Fluxus

The Fluxus movement, which is like the 20th century Dada movement, consisted of a group of artists revolutionizing the concept of art. The meaning of "Fluxus" seemed strange because it does not have one set definition, and it did more than just one thing. It's connection and dedication to life and looking at life is thought-provoking. Examples of the movement, such as Allan Kaprow's Happenings from 1958-60's changed the meaning of art in such a way by looking at its outlook on life. The art events he hosted, uniquely distinct from traditional gallery events, included active audience participation that varied each time. In the video we learned about the one who started this revolution- George Maciunas. The concept of Fluxus in relation to challenging people through various art events, non-rehearsed, was definitely idiosyncratic. Their revolutionary movement was clever in thought, trying to break the stereotypes to do something different, in order to "purge the world of burgeouis and tradition for all people." It was inspiring to know they supported beliefs that anyone can do art by "curing people of stereotypes." They created things called "Flux Medicine," which I thought was kinda funny. A lot of Fluxus events made people laugh and have fun. The Fluxus influence of playful experimentation influenced the development of sound art, commerical art, and text play which revolutionizes how people use art today for productiveness in society. Not only did it influence art as being interactive, but it opened the mind of many people and after watching the documentary, I myself recognize that art is almost everywhere and anything. Apparently walking through a door is considered an art, or the dripping of water from the sink is art. Strange sounds such as blowing, spitting, screaming, crying, were all art. Although I do not find most of the Fluxus art aesthetically pleasing, it is more intriguing that the Fluxus philosophy played an important role in appreciating life around us. Sadly, the movement slowly dwindled down when George Maciunas died of pancreatic cancer in 1978. His huge influence in pioneering artistic concepts and catalyzing new ideas really challenged his public and views on art- and he had a lot of fun in his life doing so. I loved how he emphasized that Fluxus was not just a movement, but a way of life. Even though George Maciunas passed away, Fluxus will always live on, and he left his philosophical ideas with us. We are always in fluxus, always changing. We are always going to be challenging, expressive, and have new ideas that connect with our life.

Fluxus

The Fluxus movement, which is like the 20th century Dada movement, consisted of a group of artists revolutionizing the concept of art. The meaning of "Fluxus" seemed strange because it does not have one set definition, and it did more than just one thing. It's connection and dedication to life and looking at life is thought-provoking. Examples of the movement, such as Allan Kaprow's Happenings from 1958-60's changed the meaning of art in such a way by looking at its outlook on life. The art events he hosted, uniquely distinct from traditional gallery events, included active audience participation that varied each time. In the video we learned about the one who started this revolution- George Maciunas. The concept of Fluxus in relation to challenging people through various art events, non-rehearsed, was definitely idiosyncratic. Their revolutionary movement was clever in thought, trying to break the stereotypes to do something different, in order to "purge the world of burgeouis and tradition for all people." It was inspiring to know they supported beliefs that anyone can do art by "curing people of stereotypes." They created things called "Flux Medicine," which I thought was kinda funny. A lot of Fluxus events made people laugh and have fun. The Fluxus influence of playful experimentation influenced the development of sound art, commerical art, and text play which revolutionizes how people use art today for productiveness in society. Not only did it influence art as being interactive, but it opened the mind of many people and after watching the documentary, I myself recognize that art is almost everywhere and anything. Apparently walking through a door is considered an art, or the dripping of water from the sink is art. Strange sounds such as blowing, spitting, screaming, crying, were all art. Although I do not find most of the Fluxus art aesthetically pleasing, it is more intriguing that the Fluxus philosophy played an important role in appreciating life around us. Sadly, the movement slowly dwindled down when George Maciunas died of pancreatic cancer in 1978. His huge influence in pioneering artistic concepts and catalyzing new ideas really challenged his public and views on art- and he had a lot of fun in his life doing so. I loved how he emphasized that Fluxus was not just a movement, but a way of life. Even though George Maciunas passed away, Fluxus will always live on, and he left his philosophical ideas with us. We are always in fluxus, always changing. We are always going to be challenging, expressive, and have new ideas that connect with our life.

