#2 closed

Assignment #2 posting is complete. If you haven't posted yet, your up a creek without a paddle.

Marcy Assignment 2

Walking into Claire Rau's exhibition, Booby Traps, I first noticed several interesting pieces of sculpture around the gallery space. However, I started my experience by looking at the first piece on the wall, which happened to be a print. All around the outside walls of the gallery were prints, while the three pieces of sculpture included in the show were spaced on the floor in the middle of the room. Although at first glance I didn't find the prints as interesting as the sculpture, upon closer inspection I was able to appreciate the details included and the craftsmanship of the artist. All of the layers of silkscreen were perfectly aligned which, considering some of the intricate details of some of the pieces, was very impressive. I think the show as a whole flowed fairly well, although I felt that some pieces did not fit into the "booby traps" theme (like The Fatted Calf). The artist's lecture (at 1:15) did not really clarify much of the meaning of the pieces for me, although I was told that the 11:15 lecture provided more insight.


One of the prints I was drawn to was While the clock ticked, blue and white. This was the second piece in the exhibition according to the layout provided. It is a layered silkscreen print, made up of only blues, with perfectly aligned layers (as in all her prints). I didn't realize what the scene was at first, but during the artist's lecture I found out that it was from the Hardy Boys.

I think that the reason I was drawn to this piece is that I really enjoy art of any type that is monochromatic, but still incorporates a range of values. I also really appreciate the crisp lines of silkscreen, especially when it is aligned perfectly. Plus I like pieces with one layer of broad color paired with another layer of detail lines. I didn't realize that it was a scene from the Hardy Boys until the artist told us so, but I still found the scene dynamic. I also wasn't sure at first how this was related to booby traps, since there are none specifically in the piece. After thinking about it, I figured that getting caught in a booby trap could lead to this type of an imprisonment situation. I really liked the fact that the artist incorporated a childhood interest like a favorite book series into an illustrative piece such as this.

assignment #2

I found Claire Rau's artwork very interesting. I most enjoyed her use of different materials when constructing her pieces. I found it interesting how should went from working in two-dimensional to three-dimensional. She said that she would usually use her two-dimensional projects as "blueprints" for her three-dimensional sculptors. Also I enjoyed her clean and precise printmaking. It amazed me as to how she was able to line up ever color and angle.

I found this piece very interesting. Before the discussion I was not aware of what the piece was. however I knew it looked familiar. After the discussion and finding out that it was modeled after traps was incredible. I found the use of red in the center very symbolic. Also I was interested in thevabstract "arms". They interested me the most because while traps usually look dangerous this once does not. The abstract shape in the center also caught my attention. For myself it looks like the shape of an animal that had been eaten.

With regard, to her work conceptually I believe she was somewhat successful. While the artwork was visually interesting it was very diffcult to understand. Each piece needed a thorough explanation for you to understand what they were about. While I understand how each piece incorportates the same theme of booby traps I feel that each piece should display the title better. However, I did appreciate her precision throughout her work. The ability to use a cartoon feeling throughout each piece was also interesting. Since booby traps are somewhat childish the color combination fit perfectly.

Ian Prediger assignment #2

Initially walking up to the exhibition from the stair case i looked into the room and originally thought that they exhibit had been taken down and there was some construction project of some sort going on. As i got closer, what I though looked like a ladder and tools laying on the ground, were bear traps and some sort of log with spears sticking through it. Interesting. In class the day before everyone said they had seen the presentation on the exhibit so i was out of the loop. But as i walked around the room examining all the works i started understand. There was a variety of images, most with the theme of booby traps, some just random objects it seemed. There was something very appealing with the style of the artist.
The piece i found most interesting was the noose with the ornate boarder around it. The simplicity of the rope just hanging there gave a quiet non threatening presence, despite what this deathly execution device was used for. Another reason the rope gave off a non threatening vibe was the mellow colors used and the blank background. The image still remains strong because of what the noose represents and the boarder gives the still image some motion and somewhere for you eye to wonder and think about what is being seen.
The noose piece like most of the other prints had some sort of pain or death inflicting contraption. A meaning behind some of the works could have been to show the creative side of a twisted mind. How someone could think of these devices and use them on people. Yet you still need to appreciate the creativity and effectiveness of the design. By mixing that aspect of the booby traps with and actual art background you can really create some cool artwork.

