October 19, 2009

Planned Communities Assignment:  Week Eight

Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City

Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City

 Ebenezer Howard, from London, England, was the “founder of the English garden-city movement, which influenced urban planning throughout the world” (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273428/Sir-Ebenezer-Howard).  His idea of garden cities was originally proposed in his book, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Social Reform.  This book was published in 1898 and reissued in 1902 under a different title of Garden Cities of To-morrow.  This book is where the idea of garden cities was presented.  These areas of living were meant to be rural districts owned by private corporations, and the main idea was to decrease the massive shift of people from small towns and rural areas who were moving to cities (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273428/Sir-Ebenezer-Howard). 

Major Ideas:

• Self sufficient entity.
• Ringed by an agricultural belt.
• Rural district.
• Economic opportunities.
• Each garden city is owned by a corporation. 

What should they look like? 

• They should look as if there are sub-population clusters which are surrounded by nature.  At the center of several sub-populated areas is typically some sort of park.  In terms of transportation there is a road that circulates around the sub-populated areas, the park, and the country. 

What is their basic form? 

• Their basic form is multiple cities surrounded by nature, and a local park in the center.  There is a road, railway, or some means of transportation type of route that runs throughout all of these areas, and in some way keeps them connected. 

Plans for Howard’s garden communities from the internet:

Board Quotations from The Suburb Reader – Garden City Requirements:

• Six magnificent boulevards – each 120 feet wide-traverse the city from centre to circumference, dividing it into six equal parts or wards. 
• All machinery is driven by electric energy, with the result that the cost of electricity for lighting and other purposes is greatly reduced. 
• Built in the center of the 6,000 acre lot, covers an area of 1,000 acres, or 1/6 of the 6,000 acres.  1,240 yards from center to circumference. 
• Industrial structures located on the “outer ring” of town to reduce traffic and keep separation. 
• Dotted amongst estate are various philanthropic and charitable institutions i.e. farm for epileptics. 
• Garden image circles or continued line.  Small population.
• 6 boulevards from town centre. 
• Centre = 5 ½ acres.  Public market. 
• Strong connection between nature and human society.    

We just moved to Levittown last week, it is an exciting time.  Now that my husband and I have all the boxes moved from our old house to our new one, I feel that I can begin to set up my workstations.  I plan on having a workstation for my housewifery in every part of the home.  In the kitchen I will have a counter for dishwashing, a counter for cooking, and a brand new stove.  If you thought that was neat, there is more, I have a workstation in the laundry room.  This part of the house includes a washer, a dryer, and an ironing board placed in the wall.  It is very convenient to iron Todd’s shirts with this set up.  My last workstation is in the bathroom.  I have a portable changing board for little Isaac that I can pull out of my bedroom closet when it is time to change his diaper.  Next to this board in my closet, I also have two whole drawers to myself to use for Isaac’s changing.  I feel that is so important for me to keep a good home for Todd, he is such a good husband.  Plus, I find great satisfaction and pride in maintaining a beautiful home.  It seems only right that I work hard in the house as my husband works hard at the office.      

I hope to meet the neighbors soon; I placed fliers in each of their mailboxes on my street welcoming them all to a housewarming party next week.  This may give me a chance to make friends and to show off my wonderful home.  Maybe soon we can set up play dates for our children.  I really do want to get along with the neighbors; that is the reason we moved away from our last neighborhood.  I didn’t want Isaac to grow up in an unwelcoming environment.  But never mind that, I do need to go shopping for party supplies, how can anyone have a party without proper decoration?  It’s just unnatural.  I will definitely need to get paper plates, plastic utensils, and plastic cups.  I think it would be best to have Todd barbecue some hamburgers while I can make a potato salad.  I plan on making the most divine desert, chocolate cake.  I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like chocolate, so I really do think that this desert is the best way to show my neighbors how much I would like to be their friend.  Of course I will need to decorate the cake as well; maybe some chocolate frosting would do, along with blue icing.  I really would like everything to be perfect for the party, first impressions are so important.     

Hi there Dana,

How are you?  I hope San Francisco is treating you well.  I just thought I’d send you a letter saying hello.  I really do miss the jolt of city life, and all of its lively noises.  Does that one fire station by your apartment still run all night?  What a place!  I miss going out to eat during the week, just to be out and seeing other people out.  I haven’t been out for several months now, yeah I know, it’s pretty awful to write that down.  I just get so busy now with the parties I’ve been hosting at home for my husband’s friends, the chauffeuring of my kids to and from school, and the constant using of household machinery.  I long to talk to someone I’ve never met before, I always met someone new when I lived in the city in college.  Oh well, Fred says its just me being silly, and that I am creating emotional problems that don’t really exist.  Take Care, I’ll be in touch. 

