Unit Five- Chinese Art

Chinese art is visual art that originated in China or by Chinese artists. Chinese art is mostly pottery where it is designed and based on Chinese culture. It is known that Chinese art is the oldest continuous tradition in the world. Chinese art is known for its use in porcelain, ink wash painting and sculptures. China has participated with increasing success in worldwide contemporary art. I don’t personally like Chinese art because it doesn’t appeal to me but many people do.  I find the pottery to be very interesting but the cultural paintings don’t speak out to me. Another form of Chinese art is a bronze ceremonial vessel from the royal tomb at Anyang, Henan. I find this Bronze art piece to be very interesting and bright. Known Chinese artwork is hand scrolls, which are Ink on paper. Li K’an’s “Bamboo” is actually very eye-catching and just soothing to me. I would hang this picture up in my house because I love it so much! I love the mellowness and how subtle it is showing bamboo but can mean so much.

Unit Five-African Art

African Art is made based off of African culture that is visual and three-dimensional. I find all the culture behind the art is amazing and how people really dedicate the time to studying it. Scarification is part of African art and it is a modification that involves scratching, etching, and branding or cutting designs into the skin. In the African culture, their art form is scarification and they find it beautifying. Masks are also African art, the traditional masks are known as ritual masks. Traditional masks usually have a spiritual and religious meaning, they are used in ritual dances and social and religious events.  Also Ife art is a major part of the extraordinary life featuring handsome idealized portrait heads, exquisite miniatures, live animals, and sculptures of kings and queens.  The refined sculptures from Ife demonstrate the dignity and self-assurance associated with the idea of dynasty as well as misfortune. I find African art to have a lot of meaning and am very eye-catching. The ideas behind some of the art are very interesting and sometimes crazy. The most unique African art is the scarification which is very popular today, changing our bodies and transforming them into works of art.

Unit Five-Sculptures

Sculptures are the branch of visual arts that are three-dimensional. Sculptures originally were created to be central in religion and cultures. In the past 100 years people have become more creative with their sculptures and ideas. Duane Hanson is known for his “life-sized” sculptures of people. It is known that people will be in an art studio and mistake the sculptures for real people. I have been to many art studios and events and I have actually seen Duane Hanson’s work up-close. I have seen the security guard at Art Basel and it seemed so real. After going to the Boca museum I saw another Duane Hanson “Study for Sunbather” which is a smaller sculpture of a fat lady sun tanning. I find all of his work really unique and just fun. Another sculpture I’ve seen is the one in the Fort Lauderdale, which is “Vendor with Walkman” which many people have mistaken it as a person as well. The humor in his work really comes out when people mistake the sculptures for actual people. He is a very creative artist!

Unit Five- Minimal Art

Minimal Art or “Minimalism” is work that is set out to expose the essence of the art through eliminating all the essential forms or features. I find minimal art very interesting, it has a lot of meaning and you really have to figure it out. In 1962, Tony Smith’s “Die” was created based on Smith’s life. Smith grew up suffering from tuberculosis so he was very antisocial. Smith creates this “cube” in relation to brown meaning death and the height “six feet” as the depth people are usually buried. This sculpture can really relate to people going through a tough time or depression. Another minimal artist is Frank Stella who created Die Fahne Hoch in 1959. This painting was made by equal subdivisions along the sides and bottom. He used symmetrical patterns in his artwork. He used a provocative title “Die Fahne Hoch” which was named after a Nazi Party. He used the emotive title and disestablished the idea of meaning itself in the painting. I find his work very eye catching, I love the symmetrical prints in the art, and it makes the artwork itself standout.

Unit Four- Triumph of the Will

The Propaganda film "Triumph of the Will created by Leni Riefenstahl presents the life of the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremburg in 1934. The film was created to show the German's Hitler's impact and how great he is. Which was all an act for the film, Hitler was the worst thing to happen killing hundreds of thousands of people. The film had a huge impact on many German citizens at that time. They believed Hitler and the Nazi's and what they were portraying in the film. Hitler waved, smiled greeted many German's which was his way of getting people to support him. The soldiers holding onto each other’s belts were meaning unity, and the showcasing of the woman and children is the association of Hitler with rebirth. The film was able to get people to believe something that aren’t true at all. It makes you think, does the government say things that we believe but something else is happening? One man had the power to lie to millions, it could be happening now but with the help of other influential people, not just one man. 

Unit Four- Unchien Andalou

The film Unchien Andalou that is French for " An Andalusion Dog" created by Luis Bunuel. This is a surrealist film created by the dreams of Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel invoking attraction and repulsion. The Film shows many random things such as a woman's eye cut in half because the director had a dream about a cloud that passed through the moon, which then resembled the eye being sliced in half with a razor. The film didn’t have sound so I was very confused as to what was happening. Also the scene with the ants crawling out of the hand was very weird to watch and understand. The film doesn't have a plot and just shows very random and hilarious scenes. The most confusing scene was when the man was chasing the woman to have sex with her and she runs away so he drags in two pianos with dead donkeys on them to her. The way the film was portrayed was hard to follow, I believe someone can watch this and get an idea of what the director is portraying like people find meanings in their dreams everyday.