Anna

my concentration

My concentration is movement: the exploration of the design element of movement in terms of the human body, objects, and abstract shapes. I wish to capture different concepts of movement, not just in terms of a photograph capturing an object in motion, but also themes or ideas that represent movement such as rock paper scissors. I also hope to study movement through the representation of such themes such as acceleration and decceleration.

Devil Wears Prada mp3

This clip can easily be associated with the way artists find inspiration for their work. While Andy sees her blue sweater as a blue sweater, Miranda is able to derive a whole spiderweb of ideas and information from it. A successful artists is able to pull concrete as well as abstract ideas from simple everyday objects. We can twist this visual skill around and use it to create such deep abstract concepts in our own work, which I think is exactly what Miranda is trying to teach Andy.

Title: Van Gogh: Voyage into the myth Location: Seoul Museum of Art Artist: Van Gogh Dates: November 24~ March 16th Media of the work: Mostly oil paint, some mixed media (ink, chalk, watercolors.)
 * my museum visit :)**

Describe the work in the show. Try to categorize the stylistic genre of the work. Give a little information about the artist if available. Make an effort to put the work in art historical context by making comparisons to other noteworthy artists either contemporaries or historical. 200-350 words.

Van Gogh was a post-impressionist born in Holland in 1853. He had a rather unsuccessful path with two unhappy romances and unsuccessful jobs as a clerk in a bookstore, an art salesman, and a preacher in Belgium. The works of Van Gogh’s early Dutch period are drab, sharply lit, paintings such as "The Potato Eaters" (1885). In his trip to Paris, he came across impressionist painters such as Pissarro, Monet, and Guaguin. Since then he was influenced to paint using short, impressionistic strokes, present in paintings such as, “Trees and undergrowth.” I was able to experience this gradual stylistic change as I walked through the gallery. His early works such as “Trees and undergrowth” had the component of short strokes, while the work such as “Impasse des Deux Freres” (1887) had the pastel tones he would continue to stick to, and the “Glass of abstinence” (1887) salvaged the orange tint ever so present in the works after it. From my observation, I could see a constant color pattern in which he dominates his paintings with yellows and blues. It was also interesting to discover that Van Gogh did artworks outside of the oil paint medium such as chalk mixed with watercolor.

Judge the show as if you were an art critic. Evaluate its merits and shortcomings. Make particular references to strong or weak points to the show. 300-400 words.

One major success of the show would be the organization. By organizing Van Gogh’s works according to the time period, the viewers are able to get a sense of the stylistic transformation Gogh experiences. For example, I was surprised to see that many of his earlier works did not fit my expectations for they looked awfully average. However as one continues to walk through to the next works, one could see the progress Van Gogh made as an artist, and understand that even the most experienced artist has to start from point zero. Also, following the typical way of the Seoul Museum of Art, the Van Gogh show included a PowerPoint in the end of the show. This PowerPoint zoomed through and touched upon the historical background of Van Gogh and how it influenced his works. It was especially interesting to see the comparisons made between his paintings and the real settings that inspired his work. I also liked how o the walls leading up to the show was written famous direct quotations made by Van Gogh as well as a timeline of his life and his works. Though once again, they did not include an English translation and this reflected through the irritated foreigners having to constantly ask their Korean companion what was written on the walls. On the retrospect, I was disappointed to find that the show was missing many of Van Gogh’s more famous works. For example, I was unable to find his more prominent self portraits, or the bright and eye-catching “Sunflowers.” Though it is understandable that Gogh’s works are in high demand, ad therefore difficult to acquire, I found it disappointing that this rare opportunity of having an all original Van Gogh exhibition in Korea was //deprived// of his more //famous// works.