Carsten Holler

Posted by John Pedlow

This is Carsten Holler's Test Site which was displayed in Tate Modern between October 2006 and April 2007. The work consisted of five slides made of metal and fiberglass. This to me is one of the coolest forms of art I have ever seen because visitors were allowed to slide down the slides. I would never before taking this class have considered something like this art and would have just thought that they were some pretty huge slides. However after taking this class I have broaden my view of what is actually art and this definitely is art and I must say that this is one of the more interesting works I have come across.

Posted by John Pedlow

This is Olafur Elliason's Weather Project and it was installed at the Tate Modern in 2003. Elliason used humidifiers to create and mist in the air and as you can see used many lamps to create a sun like light. The ceiling was covered with mirrors so that people could look up to and see themselves as black shadows against an huge orange light. Many people when viewing this work of art would lie down on their backs and wave them arms and legs and watch themselves in the mirror. This particular work of art to me is pretty cool because it is such a massive work and must have taken a great deal of time and effort to put together. Also the effect given off by the work must have been awesome and I would actually liked to have seen this myself.

9/11 Iwo Jima Relation

Posted By: Eric Schaible

This picture that was shown in class has a very strong meaning to any person that looks at it. The similarities are quite astounding, with Americans lifting a flag over an already destroyed location. During Iwo Jima, the Marines are raising the flag on top of Mount Suribachi during World War II, but the second picture shows firefighters raising the flag over the rubble from the World Trade Center Towers after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Both pictures show a sign of strength, with the Marines being able to complete a mission and help the Allies advance in the War, and the firefighters being able to fight on even after so many precious lives were lost on that day.

Andy Warhol

Posted by John Pedlow

This is one of the images that Andy Warhol is known for, his classic Campbell's Soup image. He has done other paintings of products such as Coca-Cola as well and to me it is an interesting way of making art. You never think of these kind of paintings when you are thinking about art, you always think more of something like the Mona Lisa. However these types of paintings are just as much art and in fact I think that these kind of paintings are interesting because people can relate to the product because it is part of their everyday life. Therefore Andy Warhol's paintings such as this Campbell's Soup have opened my eyes as to what art actually is.

The Weather Project

Posted by: Eric Schaible

When viewing this installation piece in class, I couldn't help to understand the true meaning of it. From the outside, I just saw a big yellow ball that looked like the sun in the middle of the room. When I finally sat down to actually examine it and attempt to figure out its meaning, I realized that it was much more than that. From reading about the actual installation, I found out that there is actually a mist injected into the room at random points during the day to resemble fog and the environment and then disappears to the top of the room where the is a hole in the ceiling. Upon looking up, an observer sees a mirrored image of the floor. The picture above is actually looking down on the "sun". Observers are able to view the bulbs behind the circle if they stand directly below it.

Once I read a little more into the piece, I found that he was actually trying to mimic the world around us by creating another type of environment. He went to great lengths to not advertise this piece as a normal artist would for a gallery, but instead posed questions on taxis and flyers regarding the weather. It is said that one of the first discussions that people have is in regards to the weather, so he wanted to use these questions as his basis for marketing. I found this piece to be quite interesting once I was able to get a better understanding of the artist's perspective. I thought that by creating this new environment, one of the first reactions from visitors would be about the weather inside of it, and thus, completing what he set out to accomplish.

Against Interpretation - My Opinion

Posted by: Eric Schaible

This article actually interested me a lot, mainly because it attempted to show what the majority of people do when the look at art. One of the problems that I've always had with art is that I don't understand what the artist was trying to say. Like the people that the article was talking about, I always attempted to over analyze pieces and come up with some type of meaning behind everything. The problem with doing so, according to this article, is that many artists don't want us to look into some type of deep meaning.

"Today is such a time, when the project of interpretation is largely reactionary, stifling. Like the fumes of the automobile and of heavy industry which befoul the urban atmosphere, the effusion of interpretations of art today poisons our sensibilities."

I believe that this quote can pretty much sum up the whole article. We have become so involved with trying to create an image or illusion out of nothing. It really seems as if we must all just take a step back when we are viewing a work of art, and realize that maybe, just maybe, our first impression of it was correct.

The Mona Lisa Curse

Posted by: Eric Schaible

While he may come off as rude at times, Mr. Robert Hughes gives a great response to the current art market. His believes and first hand accounts mimic those from one of my earlier blogs where I discussed a podcast by Mr. David Hickey. While I completely understand the point of purchasing a product when its value is low and holding it until a time when it will be worth a lot, I don't believe that it's right to artificially inflate the price of a work. By inflating the price, I'm talking about an art dealer (or special collector) attempting to create more value for a certain piece so that either the artist's other works would be valued better, or just so that their single piece will garner greater interest. Either way, artists like Damien Hirst should not be able to price his products at such a level that even museums can not afford, and art dealers should not be able to do the same either.