Chelsea Galleries

My experience on the trip to the galleries was pleasant. I enjoyed looking at the many types of art, and found out something that you least expect, could actually be called art. There was a gallery of many random words on a portrait hanging on walls. I found this to be confusing and constantly asking myself what's so special about this? But then I realize the word play and how the colors and different combinations of words can justify it's simplistic nature.

One memorable moment was when we came into the optical illusion gallery. This was my favorite because the pop art is genius. When you walk around them, it feels like they are actually moving to. It's really trippy and messes with your mind and I find it fascinating.

I also enjoyed the alice and wonderland gallery. It gave us a little different taste of how modern technology can come into play in the works of art.

In this art piece on one of the galleries, we see monochromatic colors of grey and white and neutrality, but also a little shade of green and blue. There is an implied 3-dimensional aspect, as we can see the tortoise shell poses as if it were popping out. There is implied lighting on the ball on top of the turtle and the turtle's neck. The use of light and dark all around make this piece stand out. I enjoyed this piece because it really catches your eye and it seems so chaotic to signify a war going on. I would definitely love to have this in my room.

Online Assignment

     The value of artworks are primarily based on who painted it and how much someone is willing to buy it for. Francis Bacon's work is worth so much because he is on the list of artists who are considered important in the 20th century and have a limited selection. How does an artist get on that list? That is decided by the art industry & society and their love for the artist's work. Taking into consideration that to the wealthy community, the price they pay for expensive paintings are probably like pocket change to them. It just seems a lot to us, but not to billionaires, which is why they don't mind spending a few of their bucks on something valuable. I don't agree however, that ridiculous paintings and art pieces should be priced at such a high amount. I'd say if anyone can do that, it shouldn't be worth much because it can easily be duplicated.

     Artists that work on art pieces with significant amount of detail and they put their heart and soul and leave a valuable message in it should get more money than the crap that the wealthy buy today. The value of an artwork should be determined by difficulty of creating it, and how powerful the message is.

Subway by Sam Carlson

I would pay a good amount to own this piece of work because the way the artist constructed it is absolutely brilliant. The use of the paint strokes make it seem like the train is in movement. The colors used are a perfect fit. It is also relative to me, and everybody living in New York, displaying a message of isolation in society, how people always seem lonely while riding the train, or feel lonely.

Urban Cycling Awareness

Urban Cycling is growing more and more everyday.

Bicycle awareness and fair bike laws should be emitted to everyone who live in populated city areas. Ridiculous ticketing from NYPD should come to a sensible decline. The road should be for everyone to share. Drivers need to become more aware of cyclists around them. Constant dooring incidents, cut-offs (I experienced one of these, the driver did not use turn signals and made a sharp turn right into me), and cars parking in bike lines occur much too often. A protest on smoother roads with no potholes or cracks can make cyclists feel a lot safer riding around NYC. I will propose a monument to ensure bicycle safety, and to give other pedestrians and drivers more awareness of non-motored vehicles on the road.

Here is a link of a man who got ticketed for not riding his bike on the bike lane, and this is how he responded. http://thefreethoughtproject.com/nypd-gave-wrong-guy-ticket-this-awesome-response/

A monument idea would be a cyclist and a driver on top of a big apple shaped like a heart and the message is to propose peace to one another, and not the constant taxi vs cyclist war. (they are true enemies for decades).

It would be made out of gold to show that it should stand out and to show the importance because it will save lives (bicyclist deaths grow every year) and would be about 20 feet high preferably in union square. (cyclist central)

This monument would be for all the cyclists and drivers that had their deep hatred for one another and will remind each other that we should share the road, keep our cools, and avoid being enemies.

(something like this, tried my best lol)

