Author: Dennis Merzlika

The art piece I chose to do my blog post on is called Ore to Iron. The piece was developed in 1953 by the artist Charles Sheeler after his visit to a steel plant in Pittsburgh. The artist and photographer mainly focused on technology and the impact that comes with it. Most of his work was actually sponsored and based on factories from Ford Motors Co. and so most of the paintings highlight the industry under a positive light. As previously stated, since the painting is based on a steel plant Sheeler had seen, it is a mimesis, but Sheeler through the painting showed much more than a basic representation of a factory, rather showed the benefits and harms of industrialization. I believe the painting Ore to Iron to be a work of conceptual art because it shows the beauty and dismay that comes with industrialization and technological advancements. Furthermore, the artist had shown the beauty of technology through intriguing color schemes and overlapping patterns. Adding on, based on colors and shading, there are multiple loops and swirls of factory stairs and buildings. There is also one overall big swirl and factory staircase, which can be seen through the light blue colors. What the artist wanted to show through all these connected buildings and the overlapping colors is how interconnected the factory system has made society. When he had worked for Ford Motors Co. he loved to show how the car industry had made the world easier to travel and how it made the world a smaller place. I think the color scheme and the coinciding stairs were a great way to show the ever more intertwined world because the painting does make it seem like there are a few worlds colliding in it. In the painting, you cannot tell where one staircase begins and another one ends. Also what I found very interesting is that in almost all of Charles Sheeler’s work, there are no people. There is not much information about why he did not draw people, so I left it up to my interpretation as to figure out this artistic choice. Most likely he wanted to separate industry from people and technology from humankind. Also by not showing people, I believe the artist somehow highlighted the negative aspects of the factory system.  I interpreted the stylistic choice as him maybe showing that the factory system can be devoid of human emotions and lack the human intricacy that can go into making a hand made product. Also I believe it to show how the factory system and assembly line focuses on automation and speed rather than care and individualism that used to go into merchandise.

Furthermore, I do believe this art piece to be political and have a political statement. Since Charles Sheeler mainly worked for a big factory company, he focused on the good that comes with industrialization. This good that comes with industrialization can also be seen from the top of the staircases. In the painting, the stairs go up to the top of the painting and from the right-hand corner they look like they continue to go past the edge of the painting. Sheeler said his influences for making the stairs so high were the high rise buildings of New York and the new heights technology could take us. Obviously, Sheeler wanted to show the benefits of the factory system, since he was hired by a company which was built on making factories, and the political statement of the work was clearly the new heights factories and technology would take us. 

The conceptual and political messages are very clearly similar in that they show the impact industrialization has on the world, but what I found so interesting is how relevant it is to our society today. I think the aspect of the painting which has the most profound impact on the viewer is that even though the art piece was created in 1953 it is surprisingly pertinent to our time. The world like in the painting has become more interconnected and as the painting accidentally predicted the industrial world has become more automated and involves less human interaction. The painting although it does represent a factory that Sheeler had seen, it could easily be one of today’s with their huge labyrinth of staircases and complicated designs. Also, the artist was right about technology reaching new heights because well, it really has and reached points that were never thought to be possible. Additionally, on the assignment itself, I know the blog post should have been 400-500 words, but I was really struggling to shorten it down since there is a lot of useful information and I thought a lot of it was necessary for truly understanding the logic behind the work. Also, it is the last blog post so it should be an extensive blog post. 

Our group believes the best title for our project would be “Water Pollution of New York” because not only does it highlight the central theme of all the works, but also the main concept around which the whole project revolves. 

We want our project to focus on the issue of water pollution in New York. We believe water pollution is an often overlooked form of pollution and that not enough attention is given to it. In fact, it is even sometimes ignored. The main form of water pollution we would like to focus on in our project is plastic and through the art piece show its effects on the water, wildlife, and the environment of New York. New York is submerged under tons of plastic that is consumed by people. From plastic bags to plastic bottles, the pollution grows each day. The problem is so severe that the state wants to ban the usage of plastic bags. A major portion of this plastic ends up in the waters of New York which is the issue that we want to address; we want to encourage New Yorkers, specifically our generation, to be cautious of the use of plastic. The consequences are detrimental to our environment and the water that we later consume. 

