Museum Essay #2

                                        

Dear Rodriguez Calero
  
I would like to start with thank you for creating this cut n' mix group exhibit. I loved all of the pieces that were created, I couldn't choose one, so I decided to write you this letter about this entire exhibit and ask you a couple of questions. When I analyzed the exhibit I saw that you used a lot of shapes that were geometric and organic. There were a lot of cut out images of people body parts, but there were a lot of overlapping these images to create an illusion of depth.Colors line warm and cool color were being used on the images, I guess to give it a feel to the artwork. There were also patterns being used for the shapes and some what of the colors. How were the materials used? Was there a certain way the materials were used? If so why? Why did you used these materials? Did you use magazines? What type of magazines? Did you used the same images you cut out twice?. I think you made your work from cutting out different images from different magazines to try and get different body parts from different people,so you were able to mix and match. I also believe you used Crayons, Chalk, Water colors, and Pencils. I notice you images on the canvas when you pasted the images you wanted, so you was able to create a different person from the person you cut out from the magazine. For example the "Street Moves" image was a cut out image of Nas famous rapper from Hip Hop. The image was so mix I could tell if it was Nas because he looked like another person because there were different images overlapping him. Why did you mix people faces up? Did you not want them to know who that person is?. I thought it was a good idea to mix the cut out because it give people more time to stand there and figure out who the cut out image is. Did you use a lot of famous people in this Cut n' Mix exhibit. When I looked through your exhibit I noticed a lot of famous people I could point out just but looking at their mouth and eyes. I believe you where trying to communicate with people who watch t.v, listen to music, watch dancers, love fashion, and art, because you had a little bit of everything everyone liked or love. What is the main idea of this exhibit? Does it has a purpose? What is it? 

Thank You, 

BP 5/6

Title: The Necklace

Date: Unknown

Artist: Unknown

Origin: Mexico

Function: Accessory

The item I have chosen for this blog post is a accessory I found in a flea market know as "El Chopo" in Mexico City, DF. I am not positive about the origin of this necklace or what the artwork represents but it appears to be a Aztec, Mayan or Olmec design of some kind. I purchased it purely because it was aesthetically pleasing to me and I felt that it would be a great token of my trip to Mexico a few years ago. I wore this necklace everyday for almost a year and while I was traveling the world playing concerts it traveled with me, so it has quite a lot of sentimental value to me, despite it's monetary value being little to nothing, I believe I only paid about 20 pesos ($2) for this particular necklace. It snapped in half while I was playing with it around my neck when I was in Europe but I've held onto it still.

In John Cotton Dana's Gloom of the Museum, he writes that the people who decide what goes in a museum are the wealthy elite who can afford to buy expensive works of art and display them for the public to see. Dana believes that this one sided view of art from the wealthy elite, leads to the lack of diversity of objects displayed in a museum, he writes that the aristocracy "have always felt of acquiring ancient, rare and costly objects, that the possession of them may mark them superior to the poor and weak." The piece of artwork I have chosen is the exact opposite of what Dana sees as the problem in the art displayed in museums by the wealthy. The monetary value of this necklace is next to nothing, but the detail is spectacular and it's design is beautiful. This necklace is an homage to an ancient culture and style of art. It is an object that is commonly found throughout Mexico today but something that may not be represented in a museum.

BP #5

Title: Zaja
Artist: Zaja
Date: 2007
Geography/Culture: Germany
Medium: Silverware
Dimensions: unknown
Source: designed by Zaha Hadid produced by Wuerttembergische Metallwarenfabrik (Germany)

Objects get there meaning mainly from an origin and a purpose. The origin of an object is important because the location can vary the style and the intention of the object. The purpose of the object is also crucial because there is no such thing as an object that was created and/or produced for no reason. If an object is made, it can also be used to symbolize a potential deeper meaning. Some objects has deeper meanings than others, while some have more importance than others. An object has some level of convenience, no matter what and how it is used and/or created. It is not really who assigns value, but why it has value. Yes, the person who has created and/or produced the object has to have full credit and a certain level of importance, but it the object isn’t made to reflect the expression of the creator. The purpose of the object is to have convenience and meaning. In other words, it the creator and/or the person who assigns value is not the nucleus of the object. Just like the silverware on top of this paragraph, it is not a traditional museum of art, but the aesthetic value and the purpose of it gives it the least name of an object.

