the art of digital delights

I was having some  difficulty uploading this to my blog in class, everything is working now! And I would really appreciate some comments/critiques!

Chains, Progression, Overlap, Tinted, Quirky

Jenny Holzer

I BREATH

Jenny Holzer was born in Ohio. She studied at Duke University, Durham, NC and then at the university of Chicago- before completing her BFA in 1972 at Ohio University; then went onto to get a MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Holzer was a part of a feminist generation of artist which emerged around 1980: there goal was to make narrative or commentary a part of visual objects.
She is mostly known for her large scale displays that include billboard advertisements, projections, and illuminated electronic displays. The focus of her work is the use of words and ideas in public spaces.These are two of her projections, “I Breath” and “I Run”

I RUN

There is more than meets the eye with these images. It’s the relationship between the text, the light and the area that makes these words actually resonate with the viewer. I also think they are eye opening and at a glance: without context, which makes one ponder and interpret them personally.
Holzer accomplished her goal with these projections, she brought commentary (some hers and some written by others) into public spaces and force people to associate an idea with the natural surroundings and also using a light which is also something that is generally a natural element.

Roger Sayre

The artist of this week is Roger Sayre. He completed his BFA at Bowling Green State University in OH, and his MFA at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY; and now is a professor of Fine Arts at Pace University.  Sayre is very talented at manipulating light and using photographic techniques, light and things like mirrors to create images. It’s almost an alternate method of sculpture, photo, and painting.

Sayre has several projects on his website.

The Flight Series

Flight Series

In this series he uses a dark room, paper, and photographic paper to create these flat images.

I think these folds are unique photographic objects! They’re very interesting and obviously take a special craftsmanship to accomplish this work, and the end result is also cool to look at.

Aesop's Dog

Aesop’s Dog

There is a light source, and a tennis ball and some biscuits. By moving the biscuits and the tennis ball an image of a dog looking longingly at the objects appears.

This one is my favorites. The dog somewhat represents overhanging desire, the object and the image were carefully chosen. It has situational irony. Sayre does an amazing job with manipulating light and shadow. It’s called Aesop’s Dog, which gives it specific charm because it’s a scene taken from an actual fable. The biscuits and the tennis ball represent the ‘bone’ that the done loses in the river and can never get back.

Mirror Chair

Mirror Chair

This is a square printed on the wall, with cut mirrors are attached to the wall and a light bulb hangs nearby. There are reflections of the light and simultaneously the mirrors cast shadows to create the chair image.

I think he really conceptualizes his work and almost makes a science out of his subjects. 

Matt Siber

{I think it’s important to know these things}. The internationally published, Matt Siber, was born in Chicago in 1972. He graduated from the University of Vermont, with a BA in History and Geography, in 1994; and later received a MFA in photography from the Columbia College, Chicago, in 2003. {Fine}.

Photo

Siber works primarily as a gallery artist working in photography, digital imaging, video sculpture, and installation. He is heavily influenced by a photographer named Walker Evans, who noticed that American spaces are filled with billboards and advertisements, and purposely included them in his images. Evans felt that the viewers’ mind was always conflicting between “text” and “image” in a photograph. Siber liked this theory and forces us to consider Evans’ point in his art. He removes the text from the image in order to remind conceptual artists that photographs aren’t just flat pieces of information. Photos are supposed to be more like a window into the natural world and also the mind.

I had to really concentrate while looking at Siber’s art. My mind seems to be at odds, subconsciously it fills in the parts that are missing because I’m so used to seeing these objects (American flags, McDonald’s signs…etc.) on a regular basis. However I’m willing myself to NOT fill in the blanks, because that’s the entire point of his photos. They’re interesting, because they really cause me to face the facts that these objects are ingrained in my subconscious. I supposed they also have an aesthetic appeal because they’re good photographs. Needless to say if I didn’t know the context of the objects, I would find them a bit surreal and extraordinary.
Which makes me wonder how these would be perceived by someone who has NO IDEA what McDonalds is or seen a “Shell” logo or even a Denny’s….?

Art Work

We’re in the age of technology. The way people communicate and express themselves is vastly different now than it was fifty years ago because of computers. And like every new discovery and idea the way artists can express themselves and their imagination is by using these new tools. Technology has some sway over how art needs to be done, in order to have a large audience, advertising for instance. But I think that because of these new developments, an artist has just another choice, for how he or she wants to approach fine art. Because most people know of Photoshop and software, and watch animated films and use digital cameras, digital art is familiar. I’m going to attempt to put it into words.

Digitally approaching art is using technology and software to make and enhance art. A photograph is a creation which can printed, or transferred onto the computer and manipulated. The possibilities and combinations are numerous. Any type of fine art can be photographed or scanned and transformed into digital media, including (but not limited too) drawings, graphics, and paintings. Artists can use software to create drawings, 3D images, and animation using digital mediums. Artists can take a drawing or paining and use software to change the image, add color or change color schemes, paint, resize, and animate, copy, texturize and combine images- there isn’t an end to what technology can do with art. Art programs can combine an overlap images that would be entirely too difficult to do with hard copies.