'Tis a Possibility Methinks...

Don't know why this reposted: Please to ignore!! Hehe

'Tis a Possibility Methinks...

This semester I have been taking a course in theater makeup through the theater branch of Mason Gross. The course has blown me away and I have been thinking of ways to try and incorporate it in to my thesis since lately painting and drawing simply haven't held the same spark for me as they used to. I would like to use the skills and techniques I have learned and am still learning in theater makeup to create a series of photographs about abuse, disease, and hunger in the world. These issues are unfortunately large issues that tend to get overlooked in favor of the other more political issues at hand. To my way of thinking, the alteration of the face, body and the work done with the makeup is, in itself, a method of painting and drawing. The artist literally uses the human face as their canvas and the makeup, liquid latex, creme, eyeliner, brushes, etc. as their paint, pencils, and tools. I would create scenes and fit the character in to said scenes in ways that speak about the aforementioned issues. For example,I would like to create a character of an abused woman and take photographs of the way she goes about hiding the abuse etc. I would create an image of said woman in the bathroom using makeup to try and cover up the splits and bruises, a moment with the woman cowering bloody and beaten in the corner of a kitchen, and a scene with the abused woman removing a long-sleeved, high-necked shirt, revealing bruising across her ribs and abdomen.  I decided to do three subjects rather than one because I don't feel that I can get enough images/ photos out of only one subject.  I would need to research images that deal with these topics and create my own emulating the reality.

For the show itself I would frame the final images in simple black frames, anything more ornate would take away from the works themselves, and hang them on the wall where they are to be displayed. However I would like to try and have the images printed in a larger format so they have more of  a visual impact on the viewers. I want the photographs to truly confront the viewers with their message, leaving the viewers feeling unsettled and disturbed. 

Perhaps...

Maybe a photographic series of makeups in which I portray an abused woman? Each photograph could be something different, her trying to put on makeup to cover the bruises, taking off a long sleeved and high necked shirt, revealing the bruises underneath? Maybe not a series specifically about women... But about hunger, abuse, disease, etc?

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cindy+sherman&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1044&bih=614&sei=5RfDTpryO4LZ0QH9pqWmDw

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cindy+sherman&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1044&bih=614&sei=5RfDTpryO4LZ0QH9pqWmDw#um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=gregory+crewdson&oq=gregor&aq=1&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=26200l27586l4l30636l8l7l1l1l1l0l224l689l1.3.1l5l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=1fa98ce457bc15cd&biw=1044&bih=614

Those who have come before...

http://www.dicksmithmake-up.com/filmography.htm

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=julie+taymor&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1044&bih=614&sei=EM3BTpXGKerq0gH5hMjBDw#um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=julie+taymor+lion+king&pbx=1&oq=julie+taymor+li&aq=0&aqi=g3g-S1&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=8431l8794l0l12139l3l3l0l0l0l0l172l392l1.2l3l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=1fa98ce457bc15cd&biw=1044&bih=614

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=julie+taymor&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1044&bih=614&sei=EM3BTpXGKerq0gH5hMjBDw#um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=julie+taymor+spider+man+&oq=julie+taymor+spider+man+&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=69056l71325l0l71724l13l13l0l10l10l0l170l393l0.3l3l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=1fa98ce457bc15cd&biw=1044&bih=614

Confusion Abound

Being that I find myself floundering a bit lately, my teachers and I have sat down to discuss the semester and projects etc. I find it extremely difficult to not continue along on a more illustrative bend, given that that's where my interests lie... And now I need to write up my thesis proposal for next week... I'm not really sure what to do...

Granted I know I'm interested in the macabre and the nude form... But I don't know what I would want to do to make a project out of that, and almost anything I can think of is too illustrative for Mason Gross. Ahhhh. I wish I could do something with the makeup stuff I've been learning how to do in my Theater Makeup course. I'm LOVING it. I think this is the only class I'm seriously upset to see ending and the only class I'm upset to find out when it has been cancelled. Maybe there IS a way to incorporate it? I know there are artists who transform themselves and then take photographs of their work... Sadly I can't remember their names off the top of my head. Fail.                     

On a lighter note...

