While a lot of the pieces at the Whitney Biennial stood out to me, none caught my attention as much as Ari Marcopoulos's DVD video project titled "Detroit." The movie showed kids playing a continuous sound they could manipulate via a very impressive arrangement of guitar pedals and stomp boxes. As a guitar player myself, I was instantly draw towards the familiar sounds of some of the crazy effect pedals before I even saw what the video was. I really loved that the sound never stopped. Even when they weren't touching the pedals, the sound wave was always present in the work. Just as the sound started to settle into something closer to a normal guitar, the kids would press another pedal creating a whole new sound. This random experimentation with the different effects creates a very interesting piece. I sure if they were to try this again the piece would remain somewhat similar, but it would take on a whole new sound in the end. I think it would be cool to have someone who's established in terms of using these guitar effects featured in the piece to see what they could create without normal music boundaries. The name that first comes to mind for me has to be Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. He pushes his guitar playing to extreme sounds with his effects and styles, and would really give a piece like this unimaginable impact. Another cool thing would be if us as viewers were able to play with the pedals to create the piece. The sound would be continued and changing every day.

Text Exercise

Presentations

Sci-Fi Nightclub:
This presentation featured the works of Erwin Redl and Leo Villareal. I really liked the ideas that the curators presented about combining the different yet related works of the two artists. While one worked with exteriors, the other worked predominately with interior spaces. This combination could really create a very interesting exhibition. The entire building could be transformed. They also discussed the difference between working with sculptural aspects versus using virtual reality. I thought they really did a great job presenting the works and really found two artists who would create a compelling show. I loved all the images of the Matrix collection.

Living Computers:
Laurent Mignonneau and Chirsta Sommerer with Rafael Lozano-Hemmer were the artists focused in this exhibition. They were exploring the differences of organic and human interactions. I really liked both the piece with the moving chairs, Wavefunction, and Pulse Park. I wonder if they could somehow be combined to chairs moving to your heartbeat. I like that the artists both invite you to interact with the art, and I feel like that could make for a really fun show. The information presented was solid and really gave me insight on artists I wasn’t very familiar with before hand.

Independence:
This show would feature Q.S. Serafijn and Gerhad Mantz. The two artists would really work well in contrast since while one imposes their art, the other one receives to create their works. I like the idea of combining an “undercover artist” with a more traditional gallery style artist. I think that the presentation was well made and all the information was nicely presented. I enjoyed the bright pictures to go along with the works even including four different shots of the “D tower” to capture the different emotions.

Define Structure:
This show also included Erwin Redl, but this time he would be paired up with Asymptote consisting of Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture. I found this to be one of my favorite projects. Putting and artist with an architecture company is a really bold and interesting idea. I was a little skeptical at first, but they really made some great comparisons. The Yas Hotel was really impressive looking. I can only imagine the things that Erwin Redl would be able to do with his LEDs to make the place look completely out of this world. It was a really great presentation for a show that I would really enjoy seeing in person if it were to actually happen.

Future Shock:
Dan Deacon and Danny Perez would star in this really bizarre show. I have to say that the information was given and the videos were really key to understanding the artists and their works. While I can see how well the two would function together, I would probably steer clear of this show. Perez’s violent videos and Deacon’s crazy music together might be simply over bearing for me. I can really see the points that were stressed in the presentation such as abnomalities, experiences, and lasting effects. I really loved the planning of the actual show at the end. They really adapted their artists perfectly to the new museum and showed how much thought they really gave their exhibition.

Mechanical Creations:
Ken Squared, Ken Rinaldo and Ken Feingold were the two artists selected for this show. Both worked with arifical intelligence and really push the boundries of the world. The videos really added a nice touch to their works in terms of understanding exactly how they would work together. I would’ve maybe liked for there to been a little bit more for each artist. I feel like I didn’t really get too much out of the presentation. I would’ve liked to have learned more about each one. Then at the end I would’ve enjoyed gaining a better understanding of how they would envisioned the exhibition to look. I see how they work together, but could’ve used a little bit more.

