Time for a little culture.

This past break I made two trips into Manhattan. Did I go exploring? Not necessarily, I did however visit two museums based off the two periods based off of the visits I made. For the 1910- 1950, I went traversed to midtown and went to the MoMA. On the following day, the upper East side was calling my name and I paid a visit to the Frick Gallery on 70th street.

While at the MoMa, I was privy to the works of two artists, I blogged -is that even a word-about, there I got to see the works of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Matisse. Lets start first with Dali.


Unfortunately, I was unable to find most of the pieces I used in the blog, so instead I went with some substitutes. Whislst at the Dali exhibit, I saw two of his works, Persistence in Memory and Illumined Pleasures. From what I saw online, I was not aware of how much detail Dali put in Persistence in Memory. The ants were surprising factor to me, the black of them on the clock popped out much more so in person than online. Also, the blue hues on the clocks and amber tones of the cliff in the background were of a richer quality. Definitely was much more appreciative of it in person than online. Also by Dali, I got to see a more recent work of his, Immortal Pleasures, published in 1929. Like his latter works, Dali utilizes a desert as his main area for his subjects. Here he showcases an abstract array of objects and figures all enacting in pleasure. Two faces are conversing on the top of an aquarium, a nymph blowing bubbles and other bizarre figures. Following Dali, I ran into Matisse, not of the latter blog but from the prior. Again, I was unable to find the work I blogged but I stumbled upon a piece that was covered in class several weeks ago. They had the Red Studio piece there and as just the word “Red” is one heck of an understatement. The color of the whole set pops out right at you as does the green leaves on the wine bottle. Other than the pallete, not much is different online as it is in person but otherwise it’s a fantastic piece. Also by Matisse was the women on a high stool. Drab greys abound in the one, but the draftsmanship in is remarkable with bold outlines on the table and the woman herself. One thing I would say that applies to all the pieces seen in the past visits are that online, you can’t get a clear view of the brushstrokes. In person, all of the pieces I’ve observed save for Dali’s have very pronounced strokes that look positively awesome. Seeing them up close is gives you a true sense of appreciation for the time and effort put in by the artist.


Finally, from MoMa, I happened upon the Picasso gallery, from there I happened upon Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Out of all the pieces in the exhibit, this one was the most striking. First of all the piece is gigantic, certainly the largest I saw at MoMa’s save for the Jackson Pollock piece. My friend and I had to stand back in to completely see the piece in its entirety. The different tones such as the reds and pinks also stood out to me in person. Even the strokes left by Picasso stood out, especially on the nudes, every little finite little stroke of the brush was there in full detail.
The next day, I went uptown and went to the Frick to check out pieces by Reńoir and Manet. As previously stated, I was unable to find the exact pieces I used in the blog so I used what was available at the exhibit. There was privy see Reńoir’s the umbrellas. Like with Picasso’s piece one of the highlights of seeing a piece right in front of you, you can see every bit of detail used such as the brush strokes and such. The umbrellas also showcased Reńoir’s transition of human figures, with the three woman in the front are fully realized and detailed while the figures in the back or more abstract characters without any real definition to them. The hues of indigo and blue were quite a standout.


As for Manet, I capriciously found a lone Manet in the whole Gallery. The piece in question, Manet’s “The Bullfight” from 1863. The bullfight represents a few things about Manet, which I do enjoy. One of which is his use of primary colors especially dark re on the arena and the yellow on fighter’s capes. A highlight of the piece for me was the fresh look of the paint, it still looked like it was just dapped right out of the pallet and put on the easel, most notably the blacks on the bull and the toreador’s hats. However. One thing I noticed from seeing online as well as in person is the awkward stances of the toreador’s. They look very staged and not so much in the moment of the fight.


Privy to my viewing at the other exhibit were some other pieces I thoroughly enjoyed. One of these were the portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein. The portrait has a photogenic quality to it, More appears as if he is right there in the frame just waiting for me to talk to him. The highlights of the piece are definitely More’s attire, the ruffles on his sleeve and his fur cuirass are meticulously detailed to the point that I could almost touch them. The second, more recent piece was Otterhounds by Edwin Landseer. Done in a draftsmanship style, the water colors of the piece give it a faded quality which went hand-in-hand with the the shadows on the figures of the dog. And finally, a sculpture caught my eye ( Bust of Antoine Cosevox). Like the portrait of More, it was eerily lifelike, with realistic whirls and a pronounced nose.


