Art, architecture and the enviroment

1. for each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

     Architecture: the Science of Design is about skyscraper design and how it has been influenced by the use of new materials like steel and glass in order to avoid the impact of natural phenomena like winds, precipitation and earthquakes. The video explains how architecture has had to adapt to the changing society around it as the demand for new uses for buildings grows.

     Of all the risks that are discussed, it seems that skyscrapers are particularly susceptible to wind. To understand how this affects buildings, architects frequently use wind tunnels to measure its effect which in turn greatly influences how a building is designed. Wind tunnels also help to determine other things like snow accumulation and the quality of air around the building.

   With an increase in demand for taller buildings, civil engineers are starting to incorporate science and environmental considerations into their designs. Many modern buildings are nowadays computerized to regulate the environment inside them to make “greener” buildings. For example, energy consumption is regulated if the computer senses that the house is unoccupied and might then turn the air conditioning off. Or the vacuum cleaner will stop when the phone rings.

     The use of concrete in architecture and its importance over time is also discussed in the video. Concrete is very versatile because it is adaptable and can be used above and under water in almost any type of structure. Different types of concrete, (for example, plain, high-performance, reinforced, pre-stressed etc) and how they are changing the way we design buildings are also discussed. It seems, from watching the video, that concrete is here to stay and will always have a role to play in spite of the use and discovery of newer composite materials in building construction.

    The second video, Last Call for Planet Earth: Sustainable Development and Architecture, discusses the changes building designers are using to incorporate environmental awareness. The aim of the architects is to make buildings that are pleasing to look at, urbane and that are also part of a long-term solution to the problem of environmental degradation. Private companies in particular are beginning to be part of this trend of combing nature and man-made features into their designs. However, in certain places like China which is currently going through a construction boom, designers seem to be having a problem with this new concept. According to the video, private ownership is not viewed the same way as it is in the West and designers don't have as much leeway in what they want to do.

     The video also talks about the ways designers are managing energy consumption through different means like “integrated systems,” underfloor heating, cooling, ventilation and use of solar energy. Rooftop gardens which help to cool the building are starting to become more common. This is important because by creating green spaces on what was previously concrete, the building becomes more efficient and ultimately cheaper to maintain.

     The passive house concept is particularly interesting because structures are built specifically to have a “friendly” relationship with their environment. Widely accepted standards are also being put in place to make these types of structures easier and cheaper to build. These houses are made primarily using wood and glass with straw insulation to minimize heat loss and emissions generation.

     The designs used for these buildings are different from the designs used in office complexes because such complexes are usually significantly larger than structures used for non-commercial purposes.In bigger buildings, there are typically more people per square foot and the use of space varies to a much larger extent. There is also more exchange of air, which makes the problem of cooling more important than in buildings used primarily as dwellings.

     This video concludes by saying that the future of architecture depends largely on how we can better use air, water and the earth to create environmentally sustainable spaces. The process of making new designs is ongoing and the change will not be sudden or abrupt but rather, like art itself, will be slow and gradual its future can’t be easily mapped or predicted.

 2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

     Unlike the two videos that I watched, the text mainly concentrates on the different types of architecture available to humans over the past thousand or so years. For example, the text talks about loadbearing construction, roof arch and vault, domes etc. and goes into great detail about the various histories involved.

     Although sustainability and green architecture are mentioned, it does not go into as much detail as the videos do. Both the text and video do agree that environmental concerns are largely about the materials being used. Also, both agree that the new opportunities being opened up by environmental awareness will have to combine science and art working in tandem if the new movement is to succeed.

    The point is made by both that people are increasingly looking at the places where they live and work as “machines for living” i.e. things that were once considered inanimate are increasingly being looked at as living breathing organisms.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of Architecture?

     The videos are very detailed and present divergent points of view which when combined give a very clear picture of where the future of architecture is headed. I now understand that architecture is not simply about designing structures for work, living and leisure but also about building spaces which coexist almost as equals with the environment around it. This sort of planning, in which what we build gives back to the environment instead of just taking away from it, is very important as human population increases and the resources around us dwindle. Ultimately, the goal in all this is to create a balance between nature and our needs that is as sustainable as possible.

4. Why did you choose the films that you watched?

     I picked these two particular videos partly because the film on imperial Rome was unavailable. I picked Architecture: The Science of Design because I wanted to know more about how science is part of design and how the “internet of things” will affect us in the years to come. I wanted to see if the technological predictions of 1990 were accurate. I found out that while some of the predictions have come to pass, we are still a long way from the vision imagined in the video.

