The Art of Pilgrimage

In the reading, the discussion is of how much art has changed. And clearly, just comparing the art of just 20 years ago, it is very different. Especially in the system of America, art is not as appreciated as it was, or is, in other countries. Public schools are even trying to get rid of art programs in order to save money for their sports teams or remodeling their rooms and buildings. And even if the schools have their own programs, the students are encouraged to copy the skills or subject matter of past art pieces, which in my opinion limits their creativity. This just creates clones of past pieces, which is unfortunately in great demand. I think that observing art pieces of the past is great to get ideas and pick small ideas and techniques from them to make it your own work of creativity, but remaking the whole painting or sculpture because the masses demand them is not art. Pilgrimage in art is dying with this demand. If schools and students try to encourage the creativity it takes to make a piece of art, pilgrimage will be salvaged. It would be better to create new things and inspire other people of trying new things than just creating the same master paintings over and over again. Of course, I do not know how the art systems in schools are outside of the US, but I feel like the art system here is lacking. But that's only for the schools, I do see artists trying to break away from the traditional painting and sculpting. If public schools were to show of the less graphic art works, then it would release the students from being exposed to the same images and create things they think.

Project 2

Project 1

CAM Visit

So the other day, the class took a trip to the Contemporary Art Museum to check out the MFA exhibit, Rouse. I really enjoyed the exhibit! The art work was fantastic and entertaining. Perhaps it was the amount of humor that went into some of the work and the craftsmanship it took to create such precise work like that. I must say first, my favorite piece was Andrew Nigon’s Immaculate in Deed. His short biography in the show booklet even corresponded with the piece, and the irony of the title was spectacular. I commend Nigon’s approach and execution to the piece. Carman Tiffany’s There Really Is People Like This, That Really Don’t Know What the Fuck it’s About was a video loop shown in the connecting hallway. This video was several things. For one, it was funny in essence; however, the meaning was quite depressing. If you really look into the videos and title, it shows how people are mindlessly entertained by the simplest and more ridiculous things. And the video has things that everyone could relate to. It’s kind of like a reality check. I also enjoyed Victoria Lee Skelly and Jules Maisonet’s piece. The amount of rejections and troubles someone has to go through just to get one little thing done is surprising. Ariel Baron-Robbins’ paintings were interesting to look at but the subject matter was unclear to me; great skill but no meaning. Toni Danette Billick’s works were very entertaining. She used men and women dressed in drag to represent women selling their bodies. It was deep and entertaining at the same time. I loved all of the artists’ work and I hope they have a long, well-deserved future in art.

Beth Fawkes Tobin lecture

Beth Fawkes Tobin held a lecture at the Marshall Center on March 24th about taxidermy as a form of art. I came into the lecture prepared to feel squeamish and disgusted by the fact that dead animals were used as art. However, Tobin left the gross parts out, for the most part. She did include a section where she read a do it yourself book on how to properly prepare and make taxidermy. Several people groaned when she described the killing and draining but it was not that bad. She showed several works of taxidermy, including taxidermy of shells. This part was intriguing because I never thought that shells were a form of taxidermy. The amount of work that went into cleaning and preparing the shells to be used was also very interesting. I always thought that shells were simply cleaned with soap and water but Tobin named quite a few dangerous chemicals used to clean the shells, which took a few days as well. Tobin stated that taxidermy was a form of art for women to make. This was interesting because as a woman, I could not stand the thought of draining a skinning an animal. Although, the animals were not wasted; the woman cooked the animals’ flesh for meals, which I guess makes it okay because absolutely no part of the animal was wasted.
What I also found interesting was in the questions part of the lecture where a professor at the school shared information about a man who used human fetuses as taxidermy and made very controversial art work.

