the Creative act

"The creative act is not performed by the artist alone;

the spectator brings the work in contact with

the external world by deciphering & interpreting its

inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution

to the creative act."

Marcel Duchamp

April 1957

Austin Carpenter

Collagraphs

Ben Engel

Ella Rosenberg

Eric Loytty

Hannah Hatton

Jack Radford

Jacob Dudzik

John Chirchirillo

Nick Miller

Ryan Horton

Scott Walker

Will Silvers

Zach Cassady

Etching

Will Silvers

Davis Martinec


Watercolor

Emma Carter







Here is a sample of this week's Photo Essay Assignment:

To view Sara Cazorla's Photo Essay,
click here.

A Photo Essay by William Vogel

NYC Photo Essay by Isaac Catchatoorian from Good Day on Vimeo.


And finally, an interesting look into how we view ourselves:

Real Beauty Sketches from John X. Carey on Vimeo.

Never Give Up

Number 19

Jackson Pollock

Scheduled for auction 15 May 2013

photo courtesy of Christie's

(estimated value $25,000,000-$35,000,000)

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

Marcel Proust

This week we discussed the work of Jackson Pollock and the upcoming sale of Number 19, the first significant Pollock to be made available in two decades. Part of our conversation had to do with:

success

fame

art prices

In light of the question someone posed, "Why do some artists 'make it' while others do not," I thought a recent post by my friend, Andrew Zahn, was a well written response-

1. The entrepreneurial artist embraces obstacles as opportunities.

He knows that each challenge is an opportunity for breakthrough problem solving, leading to greater creativity, greater freedom and potentially greater profit.

2. The entrepreneurial artist fosters an environment of sustainability with his creativity.

She gives freely, charges freely, and shares freely.

3. The entrepreneurial artist believes that what he creates has value.

He knows his worth and therefore his work has worth as well.

4. The entrepreneurial artist believes business is not boring.

She flavors even the most mundane email or social media update with unique zest.

5. The entrepreneurial artist rebrands everything to the positive.

He masters positive spin. Where others would be negative, he always sees a positive (see #1).

6. The entrepreneurial artist serves others.

She is self-confident without arrogance, knowing that any artist entrepreneur ultimately is a servant.

7. The entrepreneurial artist never gives up.

He never gives up. Ever.

Here are a few pieces of recent classwork:

Etchings

Ben Engel

Ella Rosenberg

Ian Fisher

Eric Loytty

Connor Phillips

Davis Martinec

Nick Nunziata

John Chirchirillo

Ty Tousa



Origami

Cuinn McDermott



Acrylic

Jack Higdon


Photography

Chase Smith

Demontre Dogan

Ella Rosenberg

Ben House

Will Vogel

Joy Proctor

Abbey Verhaagen

Isaac Catchatoorian

Matthew Mallon

A Matter of Excellence

Golden Sea

Makoto Fujimura

2012

Mineral Pigments and Gold on kumohada over canvas

80" x 64"

"It doesn't have an intensity that loudly calls people's attention but it has a beauty that resonates slowly and deeply. I think that this way to think about beauty is going to become more and more needed in our world today."

Norihiko Saito

Artist, Professor of Nihonga and Teacher to Makoto Fujimura

     The hope of every teacher is this- something is imparted to the student that was not there before. The teaching of art provides a plethora of opportunities for this hope to be realized (in spite of James Elkins position that art cannot be taught). This past week we discussed the notion of excellence in art as we watched a video about Makoto Fujimura, an artist whose work exudes excellence. In addition to being a painter, Makoto Fujimura is an international speaker and author. Regarding art, he says,

" It does not have to do with whether you can buy and sell the work, it has to do with who you are and what you're built to do and how honestly you can depict those things to point to the future, and when artists are not able to do that the entire culture suffers."

     One of the somethings I hope to impart to my students is a better understanding of excellence. Here are a few endeavors from this past week: 

Etchings

Collagraphs

Pinhole Photographs

And, here is the video: