Author: Diya Vanjani

General Information: Hard Sweetness, from the Stroke series by Joan Snyder was made in 1971. Its medium is oil, acrylic, and enamel on canvas

Hard Sweetness is one of Joan Snyder’s Stroke paintings in which personal and political struggles and decisions are registered. Snyder began making art in the late 1960s, a time when men dominated the art world. Her soft stains, light strokes, and light colors give this painting a feminine touch. However, when looked at as a whole, it gives more of a masculine look because of the way it’s put together with thicker strokes as your eye progresses from the center outwards. The idea behind this painting is that it does not matter whether the artist is male or female; art is art and is beautiful either way. The medium used in this painting is oil, acrylic, and enamel on a white canvas. The bold, white canvas is supposed to show the masculine side of the painting and the oil, acrylic, and enamel used adds the feminine touch. The oil and enamel almost make the painting flow and help your eyes move around, enabling you to take out the deeper meaning behind this painting.

The description said, “Snyder blurs the distinction between the senses of sight, taste and perhaps even sound and smell.” The random strokes and patterns on this painting do not appeal to one sense. They blur the distinction between them because this painting is not about what appeals to you or what it makes you feel; it is a strong statement made by the artist. She uses art as an intermediary to convey her opinion on feminism and expressionism. The art world was dominated by men, but why? Females also had the same capability and talent of making eye-catching and heart-touching art. They should also have a right to expressionism through their art. She wanted to show the world that females are talented artists through a work of art, and that is what I love most about this painting.

The medium plays a key role in portraying the message to the viewer. As I stated before, the canvas creates a masculine side to this painting while the materials used on the canvas such as the oil and enamel add the feminine side. When these two come together, they create the beautiful artwork that we see. This artwork distinctly catches the attention of the viewer, but as the viewer’s eye moves around, they realize that this painting is not merely for attraction; it holds a deeper meaning. Without the feminine and masculine side of this painting, the painting wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is at the moment, just like without male and female artists, art won’t be as beautiful.

1) Diya Vanjani and Hongying Wu are in this group. 

2) We are planning to make a poetry book with about 10 poems based on the theme of love. Love is a broad topic that everyone can relate to. Everyone experiences “love” in one way or another, whether it’s love for their family, partner or even pets. Each poem will be handwritten in ink with some type of visual aid or drawing to go along with it. Each visual art will provide a better understanding of the poetry itself and will add to the color of the poetry book.  The handwriting allows the audience to closely observe our artwork as our own instead of typed ones. Our unique handwriting is hard to mimic and this allows this piece of work to shine even more among others. We were planning to buy a wooden book and just carve the cover with the title and our names. This semester we have read poetry including Walt Whitman’s, and even experimented by writing our own poems based on Walt Whitman’s style. We were introduced to erasure poetry and created our own erasure poetry based on any piece of writing. For this project, Hongying and I have decided to use our creative thinking and freely write about anything under one common theme. We are not using anyone’s styles or poems; we are writing our own and I think this will really allow us to think and also give us a lot of space to creatively write about anything that comes to our minds. 

3) At this point, we are thinking about leaving the book on the table in the front and allowing people to look through it and feel its texture. Our cover, pages, and writing will all have different textures and fonts and allowing people to interact with this will be an important part of our project. Our poems are obviously the most important part of the book and they will be standing out on the pages, trying to catch the readers’ attention and make them want to thoroughly look through them. We might also make a small poster just to tell spectators what is at our table because a book lying in the front might not be visible to people that are not right in front of it. Another idea for display is a popup poetry book. Each page has its unique design base on the poem and each appeal differently to the audience. As for the paper, we will soak it in tea bags and burn it to add to the aesthetic vintage look. The reason to carve the book cover is adding to the touch for the reader. When picking up a book, the first thing we feel is the cover. Having indents on the cover page adds to the texture. We might or might not bind the book depending on how the book cover fits the pages in the book. If all goes well, there will be no need to bind the book because each poem is unique to itself; however, if the pages will fall out then we will take the last resort to bind the book. 