Just so that the most recent post on the page isn't an angsty angry rant against art school: I was recently turned on to the artist Alberto Vargas by fellow classmate Irene Geller. While looking through the book she has of his work (which I immediately went and ordered for myself afterwards http://www.amazon.com/Alberto-Vargas-Works-Max-Collection/dp/0821257927) I noticed that though his lighting remained impeccable and his hand light, towards the tail end of his career he developed a highly stylized manner of drawing/ illustrating to the point where he was no longer drawing what he saw in reality, but rather what he "knew." It's one of the first pitfalls we learned to watch out for in Drawing Fundamentals. Other than the eventual stiffness and "barbie-esque" look that began to creep in to his work, I fell in love with the playful, sexy, yet light and illustrative way in which he handled the female form. Especially, as I said before, the way he handled his lighting. The women he drew (often for Playboy) seemed to practically glow from within. He even had a Batwoman illustration! I intend to one day try my hand at painting/ drawing in a similar style. He used pastels so skillfully that they often appear (at least in the reproductions for the book) to be watercolor. Highly impressive, I can't wait for my book to finally arrive so I can go through it again.

Methinks the lady doth overestimate too much... Or underestimate as the case may be

So as it turns out the "All That Glitters" project was a great project in theory... But an epic fail in practice. For starters, getting together that many crystals is simply wayyy too expensive. I'm talking hundreds of dollars here, and that's only enough to make one moderate/ small sized piece. Also, crystals, poor lighting, and my camera= a bad combo. The pictures don't come out clear and the color of the crystals gets lost in translation.  I think it's time to scrap that project and come up with something new. On the bright side I've started a series of nude paintings which I'm excited for. It feels like finally being given enough room to stretch my legs after sitting in a cramped car for days on end. Aka. Damn good. I wish there were more technical instruction in terms of realism and form etc. at Mason Gross, but I clearly went to the wrong school for that.
I have to say... Thinking about my art, and school, and my future, I find it very difficult to find the drive, interest, or energy to do time-limited and graded projects. I don't plan on being a "professional" artist anymore, Mason Gross turned me off from that, so though I'm going for my BFA because this is my last year and there would be no point to switching now, none of what I'm doing will be applicable in my future profession. In whatever job I hold in the future, no one will be grading me on the abstract concept behind my ideas or theories etc. Art school has simply taken all of the enjoyment out of art for me, and it's such a pity that it keeps me from wanting to create. I don't necessarily think my art is relevant to the modern times, other than that it takes a dark trend majority of the time. (Which is what we tend to see now in books, politics, movies, lyrics, etc.). Then again, for me I don't feel the NEED for my art to be relevant in modern times. I don't make my art for modern times. I don't make my art for those who would critique it, tear it apart, or say it's irrelevant or pointless. I make it for myself, because I love to make art, love to create, love to be creative. I hate the way art school has drained the freedom I love most from art. It has turned what was once a delightful release in to a chore, a deadline to be dreaded, something to be fretted over and worried about... It suppose it's part of the struggle of being an art student, to come to terms with where your place is in the art world, and whether you have one to begin with... I don't quite know where I stand yet, but it definitely isn't here.

Prithee, do tell thine humble servant... How the heck is this art??

Forgive me for my ignorance but can someone please explain to me how placing whipped cream on a naked woman, then inviting the crowd to lick it off of her is art, and not some giant orgy of a sort. I understand the want to re-create art made originally by the only African American member of the Fluxus movement, however I simply don't understand the choice of piece, nor do I understand the piece itself. Does it push boundaries? Does it add a new frontier to art? Does it play with line, shape, color, form? Anything other than a sense of perversion and titillation? Clifford Owens, the artist behind the re-created work "quotes early African American performance art in part to shed light on overlooked areas of art history." How exactly does a work like this "raise obvious questions about the canon and its intransigent blind spots." I understand that taking photographs of what was originally a performance piece alters the general mode of work and thus the way in which it's perceived, but that doesn't make the piece itself any more accessible to me. How is someone licking whipped cream off another persons body art? How is a photograph of a nude male putting whipped cream on a nude female art??
However, enough ranting for the moment, the assignment given was to discuss instances where items hun did or did not compliment one another based on how they were installed. In my opinion Patricia Brace's "Summer of Love" video installation was not complimented by, nor did it compliment Traci Molloy's "The on Absence Project." The combination of photo and film do not work together, especially since the viewer must shift their vantage point from a viewing spot close to the ground to an area on eye level. Nor do the two compliment one another in terms of content or subject matter. In fact, they seem to have very little to do with one another. Now, in class, we heard that the video was placed there due to conflicting interests with another piece in the film room, however, I feel that there could have been other areas of installation which would have suited it better. For example, since the theme, color-wise, of the film is mostly white,  and it was low to the ground, perhaps it would have done better placed near the all white statue of the man with the mustache.
I felt that all in all the pieces on the left hand wall of the Red Gallery, the human figures and Hanneline Rogeberg's "Big Hide" compliment one another well due to the nature of the subject matter and the manner in which they were executed. In addition they were all hung around the same visual level.