Blog Post 5/6

Title: African Manifest
Artist: Unknown
Date: Early 21st Century
Geography/Culture: USA, New York/African
Medium: Wood, Metal, Clothing material
Demension: Unknown

In my home there are many objects of importance to me and the rest of my family. This closet especially holds a lot of value in many ways. It holds our African clothing, though the majority of it is my mother’s. the rest are my sister, dad, and myself. When go into this closet when we go out to African events, and sometimes when we go to church. I don’t really go into the closet all that much because I don’t have as much African clothes as I used to when I was a kid. They are very expensive to make. But when I thought about the assignment many things came to mind, the closet stuck out to me because it makes me feel closer to my family and apart of Gambian culture. I may be an American but my other roots are also important, my family back in Africa don’t want my sister and I to forget those roots. Our roots are what make us different from other people around us, it allows us to bring something different to the table. What we share becomes new knowledge to someone who doesn’t understand. This closet in my home has different clothes that people wont see being sold in an H&M store. There are other cultures in the world with different clothing as well that wont be seen in other big name stores. Dana writes “surely a function of a public art museum is the making of life more interesting joyful and wholesome; and surely a museum cannot very well exercised that function unless it relates itself quite closely to the life it should be influencing” a museum is supposed to feature history and art but it should also be able to feature art that is being made in the present. American Museum should also feature art that shows people and its visitors that it is a melting pot and not a country that focus mainly on European art.

Blog Post #5/6

TITLE: Miniature Versions of Mexican Kitchen Items
ARTIST(S): Mostly unknown, except for the palm woven fan,which was made by Nemesio Aguirre 
DATE: Unknown
LOCATION: Mexico
MEDIUM: Clay, Stone, wood, Jícaro fruit, palm, and Metal
SOURCE: Mexico

I selected these items because i believe they wouldn't be found in a museum,mostly because they are miniature replicas of  the ones that are used. But also,they hold cultural, aesthetic, and personal value. These represent what would be found in traditional Mexican households. Granted neither I nor my family dress in traditional Mexican clothes but other than that my grandmother and mother's house is pretty traditional. So I've interacted with all of the life size versions of these,for example the grinder (molinillo) is the long wooden wish used to stir and create froth in hot beverages by holding it in between your palms and rubbing the palms together to get it to rotate. There can also be seen a rectangular looking stone with a cylindrical stone right beneath it at the right of these pictures that are referred as a milling stone and hand held stone (metate and mano) which is used to grind things such as corn mostly. Also there is a mini version of a  stone mortar and pestle (molcajete and tejolote) also used to grind spices but in our case, mostly salsa making. Another,older version of a mortar can be seen to the left of the stone one and it is made out of clay. There is also a metal tortilla press (tortillera) which as the name suggests helps make tortillas. And lastly the remaining clay items are a pot and a casserole (cazuela). The reason i decided to add the mexican spanish names of these is because that is also what helps show the culture behind these better,since many other places have things similar to these but are named differently. The way these items can hold aesthetic value is better shown in the jícara and the pitcher because of the designs. These also hold personal value because they were gifted to me,for example the jícara, which is the red bowl, was from my grandmother and the hand woven palm fan was made by my mom's uncle,Nemesio. And the rest were brought from Mexico by my mom years ago. What I believe is important for the viewers to know is that even though these seem very cute and simple trinkets or souvenirs for outsiders,they are actually filled with history and purpose and maybe even sentimental value if they are hand made and gifted. And that these would not be found in the museum since they are seen as recent and not from decades or centuries ago. But that they hold as much value and cultural value as other forms of art

Blog 5/6

Tittle: The Standing Lion
Artist: Unknown
Date: Unknown, a few years ago.
Culture: Italian
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: H. 10.5 cm
Classification: Bronze, Metalwork
Source: I got it in a Flea Market.

In my house there are a few objects that the museum may show them in their expositions and others may not. I've always been very passionate about lions and lionesses, for me they represent courage, monarchy, empowerment in the world and history.
The Unknown artist engraved "ITALY" in the bottom of the sculpture that gives me the sense of a historic meaning. The fact that the Lion is standing represents to me a battle where he is the king of Italy. I chose "The Standing Lion" because everything is related to the meaning we assigned to our different objects. Whether we got it from a family member as a gift, or that we bought it in a thrift store is simply relative, especially when it comes to being "rare."

