hello!

"Untitled (I'm turning into a spectator before your very eyes and I'm going to haunt you)", By Glenn Ligon. He is showing his interest in how cultrure and language shape identity.

I'm really interested in this because I feel like I have been thinking about doing similar things. He took this quote, "I'm turning into a spectator before your very eyes and I'm going to haunt you," from a French play called "The Blacks" (Les Negres). I'm all about finding something (a song, movie, play, book) and finding a key line or verse that really just hits me. I want to keep exploring this idea...

I found "I'm turning into a spectator..." at the PMA. Its a very large painting, easily over 8 feet tall. Its in the modern art section..you should go check it out!

This is another by him, but not as legible. He used Coal dust, printing ink, oil stick, glue, acrylic painting and gesso on canvas. The words say "The rage of the disesteemed." They come from an essay by James Baldwin called "Stranger in a Village."

"Untitled (Rage) #2"

hmm..REevaluation

hmm..I'm not sure how to REevaluate this semester...but I will say I want to push further. I was not completely satisfied with my first project. I have been thinking a lot about doing something that I am really interested in. So...I have this obsession with vampires. It's not like a creepy and weird obsession, I just think idea is very fascination. They're these strong, beautiful, seemingly indestructable yet horrifying creatures. We're afraid of them, yet the idea of them is that they are strangly irresistable. But what I think I find most interesting about vampires, despite all that, is that they are stuck in what could be called an eternal hell. Never growing older, never dying, and if you're religious, no promise of heaven if they do die. This eternal hell, this never ending cycle that they cannot escape. It is seemingly opposite the way we look at life. We waste it, yet it is limited. What would it look like if we had forever?

I would like to incorporate this idea somehow into my work. I am trying to do a large sculpture right now and bring that concept into it. A never ending life and the sense of no escaping it.

A Contemporary Ceramic Artist

I enjoy the ceramic work of Dean Schwarz. I especially enjoyed researching the stories and inspiration behind his pieces. This helps to create a connection with the work. Many of his works have ties to the history and traditions of Indian tribes and African art. In addition, his work includes Greek Myths, Peruvian legends. Iowan traditions, Korean dances, and Bauhaus principles. I found it interesting that Schwarz says,” Nearly all pots represent my love and respect for the artworks of ancient peoples.” Additionally, he states, “I copy no pots directly but try to honor the spirit and quality the Old Ones were so good at.” This shows that Schwarz is honoring tradition in his work while making it his own. At the same time much of Schwarz’s work is functional. I like this because I tend to appreciate functional pieces. Schwarz’s work can be found in over thirty museums, six countries, and countless collections, including the White House. I was fascinated by the fact that while Dean Schwarz is in his seventies, he is still creating pottery, though he is restricted to the wheel due to a back injury. I find this extremely impressive.

really really cool ceramics work that I found on deviantart.com, the guys page is http://petertwang.deviantart.com/ and this particular piece can be found here

I plan on doing something somewhat similar for my third project ^_^

~Jen

second project crit

second project crits... I think it went a little better this time around with the critique. There wasn't quite as much looking into what was being represented when representation wasn't the goal of a piece. While its fun to look at work and try to figure out what you can see in it, its not always the best thing to focus on in crits. I have to say I was a little distracted during critique because I was afraid that I would go upstairs and find another hole in my pattern. If it weren't for that I probably wouldn't have felt so fidgity. So I think it went well, just my personal set up/installation didn't.

Amanda's second critique... so we saw the squirrels again and this time finished. I wouldn't say that the glazes changed very much of how I saw them since the first critique. They turned out very well, but it was what I was expecting to see (this is not a bad thing, it just means that I probably already said my thoughts during the first crit and don't remember them now). I would like to see them taken further. Right now its a cute little cartoony set up, but if put into a different context or in combination with other objects it could come to have more meaning to it. I'm curious as to what the purpose for those little squirrels could end up being.

~Jen

Peeta

3-d Graffiti at 

http://www.peeta.net/

I thinking moving on to different forms/shapes is a great next step from your first project.  Thanks for sharing this site with us.  