4) MATERIALS 

• Book cover $6.49 (option 1), $10.99 (option 2)
  • https://www.michaels.com/artminds-unfinished-wood-box/10357774.html
  • https://www.michaels.com/darice-large-rectangular-wood-purse-box/D050919S.html
• Wood carving tools- $8.99(just in case the other one is sold out), ( $5.99 for the second one but only one left in stock) 
  • https://www.amazon.com/Carving-Sculpting-Engraving-Vegetables-Beginners/dp/B07RP7PMLM/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=wood+carving+tools&qid=1573427023&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-11
  • https://www.amazon.com/Poualss-Whetstones-Beginners-Experienced-Handmade/dp/B07GP3H4F4/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=wood+carving+tools&qid=1573427273&refinements=p_36%3A2638326011&rnid=2638325011&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-19
• Ink pen – $4.49( option 1), $7.89( option 2)
  • https://www.staples.com/Pilot-Varsity-Fountain-Pens-Medium-Point-Blue-90011/product_499251?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:499251&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=499251&KPID=499251&gclid=CjwKCAiAh5_uBRA5EiwASW3Iahv5uIqii32082YXoUzz-PL0kvEDb992Jv1wpOyIRSq–baObCnouhoC8jIQAvD_BwE
  • https://www.google.com/shopping/product/11764640207454167866?lsf=seller:469699,store:781412188744787935&prds=oid:16983405739440173198&q=fountain+pen&hl=en&ei=PpzIXe2pM-m3ggfYn5iIAw&lsft=gclid:CjwKCAiAh5_uBRA5EiwASW3Iarrp-OYMC9hHz2THzSX_sC8YpwqKfo0gR4vPMiUs8D3R-xdiHz7zXhoCwFEQAvD_BwE

Original:

My Erasure Poem:

It is not orange nor yellow

It blends with the clouds and touches the shore

As soon as you look at it, you are blinded

As soon as you try to touch it, your hand ripples away with the waves

As soon as you brush through it, your hand flies away with the wind

It is not blue nor white

It crashes against the rocks and carries off into the distance

As soon as you touch it, you feel the tranquility of the Earth

As soon as you step in it, you are carried away with its oscillations

As soon as you drink it, your body feels its essence

It is not brown nor black

It sits at the shore, disturbing the flow

As soon as you touch it, you feel a prick

As soon as you step on it, your foot cries in pain

As soon as you sit on it, you breathe a sigh of relief

It is not white nor gray

It flows in the sky creating a dark shadow

As soon as you see it, you remember the fluffy pillow on your bed

As soon as you jump towards it, it pushes you back down

As soon as you feel a raindrop, you look up and curse it

It is God’s stunning creation

It surrounds you wherever you go

As soon as you see it, you stop to take it all in

As soon as you see it, you want to take a picture

As soon as you see it, you muse about its allure

Nature.

1) “But very often (too often, to my taste) I have been photographed and knew it. Now, once I feel myself observed by the lens, everything changes: I constitute myself in the process of ‘posing,’ I instantaneously make another body for myself, I transform myself in advance into an image. This transformation is an active one: I feel that the Photograph creates my body or mortifies it, according to its caprice…” (Barthes 10-11).

This generation can definitely relate to this remark about the camera because we have so much experience with it. Everything needs to go on Snapchat and Instagram, and as soon as the camera faces us, we have to have a certain pose. This can relate to Barthes’ ideas on page 13 where he says that in front of the lens, you are three different personalities: you are the one you think you are, the one the photographer thinks you are, and the one he makes you to exhibit his art. This produces inauthenticity, just like social media produces inauthenticity and an illusion that does not really reflect what is going on in the real world. This passage is an important one for our generation because it accurately reflects our daily behavior.

2) “For I often dream about her (I dream only about her), but it is never quite my mother: sometimes, in the dream, there is something misplaced, something excessive: for example, something playful or casual-which she never was; or again I know it is she, but I do not see her features (but do we see, in dreams, or do we know?): I dream about her, I do not dream her” (Barthes 66).