1st assignment blogging is now closed

I will not accept any more posts for the first assignment.

Marcy Assignment 1

I found Professor O'Donnell's show, "Memory Maps", to be very interesting. I've seen some of her work before, but never really understood it until I got the chance to read her statement and hear her talk. The show was very cohesive, simply because all the pieces related to the same thing: her memories. The exhibit flowed well because, even though it was not one large narrative, with all of the branching out designs and repeating patterns it felt almost like a timeline. In order to engage viewers, she included a piece that consisted of blocks that she encouraged everyone to handle and arrange. Also, the framing of certain pieces created repeating patterns, such as the squares of the artist books that led into the squares of the film stills. All of the pieces were simple enough at first glance, but the longer you looked at them, the more layers of meaning you could unravel. She stated that while the pieces were about her personal experiences, everyone could relate to the themes and feelings addressed and find similarities in their own lives.


The piece I chose to focus on was Story Told, which was the accordion artist book stretched out on a shelf. This piece had several square black wooden frames filled with two panes of glass. On the panes of glass there were blank rectangles printed that mirrored the rectangular pieces between the glass. Inside these thin glass boxes were secrets printed on bits of plastic or acetate. These secrets clumped together making most of them unreadable. All of these square panels were hinged together into the accordion shape.

Professor O'Donnell described the intentions behind much of her work during her lecture. She said that memories, and more specifically secrets, were at the core of all of her pieces. She also said that she incorporated a sort of "hiding and revealing" in her work that allowed her to share these secrets somewhat, but also to keep some to herself, or to make viewers work for the secrets. I think that this idea of hiding/revealing is very prominent in this piece. Although the clear glass and plastic materials would presumably reveal all of her secrets, they clumped together, allowing only a few of them to be read while the rest were indecipherable. I also connected with this piece because I had seen it before during the tours of faculty members' studios. I remember her saying then that she had not anticipated the way that the static would make the secrets clump together like that, but that she liked it that way. This stuck with me because I always find it interesting when ideas or techniques don't work out as planned, but still come out better that way. I think this lent itself to the hiding/revealing theme in her work and made the piece stronger.

Ian Prediger assignment #1

Professor Sue O'Donnells exhibition was about memory maps, specifically her own memories about her family and growing up. There was a variety of different mediums used to express her artwork and the layout of the exhibition was done in a very appealing way. Each piece itself told its own story in a unique way that kept you walking around the room wanting to see what the next piece was about. The one thing I really enjoyed about the setup was the difference in the displays of her artwork. Photography, prints, 3d works, and use of transparency and clear frames was a cool way to deliver her message. Some of the specific pieces that I enjoyed were the time lapse photographs. The reason I think the variety of displays this works well for the exhibition was how it was broken up by these simple images and then moved onto something alot more deep like her displays telling parts of a story broken up into little squares or the frames full of sentences and shapes in a clear frame. From a distance the pieces seem like simple images and shapes but when you come close you can see that they are comprised of many words and you can stand there reading each piece for awhile, taking in her experiece as your own.

The photography pieces I found to be the most interesting, they broke up the complexity of the rest of her works. You have these deep stories broken up in various mannors and you can stand reading her story for hours but the simplicity of the photos tells a story without having to read. The way the images are time lapsed, blurry and out of frame make these memory montages seem like you are looking directly back into her past. The out of focus composure also gives the images a very real quality like the memory is just hoovering just out of reach in the back of your mind. The almost washed out highlights in the photographs also help to give the images a kind of dream like feel. The use of point of view is as if your seeing it through someones eyes who was actually standing there in the moment. Overall the composure of the photos is very effective in conveying the message that the images are sending.

