Urban Hike: 1A Visual Literacy Final Projects

Migrating Identities

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Migrating Identities
Jun 28 – Sep 29, 2013

Migrating Identities features the work of eight artists—Michelle Dizon, Ala Ebtekar,Naeem Mohaiemen, Meleko Mokgosi, Wangechi Mutu, Yamini Nayar, Ishmael Randall Weeks, and Saya Woolfalk. Currently based in the United States, they collectively have connections to such diverse countries as Bangladesh, Botswana, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Peru, and the Philippines. Born between 1969 and 1981, their work is profoundly informed by their deep relationships with multiple cultures, which were forged by their shared experience of travelling frequently between disparate home sites. Guided by their ability to move fluidly between cultures, and drawing from the uniqueness of their individual journeys, these artists reveal the ways in which their identities have been transformed by the confluence of mobility, cultural retention, and personal history. Their art is evidence of the ever-changing experience of immigration, which eschews conventional narratives focused on socio-economic status, cultural negotiation, and assimilation.

 http://www.ybca.org/migrating-identities

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Naked and the Nude: Representations of the Body

August 17, 2013—February 16, 2014

The words "naked" and "nude" are defined as synonyms by the American Heritage Dictionary. "Naked" entered the English language from the German nakt, while "nude" derives from the French nu. Through centuries of use, however, the words have taken on subtle distinctions. The ideal nude, often inspired by the poses of classical sculpture, has been viewed as the noblest subject in Western art since antiquity as it takes the perfected human body as its subject. The tradition remained strong in the 19th century in spite of the rise of Realism, which depicted the naked body with a new veracity. The Modern tendency toward abstracted and expressive form means that depictions of the body diverge from classical, academic and realist ideals. Yet, the notion that to be naked is to be exposed and vulnerable, while to be nude is to be comfortable and at ease, remains valid in 20th–century art.

http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/Exhibitions.cfm?id=25&title=The%20Naked%20and%20the%20Nude

Some more Mona Lisa...

So I decided to add this picture of the actual Mona Lisa since we talked about it a lot in class in the beginning of the session. I've been meaning to post it for a long time now, just so everyone who hasn't actually seen it in person can see how small it really is. And it's behind some bulletproof glass of some sort. I took this when I was there in the Spring of 2011. I'm standing as close as you can possibly get to the painting without zooming in, too. 

I thought this was funny and relevant to our class as well because we had seen different variations of the Mona Lisa, some humorous. This is a picture from a social network called Instagram, for those less familiar with it. It's Megan Fox is portrayed as the Mona Lisa. 

-Kimberly Rodriguez

The World of Disney

This weekend I went to Disneyland for several hours analyzing the components of what makes an environment "real." Disneyland is a very unique atmosphere that can closely relate to class discussion. When in Disneyland the previous conception of a myth becomes to be known as a reality. No matter your age, Disneyland becomes a reality from every child hood story. Disneyland markets many different products from Frontier Land to Tomorrowland. Being in Disneyland allows one to become any they've wished for. In the Bibby Bobbity Boutique you can spend several hundred dollars in order to transform into one of the Disney princesses. Theres a cult culture of wearing Disney clothing and become uniform within the community, which would rarely happen outside the boundaries of Disneyland. When in Disneyland, the outside world ceases to exist. The synopsis: Disneyland is able to create a society within our society.

-Brandon In

P.S. I go to Disneyland a lot.

Control

This weekend I watched the biographical film Control, made by Anton Corbijn in 2007 and posted on the blog in conjunction with our Queer studies presentations, this one particularly in relation to the Punk community. I have posted earlier about the Punk community, I find it very interesting and under noticed.

This film illustrates Ian Curtis, a young singer of Joy Division. His band was revolutionizing music and entering a movement to promote two new emerging genres into the music scene (a combination of New Wave and Goth). As a result, he suffered personal, professional and romantic troubles and died at age 23 of suicide.

The film originally portrays Ian Curtis as a mundane, sad man working for an employment agency. It is not until he meets the films heartthrob, Debbie, that he falls in love and begins to take risks and follow his dreams. As his band gains success, Ian's relationship with his young wife begins to distance itself and he begins an affair. I thought that the showing of Deborah, his confused wife trying to understand her husbands depressed soul, was particularly moving.   It is a commutation of this new success, family problems, and the emotional difficulty of being an artist which lead to his mental collapse.