So why this object isn't at the Museum? Because, it may not have the same value or meaning for some of the experts and powerful people that maintain the museums by choosing what they should put in their expositions. Just as John Cotton Dana in The Gloom of the Museum states by saying "They become lost in their idea of a museum and forget its purpose. They become lost in working out the idea of a museum and forget their public." In other words, what Dana is saying, is that most of the time they don't present what is meaningful for other people, base on their culture, beliefs and traditions. Basically, they only present what they think its best to capture the viewer's attention and not what's really behind of any other work of art, that probably has the same meaning in a different level and circumstance. The rich people that supports the museums are mostly based in wealthy people like them, but what about the lower class that always wanted to see rare objects from their ancestors? The truth is that we are usually attract towards rare objects that provokes certain kind of emotion whether is related to our culture, time being, religion or simply to the meaning we gave to an specific object.

Title: The Extension to Creation
Artist: Unknown
Date: 21st century
Medium: metal, plastic, threading

What makes an object have value? An object has value due to ones perspective and view upon the object itself. The object that I have chosen is a sewing machine. Why a sewing machine is because for centuries the sewing machine has been used in different ways to create fabrics, patterns, and apparel. It is the main source of designing, creativity, it is also the next levels for artists. It brings classic cultures all over the world into a union. As well as for the personal recognition, my mother has always sewn. Whether it has been her own clothes, my clothes, and or just designing dresses. She has inspired me as well as a young child to be a designer. I was purely fascinated by such a device in what one person can accomplish with it. It symbolizes, independence, creativity, and hard work; that inspires me to do more for myself, to work for myself because I believe  that everyone should be in charge for themselves. Through history in may have been seen otherwise by hardworking seamstresses. The symbol of the sewing machine holds an intense history behind it. Why this should be considered to be an a museum is because there are so many sewing machines in the world, rustic and not so rustic. For this particular machine it holds the legacy of all machines.  It holds the beginning and end of a whole sub culture of designers as well as the expansion of technology. If in the future, it would be the start of the machine. It would later on evolve and expand to other different forms of the device itself. In all the sewing machine is historic, it portrays strength, beauty to come, and hard labor.

Title: Nostalgic Stereo 
Artist: Unknown
Date: Unknown
Geography/Culture: American
Medium: Wood, Mesh, Copper, Metal.
Dimensions: 13"W x 12"H x 19"L
Source: Gift from Lissette Angeles (2012)

          In my apartment, there are not many things that you wouldn't find in a museum, unless you count the tv, which i'm pretty sure The Museum of Moving Images has that covered. SO while trying to do this assignment instead of looking for things that wouldn't be in a museum, I instead looked at things that make me happy about being home. My bed, my fridge, and my record player. I know it's kind of strange for an 18 year old to be happy about a record player, but music has always been an important part of my life. A couple years ago when my mother bought my the record player I was almost in tears. Let's be honest, that is one dope player. It has an aux cord, it plays; records, CD's cassettes, and it records vinyls or cassettes into CD's. I think music lovers, or people in general can enjoy this just because of the fact that it has something for everyone. It has the ability to give you the smooth sounds from the record playing, or the variety you get from turning on the radio, or the chance to play your favorite CD's or cassettes. That is why I think this player is one of the best things that happened to end up in my house.

             I chose this object because like I said before, music has been a huge influence on my life. It's always been something I go to when I need to relax and escape to another world. The record players name is Delilah. I named it that after my favorite song at the time. I thought the name stood for class and elegance and beauty and that's everything that I thought the name Delilah stood for. According to Dana, "Surely a function of a public art museum is the making of life more interesting joyful and wholesome." I think that by adding this record player into the museum people will get the same reaction that I had when I first saw Delilah. 




           

BP #5/6 - Value, Meaning and Boots

Art's meaning and value are assigned by appointed (sometimes self-appointed) "experts." Those experts are accepted as authorities on the matter of art based on established societal standards. Some people find no value at all in art, but so many allow the value to be dictated to them whether they understand it or not. Another major aspect is supply and demand. If no one wants a piece, or art at all for that matter, it would have no value at all. Very often, art receives value based on it's rarity. A newly found pair of paduka shoes from Ancient India is much more valuable than a new pair of Balmain heels. That then brings me to the topic of age which goes hand in hand with rarity. The age of a piece holds more significance because it gives you a glimpse into a times we know less about due to the limitations of the documentation of whatever time the "rare" piece was created. As John Cotton Dana stated in "The Gloom of the Museum", " Art museum objects were not chosen for their beauty or for their help they might give in developing good taste... but for their rarity."
 Then again, someone can factor all of this and still not care about art nor even see the value. It's one of those things, like beauty, that in the eye of the beholder.