The way our group is thinking of showing our art project and the central problem we are conveying, is by surrounding various works of art all around one big central piece. The central piece would be the Staten Island Ferry, which will be about 24in by 6in by 6in, and will, for the most part, be made out of cardboard. Resting on top of the ferry, will be an endangered bird species that has been affected by plastic in New York City waters and will also be made out of polyester clay, a form of plastic. The bird will also have plastic attached to it, as to show that it is affected by plastic in the water. Birds are strangled by plastic; to them, the plastic smells and looks like food. Moreover, it is easy for them to have access to it as the plastic floats on the water. Our goal is to depict the threat that plastic has not only on the birds, but also on the wildlife in the New York waters. Additionally, enclosing the boat will be a pool of water made out of cardboard and cotton balls, which will include actual plastic bottles. These bottles will have poems and photographs inside of them. The photographs will be illustrating a physical representation of water pollution, which will show plastic bottles and waste in our waters. The poems in particular will be written by our group in either a Walt Whitman style or as erasure poems. We will construct these poems in various ways such as printing them, pasting them to construction paper, or hand writing poems. These poems will focus on the theme of water pollution in NYC and the causes, effects, and the solution to this problem. To tie this all together we will have a sign, a form of political art, acting as the motivation for our generation to save the waters and our environment from pollution. The sign will grab the attention of our audience, gaining their interest to further explore our project. This exploration will lead them to the realization and acknowledgement of the water pollution that we are facing. 

 The Staten Island Ferry in our project will represent New York City as a whole; although it is not the most general interpretation and most commonly used site to describe New York City, the audience will understand what we are trying to embody. Furthermore, the bird on top of the ferry will most likely entice the audience as it is a mimesis of an animal and through seeing plastic parts surrounding and attached to the bird, they will interpret it as the bird being harmed and hurt by the plastic. The water, containing the plastic bottles, is the projects most literal and authentic representation of the central theme, water pollution, and will be a clear symbol of the high amounts of plastic in the New York City water. Adding on, we would like the project to be very interactive so the water bottles will not actually be attached to the water. The bottles could be picked up and we encourage the viewer to look inside them and take out either the poem or photograph inside them. Through the person taking out the poems and photographs, he or she is now more connected to the project. Furthermore, we believe that the best way for a person to see and learn about our central issue is if they could physically interact with it and that’s what we hope to accomplish with the plastic bottles.

In summary, we hope that onlookers will be drawn in by the unique shape of our STEAM project: a ferry clad with various kinds of artforms within a blue cotton-ball ocean. The biggest object, which is also the centerpiece of our project, is sure to be the first thing the people are curious about, along with our sign of course. Once they examine the intricacies of the ferry, we want them to inspect how the other aspects, such as the wildlife on top and the plastic bottles below, of the larger project play a role in weaving the altogether larger message that we are pushing for, to not only inform the people about the infamous air pollutants of the grandiose New York City, but also the pollution that exists beneath the depths of the murky water. 

The main goal we want to achieve through this project is helping the audience get a deeper understanding of the issue of water pollution and the effects it has on the actual water itself, the environment, and the wildlife of New York City. Furthermore, we hope to inform them about the harm plastic really has on water. Overall, we want to leave the audience more acquainted with the issue and make them think next time about recycling their water bottles. Also, maybe even inspire them to help clean up trash when they see it in the water.

Preliminary Proposal

The members of our group are Christian Gonzalez, Dennis Merzlika, Jules Evangelista, Sean Vayser, and Sophia Kobzarenko. Our proposal is to hit on the overall issue of pollution in New York City and show various works of art which highlight this problem. We would like to show multiple subjects and topics that we discussed in class which all relate to the overall theme of pollution in New York City. The way we want to present our art is by creating a big cardboard cutout of the Empire State building and have a different work of art on each side of the skyscraper. We would like to include an erasure poem, photographs, a mimesis of an animal affected, and a Whitman poem on the four sides of the building. Through this work of art, we hope to highlight the issue of pollution and the overall effects it has on our city. Additionally, the project will show pollution’s impact on the overall cleanliness of the city, some of the native species in the city, and the people that live in the city. The Empire State Building hits on the subject of New York City and counts as Art in a place because it occupies a space and does not really have relations to the location it is in. The drawing of an animal that is affected by New York pollution is a mimesis of an animal and would represent the danger pollution can have on New York’s wildlife. The photographs of New York would relate to our photography unit and show the physical effect pollution can have on the city itself and the cleanliness of it. The erasure poem will hit on the erasure unit we had and depict the dangers of pollution on the city environment. Also, the Walt Whitman poem would show the effect pollution would have on the residents of New York City. The way we hope to display the project is by first putting the poems, mimesis, and photographs on the actual structure, then displaying the building on the table. Adding on, from time to time we would rotate the building to show each side. We would also take turns explaining the overall building, what it represents, and the various sides and works of arts on the structure itself. The roles and assignments we chose are that Sophia will work on building the cardboard cutout of the Empire State Building. Dennis will work on the mimesis of one of the animal species affected and how its numbers have decreased because of pollution. Sean will focus on the erasure poem and connect it to the negative change pollution had caused on the city environment. Christian will work on the Walt Whitman style poem, which would once again show how pollution had led to the declining health of many New Yorkers. Furthermore, Jules will work on the photography aspect showing the dirtiness of New York and the uncleanliness pollution leads to. Each of us will work on our own part separately, but will meet periodically to discuss how we are doing and meet up in the end to put all the works together. The supplies we will need are cardboard, scissors, glue, paint, markers, and colored pencils. Most of the supplies can be probably bought at Staples or an art store. The project is not very supply heavy, but we are still very excited to work with the resources we chose and are enthusiastic to start working on this project for the STEAM Festival.

Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes, Chapter 1

A Road Often Traveled

Oh what a road traveled, one that I see everyday,

Oh what a mysterious road, that seems to lead to a calming abyss,

Oh what a dark road, which seems to never end and the end which is ever more hidden by the dark road,

The never ending road, which I see as my way home and too many a cramped place,

Oh what a jam packed road! Traveled by many and many for me to see!

A road for me to observe and see those who wish to travel the road often traveled,

You have seen it! you have heard it! you have taken it!

The magnificently splendid road, you have been a part of,

The sometimes quiet road, which you have slept and you have enjoyed,

A road often traveled by many, yet a road that is forbidden to walk on and fully explore,

I enjoy the underground avenue which brings me to the best places like Grand Central Station,

Grand Central Station! Filled with many lives and so many personalities it is impossible to fully explore,

But it leads back to a similar yet different numbered or lettered road,

I enjoy this underground pathway for it brings me to East 23d Street,

East 23d Street! A small stop yet filled with so many like minded peers that I have to stop and stare,

And most importantly,

It leads back to more roads for me to travel and explore!

The railroad- some may call it- leads to me to one of the most important places, 86th street,

86th Street! the path to further explore and a journey step to the ultimate place, home,

And the great part of 86th street,

it leads to more roads!

The road keeps a steady path and never wanders,

The road offers experience not taught by many,

The road offers a sense of strength and adventure,

The road offers me amusement and hopefulness,

The road sometimes not cared for and abused, and hated for the dirtiness,

Is a place of connection and a place of human interaction,

To me it is a place of wonder and a place to see the most exquisite people!

But some people the everlasting a road, is just,

A Road Often Traveled

“Since the Photograph is pure contingency and can be nothing else (it is always something that is represented) -contrary to the text which, by the sudden action of a single word, can shift a sentence from description to reflection- it immediately yields up those  “details” which constitute the very raw material of ethnological knowledge. When William Klein, photographs “Mayday, 1959” in Moscow, he teaches me how Russians dress (which after all I don’t know): I note a boy’s big cloth cap, another’s necktie, an old woman’s scarf around her head, a youth’s haircut, etc. I can enter still further into such details, observing that many of the men photographed by Nadar have long fingernails: an ethnographical question: how long were nails worn in a certain period? Photography can tell me this much better than painted portraits. It allows me to accede to an infra-knowledge; it supplies me with a collection of partial objects and can flatter a certain fetishism of mine: for this “me” which likes knowledge, which nourishes a kind of amorous preference for it. In the same way, I like certain biographical features which, in a writer’s life, delight me as much as certain photographs; I have called these features “biographemes”;  Photography has the same relation to History that the biographeme has to biography.”

• End of page 28 and beginning of page 30

This section, which is also chapter 11, in my opinion shows Roland Barthes’s overall opinion on photography and the power it has. He starts off the chapter by first comparing a photograph and a text and showing how there is more that can be done with a photograph. Also, he shows that a text can completely change depending on word choice, while a photo is not so easily altered. Additionally, Barthes compares a photograph to a portrait and once again he states how a photo holds more power. Furthermore, Barthes explains the potential and power a photograph has at capturing a moment in time. He highlights in this section how an image through its details can show the style, fashion, human relations, and the overall scene at that particular moment in time. Roland Barthes used an example which was a photograph done by William Klein called “Mayday, 1959.” He explained how the photograph taught him how Russian’s dressed in the 1960s and the stylistic preference of the people in that period like men having long nails. 

