Robin Rhode - An Expression of Joy

Posted by: Eric Schaible

This video was used as a marketing piece by BMW as a part of their "Art Car" collection. This video was used by BMW to highlight the creation of their new Z4 model for the 2009 year. The main difference between this car and the one used previously, is that while the other cars were used as the canvas, the car is actually perceived as the artist in this work. Mr. Rhode's driving force behind this creation was to show a common link between art and automotive enthusiasts; that both are a combination of power and emotion. The power from the car is balanced with Mr. Rhode's ability to create a wonderful masterpiece.

While the piece may look like it was crafted without any type of guidelines, Mr. Rhode actually began with black finger paint on a piece of paper to illustrate the desired results. From here, he created a storyboard for the drive and gave a driver specific instructions for how to proceed. To actually apply the color, paint nozzles were added within the wheel arches to spray at the artist’s desired time. I think that his project does a great job in showing how art can be linked to many other cultures. By using a brand new car to illustrate his artwork, he has been able to bring the automotive world, where enthusiasts look at a combination of forms and functions, together with a culture based around a vast array of subjects.

Andy Warhol’s 1977 BMW M1 Art Car

Posted by: Eric Schaible

With very little background in art, I found Andy Warhol’s work to be quite fascinating because of the canvas that was worked on. Before elaborating on my own thoughts on this piece of art, I would like to give a quick background on the actual car that this work was done on. In 1973, BMW created a division, now known as their M-division, designed specifically for high performance cars. In 1978, they raced their M1, a car originally developed by engineers from Lamborghini, in Formula 1 races, but was required to have a production version of this car available to consumers if they wished to continue racing in the Procar Series. Because of this, 450 M1 cars were produced for their customers with a downgraded 6 cylinder engine that produced significantly less horsepower than their race versions. From the time that this was announced, the M1 was lamented as a collectors’ item.

When asked about his inspiration for the painting, Mr. Warhol said, “I tried to portray speed pictorially. If a car is moving really quickly, all the lines and colors are blurred.” In the video posted above, you can see that the car was painted using paint brushes, as opposed to spray guns which are normally used for production cars, and even his fingers to gain the specific effect that he was looking for. It was also noted that previous artists had used scaled down versions of their cars before actually painting, but Mr. Warhol did not do so. This shows that he was confident in his ability to portray the illusion that he had in his mind directly to the car. While some BMW fanatics do not appreciate the fact that this was done on such a rare car, many might be surprised that this was actually raced competitively in 1979, and won 6^th place during the 24-hour Le Mans race. While I also found it disturbing that he would be allowed to do this to a car of its stature, my opinion has been changed because it was actually used as both a marketing piece competitive component to BMW’s racing division.

The weird part about this car is just how it was painted. As stated before, most cars are painted with a spray gun, with brushes being used for small details (such as pin striping). The fact that he went directly at this car with a large paint brush shows the difference between an artist and just a regular body shop worker. I found his attention to detail to be fascinating, with the finger marks throughout the body of the car to show the “speed” aspect of the car. After doing a little more research into this car, I can say that my opinion of Mr. Warhol’s interpretation of this car is a very good representation of what the car was able to do.

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.