As for meaning, you must first examine the intention of the artist. People have their own interpretations, of course, but that's often molded by the artist's motive and objective behind the piece. This intention is usually revealed through the choice of title. Meaning can also be found when you assess what the piece is indicative of. What are the cultural influences? What motived the artist? What was the artist experiencing during the time of it's creation?















Title: Boots: Spikes on Black
Artist: Steve Madden designer
Date: c. 2013
Geography: usa
Medium: Leather, silver studs and nylon laces
Dimensions: H 9 in, W 4 in, D 11 in
Source: stevemadden.com

What we choose to wear is a reflection of our personal style. That style is impacted by cultural and societal standards in conjunction with personal selection. I chose these boots because they exemplify my person aesthetic and taste. I tend to like cleanly designed things with a bit of flair and/or edge. They also are a modern design from a popular brand, Steve Madden, whose objective is to stay on the every changing trends. I don't usually buy from trendy labels but I felt these weren't too dated and could be worn for years to come without me getting tired of them when I saw them on a blog (forget which one). My taste has fluctuated in the past. Plus, they were on sale!

Obviously the shoes are used for protecting my feet but these are also used to represent the wearer's style. Value wise, they're very important to me. Before my ankle fusion surgery, they were one of the only pairs of shoes that I could comfortably wear frequently. Since the surgery, I've had to get rid of numerous shoes but these still actually fit. This gives these shoes functional significance as well. Suffice to say, they are quite purposeful and meaningful.

Buddhist home

Title: Buddha head
Artist : Unknown but most likely from China
Date: unknown but retrieved in 2012
Culture/Geography: China
Medium: paint and clay
Source: Gotten from Ross in New Jersey


 Household items can hold a special memory or emotion to the person who places the object on its own shelf. Especially when it has its own pedestal. The object i chose was a Buddha from a department store in new jersey called Ross. The Buddha is all bronze colored. The head is full of spikes all around, I believe its made out of clay because of the weight it has when you carry it.There are parts of the sculpture that is shiny. whoever made this made it look like an old artifacts from china but in reality its from a department store. My family has had quite an obsession with these Buddhas there are at least five other Asian artifacts most likely from department stores around the house. My object shows the values that my family likes to keep in mind like peace and serenity, we try to keep things mellow and zen. In the words that we speak we hold our own wisdom in whatever stage it is. We are open minded to the unexpected and we have unity because thats what family is about. Buddhas represent peace, serenity and a clear mind. Meditation is a clear ideal lifestyle of Buddhists.

 Art can be interpreted differently depending on the individual, when they look at the glorified object or piece they either like it or cant get the right emotions from it. John Cotton Dana disagrees with modern museums, they only show glorified objects from basic wealthy people of the time or era it was acquired. Museums all seem to look around the same, they don't step out of the box that has been set by other previous established museums. And he fears that all museums will follow this regime. Museums should do their own thing to capture the audience more, art should be interpreted differently depending on the individual. The aesthetic value should stir up a serious of emotions from the audience. Not all objects put into museums represent the culture of the era but alot of these objects come from other regions. These objects can show the morals and values of the era. Just like the Buddhist walkway in my house.

post #5/6

Wall  Label
Title- Karuwa(watering can) and Bowls
Artist- Unknown
Date- watering can (c. 1900) and Bowl (c. 1998)
Medium- Brass/Copper and silver metal



I decided to choose this watering can and bowls for my assignment. My parents brought these bowls and watering can from Nepal before come to the New York. Watering can and bowls are related to religion. This watering can use specifically for offering water to Buddha. It is the most common type of offering on Buddhist shrines are water offering - call "Yonchap" in Tibetan. We  offer water to God always in the morning time and there are seven bowls where we pour water from the watering can one by one. And We remove the bows at the end of the of the each day, at any time before the sunset.The reason I choose this object because I have learned something  practicing Buddhism and I feel like to share a little bit to others. The main point of any offering pure motivation to cultivate generosity, and to reduce our selfishness and greed. In addition, we seek to give with an open, pure heart, with no attachment to what we are giving, and no expectation of receiving something in return. Therefore, the idea is that all of our offerings should be given freely as we would give water. However, Many Buddhist people have forgotten the purpose of offering nowadays.