Pat Simons Lecture

Art Historian Patricia Simons from Melbourne, Australia held a lecture at USF on January 29th. Her lecture focused on the iconology of men in past paintings. It was quite an interesting, and witty, lecture. It was very educational and entertaining. She introduced different works and pointed out several things that represent for certain actions or objects. For example, a ladle would actually represent a phallus and any movement that creates friction would represent “heat” or a sexual act. It was interesting how the paintings were supposed to be decorative and innocent objects to embellish a wealth family’s room when the actual painting was secretly suggestive. I kept thinking about the outcome if the family who paid for the painting knew what they were buying, or if they knew at all. It was interesting to see different works from artists I have learned about in my art history class too.
Pat Simons seemed like a reserved lady, so it was shocking to find out that most, if not all, of her research was about sexual meanings in paintings, and how they shaped the men of that time. There were also certain things in the paintings that represented certain slang words in Italian during that time. It was cool to see how even though the slangs have clearly changed throughout time there are still resources that provide definitions to the slangs, kind of like a slang dictionary. If Patricia Simons were to come back to USF to give a lecture, I would definitely stay and listen to her.

The art of making art without lifting a finger

The chapter “The Art of Making Art Without Lifting a Finger” in The Accidental Masterpiece by Michael Kimmelman is shocking. It starts out with a story of a man, Ray Johnson, who committed suicide as a form of art. He was going to the notion that art is in everything. Honestly, I do think that a lot of things have a sense of artistic value to it, but there is a limit to these things. Making collages and assemblages are quite artistic if it is executed properly, but I do not see the artistic value in committing suicide. However, some people may see it as the greatest form of art. I understand how some people are certain artistic preferences, but this is not the preference for me. Johnson’s work described seems senseless and ridiculous to me. I just do not see how his art was admired. Just because he did “crazy” things like drop hotdogs all over the city does not make him a great artist. In fact, I find it offensive and degrading because it is allowing people to assume that all artists are crazy and create outlandish work because they are desperate. As an aspiring artist, I would not want to be grouped like that. Other artists were named, like Sol LeWitt who thought something as simple as a pencil line was artistic and beautiful. Scott Burton thought that a stain on a wall may have an artistic essence to it; simple, useless marks are not artistic in my opinion, unless it is purposely accidental.

pg 283-310

The reading on pages 283 to 310 in Jackie Battenfield’s book, “The Artist’s Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love”, discusses how to properly manage your time. She says you are the only person who will truly care for your art forever. In order to properly market your art work to the masses, you need organization. Organization is the key point to success. Even if your studio or home is messy and chaotic (to “encourage creative flow”), your time should not reflect that. Time is a great human resource and you have to use it wisely. Battenfield gives advice to create a calendar with all upcoming and future events in order to organize everything and not forget anything. As tedious as it might be, it is necessary. I can related to that advice because I am prone to writing lists and marking events in my calendars (I own many calendars and planners) because it is impossible to remember everything. Creating an outline of events, even if they only go as far as a month, is an efficient way to organize your time. It also will relieve stress and give higher quality to your work.
The first issue to address is time management. Time is a nonnegotiable factor when creating art work. If you run out of paint, you can always buy more, but once you run out of time, there is no way to change that. So, in order to achieve your goals, planning and using your time wisely is the only way. Artists are commonly known as free-spirited, timeless people, but that is not the wisest thing to do. You do not always have to go with what stereotypes say. The three piece of advice Battenfield gives for time management is keeping track of your time, assign each activity a category (like personal, work, family, finances, etc) and analyze your information.
Taking note of how much time it takes to do even the simplest of tasks is important because then you can devote a certain amount of time to certain tasks beforehand. Personally, I am constantly looking at a clock or watch because I take into consideration that some things may seem quick but once you do it, it turns out that it takes a little longer than expect and creates a domino effect of forgotten and uncompleted tasks. You also have to realize that some downtime is needed amidst the important tasks. Your schedule is constantly changing so it’s important to write down all appointments and change some things around if needed. Battenfield gives more advice on how to create records and organizing supplies and such. She also suggests getting help from someone if the tasks are too overwhelming from either an assistant or getting consultation from experts in certain fields that you do not know. Overall, this chapter is useful to anyone who chooses to manage their time. Time management is a tricky thing to do when there are countless tasks to complete but it must be done.

