In-Depth: Cardboard Sculpture

Small Works: Geometric Motives

Wallpaper Assignment

Response to Adolf Loos: Ornament and Empire

     In this reading, Adolf Loos took his "radical aesthetic purism" ideology too far in my opinion and at some points( the racist remarks) I almost took this piece of writing to be satirical. Loos brings his argument back to the beginning of "art" when the first men "smeared on the wall"; he states that if the modern man were to act upon this impulse and smear on walls then he would be considered "degenerate" in modern society. In a way, the ripples from this opinion of Loos' can still be seen today with street artists and the vast amount of disdain and criticism that they receive for acting upon this impulse. Through the century, our society has immeasurably changed for the better and highly opinionated and biased people like Loos are often shunned. I've noticed that we've continued to prove that ornament has not halted mankind's evolution but is instead co-existing with modern aesthetics to further advance and even inspire future forms of art.
     Another statement that Loos made in this reading was that "ornament is no longer organically linked with our nature" and "has absolutely no human connexions". From recently reading the "CAM Raleigh: Ornament and Pattern" article, I know that Loos' assertion close to false for modern science has suggested that humans are practically wired to seek out pattern in our surroundings. Another baffling opinion of Loos states that "We have art, which has taken the place of ornament." Little does he know ornament continues to permeate even in the modern art world; I'd love to see the look on Loos' face if he were to see Kehinde Wiley's massive paintings on display in some of the world's most distinguished museums today.

JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES, c.2012  

Kehinde wiley

OIL ON CANVAS 120" X 90"

REGARD THE CLASS STRUGGLE 

AS THE MAIN LINK IN THE CHAIN , 2007

Kehinde Wiley
OIL AND ENAMEL ON CANVAS 96 X 72 INCHES

Response to the Wolfsonian's exhibition "Art and Design in the Modern Age"

     I really enjoyed how this exhibition displayed the artifacts in a variety of themes ranging from National Identity and Political Works to Modern furniture and entire blueprints for future cities/metropolis'. This arrangement really helped me get a feel of how the people living in this period  viewed the world at the time. It was interesting to realize that the attitudes that the artisans felt about the rapidly advancing environment are reflected in the artworks. Some people embraced new modern aesthetics while others clung on to their love for ornament and embellishments. The most interesting pieces, to me at least, were the ones that combined both modern design principles with historical ornamentation; some examples are: Wilhem Hunt Diedrich's "Candlestand" and Carl Melmsten's "Chest". 

Candlestand, c.1925
Wilhelm Hunt Diederich

Chest, c.1925
Carl Malmsten

     Although I did thoroughly enjoy the minimalism and "form over function" aspects of the bauhaus furniture and housewares, the ornate and intricately embellished furniture informed me a bit more for our current unit Ornament and Pattern. Ornament completely adorn these furniture pieces and they are fully functional. These ornamentations not only serve as decoration but also incorporate motifs like the "Folding chair" piece and narratives like the "Stained glass window". The patterns on  "Sideboard" by Thomas Jeckyll showed me more examples of enclosed ornaments and how they look on wooden furniture.

 

 

Folding chair, c.1905
   

Stained glass window, c. 1930

   

Small Works

 Shapes in my sketchbook
 


My "quilt"

Response to CAM Raleigh: Ornament and Pattern

     One interesting thing that I pulled from this reading is that our human desire to see ornament is backed up by science and we are pretty much "hard wired" to see it. I love the fact that humans have always wanted to give more meaning to our lives, therefore we developed ways to "embellish" or "add layers of ornament" to our lives. An ornamentation has the power to tell compelling stories and make us better at apprehending/appreciating the things we often take fore granted. With all of its positive attributes, I was surprised to find out that ornament has been greeted with "skepticism and scorn". It gives me hope knowing that ornament possesses the ability to adapt and change with different contexts and aesthetics over time.
     It was interesting to read about the plethora of themes that ornament could have and be able to draw my own conclusion after knowing the ornamentation's context. This reading has reinvigorated my creative process and inspired me to continue to have a sense of purpose in my own artworks. Whether it is to tell a story or bring attention to a particular issue, I now think that an art piece is always more powerful when there's a sense purpose behind it. My artwork, like ornament, is meant to be read. Proper execution of an ornament can "offer a good read" and I strive to give my art work these qualities and leave room for viewers to wonder.