In John Cotton Dana's The Gloom of the Museum he says " they become lost in their idea of a museum and forget its purpose" in other words rich people are choosing what to put in a museum because of their one piece, expensive valuable and history and they don't think the same about other class people to display in a museum something to give importance to them or their ancestor. Likewise, this Watering can and bowls holds a meaning and teach us to be a great full and generous person. However, some people are the meaning and the purpose of it. 

Blog5

Title: The Golden Heart
Artist: Unknown
Date: 15 years
Culture: Peruvian
Medium: Glass
Dimension: Unknowns

Objects get their meaning by the the people whom have a strong sense of culture and beliefs. Either by their roots from what has been passed down or even if it has religious significance. For whom claims these objects in their values as well have generally a high social class, a high religious stand point, or it could simply family sentiments.  The piece that I have chosen in which I call is the Golden Heart. Despite the given title it is red. Why did I name it Gold? Well I am very intimate with spirituality. Gisela's grandmother had passed down this simple item, down to her. To Gisela this was a very special item, not only because of her grandmother passing this item down to her as a gift. The Heart is meant for luck, happiness, reminiscence upon childhood, and a lot of love. Three years ago when Gisela and I were in a park, she had presented me this beautiful gift. At first i was confused upon my findings. Until I had touched it ample amounts of good and positive energy came from this little item, From when I had first grasped this item in my hand, I felt its purest energy radiate all through my hands and to my arms. My eyes were closed and I had felt around this little item, that gold light had spread and radiated all around it. A truly unspeakable experience.
 The simplicity of this heart is classic. It is boldly shapen, has very little detail with a dull shine. No this is no great masterpiece of a glass sculpture, but the personal value and energy source is blatant. Not every individual will understand the concept, but some will. If to be seen in a museum, spectators would be confused perhaps, for they would not know the complexity of such a unique object, but htat is the greatest part, its mystery.

blog post 5&6 A taste of home

Title:A taste of home
Artist:unknown
Date: Unknown
Geography/Culture:Mexico
Medium:glass,leather, and soldering iron
Dimensions:H.9"x L.3"x W. 2 3/4"
Source: Gift to my father from my grandfather

At first I didn't know what I had in my home that would be passable to be in a museum. Surely it's not older or from an important era nor person. I didn't make this bottle but the object in my perspective gives a deeper meaning. What I have put in display is a glass bottle covered in leather along with soldering iron burned onto it is from the city my father was raised in, Mexico. I decided to name this object A taste of home  .  I recall  at a young age when it was my first time visiting Mexico at the time when I was soon to go back to the U.S.  My father, sister, and I were in a shop watching a woman quickly design the bottle. Personally it was interesting watching how quickly she designed it as well how each bottle had a different design that she had in display. This bottle is for storing in tequila, its a strong alcoholic drink that is well known from Mexico. It was a gift my grandfather gave to my father as a fare well gift since he came back after years along with grandchildren. Looking at the bottle reminds me of a time in childhood when I first went out of U.S territory as well the time I've spent with the family from my fathers side as to sight see.

The older an object may be as well from a different nation it obtains a higher value, objects that are irreplaceable. In Europe, there are museums that contain priceless original lines of different craft, guarded with care, visited by careful tourists and small number of special students (John Cotton Dana: Summaries/Selections from The Gloom of the Museum,1917-Why Museum Building are Temples and Palaces) Museums should have pieces to be admired which what a museum should be. John Cotton Dana says, "Art museum objects were not chosen for their beauty or for their help they might give in developing good taste in the community, but for their rarity, their likeliness to objects found in European  museums, and for all their costs." To me the object I posted as my artwork is just a title but the label obtains a deeper description of why I think its valuable.