The key to Control is understanding Ian's depression. He is constantly fighting epilepsy internally, and he lives in constant fear that his next seizure may be his last. He is driven to no other option than to swallow a daily cocktail of prescribed drugs with horrible effect, causing him to lose control over his own life.

This beautifully made film gives the viewer an intuitive perspective into the spirits of one of the most influential alternative bands in history. We are given exposure into the punk rock scene of the 1970's as well as a view into the troubled mind of a revolutionary artist during this time.

I recommend it to all interested in the Punk Movement as well as anyone curious about the life of a struggling artist. It creates a much more relatable reality of what a man like Ian Curtis would experience.

---Mary Lempres

Le Purgatoire (a Davidson Library find!)

Something I discovered during my Intro to Library Studies class was that we have a whole section of the library (Third Floor) dedicated to artifacts and historical items. During a presentation on this section, the librarian brought out first edition, original Salvador Dali artwork. In the collection she brought, there was authentic works from both "Le Paradis" as well as "Le Purgatoire". These are just some of the many pieces of art contained within these books. If anyone ever has time, come check it out on the third floor library. I heard there are many other works from other artists as well.

- Joseph Din

The Taqwacores

Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 fictional novel, The Taqwacores, inspired the emergence of Punk Islam. The word Taqwacore combines the Arabic word for god-consciousness and punk essence. The characters within Michael's novel, prompted real life Muslim youth within the punk scene, to actively redefine the look and sound of Islam.

The 2009 documentary Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam: http://www.taqwacore.com

The feature length 2010 film The Taqwacores:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1308165/

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

A personal favorite of mine, this film is available at the UCSB Davidson Library.

In the summer of 2011, I spent nearly four months in Amman Jordan with my wife who was part of a group of Arabic Language students from California. A friend of ours who was also a student,  noticed a store clerk wearing a tee-shirt promoting an obscure metal band from Norway. In broken Arabic and English, the pair played snippets of songs from their tiny phones. The visit to the corner market had transformed into a competitive yet friendly display of Heavy Metal fanaticism.

What happened that evening was unexpected and memorable. Out of the hundreds of people that we had encountered in a major city over the entire summer, he was the only metalhead that we knew of. This film reminds me of how we (as foreigners) identified with the alienation felt by a local citizen.

From the website:
Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a feature film documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition but after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.



http://www.heavymetalinbaghdad.com/home.html


-James

Russian Ark

This post was prompted by the class discussion of Walter Benjamin's "aura" within the film experience.

Director Aleksandr Sokurov's 2002 film, Russian Ark, features "200 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, ALL IN ONE TAKE."

The film follows a 19th century French aristocrat with the viewer as his silent companion, as they travel through 300 years of Russian history and the people that shaped it. It was filmed in the Russian State Hermitage Museum and required a great deal of logistical planning. The film itself was accomplished on the third attempt and is considered by many to be the longest tracking-shot in cinematic history.
The viewer is integrated as a silent voyer and companion, and seemingly addressed by many individuals throughout the film. Could the viewer and their viewing environment be considered an essential component of the film and thus a part of it's "aura"? Is the initial experience by a viewer of the continuous tracking-shot, considered the immersion effect found within the "aura"? Consider the demand that Sokurov places upon the viewer as an accomplice in order to make this artwork complete.




Trailer for Russian Ark: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3011510553/

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote an interesting commentary on the film with a particular interest in the merit of the continuous shot. Should it be considered a novelty or an innovation within cinematic history? How might this film be different without it?

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/russian-ark-2003

Baraka and Samsara

Baraka is the 1992 film collaboration between Director/Photographer Ron Fricke, Producer Mark Magidson and Composer Michael Stearns.

The film was shot in 25 countries on six continents with a custom-built computerized 65mm camera. The process took over 30 months to complete which included 14 months on location.

"The goal of the film," says producer Mark Magidson, "was to reach past language. nationality, religion and politics and speak to the inner viewer."

The principal photography utilized TODD-AO 70mm film which introduced viewers to a cinematic experience in scale and detail not found in traditional theaters.

Fricke commonly refers to the film as "a guided meditation on humanity."

