Week 9: Braden Currier: Sports Art

I am continually impressed by the way an artist can highlight the success and most famous moments of an athlete's career and the legacy they left behind. It is not uncommon to see artistic depictions of athletes in sports magazines rather than simple pictures. By portraying an athlete with a painting or sketching it can be more abstract and show the viewers more than merely a photo, which simply captures a moment of success. Artists can use their gift as a means to connect the athlete's past contributions to the game and the impact those contributions will have on the future of the sport. Furthermore, where pictures merely capture a moment, art can potentially provide insight into an entire career, a player's personality, a game, a feeling, etc. The use of art as a means of enlightening viewers on a player or team can be very effective, powerful, and meaningful. A few pictures you can look at are on the following sites: http://www.buysportsart.com/images/joemontana.jpg and http://www.courtenaysfineart.com/investment_opportunities/Igor_Semeko/is1_muhammad_ali.jpg

Week 9: Jennifer L.: Art in Life

Aleca had mentioned finding something artsy even in science, like biology. Funny thing. The next day in my biology class, my professor presented us with a view of the Maldives atolls from space. It was amazing. They looked like a Stonehenge created naturally by the sea! So I guess there really IS art in everything!

Week 9:Nobu Fujioka:California Academy of Sciences

I visited California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco last weekend on an architecture field trip. This museum was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and completed in 2008. Prior to the trip, we were introduced by our instructor images of the building's rectangular form and hemispherical extrusions on the flat roof, which serve as a roof garden. According to Renzo Piano's official website(http://rpbw.r.ui-pro.com/), the primary goal of the building is to provide a modern facility for exhibition, education, conservation, and research under one roof according to sustainable design strategies. Sinse the ecological roof was so unique and somewhat futuristic in form, I expected the interior to be as innovative as well.

However, what I encountered in the hallways were a series of extremely simple Greek columns, not even Doric, with plain capitals. They seemed to respond to the thinner steel columns across the corridor. I became curious of the architect's intention of inserting those Greek columns in a museum dedicated to science and ecology that appears to have little relations with Greek architecture.

Perhaps the Greek columns contributes to the monumentality of the building in the interior, while the half-domes on the roof create a unique form in the exterior. Or maybe they are a reminder of the past, the origin of science and technology, and showing a connection to the exhibitions that are mainly related to nature, such as a rain forest, aquarium, and planitarium.

images from top:http://static.zooomr.com/images/3682814_bd83f628d5.jpg

http://rpbw.r.ui-pro.com/

week 9: Jen Rohrs: art in the media

There is an original series on the Sundance channel called "Iconoclasts." Basically the show pairs up two modern innovators and gives them the opportunity to talk to each other about the driving forces behind their work.  I had never heard of this word when Professor Howe asked us to define it and the basic google definitions all dealt with the breaking of images, and opposing icons.  When she asked us in class for the modern connotation I had no idea that it would be so positive, meaning something like an innovator or revolutionary.  I think it's interesting that since first noticing this show I seem to see adds for it quite often and the word has now become part of my vocabulary.  I think its also interesting how the word that comes from a historically religious form of art can change to such a secular and revolutionary word today.   

Week 9: Mariel Camiling: Art On TV

Since this art history class started, I have noticed more forms of art while watching television. Different television shows have different forms of architecture based on where the show is supposed to be located. For example, certain characters on Gossip Girl sit on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art during their free time at school. I never really thought about the architecture of the museum because I was too focused on what was going on during the show. However, now that I looked up what The Met is, I noticed that the architecture of the museum has some characteristics from the Classical Period in Ancient Greece. It has tall columns with volutes at the top signifying an Ionic style. The building looks very grand and of course contains many works of art inside. Overall, I thought it was interesting how a television show filled with teenage drama could make a reference to art.