Katie's blog

Drinking and Drawing #2

Was it fun? Was it frustrating? Do you like to draw? Will you ever try again?- Drawing the trees and drinks were fun however drawing a person was very frustrating to do. Drawing they eyes of the person was the hardest part for me and took me longer than everything else in the drawing.
Do you think if you practiced for 100 hours, or 1,000, that you would get a lot better?- Yes, if i spent even a few more hours I would improve my drawing skills. The more practice put in would help me discover new techniques and styles of drawing.
What is your major? Can you think of any ways that simple sketching of some kind could be useful in your major?- I am a psychology major and although psychology has to do with the mind it is still good to be able to sketch things to help visualize behaviors and certain processes.
Is Drawing a Language? Can drawings say things that are hard to say with words?- No, I do not see drawing as a language but as an art form that can still help someone express their feelings and emotions that they may have trouble putting to words.

Finding Art

Include photos of your art
Discuss the Form, Aesthetics & Content of your art.- The art piece was rather small being maybe only a foot tall. The only color used to create the piece was black making it a more minimal piece.
Was your Art, Art before you put a rectangle around it? Why or why not?- Yes, this was art before we put a rectangle around it. The art is a type of street art or graffiti so it is meant to not be on a traditional canvas like other forms of painting.
Will your Art be Art after the rectangle is gone? Why or why not?- Yes, this art will be art once the rectangle is gone because this work is a form of street art.
Does art reside in the body of the object? So that some objects are art and some objects are not art? Explain. How do we know which objects are art and which are not?- Any object can be seen as art if described in the right way or if someone can find a meaning behind that object.
Can art be something other than an object?- Yes, music is a form of art that is not an object.
Does art reside in the experience of the viewer? So that it isn’t an object per se, but a way and a choice of taking the time to have a viewing experience? Explain.- Yes, art resides in the experience of the viewer as certain objects are bring up certain emotions like a piece of art would.

Activity #2 Finger paint

What was the experience like?- It was very messy but fun to feel the paint in my hands.
Was it easier, harder, or different than you expected?- Finger painting was much easier than I anticipated. Once i chose the colors of the work it was easy to just jump in and start creating my art piece.
How was the experience of making a painting with no subject? Confusing & Frustrating? Liberating & Inspiring?- Painting with no subject gave me a sense of freedom and inspired me to just follow with what I felt was right in that moment.
How does this compare to other paintings you have seen?- The lack of strict rules and structure gives the viewer more freedom to interpret the art as they please or feel is right in their eyes.

Maintenance Art (cleaning “NOW” statue)

How did you feel performing Maintenance Art in the area around the USU?- It was different to connect with the art not only visually but physically by cleaning it.
How are Mierle Laderman Ukeles cleaning the steps of an art museum and Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum different? How are they the same? Are one or both “art”? Are one or both “not art”?- They are different in the sense that Mierle Laderman Ukeles is cleaning the steps while Richard Serra flinging molten lead against the walls of an art museum is creating more of a mess rather than maintenance like Ukeles work. Both can be seen as art in their own ways as Ukeles’s art highlights the art of everyday maintenance and Serra’s work shows a different more reckless side of art.
Was Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ Maintenance Artperformance at the Wadsworth Atheneum “art”? Did the fact that her performance was at an Art Museum make it art? What if instead, she had simply gotten hired as a janitor at a factory somewhere and performed that job for 6 months? Would that have been art? What makes an act “art” or “not art”?- Ukeles performance is seen as art simply because it was presented as such. She believed what she was doing was an art and presented it to the public as such much like anyone who is proud or wants show off their skills calls it their “art”.
Is an object or an action Art or Not Art because of some intrinsic property of the medium? Or because of the intention of the person performing it? Are all paintings on canvas art because paintings on canvas are exhibited in art museums? Is all house painting not art because we don’t exhibit painted houses in art museums? Can a painting on canvas ever be not art? Can painting a house ever be art?- Art is what you make of it. If someone’s wants their work to be perceived as art it can be even painting a house. art work displayed at home or in a museum (or anywhere for that matter) can be seen as art if that’s what the creator wants it to be. A painting on a canvas is usually seen as art and most artists like using that platform so in my eyes the only situation in which art on a canvas cannot be seen as art is if the maker decides they don’t want it to be. With that said art is also in the eye of the beholder as someone may look at a art pieces and not see it as art but someone else can whether that was the creators intentions or not.
Has Mierle Laderman Ukeles, or Jennifer Lopez, made you think differently about “Women’s Work”? Is “Women’s Work” ever art? If yes, when? If no, why not?- Women’s work is art if the woman/women creating it intended it to be seen as art.
In class we discussed the woman who cleaned Donald Trump’s Star on Hollywood Blvd. Whose Star would you get down on your hands and knees to clean?- I would clean Robert Downey Jr.’s Hollywood star

My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
What topics do you think you’ll write about?
Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.