The photographs show a small girl running towards her father and then him playfully throwing her in the air and catching her again. I think the meaning behind this is just to bring you back and make you reflect on the past, like watching an old home video. This image is every effective because i can remeber when i was very little my parents doing the same type of thing with me. This allows the viewer to really connect with some of their first memories and really understand and connect with where the artist is coming from. The use of the out of focus photos makes it seem as if you are trying to recall these memories from a distant past. The image leaves you with snapshots of what it was like being little again. You almost sit there in a reflecting daze thinking about when you were 5 years old. Overall i enjoyed the exhibit and deffinatly took away a new perspective on creating art using a variety of different mediums and using words to convey a message.

Jessica Chappell Assignment #1

Sue O'Donnell's exhibit was a very inspiring narrative of her life mapped out through various conceptual timelines. Her existence was connected and placed together by constellation charts, periodic tables, words, shapes, books, maps, pictures, interactive building blocks, etc. O'Donnell's idea and approach throughout the diverse works was initially my favorite aspect to the show. At first glance, I was immediately intrigued by the array of techniques and communal shapes that trimmed the gallery. Also, her use of light played a key role in the display of many transparent pieces where words had webbed themselves as one. Alluring, I closed in on the actual content of each piece and realized that this was a deeply personal and revealing show. Boys, drugs, and mom were a few topics expressed along with faith, desperation, and hope emotionally co-existing in the art. Her pieces were painstakingly honest; yet she still had the courage to show every curious eye. I personally believe it takes a very strong person to mess up and say, "I'm not perfect, we've all got a past. I'm sorry, and at the same time, I'm not." Prof. O'Donnell went into this exhibit in front of her students and peers with brass balls. I'm proud of her!

The image I chose uses multiple squares to show the pictures and text O'Donnell felt important to represent the piece. The squares are arranged on the wall to form another larger square that "pops" out of the wall an inch or so, giving the work a three dimensional subtlety. Below, there are small "building blocks" that the audience can actually interact with. Everything is black and white; very clean, very precise. The photographs are not full images, instead bits and pieces from larger photos. Text and photos are telling the story on wood surfaces.

I went to the lecture on Sept. 10 and it really did help me understand and see Prof. O'Donnell as a person, a real human being, rather than only a teacher. Many events and stories were shared that on any other academic Thursday would have been coined as inappropriate. This piece is about her family, her youth. I fell for this work more so than the others because immediately I related to the composition. I have two sisters myself and my mother was the leading lady. Those good ol' "sister shots" when you are all still little in matching hats, the random pictures on the fluorescent orange couch your grandma owned when she was 20; pictures of people lost a long time ago, changed, gone. I think that this is a puzzle, broken into 4x4 and 1x1 inch squares scattered about; memories broken for reasons. The images are still there, the instantaneous moments themselves yes, but the essence of their existence is not so clear. Possibly not even there, only enough for an outsider to have a looksy. The photos themselves are not in full; perhaps that's the particular aspect that O'Donnell remembered the clearest or compositionally fit the best. The blocks also forming something greater, grander in size and meaning. O'Donnell is being sincerely honest in her memories and past yet she is very deliberately keeping things from the audience. Perhaps the main objective is to show that all the little pieces and all the big moments of your life are there, they always will be, but that doesn't define who we are. It doesn't make her who she is, it helps ground her and remember where she's been.

[jordan] assignment I

I thought that O'Donnell's Memory Maps exhibition was set up very well. The pieces all worked together very cohesively. From the first to the last piece, her work took you through her life, her memories, and how she associated or interpreted them into maps, codes, and narratives. The entire show was really a narrative self portrait, both literally and interpretively. Some pieces were very clear visual messages or representations of specific memories. Others, such as her Relationships ultrachrome prints, which I'm including a not so great photo of, were more ambiguous where nobody except the artist and perhaps a few close friends [or boyfriends] would be able to fully understand. This I like, personally, because it's an example of good art that doesn't have to necessarily make sense to anyone else except the artist. The memory blocks are another example. We see that she's associating certain things but we don't know why.

