Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Oliver Herring






Oliver Herring's work I find quite amazing. Just all the time he puts into each piece is unbelievable. I don't think I could sit and knit for ten years no matter how determined I was. I think his videos are also really humorous but really cool as well. I think my favorite works of his though have to be his sculptures made with the photos. I've always loved collages and the fact that he basically makes a sculpture and covers it in really actuate portraying collages is just really amazing.

Cia Guo-Qiang




I love his use of gunpowder. I think it's a fascinating medium to use for drawing and I really don't think I'd ever think of something like that. The unpredictability of gunpowder is something I like because I really enjoy not knowing exactly how things turn out. I think that's a really important part of making art is failure. If everything we made came out perfect we would have no room to grow as artists and I like how he just embraces that.

When I first saw the installations involving the dead animals I didn't really know how to feel about them. I thought that the use of the animals was interesting but I really didn't personally like it. Although I think the more pieces involving the fake animals I see I actually kind of like. Especially the one with the wolves leaping across the room and then crashing into the glass I think the concept is pretty cool and just the amount of work that had to go into these pieces is amazing.

The car installations are increadable. I love the look of explosion the lights give the cars but the cars still remain perfectly intact. They almost remind me of scenes from movies and stunt cars.

Mike Kelley



Honestly I think Mike Kelley is a bit strange but I really like his work with stuffed animals and how accepting he is of other peoples opinions on his art. I like how he never thought of his stuffed animal installations relating to child abuse until someone else mentioned it and then he started looking at his art from that view and taking that into consideration as well while making the pieces. I find that really intresting because I don't know if I'd be capable of doing that. I'm quite accepting of how other people interpenetrate me work but I know how I mean for my pieces to make me feel and how I want them to be expressed and I could try but I don't know how much I could incorporate others opinions with out changing the entire piece itself. I do think his use of stuffed animals is really unique. It reminds me a bit of Jessica Stockholder but it also leaves me wondering where he gets his stuffed animals. I wonder if they have sentimental value, were found at a thrift store or antique shop, or if it's just things he bought for the piece. I think depending on where he got the stuffed animals might change some of the meaning behind the piece.