pages 71-122 reading

“Building a career depends on who you know.” In pages 71-122 (chapters 3 and 4) in Jackie Battenfield’s book, explains several ways to get out of your comfort zone and in to the public art world. Getting your art work noticed takes time and determination to promote yourself. Waiting around for someone to like your work enough to do it rarely turns out to be successful. Before you take your art work and open your studio to the public to take in constructive (or in some cases, not so nice) criticism, you must be prepared and practiced. Battenfield emphasizes on the “readiness” of an artist. You must develop a consistent idea and control of your work, eagerness and enthusiasm, timing, and understanding of development. The first stage, developing a consistency, is basically experimenting with materials and mediums. You may start as a sculptor but if you experiment with painting it just might be the medium you are happiest with. Next is eagerness. This is basically being mentally prepared for visitors and opinions on your work. Maybe not being ready for this the nest day but just knowing and understanding that it will happen. Timing is, in my opinion, the most important factor. As Battenfield says, “Allow yourself to experiment and let the creative excitement build-play, fail, resolve, and rethink.” I think she has a good point to timing everything out. She even shares a story of how a simple thing like the color yellow was criticized to her work and disabled her to use that color for quite a while. A simple opinion can create a mental block and halt the production of your work. As an artist, I understand where she’s coming from because if one person does not agree with something in your work, especially if it was something that you particularly were proud of, you doubt the impact of your work on others. Time can prepare you with the blows people take on your work. The final step is understanding your place in development. Some people can take a week to sort out the kinks and create a huge piece. Others, which I can relate to, take a while to think and produce a certain work. Battenfield reassures that planning and figuring out if you are ready is not going backwards on the progress you have made; it is necessary before showing your work to complete strangers.
Next, she talks about those who will help you. Your network of people will be part of your promotion. Keeping in touch with them will help you greatly. Once you are ready, show your work to your peers and discuss with them your process and future ideas, as well as their ideas. It will also prepare you for studio visits from curators or buyers. It is good to show others your studio when you are ready because people are so intrigued by the place where your creative lives. However, since your studio is your “happy place” and inviting others will interject that flow of creativity, it is wise to, again, be prepared for their opinions. Taking notes during a studio visit also allows you to remember questions and comments your visitor had about your work. This may also remember what you liked most about the discussions and remember what the most important part of the opinions were. You then can sort out the part of the visit that will help you most. Some suggestions may even initiate a new idea. If you write down these things, it may help you work out the little details in your work. Also, it is important to create strong bonds with people. This will immensely help you out in the long run. If you decide to make your own gallery, making it with another group of artists can introduce new people and more help from them. With the collaboration of other artists, you are helping them out, as well as helping yourself by bringing in new people to see your work.
Studio events can give previews to your close peers and can give you feedback on your work before you show it to a larger public crowd. The smaller visits prepare you for what’s to come and also shows other people that you are ready to show your work.
