The Day that Cardillacs Stands up

Artwork Review

(Source taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch#/media/File:Cadillac_Ranch.jpg)

Title: Cadillac Ranch

Artist: Chip Lord

Year created: 1974/1994

Medium: Installation

Overview

Cadillac Ranch is an installation of 10 Cadillac’s buried nose deep in a line, in the dirt along route 66 west of Amarillo.

Its almost as if they were droven off a cliff and plunged head first into the ground. Now useless, the owners wander off looking for help and the Cadillacs lay, left there buried with their tailfins in the air waiting for travellers to chance upon it.

After awhile, the work was subjugated to the whims of the travellers, meaning they were either defaced with graffitti or ripped apart as souvenirs. Whats left of these cars are but a line of rainbow coloured skins of their former selves, rebirth into comic relief for a travellers amusement.

(Source taken from: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220)

Ant Farm

As mentioned by Constance Lewallen, in his writing ‘Still Subversive After all These Years’

Ant Farm — a collective of radical architects who were also video, performance, and installation artists but, above all, visionaries and cultural commentators — offers an intriguing look into the conceptual activity of the late sixties and seventies, a time that has proved to be seminal for succeeding generations of adventuresome artists.

Their work embraces ‘the latest technologies to disseminate its scathing criticism of American culture and mass media’.

In the case of the Cadillac Ranch it is a commentary about consumerism and maybe pop culture. What a car and a crashed car is in society. More interestingly is how members of the online communitty take to the idea of a crashed car.

Its almost Ironic, how one can act so indifferent and even gleeful of the idea of chancing upon a crashed car. How satirical their photos get when they interact with the car itself.

Decades have passed. The Cadillacs have now been in the ground as art longer than they were on the road as cars. They are stripped to their battered frames, splattered in day-glo paint splooge, barely recognizable as automobiles. Yet Cadillac Ranch is more popular than ever.

As quoted from roadsideamerica.com

And in a way it is quite interesting as it changes in an unsual way with time. The artwork evolves with evey added touch of a new tourist own creativity into the mix. It keeps conversations going, give people something new to talk about.

Sources:

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2220
http://www.stretcher.org/features/still_subversive_after_all_these_years/
http://amarillo.com/stories/070404/fea_artbeat.shtml#.WpaDXK6WbIU
http://www.spatialagency.net/database/ant.farm
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/107284
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch
https://www.eai.org/titles/cadillac-ranch-1974-1994
http://slide.ly/buzz/view/0753e05835bf697ae7eee5b1329f801f

February 21, 2018

Let us DIWO

DIWO and Maker Culture

During our Week 5 lesson we had the chance to have a lecture with Marc Garrett. He talks about the Furtherfield and how the idea of ‘Do-It-With-Others’ (DIWO) has allowed them to achieve greater heights.

What is so great about this idea of DIWO though?

Whilst many artist are able to create artworks by themselves, DIWO brings across this idea of community, a sort of shared experience that can be felt amongst others. It becomes a more accessible art, and even in the case they are almost like volunteery projects that help the community, or ‘Values-In-Action’ as we call it in Singapore.

(Source taken from: https://www.facebook.com/Furtherfield/)

On their website thery have various workshops like ‘Design 4 ACTION! Permaculture Course’ and exhibitions all aimed towards helping the community.

It explores the extent of which those who view and interact with work, including those from under-represented groups, becomes co-producers in the network, rather then the ‘audience’.

(Source taken from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/beuys-7000-oak-trees-ar00745)

When I think large scale community progects I think of this art project by Joseph Beuys, ‘7,000 oaks’. ‘7,000 oaks’ start with 7,000 basalt stone, each a pair to one of the 7,000 trees, were piled in front of the Museum Fridericianu. Everytime a tree was planted the pile was reduced. While the project idea was started by one man, it took a community to help make this project successful, and later the project spread further into other communities with this idea of wanting to change.

Maybe in a way, its because this issues are important to the community, which will eventually become the drive, all the call to action.

Subsequently there is this idea of pooling ideas together to create something better.

Furtherfield connects people to new ideas, critical thinking and imaginative possibilities for art, technology and the world around us. Through artworks, labs and debate people from all walks of life explore today’s important questions.

Similar to them, our Experimental Interaction lessons aim to nuture this idea of collaboration. In our micro-project the tele-stroll, we made use of the idea of the third space to create a video where two people in two different locations could interact as either a single person, or keep the company of each other. It is playful and brings together the ideas of two individuals to create something even better.

Even a bit more recently, there is the idea of our glitched art works, which is a combination of the ideas of various people. It comes out differently, sort of representing how different each and everyone of us thinks.

The Conclusion

Thinking about it now, two heads are always better then one, and thats because our ideas are different, the way we work is different, and thats probably why DIWO would be a good thing for the makers culture, as the ideas of many would result in something far more creative then just the ideas of one.

February 12, 2018February 13, 2018

Image Making Through Type Research

So for this project we are tasked with illustrating our name (nickname, initials, surname, etc) in a way that would describe our future job.

When I think of future jobs, I mostly think of artsy things like fashion, working in a museum, and making toys. However, that would make the scope rather narrow, so I branches into other fields and thought of how I would like to portray myself in an aesthetic manner. Hence i came up with being a magician or circus performer and a pattissier, which I felt had a more whimsical touch to it.

Toy maker

When searching ‘toy maker’, most of the search results show images of wooden toy makers.

(source taken from: https://theaudienceawards.com/films/the-toymaker-86476)

Th source above is about Venezuelan folk artist Mario Calderón and features the toys that he makes. They are mostly humanoid beings painted in bright highly saturated colours. His theme for his tys is a relflection of childhood, and has a very fun and whimsical aesthetic.