Triptych Description

For my triptych project, I wanted to explore the conflicting aspects of the humorous quality to my life. I like to consider myself to be a pretty funny person and most of the people around me would agree with that. Recently I asked my floor to complete a survey for my conceptual art class and asked them one simple question, “what do you think about Tim Brown?” While a good number of people had very nice things to say, there were still a number of those that choose to take shots at me. I realize that at times I cross the line and really offend people with my jokes. The problem is that people don’t remember the fifty times I made them laugh, but rather focus on the one time I made fun of them. Even the same jokes can deduct completely different reactions from people. One day they find it hilarious, while the next day I’m a big jerk for saying it. These jokes are really a double-edged sword, as I like to keep things lively and fun, but I am aware that with the territory I also over step my boundaries at times. This is the concept that I wanted to focus my project on. The very same thing can get a different reaction, even from the same person at times. The final project ended up being two pictures of my friend and future roommate, Steve, and one picture of myself in the middle. I used Photoshop to get the images out of their backgrounds and did a little editing such as changing the color of his shirt. The rest of the project was made completely in Illustrator. Despite my unfamiliarity with the program in the beginning, I feel like the software really grew on me as I worked with it. Using the pen tool and the brush tool, I was able to make the stylized backgrounds for the three panels. I didn’t really want to make the three pictures all that large, so I stuck with the 12 by 18 printer. I haven’t talked to Steve about it, but maybe we can hang these pictures up in our room next year since they are such a manageable size. I took the prints and simply double mounted them to some foam board. I really had trouble when it came to cutting the board. I tried just about everything to get a clean cut. I used a box cutter, exatco knife, and even made a trip to the library to use the large paper cutter. All of my efforts resulted in mostly straight cuts, but I would’ve liked for them to be much cleaner.

Poem

  Fire and Ice

 Some say the world will end in fire;
 Some say in ice.
 From what I've tasted of desire
 I hold with those who favor fire.
 But if it had to perish twice,
 I think I know enough of hate
 To know that for destruction ice
 Is also great
 And would suffice.

By Robert Frost

Illustrator Portrait

For my portrait, I just found a picture of myself from I think right around Christmas this past year. I live traced the image with the gray scale option selected. The picture was pretty boring just in black and white, so I decided that I would live paint it in some parts. I found a nice set of swatches that contained the cool blues that I used. I just tried to match the values the best I could. Then I just colored the letters on my sweatshirt for some contrast.

Illustrator Exercise 1

Artist Comparisons

Marina Abramovic: I have to say that I really enjoyed looking at the different portraits by the artist. She used different perspectives to captures different emotions. The ones up close give you a more personal feel, while the ones where you can't really see her face make her seem much more distant. I think one of the most effective pieces is "Happy Christmas." The title really contradicts the close up of the crying face. I also was confused by the picture "The Family I." The title makes you think of a nice, happy family, but the picture is her with a group of young soldiers.

Frida Kahlo: I really like that Kahlo decided to paint her portraits rather than just take photo graphs of herself. The first piece that caught my eye was "The Two Fridas." Upon my first gaze over the painting, I thought that it was a cool idea to make a work with two versions of you interacting with each other. Then I noticed that the two women had been connected my their hearts via the same veins. Then I saw the scissors in the left lady's had and started to wonder what exactly was going on. Is going to cut the cord? The other piece that I was confused about was "The Little Dear." I think it's pretty cool to paint your face on an animal, but I don't know why the animal is bleeding with arrows piercing it through all directions. The deer doesn't look like it's feeling the pain, despite being severally wounded.

Cui Xiuwen: Out of the tree artists, Xiuwen's portraits were my least favorite. I really enjoy the works as a whole, but I don't find the portrait aspects of the pieces to be that interesting. Only the piece "Angel No. 3" really draws my attention to the people. The other pieces have beautiful backgrounds that grab my attention, leaving the person as a mere after thought. If I wasn't really looking for the portrait, I probably would've glanced over the figures and just observed the graceful backgrounds. My favorite one is probably "Angel No. 1o." The sky with the clouds against the rigid buildings is a really nice contrast. Then the figure dressed in white pops of the page.

3 Photos

Human Interaction

Exterior

Interior

Photoshop Project 1

For the assignment of combining three different photos, this is what I ended up with. The exterior is the background which is a photo of the sky line by the lake next to the old art building. The interior is the inside part of the bricks on the path around campus. The human interaction is obviously me in the center. I used dust clouds I found on the internet to make the deteriorating effect coming off my face. My goal on the project was to show a sense of crumbling and breaking down. The bricks on my face represent the different things that make us who we are. My face isn't completely covered because new bricks have to be place there as we grow. At the same time, however, the bricks on the complete side are starting to be destroyed. The photo was made using 17 layers.

Inherited Traits

I was able to see the inherited traits exhibit twice so far. I was in attendance when the gallery first opened, and I was pretty intimidated by the overall atmosphere. I'm not that big into the art world, and being surrounded by people so interested in the work was fairly new for me. The first thing that caught my eye was Nina Katchadourian's "Genealogy of the Supermarket." I loved seeing the bold red wall paper in our new gray building. I really appreciated the humor in which the piece existed. Just the scale on it alone made the work seem to carry a sense of ultimate importance. I spent a lot of time just trying to recognize the different faces that I've seen so many times and the ways in which Nina connected them. I thought it was great how the family clearly had just as many oddities as most families do today. I like "Accent Elimination," but don't really see it as being too much of art. I'm really not a big fan of conceptual pieces. "The Nightgown Pictures" were cool, and I'm glad I was there when Nina herself explained the work.

