last reading questions

1.)  What is art therapy? I don’t know, but I think it’s about the person not the art.

2.)   
2.) Does your art making relate to therapy at all? If so, how? Well I’ve been making art since I was young and every time I would make art I would be in my own world or comfort zone so I guess you can say that it’s also my therapy.

3.)   
3.) How do you feel art therapy can help someone with special needs? Why would art therapy be the most appropriate  method? Art is probably the easiest way and you kind of just do it, there doesn’t have to be any thinking involved.

4.)   
4.) Have you ever used art making (painting, drawing, photography, etc) as a way to deal with a personal issue? Please explain.  Yes, I do that every day.

5.)    
5.) Do you think, as an artist, we have any responsibility to help others deal with problems through art? No, I don’t think as artists we’re responsible for that.

6.)   
6.) Can you see any kind of relationship between this video and how I approach my artwork? Yes.

7.)   
7.) Do you think any of my work is therapeutic? It could be.

8.)    
8.) Do you think my art will change when I leave school? Maybe, and if it does it will be for the better most likely.

1.) Did you find any similarities between the reading and the youtube video? Somewhat yes.

2.) Do you believe that attempting to remove certain tenets embedded deep within our society is an important aspect to the advancement of the human condition? For certain things yes, but we shouldn’t have to remove everything.

3.) Are there any examples of people considered to be insane for their attempt to remove unnecessary beliefs within our society? Probably but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

4.) Andrei Tarkovsky expresses the fact that you cannot force others to feel certain emotions, and that you may not experience life through anything other than your own personal experiences. Do you believe that this statement is beneficial to the creation of art? Yes.

5.) Do you agree, or disagree, with the opinions that Andrei Tarkovsky expresses about his view on art? Why? Somewhat yes, it’s a little confusing for myself.

6.) Do you find a similarity between my work and any of the information that I have presented to you? A little yes, but I can’t be sure.

7.) Are there any similarities between the work that you create and the presented information? Maybe.

8.) Is everything going to be okay? Sure, why wouldn’t it be.

Paul, Brittany and Danielle questions

1.      What, if any, are the similarities/differences of a slow,

meditative medium such as drawing/painting compared to an instant

appropriation tool such as photography? Would you consider a

photograph an object, as you would a painting/sculpture? Yes, but at that same time it’s more of an image than that of a painting or such.

2.      What is the “message” of a photographic record? To be honest I’m not sure.

3.      Would you consider “amateurism” when using a medium, an advantage

or a disadvantage, while producing work? For example, is

photo-realistic drawing the top of the heap? Does that

knowledge/technique get in the way of some-sort of innocence/potential

for inspiration? For me it seems to be half and half, and I also think that it has to do with the situation and who you’re making the work for whether it’s you or someone else.

4.      In the film, The Blood of a Poet by Jean Cocteau, what

images/sequences of voyeurism appear in the film? Does this have a

relationship to photography as appropriation? In some form yes.

5.      What does it mean psychologically when the theatre party applauds

the death of the card shark? What does it mean, when viewing it as an

artist? Not too sure.

6.      At what time does a highly personal, private, disgusting or elegant

moment or event, becomes a spectacle? (Please refer to # 4 & #5) I guess when it get out of control.

7.      (Made in 1930) Jean Cocteau uses several surrealistic motifs

throughout the film, which is simultaneously intermixed with personal

iconography. What about my work is self referential, and at the same

time referencing the time in which we are living? For me, it would be the images and people that you use in your work.

8.      Over the past two years, I have produced an extensive archive of

images, with 35mm film only. What do you consider to be the

differences between shooting in a digital format, and any sort of film

format? It seems that digital has better quality as to a clear image but sometimes images that come form film can look just as good and I guess it also depends on the person and what you’re looking for.

9.      What are your observed advantages for me using photographic processes?  To be honest I don’t know much about photography, so I don’t think I have any.