Free artist registries seem like a good way to show the greater public what your capabilities are. I actually looked up one registry mentioned by Battenfield, Artists Space, and it looks like a pretty easy to function site with so many artists available to look in to. They have a place for clickable thumbnails with the artist’s work, a resume space, an artist’s statement space, and contact information of the artist. The good thing about some registries is that they are free! With the costs of marketing yourself, anything free is something to take advantage of, especially if it is credible. Creating a website is another way to utilize the internet to promote yourself. You can be professional as well as personal to make the audience feel like they are getting to know the artist, something that Battenfield emphasizes on often. You can either hire someone to create the website, or you can make it by yourself. Blogs are also a way to get in touch with the audience. Battenfield also talks about how collaborative shows with other artists can help introduce more people to view your artwork. Placing shows in places such as restaurants, coffee bars, and book stores can introduce you to artists you never would have met before. Or even to make a public work, going to the community to network and promote is the best way to break through your comfort zone and establish relationships with different sources.
She writes a big section about making artwork out in the public, literally. Sidewalks, buildings, streetlamps, etc. anything is available for making something on it. She even mentioned an artist we learned about in class, Jenny Holzer, and used a picture that we saw as well. Battenfield encourages making the world fit your art, not the other way around. Once it is out there, it lives and inspires others.
Chapter four talks more about where would be the best place to exhibit your work. All venues are different, offer different things and require different things. So, she advises to test out various venues to see where you feel more comfortable. Simply showing your work to the same people over and over again will not do much in the long run…unless they bring new people. If this does not happen, then you need to take action and make new people see your work. To promote yourself you need you must indentify your goals, have promotional tools, regularly discuss your work, be aware of issues and be prepared to engage and talk about your work.
Researching about the venues and artists you would like to work with is also important. In order for your promotion to work, you have to make sure the venue to choose to promote in compliments the work you make. However, promoting your work to as many people as possible is equally important. You must be assertive when promoting or else you will not be noticed and remembered. You can network anywhere at any time. You never know who can help you promote yourself even more, or to the right people.
Next is a basic guidelines section for self promotion. Basically they are making a brief description, business cards, preliminary research, and taking time to develop good relationships. First is a brief description of you and your work; in my words, make a mini live commercial for yourself to describe you and your work to other people. Battenfield calls it an elevator pitch or what would you say in a thirty second elevator ride. Business cards are an excellent way to not only easily give information to potential networks, but to show how serious you are about your art. Battenfield gives the advice of adding some pictures on the card to show a mini preview of your work. She also says to not put your email address, instead put your website so the person has to see your site (read: your work on your site) to be about to access the email address. Quite a clever way to self promote more. Next is to do your research before attending an art event. This is key to show your interest and determination to art. Knowing about the artist beforehand will be impressive and make an impact on the artist to want to help or work with you. Lastly, the quality of your relationships to people can make or break you. It is not really how many people you know. If you have a strong bond with few people, more people will know you with the help of those strong bonds to do some promotion for you.
Finally, Battenfield discusses and gives a lot of advice about non for profit organizations. These will help you promote yourself in a huge way. This will introduce you to artists in your community. Finally, making an artist package will put the final touches on your promotion. The package should include: a cover letter, work samples, work sample descriptions, artist statement, resume, business card, and a few reviews if you have or wish to share any. Overall, these two chapters are a great help for the beginning artist.

