Ben Volta Lecture

     Ben Volta is a very interesting artist because he works mostly with the community in creating community projects. Throughout his lecture he showed pieces that he created with kids and people in Philadelphia. I do wonder, though, what his individual pieces look like and how he views ownership in relation to his pieces that he does with many people in the community. I was surprised to see how many young teenagers were able to put together such elaborate designs through technology... I guess technology really is the future. I am very curious and want to find Ben Volta's website and go see his mural of wallpapers on Vine Street. I think I enjoyed listening to Ben Volta speak because he has very strong ideals and interactions with his art and the way he worked with kids and other people. It's amazing to think that eighth graders are learning about Aristotle and Plato and drawing in their math class. I wish I had a math class like that. But a really interesting point I found in Ben's lecture was that he described the ideal (what you the artist see in your mind) and the observable (what actually exists and can be observed in real life). It makes me really think about art in a different way-- and how much my mind actually controls my art actually begins to become frightening.

Composite Image

     This piece was created in Photoshop. Everything but the wallpaper oval in the bottom left corner is my photography. The dollar bill was edited and parts were removed and added to challenge the copyright of the dollar bill and whomever created the wallpaper design because I used it in my piece. I wanted this piece to look like part of a vintage scrapbook and I think it really does.

John Thompson Lecture

     John Thompson is an artist that does many things in his basement studio of his grandfather's bakery. He is a carpenter and painter. I was mostly interested in how he views three-dimensional pieces as drawings and paintings because of the space they take up. John Thompson was a typical guy artist to me-- he liked planes, trucks, etc. I did like his installation, though, inspired by a farm and vintage surroundings. He seems like he is just finding himself as an artist and hopefully he is successful in the future work he creates.

Photoshop Ethics

      I find Kate Winslet's opinion on Photoshop very interesting. In 2005 on the cover of GQ magazine, Kate Winslet's thighs and waist were photoshopped a little too far. She did not want this and was actually very upset on the matter saying: "The retouching is excessive. I do not look like that and more importantly I don't desire to look like that." I know I don't think Kate Winslet is fat or not an ideal media figure... so why was she photoshopped? It's sad to think that the media portrays women with body measurements that don't even exist. And who was the genius that came up with this anyway? The idea image of women with small waists and elongated legs is pleasing to the eye, but actually fantasy. And even though these beautiful features rarely exist, these pictures never cease to crush the feelings and images women have of themselves throughout the world. It just doesn't make sense to create beauty when no one is even positive it exists. And who says that skinny and sharp features are beautiful anyway? I think we all need to stop and rethink the uses of Photoshop from constantly necessary to moderate and practical.

Composite Image

These images don't exist! Rather, they were made on photoshop to look like real images and to change the meanings of these original photos.

Scanner Face

     Made using shapes and playing with opacity on Adobe Illustrator.

Doug Bucci Lecture

     Doug Bucci is someone very in-tune with himself...and it's easy to tell just by the way he speaks about his passion which is jewelry and CAD/CAM working. I find it strange? I guess that most of the people that lecture at these things went to school at UArts which is also here in Philadelphia. But anyway the most important things Doug talked about was that people need to feel uncomfortable in order to be productive and get somewhere in life. If we were all happy all the time we'd never do anything different or new. This made me feel better about myself because I am constantly trying to be somewhere else than I currently am...not that I'm dissatisfied or high maintenance but just looking for something new. Doug's artwork definitely showed a specific theme of diabetes and anatomy-like patterns and structures. It's interesting that him and his wife actually collaborate within their careers and how much they influence eachother in positive ways. I also got the feeling that Doug is a sincere person by the way he talked about his child, wife, and the fact that he donated his one piece that was a memoir to (I forget the guy's name, but a famous man with diabetes) to the man's sister and how important that was both to her and him as the artist. Hearing Doug, I also realized that there's something so much more personal about being an artist that I don't think people can have in any other career. As an artist you get to interpret your surroundings and make sense of things, but you also greatly affect the lives of other people as well. It's truly a powerful thing.

 

A Marcel Wanders piece-----Doug Bucci made sure to suggest looking him up.