Lindy Mei Calder
Ghana
What is Art?
If I were to ask a ton of people "What is art?", I would get a ton of different answers. That's because everyone has their own definition of art. Art can mean one thing for one person and the complete opposite for another. Though saying "Art is whatever you want it to be" sounds like an easy answer, I believe it is true. For some people, art is an instrument to voice opinions, shine light on an important issue to them - make a stand and portray it publicly. For some, art is meant to inspire or invoke feelings. For some, art is a technical skill that needs to be practiced and honed. For some, art absolutely has to have some sort of meaning. For some, art is meant for the artist to express whatever they are feeling. For some, art is just meant to be aesthetically pleasing and nice to look at with no meaning or purpose at all. For ME, it is all of the above.I think trying to come up with a definite, general definition of art is ridiculous because you can't define someone else's creativity and that's what art is - someone's creativity and how they choose to use it and what they use to express it. Every artist defines their own art and has their own mission and purpose with their art. It is going to vary from artist to artist which is why I believe the definitition of art should be a very loose one.My purpose of art is just to create. Sometimes I don't have a specific reason why i need to make art, I just have the need to and that in and of itself is good enough for me. Art helps me express what I feel when I have no other outlet for expression. It's a good venting process for me. Other times I create something just because I want to make something that looks nice. Though others may not agree that it is art, they can't argue otherwise.An artist named Guillermo Vargas Habacuc used a starving dog as art. In the exhibition, the dog was show cased slowly starving to death. This to me is not art but it can however fit into the definition of art. If art is meant to inspire and invoke feeling, this exhibition certainly did so in many. Many people were outraged, upset, sad, angry, and even scared by this. If art is meant to make a statement and shine light on an important topic, this exhibition certainly did so. Would anyone have cared about that dog starving on the street? Or was is just that it was being displayed in an art museum that suddenly made people have a change of art? What about starvation in humans in other parts of the world? Maybe it inspired someone to do something about starvation in the world. If art is simply just meant to shock, I think we can all agree that exhibition certainly did so as well. This to me is not art because art should never be used to harm no matter what the intention is but I cannot argue that it is not art.Art can teach people things in ways literal media cannot because art is something you experience and some things can only be taught through experience. The starving dog exhibition is a good example of this. If anyone was in fact inspired by this to actually do something about starvation, it was because they experienced it. If they had just read about the starving dog, would it have invoked such strong feelings? Or did SEEING it and hearing it and actually living the experience cause them to react? I believe it is the latter.The way I define art is through a process of hearing a thousand of other people's definition of art because it is a collective process. Art is universal and experienced differently throughout people in the world therefore it must be a collective definition.
Part two:
Technique
-In what way does this work represent a skilled use of the software? My project was a drawing/sketch. This is a skill I learned from my WLE internship last year at a fashion label called Black Label SF. One of the skills I used for this is gauging human proportions and using dots and certain lines to show the pattern of the clothing in the sketch. In what way does your choice of materials for this project represent a skillful and informed artistic choice? I chose pencil, colored pencils, a pen, and plain paper for this piece. When it comes to fashion sketches, you really don’t want to use anything heavy like markers (which tend to leave streaky line), or thick paint. You should always stick to pencil and colored pencils. Sketching requires a lot of erasing so pencil was the perfect medium. I sketched with pencil and when I got the exact shape I wanted, I darkened the outline with pen. Colored pencils are good for filling in the clothes in the drawing because it’s easier to shade, and again, doesn’t leave streaky lines.
-How does this work you've created compare with other works of this kind by other artists? My work compared to others in the business is not very special. Roberto Cavalli for example, is the MASTER of fashion sketches. You can view some sketches of outfits he made for the Spice Girls World Tour here: http://www.zimbio.com/Roberto+Cavalli/articles/46/Roberto+Cavalli+costumes+Spice+Girls. He draws clothes on models at all sorts of different angles. Something I am not yet capable of.
Explain in depth the different materials, techniques, and art genres you experimented with as you were making your final piece. I wasn’t quit sure exactly what kind of outfit I wanted to create. At first, I went with a sort of cruella-deville-in-the-40’s type look, which I liked but I wanted something more modern. So I got an idea and did a light sketch. After the light sketch, I re drew my crokey (Figure) on another piece of paper and drew the clothes more detailed. Then I outlined my figure lightly with a pen. Then I colored in the clothes to create texture.