My Museum

My museum would be called Nostalgia and it would be located on Roosevelt Island in NYC so that people from Queens can meet people from Manhattan and vice versa. It would be the center point of all other boroughs too, and instead of going to the museums in their own borough, they would take the time out to travel and enjoy the island and my museum in it. It’s mission is too recollect the past specifically from the 1950s and up, find old values in it again, and reminisce on the time that you grew up in. My museum will mainly focus on the history of people growing up in America, and will showcase different fashions of a specific era, what was trending back then; toys and games people grew up with, old photographs of different settings, and what it was like in the past to get a sense of how we progressed over time. My audience will mostly target teenagers to young adults to parents, and will question them, “do you remember this?” or to show them that “this is what it was like back then” to get a little taste of that era your parents or someone older grew up in. I want to make a museum where it can be relatable to our generation, so that the people living in New York can have a nostalgic feeling and to remember to not forget the past. One of the three things as an example I would use is a recollection of fashion in the 80s. During that time, the “greasers” of the male genre were popular with the influx of skinny jeans, cigarette smoking, leather jackets, and slicked-back hair. They were the “cool kids” of that era and people today who are into clothes and fashion can get a sense of how fashion evolved from this. Another example I would use is the evolution of movies. I would display most of the greatest and famous films in the past specifically chosen by the ratings and top grossing. Not only that, but how the evolution of popular movie watching changed, from drive in movies to theatres. Connecting to that, I would also display the evolution of gaming, showing popular titles and game companies to accompany the media section. I would show what video games were popular back then and what you played as a kid. Going off from media, I would also include other games such as activities and board games, and also toys that were popular back then. These examples relate to my idea of recollecting the past, reminiscing old times, and learning about what it was like back then to accommodate the nostalgic experience my museum has to offer.

Accidental Art #2

The Water Dragon is Born (left) and Just Did It (right)

It happened one night where I was about to get a glass of water in my house, but accidentally spilled some on the floor which formed into a serpent like animal, much like a chinese dragon. The water drops formed a geometric circular line that barely connects a whole 360 degrees. There is the illusion of 3D, if you look at the bottom of the shape the shades of dark contrasts with the opposing shades of light on the top of the shape. It is clear color, which takes the color of the wooden floor, which is brown and gives a neutral mood.

As for the right picture, it happened a while ago during a skate session at I.S.5 Middle school in Elmhurst with my buddy while he was filming me doing a 360 flip. I paused the recording and saw myself in a Nike ad poster. The lines of my legs and body form a non-geometric kind of check symbol. The darkness of my face and legs stresses the fact that the person is not important in this shot, but the shape is. The colors are mostly cool colors with a lot of blue on the bottom half, but there are complimentary orange from the sun at the top of the shot.

Blog Post #4

The Branch Portal (left) and The Fairy and its Shadow (right)

The Branch Portal was stumbled upon when me and some friends were exploring an abandoned railroad. As the adventurous teens we are, we kept walking into the darkness of the night, not knowing what will come our way. I shined my flashlight further ahead and immediately glanced upon two branches almost parallel to each other that seem to resemble a doorway. I took a picture and glanced at how eerie the photo was. The lines of the branches twist and turn as your curious eyes gaze into the darkness wondering what sleeps within it. This is similar to that of a demon portal. You can hear the crunching of the leaves as you feel as though you're walking in the picture, then slowly fading to black.

The Fairy and its Shadow was taken outside a random building somewhere in Queens. I still do not know what this mysterious insect is, it seems to resemble a firefly, except it was day time when I took this photo and it always had a light green glow around it. I thought it was unusual and beautiful at the same time as I watched it fly around me. It then took a rest on the building wall next to a dirt spot on the building. I immediately took a picture of it. The dirt spot coincidentally seemed to represent a dark version of it if you look closely. It then struck me how light and dark are displayed, and even if you are full of good hope, darkness is always lurking around you.

Musuem Essay #1

The painting on the left is titled, Virgin and Child with Saints by a Netherlandish (Ghent) Painter. It's oil on wood and was made in 1472. The figures of the Virgin and Child and Saint John the Baptist were scraped off and repainted to produce another piece of art work titled The Marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. I find this piece interesting because even though the part of the artwork has been scraped off, you can still see how much detail the artist put in the sketching out and preparing the outline before the paint. This amazing artistic craftsmanship really shows how the netherlandish painters really caught the imagery similar to that of an actual photograph. The painter is still unknown, but it has been ascribed to both Hugo van der Goes and Jean Hey.

 The painting on the right is titled Rembrandt by Herman Doomer in 1640. It is oil on wood also. Doomer was born in 1595 and died 1650. This painting is a self portrait of Herman Doomer himself. He was known for making fine cabinets and chests. This painting struck me with the marvelous use of portrayed lighting and shadowing. The use of color is limited, but it does evoke an eerie feeling and has sort of a dark tone to it because of the lack of color.There is a certain feel to it that makes you think that his eyes are following you and watching your every step, adding a creepy effect to an already spectral painting.

