Art Culture in Ceramics

Ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat. They are mostly clay modeled and heated to give a smooth shape. Ceramics has been used as an art material long before. Artist has created a deep relation with arts and ceramics. Ceramics are used to design pots, statues, dishes, cups etc. The use of ceramics started very early and we are still using it. It has got more developed and it is also used as semiconductors. Many items in ancient time were designed on ceramics. The shape of the item has its own art and to add more attractiveness paints were used to design it in different theme.

 Jean Charles Develly  ,

 "Sugar Bowl",1836,

Gallery 554 - Decorative Arts and Sculpture, 1800–1850

The above picture is of a bowl made by ceramics in 1836 by Gilder: Pierre Riton . The bowl is designed to give a shape which is a piece of art. Then it was heated to make it hard. Then paint was applied to its surface and borders. It was creatively designed with paints and given an extraordinary look. It’s a masterpiece.

T.A.C. Colenbrander, 

"Vase Rozenburg Plateelfabriek", 1888,

Gallery 556 - Decorative Arts and Sculpture, 1800–1850

The above picture is of a vase made of ceramics in 1888 by T.A.C. Colenbrander.  The vase has a innovative work of art on the outer surface. The borders are not that much colorful but the combination of 2 colors makes it perfect.

Attributed to Ceramic Art Company  (1889–1896)

"Chocolate Pot",ca. 1890-96

Gallery 774 - Luce Center Visible Storage

The above picture is of another pot made of ceramics in ca. 1890-96. The pot design has the structure of fish and looks more realistic. The paint applied later is a single color which gives it a basic look. The design represents a lake which has fish and background shows some flowers.

The above artworks are under the theme of ceramics. They all have a common factor that they are made up of ceramics. The artwork used on them is of different texture, picture, shapes etc. which gives them an extraordinary look. We have been using ceramic materials for centuries. We are still using it. The designs and artwork on the ceramic items shows the timeline of the art piece. They are beautifully engraved.  The artwork also represents the culture of that exact time.  My collection is to shows some collection of different extraordinary art pieces made of ceramics. 

"Jar"

late 12th–first half 13th century

Gallery 454 - Egypt and Syria (10th–16th centuries)

"Vessel, Mythological Scene"

7th–8th century

Gallery 358 - Mesoamerican Gallery

"Two Gilded Mina'i Ceramics"

late 12th–early 13th century

Gallery 453 - Iran and Central Asia (9th–13th centuries)

Clara Chipman Newton

"Bowl"
ca. 1890–95Gallery 774 - Luce Center Visible Storage

Unknown Author

"Ceramic Egg"
late 17th centuryGallery 300 - Byzantium (South Gallery)

Ceramic Art Company
"Pitcher"
1889-1906Gallery 774 - Luce Center Visible Storage

Unknown Author

"Jar with Poet Zhou Dunyi"1587Gallery 204 - Chinese Ceramics

Unknown Author

"Apothecary jar (orciuolo)"
ca. 1520Gallery 950 - Maiolica

Unknown Author

"Dish (coppa): The story of Aeneas: Queen Dido of Carthage welcomes Aeneas and his son.
possibly workshop of Giovanni Maria Vasaro  (Italian (Castel Durante), active early 16th century)"

ca. 1520

Gallery 950 - Maiolica

John Bennett
"Charger"1877
Gallery 743 - Aesthetic, Arts and Crafts, and Louis C. Tiffany

Unknown Author

"Water Jar"
1880
Gallery 356 - Art of Native North America

Unknown Author

"Dish (piatto)"ca. 1530
Gallery 950 - Maiolica

Chelsea Galleries Reaction

An artwork is not only to be kept in museum, it is also used to beautify surroundings. We use different kinds of art craft to decorate our house. Art crafts could be anything we use to decorate. These decorative makes the surrounds more elegant.  Recently I visited some galleries in Chelsea. I found few of the art work attractive and which are a good investment to invest on. Some of them were not a good art work which can be used to decorate or to invest. 

I found Ernesto Neto’s work interesting. His work with fabric is very artistic handicraft.  His work particularly “The Island Bird” is the one which I liked most. This is I think a good investment. This art work can be installed in a hall room for the kids to have fun with. It is a great art work as well as a fun land for kids and teenagers.  This is like a little suspended theme park inside the house.  I would obviously invest on this art work.

Ernesto Nero

"The Island Bird"

2012 

Richard Avedon's artwork is one I disliked. Those art works are not that kind which can be showcased in rooms or hallways. Those artworks contain nudity which is in fact the main reason that I would not prefer investing on them. I don’t think anyone would display those artworks onto their hall rooms. Those artworks best fit in museums rather than any other place.

RICHARD AVEDON
Andy Warhol and members of The Factory: Joe Dallesandro and Candy Darling, actors, New York, October 30, 1969  

1993

Art:21 History Reaction

Mary Reid Kelley is an artist who worked to produce a films to bring history to her art. She used latest technology to shoot the film. Her film had different scene from history. She was helped bye her family members to cast her film. She did lot of research to bring history in light. She performed and directed that film.