Post 5/6

Title: Bow Tie

Artist: Unknown

Date: June 5, 2015

Geography/Culture: United States, New York

Medium: Fabric

Dimensions: Length - 6 Inches Width - 2 Inches

Source: Bow Tie

Every object has a meaning and the way the object gets their meaning is from how much value it is to them personally. Every object has a different value to each person and that is what makes it so special because that has meaning to you and only you. Value is different for everyone because the importance of my object may to useless to others and others objects may not be so important to me. When you visit a museum, you see lots of amazing paintings and sculptures but you won’t see the objects we hold dear or something similar. Our objects aren’t worth millions of dollars to people but they hold a high value to us. Some objects are what you call priceless, even though the object isn’t as expensive as the paintings in museum but it means for to us. In John Cotton Dana’s essays he says, “Art museum objects were not chosen for their beauty or for their help they might give in developing good taste in the community, but for their rarity, their likeness to objects found in European museums, and for their cost.” This quote means that the objects in museums take rarity and high price for beautiful. The objects that are expensive are more appealing because of their price value. I believe if they they made the items in museums free then they would lose its value because it doesn’t really mean anything special to a certain someone. That is why objects that we hold close to our hearts has more value than museum items.  

Everyone has a special item or object in their lives and my is my bow tie from my high school prom. This bow tie was a gift that I for my prom from my prom date. No alterations have been made to the bow tie and it stays the same from the day I received this gift. This bow tie matched my prom suit perfectly and I didn’t use it for anything else. I picked this object because this bow tie is one of the most important things to me and has many unforgettable memories. An important thing to tell the viewer about this object that it is a symbol for something you really care about and will always keep safe with you. Special important items should always be kept safe because they can make you randomly smile by making you think of the special moments. This bow tie may be just a normal regular bow tie to everyone else but this bow tie is worth much more to me. An item is just an item if it has no story behind it. You keep the item and you can always remember that story. John Cotton Dana’s essay says, “As the collections were of very great value -- consisting usually of originals which no money could replace, which should therefore be guarded with the utmost care -- the first thought in regard to them was their preservation; their utilization being a secondary and rather remote affair.” This means that if you have a precious item that is very close to you, money cannot buy it because it is priceless. You can’t trade money for a special memory and you will never let the item get damage. This quote relates to my bow tie because I wouldn’t trade this for anything because it was a gift from someone special and it’s priceless.

blog post #5/6: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Title: Our Lady of Guadalupe
Artist: unknown
Date: around 6 years ago
Culture: Mexico
Medium: resin materials (also foam, tablet, wire, drill, green tape, and plastic flowers)
Dimensions: unknown
Source:  Christmas gift from my god father (contributors: my sister's godparents)


Objects get their meaning depending on the person. Object symbolize an idea with hidden meanings. The object I've selected is a beautiful mini-statue of Guadalupe, given to my family as a Christmas present. It was from my godfather. She's wearing a  dark green/mint green shawl and she's wearing a red dress. Her hands are together, like she is praying. Surrounding her is an arc with colorful flowers and some Christmas lighting. This object is important to me because of my religious beliefs. My family and I go to church, and we believe in Guadalupe. I chose this object because it's gorgeous. It lights up my living room, especially during the night. Behind this object, on the right hand corner, is a photo of my grandmother who passed away years ago. I guess having those two beside each other makes my father feel like his mother is in a better place.
Anyways, I learned that our Guadalupe statue wasn't always like it appears to be on this photo. Apparently my sister's godparents made an awesome and creative alteration on our statue. My sister's godmother thought of a creative way to build an arc that sheltered our Guadalupe statue. She's a fantastic arts and craft person so having her add onto our statue was pretty cool. Her godmother used a white square foam, a small tablet, wires, green tape, a small drill, nails, and plastic flowers. First, her godfather nailed the white foam onto the tablet, and glued the statue onto its new base. Then he cut the flowers and intertwined them onto the wire one by one. Next he put the drill onto the stove, to heat it up a bit, and he put holes onto these plastic flowers so that he can insert little Christmas lights. When he was done he used to flowers to decorate the arc. Lastly, he placed about 8 flowers in front of the foam. The colors complement each other. They blend in perfectly, in my opinion. The outcome was remarkable. I was amazed that her godparents did that for my family. There are so creative I was blown away. It's funny because it takes a creative mind to make such an impressive alteration. She thought it, and he build it. I guess by viewing this the person seeing this object will gain knowledge on my religious beliefs, and how it is a beautiful representation of Guadalupe.
I think Dana said that museums only display art that the rich can afford and are interested in. I think that if this was displayed in a museum people would love it, and hopefully find the value within this object. Religion plays an important role in our lives (most of us) and I think that those who are in tact with their religious beliefs would appreciate a work of art such as this colorful arc with Guadalupe inside it.

