Dirt Bags: The Open House

On Friday, April 24, from 5:00 - 8:00 there will be a Fine Arts Open House centered in the Ceramics area, KV035.  The student group known as the "Dirt Bags" is serving as hosts and hostesses for the event. Of course the entire Fine Arts facility will be involved, which means that we need to dress up the studios and hallways with some of your drawings.  Please bring in a couple of your best pieces so that we can get them installed on Thursday, and so I can get labels made so that the visitors will know who did what.  If you could give me a slip of paper with the titles and media of the pieces that would help a lot.  If any one has a little time on Thursday afternoon to help clean up and install artwork, that would be much appreciated also.

The festivities will include yummies, live music by a jazz ensemble, acoustic guitarist, and a remarkable violinist.  Tours of facilities will allow visitors to see the beautiful and compelling work created by the students in our programs.   PLEASE BRING A FEW OF YOUR BEST PIECE IN BY THURSDAY.

PARKING FOR THE OPEN HOUSE IS FREE FOR GUESTS DURING THE EVENT.

Visiting Artist Karla Hackenmiller

This is Karla Hackenmiller, printmaker extraordinaire from Ohio University, who will be creating and editioning an intaglio print in the printshop (KV025) this week, utilizing multiple copper plates. Here she is examining a plate that she has just pulled from an acid bath. On Tuesday, April 14, she will be giving a presentation about her work starting at 1:30 in the shop. Try to stop in if you can make it, or stop in to the shop throughout the week to see how things are progressing.  

An interesting quote: Joseph Kosuth

"The power of the work we see in museums is exactly this. It is the authenticity of the cultural production of a human being connected to his or her historical moment so concretely that the work is experienced as real; it is the passion of a creative intelligence to the present, which informs both the past and the future.  It is not that the meaning of a work of art can transcend time, but that a work of art describes the maker's relationship to her or his context through the struggle to make meaning, and in so doing we get a glimpse of the life of the people who shared that meaning. [A] work of art must be so singularly the concrete expression of an individual (or individuals) that it is no longer simply about that individual, but rather, is about the culture that made such expression possible."

Final Projects: Some Thoughts

In about three weeks the semester will come to an end with final critiques in both drawing classes, and then comes the task of assessing portfolios searching for the skills and conceptual developments that in some cases are dramatic, and in others quieter and more subtle.

The afternoon group has several options for their final projects ranging from self-identity issues possibly expressed as self-portraits with masks or symbolic still-life images to extreme points-of-view, such as a bird's-eye or worm's-eye perspectives on their subjects.  They will be creating the subjects of their drawings by gathering both actual and photographic references, sketching in their sketchbooks, and settling on the strongest solution for a final drawing that best exhibits the range and level of their current skills, which will surely be more developed than a few months ago.

The evening group will be challenging both their manual and ideational/conceptual skills by addressing their current contexts as emerging artists.  Throughout history visual artists have addressed their time and place through images.  Visiting any museum allows us to glimpse into many periods of the past.  If it weren't for artists giving us images for historical reference, we wouldn't know what people and places looked like prior to the invention of photography. Artists give tangible form to the unknown, other worlds, dreams, nightmares, sometimes allowing us to face our fears and confront our passions.  They give tangible form to feelings: love, hate, despair, fear.

Artists offer an innovative way of seeing.  When we experience a work of art, we are required to to deal with that artist's perspective, how they see and feel about the world around them. They bring to their work experiences and interests which help to form, in part, the content of that work. Today is a much more complex time for artists to mine for their inspiration than past times.  The world has gotten much smaller and the universe larger because of our technology; politics is more complex, and the reasons for war more convoluted. Popular culture is eclectic and nonstop, communication almost instant, and artists are using a vast array of materials to express their responses to those many changes.

The next few weeks should be an interesting journey.         

Hidden Places

Rachel Webb

Kimberly Stidham

Jerrye Huber

Courtney Howard

Cha'Reme Vincent

Ashley Begley

The afternoon drawing class created some images based on hidden places in their worlds, such as closets, junk drawers, inside and outside of purses, art bins, etc.; above are examples. They explored the complexity of those spaces and the accumulation of identifying objects, even revealing secrets that they wouldn't want someone to find by rummaging through these private places.  As the semester begins to build momentum toward their final projects and portfolios, it is becoming evident that they are all showing some remarkable improvements in their drawing process.

Connie has include the entire group of drawings in her photobucket:

http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/daughter_liberty/art/drawing/self%20photos/ 

Narrative Point of View

Susan Brown

Shawn McPheron

Greg Truesdel

Amanda Straley

Alex Kennedy

The evening drawing class responded to the Narrative Point of View with some pretty engaging images, some of which are included here. The project called for a combination of the human figure and an architectural scene with a dramatic point-of-view defining tension. The image was to be composed in such a way as to essentially position the viewer with a strong placement in relation to the figure.  There were many more provocative images that were well executed and still others that will have their narratives strengthened even more.

The assertion of point-of-view in an image provides a compositional role for the viewer, bringing the scene into a dynamic relationship with the viewer's space.  In some cases the viewer remains narratively neutral or uninvolved.  It happens.  We had some that did both, some of the images felt like we were there in the scene, while others we were observers from the outside, almost voyeurs.  All in all, I thought it was a good and challenging project, and the next time it rolls around into one of my drawing classes, there will be some tweaking/discussion to make sure the spaces become more enticing and a stronger part of the viewer's world.

BFA Graduating Senior Exhibition

Tonight, from 5:00-7:00, will be the opening reception for the 2009 Graduating seniors in our BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) program.  The BFA is a competitive professional degree in Fine Arts and students who are admitted after a rigorous portfolio review spend considerable time focusing on a particular discipline.  The seniors who are graduating this year with majors in Graphic Design are Adam Breeden, Kate Hentrup, Kristy Ho, Laurel Streible, Nate Stormer, Pascalle Ballard.  Our painter this year is Samantha Deitz, Ben Hammond is exhibitng his ceramic work, and our drawing major is Annie McCollum.  It's a very strong collection of work that also includes glass, clothing design, sculpture, and photography.

Since the opening overlaps the evening drawing class, our critique will begin at about 6:40.