Group Discussion - Group 2

Class Discussion - Group 1

Craig Drennen

Today, an amazing, and hilarious artist, Craig Drennen, showed us some of his work and his personality. I wrote a review of him, not well, mind you, which will be reviewed by my peer and returned to me. I will scan it in if I remember. One thing I did want to mention was that I really need to watch Andy Warhol's version of Dracula. Craig mentioned it and said that it's very entertaining. Apparently, it was filmed in Italy, in English, with a German actor, who only speaks German. So he is just speaking by phonetics the entire time. I hope I find it as humorous as he says it was!

Jan. 11, 2012

We had a class exercise where we had to bring in one object that we considered art, and one that we considered non-art. It was so difficult for me, because basically EVERYTHING can be considered art in some way. Which is what I assumed we would "learn" from the class activity.  So I brought in an old painting I made several years ago, and a blank sheet of computer paper. We ended up having a class discussion which went really well.

First, we were asked to write down 3 things Art has to have to be considered art, this is what I came up with:

• has been created or altered by someone
• evokes thought, feeling, or emotion
• has an aesthetic quality to it

To me, a piece of art does not need each of the 3 characteristics, but most things considered art have at least one.

After defining Art for ourselves, we each chose 2 objects of the ones the class had brought in and described them in detail.

Object 1:

about 1.5 inches squared

medium hue purple

rough

shiny

dense

sharp

chipped

natural-esque

lacking in negative space

bold

translucent

lavendar

(this object was an amethyst colored stone)

Object 2:

cheetah

mini

red ribbon

about 4 in. by 2.5 in.

slender

feminine

hard

mate finish

smooth

curvy

trinket

attractive/successful negative space

has shadows

colorful

opaque

(it was a miniature cheetah printed shoe ornament)

Next, people read their descriptions and said whether or not one, both, or neither of their objects were considered a piece of art. Many people though that if the object had a function, it was not art. I was one of the people that argued this point because I feel that it many things, like the popular topic of discussion - the water bottle - were designed and created. The logo alone, on the water bottle, had a lot of work put into it. Whether I, or anyone else in the class, considered it a successful logo or not, it was created. It was thought out. The shape, size, curvature, etc. of the bottle also had many aspects of design. It could be a marketing standpoint, but there was a reason it was designed the way it was. And that, I think, is a form of art. I still think that my painting is art, obviously, but I am unsure about my other object. Was the paper really creatively designed? Or is that just standard size for copies? I still don't know what it takes for something to be considered"Art" but it was a great discussion!

Artist Introduction

The first class exercise was about learning how to write an introduction for yourself as an artist, for someone else to read, when introducing you in a show or lecture, or whatever. Obviously, many renowned artists have some pretty cool bragging rights and so they include past shows, books they've written, contests they've won, etc. I don't have all of that, but many of my fellow classmates didn't either. So anyway, here is what I came up with:

Nicolle Robleto was born in Maryland, but did most of her growing up in Gwinnett County in Georgia. She was very involved in Art Club and the National Art Honors Society in High School, first as a Public Relations officer, then as the Historian. She was also featured as Artist of the Month in her high school newspaper. She is in her third year at Georgia State University. After living downtown for two years, she is enjoying the space of her new home in Grant Park, which she has been renovating with her parents.  She has always enjoyed art and is working on her B.F.A. with a concentration in Graphic Design. When not designing, she frequents useless websites, like 'KittenWar.com' and plays the Sims.

Then, something like, "Please give a warm welcome to Nicolle Robleto!"

It's not as clever, witty, simple, or professional as it could be but it's my first one! Maybe at the end of the semester I'll have a much better idea of how to successfully write one of these bad boys.