What I Learned

Posted By Jeff Bruneau

For my final wall post of the semester, I would like to simply say that I had no idea what to expect from the world of contemporary art. There are just so many different forms I learned that you can really find the art in anything. This is because how you interpret the art is what matters the most. The modern artist knows this and simply does enough to get those juices flowing just to make you think. The rest is up to the audience.

Rock Wall

Posted by Jeff Bruneau
As I browsed through William Powhida’s paintings, I could not believe the incredible amount of detail he puts onto the page. His paintings and drawings are very similar and yet I can’t believe some of his paintings are not drawings because he gets down to the smallest detail. There is just so much going on in every painting. The painting I enjoyed the most was the Rock Wall. I thought it was interesting because it had all the ingredients that one thinks about when they think about the craziness of the music industry and there it was, just slapped onto one frame. It’s funny looking through each picture within the picture and nodding like “yeah, that makes sense.”

Vik Muniz- Diamond Davis

Posted by Jeff Bruneau
I think Vik Muniz’s ability to use diamonds to shape a portrait is a pretty intriguing concept. My parents were always watching old movies on TV when I was growing so I recognized this one as the star, Bette Davis. It’s interesting because when I find myself looking at it, Muniz does such a fine job that I forget they are diamonds. Even in the hair, where it is not all filled in with diamonds, it still does not strike me as being strange. Although, how he uses the diamonds for the face and for the hair are definitely contrasting techniques. His ability to know where to put the diamonds to give it the correct shading is remarkable.

Visual Art In My Life

Posted by Jeff Bruneau

This class has really made me think about what kinds of modern art I may have created or come across during the course of my day this past semester. Last week for ROTC we were running around RPI’s campus and I noticed this kind of windmill looking object that was just set in the middle of the academic quad and I definitely thought to myself that it could be considered a work of contemporary art. Then my thoughts shifted to the picture above. This is called a synchronization matrix and its purpose is to detail what every person’s responsibility is during a training event. For example, I find my name in the left most handed column and then trace that row and I know exactly what I need to do at what time. I created this for a weekend training event we had in the middle of April and I color coded it based on the category of one’s responsibility. I think given its purpose and color schemes, I consider it a work of art because a good synch matrix can be the difference between a successful and not so successful training event.

BOB (Bright Orange Ball)

Posted by Jeff Bruneau

Strangely enough, I did like Olafur Eliasson’s weather project. Eliasson is interested with how people react to the weather and it makes me think of my experiences thus far in the army when before the sunrises we are working out or conducting some time of operation. And then the sun appears or like we affectionately call him Bob, for Big Orange Ball, and it just gives you that sense you are not alone. It brightens up your day and ends the cold in those mornings when you just do not want to get up but you have no other choice. This picture reminds me of Bob and its brightness overwhelms the entire photo and it gives me that same relief it would if I was in the field

20x200-"Tear the Cover Off Of It"

Posted By Jeff Bruneau

Browsing through 20x200.com, I found quite of few different pictures that actually caught my eye. This did surprise me because some of the things were pretty out of the ordinary. However, one that I would buy would be this picture with the cover off the ball and only the stitching show. I played so much baseball when I was growing up and ripping the cover off the ball and then unraveling all the string and yarn was so much fun. It actually reminds me of the first time I did it and how long it took me to get to the little ball at the end. I had some of the greatest times growing up when I was playing baseball and I would buy this just because it would make me happy every time I saw it.

Mona Lisa Curse Documentary

Posted By Jeff Bruneau
The Mona Lisa Curse was a documentary by art critic Robert Hughes that discusses the relationship between money and art. I thought it was appropriate timing for when we watched it because there have been different reasons as to why the artists we have taken a look at thus far have gotten into art. I have wanted to know about this because some of these artists that we have looked at make an absurd amount of money. I mean if there are people out there who want to buy and display these works then by all means purchase it but I would just never spend that kind of money on something like that. Like any major industry though, they are looking to make money, like music for example, so I am not that shocked by it.