10.     How hot is Lee Miller? Literately or figuratively?

1. Is the author of this book being overly simplistic? I don’t think so at all.

2. Is the author being overly cynical? Maybe to some point, but not too much.

3. Can you be cynical and paranoid and still be correct in your assertions concerning matters that are highly subjective? You can, but I think that it’s rather difficult to do so.

4. Since "group think" is not only entrenched in the art world but the real world, should it not be encouraged in art school ?   Well, if its everywhere then maybe it should.

5. Does the fine arts department at Ringling College of Art and Design represent a microcosm of the Art World? I guess it could.

6. As stated in the reading "does privileging words over visual expression encourage a narrowly didactic approach to art making?" I think it does to some extent.

7. Is Automatism or any other intuitive approach discouraged in contemporary art academia? I think it is a little.

8. Do you believe my work would have been  better served had I not attended art college?  Probably

9. Do you believe my work to be self indulgent? I guess it could be but I don’t see it that way.

10. If all art is self indulgent to a certain extent, should I not embrace this approach? To be honest I think you should.

11. Does the "it's all about me" approach to my work alienate you the viewer? No, if anything it gives me more insight.        

1.    Do you agree or disagree with Elkin’s stance on art education? Explain? Yes, in all honesty I think that artists teaching artist is like retards teaching retards, it just doesn’t work.

2.    Explain your understanding of Elkin’s definition of “taught”.  Well it seem that art cannot be taught if anything it can only be guided.

3.    How does structure within academia foster or inhabit the creation of art? To be honest, I think that if there is structure it constricts that amount of freedom one has to create a piece.

4.    Do you think that art can be taught? Do you agree with the weak view of nothing can be taught, pgs 101-102? I think that many things can be taught, art is just not one of them.

5.    Do you feel Ringling has prepared you for when you’re working outside of a structured academic setting? Why? Nope, because I’m so used to structure now, when I first get out of Ringling I wouldn’t know what to do with myself and all the free time I have because I’m so used to having someone so far up my butt barking assignments at me.

6.    In relation to “Why Art Cannot Be Taught”, do you think that my work could have been made during a more traditional style of teaching? Does innovative teaching lead to non-traditional work? No, and yes sometimes it does.

7.    Do you think that compared to your peers in this academic setting that you are successful? What about the academic setting do you think has caused a major shift in my work in the last year, i.e. more freedoms leading to faster advances? Nope, and I don’t know what but I do know that your work has shifted greatly over the past year.

8.    Do you think that art practice being taught through an academic setting which is structured by materials (painting class, sculpture class, printmaking, etc) helped or hindered my using non traditional mediums to make art objects, ex: candy? Why or why not? What about in your own work? What would you like to alter about your academic experience? To be honest I think that it both hindered and helped in ways that I can not fully understand but for myself I wish that I knew what I was getting myself into, because if I did I would have not chosen to put myself in an academic setting for art because I have only struggled here, and all that I have learned is new techniques to use in my work noting else.

Trevor and Rachel questions

1.)         Do you think any of Graham Handcock's idea's in the video are plausible? Which ones, why? Some what, all of them seem to be along the lines of quantum physics with alternate situations for one problem.

2.)         What "state of mind" do you mainly make your art in? I guess conscious, being that I normally know or have an idea of what I’m making.

3.)         What do you think extraterrestrial alien art would look like, and/or what do you think extraterrestrial aliens would think of your art? To be honest I can’t even imagine that, mainly because I really don’t know that aliens have or perform art, I mean they probably do, but what they may consider art may be something else to us.

4.)         Do you believe its possible that quantum physics and spirituality are connected in anyway. Somewhere along the lines, yes.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

!.)          Do you think Graham Handcocks ideas relate to what I am making at all? As to an alternate reality, yes.

@.)         Do any of his idea relate to what i have talked about? To be honest I’m not sure, but I’m sure you have.

#)         Can you relate to my drawings? Not sure.

$)         Do you think the process of drawing relates to the idea of DNA being a device that passes on code. In a sense, yes.

