Last Thursday, Teen Lab visited SAIC for a tour. I found the tour very interesting an my eyes certainly "glazed over" many of the materials and facilities available for students to use. We first visited the Ceramics department. I was interested that chemistry was involved in mixing glazes for ceramic students to use. Things like volcanic ashes could be experimented with.
We also visited the Photography department next. There were dark rooms for developing photos, the traditional analog way. There were also high tech machines for digital as well as negatives too. I enjoyed the fact that we saw what a studio for painting students looked like. There were electric lights as well as a open window, so students could contrast how their artwork looked in artificial light versus natural light. We ended our tour with a visit to a student gallery.
Monday, December 5, 2011
John Molini in ART PACKING
Today at Teen Lab we went 'behind the scenes' to the art packing section of the Art Institute. John Molini was the manager of that section of the Art Institute. His specialties include making the crates for art packing as well as framing the art for the finished version shown in the galleries upstairs. It was interesting learning about the state-of-the-art materials involved in the packing, including memory foam that is very strong and retains its shape. He said it was like "packaging eggs", the closer and tighter you fit it, the less likely it is to break. This goes for fragile things like eggs, or priceless works of art.
Mr. Molini said he was "lucky" to be able to do a job he enjoys and is able to think in 3D, if he is asked about a painting in the galleries, he knows how big the crate should be. He said he still had a blueprint of the primitive crates used several years ago. Today, the crates are made of special materials that make the crate waterproof and sturdy. He said he was very lucky to get the job at the Art Institute after years of being a traveling musician on the road. He said is happy that he went from working in a temporary architecture job at the Art Institute in the 1980s, to getting a job in the Art Packing section after a member left their job. He had only planned to stay a few months to pay his debt and pay off a guitar custom made for him, but he ended up staying.
I found a link to the band he was in: BB Spin.
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As a side note, I'm finished with my digital collage today! Its not quite long in length, but it tells a story. :)
Mr. Molini said he was "lucky" to be able to do a job he enjoys and is able to think in 3D, if he is asked about a painting in the galleries, he knows how big the crate should be. He said he still had a blueprint of the primitive crates used several years ago. Today, the crates are made of special materials that make the crate waterproof and sturdy. He said he was very lucky to get the job at the Art Institute after years of being a traveling musician on the road. He said is happy that he went from working in a temporary architecture job at the Art Institute in the 1980s, to getting a job in the Art Packing section after a member left their job. He had only planned to stay a few months to pay his debt and pay off a guitar custom made for him, but he ended up staying.
I found a link to the band he was in: BB Spin.
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As a side note, I'm finished with my digital collage today! Its not quite long in length, but it tells a story. :)
Monday, November 28, 2011
Physical Collage Artist Statement Draft
We are working on artist statements for our physical collages for our Teen Lab exhibition, and here is my current draft, it's a work in progress!
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When I started my collage, I picked out artwork that was mostly from the older galleries. I found that floral patterns were pleasing and were present in the majority of art pieces I chose. The pieces draw inspiration from nature. Thistles, lilies, and abstract flowers were present in the decorative arts, as well as backgrounds in paintings. The second part of my collage consisted of entrances and exits. I felt excited when I incorporated the flight of stairs to the second floor because that was the floor that contained the decorative arts. I chose to put the yellow beaded curtain, because it was also an entrance. It makes one think what lays behind the curtain, or up the stairs.
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When I started my collage, I picked out artwork that was mostly from the older galleries. I found that floral patterns were pleasing and were present in the majority of art pieces I chose. The pieces draw inspiration from nature. Thistles, lilies, and abstract flowers were present in the decorative arts, as well as backgrounds in paintings. The second part of my collage consisted of entrances and exits. I felt excited when I incorporated the flight of stairs to the second floor because that was the floor that contained the decorative arts. I chose to put the yellow beaded curtain, because it was also an entrance. It makes one think what lays behind the curtain, or up the stairs.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Project Progress
My theme for the Digital Collage project is Childhood Nostalgia.
Right now I'm split with two different storylines.
One is based on the painting 'Song of the Lark." It shows a girl in a rural setting. Since she had to work in the fields often, she didn't have time for play. I would like to put the song "I Have Had Singing" to the paintings that line the wall along with 'The Song of the Lark." All of them depict rural scenes.
The second part has to do with seagulls and waves and seascapes, like in "Two Sisters", siblings at a beach, along with "The Child's Bath," Summer memories and domestic scenes are very nostalgic.
I've collected beach sounds, including waves and seagulls, as well as ambient farm sounds. Ive collected lark songs as well.
