Robbie Conal

Robbie Conal Artist Lecture

Robbie Conal was at Adelphi University a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to hear him talk about his life and his art. I was not familiar with him previous to this so I was excited to hear what he had to say. His personality was a bit different than I expected. Actually, it was a lot different. He was very care-free and he said whatever he felt. He stated that he is a street artist because street art is the best way of public expression. He makes his art based on political issues that he cares about. He stated that he makes art when he is mad. I thought that was interesting because he is able to depict his feelings and emotions to millions of people and that is probably the best stress reliever there is. One of my favorite parts was when he threw out his stickers into the audience because I was able to get two of them! I was really excited about this because I am now able to say that Robbie Conal gave me pieces of his art. I really like how his artwork has a unique style to it. For example, the way he paints faces is very neat because his line is very "flowy", yet controlled. He also is able to get a really good likeness to each face, which is hard to do. When I got home that night, I visited his website and was able to learn a lot more information about him and view more of his artwork. I even followed him on twitter to stay updated on all his future projects and postering events! I included two pictures of the stickers I received from him as well.

 

OBJECTIVE

This photograph is a good representation of "objective" because there can be many purposes. The objective of this photo that I perceived was welcoming. The scene of an empty open hand makes me think that somebody out there in the world is there for me. It feels as if they are reaching out to take my hand and offer their help. I think anybody going through a tough time, or anybody who had a bad day could instantly feel a little better after viewing this photograph because it gives off a comforting vibe. I think that the photographer was trying to capture these exact feelings and they were very successful with doing so. It is such a simple picture with such a large effect. 

EXPRESSIVE

I chose this photograph as expressive because it displays a human being expressing his beliefs to the world. He is holding up a sign in the city that says "TV IS BRAIN WASHING." I think it is great that he is taking time out of his day to express his belief. While viewing this photograph, I actually take the time to think about how TV can be brain washing, and I can agree with him. TV is filled with un necessary information that we spend hours and hours viewing. It also contains tons of commercials and advertisments for alot of things that we dont need. I think it is ironic how he is protesting TV, meanwhile he is surrounded by huge screens and advertisments. I think this was part of how he was trying to express himself and get his point across because people pay money to get "brain washed." I think he is very passionate about this topic and his actions can really help change some people. This photograph does an excellent job of expression and really makes the viewer think about the main topic of TV. 

TRANSFORMATIVE

I chose this photo as transformative because to me, it transforms the viewer into a cheerleader. The second I saw this photo I felt as if I were the girl being lifted into the air. When I look "down" at the girl holding my foot, I can actually feel it on my food. I think the main goal that the photographer had with taking this photo was to  make the viewer feel higher up. In my opinion, It does because I dont feel as if I am looking forward at the girl, I feel like I am looking down to her and It almost makes me feel like I am going to fall because the gym floor seems so much lower than me. I also have a sense of concentration while viewing this photograph because the girl holding my foot looks very serious and makes me believe that we are doing the stunt together. This photograph did a good job of "transforming" me into a cheerleader and I think that it can easily transform many other people.  

Jade Doscow's Artist Lecture

     This wednesday I was able to attend Jade Doscow's artist lecture. Prior to this event I had no idea who she was or what type of art she created. I was excited to learn that she is actually a photographer. Personally, I am not a photographer, but I still can appreciate the photographs that people take. 

     She started off by showing us the types of cameras she has worked with theoughout the years. I was not familiar with any of them, but the one she is currently using now seems very interesting. She is currently using a large wide angle camera that can take up to a half hour to set up. 

    I thought it was interesting how she told us that she spends so long setting up her camera to just take one picture. She could spend 30 minutes setting up a picture and by the time she is done, the lighting outside could be gone and she cant even take the picture. 

      She showed us pictures from her series of visiting the worlds fairs locations. I thought it was great that she had such a great interest in buildings and architecture and she was able to capture them in fantastic ways. She seemed very excited while discussing each picture and she even told us that she will be going to Milan to attend the next world fair. I am estatic for her because she has never been to one and she will probably have the time of her life taking pictures there. 

      Another thing I found interesting that she didnt discuss was how all of her pictures were 100% in focus. I feel like alot of photographers today spend time thinking about what objects they want kn focus and out of focus, but Jade kept everything in focus. When i looked at the photo, it felt like I was actually there in the moment because it seemed so realistic and nothing was blurred out to make it feel less realistic. 

   Jade is a very talented photographer and I was so happy I got to view her work. I plan on visiting her website soon to learn more about her and follow some of her upcoming project! 

Barbara Rocco's Art Exhibit

     Last wednesday my class had the opportunity to take a look at artwork done by Barbara Rocco. I was particularily excited about this event because I personally know Barbara and I had never seen her work before. 

     When I walked in, I was amazed by the sculptures that she created. My favorite series that she did were the series of faces that she had hanging on the wall. I liked these because they were so realistic, yet entertaining at the same time. She did an outstanding job of capturing each facial expression. I liked how some faces were more serious, and some were more comical. It felt like I was looking at a real person each time I looked at one. 

     Another one of my favorite pieces of work she had hanging up was her hand series. I really enjoyed this because I am currently learning about the dynamics of the human hand in my drawing class. It was really great to see all of the different studies she did and how she turned simple clay into something so realistic. Similar to the facial series, some of the hands were posed normally, and some were posed in a comical way. For example, one of the hands displayed giving the middle finger. When I looked at it, it actually felt like somebody was giving me the finger so I thought that it was a little funny. I admired how she captured the movement of each hand and she really focused on the minor details in the fingers. 

     Overall, I am so happy that I was able to look at Barbara's work. She is truly a talented artist and I am glad that I was able to appreciate her work, as well as other people who may not have known her previously. 

Christopher Saucedo's Presentation

          Last week I attended a presentation held by my three-dimensional design professor, Christopher Saucedo. I was really excited to attend this event because I had never seen any of the work that he has created and I thought it would be cool to learn about his personal interests outside of the classroom. 
         The first project he did that stood out to me was his family portrait. I thought it was really interesting how he created each person as a mass and mimicked a photograph that they took together. I also enjoyed how he took the photograph four different times, but each time, a different family member was holding the clicker. If he wouldn't have pointed out this minor difference, I don't think I would have noticed. I also like how he hung the photograph behind his sculpture because without it, you wouldn't have understood the true meaning of it. He explained how if you actually compressed each of their bodies into their smallest forms, they would fit in the specific volumes that he created and I thought that was a really interesting fact about the piece. 
        Another part of his presentation that I really enjoyed was hearing about his experience with Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately both of his homes flooded during these storms and I thought it was really interesting how he was able to express the experiences he had through art. After being given Red Cross blankets, he showed us how he made each one unique. My favorite one that he did was where he took all of the red crosses, and made them look like there was blood on the blanket. I just really liked the idea of using the Red Cross blanket because already, the blanket has a lot of meaning, but he gave it even more meaning by adding various different things to them. 
         A final piece that I enjoyed hearing about was a platform that he made. After measuring the heights of a class of young students, Professor Saucedo created a platform so that each child appeared to be the same height when standing on it. Although this piece didn't have as much sentimental meaning to him as other pieces in his presentation, I just really liked the main idea of it and I thought it was a creative thing to do. 
         Overall, I am really happy that I attended his presentation because I was able to learn more about his life outside of class and learn about what inspires him as a sculptor.