All That Glitters is Not Gold.... Beware the shark and his pearly whites my dear

I would like to do a project titled "All That Glitters…" based around infamous characters from history who fit Max Weber's Theory of Charisma. Leaders who rose to power, dictatorial or otherwise, through some form of fervent belief or worship often inexplicable by rational means. I intend to look up different power figures and research their backgrounds in order to make my final decisions of who to make the portraits of. I will make these images out of glittering sequins on a rich velvet background, thus, just like their ideas and promises, the people portrayed within image will appear attractive even though what it is actually depicting, the ruler and what they stood for, was not. I plan to make three or four of these portraits, depending on attainability of materials and cost... I'm not sure if I'll manage this or not, considering I have yet to find enough crystals to make even ONE portrait and it's already cost me more than I'd like... I suppose I'll have to find a way to manage. The people I have started looking up are Hitler, Jim Jones (the kool aid man), Stalin, Napoleon, Osama (whether he "exists" or not... Though personally I believe he does), L. Ron Hubbard, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, the Perons, and Musharraf. I believe I will most likely wind up doing portraits of Hitler, Jones, Napoleon, Stalin, or Osama though... I'd rather go with more obviously recognizable faces, ones the viewer will be able to place. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the theory mentioned above, here's a wiki-link. Granted wikipedia isn't always 100% accurate, however, I think in this case it's reliable enough. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sociological_Theory/Max_Weber#The_Perception_of_Charisma

I need to do a bit more research and narrow it down more, as well as get more crystals to make the portraits from. I'm not using swarovski in the end, but I think the crystals I found to use instead look just as good. Or almost just as good.
Some artists whose work I have been or will be looking at for this are Vik Muniz, Mickalene Thomas, El Anatsui, and possibly Antoni Gaudi as well.

Long Lengthy Lists of Lusciousness, Also Known as, Interesting Artists

Here are the names of a bunch of artists I personally find interesting... Some of them are or were suggestions from teachers (either in past or present semester(s) ), some are from the Hunt and Gather book I mentioned in a previous post, some are from when I interned at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery, some are names I just grew up knowing... No matter where they're from, they're all awesome.

Ali Banisdr
Brandi Milne
Carlos Ramon aka Deseo One
Chelsea Greene Lewyta
Dave Pressler
Diva
Elizabeth McGrath
Elizabeth Peyton
Emilio Subira
Georgina Ciotti
Goya
Jenny Saville
John Currin
Joshua Petker
Kara Walker
Karl Persson
Kenny Scharf
Kukula
Lisa Yuskavage
Lucien Freud
Mickalene Thomas
Nara
Phillip Guston
Scott Radke
Seung Ae Lee
Takashi Murakami
Tim Burton
Timothy Hun Hung Lee
Tina Imel
Tracey Emin

Soft, what light through yonder window breaks... Upon thy... Hair?

http://www.ehow.com/info_8173429_oil-painting-techniques-hair.html

An exchange of words with Jaemin Kim (aka. interview blog)

  Jaemin Kim is a graphic design student with a clear skill for painting and drawing.  Her lines seems light and effortless, her subjects alight with life. With an eye for  motion, lighting, and tension, she wields her pencil and brush with a formidable grace. Though her work is currently mainly focused now on computer based images, she hopes to one day combine her skills in to one mode of work.

                           Jaemin Kim:   I don't have everything up, not alot of graphic design stuff, mostly drawings and paintings.

                          Aliza Enker:     Hmmm, but you're a graphic design major...

