Vik Muniz post 2

2. Can art be both humorous and meaningful?

I believe that Art can be humorous and meaningful. Many of the most meaningful events you will ever experience in life will have a humorous aspect to them, from graduation to marriage. Humour can help make a situation that you will never remember stay with you forever, and if that is used to your advantage, meaningful art can be even more distinctive. Vik Muniz's Clown Skull is, in my opinion, a good example of how you can take something serious and rather important and make it lighter and more distinctive. One of his other works, The Rocking Podium, also puts humour and meaningful events together, although in this instance he appears to be making light of the idea of winning. The pictures that go along with this post exemplify that art can be both humorous and meaningful. Amy Steins Crime Fighter shows in a somewhat light hearted manner that anyone can be a hero and noy only that, but how crime can have an impact on anybody. The oher pciture, Anonymous, could be an attempt to highlight they way in which media is shaping our lives.

Vik Muniz post 1

1. Which of Muniz’s pieces do you enjoy and why?

From Muniz's video, I have two favorite pieces; they are The Clown Skull and The Last Supper (Chocolate 2001). I enjoy The Last Supper (Chocolate 2001) mainly because it is made of Chocolate. Admittedly, it is an amazing piece of art that must have taken countless sticky hours, but the real attraction of the piece, in my opinion, is the irony of something called The Last Supper being made out of and edible substance. It is also interesting think about how this scene should be a somewhat bittersweet moment in biblical terms which leads me to ask: "What kind of Chocolate did he use"? The Clown Skull is an interesting piece of work. The piece appears to be satirizing death, finding something to laugh about in it. It is somewhat uplifting in its own way because of this.

Light Painting (*unedited)

"Abstract" Photos

-What are the some possible advantages to “record[ing] the world as a series of typologies” ?

Recording the world as a series of typologies comes as an advantage when studying life. By recording the world as a series of typologies, we are able to see the minute differences between multiple people and things. Using this form highlights these difference, these things that make each of us unique, and because of that, special. We can see how weather forms, how trees and people grow and how our society progresses. Typology can show us our past either as our self or as a human population, it can also show us the multitude of life forms around us and how we each impact each other. It allows us to see how the earth works and moves.

By using Typology, Biologists can determine how a flower blooms, or a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Someone could analyze how a baseball player hits a homerun or a soccer player sets up a goal. Typology allows us to see how there are multiples forms of the same thing. For example, someone could take a picture of the sky as a day progresses, see how it goes from peaceful to cloudy to a major storm. If a person were to take a picture of multiple maple trees or apples, they would see how their are minor differences, but all have the same general shape. These things are what makes Typology important as a recording of the world.

Homework (Due: Oct. 26)

Based upon the pictures and video, define Typology

Based upon the pictures, video and in class discussions, Typology can be described as a type of photography involving each picture be different, but the same. In typology, the photographer takes multiple pictures of the similar object or people. In each of these pictures, however, the photographer will change something, whether it is a person, object, color, type or material. In Typology, the idea is to show differences, however, you should not have too many (usually no more than one) difference between your pictures. The photographer should attempt to keep as much similar between each picture as they can, without compromising their idea.

Does Blossfeldt’s work resemble modern advertising?

Karl Blossfeldt's work very much resembles modern advertising. In modern Advertisising, association is a key component of any ad campaign. Having a photograph of one thing remind you of something entirely different is similiar to much of Blossfeldt's work. In modern advertising, and for that matter, design, the look of the object that is being sold is incredibly important. For example, much of a cars design is unecessary. All cars, when looked at head on, have a face. The car in this picture is ecstatically happy. Blossfeldts photograph also resembles a face, though the photograph has nothing to do with one.

Respond to this statement: (For 10/19/09)

“Blossfeldt’s work can be seen as a transition between looking at photography as just science and looking at photography as art.”

Karl Blossfeldt's work can be considered a transition for photography from a science to an art, because of the way some of his photographs remain staged in appearance, and some of them appear as if a plant has just been plucked from the earth. Karl Blossfeldt aranged these objects to create different images on the photograph, some have been aranged to look like faces, vases and human bodies. As a science, pictures were supposed to be taken only one way, they were supposed to be taken in manner such that the objects they depicted would be clear, rather than being possibly anything. The scientific photograph is not staged, it is taken as it would look in its natural enviornment. For Example, the picture to the right could be just a plant, placed on a canvas, or it could be a mighty tree, or even a person. Photography as an art involves more creativity and staged situations than photography as a science, as an accepted manner of looking at, and taking, a picture.

Typology Proposal

For the Typology assignment I would like to take different pictures of fences, gates and walls. The idea would be to show the differing types of material used in the construction of fences, gates and walls. In addition to this, I would like the pictures to highlight the distinctive difference between walls designed to keep things in, the ones designed to keep people out and the ones designed just to be decorative and add to the visual appeal of the property. The inclusion of animals such as horses or cows would help to show the differences between these types of walls, the practical versus the pretty.

The way in which the community reacts to barriers being placed within them is also important. If i can, I wish to get pictures of some walls or fences that have been painted over and have graffiti. Luckily enough, due to the time of the year, the lighting and weather i believe will fit this project should be easy to come by. A cloudy sky and windy days are what I am looking for to help the fences, gates and walls become true focal points, whether it helps them to stand out, or blend in a manner that will draw the viewers focus. I would like to take the pictures in a way so that the fence would extend into the distance on the left side of the frame, with the foreground being on the right. Places where I could take these pictures are numerous close to where I live. Some examples would be The Hoosac School, Southern Vermont College and the Fourwinds Farm.

These Pictures, taken at an annual Cow Plop/Car show in my town, I believe fit the "Joie Picture" assignment well. Although in the top picture it is somewhat difficult to find the emotion and the action, I believe that the little girl, in the act of jumping up, coupled with the fact that the picture is shot through a giant eye, works to display a certain amount of fun and irony.

The lighting in all of the pictures, the dark, drearyness of the day, in contrast with the colorful rides and clothes, better highlights the emotional state of the children. I also believe that the second picture is interesting because of the mutliple emotion that appear in it. The little girl in the back does not appear happy, the boy in the blue t-shirt in the front appears to be scared/excited and the other boy with him is also very happy. Because there is in every picture some inanimate object with a face, or partial face [ex) Mouse, Clown, Eye ] the pictures fit the project in mutliple ways by using emotions from multiple people and things.