Coin Animation

This is a series of about 200 images taken of a coin spinning at one spot. :It is an interpretation of a coin spinning in slow motion, my intent was to show the audience what a coin looks like spinning if you were to look at it in slow motion. My intent as an artist was to also explore the nature of time and how is perception can be manipulated and presented. It serves to show how photographs can be turned into a movie.

Song: High Grade Standard by Nomak

Streetlights music video

This is a music video of "Streetlights" by Kanye West. Our intent as artists was to emphasize the mood and atmosphere of driving at night with streetlights as our main focus. We wanted to show what it feels like driving in the night time with all the beautiful lights that our city has to offer.

Poster for Law

My intent for this poster was to inspire the audience to take up Law in Grade 11. The man in the suit is to show the proffesionalism and fame that goes with being a lawyer. It is meant to make the audience imagine themselves as the person on the poster. I made the designs and colors simple so that the bold colors stand out.

Black Square Designs

My intent as an artist for this assignment was to show how black squares can be re-arranged in different ways to show different moods and feelings. The artwork titled as "order" shows the black squares in order, "increase" is self explanatory with the squares going up in size from left to right. "Bold" was to show colors of the strong black against the white background and make the black color seem more porwerful ."Congested" shows a small square trapped by 3 other big squares to show congestion and "tension" shows this by the very small space in between the squares. Finally, "Playful" shows you 4 squares and I tried to make it look as if they are having fun and playing around.

Sound Problem

For this project, I decided to create a picture of a poster being ripped off and the sound it would make when the tape is being ripped away. It tried to show this by adding the lines to show the sound being produced. 

For the sound problems, I drew a series of pictures that matches the description on the bottom of the square. The last picture is of my own idea; it shows a bat hitting a baseball and the sound it makes when it hits it on the right spot.

Jesus Walks Lyrics

Yo, We at war
We at war with terrorism, racism, and most of all we at war with ourselves
(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil trying to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me) with me, with me, with me [fades]

You know what the Midwest is?
Young & Restless
Where restless ( ** **   ) might snatch your necklace
And next these  (     *****) might jack your Lexus
Somebody tell these (     )  who Kanye West is
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death is
Top floor the view alone will leave you breathless Uhhhh!
Try to catch it Uhhhh! It's kinda hard hard
Getting choked by the detectives yeah yeah now check the method
They be asking us questions, harass and arrest us
Saying "we eat pieces of *** like you for breakfast"
Huh? Yall eat pieces of ****? What's the basis?
We ain't going nowhere but got suits and cases
A trunk full of **** rental car from Avis
My momma used to say only Jesus can save us
Well momma I know I act a fool
But I'll be gone 'til November I got packs to move I Hope

[Hook x2]
(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the Devil trying to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
(Jesus Walks with me)
I want to talk to God but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long

To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers
(Jesus walks with them)
To the victims of Welfare for we living in hell here hell yeah
(Jesus walks with them)
Now hear ye hear ye want to see Thee more clearly
I know he hear me when my feet get weary
Cause we're the almost nearly extinct
We rappers are role models we rap we don't think
I ain't here to argue about his facial features, But here to convert atheists into believers
I'm just trying to say the way school need teachers
The way Kathie Lee needed Regis that's the way I need Jesus
So here go my single dog radio needs this
They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes
But if I talk about God my record won't get played Huh?
Well let this take away from my spins
Which will probably take away from my ends
Then I hope this take away from my sins
And bring the day that I'm dreaming about
Next time I'm in the club everybody screaming out

(Jesus Walks)
God show me the way because the devil trying to break me down
(Jesus Walks)
The only thing that that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now
(Jesus Walks)
And I don't thing there's nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
(Jesus walks with me... fades)
I want to talk to God but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long

Photomontage

 

The song I have chosen for this assignment is called “Jesus Walks” by Kanye West. I tried to show the message of the song unto my photomontage and tried to emphasize a line in the song. In the song, there is a line in which the artist says “to the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers.” (Jesus walks with them) I think this is a great music to do my photomontage about because it’s a song full of political and social issues. Putting Jesus in this photomontage was the whole idea behind the song, it is to show that Jesus always walks with us, no matter who we are.