Brandon's Blog

As far as the second critique goes I think it was a much more productive and beneficial critique for the whole of the class, but as usual the critique was still too quite and almost too long and drawn out. The most effective critique method that I have ever seen/used was in my silk screening class, our teacher tried a method she knew from her undergrad courses, and it was a silent critique. Basically there are pieces of paper and pencils near each work of art and everyone goes around silently writing comments, suggestions, feedback etc for each piece, then at the end everyone reads the pages of comments and then verbally the works are briefly talked about. The critique was short but extremely effective, and from my experience of this technique I did take more from it than I have from any other.
As far as Phil’s work, I was very surprised to see someone bring in another object or material into ceramics. I think the antique Mac was a surprising object to see by everyone. I liked the ceramic and classic looking binary numbers used in place of the screen because essentially when we are staring at any computer screen that’s what we are looking at, I think this idea played in very well with the objective of the assignment. My only gripe about the piece, and seemingly common one discussed in the critique was about having some sort of lighting or SOMETHING to make the numbers stand out, as would an illuminated CRT monitor. Overall, this piece to me was exciting to look at but small additions could have made this piece even more exciting.
As for the third project, I really don’t know exactly what I want to do; I was brainstorming the idea of using clay slabs this time and letting them dry in desired positions and having them layered and hanging on the wall, I guess more like a sculptural painting, the Idea of 3D graffiti writers such as the famous Peeta from Italy, http://www.peeta.net/ has been thought about but down to exact specifics of the project I’m not sure exactly what it is I want to do, this was just one idea.

Liz's Bubbles of Happiness

I really enjoyed Liz's piece. In addition, her technique on the wheel was quite different from anyone one else. These spheres are quite difficult to make, but she was able to push them out without issue. For the final install, I like the hanging approach. I also agree that they all should be hanging to continue the tension.

The glaze used really brought across the idea of fun, happiness, or a feeling for joy. I especially enjoyed the "Clown" one, it looked almost edible. I also liked the smiley face, it added a bit of reality to the piece.

The only change I would consider is the use of the heavy wire for suspension. I would employ a high weight fishing line in the future, it would add to the whole idea of this objects freely floating in the space.

-Chuck

Addie's Blog

Where I liked the informal nature of the first crit, I liked the semi-professionalism of this one. For me, I enjoyed this critique, especially where it concerned my second project. I had an idea, late in the process, about working with the slip and oil pastels, and I felt like it didn’t really work, but I liked having the input from the others in the class that saw the same awkwardness. Most of the stuff we talked about in my critique I had already considered while creating my piece, things I didn’t realize until too late, like the varying thickness of the tiles I was using, because up until I placed them on, I was planning on grouting them so it looked more like a floor then an art object placed on the floor.
In relation to my first project – I would have loved to have been able to create a little enclosed space outside to truly make my idea work – and that hadn’t even occurred to be beforehand – I was dead set on having my light bulbs in a window.
I think that our first crit was more successful in that it was very informal, a relaxed atmosphere of the studio as opposed to the very museum-like area of the crit space, but there’s not much that can fix that, mainly because it’s nice to see all the pieces on official display.
Now onto Sarah’s pieces. I personally loved her Snapple bottles, especially the blue ones, and I know casting can be dull, but I wished she had made a couple more and actually conceived something out of them rather then basically saying, this is what I did.
With her second project, I liked it a lot while she was making itespecially the scale of it and the fact that it’s a teapot with a top that was in the shape of a tiny tea cup. The color, I know was accidental, but was still interesting, as it made it seem very tough (not quite sure what that means, but that’s what it made me feel). I only wish she had either done something else other then cut it in half, or like we said in crit, displayed it in a different way. 

