May 3: Overtime

7 days in the art world

I can imagine myself in a crit like this one. I was in one that was similar in LA during my graphic design class, we would all talk about the meaning behind our pieces and why we chose certain motifs before we got into the actual work. But i have some qualms with how the writer set up the whole book. She seems to have focused on the most intense pieces of the artist's world while completely leaving out parts of the art world where people have fun and enjoy their work. I feel like this creates a biased view of the art world that I personally disagree with based on other views of the art world I have seen (see: Helvetica).

Final Reflection

This class was fun. Not fun in the "goof off and run around" way, but fun in the "I get to do lots of good work and experience studio life a little" way. I managed to self motivate and inhabit a studio for spring term. The crits in this class weren't the best, but they worked. I enjoyed the freedom to be able to do whatever art I wanted, and to eat while I worked (something that's always gotten my brain going). One of my first pieces was (in my mind) the most successful. I did some other rough sketches and messed around with materials, but the piece with the man and the colorful ribbons was by far the cleanest and best executed piece.

Crit 2 Reflection

The second crit went well. my group members were split over where I should hang my piece and if I should cut it down to size or not. The size issue will come into play depending on whether or not I ad the color trails.

Surviving the Critique

In your opinion, what do you think the role of the critique, as it's described in this chapter, could be in a class like ours?
To show us the reactions of our peers to our work and to help us grow as artists and to let us experience a critique environment.

According to this chapter and your past experiences, how can you get the most out of a critique of your own work?
By letting the work speak for itself some, but by also saying what I was doing in making the work a little bit.

How can you be a helpful participant in your classmates' critiques?
By not letting personal feelings get in the way of interpreting work, listen when others are talking, especially the artist, give helpful feedback, act interested.

Art & Fear

Select three quotes from the excerpt that you can relate to and type them into a post on your blog. Maybe they remind you of something that's happened to you in an art class or something you've seen someone else experience. Write about how you relate to the quote and include as many specific stories as you can.

1: "Art is human; error is human; ergo art is error." I feel that this is soooo true to my artistic process. Sometimes inspiration comes from a mess-up I made in a sketch, or when I grab a material or color I wasn't planning on using, or when a piece comes out looking totally different from how I envisioned it.

2: "Asking your awork to prove anything only invites doom." I struggle with this all the time because of the influence of artists around me. I feel a constant push that my art has to mean something. I create my art to be viewed, not studied and scrutinized for social value. There may be small meanings in some of it, such as "I think graffiti is art" or "portraiture can be fun" but generally there won't be meaning in my work, and I feel pressured to put something in it.

3: "When your work is counted, will it be counted as art?" This is a big question for me, especially because I do some art that is influenced by art forms that some people do not like very much (graffiti, toy design, graphic design). Many of the design forms were looked down on as being "sell outs" in the art community for a while, so I feel like there may still be some sort of animosity there. Some of my work looks sort of childish in nature, or under-produced, and I feel like that could lead to some "is it art?" questioning. I think it is though.

Crit 1 Reflection

That went well. I got good feedback about the first piece I did. Different things about the coloration and abstraction. Also I received feedback about my plans for the show, comments about the color of the background, and how the colors match up. My group mates seemed to like what I had done.