Both paintings grasp the viewers attention quite well. It's as if you can step inside both of these paintings and actually feel the tone and live in their presence. Both paintings are, what is considered to us, realistic. The detailed folds and implied texture on both paintings' clothing makes it so we can actually feel them. Both have a good amount of depth perception, making it not just a flat painting, but sort of like 3-dimensional. Both paintings have that eerie feel to it. Like in the left one, when the people were scraped off, it makes them look very ghost-like. And not to mention the creepy eyes that watch you on the right one. These two paintings struck me the most in the museum because I feel the mysterious and uncanny presence of the people in it, making my curious thoughts ponder through what's going on in their lifestyle.

Blog Post #3

Clothing the Naked
Michiel Sweerts (Flemish, Brussels 1618–1664 Goa) Metropolitan Museum

The style resembles to European artists before 1800s, known as Old Masters. They painted in a style that is much realistic to a point where it's almost like photography. In this painting, you see a naked man (hopefully a man), and a fully clothed woman handing him a piece of clothing. This implies that the woman does not want to see the man naked. With that, we can depict that nude men are not wanted nor favored in 18th century paintings. Nude women however are favorable among people, because their body represents beauty. A naked man is not what society wants to see. "Women are depicted in a quite different way from men" John Berger states in Ways of Seeing.

Blog Post #2

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali in 1931

Museum of Modern Arts PAINTING AND SCULPTURE I, GALLERY 12, FLOOR 5

The form of this piece of art is painting, specifically oil on canvas. The style is abstract, giving the viewer a different perspective on time, portrayed as droopy clocks. We all know the clock is the best representation of time in our world, and we see them as round and non-flexible. Dali twists this around by painting these melted clocks around this desert-ocean scenery. The lines being used are mostly vertical, implying a downward motion to portray sadness, depression, and grief. The colors are complementary, with blue and orange-yellow or yellowish brown being used (two colors completely opposite on the color wheel). This makes the painting more eye-catching and has a sort of warm and cold mix, giving it the light and dark tone which really stands out. There is hardly no geometric shapes used, mostly distortions of geometric shapes such as distorted circles. But what does this painting mean?

Objectively, we might all have the common analogy that it has to do with time. Also, we might all agree that it isn't a happy tone, but more like a sad tone. While this painting might be hard to interpret at first glance, people might agree that these clocks are 'dying' implying that time is running out. Then might go into further detail into the end of the world, or the rapture, or even death.

What I think, subjectively, is that these clocks do not represent time, but rather, represent our memories. Since there are more than one clock, these could be a clue into representing our different experiences and moments in our past. They look as if they are decaying. The ants on the bottom left are scavenging the remains. As we grow older, our memories fade. Once was a strong memory you had will soon turn into an old, faded, memory; represented by these clocks. They will dry out (hence, they're in a desert) and soon will be forgotten.

I enjoy this particular piece by Salvador Dali because it gives you time to rethink yourself. Know your roots and if there is a memory that you don't want to forget, then hold on to it.

Blog Post #1

By Street Artist: Banksy

I see art everywhere I go. Living in New York, our most famous form of art is graffiti. It is hard to miss a wall covered in letters we can barely read or paintings that have a deeper meaning. This particular art piece is by a well known street artist named Banksy (located in South Bronx). Graffiti is illegal, although many find it to be artistic, and is part of our culture in New York. Another well known location of graffiti art is a place called 5pointz in Queens. The walls are all covered in graffiti, and is a place where aerosol artists from around the globe painted colorful pieces. 5pointz was painted over not too long ago by the owners of the building.

The form of graffiti art attracts everyone. It gives the viewer a chance to see colors and gives the viewer a different perspective. This is what I think. Banksy's art can refresh our vision and see the world in a new way. In the picture above, we see what seems to be a little kid doing graffiti, and a butler of some sort holding the spray cans near him. We all know that since graffiti is illegal, the people who do graffiti are hated by the community for vandalizing their property. They are treated poorly, having them arrested or pay certain fees for their 'wrong' doing. In Banksy's art, it's the total opposite. He's portraying a different idea that graffiti artists should be treated like royalty. Thanking them for bringing upon us a more colorful city rather than looking at dull buildings and pollution everywhere. He's trying to show that artists should be treated with respect, and that people should appreciate creativity.

Banksy's art can have different reasons on why they're made. It could be to record and commemorate the artsits of New York, giving them the respect they deserve for their talent. A lot of his art also constructs meaningful images and forms. Banksy is known for showing a message to the public, a message that isn't clear in his pictures when you first see it, so it makes you think about what is he trying to imply. Is he trying to change the world? Or just want the people in it to see it differently? That's when you appreciate someone's art that it can actually take your mind to where the artist wants it to be.

By: Banksy