My favorite of Heidi Kumao's pieces was "Translator." I really enjoy that the viewer is the one is charge of moving the girl. The first time I observed the piece I didn't realize that the projectors also were submitting sound. I really think the audio helps with the understanding of the work. I like the idea of the two couches being the mother and father who both see the girl in completely different ways yet still send her to the other. I respect the amount of work it would take to create "Transplant" and "Trace," but I just didn't enjoy them all that much. They were cool to look at for a while, but they were just two similar for me.

Overall I think the gallery was really great. Sarah Cunningham did a great job putting everything together, and I really liked hearing what she had to say about the works.

Class Reactions To Four Artists

Crewdson: I like Michelle's comment that the pieces made her feel that "Every piece left me wondering...what happened? where are they? what's going to happen next? Was this some sort of mockery of American life?"

Elena pointed out the his works appeared to be almost like movie stills rather than photos.

Christina noted the exact same point, and the pictures that she provided solidify her point beautifully.

Hocks: I really enjoyed Keri's comment about the drummer picture. The colors create a pretty happy feel despite the somewhat disturbing image in the foreground.

Alayne said, " I laugh and smile when I go through each drawing and mastered photograph, yet I know that's not how they are to be 'experienced'." I think that the humor is actually part of what Hock is trying to achieve.

Wall: "Jeff Wall, simply stated, is the man" is how Keith starts out his reactions. Bold move. I enjoyed how much back ground knowledge Keith had on the artist.

Liz had nice points about the different color tones that Wall used in his work. I also agree with her thoughts on the work being slightly more "awkward."

Sherman: I never really thought about it the first time I looked at the works, but I liked Radha's statement, "The intention to evade color makes the femininity seem more suggesting."

I agree with Emma that the view points from which the pictures are presented really enhance the works.

Exercise 1 Photo

For the first exercise I made a composite image from 6 different pictures. All the pictures revolve around the New York Yankee's new stadium. I included an outside view of the building, a picture of the playing field, the Yankee logo with the team celebrating its 2009 World Series Championship placed inside, the back of Derek Jeter's jersey, and finally a picture of Captain Jeter saluting the fans after becoming the franchise's all-time hit leader. I wanted the piece to be a send off to the successful first season at the new stadium which hopefully is a prelude of many great seasons to come. I tried to put light streaks into the picture, but ultimately felt that they took away from the overall product more than they helped.

Four Artists

Crewdson: I found Crewdson’s use of dark blues and deep greens in his landscape work to be very effective. Traditional colors grow old after seeing them so often, and the new tones really breathe new life into the images. I especially found the one image of the woman laying on the ground bleeding to be extremely successful whilst disturbing. Even the image of the house with flames pouring out of the windows with its bright orange colors creates a dark feel. I like the decision to leave most of the work untitled, as I believe that this work really speaks for itself.

Hocks: Hock’s work I think is more interesting as a process than the actual work is when completed. I’ve never thought about painting over a black and white photograph to make a painting. While it would definitely make some sizing issues much easier, the process is still one that sounds rather difficult. I think its pretty cool to take the values and add color instead of the opposite that has been done countless times before. His subject matter is interesting, and I really like with the man in the boxes that the skyline buildings matched the shape of the boxes.

Wall: I’ve always thought that working with light was an interesting idea. Ever since I was a kid playing with drawing toys that illuminated from behind I’ve always thought that the end result had a very desirable look to it. In the photographs, people always seem to be the main subject of the image. The people in the pictures aren’t doing anything extraordinary, but rather are going through the same motions of life that everyone else goes through on a daily basis. I especially enjoyed “Milk” as the picture perfectly captures the liquid exploding out from the bottle. I found it interesting that Wall had no idea why he switched from painting to photography.

Sherman: These photographs also revolve strongly around the people that are extremely prevalent. The decision to make all the pictures in black and white not only adds to their appeal, but also connects them in a very understandable manner. While the images focus on the women older style clothing, I find it somewhat odd that none of them are looking into the camera. A good number of the black and white photos it appears in the thumbnails that the women are staring right at you. When you enlarge the image, you can see that while facing forward their eyes are focusing on something to the side.

I've always been interested in recreating some of my favorite sports figures and famous moments in the history of sports. This drawing of Babe Ruth and Lou Gerhig by Allen Friendlander shows just how impressive a piece like this can turn out.

About Me

My name is Tim Brown and I am a freshman art student at TCNJ. My main focus is on pencil drawings and ranges into cartoons. My favorite things to draw are athletes and musicians. I consider each drawing to be somewhat of a tribute to the figures that I admire. I have some experience using photoshop in the past and currently have photoshop elements 8 on my MacBook Pro. The only things I've really used it for was digital painting and combining two images to make one improbable one. Outside of art I enjoy playing baseball, music, and telling jokes.