     

I picked Last Call for Planet Earth: Sustainable Development and Architecture because I am interested in how other countries, particularly in Europe, are moving away from designs that are only useful in providing shelter for humans while ignoring environmental needs. I wanted to get a feel for the level of development that is being sought after in the designs of new buildings. I also wanted to know if these new designs are just part of a fashion trend preferred by the very rich or whether they are something we all can afford, adapt and accept. I concluded that in a few decades, these new architecture will be the norm.

Eyes of a sculptor

1. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

      In the Through the Eyes of the Sculptor video, I learnt that making sculptures is a very involved process that has to take into account both the artist’s style and the raw material he/she is working with. I learnt that the sculptor has to have a very precise and almost complete idea of what he wants his sculpture to look like before he even picks up a chisel. I also learnt that restoration of monuments is very important in training talented and aspiring artists. 

      This video traces the life of a statue from conception to completion and shows how the artist goes through each process to create conceptual unity that allows us to be able to reach our own interpretation of the work of art.

      Before the carving starts, the sculptor must make sure that the raw material he is using is as close to perfect as he can get. In the case of marbles, one way he does this is by tapping the stone to make sure it does not have any cracks or other imperfection. In the whole process, attention to detail is the most important thing.

      Another thing that is particularly important is to make sure that history, the modeling of the sculptor and the final shape all have to interact with the technical aspects that the sculptor is using. For example, in the sculpture of the two horses and the man, I found it interesting that the sculptor, by placing the horses on top of a pile of marble, was able to create a support for the heavy statue and also provide a sense of dynamism.

      Another concept that in the video is the use of casting to create statues. The artist first makes a model figure and then uses a silicon mix to make a mold which is then filled with plaster. The use of the three materials: clay, plaster and marble and how they interact throughout is very important because they all seem to be equally important to the artist’s final product. One of the models used in the process of statue creation said something I found to be very important: that the artist is trying to “dissect the soul” during the process. I find this to be the ultimate aim of the sculptor and of any process of making good art: to take the soul and spirit out of one thing and transfer it into another.

Richard H. Ellis - Free Standing Sculpture

     The second video, Glass and Ceramics is mainly concerned with the use of these materials and how they shape the world around us. The video explains what glass is and how it is made. I learnt that glass is not a true solid but rather a viscous liquid which stiffens when cooled. In fact the whole process of glassmaking seems to be nothing more than a heating and cooling of the material to form various shapes and forms.

      Unlike a glass maker who concentrates on creating shapes, a person who works with stained glass “seldom etches” his glass. His main concern is to modulate the effect of glass by varying the color and texture of the glass using previously colored pieces of glass. The whole process of conceptualization to final product does not seem to be much different than the process used to sculpturing.

      The glass artist has to know what he wants and then he has to sketch out his ideas before he starts working. Then piece by piece, he puts the small pieces of pre-cut glass together to create something totally different whose “beauty depends on the surrounding light.’’

   

Soapstone Family of Three
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Similarly, much of what glassmakers do when working with glass is replicated in ceramics and both of these materials depend very much on heating and cooling of the material. The quality of the final product depends on the amount of heat and the quality of raw materials used. I was surprised to find out that some ceramics can be made to be harder than steel and that someday they might day be used to build whole car engines.

      The use of glass in architecture owing to its transparency is very important in our daily lives and is rapidly replacing traditional materials because of their ability to reflect and retain heat. The use of laminated glass to enhance safety in our daily life is something that I think is understated.

 2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

     The videos and the text both talk about the aesthetics involved in sculptures and the use of glass and ceramics in our daily lives. Also, both the videos and the text go into detail about the processes used to create the final products.

      However, the sculpting video concentrates on just two sculpturing methods (casting and carving) while the text book talks about other methods including assembling and modeling. Both the book and the video do talk about the importance of the human figure in sculpturing and the role it plays in sculptures and statues in general.

      In Glass and Ceramics, most of the attention is given to the process of glassmaking and ceramic shaping which is something the text expands on by giving a history of both processes. Both the video and the text have similar descriptions of stained glass and how it is made.

      All in all, to appreciate the importance of sculpturing and the importance of the materials of glass and ceramic, the video and the text complement each other rather well. To study one without the other would take away from both.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics: Sculpture, Installation, and Craft?