Sculpture Center Reaction

An artwork’s visual representation depends not only on their self representation but also depend on the surroundings. The surrounding environment can change the view of the art. It changes the theme of the artwork. Installation is an important factor in presentation of an artwork in a space. The surroundings should be able to communicate with the artwork. 

Bill Bollinger

"Untitled"

1970

The picture above is of an artwork installed in the Sculpture center. It is a rusted steel barrel full of dirty water mainly used in construction site. This artwork has been installed under the rusted staircase. Half part of the room is dirty and half of the part is clean. Dirty part consists of walls with no paint, bricks can be seen and unhygienic environment which represents a construction site. The clean part has white color painted wall few art frames representing a contemporary art museum. Standing of both side of the water tank we can compare the piece of art in 2 different places. How it would look in a modern museum and in a construction site. I think this piece of art has much better relation with the construction site surrounding. It communicates the same way the surrounding items communicate with it. 

 Bill Bollinger

"Cyclone Fence"

1968

Another art work is “Cyclone Fence” shown above which is a regular fence we see now days. It has been twisted in the middle and kept in the ground exposing its details of the design. This has a good connection with the surrounding as because it is installed in a warehouse theme surrounding not in a modern museum. It seems like the art work has been designed and produced there. This prospective would have change if this piece of art has been installed in a modern museum.

Bill Bollinger

"Rope Piece"

1969

Another art work is a piece of rope which is tightened towards each end which is trying to show that it is holding two surface together. The surrounding is dull showing the weakness of the wall and ceiling. The rope is trying to give a support to the floor. Here the artwork is directly communicating with the surroundings to express its details. A single rope couldn’t have given these expressions if it has been installed in a modern museum.         

So, the installation of an artwork also has an important affect on the artwork itself. Different surroundings can change the meaning of the artwork which the artist was trying to express. The art work should be able to communicate with the surrounding to represent itself completely and deliver its message.        

Design in Our Lives

We use different kinds of product in our daily life to satisfy ourselves in different ways. As products are made to use in our daily life it is designed by the designer considering human in their mind. The product should be designed to be functional with human body. The study of functionality in design is known as Ergonomics. Each product which is designed for human use has to be functional and comfortable for the user.  Some product has high functionality and some has low. A good design is one which is both functional and ergonomic.

Internotredici Associati (Italian, 1970-1983),  

Carlo Bimbi (Italian, born 1944),

Gianni Ferrara (Italian, born 1928) and

Nilo Giocchini (Italian, born 1946)

"Tuttuno" 

Plywood covered with plastic laminate

Year completed : 1971

The above photograph of the product is in my opinion has high functionality. This is a compact living system named "The Tuttuno" which means All-in-one. It contains a pull-out bed, table, drawers, and shelves below an elevated conversation pit. It is a combination of storage, sleeping and eating area with a place for socializing and relaxing. When bed , table , drawers are not in use they can be slide into the unit and out of sight. This product has high functionality as well as it provide a comfortable stay for the user. So I think this is a good design and ergonomic. 

Team Leaders

Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, WORKac

"Nature-City"

 Project site : Keizer, Oregon

 This is a proposed city in Keizer, Oregon. The proposal is a concept of living within the nature. It will have all the facilities of modern living as well as it will incorporate ecological infrastructure, sky gardens, urban farms, and public open space, including large swaths of restored native habitats. So the city is a combination of urban life with nature. This city is a high functional as because it provides all facilities and a community for sustainable living. It is also ergonomic because of its mixture with nature providing a fresh natural environment. 

Yuya Ushida (Japanese, b. 1975)

XXXX_Sofa

Polyamide

Manufactured by  Royal Ahrend

Manufacture year : 2010

XXXX_Sofa is composed of stud connections with three rings and bars of four different length. The structure is repetitive which makes it able to compress and take less space when no needed. In my opinion the sofa is less functional because it just satisfy the space not the comfort. It is much less comfortable then traditional sofa. So it is not be classified as ergonomic.

A&E Design (Swedish, est. 1968), 

Hans Ehrich (Swedish, born 1942) and

Tom Ahlström (Swedish, born 1943)

"Stockholm II Folding Stool and Stockholm II Trolley"

Aluminum, steel, and fiberglass-reinforced plastic fabric

Year: 1993-94

This stool is in my opinion has low functionality. It is compact and can save space. But it is not comfortable to sit on it for a long time. This may cause health problem. So it is not ergonomic.  

All the four above products are well designed and are functional. Two of them I think are good design and other two are well designed but does not meet the requirement to be good design.

Art:21 Power Reaction

Cai-Guo Qiang is a is a Chinese contemporary artist and curator. He uses gun powder explosion to create an art and illustrate his ideas. The power in the explosion sometimes represent The Big Bang. Gun powder is dangerous but he got to know how to use it and produce an art out of it. In another project he used few cars to show flip of a car on a roadway. This shows an illusion of car tumble and flip on air and then land safely on the road. There are many other art work he has done shows the power, some shows the power of destruction.