“(I cannot reproduce the Winter Garden Photograph. It exists only for me. For you, it would be nothing but an indifferent picture, one of the thousand manifestations of the “ordinary”; it cannot in any way constitute the visible object of a science; it cannot establish an objectivity, in the positive sense of the term; at most it would interest your studium: period, clothes, photogeny; but in it, for you, no wound.)”

• End of page 73

This section of chapter 30, although small, resonates very largely with me. Barthes discusses how personal photographs, which to most seem regular and nothing out of the ordinary, can be absolutely special to a certain person and hold an important place in their hearts. Barthes uses the Winter Garden Photograph as an example. This photo is of his mom as a youth standing with her brother. To most of us, this would just be a typical family photo, but to Barthes, it is much more. Since Barthes has a personal connection to it he views it as more than just an average photo and sees it as the best representation he could think of his mom. I believe similarly that certain photographs that I hold dear might not mean anything to an observer, but to me, they might show a story and an important moment of my life.

The question I would ask: There are numerous photographs in Camera Lucida, which Barthes chose to include, are there any that stood out to you and what would you identify as your studium, the original emotion you felt, and the punctum, the detail that pricked you and that you focused on?

A little sneak peak why I chose this photo: Relating back to the point Barthes made in chapter 30, some photos might have personal connotations to them and for me it is this Alaskan landscape.

The first gallery my group visited was not only one of the most memorable ones, but it also had a visibly different design and play on the “white cube.” The exhibit was called ACA galleries and it was located on 529W. and 20th street. The building was very big and there were about two galleries on each floor. My group found the ACA gallery very intriguing because it did not stick to one design. One wall would just have a huge painting, while another would have multiple works of art. Another would have works all from the same artist, while there would be one which broadcasted a wide range of local artists. What amazed me the most was the color change between the walls. Although each wall used the “white cube” design as described by O’Doherty, they contrasted in the color of the artwork. As shown in the pictures, one wall just focused on artwork with reddish colors, while another focused on artwork with greenish and bluish colors.

The artwork that stood out the most to me in this gallery was a piece created by Joseph Peller. The piece, called “After Hours Club”, was stunning and I think the “white cube’ style layout added to the painting. Although the “white cube” design is supposed to create this emptiness so that people are purely focused on the artwork, it has a sort of different purpose for this artwork. I believe this particular design adds to the wide range of colors seen in the painting. I think the lack of color in the room almost makes the painting seem even more bright and flashy then what it would look like on a normal wall. The “white cube” makes the painting more visually appealing and makes it seem as though it is more colorful than what it really is. 

The next gallery I found very interesting was the Sato Sakura gallery. I also found it a bit funny because it had pretty much the same design as the “white cube”, although the its walls were colored black. The works of art are still in the middle and there was still a spotlight on each painting. The only real difference in design between the previous galleries and this particular one were the wall colors. Even though there was this slight difference in design, I believe it made a big difference when looking at the artwork. The “white cube” design made the color in the piece by Joseph Pelle stand out, while this “black cube” design not only did that but it also made the artwork almost blend in with the wall. As shown in the picture below the black design did make the white elephants stand out, but it also blended in with the edges of the artwork which are also black. It almost made it seem as though you cannot tell where the walls end and the artwork begins. 

My favorite art piece in this exhibit was called “Monet’s Pond” and it was designed by an artist called Reji Hiramatsu. Similarly to the previous art piece, the lack of color in the room made the work of art stand out even more. Furthermore, I think the gold and black frame added to the painting and added a contrast to the blue and different shade of gold in the art piece. What I thought to be the most interesting part about the gallery was that near the work of art, there was the stone used to make the art piece. Sadly the pictures do not show the glow and the brightness of the crystals, but you can still see the purplish color of the crystals which are in the work of art. I have not seen an art gallery yet that not only shows the work of art but also shows the material it is made of. 

The streets were crowded and noisy as always. People minding their own business and walking fast. In between the lively streets of Broadway and W 64th Street, there was a little quiet place with a few tables and chairs. This location called Dante Park, where the busyness of New York seemed to stop had something hidden in it. On closer examination in the middle of the park, hidden away behind flowers and other shrubbery was a statue of a bird and its chicks. The statue of the Red-necked Grebe was brightly colored and seemed to be made of cheap wooden material. The three babies on the back of the eight-foot tall bird looked scared and terrified, looking around in every direction. Although the statue is of massive height, it is hidden from a person’s view unless they are looking through a small gated area in the front of the bird.