The Janusian Process in Scientific Creativity

The article “The Janusian Process in Scientific Creativity” by Albert Rothenberg was REALLY LONG! However, it was interesting. To be honest, I think it had a bit too much elaboration but it did convey the idea of art and science being related to each other. It split the process into four convenient phases. Phase one is the motivation to create. This is pretty basic, but of course, scientists must add all that hoopla that does not matter. It is pretty much what drives all artists, our muse, or inspiration. For instance, my muse is and will always be nature. Even in drawing (which is something I am new at) I spend hours drawing something outside. Phase two is deviation or separation. This section was confusing, but to me it seems like drawing out a sketch and eliminating the piece you want or adding those you do. This would relate to science in the sense that scientists create a hypothesis with variables. As the scientist experiments, they would change the dependent variable. Phase three, simultaneous opposition or antithesis, seems to be like making a final sketch before making the real piece. It is basically the sketch you will base the whole piece on. I suppose it would relate to science in the way that they create equations. Phase four is construction of the theory, discovery, or experiment. This one is especially self-explanatory. This is the finished product of all the work of the artist or scientist. This article was way too long for something that really is not as complicated to explain. Now, actually doing the work, that may require a bit more.

Relational Aesthetics

In the article “Relational Aesthetics: Artist Group and Their Groups”, it describes a contemporary type of art, which is relational aesthetics. The article follows four exhibitions that incorporate this new art form. It combines the ideas of several artists to create a single piece. I find this form of art to be quite intriguing because it is not often that people get to experience the ways and ideas of other people. The interactive and in depth view on strangers and getting to know them lets go of the mystery of people and allows you to see how they are. It also involves collaboration of more than two artists per piece. This puts into use the strategies of team work. Through the piece, you see how the group was able to combine their ideas and create something magnificent. I think it is a great and innovative idea to bring together artists. It creates a big family out of strangers through something they all have in common: art. I would like to create (another) piece in an art group. It was interesting to grab bits of everyone’s ideas and put them together. I guess you could say that unity is the main point of relational aesthetics. Although I do not think it should be used in every piece an artist makes, it certainly makes for a refreshing way to approaching art.

Photographing your work

Photographing your work is a crucial part of the process in showing your art. Whether you do it yourself or you hire someone, it must be done correctly to ensure the best qualities of your work are shown. Hiring someone to photograph your work may be the best way to do it because they have had experience in doing so. If you do hire a photographer, it is best to ask for samples of their work in which they shot another artist’s work in the same medium as you. However, if you decide to do it yourself, you must get the proper equipment, instruction and practice. Battenfield stated that she received some instruction herself from a hired photographer in order to be able to show qualities of her work by herself. There is also the subject of digital and film. Most places now prefer a digital form of submission. This seems like a more effective way of showing your work because you have the chance to redo any mistakes in the photo shoot before submitting the work. However, 35 mm slides are often in better conditions than Cos and DVDs in shelf life. The solution for this is to keep an external hard drive with all of your work. The different formats are also something to be careful of. Double checking of which format is best to be sent is always okay. Finally, labeling your work with the title, date, medium, size, and extra information pertaining to the piece is a nice and professional touch to add to the work.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Jackie Battenfield

On Wednesday, January 27, 2010, Jackie Battenfield held a lecture on her new book, “The Artist’s guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love”, and also revealed how she was able to do the same. She started off her lecture with an insight of what had happened to her to make her realize that she needed to do something to organize herself. Her work in the Rotunda gallery and the start of her family made her realize that she had a lot of work and no organization. Wanting to continue her painting, Battenfield decided to manage her time and still keep the work she was doing for the gallery nothing less than how it was. When she finally knew what she wanted to do, she quit her job at the gallery and decided to start to paint more. She looked outside of New York to find galleries where she could find potential buyers. Even when she had failure, she continued to pursue her goals until she was able to find someone to give her that chance.
Jackie Battenfield’s advice to follow up on all meetings and write thank you notes is noteworthy because she teaches the audience to always make an impression and not to surrender when there is a possibility of a great opportunity. Her book is also a constructive and positive way to pursue the goal of making art a living. Being written as a guide, the book teaches the reader by example what to do when they are stuck in a corner. She splits it into sections that demonstrate how to plan out goals. Even though each person and outcome it different, it still proves to be useful. I would take into great consideration her words and wisdom.

My goals.

My goals:
Graduate with B.A. or B.F.A. (long term)
Travel around. (long term)
Travel specifically to Germany, England, France, Canada, Argentina (again), India, New Zealand, and smaller states in the U.S. (long term)
Learn to paint with oil paint. (short term)
Continue with watercolors no matter what. (long term)
Keep in touch with those who have influenced me most and who I dearly care for. (long term)
Purchase a kiln. (long term)
Keep making sculptures. (long term)
Clean gerbils more. (short term)
Potty train my new puppy. (short term)
Keep my room clean and organized. (short term)
Organize back room to create a studio. (short term)
Finish crocheting my sister’s purse. (short term)
Quit smoking. (long term)
Study more efficiently rather than more often. (short term)
Understand art history. (short term)
Teach my mother to play saxophone. (short term)
Either sell or use flute. (short term)
Open my own cake decorating business. (long term)
Get an apprenticeship for a cake bakery. (long term)
Get a job. (short term)