As for part two – there are two ideas I’m thinking of. The first is something I’ve kinda wanted to do since the Beginning Ceramics, but I’m not quite sure how I would be able to do it successfully with out being cheesey – and that’s something inspired by Alice in Wonderland , …can you think of any greater type of escape then the one conceived by Lewis Carrol?
Another idea I was thinking of was playing around more with slip. This past week , I fan-folded some slip, and I really liked the effect that it created, and since in my last project I wanted to create something durable you could walk on, this time I think I might want to go in the opposite direction, something that the viewer converses with by avoiding it, as if getting too near might break it.
~ Addie Willuweit

More images

I found some other interesting images that made me think of the "scape" project here http://www.craftact.org.au/portfolios/Ceramics

Addie,
Since you were experimenting with slip and making work that the viewer could walk on, I thought this work might inspire you.  

Amanda,
Thinking about outdoor installations with your second project, I thought this work could open up possibilities for the last project.

Scott- I thought you should take a look at this work that uses body parts. 

http://www.pietstockmans.be/art_collection.php?group=art⊂=collection&id=openair&pos=8

Scott's Post

I thought the crit was helpful in many ways. I learned alot about the concepts behind the work of others in the class, of which many i wasn't sure about. I enjoyed the feedback i got on my piece and the direction i was heading with my second and third project.
As far as looking specifically At Addi's work.... I thought the basic concepts where there and the execution of the idea was very good. The only thing i had to add about her work was the display. I thought the size of the actual piece was not proportional to the display uni, Perhaps a little more thought could have eliminated this problem for me. But as a whole it was successful in my eyes.

Sarah's Blog

I liked several aspects of Lisa’s work. The glaze was probably my top favorite. The raku was beautiful. It was the perfect combination of intentional and unintentional. Obviously the color combination was one thing that could not be controlled, but the way the glaze fell on the piece also seemed unintentional. Despite all of the surprises that came from the kiln, it still looked coherent and deliberate. The other think that I liked about Lisa’s work was its versatility. Since the pieces we unattached, every assemblage is unique and can respond to the artist’s feelings that day. The work was also a beautiful combination linear and fluid pieces that came together very nicely.
The flowers that Lisa made were also pretty. The glaze colors that she chose worked together nicely and the uniformity was eye-catching. The presentation, on the other hand, did not work so well. The presentation on the floor was boring and did not do the work justice. It might work better if they were hung on the wall if possible.

Lisa's Critique

The second critique was definitely better than the first one but I think there is still a lot of room for improvement. I feel like there was a lot of dead silence and people didn't really know what to say. A way to improve on this is maybe to have a list of basic questions that we can respond to about the works that would prompt more of a discussion. I thought the critique was useful overall but I am still unsure how I could better display my second project and would have liked more opinions on that.

Brendan's installation was very successful, as we all pretty much concluded during the critique. As a multimedia piece, I thought that the metal and ceramic went well together. The craftsmanship in the welding was good and I really liked the ring details at the ends of the wires. I would have liked to see more variation in the glaze, either tonal variations or maybe multiple hues. The shadows the piece made on the wall added another dimension and I think it would have been interesting to see what difference other lighting options could have made on the cast shadows.

I am still unsure where I want to go with my third project but I have been looking into some sort of combination of a landscape and moonscape maybe. Something that looks kind of familiar but also a little extraterrestrial.

Lisa's Blog

When Harmony Hammond first started talking I thought the lecture was going to be a lot more focused on Feminism and lesbianism but these issues weren't overwhelming throughout the lecture. I liked that she explained her thought process behind her art as well as the actual process of making each work. I found it especially interesting where she got her materials from and how she used mostly discarded material. As she was trained as a painter, I enjoyed her viewpoint that all art objects can be approached in a painterly way, such as her description of tied rags as three dimensional brush strokes. The pieces I like the most are her "presences" that hang from the ceiling (not the bag ones on the wall) and the mixed media installation paintings with the tin roofing (farm ghosts?). While this lecture was on the long side, I think the artist did a good job of keeping the audience interested. Having never heard of the Harmony Hammond before, I found it a very informative lecture with !
!
a good mix of background information on the artist, materials she used, her processes and techniques, as well as her thoughts behind her work.