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     The films are very detailed without being tedious. The processes and materials are explained in details that even someone not an expert in art can understand. They add depth to the topic because they show what goes into the process of creating these forms of art from the artist’s thought process to visualization to the final product.

     My understanding of craft, for example, was enhanced by the section on stained glass which was shown in detail through the stages an artist follows to create his work. I now understand better that craft as an art form is made by hands as opposed to industrial art which is shaped and made by machines.

      Lastly, the videos, by giving a visual aspect to the processes of creating art, make it possible to go inside an artist’s studio and even in his mind in order to see exactly what he sees when creating his art. Both videos were a great complement to the text.

Logo creation

1. Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.

It was very time consuming because I could not come up with something that I felt represented me. I struggled with what shape I wanted it to take. Overall it was a very fulfilling process.

2. Describe the process: creative thinking skills and ideas you used in the logo creation.

I wanted something that spoke of my roots and chronicled my journey up until now.  So I decided to include something that could be easily recognized as part of my cultural background. I went with the map of Africa silhouetted behind an acacia tree to symbolize the wildness of the land.

The Maasai shield and spears which appear on the Kenyan flag symbolize the strength of the African people while the Buff State logo represents my connection between my past and what has become my future. The colors black, green and red also appear on Kenya’s flag. The words “Duke’s World” are meant to summarize what my present situation is all about. The blue, green and red of course represent my Americanism.

I tried a few designs that I thought were more modern but eventually decided to go with the cultural logo.

3. What was the most important discovery you made in the creation of your logo?

Logos can say a lot without necessarily saying anything. A creative mind can create something truly universal that transcends any spoken language. I think I will be paying closer attention to all the logos I see around but tend to ignore as background noise.

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos, powerpoint, and reading material for this project? What is your opinion of the videos?

Logos are very important for brand identity. Companies spend a lot of time and resources developing that one logo that they hope will be the face of their company. I also learnt that logos have been around pretty much since man discovered the art of writing and drawing. I also learnt that a logo can be to a company what our personal names are to us. The videos were very informative because they go to great depth and provide a good historical foundation for learning more about different logos.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery Visit

 Mirror on wood, 1966

A.) Which artworks make an impact or impression on me? Why?

The mirrored room

Lucas Samara’s mirrored room was meant, as he put it, to create a “space, an environment, a fantasy, a world of artificiality, a complicated panorama” and he succeeds in doing this and more in this deceptively simple take on reality. The feeling of infinite space and time that is felt when one steps inside this mirrored space invokes such a great feeling of eternity I found myself wondering if it just might just be possible to fit the whole universe inside that small space. That sense of twisted reality that Samara calls “polite claustrophobia” is so pervasive in its totality, so suffocating in its embrace, it is almost panic inducing. The biggest lesson the mirrored room left me was this: we create our own realities and our own sense of space. Whether we choose to believe that our world extends beyond our immediate reach or whether we choose to believe that it goes on forever far into the unknown, everything ultimately reflects back to and on us.

Plaster and glass, 2014

Gazing Ball

     There is something deeply crude, crass and irritating about James Coon’s Gazing Ball. Perhaps it’s the blue ball that sits between the two carved figures like a stray balloon that is desperately begging to be blown away by the wind. Or maybe it’s the pervasive air of pretense and fake sense of generosity that seems to drip in bucketfuls from the statue.            Whatever it is, the Gazing Ball is such a tepid and pedestrian work of art, I can’t help but think it was conceived to test how far illusions of grandeur can be stretched. It is one thing to unintentionally make bad art. That much I can understand and forgive. What I find unforgivable and beyond redemption is to take a fairly decent work of art and defile it so effectively and so thoroughly, one can’t help but think “well, surely there has to be a joke somewhere in that piece and I seem to be missing it.” 

      That was my very first thought when I saw the Gazing Ball. Those handbags! Goodness gracious, those handbags! Whoever thought that hanging those handbags on the statue was a good idea probably thinks the Mona Lisa is not complete because Ms. Lisa is not smoking a big fat Cuban cigar. Why, dear God, why? To take a work of art displayed in a respectable museum and turn it into a mannequin is simply beyond comprehension. 

