Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Etsuko Ichikawa quick Response & Teacher's art response

“A heart well worth winning, and well won. A heart that, once won, goes through fire and water for the winner, and never changes, and is never daunted.” ~Charlies Dickens

It was very interesting to see how Etsuko Ichiwaka worked with glass that was still in a more liquid state. I liked that she worked with sound along with her piece (Firebird) and thought it was fitting for the dancer to be dressed up in colors that would relate to a phoenix. On her project Nachi I thought it was cool that she produced her own versions of the water area where people would cleanse themselved before seeing the tea master. Ichikawa also is interesting because of her love of mist, ice and the forms that water takes on yet creates her piece with, essentially, fire. I'm interested to see what her future work will have and see if she'll incorporate a more physical element of water into her pieces alongside fire.

~Alex

I'm honestly not sure what I'm supposed to say for this section but I'll give it a shot.

Seeing our teacher's are on display in a window was pretty neat. I liked the use of wire and how on the sills there were glass balls that also had wire weaved around them. It was just interesting to see the use of metal and wire combined with an organic object (a branch in this case) and see them literally interwoven with each other.

Trash seperation

"Benjamin Franklin said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. But I'd like to add a third certainty: trash. And while some in this room might want to discuss reducing taxes, I want to talk about reducing trash." ~Ruth Ann Minner

Here's some "process" pics of me seperating out the trash I gathered (Also found a penny! and two rolly pollies...and a spider..and a slug....)

Forgot to take final seperation pics because I was very tired aha

~Alex

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Independent Project Phoenix Research

“It's best to have failure happen early in life. It wakes up the Phoenix bird in you so you rise from the ashes."~ Anne Baxter

Here are some lovely pictures of inspirational artists:

From HA Schult

Above shadow/trash art by Tim Noble and Sue Webster

"The above trash sculpture was created from recycled carrier bags as part of the Eden Project near Cornwall. Of course, trash ‘art’ isn’t limited to strange sculptures and architectural deconstructions. There is also a great deal of creative recycled urban furniture to keep an eye on not to mention some amazing works of recycled architecture created from bottles, cans, tires and basically any scrap that one can find in bulk." from:WebUrbanist

From the information I got from the library is that the Phoenix is from Greek mythology a well as Arabic lore: the Salamander("...sometimes a four-footed animal, sometimes a bird, living in fire") & 'anka ("...bears a vague resemblance to the roc or rukh and to the Garuda of Hindu mythology."). The Persian culture has the simurg "...thirty birds in one, lived 1700 years, and when the young hatched the parent of the opposite sex burnt itself to death." The Phoenix is also mentioned in Job xxix 18: "I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the phoenix." It also appears in Book of Enoch as "...a great serpent wiyh a crocodile head," and in Christian symbolism the Phoenix represents Resurrection.
All above quotes from:
Leach, Maria, and Jerome Fried. Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1949. Print.

& my only other book from the library...

"Phoenix A mythical bird about the size of an eagle, graced with certain features of the pheasasnt. Legend has it that when it saw death draw near, it would male a nest of sweet-smelling wood and resins, which it would expose to the full force of the sun's rays, until it burnt itself to ashes in the flames. Another phoenix would then arise from the marrow of its bones (8). Turkish tradition gives it the name of Kerkes, and Persian Simurgh. In every respect it symbolizes periodic destruction and re-creation (38). Wirth suggests a psychological interpretation of the fabulous bird as a symbol of the 'phoenix' which we all keep within ourselves, enabling us to live out every momen and to overcome each and every partial death which we call a 'dream' (59) or 'change'. In China, the phoenix is the emperor of birds and a sun-symbol (5). In the Christian world, it signifies the triumph of eternal life over death (20). In alchemy, it corresponds to the colour red, to the regeneration of universal life (57) and to the successful completion of a process."

From:

Cirlot, Juan Eduardo. A Dictionary of Symbols. New York: Philosophical Library, 1971. Print.

Now....for some pictures of these legendary beasties

We'll start off with Garuda...

Now for Simurgh..

and the most important of importants..Phoenix!

And now for some Final Fantasy interpretations of Garuda, Simurgh and the Phoenix. First up: Garuda

And Simurgh

Phoenix time

Got a majority of the FF pics from: http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/

That's all for now. Later~!

~Alex

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Foundations night response

Maya Deren
#1 Visions of flowers, shadows on walls
Running after capped phantoms stolen flowers
A knife to be stepped upon
Beware of keys transforming into knives

Anri Sala "Time After Time"
#4 Starving horse on sidewalk. Cars drive by. Brighten horse image fade. Black silhouette in front of night and city landscape. A step, turn of the head. Blur horse foot slowly lifts, uncomfortable? Why so hungry looking? I'm hungry. Two bright pinpoints of light emerge from blue-grey murkiness. Slowly become smaller. Sound of approaching truck. Look back up lights small again until insignificant. I'm hungry. Dog barking. Focused but no light to shine on horse. Is it paused with just noises? Oh, blur again. Only one pinpoint of light this time. Car honking. Dog barking. Is a car going to go by. Focus in time to see yes..horse lifts up head again. Flitter of tail. How come it doesn't move? Trained? To tired? Doesn't care. Blue again.Another car with blur. Truck. Zoom in. Lit horse. Car honk. Clanking of chains from truck. Oh, horse lowering head. Is it ok? Poor horse :( I don't think it wants to be there anymore. Over.

Pipilotti Rist "I want to see what you see"
#3

Pierre Huyghe "I Jedi (Devils Mountain)"
#5
A mountain
not a fountain
with music nearby
do not fly
for the devil's countin'

The ensembled piece
drips with lease
the mountain in half
does not laugh
but cries without cease

David Claerbout "La Moment"
#6
Crickets chirping at night nearing trees? Not sure how to "extrapolate" on this. Trees never nearer til now. Freaky horror-like music. In a forest will there be a dead body with blood dripping from a gaping mouth? Cat appears and goes away. Sad day. That was the monster.

William Kentridge "Automatic Writing"
#2
A man breathing naked the music chaotic and reminiscent of a train station. Crowded subway.
Illustrating the words of fleeting moments that happen perchance but not to us but others.
Human body is a living thing. Pulsating with life and breath. But every breath is death.
Window for the soul are the eyes they say, but also our actions deliver.
Reflections of moments that never fade but are engraved into our very thoughts.

~Alex