This work of art is pretty well known in the community that I live in. People are constantly driving by it and it has been there forever. I often drive by and think nothing of it; sometimes I will eat tacos at the taco shop across the street and just stare at it. However I never really took the time to really look at the mural and establish what it really means to me until now. I saw it and thought it resembles the community and how there are many working class families. It has a man and a woman that represent all the men and women in the area, it also has corn which symbolizes an every day use for food common amongst the Hispanic community. Above the man head is a puzzle, which seems to have pieces from different groups of people that symbolizes the diversity of the area.
My friend Amy & I go on hikes almost every weekend. We enjoy adventure and like to go on different trails each time. We came across this trail in Brentwood a couple weeks ago and now it’s one of our favorite trails. We never noticed the history behind the trail until after we researched it. There were abandoned power houses, water towers and thousands of stairs that wrapped around the mountain. I found it so strange that they were there. There is graffiti every where on this hike and that is one of the best parts. Looking at the different colors and pictures drawn by random people in a random place is so fascinating. They express their feelings and views on the world within words and pictures. We both try to go back monthly because of its unique colors and its interesting history. For my assignment over spring break I went to The J. Paul Getty Museum and fell in love with one of the exhibitions called A Royal Passion Queen Victoria and Photography. The picture I chose was of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria photographed in 1854 by Roger Fenton. As I walked around the Getty I saw many pieces of art and sculptures that were breathtaking but none of them really got my attention like this one did. I’ve always been fascinated with the elegance and grace the royals seem to have in pictures. The exhibition on Queen Victoria and the Royal family was quite interesting, because two years after Victoria became Queen photography was introduced. Queen Victoria became the first British monarch to have her life recorded by a camera. As I walked up and down the streets through the beach town, Carpinteria, I noticed a bright and colorful painting on what I had remembered was just a plain, boring, beige wall. As I look for the artist’s signature I find out that this mural, was painted by John Wullbrandt just over two years ago and I realize how long it has been since I have been here last. It is located in the heart of the town positioned on the side of a restaurant visible to all traffic entering Carpinteria. I stopped by the candy shop right next door to buy some of their delicious chocolate covered coffee beans. On my way out I had to take a closer look at this painting and this is what I saw. I took off my sunglasses and was able to gaze at this scene ahead of me with nothing in the way, except that car. I went to the Museum of Tolerance, and saw the Holocaust Exhibit. I was told about what to expect, they told me that it hits you in the emotional level in which you cry and fell empathy for the people who suffered in the hands of the concentration camps and the injustice of the time of World War II. I went with a friend, Jose, in which I thought would be best so that I could get distracted and be able to see and pay attention than tour. We were quiet most of the time other than gasps that came from the crowd to hear of the cruelty that people are capable of. We were in a group, which was mostly made up of preteens. Last Sunday morning when I mentioned to my mom I had to visit a museum for my English class, she thought it would be a great idea to visit the Getty as a family. She said, “You can’t really compare the feeling of seeing a piece of art in real life to seeing it on a postcard or desktop screensaver.” That’s definitely what I felt first hand when I visited the Getty Museum. What I saw in front of me was very different from the reproduced pieces I see everyday. I saw some very large paintings while others were small but each one had its own concept and soul that was visible through the colors and kind of objects used on the canvas. The work of art I choose to visit was the art piece on California State University, Northridge’s campus. This art piece was inspired by the devastation the university campus to upon on January 17, 1994. I didn’t necessarily want to see the art piece, I just happened upon it. I was walking a path I had not before, while wondering where I should go spend my break between classes. Back to my dorm to nap, or just go and relax in the Pride Center and probably fall asleep in there too. Well the Pride Center was closer, then I looked up and noticed all the green, lively trees around me. I left my head bowed, as I walked, I noticed how the morning dew stuck to the leaves as if it were a professionally taken photo; you’d find in your already given wallpapers of your cell phone. As I watched a squirrel climb around these metal rods struck into the ground, no doubt another art piece, my eyes wondered to the left. I wandered around Los Angeles for hours looking for some kind of art which can create a sense of liveliness to my day. I walked from the fashion District to Pershing Square; as well to the Art District. Even though I was feeling lost while walking around several blocks over and over again, I was not really sure what I was going to run into, but I found it really strange that I decided to find this random sculpture by the Museum of Contemporary Art. I did run into other art pieces but for some reason I let the anonymous signal lights guide my way. They had led me to this random abstract modern art sculpture known as Chas’ Stainless Steel, Mark Thompson’s Airplane Parts, About 1000 Pounds of Stainless Steel Wire made by Nancy Rubins. For some strange reason I was fascinated by the appearance of the sculpture because it looked abstract. I found it ironic how something like a modern sculpture could represent an abstract scene, but that was the thrill of approaching it. "Early California" is a mural that can be found inside my hometown post office. The mural cover the four walls inside the lobby you can clearly see that the sealing is about 10 feet tall. Now some may ask, "why did you choose this mural in particular?" Well in the beginning I wanted to go to the museum of tolerance and cover a art piece of the holocaust. Yet, something made me think other wise, as a child I would walk into the post office and look at the mural while my mother would stand in line and mail some letters for Christmas time. I always wanted to know who had been the person who painted this amazing mural. After I completed all my research I was not disappointed not only did I learn about who drew the mural ,but it would also correlate with one of my favorite times in history, World War 2. Walter Benjamin’s Famous 1936 essay, The Work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reproduction (influential in the field of art history and cultural studies) claims that, “In principle a work of art has always been reproducible”. Benjamin, a respected German philosopher, social and literary critic, suggests, that the invention of the camera ruined the primary meaning of art through aesthetics, aura, means of reproduction and perspective. Also, John Berger, a respected art critic, wrote a similar analysis, called Ways of Seeing (often used as university text) whose ideas on art stem from Benjamin. While Mike Poster’s essay, “The Aesthetics of Distracting Media”, provides a counter argument against the claims above. |
AuthorWe will be looking at different forms of art and their reproduction in our digital age. We're also interested in how one text can change the interpretation of another. ArchivesCategories |