Illustrate a Story

This story is about the rescue of a police officer after the Twin Tower smashed into the ground on September 11. The officer was stuck on one of the building and he thought it was his end of life. But later he was rescued by the FDNY. In my illustration I am trying to show the rescue of the officer by the fireman from the site.

MoMA PS1: The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood

An artwork is a visual representation of ideas and imaginations. An artwork consists of certain message or theme for the audience. This helps the viewer to understand what the artist is trying to explain. An art should have a meaningful representation about what it is trying to show to the viewer. On my recent visit to Museum of Modern Art, PS1 I have listed three artwork of three different category. One of them I think is good art, one is bad art and one is which I didn’t understand. 

A good art is one which can represent itself to the viewer without any further details. In my opinion Henry Taylor’s “The Long Jump by Carl Lewis” is an example of good art. This is because the artwork represents a long jump of a former athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Champions medals, of which 8 were gold. The background of the artwork has “GOLD” written in few different places to show the medals he won are mostly Gold. 

A bad art can be called as a bad art for many reasons. In my point of view I think Clifford Owens: Anthology can be categorized as a bad art. This is because in his artwork I couldn’t find any exact meaning of what he is trying to give us an idea about. His artwork consisted of several sexual contents. In one event he was having kiss with some people in a certain room. I couldn’t figure out the reason of that and the reason of why this is an art.

Another artwork I found which I couldn’t understand was in the entrance of the 1^st floor gallery. It is called “Jungle”. It was made using different disposed items like beer box, oil gallon etc. It is combination of lots of unused items. But the reason behind my opinion is that I couldn’t find any reason to use waste materials to form an art. The artwork is very hard to determine before reading the description. 

There were many other artworks which were good and some were bad. It is not necessary that all the artwork in an exhibition should look good to a viewer. This is completely a personal opinion on a viewer. It is not to discourage the artists to generate a piece of art.  

The Good Art:

Henry Taylor

“The Long Jump by Carl Lewis”

2010 

The Bad Art:

Clifford Owens: Anthology

The Misunderstood:

 "Jungle"

(no further description found)

Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

An artwork is a reflection of an artist’s idea and imagination. Different art has a different plot. Depending on plot it expresses its own story. An artwork shows its own identities based on its theme. Self identity is a main factor so that the viewer can easily switch their viewing mind based on the piece of artwork.  

An artwork of personal identity expresses the individuality of the character. The character could be the artist him/herself or may be a character from imagination. The artwork should be able to shade a light on to the character to bring its on focus of the artwork. In the exhibition of Cindy Sherman at The Museum of Modern Art I found most of her artwork expressing personal identities. The following piece of artwork is an example of personal identity artwork. In this artwork the artist Cindy Sherman pictured herself at young age. This artwork is showing age of her mind and imaginations.  

Cindy Sherman 

Untitled #466

Year: 2008

An artwork of historical identity expresses some events in history. It should be able to relate the work with life in past. The artwork "Diaries of Milan" by George Condo is a compilation of different lifestyle of people in history. The artwork is not only expressing a single event but also giving an overview of lots to activities of people in past. It is an identity of historical time and place and it differs from the one with personal identity. Their theme totally differ from each other. 

"Diaries of Milan" 

George Condo 

Year: 1984

The following artwork I think represents cultural identity. In the artist is trying to express a party theme. In the artwork the character is dressed up in party outfit holding a cup representing a cup of beer. This is an cultural event of modern lifestyle.

Cindy Sherman

 Untitled #463

Year: 2007-08

All the above artwork has their own individual theme. One way they overlap is they bears an identity. The artwork should have their own capability of expressing their own theme. This is how an artwork becomes  expressive.

Narrative Digital Collage

In this picture I have created a scene where the main character mistakenly landed on another planet. After he landed the law enforcer of that foreign planet is trying to catch him. On the right there is a police officer and his space craft and on the left side there is another officer who is calling for backup . There are few space craft hovering over the main character to keep eye on him. The main character is trying to get into his space car and escape from the planet.

Good Art vs. Bad Art.

What is an art? Common definition says an art is a work produced by skills and imaginations typically expressed in a visual form. From the definition, an art should be able to express itself in order to be a good art. It should have the ability to attract the audience and express itself in such a way that there is no need of further details. This is where the creativity of an artist functions. In my opinion a good art can be anything creatively produced which can express itself and has a meaning behind the visual presentation.

Now talking about bad art, as I said on my first paragraph that an art should have the ability to express itself which directly shows the properties of a bad art. So an art which fails to express itself to the audience and the audience doesn't have any sense of what the art tries to express which in my opinion is a bad art.
  

In my opinion this is an example of good art. This art from my point of view says a story of a girl who is a master in solving Rubik's cube.

This picture is an example of bad art in my opinion. I didn't understand what the artist was trying to express.


Picture credit: First one is taken from "http://www.scottmcd.net/artanalysis/?p=655"
                      Second picture is taken from "http://www.museumofbadart.org/collection/recent11.php"