Critique

I thought this critique was must better than the last one. I think everyone participated more and I got a lot out of what people said about my project.
I thought Scott's project idea was very interesting. I think the idea he had could make an interesting project, but I would have liked to see more than what he had. I think for me if the hand was larger, and there were more wires the connection of the real and unreal would have been brought together much better. I think because of the size of the hand and the small window showing us the wires, the idea wasn't as clear as it could have been. I did see Scott working on the foot that he is doing for the next project, and that has much more detail which I really like.

My next project I am going to make a HUGE sphere, about 2 feet high, and cover it with what is going to look like garlic scape. I did not know what that was until I looked it up on google, but when certain kinds of garlic grow they intertwine around each other and have beautiful curls and stems. I want to cover the sphere with that kind of design. I think I am going to hang my smaller spheres up again, and hopefully kind of combine all there projects into one. They all seem to run on each other but fit the criteria and I am actually really happy about that.

Critique

I found the class critique beneficial though my second piece was not ready for display and my first had been critiqued previously. I found it interesting to see the how the response to my piece changed after in was glazed. Additionally, I got useful feedback about bringing out textures in my work. I also found the idea of possibly tying my first piece into my second, for display, interesting. To improve the class critique I would try to have people install their pieces earlier. This way more thought could go into the installation process. It appeared that some people ran out of time and were not able to install their work in the manner that they had originally intended.

I found Chuck’s pieces very interesting. I think they will turn out nicely if he is able to get the glaze to change. I liked the fact that the pieces were all unique. However, I think it would be great if he tried to make some even larger and possibly smaller pieces to incorporate with the others. This would help stress the pieces individuality. Yet, if he wants to keep the same general size it might be nice to add in extra details or textures. The work left me wondering if there was a reason for the order in which the pieces were displayed. It might also be nice if he plays with some different glazes for the pieces to make them seem even more individual from each other.

I have several ideas which I am considering for the third project. However, I think I would like to investigate the idea of a landscape. I plan to create various shapes and forms out of paper or other material then cover them in slip. After this I would like to use a couple of different firing methods on the resulting objects.

Critique

So, I am supposed to comment on work that stood out to me. Jen- I was thoroughly impressed with the presentation you put forward for the third project. I knew you worked hard on the project and I am happy to say it paid off in the end. I enjoyed the fact that it was a wall piece, i didn't know how you were going to display them, but as far as I am concerned, you made a superb choice. Brandon- Your expert craftsmanship was shown through the welding that you used to make the piece. Very well done. I do not think the piece needed ceramics on the other side, but if you are unhappy with the finished product, make it work and change it to how you thought of it in your head. Liz- hanging your project was the highlight of your piece, for me. I am excited to see the final product with everything put together. Maybe you can incorporate different textures next time.

Third Project: Scape

I was thinking of using moonscape for my inspiration. I am planning on making bowls, of varying shapes and sizes, and mounting them on the wall. They are supposed to represent craters. I haven't yet figured out how i am going to get them on the wall, and I might change my idea, but this is the path I am currently taking.

Phillip Craig-Critique thoughts

Our critique for our first and second projects was pretty beneficial for me. Like most critiques, it lets me know what I can do to improve my work. Even if we don’t have a chance to work on the particular project that was being critiqued, the advice can still be helpful in future projects. It also lets me know how other people see the work so I can view my work outside of my own preconceptions. For the computer piece, for example, I would never have thought of using an office desk set up unless someone had brought it up. Personally, I liked having our critique on the first project before it was due, as it let us make improvements while we still had the chance to work on it.
Okay, critique time. Sean sculptures, the nude and skeletal bust, were quite interesting. The paint job is well done, and the craftsmanship is ridiculously good. Since most of the work in the critique was abstract, it was nice seeing some work that was representational. My only qualm was already brought up in the critique, when it was said that the nude is a familiar image and the bust was reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean. I would be nice to see more work with this level of craftsmanship, but with completely original images and/or themes for the next project.
I haven’t quite figured out what to do with our next project. I noticed in the syllabus that it mentioned “escape” as an example of scape. I would like to make something around this theme. I’m still not very good at thinking metaphorically, so whatever I make will probably be more literal.