All in all, I had a fantastic time in the city at these galleries. I hope to see these again soon. Come the film screenings I think I may have something more precise in mind for a future trip.

1910-1950

1910-1950
Hello and greetings once again to the arts and aesthetics blog. We move from the broad strokes of expressionism to surrealism and even Dadaism.


Exhibit A: Matisse’s the knife thrower.



Part of a gallery of cutouts done by Matisse, These cutouts have a Hawaiian influence to them with the rounded coral patterns and hourglass figure on the volunteer. I also like the pallet used, light greys and whites with the highlight being the mauve knife thrower. It has a jazz influenced feel to it which I find quite soothing.


Exhibit B: Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus. An example of Dali’s mind bending period, the use of parallel structure in the painting is inspired. On the left is a golden depiction of Narcissus kneeling in the pool, on the right is a much more decayed figure, which looks suspiciously like a finger grasping an egg. Contrasting with the left figure’s golden veneer is a grey one. Residing in the background is a crowd of nude figures, another recurring theme of Dali. As with the rest of Dali’s paintings, a surreal atmosphere pervades the proceedings.


Exhibit C: Kandinsky’s White II . A splash of colors is all over this with a variety of shapes as well. I can see triangles, circles, and straight lines, parallel lines, all of which make the display look insane. Its manic in tone but simultaneously subdued. Kudos to Kandinsky for adding detail like the bean shaped ellipsis on the lower triangle and grid patterns on the right of the painting.
This is the end of section 3 of this blog, stay tuned for more next week.
Over and out.

3 Artists.

In class this past week, we discussed artists from varying time periods, namely from the 1860s to the early 1910s. This covers a wide array of movements from impressionism to cubism with a slew of contributions made by varying artists.

Our first subject: Luncheon at the Boating Party by Pierre Renoir, is a great example of impressionist art. This beautiful painting is an exemplar of Impressionist art with its warm color pallet and quick brush strokes, especially on the attendees. Another plus are the subjects of the party, they all have an everyman quality, they are neither exceptionally beautiful nor are they slovenly. They have a very earthly quality to them which is just wonderful.

Exhibit two: “Boating” by Manet. Like other impressionist art, its painted with very quck and fast brush strokes with little detail made on the subjects in the boat. I love the utilization of lighter colors with the blue in the water as well as voguish shade of the woman’s dress. Finally, like the garden party painting, the subjects look like real people.

Last but not least, we have “The Old Guitarist” by Pablo Picasso. Painted in Picasso’s blue period, the subject is consistent with others in the blue period, vagrants and other poor individuals. What I love about the painting is the haggard appearance of the guitarist; his wrinkles, the receding hairline as well as the awkward way he plays his guitar, adds to the depressing atmosphere of the piece. And lets not forget the blue hues, which give the character piece a gloomy mood, as if his position in life could not be any lower, his world is just as gloomy as he is.

That’s my piece. Over and out!

TRUE Definition of Art

Definition of Art- a brief dissertation by Gino Volpe.

 

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or more than ordinary significance.

- Dictionary.com  

 

To me, Art falls under the category of expression via different mediums. S far there are there several accepted mediums of art: Film, Paintings, Sculpture, Music, Architecture, etc.  With mediums such as these, “artists” can convey their emotions, ideas and expressions with these different mediums. Oliver stone rocked the film world in 1994 with the film Natural Born Killers, a surreal, energetic, film that satirizes the media’s then fascination with violence with a mockumentary on Micky and Mallory Knox. In the realm of music, the classical movement with Beethoven and Mozart wrote symphonies and musical pieces that evoked their own inner rages, feelings, etc. Finally, there is the typical ideal of “Art”- Paintings. From the Renaissance to Cubism, to post modern movement, different techniques from realistic depictions, to bizarre shapes, all of these helped depict what artists such as Davinci, and Picasso felt at the time.

 

And compared to their contemporaries, they stood out to their fans by portraying something more than ordinary Something significant, something beautiful.

Definition of Art

Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh.

            If there’s one property Disney has treated with respect over the course of its lifespan, it’s the Winnie the Pooh franchise. From the original short, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery day, Pooh and pals have made their niche in the cornerstone in many a childhood (mine included.) What I love the most about Pooh is the timelessness of his adventures.  The main setting is the 100 Acre Wood, with the most cutting edge bit of tech is the pen and paper The advantage of this is that Pooh’s adventures could take place at any time with nothing to date the film. Nothing spells a classic story other than a teddy bear getting stuck in his rabbit friend’s burrow while said rabbit graffities a smiley face and tree branches on the unsuspecting bear’s buttocks. And since, Pooh and pals have gone through many different iterations, be it theatrical shorts, television series (2-D and 3-D animated), puppetry and costumes. Despite the change, they all hold true to the original theme of the shorts and original novel: the warm feeling we get when we allow our imaginations run amok.

