Artist Spotlight: Xu Bing

Xu Bing

New English Calligraphy

These are some of the characters created my Xu for his, "Book from the Sky" exhibit. 

A Case Study of Transference

A lot of Xu's pieces have to do with writing and books. These pigs (above) have Chinese characters on them, and are standing on pages of books. However, the pigs can be considered a book. Which challenges the normal conventions of what a book actually is. Pushing the limits even further.

A book from the sky

A book from the sky is probably one my favorite works that I've found so far. Xu Bing created his own characters, which resemble Chinese characters for all of the writing, all of which have no real life meaning. The installation contains books, panels and scrolls. He used a traditional block printing method to create the work. It's first showcase was in 1988. 

The Chinese characters in this pieces seem to "float" or fly off the floor.

Aritist Spotlight: Georgia Russel

Georgia Russel

"Le Desir"

Georgia Russell’s choice materials have their own history, which she transforms in order to grant them new life, and a new form. What better materials for a cut paper artist than old books? These books appear as if they've been thrown through a shredder, but each piece has been cut to create unity in the artwork as a whole once its done.

L'Amour Fou

"L’Irréparable"

Russell transforms whole books, book jackets, sheet music, and photographs into delicate yet powerful sculptures with a utility knife. She leaves book covers barely intact, using text and word-play in surprising ways, highlighting the fact that her art was once read or viewed in an entirely different way

"Nous Sommes Eternels"

Art 108: Ready-made

Ready-Made: 

A mass produced object taken by an artist and turned into his/her own creation by the addition of a signature or some other alteration. 


Examples:

Duchamp, Fountain, 1917

Jim Lambie, Tangerine Dream, mattress and paint

Ji Lee

Dmitry Gutov, Found Objects

Art 108: Appropriation Art & Book Art

Appropriation Art:

Objects, images, or texts removed from their orginal context and places unchanged in a new one, there by gaining (it is said) a new one and highly charged significance. 


Examples (thanks to google images):

Book art is our next project. It's a great example of taking an object and transforming its meaning into something different. Below are some more examples. 

B o o K  A r T

Alice in Wonderland 

Artist Spotlight: Tom Friedman

Tom Friedman

"Untitled" 30,000 toothpicks

I his work, Friedman uses everyday things and turns them into something different. His medium is everyday objects which he turns, or transforms, into art pieces that are as unique as the supplies he uses to make them in the first place. 

"Alien" 

In the piece above, Friedman uses a variation of styrofoam balls and turns them into a human form, which he entitled, "alien". The use of the different sizes adds to the feeling of an alien like creature, also the texture is has while in a human stance. 

Friedmans pieces are full of movement and life. They're dynamic, sometimes defying gravity, sometimes exploding. All of his works seem to have one thing in common, movement. 

Open Black Box

In, "Open Black Box", Friedman uses black construction paper to create the 3D illusion of a box by just making the corners. It's really amazing how simple the material is, yet how unbelievable the result. I really enjoy all of his works, and have found them to be inspiring. All artists don't have to use the latest and greatest tools and materials, some of the best illusions can be created using very simple, everyday things.

Art 109: Shadow drawing

Drawing Project: Shadow

For my drawing project, I had to show depth through the use of shadow. I used two graphite pencils one, hard and medium. I found that the harder pencil was easiest to use for shadowing and details, while the medium pencil was easier to use for the beads and the major details. 

This is the subject I chose to draw, a sea shell and some beads. 

Halfway through the drawing. It was really hard to pull some of the details on the shell, and it was also hard to show depth with the shadows. I had to erase and redraw a few areas a couple times. 

Final work. I wasn't able to pull the shine from the shell, and I ended up pushing the shell back towards the wall after I drew it so I could show some sort of background. Overall, It was a fun project.

Artist Spotlight: Jane Burton

Jane Burton

Jane Burton is a very inspiring photographer. Many of her works, especially her black and white I've found to be helpful for my Art photography class. I enjoy her use on composition and her variety of subject matter. She also seems to flow well from black and white, into color. That's something I hope to achieve with my photography in the future.