Chapter 1- Felix Luque Sanchez

 

Felix Luque Sanchez's work is really unique to me, I haven't seen anything like it before. He places a dodecahedron in different environments devoid of human interaction. The purpose is to challenge the viewers' ideas on time, space, and human involvement. The shape can be anything, and is never or touched. The lighting and sound sequence is always the same. To me, the succession of images creates a narrative that can be expanded or contracted based on the imagination of the viewer.

Chapter I: The Discovery from OtherSounds on Vimeo.

self portraits

artist

I researched an artist on Rhizome named Jesse Fulton. He was interesting to me because of his view on the "socio-political impact" that technology has on society. He raises the questions of whether art and technology should coincide with political ideals such as democracy. In an effort to make use of the freedom that he has by living in a society that allows him to do so, he attempts to keep his work "honest and as open as possible", saying that art should not be oppressed, rather it is meant to be displayed in public places for everyone to see and judge.

Self Assessment for Project 1

Self Assessment

            When I set out to start the project, I honestly had no idea what to do. The assignment was pretty vague and I think that was done purposefully in order to allow us to expound the range of our creativity. But for some reason I ran into the artist’s version of writer’s block. Originally I was concerned that this would impede my progress, especially because this was really my first time using Photoshop and I didn’t want to end up behind the rest of the class. However, I soon realized that this was a blessing in disguise because I had absolutely no preconceived boundaries. With no image of what I wanted in my head, I wasn’t confined to a specific way of doing things or even a specific final outcome. I was able to be flexible, and this left the project open to a lot of experimentation.

            The idea for the astronaut picture was just a random spark of inspiration. I was simply looking up random pictures on Wikimedia Commons and that one really caught my eye. I figured I could do a lot with it, and I was right. There is almost an unlimited amount of variations that one can make to that picture, with the only constraint being time. So this was my jumping off point, and from there it was all about just putting in the work. Last year in art I got lazy and didn’t finish most of my homework or projects, including the final one. This time around I made sure that I even went to extra lengths to not only finish the project but to really invest myself in Photoshop and use it to its full capability. Ultimately I feel like I got more out of the project that way and I definitely got better at using the program.

            I don’t know if I can ever feel like I’m totally finished with something like this, because there is so much that can be done. But I definitely milked a lot out of both the time that I had and the small amount of experience that I have using Photoshop. In terms of visual coherence, I do think that I did a good job. Being that the project is made up of a series of the same picture with different variations to each one, I had to find some way to connect them. To do this I designated a different theme to each row, so that the images could all interact even though they were different from one another. As far as the conceptual strength of the project, the piece can really be read in a number of different ways, depending on the mood and the mindset of the viewer. This is kind of what I was going for- to leave it open to interpretation. I also tried to make the final pictures as seamless as I possibly could. It was difficult given my inexperience and I could use a little bit more work with the tools. But I feel like even throughout the project I was improving.

            I didn’t have much of a plan at first when entering this project. I was hoping to stumble upon different messages and themes as I progressed, and that’s exactly what happened. There are a couple different themes that I employed because each picture tells a different story and can be interpreted a different way. There are a few different reasons why someone would create a piece of art. The main reason that this piece was created is to give the viewer something to think about. When someone first looks at the image, they are probably taken a little bit aback because there are so many to look at. This gives time to look at each picture individually and make up their minds on the purpose and message. A person can learn a lot about themselves by what comes to their mind when looking at something foreign. So in result, the overall message of the picture is first about repetition, and then about using one’s own imagination to connect to the image in front of them. I’m not trying to make a statement with the picture, but I am trying to direct the viewer’s feelings toward self-realization and self-inspiration.

jpegs

griesbach

The artist who I researched was Scott Griesbach. Griesbach was known for both his digital prints and paintings. The message behind his work was historical and political satire. He was very unique contextually. He collaged other famous artists into their own works via computer, and then would paint a copy of it and it would result in two works of the same picture, only in different mediums. I'm not attracted as much for his message as I am for the concept behind his work. I have never seen an artist deal with two mediums in the way that Griesbach does, and to duplicate the same piece is even more unique. His use of the computer enables him to to parody his subjects in the sharpest possible way, because he is using actual photographs. But his paintings give a completely different feel to the same picture; they are the kind of pictures that I would hang on my wall, as opposed to his prints which might provoke the viewer's thought rather than his emotion.


This is the artist's statement, found on his website:

Artist's Statement
We live in a digital age of computers, image editing, software, scanners, digital cameras, and printers, all at our fingertips. This digital revolution offers the opportunity to look at historical, theoretical, theological, psychological, and sociological concepts from a fresh perspective. In my work I present many of these perspectives in literal, pictorial metaphors. I avoid postmodern posturing and focus on the inescapable modernity of today's social practice. The works I produce are part of an ongoing 13-year project; they are less than modernist clichés than they are historical benchmarks revisited.

Instead of simply encouraging a critical rebellion, I take ideas out of their historical perspective, retrace and rearrange them, and position them in a new philosophical context. I choose to take on historical moments and players, such as Jackson Pollack, Clement Greenberg, Marcel Duchamp, Jean-Paul Sartre, Josef Stalin, and the Pope. I invert the postmodern efficiency of removing the author(s) from the(ir) chosen work, and signal an irony that borders on aesthetic and intellectual surrealism.

My large-scale Iris prints do not function as political "agit-pop" art posters that call for a revisionist history of 20th century ideas and art. Rather they are invented propagandistic intrigues with a familiar cast of characters. Through the use of image editing software, the work of history (and history itself) is anachronistically rearranged for entertainment and reflection. It's as if, in some parallel universe, Duchamp is breaking-up the very road that art drives on, and Jean François Lyotard is modeling his latest fashionable thoughts on a fashion show runway. I don't shy away from taking shots at history and holding players and events responsible for content creation.

There is always a humorous side to this work; such as the image of Duchamp standing in a general hardware store purchasing the urinal he called Fountain. In another piece, Sartre is confounded by the existential possibilities in a house of mirrors, each reflection mirroring back a terrifying Lacanian double-entendre.

I address reverentially, and even romantically, the power of images and cultural forms of production that have created social and political challenges and changes in philosophical perspective. The work doesn't take a political stand. Rather it speaks to the course of social practice in the age of capitalism, advertising, and the co-opting of art and ideas by technology, the media, and the globalization of popular culture.

The decision to print on paper is simply that: a decision. It is a decision that reminds us that materials and tools for making art are just that: materials and tools for making art. It's what the artist does with them that matters.

- Scott Griesbach
© 2003 Scott Griesbach
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new post

This post is on the reading and the concept of the new digital age that we live in. Growing up in the 2000s, I never really thought about the history of technology. I kind of took what we have now for granted and just as a part of our lives, because that's what it is. It's become so much a part of my life that it is almost a second nature, and the reading really made it clear that we have so much more potential to cover in the future.

first post

This is the first post for the 2010 digital media class blog.

Here is a link to the St. Mary's homepage.

^ This is John Wall, the future of the Wizards