Barthes spends the beginning of Part Two talking about his mom and the reader can see that she holds a special place in his heart. He states, “I dream about her, I do not dream her.” This really hit me because he is not able to dream his mom since he does not know exactly what she looks like. This brings us back to the idea of the photograph and its inauthenticity. Is he not able to dream her because the pictures he looks at are inauthentic or do not provide an accurate representation of his mom? Is it because of her “posing”? Is a picture really worth a thousand words if it cannot give us an accurate representation of something? I thought this passage emotionally appealed to the reader to show them the limitations of pictures and their worth of a thousand words.

3) Barthes states on page 20, “suddenly a specific photograph…it animates me, and I animate it…but it animates me: this is what creates every adventure.” What exactly is he talking about here? How does the picture “animate” or “capture” him and how does he “animate” or “contribute” to the picture? How does the interaction between a photograph and its viewer create a sense of “adventure”?

4) My picture is not being uploaded for some reason.

Gallery space is a really interesting aspect of a gallery where it can change the environment of a piece of art and how the viewer processes the art. During our gallery walk, my group visited numerous galleries including the Kim Foster Gallery, the ACA Galleries, the Skoto Gallery, the Deborah Zlotsky now and later, and the Sato Sakura Gallery. The two pieces of art I have chosen to examine are from the Kim Foster Gallery and the Sato Sakura Gallery. 529 W 20^thSt was where the Kim Foster Gallery was located and 501 W 20^thSt was where the Sato Sakura Gallery was located.

The Kim Foster Gallery was a “White Cube.” There were no windows, the walls were painted white, and the only thing that looked different from the rest was the brown desk in the corner. The paintings were scattered around the room and the room seemed almost empty. It can be seen in the pictures above that there were no more than one or two paintings per wall. The background of the paintings is white, almost as if they’re trying to blend in with their white surroundings, but their random strokes of color is not allowing them to. This is almost supposed to symbolize the spectator. The spectator in this case is an intrusion to this “white cube” disturbing the natural occurrence of its surroundings. The gallery is naturally empty, but your space occupying body is disturbing this emptiness. The paintings and gallery space are almost trying to show the spectator what role they play in this specific environment.

The artist of these paintings is Kim Foster, but the names of the paintings were not mentioned. I also think that the random strokes of color, letters, and hues on these paintings really stand out to the spectator in a white environment. When I walked in, I felt out of place and lost. However, the letters and clouds of color on these works of art almost lure you in and make you stand there continuously reminding you of the fact that you’re disturbing the natural environment even though you cannot help it.

The Sato Sakura Gallery was the complete opposite of the Kim Foster Gallery. This gallery was very colorful and as soon as you enter, crystals greet you, like the one I have attached above. The walls were painted in dark and light colors, where the different hues were very intriguing to see as you walked around. Paintings hung from the ceiling, there were chairs and tables for you to sit down, and the colors of these paintings were very aesthetically pleasing. The painting I have chosen is by Yoichi Nishino and depicts an elephant family in the forest. The wall behind this painting was black or a very dark color, and the bottom of this painting perfectly blends in with the wall. This is again supposed to symbolize the role of the spectator, and in this case, the spectator is welcomed, blends in with the surroundings, and does not feel like a space occupying body because the gallery is already very occupied.

Overall, gallery space can affect the viewer’s experience in many ways. In the first gallery, the empty, white surroundings, made the spectator almost feel unwelcome where the only thing luring you in was the randomness of the artwork. In the second gallery, the viewer felt greeted and welcomed where the colors, crystals, and chairs captivated your attention.

On the way up the steep hill on 99th Street in Rego Park right next to one of the best pizzerias in this town, is the monotonous Saxon Hall, which spans to about sixteen stories. A grassy lawn with pink blooming flowers surrounds one of the oldest apartment buildings adding a tint to the dull brick. Two statues are on either side of the building; both depict naked men with wings. The medium used to make these statues seems to be copper, which has rusted over the years and left a very rough texture. The statue stands on a pedestal and a ring of flowers encircle it.

