between the lines on the crosswalk.  I played around with adding more text in Photoshop, but would prefer to add a bit of collage elements into the white lines of the lush jungle to show the juxtaposition between the city and the jungle.