             And so we begin our tale. After waking up from a typical slumber, Pooh has one goal on his mind today: to get some honey for his rumbly tummy. He gets sidetracked though when he learns that Eyeore has once again lost his tail. Being the kindly humanitarians, the group holds a small contest to see who can find a suitable replacement for their friend. It goes without fail and soon enough Eeyore has a new tail. No sooner than you can say plot device, Christopher Robin disappears from the wood. Due to Owl’s illiteracy, a simple going away note is misconstrued as aa note from the nefarious Backson, who has kidnapped our dear Christopher. From here on out, the film follows the gang in their attempts to thwart the Back son and the zany mishaps that befall them.

            The plot itself is not the draw to the film though. While it is fun, it’s a fairly predictable and most people over the age of five will be able to pinpoint all the beats. You know from the start that Pooh isn’t going to get the honey without the plot getting in the way. Considering Owl’s self assured nature, you could tell early on that he would be the cause of the Backson confusion ( the wood definitely needs a boost in its education dept. )

            However, Winnie the Pooh doesn’t fall prey with the weakness of the plot. It knows exactly how to utilize the simplicity of the story to its advantage.  It utilizes the best aspects of each of its characters, giving the audience what they want before moving unto the next big segment. Most of which is driven by the star of the show, Pooh bear. He has a good heart but he’s a bit of a dullard. He displays a childhood sense of misunderstanding that often leads to the frustration of his friends. This happens quite a number of times, the funniest which is seen in the trailer where  he confuses the word “issue” for a sneeze.

            Likewise, the other characters suffer from their own humorous idiosyncrasies. Owl is the textbook example of a sophomore; he’s intelligent to a point but when it comes to giving hard facts, he resorts to lying ( making up the history of the Backson, etc.). Piglet, like Pooh is a simple creature, e.g. a key scene where Pooh and friends are stuck in a whole and Rabbit asks for something long to pull them out, Piglet in turn drops them a very thick book. The majority of the other characters have their own personal shticks that complement each other. Tiger is full of manic energy, always on the lookout for things to do and creatures to pounce. In Winnie the Pooh and the blustery day, there’s a scene where Tigger confuses his reflection for another tigger. Here its repeated again with a balloon and like before,  it On the flipside, there’s Rabbit, the always suffering straight man of the 100 Acre Wood. His scene with Piglet in the pit is a personal favorite of mine; you can feel the rising sense of frustration coming from Rabbit as he tries to reason with their fearless rescuer

            Along with the characters, the music in the film is personal highlight of the film. Scored by Henry jack man with songs Kristen and Robert Lopez., the music harkens back to the work of the Sherman brothers from the original shorts. The songs themselves are contain charming bits of word play and brilliant imagery. To boot, they’re accompanied by some amazingly animated set-pieces with the Backson number being a true standout with a  chalk motif.

            Winnie- the- Pooh is your go to ticket for a blast from your past. A throwback to the animated films of your, where strong characters and catchy songs were enough to entertain. Quite the contrast from some other animated films - looking at you Cars 2- that have come out as of recent.  If you grew up loving Winnie-the-pooh, see it. If you have a younger sibling, do them a favor and take them to this film. It should be essential viewing for any fan of animation, be it 2D or 3D.

Super 8

            So it goes, the summer movie season. Beginning with Spielberg’s “Jaws” the summer run of films have generally consisted of  big budget tent pole studio releases that run the gamut from: “Highly anticipated adaptation of insert-your favorite childhood action figure, comic book character, camp television show, etc.” If not that, we get at least one or two gems from the Happy Madison crew- I think part of me just died- that will at least earn a $100 million. Most if not all have been the dominant film franchises of the past three years, with the exception of harry Potter as the purely literary adaptation amongst the tier of Transformers, X-Men sequels, and others of that ilk.

            This leads us to Super8. From its initial teaser trailer: a spectacular scene where a train collides with a truck, derailing most of its cars off the track. And then one car caught our eye, mysterious force was trying to break out of one of the trailers, with more and more might it finally broke loose. Alas, whatever it was, we were blinded by a flash of light, displaying the title “Super 8”. What could it mean? Well, seeing that J.J Abrams was in the director’s chair and Spielberg producing, a myriad of possibilities came to mind. The common denominator was that it could be Abram’s own E.T. The idea of a character driven alien invasion story with modern day effects had me more filled with more anticipation than a hipster at a Yeah Yeah Yeah concert.

