Simulacra and simulation By Jean Baudrillard, 1981- Dennis

This was a fascinating article. I have been thinking of how my art fits in with simulacra and hyperreal concepts. Like many artist in the past, now and in the future, i also strive to make something out of nothing. Generally, all the art works that i do consist of sporadic or random output. The input =’s all of my life experiences up until now. I will never be able to escape those memories. My choices within art do not intend to re-create, or show reality in any such extreme detail. Images that are mass produced can sometimes stick out in our minds more than any authentic tend to be geared towards releasing inner gestures, which may or not represent or be a reaction to something physical. I feel like sometimes writers like to analyze/dissect concepts and observations to the point of boredom.

Keith Croshaw - Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra and Simulation

The article Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard continues to explore how the idea of the image has as of late really been disembodied. As similar with other articles I’ve read it goes into depth to define what an image is and what it really means. Even if we are told that we are looking at an original work of art, how do know it is an original image? And does it matter? In essence an image that can be described as simulacra would be an image that lacks the original aura, usually by means of representation.

I can relate this to my life how much of my generation likes to view life through a computer, when in reality there is nothing like experiencing things in real life. Documentation of an artist’s work usually does the piece no justice without being able to see the piece and interact with it exactly as the artist intended.

Simulacra and Simulation Response, Kevin Keane

We live in a heavily visual world, thus making simulacra a significant concept that coincides with our everyday life. Corporations and advertisement are almost all developed through strong imaginary and how they are represented. While reading this essay it reminded me of famous images like the Mona Lisa and how I think I know what the Mona Lisa looks like and I could describe it, yet I have really never seen the authentic Mona Lisa. The replication of reality has taken this authenticity and intertwined it with the simulacra.

Crystal- Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra in real life is most apparent when there are movie or visual adaptation of books. When a reader reads a book, he or she imagines what the characters look like and the environment they are in. But once there is a visual adaptation of the book, the actors and drawings become the iconic image for these characters. It's hard for people in our era to see anything without an icon or any visual element representing the imaginary and the real. Plus, when an image becomes an "official" representation of reality, many would fear to stray far from that image when creating fan works.

After all, when you think of famous written characters, such as Frodo or Harry Potter, do you think of what they looks like in the movie or what your imagined them to be when you read the book?

Dan McCafferty - The Print Center

I am very interested in prints, copy's and repetition in art. I went to The Print Center in Philadelphia during the Philagrafika event. In the exhibit there were many black and white prints mostly out of wood cut. I was interested in the size of the prints and curious on how they made them on such a large scale. I have worked with printmaking before and it is very tedious and detailed with different procedures. There were a few artists that I enjoyed the most at the exhibit: Sue Coe "Helping Hands" (woodcut), Eric Avery "Paradise Lost" 2010 (woodcut), and Art Aazelwood "Which Side Are You On?" 2009 (woodcut). Art Aazelwood's print were two identical prints flipped vertically next to each other. What I find most interesting out of all of the prints that were show is how recent the ideas and imagery was but how old school the technique was. Prints such as the one called "Helping Hands" about Haiti and a few others dealing with recent events. It is fascinating how these artists still use this out dated technique, but I do understand because it creates such a beautiful piece of art.

PHil Grasso Exhibition

The Tim Burton exhibition at MoMA is amazing, the man is a genius in my opinion. His artwork was always strange to me, which is why I associated him with the movie business, never really an artist. There are seemingly infinite drawings and models in a place that is entirely transformed so the viewer has this journey through his mind and imagination. I was spending a lot of time thinking about this as i walked around. It became the thing that I remember the most, feeling as if you were in another place, or time.
The entrance really sets the mood for me, a tunnel with this creepy looking head who becomes the doorway; the opening being his mouth. These teeth protrude down from the top of the door frame becoming semi invasive, given the already preconceived idea of what teeth or a mouth does. As you pass through you see that there is a consistency to almost everything, which is understandable given the nature of the artist, however the things I was viewing were extremely playful and inviting in a sick way. Like images of these set displays of a weird looking being which is all bloody, in a bloody room, standing next to a christmas tree. Its so strange to me, but they make for such comical, fun atmospheres.
The amount of sketching he does is unbelievable. I rather enjoy to always have a sketchbook around to make quick drawings of ideas, and my style, I feel, wants to be reminiscent of his. It almost brings this sense of jealousy or longing, or even anxiety. In other words, having to view the works of an artist such as Tim Burton, especially when you are so attracted to the drawing style, it is hard not too feel something that makes you wish it was yours.