The art piece is part of a larger installation by the artist Nicolas Holiber, who was made and put 12 birds in small areas going down Broadway. Each piece is made of 100% reclaimed or recycled wood and shows 12 of the endangered species native to New York City. Under Kwon’s paradigm lense, I believe this art piece is a form of New Genre Public Art. I believe the Red-necked Grebe fits this category for the message the art piece has and the action it provokes in the community. The art piece shows the beauty of one New York City’s bird and the harsh truth that without any community involvement, the bird could go extinct. In particular with Red-necked Grebe, I found it very intriguing how hidden it was. It took me a couple of minutes to find the art piece because of its location hidden behind the park’s plants and flowers. I believe the artist did this on purpose to show how oblivious New Yorker’s can be to the issues in our city. If I was not looking for this particular structure, I would have walked right past it. The Grebe’s locations hit on the point of how hidden the issue is of the endangered species in New York and how people themselves must learn more about it and be more proactive. New York City Audubon, the nonprofit organization responsible for financing Nicolas Holiber’s work, message is also seen through the art. The group is an environmental organization that works for the protection and safekeeping of the native birds in New York.

The second art piece I visited, is a site I see almost every day. It has been a part of my life since I was very little and the statue is the main association to my area of Staten Island, called South Beach. Between the intersections of Sand Lane and Father Capodanno Boulevard, there is the entrance to the South Beach boardwalk and parking lot. It is a busy area and on the weekends it is crowded with families going to the beach to have fun. In front of the entrance is a large work of art depicting six dolphins jumping out of the water. The dolphins are made of bronze and are connected to poles which hold their bodies up in the air as if they were in mid-way jumping out of the water. The gated fountain can be seen from many parts of the boardwalk and is the central part of South Beach.   

The piece was created by sculptor Steven Dickey and architect Dana Hepler and was completed by June 20th,1998. I believe the sculpture at first fit as Kwon’s art in a place. When the structure was first built, it was meant to beautify Staten Island. Staten Island was the least popular borough and the Staten Island Borough President’s Office, who funded the project, wanted to attract more tourists and make the borough more popular. Originally, I do not believe the piece had a meaning other than to be pretty and keen to the eye. The statue was disconnected with the community and did not have any correlation to the area, but I believe in the 20 years since it has been built the message of the art has changed. I think today the dolphin statue fits more of Kwon’s description of Art as a Space. I believe the art piece has become more interactive with the community and now shows the growth of South Beach. Although the fountain has a fence around it, during the summer you could still see kids playing in the fountain and climbing the dolphins. Furthermore, the fountain had not only become more integrated but also now has a message which resonates with the community. The dolphin statue depicts the large change Staten Island had overgone and how it is now a beautiful communal place. Staten Island, like the dolphins, had risen out of the ground and become the great borough it is today.

Although both the sculptures I chose were animals they hold very different messages and connect very differently with the community around them. The Red-necked Grebe is a much more recent art instillation and is not a permanent work of art unlike the dolphin statue. Adding on the Grebe showed a part of New York City which is forgotten and not cared about, the conservation of birds, while the dolphin statue showed the beauty that can come of New York and the development of a borough to the exquisite place it is now. Furthermore, the bird statue is of little size and hits to a different audience than the dolphin. The dolphin fountain is much larger than the bird installation and can only really connect to the local community of Staten Island, while Holiber’s piece is meant to reach the hearts of every New Yorker. 

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar)

Greek, Chalcidian, black-figure, ca. 540-530 B.C

Attributed to the Polyphemos Group

The vase in the photo is from the Metropolitan museum, in the Greek section. The photo shows two lions grabbing and biting into a bull. The image portrays the battle between the two lions and the bull. The lions seem to be trying to bring the bull down to the ground, while the bull is trying to ram one of the lions with its horns.

When I first saw the vase, my eyes instantly went to the bite marks in the bull. The teeth of the lions are very long and are sharp. They were unproportionally big for the lion’s faces. Additionally, the lion’s manes are the same color as part of the bull’s skin. The manes are not as large as a real lion, but are extended to the usual position a lion’s mane would end. Furthermore, the lions on the vase have much bigger front paws than the back ones, which are skinny and small.

The vase most likely represents power and the lions convey a sense of strength and forcefulness. The user of the jar most likely wanted to send a signal that he or she too was tuff and expected respect from others.

My reaction to seeing the vase was awe. Although the vase was crafted more than 2,000 years ago, it is still in very good condition and the detailed artwork is amazing. The lions have a unique form, which I found very interesting and it was what drew me to this art piece.