Prosperity Tree

Prosperity Tree
1819
Unknown Artist
Cherokee Indian

Museum Essay

Unknown Artist                                                  Franz Marc
Marble Statue of a Lion,ca.400-390 B.C          Fighting Cows,1911
Marble,Parian 2                                                 Oil on Canvas

      In the Metropolitan museum of Art I saw many forms of art that I thought to be very beautiful and intriguing but these two,the Marble Statue of a Lion and Fighting cows captivated me the most. They both depict animals as their subjects,which I love, and they also show the animals in a way that makes it better and maybe even refreshing to see. The way the artist re-creates the animal in their artwork is what makes it even more special than the ways the other artists around the museum because it is in their point of view. Although the two pieces of art I choose seem polar opposites, one being a painting while the other being a sculpture and one being really colorful while the other simply being one color,they both share something in common. And I believe that that is the way they were depicted. For example when I saw the lion for the first time, I got the impression of it being more like a playful dog than it being in an attack stance. I get this feeling by the way it seems to be happy and smiling and it raising its rear in the air which can't be an attacking stance since lions crouch to hide from their prey and it helps them sprint faster and higher. Plus dogs raise their rears in such a way that shows they are in a playful mood. And showing that the artist creates this in an out of the box view of a lion and in his own way.
       Also, just like in the sculpture,the painting seems to show the animal doing something out of the ordinary. And I'm not referring to fact that cows are fighting,because that is very normal since they do so for territorial reasons and was even made into a Swiss event in the
1920s.But as i said the artist re-creates the image of the animal in a way they see it, and Franz did just that using colors to represent emotions such as spirituality and maleness to blue, femininity and sensuality to yellow, and terrestrial materiality to red. So in a way it can be said that the fact that the cows are depicted as an unrealistic color would make it an out of the box work of art but it is also the fact that he gives it meaning and creates something that seems fantasy such as the sculptor for the lion which also made the lion seem fictional by giving it a dog like look. And overall both seem to represent stylized forms of artwork which I believe they are in the museum for, as well as the emotions they invoke and the way they were made and the ideas behind them. Whenever I see such artworks in the museums that have huge gaps in time I feel amazed and at the same time surprised at how many differences and similarities they all seem to have no matter what,because they are forms of art and ways of expression.

Museum Essay #1 - Celebration of Death

Throughout history and across the world, the ritualistic practices surrounding death have been and continue to be a huge part of each culture. Often the most fascinating, beautiful aspects to discover and explore of different peoples is the manner in which they commemorate, acknowledge and sometimes celebrate the dead. These rituals speak to the group they belong to. At the Met Museum, two pieces really exemplified a culture being display via their burial practices. Although these both have that utilization in common, there are all numerous ways in which they contrast.

My approach to this assignment was simple: let the "aesthetic emotion" guide then connect two pieces later. Among the pictures I took, there were some interesting pairings but I loved the comparisons that were immediately evident between these two in particular. The first obvious commonality is that both of these pieces are 3-dimensional sculptures that are extraordinary version of ordinary things. If they were to merely be practical, a simple box or even just a wrap would have sufficed in burying the deceased. Being ornate was clearly the goal with both of these pieces. As for the type of sculpture, the sarcophagus is a relief sculpture with carvings that were created on one continual flat surface around the case.  And although both are carved sculptures, the sarcophagus was made of marble and the Malagan work out of wood, paint and shell. Obviously, both would involve differing methods of craftsmanship.

Both pieces with actual texture also have noticeable value. Because the Greek sculpture was crafted from marble there is more contrast and therefore less value than the Northern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea sculpture that has more value due to the use of color in paint and the varying natural colors in the materials used. As for the shape, it can be argued that these both have organic and geometric shape. However, one type of shape is more dominate in each piece; the Malagan carving consist of more geometric shapes and has a lot of symmetry and patterns where as the Greek carving is made up of mainly organic human figures. Death is indeed the subject matter these two pieces share however they show it in distinct ways. The sarcophagus was originally made to house the body however the other was often created some time after the person was dead to commemorate the person’s life and accomplishments. Having said that, they both seem to be designed as celebratory pieces. Dionysus in Greek mythology is the god of grape harvest and wine. Wine being an element associated with celebration. The Malagan carving was used during ceremonies that celebrated the deceased. Perhaps the message of both is that death doesn’t have to exclusively be a sorrowful affair.