My Obituary

Today, January 26, 2091, Daniela Mora died of natural causes. She was 99 years old. She was an artist, wife, and mother. Having an artistically inclined mother and a brother and sister also involved with music, Daniela was truly destined to be an artist. With a degree in art from the University of South Florida and years of experience, Daniela was a memorable artist. Her passion of nature truly inspired and influenced the majority part of her work. Living in various countries like England, France, and Germany, she was able to learn and observe different techniques and materials from contemporary and past artists. The artist was widely known for her outrageous sculptures of human bodies and combining them with nature. Her background of Mexican and Argentinean culture assisted her to create the style of her work as well. Her experience with music has added to her work not only visual, but musical and entertaining art which inspired others to create whatever they can. Her motivation for art was to hopefully influence young children to pursue their dreams and goals, even if they seemed unrealistic. She was a great asset to the art community and will be greatly missed.
In her personal life, Daniela was a loving mother of 3 children, and a grandmother to 5. Her husband, also an artist, of 65 years unfortunately passed away 12 years ago. She spent the last few years of her life traveling and created one last piece before her untimely death. It was ironically named “The Ending” and illustrated the way Daniela wanted to die: happy.

Visiting Artist Lecture: Sarah Sands

Sarah Sands is a painter from California and is currently working for Golden Artist Colors, Inc. She has been working for the acrylic paint company for 8 years. Her earlier work consisted of large painting, average 5’ x 6½’, with oils but after being involved with the company, her paintings shifted to acrylics and made on much a smaller canvas, average 12” x 12”. In the beginning of the lecture, she talked about the start of enlightenment in painting. She lived in Spain for 6 months after undergraduate school and saw what a great painting really is. This inspired a whole new spectrum of painting she was willing to attempt. The painting that influenced her the most, as she mentioned it a few times during the lecture, was Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez. She continued painting to show depth and tried to paint only what she saw, not what she thought she saw. There was no specific meaning for each painting; she was merely trying to find what she really wanted to paint and create space in each painting. Approaching 30, Sands decided to go to graduate school at Yale. Eventually, her painting started to become mundane. She left paintings unfinished. After graduate, she taught at the New York Academy of Art. There were tensions in teaching styles, so she left for Indiana. In Indiana, she realized that her students were free and more open to abstract, which she had envied. She decided to draw. This created a major change in her style. Her paintings looked like “scribbles” but look at it long enough and the real picture pops out. After a while, her paintings, and materials, shifted. Her paintings were greatly influenced by African marimba music. Each line was an addition of a beat to the rhythm. The paintings were also smaller. Scale was very important to Sands because it tells the appreciator how to look at the painting. Sands is currently working with acrylics and creating paintings consisting of lines and dots, which tell a story if looked at long enough.
Before ending and allowing students to view actual works by her, Sands left some wise advice. Paintings become meaningless without anyone actually looking at them. The meaning comes from the act of painting and the act of seeing it and understanding.

Chapter One

The first chapter of the book The Artist’s Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love by Jackie Battenfield talks about the importance of making a plan. She teaches through her own experience of being unorganized and how it jeopardized the quality of her work. Time management and tasks became easier with each check list she made. This chapter persuades the reader to make a plan of their own. The process takes steps which she listed in the book. In order, the steps are dream big, write your obituary (made to make you see what you value most in life), set your goals (both long term and short term), establish action plan, and, finally, take action. She tells the reader that the plan is made by you; therefore it should only be viewed by you. Battenfield even revealed how she was embarrassed by some of her plans, so she decided to include only a select few to know about them when she was ready. The plans were made to be adjusted according to events that show up unexpectedly.
The next sections focus mainly on how to exactly follow through with her suggested steps. For “dream big”, she inspires the reader to write down anything they want to be. She uses examples of Olympic competitors. The next one, “write your obituary”, is to show the reader what they really want to be. It helps to realize which goals are more important than others. “Set your goals” is made just to help organized and view what needs to be done. “Establish you action plan” comes with a how-to on making a timeline. These timelines will give a ballpark figure of when and how the plan will be done. She even encourages creating a yearly plan as well. Finally, “take action” is meant to motivate the reader to act upon their plans. The plan wasn’t made to look at. Overall, the chapter is very useful for artists to value and think about often.