The Art of John Cage

What is music? Apparently any sort of sound around our environment, whether it is structurally organized into rhythms or not, is music. An important composer and musical thinker, John Cage reshaped aesthetic thought about what music was. John Cage enjoyed experience of sound in the environment. Increasing one's enjoyment in life, keeping an open mind to appreciate all art, adoring it rather than just expressing it, were important beliefs. It is inspiring that he tweeked the sensibility of others, and believed that art wasn't just about creativity. He is not only a sound artist, but also a visual artist who loved painting and drawing. While experimenting with sound, he is accredited for pioneering the "prepared piano" by putting nuts, bolts, screws, and other random things inside of a piano which created a variety of sounds. One such work he wrote, In the Name of the Holocaust was an intense piece with nails tacked between the strings. Another work he created was 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds or 4.33 which consisted of conceptual and environmental work he made in New York. Basically the audience was a part of his orchestra because they created noises which "...are as useful to new music as different tones, for the simple reason that they are songs." His appreciation for all sounds as music and unique way of thinking is intriguing. He felt no harmony was necessary to create music. Music was his passionate devotion in life.

The strange and indifferent music he created did not seem to interest me and I thought it was really weird. His music was like a whole new language, especially his notation. However, I was rather drawn by his philosophy in music and the eccentricity of his work where he freed himself from biases by taking chances. John Cage wasn't afraid to take different and free risks in his music. From his experimentations depicted in the video, he opened up my own mind and realized how humanity has limited perceptions on music. It is hard to free myself from my likes and dislikes, and be openly free like John Cage. I applaud his unique musical thinking. I think the definition of music differs for various people, depending on the type of structured or unstructured "noise" they prefer. In my opinion however, some of his un-harmonious, strange noises, are not very aesthetically pleasing music to my ears.

The Art of John Cage

What is music? Apparently any sort of sound around our environment, whether it is structurally organized into rhythms or not, is music. An important composer and musical thinker, John Cage reshaped aesthetic thought about what music was. John Cage enjoyed experience of sound in the environment. Increasing one's enjoyment in life, keeping an open mind to appreciate all art, adoring it rather than just expressing it, were important beliefs. It is inspiring that he tweeked the sensibility of others, and believed that art wasn't just about creativity. He is not only a sound artist, but also a visual artist who loved painting and drawing. While experimenting with sound, he is accredited for pioneering the "prepared piano" by putting nuts, bolts, screws, and other random things inside of a piano which created a variety of sounds. One such work he wrote, In the Name of the Holocaust was an intense piece with nails tacked between the strings. Another work he created was 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds or 4.33 which consisted of conceptual and environmental work he made in New York. Basically the audience was a part of his orchestra because they created noises which "...are as useful to new music as different tones, for the simple reason that they are songs." His appreciation for all sounds as music and unique way of thinking is intriguing. He felt no harmony was necessary to create music. Music was his passionate devotion in life.

The strange and indifferent music he created did not seem to interest me and I thought it was really weird. His music was like a whole new language, especially his notation. However, I was rather drawn by his philosophy in music and the eccentricity of his work where he freed himself from biases by taking chances. John Cage wasn't afraid to take different and free risks in his music. From his experimentations depicted in the video, he opened up my own mind and realized how humanity has limited perceptions on music. It is hard to free myself from my likes and dislikes, and be openly free like John Cage. I applaud his unique musical thinking. I think the definition of music differs for various people, depending on the type of structured or unstructured "noise" they prefer. In my opinion however, some of his un-harmonious, strange noises, are not very aesthetically pleasing music to my ears.

Pipilotti Rist

I'm Not the Girl Who Misses Much, a video from Pipilotti Rist initiates obscure insanity, but a sense of flexibility and liberation. The way the girl dances and sings with Chipmunk-fast-forwarded tones, while boldly showing off her nakedness, gives off this sense of freedom. The song she sings provokes a liberation from something or someone because of the way she dances and waves her arms around freely through the blur. As for the blur, it gives off mystery because we do not know what specific details of her faces look like. Maybe she wants to remain anonymous.

Honestly, I do not know what the true intention Rist is trying to portray with this video or what is going on in her mind when filming it. The film just feels so strange,weird, and slightly disturbing because of her crazy behavior. This was even more confusing than Matthew Barney's The Order.