Based on the traditions of each of the regions, each are representational. Although the Greek piece also gives form to the unknown physicality of a god, it also depicts other mortal human beings in a representational way. Unfortunately, it wasn’t written whether or not the Malagan piece includes depictions of actual people.  Both too display animals in a representational way with the sarcophagus containing a carving of a panther and the wood and shell piece a carving of the head of a boar and fish. The realistic representations make all references recognizable. Based on other Greek depicts of the human form, it is clear that sculpture contains idealized human figures. Further proof of this is the fact that a god is portrayed. Of course a god would be portrayed not only based on the societal beliefs of said god but would also which the highest of the societal beauty standards. It is unclearly what the figures in the Malagan piece were modeled after but it was common for a rendering of the deceased to be in the piece. I find it reasonable to assume that the person would be depicted favorably using cultural symbolism. Perhaps the boar and fish represent wealth, stature, character or something along those lines. Otherwise, the person wouldn’t be worth commemorating.

Neither of these works have a known artist however both speak on the people from which they came.  To really observe each of these sculptures is to gain insight into these two cultures of vastly different regions and time periods. I believe they were chosen by the Met curator(s) not only due to the obvious masterfulness but also because of the exemplification of the artistry and aesthetics of the cultures each piece came from. One was sculpted in Papua New Guinea in the late 19^th-early 20^th century and the other in Ancient Greece between 220 and 230 A.D yet they share similarities. Overall, they are both stunning pieces created in response to our inevitable mortality.

         

                                                                  

Metropolitan Museum Essay

During the trip to the Metropolitan Museum, I found most the of the art pieces there very intriguing. But the two pieces I chosen that intrigued me the most were Vaprio d'Adda, 1744 created by Bernardo Bellotto (Top painting), and Tomorrow is Never, 1955 created by Key Sage (Bottom painting). These two artworks are approximately two hundred-eleven years old. Both the Vaprio d'Adda and Tomorrow is never are oil paintings. I haven't noticed any major similarities besides that fact, and that the artists featured dark colors in their paintings. It may be hard to notice in the Vaprio d'Adda but the dark colors were used for the shadows and the clouds (The rest of it is made up of warm colors). Bernardo Bellotto painting  "... is the village of Canonica d'Adda, north of Milan, and in the center is the villa melzi,..." he painted it for the Count Simonetta. The sun is setting in the west in the painting, and in the foreground there are people outside of the village chilling and having a good time. Two of the men that are outside the village are pointing at what appears to be a woman on standing in a small boat, while a man rows. Then the middle ground features the beautiful painted building structures and the very large green trees. Overall to me Bernardo captured the site very well, it could pass as a photograph in my book. This is very much representational art. Key Sage oil painting, is way darker than Bernardo, it does not compare (Yin & Yang). What attracted to this painting right away was the structure rather than beauty, which is what I found with Vaprio d'Adda. Key Sage was a powerful female surreal artist, she did many art pieces that included ".... architectural scaffolding, latticework structures, and draped figures, to evoke feelings of entrapment and dislocation..." The sky in this painting is gloomy and you can tell that there is sadness wanting to pour out of it but it's being kept in. Prior to her creating this painting key lost her husband of a sudden death, and soon after she made this painting she committed suicide. This painting to me felt like a cry for help with all of the dark colors already, so learning that she committed suicide didn’t come as a real shock with the lost of her love. Seeing these two different art pieces, Vaproi d’Adda from the eighteenth century, and Tomorrow is Never from the twentieth century made me look into myself in a way because I wouldn’t of chosen them if I didn’t feel they had any significance to me. I feel they represent two emotions that constantly battle inside of me happiness and sadness. I feel that they were placed in the museum because these two artists made remarkable pieces that caused people to think and feel a certain emotion. The same can be said about any art piece right, but its clear that many people recognized their art pieces specifically and that’s why theirs were placed in the museum so that others can see and feel the emotion from their art pieces.