To me, this art seems to be an art-in-public-places model because I do not think that it really fits in with the environment. To me, it looks like something that was pulled out of a museum and placed in front of this building without a second thought. The piece of art does not really provide a sense of unity for the community and does not try to bring the community closer together. Even though this piece of art might not be something the community could bond over, it definitely does catch the attention of a person walking by. The building itself is very bland and dull without much to admire, but the position of these statues catches the attention of a person walking by from either side. It is a very random pose, making the person wonder why it is placed here. The eyes then go down to the flowers, adding a touch to the random beauty of this statue. They then travel to the grass and finally end up on the building, fulfilling the goal of trying to catch the person’s attention.

The artist’s identity and the funding body were not mentioned near the artwork. In fact, nothing about this artwork was mentioned. I do not think the knowledge of the artist or funding body is relevant when viewing this piece of art. It is a very random statue in front of a building just trying to catch the attention of people walking by. The work of art is not special or different in any kind of way, making its descriptions irrelevant to the viewer.

Rego Park is a bustling community with many stores, restaurants, and parks. The main library in this neighborhood is the Rego Park Queens Library. Right next to this library is the underpass of the LIRR. This underpass is very dark and it’s covered with a white community mural. On this white mural, multiple colors are used to draw trees, butterflies, birds, and other forms of nature. The different colors used make the mural pop and the white makes the dark underpass come to life. There are various pictures and descriptions installed on this mural describing the different parts of the community that make it unique.

The Rego Park Green Alliance had first created a “Real Good” mural in this very spot, which is what Rego Park actually stands for. After the “Real Good” mural started to fade away, the Alliance decided to create a new mural with installations of photographs taken by people of the community. The community members became the artists, and they spent about 400 hours scraping away the old mural and making this new one.

This artwork is definitely an example of new genre public art since it sheds light on different social issues. For example, one of the photographs installed on this mural has the description, “This board is inspired by over twenty women at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics who used their voice to bring a sports doctor to justice in 2018 for his sex crimes.” Another one said, “This board is inspired by Maya Angelou, Eli Wiesel, and Malala Yousafzai who have overcome their oppressors and spread awareness through their words and actions.” Each photograph depicted a different issue that a community member thought of as important to integrate into this mural.

I thought the mural fit in really well with its location since people pass through this underpass everyday and seeing this mural reminds them of the unified community they live in. It brings back the memories of when the whole community was focused on doing this one thing, which was replenishing the old mural but still trying to remind themselves of the diverse community they live in. The artist’s identity and funding body are a core part of this mural because they encompass the essence of the community.

The two pieces of artwork I examined were vastly different. The first one did not really fit in with the environment; it was merely used to catch the attention of the people walking by the building. The second one brought a sense of unity to the community, reminding every Rego Parker what Rego Park signifies and stands for. Both of these artworks were beautiful and eye-catching in their own way. This was the first time I actually went out just to find and observe pieces of public art and I have to admit, it was a really thrilling experience seeing things I had not noticed before in my neighborhood.

Description

Artist: Giovanni Francesco Susini

Country of origin: Italy

Name of Sculpture: A Lion Attacking a Horse

Date: ca. 1630−40

Medium: Bronze

Analysis

I visited The Frick Collection and as soon as I entered and took a left, a couple of sculptures caught my eye. They were sculptures of animals, another one depicting a leopard attacking a bull. As soon as I saw this sculpture, I knew this was the one I wanted to analyze. The lion is very life-like because of the way its body is sculpted. The hair, paws, and tail seem very carefully carved to enunciate the lion’s physical features and give him a sense of power. While the lion’s face looks brave and daring, the horse looks really scared with his mouth open and eyes widened. The horse seems to be resting on a rock or something solid, almost as if he needs support because of the lion’s attack.

The lion’s claws and teeth can be seen digging into the horse’s skin. The horse is definitely terrified, but is not trying to fight back. He is resting on the rock with his legs spread out, almost as if he has submitted to the lion’s power. The medium used also adds a touch to the sculpture. The marks from the lion’s attack on the horse can clearly be seen on the bronze. The lion’s body and horse’s neck also have marks, stressing the lion’s muscles and his power and the horse’s anxiety or strain. Overall, this sculpture gives me the notion that no matter the size or shape of another animal, the lion has always kept its power and status.