Video Blog Week 12

1. I selected the videos at random. I really didn’t know what to choose. I did select the Andy Warhol video because I find Andy Warhol to be an interesting person.


2. The Power of Art: Rothko

Can art change a life? the world? What can art do? Rothko committed suicide in 1970. In the 1920s, Rothko's early paintings indicate a "knotted imagination." To release his mind's interference, he dabbled in Expressionism. Rothko insists that his paintings imbue the values of contemporary society, and he denies any psychological interpretation of his art. His paintings show human tragedy. Rothko turned his art into an assault on the rich restaurant patrons whom he despised, hoping the paintings would make them sick as they dined. It’s thought that he awakened the art world to an American genius whose art transcended that of most 20th-century painters.

Uncertainty: Modernity and Art

Instead of offering an idealized or ennobled vision of humankind, modern art—an instrument of the tumultuous 20th century—communicates chaos, anxiety, and above all, uncertainty. What can we still believe in? And is Western civilization nearing its end?  With the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, Man is separated from Nature, machines rule work, and science challenges religion. One can look at modern art to discover self in a changing world. What is the underlying message of modern art? Uncertainty.  Modern art is a complete break from art of the past that was inspirational, idealized. Art is the lightning conductor for changing values. Modern Art keeps responding to modern life. In modern life, people live in doubt, and one is never sure of one's true identity. Reality is different jostling points of view colliding together. Abstract art tests out modern changes. It comes to no conclusions. Abstract art does not point to a god or higher intelligence.  In art today, one questions whether the values once expressed so nobly in Greek statues are really only illusions. People are only what consumerism tells them they are.

Hockney on Photography

The camera was not invented in the 19th century, only the chemical process was, says David Hockney. There is a void between the person behind the camera and the subject. He aims to take away the void. Hockney uses photographic images to create something pertaining more to the condition of painting. A large version of a Hockney photographic collage creates interest because of its perspective of perspective. As a child, Hockney frequented the cinema and came to see that a different world existed outside his hometown. Hockney explains perspective in ways that most people have not considered. Everything is related to everything else. Technology has changed not only the cost of reproducing photographs, but also has changed what is possible to create in size. 

Andy Warhol: Images of an Image

Andy Warhol worked as a commercial artist until 1960 when he began experimenting with advertising images. He worked until his untimely death in 1987. Worked with silk screening. Andy Warhol saw the repeated silk screen images as a way to make money. His work revolves around pop culture.

2. It gave a better in depth look at postmodern art. I felt the each section, although there were many, were very short. They did not go into much detail at all but just gave a basic over view. The videos really took some of the sections that were in the chapter further.

3.  I really enjoyed the videos on specific artists. It really gives a more in depth look at the individuals. I really liked the video on Andy Warhol. The page in the book on him was a short blurb in comparison.