       Maybe that’s the message the artist intends to convey: to utterly bamboozle his audience and leave them with a profound sense of disbelief. Perhaps the two barefoot figures that are depicted on the piece sharing a bowl of steaming soup are not enough. Perhaps the mother figure, bent over by responsibility and poverty as she looks down forlornly on the little girl in a solemn moment of humility was not enough. No. Apparently, the only thing that was needed to complete what would otherwise have been a timeless scene was a few designer handbags. If the intent here was to contrast the materialistic with the spiritual, the piece fails on more than one level. The atrocity that is the Gazing Ball is something that I find strangely fascinating but only for the same reason I think train wrecks are interesting too. 

B.) Which artworks do I feel a connection with? Why?

The Temple of Albers 

Acrylic on canvas, 1984

Richard Anuszkiewicz’s piece shimmers and blurs the vision in one of the most brilliant depictions of 3D illusions I have ever seen. This masterful work of art caught my eye as soon as I saw it. I was drawn by the exclusive use of straight lines to create a depth that made me wonder if I was inside looking outside or on the other side looking inside. Using just two colors, the Temple of Albers manages to be both delightful to look at while conveying a feeling of strength as depicted by the Romanesque pillars that seem to hold the whole structure together.

The Marina Piccola 

Oil on canvas

I have always been a sucker for a beach scene and Albert Bierstadt’s piece took me back to a time when the idea of moving inland away from the coast would never have occurred to me. In spite of the stormy seas, the cloudy skies and what appears to be approaching nightfall, the beach seems busy but relaxed. The looming and treeless mountains were a bit overwhelming for me but their presence suggested to me that this scene was possibly inspired by a view of a lakeside as opposed to an ocean. 

Steel, 1961

C.) Which artworks would I like to know more about?Why

Steel

     John Chamberlain’s Steel is nothing more than a tangled mess of scrap metal that I found hard to define. It is safe, I think, to assume that this particular piece wasn’t exactly crafted to be art and perhaps that’s what makes it worth a second look. Where did that chunk of metal come from? From the looks of it, something forceful and violent must have happened to cause the rough tears and deformities in this piece. I would really like to know what was so compelling about this very unattractive piece that it sits in a museum.

Papier-mâché, 2015

1. Left behind                                                         This piece, which was made by students of Fredonia Middle School, made me wonder who modeled for the statue and whether they realize their likeness now sits in a museum, sharing space with works by Picasso and other world famous artists. I thought the imagery in itself was impersonal largely because of the faceless and expressionless nature of the girl. The girl did not give me any particular sense of being “left behind.” What I found fascinating was the old fashioned pair of spectacles that look like they might have belonged to her grandmother. Which made me wonder: was the whole idea of the piece meant to convey a sense of being left behind in time and being stuck in the past? Of living in a bygone era while the rest of the world moves on, unmindful and uncaring?

Exploring Value and The Subtractive Color Theory

       

1. Discuss what you thought about creating the Value Scale and Color Wheel.

It was much harder than I thought because as a kid I did the same thing in art class and my assumption was that it wasn’t going to take long to finish the project. It took me all day to understand the concept of “real” versus “historic” primary colors. Once that got through to me, it became fairly easy. Finishing the value scale became harder and harder as I moved towards the color white. I wasn’t sure if my blacks were dark enough or if the grays were light enough.

2. Which media did you enjoy working with the best and why?

Working with the water paints was challenging because the paper I was using was absorbing the paints too much. But it was also the most fun because the frustration made it a more worthwhile project.

3. What was the most important discovery in the creation of these studies?

Using black and white to create values can create moods and emotions that are just as strong and expressive as any found in full color images. Although the use of black and gray colors is associated with darker feelings, it is possible to create other more hopeful and lighter moods using values that flow from dark to light. But overall, I found that by using black and white hues only, it is rather hard to create a sense of cheerfulness because those colors have a certain sense of starkness in them that deaden the spirit.

The color wheel was more fun because the range of experimentation that is possible is much wider. With color, I found that I could express or think of just about any emotion I wanted to, from profundity to sadness. The possibilities of color are endless.

The most important thing was realizing that my assumptions regarding color might need to be reevaluated. Also, the importance of values in the black and white scale is something I have overlooked for a long time and I certainly need to get in touch with that part of art.

4. What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos for this project? What is your opinion of the videos? I learnt from the color theory video that cyan, magenta and yellow are the “real” primary colors. This threw me off the loop because up until now I have always known that red, yellow and blue the primary colors and not “historic” primary colors.

The value steps video taught me how important it is use different pencils and attention to detail. I also found the use of grids to be an important part of any art project.

Elements and principles of art slideshow