Thursday, April 5, 2018

your turn #8 (though a little late)


is there anything you want to say about last class? we did surrealism (magritte).

and, yes, bauhaus,


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Surrealism has always been a favorite topic of mine. I grew up interested in this style due to its fascinating, otherworldly composition. Stark contrasts to realists, surrealists take their technical skills and remold the world into dreamlands. It also reflected the time period, how Europe was in such a melancholy state that artists needed to find an escape from everyday life. This was similar to the Romantic period, how the city-dwelling artists painted pastoral scenes as a coping mechanism, which seems to be a common.

I also found the furniture interesting considering I love sculpture. I never really thought of furniture as sculpture, but it is, and the strange and quirky ways these artists made the pieces gives me a sense of satisfaction. The sheep was my favorite, mostly because it made me a bit uncomfortable. I try my best to look at the world in a different way, and these artists certainly succeeded."

Sondra Pearson

Denise O. said...

Understanding psychedelic art and any other art form that is psychedelic can be challenging, or even controversial, for some. Because it relates or denotes drugs that produce hallucinations, people may not want to understand it. Having listened to psychedelic music myself, I really enjoyed looking at the psychedelic art. The bright colors, curved shapes and patterns all reflect what I would expect psychedelic music to sound like. I would consider this type of art to be surrealism because surrealism taps into the unconscious mind as well.

Also, I was definitely mesmerized by the fumage technique. As a child, I would experiment with fire and papers, and the first piece of the blog post reminded me of my childish experiments. I love the idea of using fire and this technique being so special for this particular artist is truly outstanding. The earth’s natural elements have so much material to provide and I seem to have a different appreciation for those “marks” that are less processed, per say.

Elizabeth Davis said...

I agree with Denise when she says psychedelic or surrealist art can be difficult for some people to appreciate. I find that surrealist art is more difficult to decipher and for some people, it can be frustrating to view a piece but not know the message behind it, or even in some cases, there might not be a deeper meaning behind a piece. I feel like a lot of surrealist art leaves the viewer with the freedom to interpret the meaning of the work in a very personal and individual way. This may make the work seem more light hearted in some cases or even serious and dark in others. Surrealism can be complex yet so simple at the same time, like Bauhaus’s poster. Also, I find it fascinating that surrealist art deals with the unconscious mind and, in ways, relates to Freudian theory.

Elizabeth Davis said...

I agree with Denise when she says psychedelic or surrealist art can be difficult for some people to appreciate. I find that surrealist art is more difficult to decipher and for some people, it can be frustrating to view a piece but not know the message behind it, or even in some cases, there might not be a deeper meaning behind a piece. I feel like a lot of surrealist art leaves the viewer with the freedom to interpret the meaning of the work in a very personal and individual way. This may make the work seem more light hearted in some cases or even serious and dark in others. Surrealism can be complex yet so simple at the same time, like Bauhaus’s poster. Also, I find it fascinating that surrealist art deals with the unconscious mind and, in ways, relates to Freudian theory.

Unknown said...

One of the things I found interesting this past week was surrealism. Ever since I first looked at surrealism and figured out what it was I thought it was extremely interesting; it was so intriguing to me because it would make sense for half of the painting and then it would just into something completely weird and different but they would be infused so well it translated as one. I think it displays the level of thought that was put into creating things in that style, one had to find a way to turn one object into something completely different without making it look abrupt. This also made the viewer have to think even harder about what the artwork meant because it wasn’t just interpreting it but before doing that one had to make sense of the weird/distorted elements of the artwork.

Estella M. said...

It's interesting to see the progression of art through this period. The concept of our dreams leading the movement of surrealism only pushes the notion that human beings are in charge of our existence. This leads me to wonder "how" humans are questioning their existence now.

Through the marks made by these artists I'm questioning if man really thinks it will evolve into an existence beyond its current form. With the creation of "civilization", we have figured out a way of organizing our history to reflect that its mark was extraordinary and lasting. But will this truly be a lasting mark on the earth? Or will it be wiped away when the next civilization begins since most of our reality is documented on the internet? It just reminds me of the importance of the arts and sciences being supported and preserved.