A Subtlety

(from Art Education, January 2015)

     In the early summer of 2014, artist Kara Walker was commissioned by Creative Time, an organization that "commissions, produces, and presents art that engages history, breaks new ground, challenges the status quo, and infiltrates the public realm" to install a temporary 40-foot-tall, 75-foot long, and 35-foot wide sculpture of sugar in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The sculpture was surrounded by attendants -boy-shaped figures made of a molasses and sugar resin. The gigantic white sculpture was produced in an old sugar factory that was destined for demolition.
There are multiple meanings to this work. Watch and listen to a video of Kara Walker talking about her sculpture, A Subtlety, by clicking here.

for further information, check out  CreativeTimes web site. Click HERE

click here --  watch, listen, and then answer this question: what does"aesthetic" mean? In your sketchbook, draw or collect three or more examples of objects that appeal to your own aesthetic.

Elegy for Robert Rauschengerg

"Elegy for Robert Rauschenberg" is a video created shortly after the artist's death in 2008.

Robert Rauschenberg was an artist who pushed the limits of sculpture and painting. He is credited with inventing the art form now known as "Combines" -- you can think of them as morphs(a combination of painting and sculpture). He walked around New York City picking up trashed objects like work boots and car tires, to be incorporated into his paintings.

When he died in 2008 (at age 83 ) this beautiful video was made of an exhibition of his Combines.

The video maker and a group of other artists and musicians composed the music you'll hear in the background. It, too, was a kind of morphing of sounds and chance arrangements.

How has the video artist used sound and movement to influence the viewers understanding of Robert Rauschenberg's "Combines"?

Look, listen, learn and leave your comments.

Aritst and Activist Ai Wiewei is free to travel again

In class we're watching the film "Never Sorry" -- a documentary about the activist-artist Ai Weiwei. The film is a few years old now, but at the time of its release we were unsure of the outcome for  Ai Weiwei. However, much to our collective relief, he has been released from custody, his passport has been returned, and this courageous man is now free to travel the world.  Click HERE to read an article from the NY TIMES, Sept.15,2015

Click HERE to check out the remarkable dioramas of Chinese dissident artist Ai WeiWei.
For our next project we,too, will make DIORAMAS. Unlike Ai WeiWei's unjust depiction of reality, our dioramas will depict scenes from myths and fairy tales told around the world.
In what ways do you think the artist Ai WeiWei uses his art as a form of activism?

Sarah Sze, Triple Point, at Venice Biennale 2013

The artist Sarah Sze captured my interest and imagination when I first saw her work at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Chicago. She went on to gain notice to the extent that she represented the United States in 2013 at the Venice Bienalle, an annual international art exhibition. View the images of her installation there and read the article posted in Wired Magazine by clicking here.
 Regarding drawing, she says,
         "I think of drawing in a much wider context — I think of it as the cursor on this page, the route you walk to work, the map I just googled for directions, or the print in the label in your t-shirt. I think of drawing as lines created in space, on the page, on a screen, or just mentally and emotionally to make sense of information or to convey information. So when artists draw it’s not about the page or the hand, it’s about connecting dots and the charting of complex information in whatever form that may take"
 Considering that Sarah Sze's installations are "sculpture" comment on the way you see drawing  as it relates to her artwork.