Midterm 3/7/11

   The midterm for Identity Module 2 went off without a hitch. I had a busy week prior to the midterm and worked hard to put some nice quality work into my blog. Since I am in group B, we were the first to meet up on Monday morning. I have to say we had a nice lunch that had a theme of hamburgers! :) I decided to take a nice cookie platter. I really enjoy meeting with my group and discussing our blogs. I feel each time we meet up we get to know each other a little better and learn a new fact about one another. Especially this time around because we had to discuss our Identity collage. We got the opportunity to see each others identity and learn what we all think defines us, with mostly the use of pictures. Going over our museum trips is always great because we get to see each persons taste in art and usually we all end up picking different art pieces to discuss. Reviewing each artist research the group members had to do is also great because we get to learn briefly about different artist. I hope each time we meet up the group keeps up the great work. Can't wait till the next week when the new module begins and we get to do a project,museum visit, and artist research all over again!

Music Video Art

   I am a big fan of 80's music and one of my favorite songs from this era is "Take On Me" by the Norwegian band A-Ha. The song was recorded in 1984, and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard charts in October of 1995. A big help in the song gaining popularity was the cutting-edge video, that was on constant rotation on MTV. It was directed by Steve Barron and uses a pencil sketch animation called rotoscoping mixed with live action. Rotoscoping is a type of animation technique in which animators trace over live action film movement, frame by frame. It is commonly used in animated films. This video has always been interesting to me, I thought it was ahead of it's time and memorable. I'm sure if you ever mention the band A-Ha to a person, they will make reference to this video. 

LACMA MUSEUM

I visited LACMA on Friday, March 3rd. I had not been feeling well so i decided to go late in the day and luckily got in for free (because i got there after 5pm) and only had to pay $10 for parking. The first thing that caught my attention when I got off the elevator were all the lit lamp posts that are outside on the sidewalk of the museum. They looked so nice and interesting, I had to take a picture.

Nympheas 1897-98 oil on canvas by Claude Monet

   Of course the first thing I asked and looked for when I got to the museum was the Claude Monet paintings. The workers at the museum were very nice and told me where they could be found. I love the two flowers in the the center of  this painting and the turquoise lily pads that surround the focal point flowers of the painting. I have been a Monet fan for a couple years now and it always makes me smile when I see his paintings they are so beautiful and calming. The colors and subjects of his paintings are always simple but he always manages to make amazing artwork.

Jacob's Ladder 1650 oil on onyx by Jacques Stella

   Although this painting is small when seen in person, it caught my eye because it is so beautiful. I'm not a religious person, but the angels coming down from above to the aid of the injured/deceased  person on the rock really caught my attention. And made me think of some personal experiences. The colors are so vibrant, glossy, & shiny that is really almost looks like a photograph. I was also surprised to read that the painting was done on onyx, I am so used to reading oil on canvas on every painting that I see. It was nice to see something new.

   The dresses in the "Fashion Fashion" exhibit were so elegant and simple, it was nice to see a different type of art that wasn't hanging on a wall. I reminded me how much I used to love fashion and why it used to be the career I wanted to pursue. When I got out of High School my dream was to attend FIDM, but that never panned out. Fashion has such a huge impact on society. It has the power to define eras in time. Weather it be bell bottoms from the 70's or the skinny jeans that are in style right now. It was nice to see this type of Exhibit at the museum.   

Campbell's Soup Can 1964 oil on canvas by Andy  Warhol

  My visit to the museum could not be complete without checking out the Andy Warhol paintings that were on display. Especially the famous Campbell's soup can paintings that are his trademark. Although it is a simple painting I can see the hype that people create over these paintings. I had never seen a Warhol painting up close, so this was a nice first time experience.

Guillermo Gomez Peña

   

   Mexican-born performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña is a well known performer, writer, and cultural critic whose artistic work pushes boundaries. Born in 1955, Gómez Peña was raised in Mexico City and studied linguistics and literature at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México/National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In 1978, he moved to the United States and studied post-studio art at the California Institute of Arts. Guillermo's work mixes English and Spanish, fact and fiction, social reality and pop culture, Chicano humor and activist politics to create a "total experience" for the viewer, reader, audience member. These strategies can be found in his live performance work, his radio chronicles, his award-winning video art pieces, and his five published books. Through his organization La Pocha Nostra, Gómez-Peña has focused very intensely in the notion of collaboration across national borders, race, gender and generation.