Jess G. Exhibition Review: Gabriel Orozco

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2009/gabrielorozco/#

There have been very few times that I can remember being moved by art. The first time was when I saw the work of painter Cy Twombly, the second was in the presence of a piece by famed Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco. I have been enthralled with Orozco’s work for some time now, and the very first piece that got my attention was an earlier work of his, “My Hands Are My Heart”(1991). I can barely describe how it felt to stand before it at his retrospective in MoMA. I did not know that it was part of the exhibition and nearly lost my breath when I turned the corner and saw it in front of me.

The “My Hands Are My Heart” consists of a set of intimate photographs documenting Orozco bare-chested, as he compresses a piece of clay in his hands. In the second photo, he opens his hands to reveal the clay baring the impression of his hands, imitating the shape of a heart. The clay was then fired and is featured in front of the photographs on a pedestal enclosed in glass. To most, it may be an unassuming piece, but to me it is a portrait of his process and a small glimpse into how his mind works in relation to his art. In relation to my own work it, it has come to symbolize how I think and feel about my own process, how it is close to my heart and makes up the majority of the fuel that drives me as an artist.

“My Hands Are My Heart” was one of many works on display at Orozco’s MoMA retrospective. The show featured one new work of art, “Samurai Tree Invariants” (2010), which featured walls covered floor to ceiling with digital prints of a stationary circular design with changing colors. Though the pattern in each print was the same, they never repeated themselves through the changing of color is every print. In an interview Orozco says the piece is about experimentation and familiarization of the process and material. The works that “Samurai Tree Invariants” was expanded from were featured in the retrospective and knowing his tendencies, it was easy to understand why he choose to expand the possibilities digitally. In a similar work done in 2005, “Kytes Tree”, Orozco used the movement of a knight in a chess game as a basis for his circular design. “Samurai Tree Invariants” expands on the pattern and the way in which color manipulates it.

The notion of repetition is abundant in Orozco’s work. (Though it is also true that it is nearly impossible to link most works together at all.) As I took an overview walk through the gallery before revisiting each work, I noticed that many of his pieces feature a technique or design used in another piece. Circles are perhaps the most noticeable theme. He also visits and revisits graphite on bone and seashell in many works and experiments. Graphite is also seen on paper in repetitive and non-repetitive drawings. It is clear he is feeling out the material each time he uses it, seeing how it reacts to the paper or bone differently and becomes familiar with the qualities of it in each scenario. Orozco also works a lot with clay. As in “My Hands Are My Heart”, he becomes familiar with the material through the repetition of simply working with it, making different objects of all shapes and sizes using various techniques in which he works the clay.

Having studied his art, I am familiar with the way in which Orozco works. But seeing it in person is something of a different story. As I mentioned earlier, there are definite themes he revisits, but there is also no definite style or media to which he holds true. He follows his curiosities to wherever they may lead and the linking factor between his work lies in the conceptual thinking and process behind the actual object he produces. Walking through his retrospective and seeing a sampling of two decades worth of work by Orozco was something memorable for me. The fact that he does not stick to one particular medium or style only intrigues me further. It is a constant reminder to me that no matter what art I feel like making, no matter what medium I want to work in, that I should not be bound by the constrict of what I, or others, perceive to be my style. The process of making art, familiarizing with the materials I am using, and the expansion upon those two things has always been where my heart lies. I should never criticize myself for wanting to try something new or different and for that I want to thank Gabriel Orozco, for showing that intuition, impulse, and curiosity are an art all on their own.