Would you like to be able to live as long as you wanted?  If so, approximately how long do you think you would want to live? If not, what would be your preferred method of death? Yes, somewhere into my 80’s or 90’s but if not I would like to die when I’m in my sleep.

Do you think that it will be possible for machines to have consciousness in the future?  Is there a fundamental difference between humans and machines that will always remain? Yes to both.

What do you think about Kurzweil's predictions?  Do you think he is valid, totally crazy, or somewhere in between? I thing that he’s somewhere in between where as some of the things he says is valid while others are a little out there.

Do you think it is important for humans to continue on a quest for more intelligent and faster technology? Yes but at the same time no, mostly because technology scares me.

Do you think it is important for you to understand and communicate with machines/technology/tools in order to make art? Not all the time, I think on how you want to make the art.

Do you see any connection between this reading and the things that I make? Yes I do.

Do you think it is important to think about the future, and to make predictions about technology?  Do you think that artwork relating to this subject will effect the possible outcome of the future? I think that it is important to think about the future but as to technology, its always changing, so I don’t really think about it.

Is this subject at all interesting to you? Yes. 

arun and sandra's questions

1. Trevor von Eeden said that he learned to develop his own style by studying his own doodles. What sort of things have you observed about your own practice that you've been able to more consciously apply to your own work? I guess for me it’s in the process, most of the time when I just skip the process and planning my work normally turns out better.

2. "By making the extraordinary ordinary, it elevates your spirit." Is there an artist for you that you think exemplifies the sort of ideals von Eeden attributed to Neal Adams (similar to his analogy of what Bruce Lee would mean to a martial artist)? To be honest I’m not sure.

3. Von Eeden's work in comics developed independent of fan reaction. Has viewer response had an influence on your work? How much? Sometimes it has, but most of the time I really never pay attention to it.

4. What's more satisfying: the work? Or the piece that work produces? For me it what the work produces/the finished product.

5. Does my work tell you anything about me/my experiences? Yes, it seems your way of documenting your life in general.

6. Do you think those experiences/personal biography is even relevant to what I produce?  It seems as though sometimes it is and then at times it can seem a bit more random.

7. "...I'll never stop seeing my mistakes." Does my constant self-criticism of my own work affect your opinion of a piece I've done? Not really, I sometimes do the same with my own work although most of the time I don’t let it show.

1. How would you feel and what would you do if your performance piece became an internet meme? Well that would depend on if I intended it to be one or not, if so then great, if not ten I’d probably be a little up set.

2. People have created re-mixes of this performance, as well as images--most if not all a parody of this piece. As you view this article, do those images change how you regard the initial experience of the performance? Do they inform the work, or do they dismantle it? for me it changes the meaning of it being that people are pretty much making fun of it but in general it still ends with the same message and in a way making it more abstract by dismantling it.

3. If you just witnessed a performance piece that you do not understand or do not enjoy, would you applaud? Does the level of guts it takes to do a performance {like doing anything of a socially unacceptable nature} play into it? If so, why should it? Yes, I feel that it is polite and the right thing to do even if it is bad or if I don’t like it, in a sense that person still took the time to do the performance.

4. So! Apparently you're a hipster! Are you going to try and prove them wrong or will you resign to the definition this anonymous society has given you? To be honest I really don’t care, and I can’t remember that last time I paid attention to this stuff and cared about what people told or said about me.

5. Does this make you any more or less apprehensive about putting your work online? For me it doesn’t really change anything and I would still put my work online.

6. Can an artist recover his or her respect from this kind of publicity with time? Do you think it matters in the art world? Possibly but it still depends on who the artist is to impress.

7. Do I seem to be consciously careful not to gain that sort of attention from the audience that views my work? Yes, I personally hate it when things get blown out of proportion.

8. What does my choice of this article tell you about me or my work? Do be honest I’m not sure, but it seems as though that you’re afraid to put anything online.