    In 1988, Guillermo created Border Brujo, a solo live performance that combined autobiographical monologue with a series of rapidly shifting characters representing diverse border identities and positions, including mariachis, Border Patrol agents, gang members, priests, and a few white american's seeking excitement and jovial obedience from their Mexican neighbors. It was performed in various combinations of Spanish, English, and what Gómez-Peña claimed is Nahuatl (an Aztec language), Border Brujo was a performance that challenged the notion of “authentic” identity and fixed borders, humorously commenting on the ways representations circulate in relationship to politics, economics, and self-perception. In 1990, director and producer Isaac Artenstein created a video version of Border Brujo, that was also written and performed by Guillermo Gómez-Peña. 

  Guillermo's most famous live performance piece is called "The Couple in the Cage" in this traveling performance that included Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Coco Fusco, two caged Amerindians from an imaginary island were exhibited in a cage. While Gómez-Peña's and Fusco's intent was to create a satirical commentary on the notion of discovery, they soon realized that many of their viewers believed the fiction, and thought the artists were real "savages". The record of their interactions with audiences in four countries dramatizes the dilemma of cross-cultural misunderstanding we continue to live with today. Their experiences are interwoven with archival footage of ethnographic displays from the past, giving an historical dimension to the artists’ social experiment. His performance allows outside individuals to create their own interpretation of how they view the couple in the cage. The individual's behavior is studied and shown to have misunderstandings of people who are different than them. 

   In 1993, Guillermo, Roberto Sifuentes, and Nola Mariano founded La Pocha Nostra in Los Angeles, California. In 1995, La Pocha Nostra moved to San Francisco's Mission District, where it has been based for the last twelve years. It was created to allow different artists to collaborate with each other. The created projects range from performance solos and duets to large-scale performance installations using video, photography, audio, and cyber-art.

More information about Guillermo Gomez Peña :

http://www.pochanostra.com/home/

http://www.body-pixel.com/2010/06/16/interview-with-guillermo-gomez-pena-you-know-i-worship-the-imagination/

   

IDENTITY

   My identity is composed of many things. I decided to includes the most important things that make me who I am in this collage. First of all my name is Evelyn Jordan and I am 29 years old. I am a radiology student at Cypress College. My family consists of my mom,dad,2 sisters,1 brother and myself. I also have three nephews and one niece. My immediate family are the most important thing to me.We have been through a lot and that has brought us much closer as a family. My mom passed away 3 years ago from cancer. This has changed the relationship I have with my little brother the most because I have taken a lot more responsibility in his upbringing than a sister usually does. Secondly are my friends, they are people I can count on to be there for me when I need them and vice versa. I am also a lover of music, especially the bands Coldplay, Muse, and My Chemical Romance. Going to concerts and seeing a band play live is something I love to do. Reading memoirs is very interesting to me, I like to read about other peoples lives. Especially when they overcome hardships. When I have the chance my favorite quick trip place to go to is Las Vegas, I love to walk around and explore the casinos on the strip (i don't like gambling). Pertaining to art,I'm a big Monet and Van Gogh fan. One last random fact about me is that I like taking pictures of the sky. Mostly fluffy clouds, my cell phone is full of random pictures of clouds! I hope this collage and short description has given you a small peek into my identity.

New Module Identity 2/23/11

   Well! We finally met again after our group midterms. And it seems like I haven't been in class in a long time. The first order of business is blogs!! after much debate we are all now going to be on blogger! YAY! I am sure this will help the class communicate better with each other, now that we are all using the same site. After this announcement we went over the projects we will need to complete for module 2.
Module 2 is about identity, who were are. And most importantly who the artist is. In art the painter, sculptor, artist etc. use different mediums to show who they are and what they represent. They try to convey a message though their creation.The examples that were brought up in class were, the painting The Oath of the Horatti, 1784. And a piece by Barbara Kruger,1987.

Mr. Zucman also introduced us to Lela Lee and her cartoons tittled Angry Little Asian Girl. This project was created over the frustration Lela felt about work she saw at an animation festival. She felt offended and angry by how racist and sexist the cartons she saw were, so a friend dared her to create her own material. This is how Angry Little Asian Girl was created.

Listening to The Strokes while I research my artist for module 2 :)