(Both sources were taken from: https://www.folkartmarket.org/artist/mario-calderon/) The above are just some of the examples of Mario Calderón’s work.

In this case i would have my illustrate the workshop and the process of the toys created.

However, I felt that there are many example of toys (Stuffed toys, collectibles, dolls, board games) hence maybe I would like to dive further into what kind of toys I would like to ‘make in future’.

(source taken from: Pixar Animation Studio’s Toy Story 2 (1999))

I remembered this scene in Toy story where Woody had to have his arm reattached, and I thought of how interesting the tool box full of doll touch up parts were.

I also watched some Youtubers who make custom dolls.

(Source was screen shot from Youtuber Dollightful’s video ‘ Your First Custom: Selection + Preparation [Part 1]’ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fen8kUQHfjE)

(Source was screen shot from Youtuber Dollightful’s video ‘ Sewing Doll clothes tutorial Part 1’ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdUviy9uYpk)

Her videos provide the process of customizing your own dolls.

Subsequently, there was another aspect of the finish products that I could portray, with the toys kept neatly in the shelves like a toy seller instead.

Fashion designer

So as a fashion designer, there are a few stages in designing, first being ideation in the form of sketches, second is the gathering of materials, third being production of the clothing and lastly the runway.

(source taken from: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-25592858-stock-footage-fashion-designer-draws-sketches-for-a-new-collection-in-her-workshop.html)

(source take from: http://www.loveandotherbugs.com/fashion/decoding-fashion-terms/)

I want to illustrate the process of producing the clothes, and maybe incorporate parts that suggest ideation and material gathering. Which also means that I would have to research clothes designs.

Curator

So I had the idea of being a Curator as i like the idea of this large collection of things.

(Source taken from: https://broadway.showtickets.com/new-york-tours-attractions/american-museum-of-natural-history-new-york/)

(Source taken from: https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60763-d210108-i145902047-American_Museum_of_Natural_History-New_York_City_New_York.html)

I visited the National History Museum in New York a few years ago and was drawn instantly to how they curated their large collection of taxidermy and fossils. Its almost as if visiting the zoo as seen by the above picture where the ‘animals’ could be seen in the ‘natural habitat’.

I hope that this would not become too detailed to the point that it would become a narrative.

Magician or Circus Performer

In the case of a magician, i would be illustrating certain props that magicians use.

(Source is taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat-trick_(magic_trick))

However, thinking about it, I find that only using the props of magicians might be a bit narrow, hence widen the scope to more of circus acts.

(Source is taken from: https://www.thedodo.com/ringling-bros-circus-close-down-2182308918.html)

(source take from: https://gazette.gmu.edu/articles/13399)

(Source taken from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4861954/Escaped-tiger-killed-Georgia-owned-circus.html)

(Source was taken from: http://mypieceofculture.tumblr.com/post/159451338879/witch-aesthetics-circus-witch-chaos-witch)

The only problem i had with this was that it may be a bit too narrative.

Patissier

I like sweets, they come in many forms, many colours. I specifically like walking into those high end bakeries to stare at the sweets.

(source was taken from: http://www.windsorstar.com/life/news/Gallery+Nadege+Patisserie/6522454/story.html)

(Source taken from: https://ganachepatisserie.com.au/10-essential-pieces-of-patisserie-equipment-for-beginners/)

For this illustration, i am considering between having it illustrate the process of making a cake vs having and illustration of a store front.

In the case of the former, i would be referencing more on the tools and the processes used to make the cake like the above pictures. Hence maybe only one letter in my name will be a pastry and the rest will be tools, emphasizing on the fact that it has just been completed.

Subsequently, I could also have a store front to show the cakes that I have ‘made’. In that case, i would be studying the various kinds of gourmet desserts and how they will become the letters of my name.

(source taken from: http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/recipe-search/chefs-recipes/2013/1/strawberry-shortbread/)

(source taken from: https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/photo/mixed-gourmet-desserts-royalty-free-image/159719686)

(source taken from: https://www.tastemade.co.uk/videos/matilda-tart)

However this may come across more of a cake seller rather then a patissier.

August 22, 2017

Mark Making Research

Mark making is the term used to define when a line or various lines are put together to form textures and patterns on any surface.

Mark Making is present in our everyday lives, starting with the most obvious being writing with a pen or pencil. Each style of writing is different based on how a person manipulates their pen or pencil, hence some are more curvaceous whereas some are more linear. Hence some people may find some handwriting more pleasing to read then others.

These lines have certain qualities that ‘persuade’ us to feel in a certain way.

An example of which can be found in Wassily Kandinsky’s “Composition VII”

Source taken from: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-kandinsky-wassily-artworks.htm#pnt_4

Wassily Kandinsky is well known for his interpretations of various music pieces. “Composition VII” makes use of contrasting lines that clash and overlap each other. The various directions, and individual shapes each lines takes seem to compete with the others, which creates chaos and/or confusion.

In the case of paintings, brushes have the ability to shape a line into various shapes. However we also make tools with various tips to create a unique stroke.

Creating your tools, or having tools with tips of various shapes and sizes can in various patterns despite being used in a similar manner.

source from: https://es.pinterest.com/pin/850687817084708293/

As seen by the above, the rougher material results in a spindly, almost scratchy effect. When used in sharp swift movements the lines are thinner, that could resemble irritation or confusion. The second tool creates rounder lines, that seem more uniform than the first. The last imitates a dry brush resulting in segregated segments of ink within each stroke.

Colour too plays a part in mark marking, creating weight and shadows, which gives emphasis to certain part of the image.

source from: https://es.pinterest.com/pin/151363237451900564/

Darker segments tend to be more eye catching, as it creates weight to the image. However, negative spaces within dark contrasting areas act as an accent, which draws attention beyond the dark spaces, like a pathway to other parts of the painting.