Jaemin:         Yea exactly it's unusual, I don't know why I have more drawings up.
Aliza: Honestly I actually like your paintings and drawings better, they're so delicate, but have such a sense of feeling behind them. What made you choose graphic design instead? The ability to have a job?

Jaemin:          Pretty much, haha. I mean, I'd say I'm more comfortable with drawing/ painting than graphic design, but I also have a good eye for design.
Aliza: You can tell... There's a sense of ease in the paintings/ drawings that isn't there in the few   graphic design items you have here.
• I take it that given your druthers, you have a preference for the human being/ form?
Jaemin: I do actually. I love drawing people, I far prefer humans over still life.
Aliza: Same here, they're far more interested and nuanced.

• I like your water graphic design piece though. But I love the detail work on your doodle/ tattoo-like piece. And I think from the comments you can tell that (deservedly) everyone adores the one of the young boy.

                           Jaemin: Hahaha that one…that took the least time.

•              I was like, meh, I'm not in love with it, but apparently a lot of people are.
•              I'm more likely to love the ones I take a lot of time on.

                          Aliza: Gotcha. would you rather be doing your thesis project in painting/drawing?

                          Jaemin: I really would, honestly. But… At the same time since I took the path to the design world...   I'm not        

                         saying that I don't want to do design. Im trying to focus on it and be more open while connecting it to                                 political/social sciences

                       Aliza: Is there a way for you to maybe combine the two methods?

                       Jaemin: I am actually thinking of doing that, combining the two, I'm sure there's a way, just gotta think of         something

                       Aliza: Are social/political sciences where you wanna wind up doing majority of your graphic design work?

                       Jaemin: Eh, not really I'm not sure, or can't really say. I'm interested in human affairs though.

                      Aliza: So is the poly sci and social science just passing topic interests for the time being?

                      Jaemin: Yes! That's more accurate I think.

                      Aliza: Haha okay, but, pretty please whatever you wind up interested in, don't stop painting and drawing,  you're way too talented to do that.

                      Jaemin: Of course.. I will most likely do something with it in the near future, on the side or find said way to combine design and drawing. I'm  actually working on tattoo designs. Well, trying to.

                     Aliza: Do you have any samples of those?

                     Jaemin: They're sketching exercises so far

                        Aliza: Kind of like the doodle page you have posted (see above photo)?

                        Jaemin: Yep, they actually asked me to design something after seeing that all of a sudden, boom I'm a potential tattoo designer. I was flattered. Kind of felt not qualified, but I'm doing it anyway

                       Aliza: I understand both sides of that, I think with more practice you'd probably have more confidence. I can definitely see why they asked you after seeing those designs, they definitely have a very "tattoo" feel to them. I could see them making a great sleeve. If there was any sort of living to be made by doing it would you be a tattoo artist?

                       Jaemin: Regarding the tattoo thing, I have considered it recently

                      Aliza: Yeah, your art style could definitely lend itself to that kind of work. Good luck!

Closing Remarks:  Though Jaemin still seems unsure as to where she want to take her art, she certainly takes her viewer through an intricate blend of styles and motifs. While she is clearly still learning and flexing her "design muscles" her overall talents are impossible to ignore. She aptly captures emotion and feeling as well as a general sense of life in her work. One practically expects to see her figures start moving across the page.

(All images found in this article are the sole property and work of Jaemin Kim)

Without a name...

After years of searching and only a vague remembrance of style and content to help me on my quest, I found a book I fell in love with years ago in a random Barnes and Noble in the city. I'm not usually a huge fan of art books, I tend to get bored very quickly, but with each turn of a page in this book, my interest is piqued anew. Hunt and Gather has all sorts of fantastically odd and quirky pieces and paintings. So bloody glad I found it again!!!

(For any of you looking to check out something cool, here's a link to amazon) http://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Gather-Discovering-New-Art/dp/0982075448

Let's Start at the Very Beginning, a Very Good Place to Start

This is why I will never be a graphic design artist. Ever. Making the layout and picking out the colors for this blog (which are all still subject to change and under construction) has proved a viable pain in the derrier. I feel like I'm trying to make a miniature carving with a sledgehammer and the dullest awl imaginable. Eventually I can get something resembling what I want out of it, but it takes way more time than I have the patience or energy for, with too little result. For now this will have to do, though I'm not sure as to how legible it is or how well the colors match. Here's to hoping...