Best,

Holly

November 16, 2009

AH 195 Departmental Seminar: Suburbia – Professor Novakov

Yerba Buena Art Center Paper: Originality in Brazil

Originality in Brazil

            The experience of walking into the Yerba Buena museum is that of modernity and space.  The granite walls, the glass doors, and the distant ticket desk from the front door makes the patron feel small physically but the space also allows the visitor to feel the expansiveness of thought that is accepted in the museum.  The Tropicália exhibit was not easily spotted because it was everywhere, rather than in one specific room.  The workings of the gallery made it so that the show was not just in one specific room, but throughout the center.  There is a distinct image that this show presents; it is colorful, lively, and it gives an aesthetic perception of the people of Brazil. 

            Tropicália embodies an original way of thinking.  Between 1967-1972 Tropicália was a moment that artists separated themselves from modern customs; it was a time of creating art that represented freedom of expression.  Part of what provoked this was censoring that the military dictatorship employed, constraining peoples’ freedom of speech.  The name of this movement originated from the 1967 installation by Hélio Oiticica.[1]  The vibrant happiness that explodes from the artists’ work of Tropicália makes it hard to believe there could have been any suffering of being silenced on these artists.  The colors, specifically, depict this happiness.  There is no conformity or constrained feeling of painting within the lines with a subtle color; everything is bright and beautifully alive.  There is also a sense of calling to action, the works move through their presentation in sculpture, paintings and other artistic forms; the pieces either shift one way or the other, but never have a feeling of stillness.

Fruit is often used in still life works, but this is the first time I have every seen a gathering of multiple fruits in a handkerchief, placed in a rubber vessel made with rubber tires.  This piece was called Mariinha, dated 2003, by the artist Marepe, born in 1970, from San António de Jesus.  The work used combined materials in Bahia.[2]  The materials that were used in this work were several set ups of: an umbrella, a polyester handkerchief, a rubber vessel made with rubber tires, and painted ceramic fruits.[3]  The piece was spread onto the floor taking up a few feet; it almost seemed to be a picnic, except no people and only objects.  It also appeared to be in motion, as if there was a breeze, and the umbrella tops were all facing the same way.  There was a presence of various colors through the umbrellas, fruit, and the handkerchiefs.  The significance of the work represented an idea of beauty of simple expressions, in this case the expression of the arrangement of fruit.  Mariinha upheld the ideals of the movement by accepting the display of umbrellas and fruit as art; reiterating the acceptance of what could be considered art by the people and not those in power. 

The watercolor defiance of those in power can also be seen in paintings.  By stroking outside the lines, Erika Verzutti provided an experience of Brazil to the viewer.  Born in 1971 and from Sáo Paulo, her work was called Zulu, and was completed in 2008.  The materials she used were watercolors and paper.[4]  The painting was a medium sized portrait.  It moved through the watercolors in their application onto the paper.  The image was a guitar, however it also looked similar to a piece of fruit.  The strings of the fruit guitar were different colors of pink, orange, yellow, and other such colors.  These strings came out from the top of the neck of the guitar sporadically.  There were also random dots of color on the opposite end from the neck of the guitar which were splattered into place as spots.  The colors appeared to go out of the lines outlining the guitar’s shape, but this showed the amount of life in the work through the brushstrokes and bright colors, it was almost as if the viewer could hear the lively music.  The significance of the work was to show a combination of nature, the unique fruit, and music of the people.  As can be seen in the work, the message was that of music and art that cannot be controlled or censored, and there was beauty in that concept. 

Tomie Ohtake also portrayed her art in an unorthodox manner through shapes and lines.  Her art appeared to be in a geometric styling of lines and squares on large colored backgrounds.  She is given credit for bringing spare aesthetics of Japan to Brazil.  She emigrated from Kyoto, Japan to Sáo Paulo in 1936.  One of her works in the Yerba Buena was Sem Título (Untitled) of 1968 and the materials that were used were oil on canvas.[5]  The colors that were used in this work were red and ivory.  The scale of the painting was a large canvas.  The significance of the work was to observe the natural beauty in Brazil, with what appears to be an observance of the land, as an unchanged and natural beauty.  In this work the background was ivory, and on top of that was a distinct ivory square, followed on top of that appeared to be one red square on the bottom of the portrait and another at the top of the portrait.  The aesthetics of this painting can be seen in the layering of the colors as natural, and environmentally themed.  It gives off a sense of having an environmental theme through the texture of thickness and earth like tones and shapes producing an image similar to that of earth forms.  The painting also appears to have a movement, but one that is very smooth and flowing, also similar to the earth in moving gradually.  This image connected with another piece in the gallery called Roda dos Prazeres (Wheel of Delights).