Filmed over five years in twenty-five countries, SAMSARA is a new, non-verbal documentary from filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, the creators of BARAKA. It is one of only a handful of films shot on 70mm in the past forty years.

Official website :http://barakasamsara.com/baraka/about

Non-Verbal Films

Director Godfrey Reggio, Jon Kane and Composer Philip Glass have collaborated on several films that are known for their striking images that examine the global effect of the human presence. What makes these films unique is the lack of spoken dialogue. The visual documentation is instead supported by Glass's riveting musical backdrop which complements the patterns of industrial automation, human behavior and the catastrophic ripples of modern industry which threaten nature.

Additional info and link to the official Qatsi series :  http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/index.php

KOYAANISQATSI "Life Out of Balance."
Full length film : http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3856793625/

POWAQQATSI "Life in Transformation"

NAQOYQATSI "Life as War"
Trailer : http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2558328857/

Anima Mundi is an addition to the Qatsi trilogy that places emphasis on the complex order of Nature.

Director Godfrey Reggio reveals humanity's trance-like relationship with technology, which, when commandeered by extreme emotional states, produces massive effects far beyond the human species.

Trailer : http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1262332185/

EGON SCHIELE - Leah Barsher

A Woman Nude Body

Reclining Woman with Blond Hair

"Egon Schiele (June 12, 1890 – October 31, 1918) was an Austrian painter, a protégé of Gustav Klimt, and a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. Schiele's body of work is noted for the intensity and the large number of self-portraits he produced. The twisted body shapes that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings make the artist a notable exponent of Expressionism."

http://www.egon-schiele.net/

"Schiele's personal path into adulthood was paralleled by changes in his artistic approach. As he grew less self centered and more outward-looking, his art grew less anguished and introspective. The number of self-portraits diminished, his line became smoother, his manner of modeling more overtly realistic. The female nude had always figured prominently in Schiele's work - as indeed it does in that of many artists. However, whereas in his early twenties he had explored his own ambivalence toward and even terror of sexuality, he now approached the subject from a greater emotional distance. His later nudes were increasingly depersonalized, but his portraits were, conversely, more probing. Instead of projecting his own personality onto that of his subjects, as he had formerly, he was now intimately attuned to each individuals's identity. "

http://www.egon-schiele.com/

Masturbation

I was first introduced to Egon Schiele's work by my roommate's mom. She is an artist herself and was deeply moved and inspired by Schiele. After looking through a book that displayed his work, I was both confused and awed. His nudes present an interesting juxtaposition between the nudes we discussed in class and the ideology of the nude that we read about in Lynda Nead's essays. There is an on-going controversy about whether Schiele's work is simply pornography or whether its vulgarity is a true artistic result of Schiele's own "disastrously erotic intentions". An article in The Atlantic quoted Simon Schama (in The New Yorker), "Nowadays...to dismiss a work of art as pornographic is to risk charges of philistinism...He then went on to dismiss Schiele's work as puerile and pornographic. But at one point he abruptly reversed himself and praised Schiele for his pornographic fervor: To deny the lewdness of Schiele's art is to do him no favors, for that is precisely where he concentrates his potency.'" 
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/criticaleye/ce980219.htm

You can find most of his works on the website: http://www.egon-schiele.net/

Artist Mercedes Austin: Lululemon Athletica Mosaic

When strolling down State Street, I came across this beautiful mosaic in a sportswear store called Lululemon Athletica. The  piece was done by an artist, Mercedes Austin, from Mercury Mosaics who specializes in creating handmade artisan tiles. It's literally the most beautiful thing I've seen with my own eyes. 

-Wendy Eyob

Walter Benjamin Biography

Read Benjamin's biography on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy site.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/benjamin/

Jean Baudrillard Biography

Read about Baudrillard on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy site.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/

S/Z by Roland Barthes

If you enjoyed class discussion on Wednesday, then you will enjoy this 'S/Z' by Roland Barthes

Young Artist Grant Residency Fellowship

http://www.complex.com/art-design/2013/08/young-artist-grant-residency-fellowship/

I saw this article and remembered how hard it was to gain funding as an up-and-coming artist. Thought this would be interesting to our art-focused individuals.