Explain how the techniques you used add to and enhance the meaning or message you were trying to communicate. I wanted the women in my drawing to have attitude and motion. I gave her a very angular, strong, stance and pouty facial expression. To create motion, I drew her hair blowing in the wind which I think gives the over all effect of a more powerful woman.
Point of View
-In what ways is your point of view evident in the work itself? All I wanted to say was that art can be anything from a crazy mural depicting the horrors of war to simple sketch that can still hold its own. I went with a simple sketch but my sketch also presents strength held by a woman which I think is a powerful message as well, considering the patriotically oriented country I live in. People often associate feminists with short haired, nerdy, or masculine girls. I wanted to show that a powerful woman can also be attractive. Fashion is also a hobby of mine so I thought I could use that medium to express my point.
-How is this definition shown in your artwork? My definition of art is shown in my piece because I used a simple sketch, nothing too fancy, to show that even simple forms of art can still carry a heavy message. As long as the message is relevant to the artist…it’s art. Mine is art to me because fashion is a part of my life. My Mom is a fashion designer and I grew up running around in clothing corporations and factories. I do not believe women are as weak as they are often portrayed in the media and I do not believe that women who are headstrong are unattractive and I showed that through my art.
Context and Connections
-Specifically describe the artworks you looked at when developing your definition of Art in blogs 1-3. I looked at an artist who starved a dog in an exhibition as “art”. I looked at Van Gough, Picasso, and a man who “manufactured” poo and called it art. All were very interesting, one even sad.
-Based on your exploration of Art, what specific characteristics does Art need to have? I don’t think art needs to have specific “characteristics”. That’s the thing about art, it has no limits or boundaries. The only components of art is creativity and a medium. You can name out specific characteristics of art because there are none. You can’t limit art with certain characteristics, that defeats the point of creativity which is art, in and of itself.
Reflection
-Discuss the specific stages you went through as you started reading, researching, thinking about, designing, building, and revising your project. Coming up with my own definition of art was the most difficult part of this assignment. I started by looking at dictionary definitions of art, other artists definitions of art, and people who observe art. That is what led to the conclusion that there is no universal definition of art and that it is personal to everyone. When it came time to revise, I looked at some of my magazines and old sketches to get an idea of how I would improve my work. I also looked at sketches I made with the designer from Black Label SF from my internship last year. I looked at how I could create motion and by looking at other sketches, I figured out how.
-Describe the specific art and technical techniques you used in "art-specific" language. I looked through file from my internship and found a crokey I wanted to use. (A crokey is a figure of either a male or female that you trace then sketch clothes over) After drafting a design, I retraced my crokey on another piece of paper. I drew out the clothes over the crokey. I shaded the hat on the crokey with pencil. I colored in the rest of the clothing with color pencils lightly. I used thicker colored pencils and heavier, angular strokes on the hair to show texture and movement. For hair in front of the crokey’s face, I used lighter brushes to give it a sort of wispier, wind blown look.
-Compare your finished work next to an established, professional work of art. Mine stands up pretty well against other professional work. Not against the master, Roberto Cavalli of course, but mine isn’t too shabby. Most professional works of art make crokeys kind of ugly (in my opinion) and don’t focus much on facial expression. I think mine is more detailed in a sense that I gave the character I drew more personality.
Process
-Describe how your definition of art grew and developed over the course of the project. Again, the definition was the most difficult part of the project for me. My definition developed through looking at other’s definitions because I couldn’t articulate how I wanted to put it and needed to guidance. My definition grew while making my project because I realized that any art, will always have some kind of deeper meaning at least to the artist, it might even be unintentional, the artist might not even realize it, but it’s always there.
-What strategies did you use to overcome setbacks you encountered in the process? The strategy I used to overcome setbacks I encountered was my Suck-it-up-and-get-it-over-with skill.
-What feedback did you get from your peers and from Ted about how to improve your piece? Feedback I used from my peers were comments are the drawing shoes in the draft. They were ugly and super cartoonish looking so I changed them to something more sleek and clean in my final piece.