            As mentioned before, it’s no secret that Abram’s film is heavily influenced by the early work of Spielberg (think Close Encounters or E.T.) If it couldn’t spell it out to you any clearer, Steven himself produced this picture.  But for a film that strives to be a modern day E.T how does it fare?

            In the late 70s, our protagonist, 12-year-old Joe Lamb (Joel McCourteny) is working with his determined friend Charles (Riley Griffiths); make an 8mm Zombie flick for their local film festival. Part of their daily production schedule is under tight secrecy as to avoid the attention of their disapproving elders. A majority of the production includes scouting locations, making their own makeshift costumes, and gingerly apply zombie make up to their stars. One of the ubixtious elements of a monster film is your love interest; here Charles and Joe have Alice Dainard, who plays the dual role of love interest as zombie and female star. She’s a volatile talent for the production; not just for her good looks but that fact that she drives her father’s car to the pivotal train station.

            Once at the stop, the boys and Alice resume shooting when the frame of a century happens. A train comes roaring out of the night. Always the opportunist, Charles calls for Action and Alice on Joe proceed to perform as the train passes them by (which is odd considering the sound of the train would inevitably ruin any usable sound form the dialogue. Despite that flaw in shooting, the scene goes on without a hitch till out of the darkness comes a pickup truck driving dead set into the train. Resulting from this is spectacular array of violence, from train cars taking flight into the night sky, to the terrific explosion of the engine itself, overall very entertaining. Predictably, something breaks free out of one of the cars. What was it and how did it get there? I cannot divulge too much, to put it bluntly, see the movie for the reveal or think on your own.

            This is part of the fun of the film, the manner in which Abram’s ratchets the suspense is a joy to watch. For example, Joe’s dog disappears. When he posts the note on the police board, through a pan out, it’s revealed to us that multiple dogs have been missing.  Later on there’s a map with the dots revealing all of the dogs in the town’s disappearances. It’s through shots like these that give the viewer an uneasy feeling. Also there several scenes where metallic objects through mysterious means fly away from people's homes. Or in some instances fly away anywhere period. A key moment occurs at a gas station where the hubcaps of a car are violently ripped from their tires by an n invisible force. These all work to the film’s advantage as what we’re imagining is much more frightening than what’s going to be on screen. Concurrently U.S. Air force (investigators and troops) arrives into town, making a great effort to quarantine specific areas of the town as well as investigate the dubious cargo of the train car.  With this as their starting point, Joe and company make it their top priority to get to the bottom of this mystery.

            On the flip side, you cannot have a monster movie without compelling human characters to carry the film. Joe’s father, Deputy sheriff Jack Lamb is played by TV’s Kyle Chandler, best known as coach Eric Taylor from Friday Night Lights. Prior to the main events, Joe’s mother dies in an accident at the local factory, at the expense of Alice’s father, Louis Dainard.  This immediately creates a rift between both Joe and his father. Joe mourns for his mother, constantly clutching a heart shaped locket.  Jack Lamb on the other hand is depressive and cold, with a strong focus on his work over quality time with his son. Count-less times throughout the film they try to discuss the incident but due to the circumstances at hand, neither have adequate time to communicate. Instead, Joe begins to bond with Alice, instead she being the more reciprocal in showing affection. This is realized in a truly tender scene where he applies zombie makeup onto her.

            Then we move onto the second half of the film. While the first half was a brilliant exercise in suspense and character study. It felt as if Abrams had successfully channeled the creative mind of a young Spielberg. However, things take a turn for the unrealistic and over the top. The Air Force becomes almost Nazi sequel in their take over the town, violently threatening Joe and his friends while incarcerated in a military bus. The actual threat itself was mishandled through a fault of in -minor spoiler- creature design, The main fault is that if you want to have a creature that is readily empathetic, it all comes down to the to the design.  It also doesn’t help that none of the characters get to interact all with the creature til the very end of the film. But to alleviate this shortcoming, Abrams shoehorns an iffy telepathy subplot that undercuts much of what could be dramatic tension during the film’s climax.

            Overall though, Super 8 is worth your matinee ticket if you are seeking for atypical summer feature this year. Not interested in seeing your favorite superhero get the big screen treatment, nor would you want to see Will Ferrell get evicted from his home, this movie is the one for you.