Response to PAMM visit: Ornament and Empire

     The visit to the PAMM to see the "Ornament and Empire" exhibit was especially interesting for me because I've never thought about how ornamentation can correlate with status and power. I was in awe and amazed at how Hew Locke utilized a perishable and everyday material such as cardboard to create such a magnificent  structure. The chaotic piece is comprised of incredibly elaborate patterns abound; with no resting spot for the eye, I was forced to carefully study the piece in detail. Upon learning that Locke's intent was to address symbols of British royalty, colonial histories, and narratives related to global migrations, I began to appreciate the piece more knowing that the object and material that Locke chose was intentional.
          Seeing Firelei Baez's work again remind me of my first Art Basel experience. I remember admiring Baez's massive, colorful and ornate installation that resembles the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It was nice to see her work once again in the Perez and have time to stop and read about her pieces. I have learned that she utilizes her art to address the long history of ornamentation and fashion as acts of resistance among African American women during times of French colonialism in New Orleans and the Caribbean. I especially enjoyed staring back at the figure in Baez's "Sans-Souci" piece and learning that the piece is about how free women of color of 18-century Louisiana turned oppression into expression.

Firelei Baez
Sans-Souci (This threshold between a dematerialized and historicized body), 2015
Acrylic and ink on linen

 

Firelei Baez
Bloodlines, 2015
Acrylic and ink on linen

    

                             Hew Locke

                     Hemmed in Two, 2000

        Cardboard, wood, acrylic, glue, and felt-tip pen

Response to Ivin’s Article

     This reading reminded me of how deeply rooted design is in human history. To start, I find it interesting that Ivins compared engravers to musical composers to illustrate the idea that these original creators intended to have their works "engraved by other hands" and evolve to become "elaborations of another man's work." I've gathered that "ornament" and the decorative art has enriched human lives for centuries and continues to do so and help humans develop. Engravers drew inspiration from painters, transforming one idea to the next. Ivins provided the Raphael Loggies as a great example because it was an instance where others took the works of the great master artist and turned it into ornamentation motifs that adorned the vaults of grand structures for many to see.

     Another thing that I found interesting was that these early engravers, with the help of the printing press, recorded designs in pattern books. Later in the reading, Ivins emphasized the importance of collecting and studying these drawings, prints, and book decorations as they will prove to be effective in helping us learn more about the functional growth and development of ornament and even use them as inspiration for new design. Towards the end of the article, Ivins stated that, "Unfortunately the fine ornament of past times has to a large extent been worn out in the workshops... and is becoming so rare and expensive that it is quite impossible for any but the wealthiest worker or manufacturer to form a good collection of it." This prompted me to do more research about how ornament is perceived in our modern society and what are other's opinions of it. The lecture/essay called "Ornament and Crime" by the theorist and architect, Adolf Loos, stated that ornament in art is degenerate to society and that lack of decoration is a sign of an advanced society. His ideology lead me to think about modern art works, especially the minimal ones, and wonder how true Loos' opinion is.

Labels Help You Organize

All blog posts must be labeled with two keywords, which blogger calls Labels. When faculty visits your blog for evaluation purposes, we will use the labels to quickly find your work. If you do not use the keywords properly, we will not be able to find your work. Proper set-up and maintenance of your blog falls under the Research and Participation part of your grade which counts for 30% of the overall semester grade. 

Topical Keywords

The first set of keywords correspond to the module we are working in. We will refer to these as topical keywords since they correspond to the topic we are exploring over the two-week periods. Your first group of posts will be labeled under Topic: Creative Impulse since this is the first topic (Topic #1). Here are the topical keywords you will use through out the semester:

Topic: Creative Impulse

Topic: Pattern and Ornament

Topic: Rhinoceros

Topic: Narrative

Topic: Landscape

Topic: Zine

Categorical Keywords

The second set of keywords will organize your posts according to kind. Here are the Keywords you will use for Labels:

Exercises - tag for posts documenting all assigned exercises. The first one will be the paper folding exercise from the first class. 

Readings - tag for posts containing your two paragraph responses to the assigned readings. The first ones will be for "The White Bird" and the Jerry Saltz article from Vulture.com. 

Small Works - tag for posts documenting all assigned small works. The first blog post labeled Small Works will contain images and accompanying descriptions of the three small works you complete for the Creative Impulse Module (Topic #1). 

In-Depth Projects - tag for posts documenting all assigned In-Depth projects. The first blog post labeled In-Depth Projects will contain images (or video if appropriate) and accompanying descriptions of the more robust work you produce in response to the Creative Impulse Module (Topic #1).

Outside Visits - tag for posts containing your two paragraph responses to all required visits outside of the classroom. These include visits we do together as a class [during class time] or individually outside of class time. 

Please be sure to use both a topical and categorical keyword when labeling your posts.

Next Steps

1. After copying and pasting this text into your first blog post, create your labels from the keywords we listed above. In the Edit post window you will find an area titles Labels where you can add your own custom labels to your blog. This is where you will add the keywords we listed above. Please be sure to add all keywords to the Labels window for this first blog post. 

The easiest way to do this is by copying and pasting the following text into the Labels window for this blog post:

Topic: Creative Impulse, Topic: Pattern and Ornament, Topic: Rhinoceros, Topic: Narrative, Topic: Landscape, Topic: Zine, Exercises, Readings, Small Works, In-Depth Projects, Outside Visits