Iwo Jima vs. September 11th

Posted By: Casey LaChapelle

Iwo Jima vs. September 11th

During class on April 20th, Professor Blum put up a picture of Iwo Jima and September 11th side by side showing both the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima, and the Firefighters raising the flag among the rubble right after September 11th. The sight of these pictures are almost eerily similar and the theme is breathtaking. With Iwo Jima, the Marines were celebrating a victory, albeit among a lot of bloodshed, and September 11th, the most devastating event to ever occur on American soil. The pictures look the same, but the context to which those individuals are raising the flag comes at much different circumstances. It was a breathtaking picture.

Andy Warhol

Posted By: Casey LaChapelle

Andy Warhol

In class on April 6th, we had begun discussing different artists and what they have meant to artists today and their work. One of the artists that we had discussed was Andy Warhol. At the time we were talking about him, I was completely turned off by his artwork because I felt as if it were too pop art-ish. The Campbell's Cans piece is the one that stood out to me as I thought that it was unimaginative and "blah".

Now that I have had some time to think about it, and look at the piece again, I have changed my mind. It took me a few times to look at the piece to look back and remember that one of the most basic art projects I have ever done growing up (in middle school) was to recreate a Campbell's soup can with a brush and paint. Whether or not the art teacher had taken this right from Andy Warhol, I don't know but Campbell's soup is something that everybody can relate to. I kind of see where Warhol was going with this piece and I have a new found respect for it.

20x200

Posted By: Casey LaChapelle

20 x 200 Selection

In class we were asked to go to www.20x200.com and select a piece of artwork that had meaning to us and that we would personally buy if we would like to. The above picture to me is as close to perfect art as you can get. I have always been fond of nature, especially mountains. In this picture you can see a tiny red dot at the bottom right of the picture; its a red pick up truck. That feature makes this picture even more fascinating to me because it really brings home the fact that in relation to the place we live in we are only a little spec on the map.

The Mona Lisa Curse

Posted By: Casey LaChapelle

The Mona Lisa Curse

The Mona Lisa Curse was a documentary that was surprisingly very interesting. After the first part of the movie, I was very turned off by the whole topic and the arrogance of Robert Hughes. I didn't care about art dealers and how they were "ruining the integrity of artwork", however halfway through the documentary I found myself really interested in what Hughes had to say, I even began agreeing with him.

Being a business major, the part where paintings were being brought to auction (being bought by the seller at such a low price) and being sold for an incredible amount of money was fascinating. For somebody to take a painting and turn it into such an large profit took more than business knowledge but also a knowledge of society and art. He needed to be ahead of the curve in society to know that those particular paintings were going to catch on the way that they did, and in the end he was rewarded with a hefty payday. Very interesting.

Test Slide 2006

Posted By: Casey LaChapelle

Test Slide 2006

When we continued our talk in class on March 4th about Tate Modern, the slide exhibit was brought up. Carsten Höller is the artist of this piece and like the Weather Project, I was completely intrigued. I am not the kind of person to walk around an art museum and look at painting after painting. I work best with interactive things which is why I think I would really enjoy Tate Modern. At the very least, in looking at some pictures and exhibits from class, I have learned that all art does not need to be boring and old fashioned, like I used to think it was.

The Weather Project

Posted By: Casey LaChapelle

The Weather Project at Tate Modern

The Weather Project is a work that left an impression on me from class. When we talked about this art piece I was very intrigued. This is a piece of artwork that I could see myself going to in an art museum. The Weather Project has a lot of meaning because I think as human beings, we can't fully comprehend what else is out their other than the world we live in. With this work of art it brings it closer to home and gives us something we can put our finger on.

In doing some research about the exhibit I was surprised to see that over 2 million people went to Tate Modern to see the exhibit, many of them being return customers. It must have been such a surreal feeling to feel like you were in the same room as the sun, being able to look up and see your reflection.