Day 29 – Surrealist Photography

Yesterday I talked about how photography as an art is evolving. The article I linked (this one: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/16/sean-ohagan-photography-art-form) discussed how the prestigious Deutsche Börse prize in photography was won in 2012 by John Stezaker, who does not even take photographs. (Read his Wikipedia page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stezaker). Stezaker makes surreal type collages by combining pre-existing images. Here’s an example. It reminds me of the surrealist paintings I looked at a few weeks ago.

Stezaker doesn’t take any of the photographs himself. Instead, he finds and combines things like old postcards So he uses photography, but doesn’t take the photos himself. Does this matter? I don’t think so. Art using found objects is still art. Think of modern art exhibits you've seen. It’s the creativity with which the artist arranges them that matters. I’m not sure calling this type of art “photography” is exactly correct, but what else would you call it? In any case, I think it’s pretty cool.

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 12 – Art or Laziness?

I woke up very excited today- my brother and his wife and toddler son are on their way to Chicago to visit us! I can’t wait for Baby Girl to meet her cousin! I was already bouncing around the house, but, I decided today would nevertheless be a good day to drink an entire pot of coffee. (But it’s only one of those little four cup pots. Don’t judge.)

I turned my jittery attention to Cubism. (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm) As I believe I mentioned in an earlier blog, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are credited with creating Cubism between 1907 and 1914. (And, as I believe I’ve also mentioned, I’m not so much a fan of cubism or abstract painting styles). Basically, Cubism rejected the idea that art should imitate nature and instead focused on fractured geometric forms. At first, the subject of Cubist paintings was usually discernible, but between 1910 and 1912 “high” Analytic Cubism was popular and works were so abstracted that it was difficult to really see what they were- although popular themes were still lifes of musical instruments, glasses, and the human face and figure. Still Life with a Bottle of Rum, pictured below, is an example of one of Picasso’s Analytic Cubist works. Synthetic Cubism came between 1912-1913, and began with the technique of  papiers collés – placing large pieces of printed or colored paper into a composition to allude to a particular object. Man with a Hat and Violin, pictured below is an example of a work created using  papiers collés.

So, I think it’s important to say that, although I am not particularly moved by the Cubist works, I understand that it is art on purpose and there is some method to the madness. These artists were not just being lazy and “throwing paint on a canvass and calling it art,” which I feel is a popular thing to say when you don’t like this style. They were experimenting with a particular technique. That technique grew and evolved, and many of these works are considered serious works of art today and enjoyed by many people. So, even though this style is not exactly my cup of tea, I think it’s quite fair to say that their experimentation was not for nothing.

Do you enjoy Cubist works? If not, can you at least appreciate that there was an artistic effort being made, or do you think I’m crazy for thinking that such works are indeed masterpieces of art?

Picasso - Still Life with a Bottle of Rum

Picasso - Man with a Hat and Violin

Xoxo,

Diana

Day 1 - Do I even LIKE art?

So, this morning, as I drank my cup of coffee, I took a few minutes to think about what topic I would like to learn more about for the first month of this project. I tossed around a few ideas in my head and decided that I'd like to take the next month to explore the world of art. I'm interested in exploring further the type of art I've found at museums, such as paintings, sculptures, etc. (I know, I know, this is an extremely broad category. Bear with me).

As I thought about this, I realized that I've often listed "Art" as an interest in "About Me" sections of social media sites. But do I really like art? Or do I only say I like it because that's what educated, worldly people are supposed to say? My formal experience with art started with an introductory art appreciation class in college, a requirement for my undergraduate degree. It was a broad survey of pretty much every type of art imaginable, and the only thing I remember is that we watched the movie Babette's Feast as an example of art in film. I thought the movie was okay, but also thought that it was strange that, out of all the movies in the world that we could have possibly watched to exemplify film as art, that movie was chosen. Ladies and gentlemen,  that is all I took away from my 3-credit-hour formal art education.

Apparently undeterred by my failure to actually learn anything about art from my university class, I have continued to say that "art" is one of my hobbies. When I visit a new city, I dutifully visit at least one of its art museums. (See below for one of my favorite pictures from one of these trips - my 2011 visit to the Seattle Art Museum. What's not to love about a giant rodent?!?). I stare at paintings and old pottery and even old beer cans strung across an old fence post (hello, modern art), and I nod as though it moves me and I understand what it all means. But I don't. Should I?

Should I spend time finding ways to actually learn about and explore art? Will this enrich my life and make me happy? This is actually a question that has been bothering me for a while, and my goal for this month is to answer it. I appreciate and respect art in a broad sense, but that's not really enough for me to list it as an interest or hobby. Do I truly enjoy "art" and, if so, which kinds? I might try to visit some of the museums here in Chicago and reflect on that experience, but since I've spent a lot of time in museums I would love other suggestions on how to discover more about art. Are there books I should read, websites I should visit, podcasts that discuss the topic? Is there a type of art that you love or that really speaks to you? How did you discover your love for it? It's time for me to finally decide whether I love art, or just love appearing to be someone who loves art.

Oh, and here's that giant rodent I promised you:

Xoxo,

Diana