Lygia Pape’s work, Roda dos Prazeres (Wheel of Delights) is associated with the previous mentioned work because both use tropical earth colors combined with geometric forms, there is an aesthetic connection between the two; it is the connection of the perception of color as well as the image of the natural environmental world working together to produce an image.  Lygia Pape was born in 1927, and she was from Rio de Janeiro.  She died in 2004 in Rio de Janeiro.  This particular work is an exhibition copy of her 1968 piece.  The materials used were porcelain, airline dyes, flavors, and droppers.  The scale was a medium sized circle of the bowls.  The symbolic significance that accompanied the work was to taste the various colors which involved different senses in each experience as a part of the art, and to also present the concept of anthropophagy of the art completely in the cannibalistic sense of eating something and making an individual connection with whatever that is being consumed.[6]  The colors that were used in this work were blue, pink, red, yellow, and green.  A few of these colors were repeated throughout the circle, and they all represented brightness but at the same time calmness, an earth toned type of calmness of the tropics.  There is also action incorporated into this work through the shape that the bowls are placed in, a circle.  The circle acts as a representation of an ongoing cycle subject movement and change.  The aesthetic beauty of this work is the naturally bright colors of the tropical environment. 

            As a whole, the exhibition was impactful through informing its visitors well on the Tropicália movement, and how it was important for artists of Brazil to express their freedom of choice of what art they produced in order to stand up against military dictatorial censorship.  For me the experience was very educational, I had not heard about this artistic movement in Brazil beforehand.  It has allowed me to think outside the box a little more on art’s influence in the world.  This exhibit also reminded me of the importance of range in art.  There are certain expressions from the interactive pieces in the show and the paintings in the show that embodied certain statements that could not be experienced in the same way in both genres; this goes for all genres as well.  By keeping diversity both in style and culture, art excels.             

Works Cited

Visual Arts Department at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

[2] Wall post Yerba Buena Center of Arts.

[3] Wall post Yerba Buena center of Arts.

[4] Wall post at Yerba Buena Arts Center.

[5] Wall posting at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

[6] Based on information from wall posting at Yerba Buena Center of the Arts.

Untitled Film Still #33

Untitled Film Still #8

    Women are constantly measured up to a standard which is set by societal values.  The artist Cindy Sherman noticed this and used it in her work.  She intended to portray her comments on the role of different types of women in society.  She started her professional interest in art by attending school at State University College at Buffalo studying painting, however she felt that painting was not for her because it felt as if she was copying ideas, “‘. . .there was nothing more to say [through painting]. I was meticulously copying other art and then I realized I could just use a camera and put my time into an idea instead’” (http://www.cindysherman.com/biography.shtml).  Sherman did this through photography of herself, but not as a self portrait, rather as a photo of different types of women whose characters she took on.  Cindy Sherman was not afraid of presenting images that were taboo or uncomfortable for people socially, this can be seen in her work that she has done throughout her career: in 1977 she did the Untitled numbered Film Stills; from 1985-1989 she did a series of Disasters and Fairy Tales, images that depicted her in images that of scariness and deformity; around the time of 1988-1990 she portrayed History Portraits using herself as the model for historically known paintings; in 1992 she did a series entitled Sex Pictures, which literally were photographs of dolls and prosthetic bodily parts used to show extremely sexual poses; during the time period of 1997 she did motion pictures; and to this day she is working on photography in New York City where she currently lives, and just recently she had a show in New York portraying herself as various types of Californian women (http://www.cindysherman.com/biography.shtml).  With this knowledge of her education, her ideals, and her work, Cindy Sherman appears to be representing images that state her opinion on the role of women within society being very shallow.  Furthermore, her work seems to be best portrayed through photography because it gives realness to the image that criticizes the actual reality placed forward by the media on the topic of women.   