Best,

Brandon In

AD&A Museum at UCSB

PEAKE / PICASSO - a conversation

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

5:30 pm

AD&A Museum, UC Santa Barbara

Join curator of the exhibition Elyse Gonzales and Cheri Peake, widow of Channing Peake, for an illuminating conversation about Peake's personal life as an artist and rancher and the development of the exhibition.

Photographer Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson creates environments that he photographs by use of elaborate sets, lighting and props. His images conjure up the anxieties and desires under the veil of small-town American communities. Haunting with the air of mystery, his scenes prompts the viewer to look for clues within and eventually beyond the picture frame.

http://www.gregorycrewdsonmovie.com

University Art, Design, and Architecture Museum/Curator's Tour

Exhibition Tour
Goya: Disasters of War

Diva Zumaya, doctoral student in the History of Art and Architecture, UC Santa Barbara and curator of Goya: Disasters of War will lead a tour of the exhibition discussing particular images and their historical and artistic relevance.

Korean Food Restaurant Artwork

While exploring IV, I came across a little Korean restaurant with the label "I <3 Seoul Food". Surprisingly, when I entered, I came across an abundance of artwork posted within the restaurant. If anyone is ever on Embarcadero, be sure to check out this restaurant. 

- Joseph Din

Bridget Riley

http://www.op-art.co.uk

http://www.op-art.co.uk/bridget-riley/

An interesting site that features information and works on Op-Artists Bridget Riley, history, exhibits and more.

The Responsive Eye

Part 1: http://www.artforum.com/video/id=26302&mode=large&page_id=0
Part 2: http://www.artforum.com/video/id=26301&mode=large&page_id=0
Part 3: http://www.artforum.com/video/id=26303&mode=large&page_id=0

The 1965 CBS documentary about MoMA's Op Art group show The Responsive Eye, which was presented by Mike Wallace. Some of the coverage includes works by artist Bridget Riley.

Cindy Sherman

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/cindy-sherman

Cindy Sherman fabricates characters within the realm of photography and film, that dare to challenge both the frame and the spectator. Her personas are informed by historical figures, domestic caricatures and the peripheral public. Familiarity occurs when these identities are given life and narrative presence by the viewer themselves.

Video About Semiotics

http://vimeo.com/56335284

I thought this was an awesome video to post since we are on our talk about semiotics. It explains and breaks down scenes from movies that we would usually not catch in everyday observations.

-Brandon In

Control

http://www.focusfeatures.com/article/anton_corbijn_interview?film=the_american

Control is Anton Corbijn's 2007 biographical film about Ian Curtis, who was the lead vocalist for the post-punk band Joy Division.

Joy Division stood at the threshold of two emerging genres within the music scene. Their sound embodied the explosive energy of New Wave while the lyrical content presented the angst and melancholy found within Goth. Ian's suicide serves as a testament to the alienation and lack of direction found among countless youths, after the failed promise of revolution and change by the Punk movement.

Artforum

Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.

Visit the website: http://artforum.com/

Sculpture Magazine

Sculpture is an international, monthly magazine dedicated to all forms of contemporary sculpture. It contains provocative criticisms, knowledgeable technical discussions and timely exploration of new materials and techniques. 

Visit the website: http://www.sculpture.org/redesign/mag.shtml 

Art Papers

ART PAPERS is a non-profit bimonthly magazine about contemporary art.

Visit the website: http://www.artpapers.org/

Art LTD.

Art Ltd. offers critical dialogue and relevant insight into the expanding contemporary art world.

Visit the website: http://www.artltdmag.com/

ArtScene

ArtScene is your resource to and coverage of the fine art galleries and museums of Southern California.

Visit the website: http://artscenecal.com/

Milk

This is the film that was mentioned today in class. Here is a link to the movie's website: http://www.focusfeatures.com/milk

Milk, 2008 is a biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected  to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. 

Punk and Queer Communities

In relation to the presentation on the Punk and Queer communities, Montmartre, Paris, is still home to a large punk/LGBT community. While traveling there this summer, I was shocked to find such a dramatically different culture, especially at night. Montmartre is best known for the Sacre Coeur, a famous landmark with a beautiful view of all of Paris. However, once you venture off the beaten track, it is home to a thriving punk community.

Hungry Planet: What the World Eats

This is the photojournalism book that Melissa mentioned yesterday at the Co-op: Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio.

ISBN 58008-681-3