Richard Serra, a known American sculptor, created an artwork called the “Tilted Arc” in the middle of Federal Plaza, in a downtown New York City business district. This curving wall of steel or CorTen steel was measured 120 feet long and 12 feet high made in 1981. Serra was commissioned to create this artwork for the Federal Plaza space; however, the public was against his art and was a target for criticism. Although the “Tilted Arc” was seemed as worthless and the “ugliest work of outdoor art”, people who opposed needed to understand that the point of art is not the “traditional” beauty, but the true meaning and the purpose of it. Many are narrowed minded when it comes to viewing and perceiving art, when it should be viewed by trying to understand
The Cone Gatherers written by Robin Jenkins covers many topics. The two topics I shall mainly focus on are the eventual insanity of Duror the gamekeeper and also his evil towards Calum and Neil, the two cone gatherers. As I read the book, I discovered that Duror was an evil and disturbed human being who was driven to insanity by his hate towards the cone-gatherers.
Conroy displays his life through his novel, The Lords of Discipline, to give readers a visual demonstration of how life connections can transform the entity of a novel. Conroy's attendance to the Citadel, his family, and the South helped influence his innovative writing style.
David W. Blight's book Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory and the American Civil War, is an intriguing look back into the Civil War era which is very heavily studied but misunderstood according to Blight. Blight focuses on how memory shapes history Blight feels, while the Civil War accomplished it goal of abolishing slavery, it fell short of its ultimate potential to pave the way for equality. Blight attempts to prove that the Civil War does little to bring equality to blacks. This book is a composite of twelve essays which are spilt into three parts. The Preludes describe blacks during the era before the Civil War and their struggle to over come slavery and describes the causes, course and consequences of the war. Problems in Civil War memory describes black history and deals with how during and after the war Americans seemed to forget the true meaning of the war which was race. And the postludes describes some for the leaders of black society and how they are attempting to keep the memory and the real meaning of the Civil War alive and explains the purpose of studying historical memory.
Richard Serra’s “Tiled Arc” is a very unique piece of art. It should have not been removed from its original location because of the great
What does the work consist of? Who authored it, and how? What is it based on, and how does it relate? What is it, and what will become of it? The answers to these questions, collectively, form an important response to a bigger question: What is art? What does it mean to describe a piece as “a work of art”?
Art is trapped in the cage of society, constantly being judged and interpreted regardless of the artist’s intent. There is no escaping it, however, there are ways to manage and manipulate the cage. Two such examples are Kandinsky 's Little Pleasures, and Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. Both pieces were very controversial and judged for being so different in their time, but they also had very specific ways of handling the criticism and even used it to their advantage. We will be looking at the motivations for each artwork, what made the art so outrageous, and the public’s reaction to the pieces.
What would you do if you had a huge secret to hide? In the book Cross Fire, James Patterson demonstrates a secret that needs to be hidden for some time. Within doing this he also demonstrates a good example of a complete plot. On the other hand the book is mostly written in first person point of view. This has a major effect on the book, in the way it is used.
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
Robert Smithson is best known as a pioneer of the Earthworks movement. However his involvement in the development of Earthworks is only one of his many contributions to postwar American art. His most popular concepts he innovated was a “site,” which is a place in the world where art is inseparable from its context. In addition to large-scale land interventions, Smithson’s artistic practice also includes photography, painting, film, and language.
Since the beginning of the semester, the main idea of the class has been to demonstrate how “life imitates art more than art imitates life” (Wilde 10). To shaping this idea, the first work read in class was the play, The Shape of Things, by Neil LaBute. From reading this play, the class was able to dive into the rest of our literary works having a clear understanding of how art can change us. From the idea presented, each student was able to come to a conclusion about how influential art was to our lives. Personally, before starting the class I did not believe art could influence life more than life could influence art, but after starting the class and almost completing it, I now have a different viewpoint on how influential art is to our daily lives. When deciding upon which two primary sources to use, I wanted to demonstrate how powerful art was in shaping who we could become. The Shape of Things and My Fair Lady seemed to be able to demonstrate my point the clearest. In both works, the main character changes identities due to the events that take place. While the outcomes can be established as either being positive or negative, the transformation of the characters is clear: both characters are largely impacted by the artful events happening surrounding them.
This novel tells the story of a sixteen-year-old named Blake. One day, when Blake went to Six Flags with his two friends, Maggie (with whom Blake is in love with) and her boyfriend, Russ, and his brother, Quinn, Blake received an invitation to a carnival from a strange, gorgeous girl, Cassandra. Blake thought that the idea of going to the carnival is stupid, until he realized his brother stole the invitation. Blake convinced his two friends to tag along with him, so they could go find Quinn. As the characters entered the carnival, they learned that they have to survive seven deadly rides by dawn.
"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind"(Gandhi) An eye for an eye, or revenge, has been a theme that has shown up in many literary pieces throughout history. Although revenge is a common theme in many literary pieces, the reason and outcome of the revenge is often very varied. In “A Poison Tree” by William Blake shows that wrath left unattended will cause more damage oneself and others, in this case resulting in death, as it grows and develops into a form of revenge. In “The Cone” by H.G. Wells there is also a theme of revenge brought about by the entrapment of emotions leading to a revengeful death but this death results in the seeker of revenge feeling remorse. This essay will compare how the murderers in both “A Poison Tree” and “The Cone” feel about the deaths they’ve caused and how their emotions affect the overall theme of the text as a whole.
Many people have life changing revelations in their lives, but very few people are as young as Jared when he realizes what he does about his life. Ron Rash wrote the short story, "The Ascent," about a young boy's journey that brought him to have a significant revelation about his life. In the story, Rash uses a naive narrator, foreshadowing, and imagery to show the setting of the story that led to Jared's revelation about his life.
So I attempted to use this mentality whilst exploring the Highline, allowed the mindset to fill me with energy and then reflected on what I liked and didn’t like about the limitless attitude once I walked back towards Gansevoort Street. When I saw Kathryn Andrews’ “Sunbathers II” piece, I went inside the piece, and smiled while my cousin took a photo of me. I then continued to roamed through Chelsea while observing the people, billboards, paintings and the skyline, and was struck by the Sleepwalker sculpture. When Zadie Smith comes face-to-face with Corona’s “Find Your Beach” advertisement, she begins to analyze and find possible interpretations of the billboard sign. I then began to examine the Sleepwalker sculpture and discussed several potential inferences towards Manhattan the artwork might have with my cousin Michelle. I then got some stracciatella gelato, and Michelle got a coffee. With my recent purchases in hand, I was taken surprise by Andrews’ “Sunbathers I”. Michelle and I laughed