    Two specific art pieces that Cindy Sherman produced is from her series, of Untitled and numbered Film Stills which were produced in 1977.  In these photographs Sherman plays a type, so there is no person in this image, only a symbolic photograph of a woman in different situations; hence, the titles of the pieces in this series being Untitled, and whichever number.  The first is Untitled Film Still #33.  In this image, it appears to show a suburban housewife disrupted from her momentary leisure, bills or mail she may have been looking at are placed on the bed.  She may have been disrupted by her husband coming home or her children calling her.  The assumption that she has children is somewhat implied through the photograph of what could to be her son in the background, on the nightstand.  It is interesting that she is fairly well dressed, but doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.  It’s as if it’s her responsibility is to keep her appearance well kept, even at home.  The second image is titled Untitled Film Still #8.  In this piece, one woman is hanging out in the backyard or by the pool and another is calling at her from inside.  However, the woman standing in the upper right side of the photograph, and calling the other, looks distraught, suspicious and somehow annoyed at the other’s relaxed behavior.  It is possible that she is telling her friend the phone just rang for her, or her husband is at the door.  What is interesting about these photos is that the viewer is left to wonder what the situation was.  Because of the ambiguousness of the setting, and there being no descriptive title, it is up to the viewer’s imagination to figure a circumstance for each photo.

Omnibus Horse.

Automobile.

Ventilation.

October 5, 2009

Legion of Honor

Legion of Honor Paper

            The bay of San Francisco and a huge palace-like structure pretty much sums up the first images that come to mind as I arrived at the Legion of Honor.  Then, when I enter the museum, it is just as lovely as the exterior.  There is definitely a feeling of seriousness as a person enters this museum.  As I went down the stairs into the John Baldessari exhibit, there is still a great respect for art, but a respect for modern art as a different way of thinking of art.  John Baldessari’s work is, “A critical distancing of the viewer combined with an invitation to discursive interpretation is quintessential Baldessari.”[1]  Baldessari’s art is disorderly in understanding; there is no formalism perspective, as famously used by Clement Greenberg, for Baldessari. 

An American artist and defier of norms, Baldessari was not afraid to just create.  Originally from National City, California, Baldessari began his interest in art in high school.  Even at such a young age, Baldessari questioned idealized creativity.  He didn’t understand certain values, “As a high school student, for example, Baldessari was tormented by the fact that art and photography were treated as separate entities…‘I didn’t see painters doing paintings of glassware and glass shelves or sand dunes and receding snow fences,’ he recently said, recalling his earlier puzzlement.  ‘Why does that interest photographers and not artists?’”[2]  This concept that he developed in his way of thinking is what led his work to be so originally his.  There was no standard or form he was following.

Inspiration of being able to express an individual idea is motivated or unmotivated by an artist’s surrounding environment.  He was more comfortable to express himself in his work, by exploring new concepts; in particular he worked further into the idea of photography as art,

In early 1967 John Baldessari wrote to Donald Brewer, who was then director of the La Jolla Museum of Art, regarding the curriculum of art lessons at the Museum… ‘head in the direction of combining photography and art…there is much profitable work to be done in this direction, I believe’.…This prophetic statement reflected Baldessari’s burgeoning interest, for which he later became known and which he continues to pursue today….Baldessari told San Diego Magazine in 1966, ‘There’s no structured art community here, there is no pressure to paint what’s in fashion.  I can listen to myself and move and grow in any direction.’[3]  

This is what makes Baldessari so versatile; he does not limit himself to one use of material.  He believes that painting is just as much of art as is photography.  There is no standard that he puts himself up to as an example of how to create an image.  His work says to the viewer, why not?  And it works out to be an amazing image.  His work significantly brings a different and refreshing perspective to the art world.

            The first image  I observed was “Person with a Guitar” (Red), 2005, color screen print on sintra board with hand-painting.  It was published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles and printed by James Reid (supervision) and Richard Kaz (collaboration) collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer.  This image featured: a person’s figure, which appeared to be a woman, whose figure was filled in white with peach colored hands; a guitar that was colored in red along with its cord; a black necklace on the woman; and a black background.  This work is simply an image of a musician, but because of Baldessari’s artistic eye he saw something different, “Baldessari differed from other conceptual artists in his humour and commitment to the visual image.  He dramatized the ordinary, although beneath the apparent simplicity of his words and images lie multiple connotations.”[4]  The dramatization that Baldessari uses in this image is the red in the guitar.  This could be taken as a comment on the loudness and intensity of the guitar.