Pipilotti Rist

I'm Not the Girl Who Misses Much, a video from Pipilotti Rist initiates obscure insanity, but a sense of flexibility and liberation. The way the girl dances and sings with Chipmunk-fast-forwarded tones, while boldly showing off her nakedness, gives off this sense of freedom. The song she sings provokes a liberation from something or someone because of the way she dances and waves her arms around freely through the blur. As for the blur, it gives off mystery because we do not know what specific details of her faces look like. Maybe she wants to remain anonymous.

Honestly, I do not know what the true intention Rist is trying to portray with this video or what is going on in her mind when filming it. The film just feels so strange,weird, and slightly disturbing because of her crazy behavior. This was even more confusing than Matthew Barney's The Order.

Reaction to Matthew Barney and Glass Jaw

The documentary of a contemporary storytelling artist who considered himself a "sculptor," Matthew Barney, struck my attention in a sketchy, but captivating way. As a phenomenon of athletic training, he believed "Change cannot happen without struggle." I never heard of Matthew Barney before the video we watched, so I could not fully understand what his motives were for his Cremaster 3 video, The Order. His video was deliberate, full of symbols and events that happened for a reason; but I could not understand what it all meant. Like many other people who have never heard of him, I was confounded at the waste of time put into the video. His language was just perplexing. I tried to open my mind from the obsurdity that I thought made no sense. However, as I continued to watch, in conclusion to the video I started to think about the aesthetics and design of the video making. I listened to the comments made in class and started to realize how this was really a work of art. It was interesting to see how he focused on different sets of characters on different degree levels of the Guggenheim. It was like a surrealistic, dream-like game about overcoming obstacles towards a task or goal.

This dream-like, obscure video contrasts with that of a powerful, journal-like film called, The Glass Jaw by Michael O'Reilly because of his deeply intimate, ghostly perspective. After being beaten up in shock, he suffers anesthesia in a graduate hospital where medical reform was needed. He video tapes his whole experience in such a compelling manner, that viewers can almost feel his anguish. By video-taping in close ups and sharing all of his inner thoughts and feelings, it made the viewer see through into his own eyes. From the description of his blood soaked baseball-stitched head, 38 staples, the effects with sound as if to hear voices, all contributed exemplifying the stream of conscious he felt through the video. Pity and awe was expressed, because of the intensity of his pain in such instances where he described that even "thinking [was] like brail in butter."

Reaction to Matthew Barney and Glass Jaw

The documentary of a contemporary storytelling artist who considered himself a "sculptor," Matthew Barney, struck my attention in a sketchy, but captivating way. As a phenomenon of athletic training, he believed "Change cannot happen without struggle." I never heard of Matthew Barney before the video we watched, so I could not fully understand what his motives were for his Cremaster 3 video, The Order. His video was deliberate, full of symbols and events that happened for a reason; but I could not understand what it all meant. Like many other people who have never heard of him, I was confounded at the waste of time put into the video. His language was just perplexing. I tried to open my mind from the obsurdity that I thought made no sense. However, as I continued to watch, in conclusion to the video I started to think about the aesthetics and design of the video making. I listened to the comments made in class and started to realize how this was really a work of art. It was interesting to see how he focused on different sets of characters on different degree levels of the Guggenheim. It was like a surrealistic, dream-like game about overcoming obstacles towards a task or goal.

This dream-like, obscure video contrasts with that of a powerful, journal-like film called, The Glass Jaw by Michael O'Reilly because of his deeply intimate, ghostly perspective. After being beaten up in shock, he suffers anesthesia in a graduate hospital where medical reform was needed. He video tapes his whole experience in such a compelling manner, that viewers can almost feel his anguish. By video-taping in close ups and sharing all of his inner thoughts and feelings, it made the viewer see through into his own eyes. From the description of his blood soaked baseball-stitched head, 38 staples, the effects with sound as if to hear voices, all contributed exemplifying the stream of conscious he felt through the video. Pity and awe was expressed, because of the intensity of his pain in such instances where he described that even "thinking [was] like brail in butter."