Less is More

 My intent as an artist for this artwork was to emphasize the idea of "Less is More." The image goes from showing the whole leaf to being cropped as to reduce its readablity. I also chose the green background because the red maple leaf would complement well with the green.

2nd Image Critique

Klaus Staeck

Ronald Reagan
Official Photo

1982

This is a photomontage by Klaus Staeck titled, "Ronald Reagan Official Photo." My first reaction to this image was how bright and humourous message. At first, I was taken back by the brightness of the background color and the amazement of how Klaus was able to integrate a missile as a head. I think that the artist was tryning to show his views on the former President of the United States and his agenda. As you can see from the image, Klaus used a few elements of design as techniques. One of them being color, as evident from the red background. Another element he used is emphasis. The black suit with the red background, really makes the background stand out. Furthermore, you can also see texture by the smoothness of the  missle head and the roughness of the man's jacket. Klaus also used value, which is the darkness falling on an object, you can see this near the top of the image. I think that the artist's intent was to show his response to a social theme or issue of his time. He wanted people to visually see what his opinion was of the former President Of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Overall I think that this image is succesful at its message and it does not change my opinion of it when I intially saw it for the first time.

Image Critique

 

Title: “Gladiators”

Artist: Martha Rosler

Date: 2004

When I first saw the art work, I was initially confused on what I was seeing. There were a lot of things going on in the picture and I couldn’t understand what it was trying to portray. In the front of the picture are two modern day American soldiers and my eyes were instantly fixed on these two subjects on my first observation. Upon further inspection, I could see that in the background, there are a mix of gladiators and modern day soldiers in what appears to be a dessert setting. Directly behind the two soldiers at the front is a home setting with sofas and a picture of a man being arrested by a police officer. I can also see a picture put up against the wall but it was very hard to make out what the photograph was. I then realized that the artwork itself was not a single photo but a photomontage, where the artist takes different kinds of pictures and combines them all to make one picture.

In this photomontage, the artist used different textures, like the carpet. The carpet has a softness look to it while the rough ground floor of the background gives a rugged look to the landscape. You can also tell that the walls are smooth as well as the sofa. The artist also used physical movement with gladiators in the background (looks like their running) and the body language of the police officer suggest that he is about to put handcuffs on the man being arrested. The space used in this artwork is also evident by how far the soldiers in the background are from the two soldiers at the front.  The artist used neutral colors for the walls and different shades of green and pink. The neutral color of the soldiers against the bright pink sofa and wall gives this photo emphasis. There is also an example of shape used in this picture: the picture frame on the wall. This picture frame is a geometric shape because it is a rectangle. Overall, this photomontage has asymmetrical balance because even though it is visually unequal, it is still balance in that all the elements and principles worked together perfectly to make a balanced piece.

I think the theme of the artwork is about the different types of violence that can happen in the world. I think the artist is trying to portray the fact that war is not the only violence we have in the world; there is also criminal violence within our communities and also our home. I think the artist added the gladiators in this picture to show that violence has been around for thousands of years, and is now coming into the modern world to make the world more violent. I think the artist probably dislikes violence and this is the reason why made this piece, to show people that violence can happen anywhere and anytime.

After researching the artist’s work, I found out that the actual meaning of this photo is that the sofas and walls represent homes, and how violence cannot be separated from the outside world to our own homes. The picture frame on the wall is actually a picture of dead Iraqi civilians piled up, to show us that we can be experiencing violence around us everyday but we are so oblivious to them. The man being arrested is actually a member of the household, and his arrest shows us that violence can ruin our peaceful lives at home. One of the soldiers in the front of the picture is pointing his gun at the viewer. The artist did this to represent how the war has come home and its not only happening abroad, but in our own lives. The photo of the gladiators in the background is an actual photo of American soldiers dressed as gladiators fooling around in a military base in Iraq. After learning all of this, I understand now what the picture is trying to tell us. I can now fully understand what each component of the picture means and it helped me realize that this was more than an art. It was a message. I learned from this art work that art may look literal at first, but inside it, there’s a deeper meaning. It taught me that your artwork should have a meaning to it, not just a piece of art.

Citation

Vallen, Mark. Art for a Change: February 14, 2007

<http://art-for-a-change.com/blog/2007/02/bringing-war-home-house-beautiful.html>