I have to figure out how to combine these two stories. Meredith has suggested that perhaps the girl in the field is recalling her past childhood.
The theme of my digital collage is mostly taking comfort in the past after all . . .
Right now I'm split with two different storylines.
One is based on the painting 'Song of the Lark." It shows a girl in a rural setting. Since she had to work in the fields often, she didn't have time for play. I would like to put the song "I Have Had Singing" to the paintings that line the wall along with 'The Song of the Lark." All of them depict rural scenes.
The second part has to do with seagulls and waves and seascapes, like in "Two Sisters", siblings at a beach, along with "The Child's Bath," Summer memories and domestic scenes are very nostalgic.
I've collected beach sounds, including waves and seagulls, as well as ambient farm sounds. Ive collected lark songs as well.
I have to figure out how to combine these two stories. Meredith has suggested that perhaps the girl in the field is recalling her past childhood.
The theme of my digital collage is mostly taking comfort in the past after all . . .
College Fair
I went to the college fair on Tuesday. I was able to talk to all 5 colleges I was planning to apply to. It was very informative and I managed to get a lot of pamphlets. I liked that a large amount of information was all in one place. I found the student financial aid table was very helpful, I even got a bookmark that listed what to watch out for in scam/illegitimate scholarships. "We do everything for you!" / " You are a finalist in a contest... that you never entered." were some of the things listed. With the new and old information I learned, I need to finish up my college applications.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Guest Speaker
There was a guest speaker (Curator Lisa Dorin) today at the Art Institute for the Sharon Hayes exhibit. Her presenting the theme of "Speech" made the exhibit much easier to understand. The first time I went to the exhibit at the opening I really didn't know what to expect. The second time I went with the them of Speech in mind, I found that the album covers and how they were juxtaposed made me be more aware of the exhibit. When I got to the almost silent room with the clicking projectors, I found the sound unfamiliar. I hadn't grown up in the time of projectors and it was definitely not the same as a Powerpoints'.
Later when we went back to the Ryan Education Center we discussed things with our guest speaker. She spoke at length about the artist's work and back ground. Sharon Hayes was a journalism major before she took on art more than a decade ago. It is evident activism shows in her work. Most of the exhibit had presidential speeches from the 60s, a turbulent time in American history. The pictures clicking on the projectors were of protestors with protest signs, however, they were placed in a different time period than they were intended to be. There were interesting reactions from people.
Later when we went back to the Ryan Education Center we discussed things with our guest speaker. She spoke at length about the artist's work and back ground. Sharon Hayes was a journalism major before she took on art more than a decade ago. It is evident activism shows in her work. Most of the exhibit had presidential speeches from the 60s, a turbulent time in American history. The pictures clicking on the projectors were of protestors with protest signs, however, they were placed in a different time period than they were intended to be. There were interesting reactions from people.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Sharon Hayes Spoken Words DJ Nov 10
Today the Sharon Hayes exhibit opened today at the Art Institute. She was a spoken words DJ and here is a bit of her performance.
Her performance was very interesting. At Teen Lab , we discussed that the lack of visuals made people focus on the audio. She mixed presidential speeches, interviews and news-clips from the 1960s. It was a turbulent time in American history, I heard JFK's fimilar voice in speeches, several news anchors on the Vietnam War and a really devastated voice announcing that Martin Luther King passed away from a gunshot wound in the neck.
A piece of audio I really noted was when she mixed news of an airplane crash caused by a fog/miscommunication, after audio news of Cuba and the Bay of Pigs.
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Yesterday we learned to use Garage Band and record sounds using cameras. I was in the create sounds group using pencils, paper, hands, whatever we could find. The other groups were ambient sounds and vocal sounds. We will use these non-copyrighted sounds for our digital collages.
Her performance was very interesting. At Teen Lab , we discussed that the lack of visuals made people focus on the audio. She mixed presidential speeches, interviews and news-clips from the 1960s. It was a turbulent time in American history, I heard JFK's fimilar voice in speeches, several news anchors on the Vietnam War and a really devastated voice announcing that Martin Luther King passed away from a gunshot wound in the neck.
A piece of audio I really noted was when she mixed news of an airplane crash caused by a fog/miscommunication, after audio news of Cuba and the Bay of Pigs.
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Yesterday we learned to use Garage Band and record sounds using cameras. I was in the create sounds group using pencils, paper, hands, whatever we could find. The other groups were ambient sounds and vocal sounds. We will use these non-copyrighted sounds for our digital collages.
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