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Past, Present, & Future Tense

[Personal response to this article]

Honestly, the first two pages of this reading made me want to dose off and fall asleep. It mentioned the list of artists vaguely to me, and I could not imagine the projects they created clearly in my head. However, when I continued the reading and saw the pictures and brief descriptions, I was able to comprehend what those mixed media artists had done. These projects are like, babies of technology that have eventually grown and developed over time into our 21st century-generation. It is hard to believe that technology, like today's DVD players, were basically born from these early projects such as the VinylVideo. It makes me think of how technology would develop in our future time, and what new media would be introduced next. It seems like mixed media is not only a piece of useful technology, but also it is most definitely a form of art. Technology is a creative, innovation, created by genius artists. These artists are very influential to society, because they have revolutionized the way people think about what art is. From thinking about these list of artists, I feel like I can accept the status that mixed media truely is a form of art. I used to think that only traditional pieces of art such as paintings or drawings were only meant for museums and galleries. These artists have successfully shown otherwise, because of the fascination of audiences to be able to interact with their innovations. Without them, we would not have essential social networking, such as Facebook. We would not be able to watch our favorite TV shows on tapes or dvds . These artists have taken risks to push through and advance their thoughts outside of their limits, to experiment and explore without hesitation, and have extended the parameters of human capabilities. I find it inspiring that their experiments have catalyzed the meaning of art, and introduced new mediums of interest today.

Past, Present, & Future Tense

[Personal response to this article]

Honestly, the first two pages of this reading made me want to dose off and fall asleep. It mentioned the list of artists vaguely to me, and I could not imagine the projects they created clearly in my head. However, when I continued the reading and saw the pictures and brief descriptions, I was able to comprehend what those mixed media artists had done. These projects are like, babies of technology that have eventually grown and developed over time into our 21st century-generation. It is hard to believe that technology, like today's DVD players, were basically born from these early projects such as the VinylVideo. It makes me think of how technology would develop in our future time, and what new media would be introduced next. It seems like mixed media is not only a piece of useful technology, but also it is most definitely a form of art. Technology is a creative, innovation, created by genius artists. These artists are very influential to society, because they have revolutionized the way people think about what art is. From thinking about these list of artists, I feel like I can accept the status that mixed media truely is a form of art. I used to think that only traditional pieces of art such as paintings or drawings were only meant for museums and galleries. These artists have successfully shown otherwise, because of the fascination of audiences to be able to interact with their innovations. Without them, we would not have essential social networking, such as Facebook. We would not be able to watch our favorite TV shows on tapes or dvds . These artists have taken risks to push through and advance their thoughts outside of their limits, to experiment and explore without hesitation, and have extended the parameters of human capabilities. I find it inspiring that their experiments have catalyzed the meaning of art, and introduced new mediums of interest today.

Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant Garde

Man Ray, whose real name was Emmanuel, was fascinating to me. He seemed to have a personality and artistic drive that was different from other artists who were more accepting. Man, however, was scoffed by others, especially when he was in New York. They didn't understand the concept of his artwork and found the functional objects he placed in galleries were not pieces of art. It was interesting to know that he would have rather been "accepted" not "understood." I was also surprised by the number of other well-known artists and photographers of his time such as Alfred Stieglitz, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali. I thought he seemed influential to have so much passion and drive within his work, even through all his life struggles. He thought "to create is divine," thus, introducing knew ideas were an essential part of his life. His innovative ideas- such as making art out of fashion photography, or creating "rayographs," lead to a new era of modern art.

Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant Garde

Man Ray, whose real name was Emmanuel, was fascinating to me. He seemed to have a personality and artistic drive that was different from other artists who were more accepting. Man, however, was scoffed by others, especially when he was in New York. They didn't understand the concept of his artwork and found the functional objects he placed in galleries were not pieces of art. It was interesting to know that he would have rather been "accepted" not "understood." I was also surprised by the number of other well-known artists and photographers of his time such as Alfred Stieglitz, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali. I thought he seemed influential to have so much passion and drive within his work, even through all his life struggles. He thought "to create is divine," thus, introducing knew ideas were an essential part of his life. His innovative ideas- such as making art out of fashion photography, or creating "rayographs," lead to a new era of modern art.