9/11: Thank you and Remember

State Farms Thank You
     Commercial: I do not like the song, but I did like that way that it was used. Having the children singing it as a thank you to the firemen was really touching.
     Behind the scenes: This behind the scenes made me tear up a little. Listening to the children talk about how much they liked doing the project made me happy. Many of these kids were probably too young to remember 9/11, so it is very heartwarming to hear them say that they love New York and wanted to thank the firemen for protecting and helping the people of New York.

Miller Gallery

I like how it is simple but very symbolic. It is a simple black on white etching depiction of the papers and debris falling from the exploding towers. While you can see the paper falling, at the bottom of the drawing, it all blends into a mesh of what used to be floors off the ground. Some of the elements and principals that the picture has are color and space. The color reminds me of all the dust that came from the building. Nothing could be seen through all of the dust, but when it began to clear, debris from the building could be seen against the white ashes. The use of space was something that I liked about this piece.The whole page is used in this drawing. This shows how much was falling and gathered on the ground below.

I always have a tinge of pain whenever I'm reminded of 9/11. For every image of the towers, I felt sad. I think of all the people who were in the towers and how they didn't deserve to go.         

Homogenized Culture

Homogenized Culture
I believe that the idea of a homogenized culture is like a double edged sword. It is good in a way because it can bring people together by blending cultures which creates a bridge between people. This blending can be negative in a way because the culture will lose its identity. Everything that it made it special would be lost in the mixing pot.

Mass Culture
Mass culture is all about compromising. People have to give up a part of their values in order to make everybody happy. It cannot discriminate because it has to include a solution for everybody. If it discriminated, then somebody will not be content. Leavis said in his essay that the use of machines will bring this nation down, that it will create a void that different generations cannot pass. Macdonald says that the kitsch will take over the high quality of high art. Kitsch is the an example of mass culture. It combines classic art with the low art form of nick-knacks. This lowers the appeal and then it loses its value.  This gap between generations and loss of value can be seen with the new internet generation. The kids born in the internet generation can easily learn the technology while older people (mainly baby boomers) have a little more trouble. Some just don't even want to mess with it. This creates a gap. There is also the loss of value of gaining knowledge. People who use the internet don't realize that before computers, books were the main source of knowledge.

Elements and Principles of Art

Line: M.C. Escher's Tower of Babel is a great example of the usage of lines. In order to give the illusion of the height of the tower, Escher changes the distance between the lines on the tower. He also outlines the tower with many intricate lines which show a vary precise order to the construction of the tower.

Value: Again Escher demonstrates an element of art: value. In his self portrait Hand with Reflecting Sphere (a very creative title btw) is a great example of value. Within the sphere, you can see the many details of Escher and his surroundings. Not only that, he also shows the three dimensional aspect of the orb. This is all done with the different shadings seen in the sphere. 








Color: Now on to a different artist. After suffering a paralyzing seizure, Chuck Close had to create a new way to paint. He uses a type of dot painting technique, similar to that of pixels. By using different colors, he is able to paint the image in his head. The Lucas Woodcut is one of Close's most recognizable pieces and it demonstrates his colorful art style.

Movement: Jason Pollocks' Painting 1948 is all movement. Each line of paint moves from one side to another. Because of the many colors, the observer's eyes are drawn all over. I feel that this is what movement is. When an artist can make their audience look in a direction (for this it's all over) then that is movement. 

Variety:  A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat is a simple but effective example of Variety. By having the people in his painting do different things, he is showing variety. Had he not did that, he would have had a a picture of everybody sitting or everybody standing or he could have had everybody look alike. That would have made for a very boring picture. Instead, Seurat showed that people aren't the same, and, even though everybody is on La Grande, they are relaxing by partaking in different activities.

Space: The Vietnam Memorial by Maya Lin uses space very well. Is is long, black and from a distance, looks like a scar. Instead of having a vertical memorial, Lin decided to go into the earth to represent that Vietnam will not be forgotten, like a scar. 

Where Art Thou?

When I was told that we had to pick a piece of valuable artwork, I instantly thought of the Mona Lisa. I think that this piece of art is valuable because it was innovative for its time and many people admire the work put into it. In actuality, the value of this painting is determined by who painted it, the style used to paint it, and how well it is preserved.