            The next piece was called, “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art,” 1998.  The material that was used was silk crepe with dye, with handrolled hems.  It was published by Cirrus Editions, Los Angeles which was printed and fabricated by Daechung Ltd., Korea.  It was part of the collection of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.  The words appear to be written in black ink, which looks almost blotted on the fabric at the end of the word make, it is written in cursive, and at the bottom of the sheet of fabric it cuts off the sentences.  This work makes the viewer think, well, what is boring art?  It could be anything.  “He will for long be known for his declaration I will not make any more boring art…Baldessari has not permitted himself to become a mere illustrator of theoretical premises–he retains his position as major representative of a cerebral-founded visual art.”[5]  Baldessari’s work does definitely involve the viewer’s mind.  It does this by allowing observers to see situations or forms of behavior that would not regularly be seen by the average person on their own.

Baldessari found interest in a lamp.  It was part of a series of lamps actually, but this one was specifically entitled, “Table Lamp and Its Shadow D&J (J2),” 1994.  It was a hand painted photo intaglio on handmade paper.  The object was irregular and 38 x 39 x 1 ¾ inches.  It was published and printed by Mixografia, Los Angeles (Shaye Remba, workshop director). The collection was from Jordan D. Schnitzer.  The image portrayed a red lamp shade, a silver neck, a blue chord, a peach background cut out behind the lamp, and a black carved center.  What was odd about this piece was the essence of what it was, a lamp.  It was something that is seen on a daily basis, but is hardly looked at in the perspective of an art form. 

            The last image that I chose was “Stonehenge (with Two Persons) Blue,” 2005.  It was part of a series of six differently colored Stonehenge images, and was printed by Mixografia prints on handmade paper as well as published by Mixografia, Los Angeles (Shaye Remba, workshop director).  It was a part of the Jordan D. Schnitzer collection.  From the viewer perspective it was originally a black and white photograph of two men at Stonehenge.  The men appear to be middle aged and in average clothing, and the one on the viewer’s left is a bit skinnier.  However in this image the man on the viewer’s right has an orange circle on his face and the man on the viewer’s left has a pink type of colored circle on his face.  Stonehenge is in the background and it is colored in blue, and behind that is simply a white background.  There are a couple of people in the left hand corner as well.  This gives the impression that Baldessari does not want the viewer to look at the two men or the main structural phenomenon, but rather to look at the situation and surrounding elements to see that basically its just tow men standing in front of an odd structure. 

            John Baldessari connects with popular culture by analyzing it and taking it apart.  His work questions the values that are placed on certain objects in the world.  His work also states that art is a form of creativity, and that there is no way of doing art.  Therefore, trends and structures that are placed in popular culture, of art etc, in Baldessari’s perspective, should be rejected.  His work shows that art is individualistic.

Works Cited

“Baldessari, John.”  Current Biography.  1991. 

Biography Reference Bank.  Web.  5 Oct. 2009.  <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.33>. 

Davies, Hugh M. and Andrea Hales.  John Baldessari: National City.  La Jolla: 

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, 1996.  Page 10.

Drohojowska, Hunter.  John Baldessari California Viewpoints.  Santa Barbara:

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1986.  Page 6.

“John Baldessari.”  Contemporary Artists. 

Gale.  2009.  5 Oct. 2009.  <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC?vrsn=149&OP=contains&locID=mora54187&srchtp=name&ca=1&c=1&AI=U13684514&NA=John+Baldessari&ste=12&tbst=prp&tab=1&docNum=K1636000879&bConts=59>.

Roark, Elissabeth.  “Baldessari, John.”  Grove Art Online.

Oxford Art Online.  5 Oct. 2009.   <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T005867?q=John+Baldessari&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit>.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1986.  Page 6.

[2] “Baldessari, John.”  Current Biography.  1991. 

Biography Reference Bank.  Web.  5 Oct. 2009.  <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.33>. 

[3] Davies, Hugh M. and Andrea Hales.  John Baldessari: National City.  La Jolla: 

Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, 1996.  Page 10.

[4] Roark, Elissabeth.  “Baldessari, John.”  Grove Art Online.

Oxford Art Online.  5 Oct. 2009.   <http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T005867?q=John+Baldessari&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit>.

[5] “John Baldessari.”  Contemporary Artists. 

Gale.  2009.  5 Oct. 2009.  <http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC?vrsn=149&OP=contains&locID=mora54187&srchtp=name&ca=1&c=1&AI=U13684514&NA=John+Baldessari&ste=12&tbst=prp&tab=1&docNum=K1636000879&bConts=59>.