The photo I included is the "Boys, drugs, and sex." piece. It is from a series of 5 Ultrachrome prints. It is a time line, measurement, map sort of thing, beginning early in her life and going on until 2006. The levels of boys, drugs, and sex vary throughout the different years. It has a black background and white lines and text. The different levels of each idea are indicated by the first letter so, b, d or s, each inside of its own hexagon shaped key thing. The bottom is the earlier years and as the lines move up we move more into the present. I know there is a real name for this sort of chart or graph [axis?] but it escapes me.

I think that after reading O'Donnell's bio, boys, drugs, and sex, were just more elements in the concoction that is her life. They may have been things she struggled with, or things she could always enjoy-I don't know; that's the beauty. It isn't for me to know. I think all of her work is a way for her, herself, to organize and make sense of who she is, who she was, and why she is where she is now. I think it was a way to take a lot of memories, experiences, little pieces of her life, put them into a some sort of chronological and associative composition so she could then take a step back, and see it from an outsider point of view. I don't think personal works like these are for the spectator as much as they are for the creator. Her exhibition is a map and I think to be O'Donnell standing inside of a room that is a map of her own life is to experience the show so extremely differently than any of us would, even if it is laid out to be seen from the outsider point of view. It's almost like putting the pieces together just so they can be taken apart again, be it by the viewer, or possibly the artist herself.

assignment II

i am aware i haven't done the first assignment yet. it will be done, don't fret.

I found that the first presenter, who spoke about censorship in Germany, hit closest to home by way of discussing mass growth, mass production and mass consumption as modern afflictions. Of course, he wasn't arguing that point as his own, but that of the Wiemar Republic. Either way it parallels our society because we, too, are the subjects of such "afflictions" in the current era. Is it bad? Very likely. But it can't be stopped. Our youth is bombarded with pop culture imagery every waking hour of their lives. So are we losing a sense of reality? I vote yes. There is very little intellectual discourse out there for the youth to take interest in, and why should they when there are so many other alternatives that are very likely much more "entertaining." So, I don't believe that it was the fear that German youth was going to be crude, rude and disrespectful-more a fear of the mass loss of the ability to think critically and independently. It can be argued that the present youth has yet to, and may never, acquire such skills.

Professor Chung's presentation was good but it wasn't until the very last slide that the real issue of censorship came up. The last slide was simply a black background with white text that read "this presentation has been self censored." It makes one wonder just how much we are missing. How much work are artists not making because of this paranoia about censorship? I personally know an artist who was fired from his job as a photographer for the Scranton Times because someone "important" at the paper staff found a picture of my friend on myspace. He was wearing a strap on dildo on his face. The photo had to of been 6 or 7 years old. My friend most likely hadn't even been on myspace in years. I think my main issue with censorship is that it makes people afraid to be themselves, not so much in art, but in society, in the real world. Who are these people that we interact with on a daily basis? Why do we have to be these different people in front of each other? My ideas about this apply more to the professional setting than the academic [as students].

i was censored as an adult this summer while approaching my grandparents house in Somerville, Tennessee. I was wearing an Obama t-shirt. It's a very comfy t-shirt, nice, thin, soft, wonderful. I wear it more so because it's incredibly well made than because it has the president's face on it. My mom told me i had to take it off before we got to their house. Ridiculous, I know. They are so old school, i'm almost certain my ancestors owned slaves. So to wear the shirt would be to disrespect my family. I complied, I did. i had to for my mothers sake. Ironically, the first person to greet my mom and me was Barbara, my grandma's black maid. I so wished i hadn't covered up the shirt with a zip-up. Barbara then proceeded to tell me the difference between niggers and blacks -out of nowhere. i didn't know how to respond. i just laughed. had to do w. something in the news. i think everyone can read bw the lines and figure out why this censorship was wrong.

Samantha De Nardo: Assignment #1

Samantha De Nardo: Assignment #1

Sue O'Donnell's exhibition consisted of her concept on Memory Maps. Being a visual artist the work displayed was a combination of experimental book arts, graphic design, and conceptual narratives. Personally I found her ability to express memory as visual art incredible. From a distance, her work appeared as organic shapes, however up close you were able to read and discover intricate and personalized artwork. The personal touch within each piece was what I enjoyed the most. After reading and analyzing each piece I felt as though I personally shared the experience with her.
I also enjoyed her work compositionally. The ability to display complex ideas in a simplistic manner was outstanding. Also the overall layout of the exhibition was successful. Having all her black and white images in one section and digital images in another allowed you to concentrate on one method at a time. Another aspect I enjoyed was her idea of open interpretation. By not using labels, you were able to discover what her ideas were and how she developed the work. Personally I enjoy open interpretation because you are not confined by the title. With open interpretation I believe you discover more about the artist because you are intrigued to find out what the artist is trying to portray. I personally enjoyed how O’Donnell’s work is a narrative and allows you to learn information about her. For instance, one piece discussed her being one of four girls in her family, and how protective and loving her parents were. Also from her artwork you felt a sense of warmth and love.

The piece that I chose incorporated a variety of techniques. One technique was the integration of three dimensional and two dimensional design. This approach made the piece extremely successfully and visually pleasing. Also I enjoyed O'Donnell's use of black and white. This approach allowed the artwork to appear aged which tied into the theme of memory. I also chose the piece because of its compositionallayout and clarity. The integration of positive and negative space was well thought out, as well as the placement of the boxes. While to some the boxes appear randomly thrown the placement is crucial to having the interpreter's eye flow through the piece. What I noticed about the boxes was how there were more in the middle of the piece and fewer at the sides which drew my eye from the one side to the other in a smooth manner. Her incredible attention to detail was another aspect I enjoyed. Each box had a clear picture and writing on it.

After listening to O'Donnell's lecture I was correct in my interpretation. Being close to her family she was easily inspired. Raised in a close and loving family she had developed numerousmemories all pertaining to the love her family had for one another. I personally loved how from her artwork you felt a sense of warmth and love. Also I liked how you felt as though you were beginning to know her and what she experienced in her life. The goal for artist is to have people interpret and connect with their artwork on a personal level and I believe that Sue O'Donnell did an incredible job in having her audience connect with her.

assignment #1

BLOG ASSIGNMENT #1 Intermediate and Advanced Print

By now you should have all accepted the blog and are now an author. If you haven’t done this then you better do it now!

1. Go to the blog site: http://buintermediateadvancedprintmaking.blogspot.com/ and sign in and create new post at the top right.

2. For title put your name and assignment #1.

3. You need to write at least 3 paragraphs about one of the current exhibition at Haas Gallery by Professor Sue O’Donnell. The gallery hours are Monday - Friday, 9am - 4pm. The show ends on September 11^th. You only have a couple days to get to the gallery!

A. The first paragraph should discuss the exhibition as a whole. Here are a few possible topics: Discuss the works in relationship to each other, example: how has the artist set up the show? Does one work influence the next one? Do they tell a narrative? How has the artist choose to display the works, framing? Is it a cohesive exhibition? What makes it work? What would make it work better?

B. The second paragraph should discuss the visual elements of 1 piece of your choice. Take a photo of it with your cell phone or camera and upload it to the blog, then write about it below the picture. Describe the image formally (what are the colors? What is the medium/technique(s) used? What types of shapes, patterns, etc are utilized in the work?). This is a pure formal description of the visual elements used in the work; do not discuss content or artists intention in this paragraph.

C. For your 3^rd paragraph I want you to interpret the meaning behind the particular work you have chosen and why. You are going to have to do some thinking on this one. One way to get some insight is to go to one of the artist’s lectures on Thursday September 10^th at either 11:15 or 1:15 (both are the same). She will discuss the work at this time. This would be helpful and interesting, but this is not necessary. You could also make your own interpretation of the work by simply looking at it and thinking about it, just make sure you explain your reasoning. Since art is often subjective, and part of how we interpret it depends on our own experience, there is no right or wrong answer as long as you give an explanation to your belief.

4. Remember to consider your grammar and spelling. There is a spell check function on the blog. Please use it before you publish your writing.

5. The assignment must be posted by September 18 at 11:59pm. Please do not wait until the last minute in case you have computer issues. I will not accept late writings.