UAlbany Art Exhibition

Before arriving at the art museum at UAlbany Jessica and I remembered that Dr. Blum had told the class that the art pieces that were on exhibit was artwork that was done by the seniors for their final art project. I expected to see a variety of art that related to college, triggered emotions, and represented the artists personality/background. After arriving at the museum my thoughts changed quite a bit.

The first piece of art we saw just caught our attention immediately; a mattress with a nightstand, clock and window with a painted view of the ocean stood in the room. However the mattress was rocking and there was noises that represented squesking and groaning coming from exhibit. Jessica and I were both very surprised to find that this was the first art piece we would see, because neither of us had been to an art exhibit before. Now, I really did not know what I would expect to find throughout the rest of the exhibit.

The art exhibit was a two-story room that was just full of paintings, installation art, and sculptures. We walked around downstairs first and saw beautiful tiles that were painted in various colors and patterns, pictures of naked tattooed men and women, and canvases that were painted on. We were starting to wonder if there was some sort of theme for the exhibit, but instead of trying to figure it out we decided to go upstairs and check out the rest of it.

The first piece of art that caught my eye was a statue of wooden legs that were coming off of a white otomen (like the ones you see in girls' dressing rooms). I looked at it confused, wondering what it was suppose to represent or actually be. The next thing that caught my eye was a sulpture half on the wall that looked as if it was two kangaroos heads that were coming off of the same body but at different ends. It was an interesting piece that made me stop and look for a bit. The last exhibit that caught my eye was a very pink room, or that's what Jess and I thought it was at first. After approaching the room we realized that yes, the room was pink, but there was a portrait of a girl on the wall with the word "hate" underneath her and there was garbage on the ground (painted dunkin donut's cups etc). This room was a little disturbing and I wanted to stop looking at it, but it kept my attention in an odd way. The worst part of it was the videos of the girl, who I assume was the artisit, eating food and putting a bra made out of water bottles on her body. This room definitely left me with a strange, uneasy feeling about what I had just seen.

Reflecting back on the visit, I think the exhibit was very unique and eventhough many of the pieces were disturbing I did enjoy experiencing an art exhibit for the first time. It did leave an impression on me because I keep hearing the noises that were playing in the mattress exhibit.

--Rachel

UAlbany Art Museum.

As I was on my way to the UAlbany Art Museum, I could not help but think about what I was going to see. I had never been to an exhibition before and was very excited to view the different pieces the students had been working on. I was definitiely not prepared for what was to come. The artists featured in this exhibition have just completed the University at Albany Art Department’s three-year, 60 credit-hour program of intensive training and study in fine art practices. At the end of their Master of Fine Arts studies, candidates are required to exhibit a cohesive body of their work. This work forms the core of the MFA candidates’ visual thesis and demonstrates the vigor and expertise with which these emerging artists explore their respective choice of mediums. The University Art Museum provides MFA candidates with the opportunity to exhibit their work in a professional museum setting. I think it is such a great idea for the museum to offer viewers an opportunity to see how today's emerging artists addressing contemporary issues in the visual arts.

Not knowing what to expect, I walked in and one of the first pieces we saw was a set up of a bedroom with a four-post bed, a picture of a window behind it, and a night stand with a lamp and clock. The bed was on some sort of mechanical machine that made the bed rock a little. The shocking part was that there also was a recording that was playing as the bed moved which sounded like someone was groaning. Rachel and I literally stood there and just was so suprised that this was actually the first piece was saw. I honestly did not know what to think. The recording played on repeat and we established that it was a person who was making the noise in the recording. It was like one of those piece of artworks that a person could not possiby pass by and skip it but had to stay and watch it for a bit, no matter how annoying the sound got. We probably stood around that piece for about five minutes trying to comprehend what we were actually seeing, and what was waiting for us inside the rest of the museum.

After finally leaving the first piece, we walked into this wide open space with two floors. The museum had all types of artworks from tile, paintings, installations, etc. As we started to make our way around the space, the first wall of pieces we appraoched were pictures of completely naked people posing for the camera. The people in the photographs looked like normal people doing ordinary activities, except naked! It was very strange so we kind of passed by quickly. There were other interesting pieces as we made our way around on the first floor. I especially liked the section with squares of colorful paintings. The piece was simple but had so many bright colors in it that it would definitely be something I would buy. We next made our way upstairs, and found ourselves staring at little demon-like creatures displayed on the floor. They were seen spread out all over the place, even as an installation piece as one of these creatues hanging from a makeshift branch from a column. The next thing we saw was a huge display of another creature-like thing. Except this piece was big and took up most of the wall and had pieces of it going to the floor. I could not help but stand and stare at the ginormous piece. It almost made me feel like since it was so big that the creature was going to come to life.

The final pieces we saw on the second floor were both displayed as separate rooms off from the main room. The first room caught my eye because it was a bright pink room. From afar, everything in it seemed pink. But as we appraoched the room and walked in, there was a big picture of a girl with the word 'hate' written underneath it in pink. Then around that portrait were pieces of garbage that were painted in various colors; soda bottles, water bottles, bagels, cans, plates, etc. There were two TV's displayed on the walls that was showing a repeating video of a girl who was playing with food. It was kind of disturbing. Besides the first piece we saw in the beginning, this was definitely the next. The next room was sort of dark and had a video playing on a screen of an animated robot. The room had nothing else in it besides the TV and a black leather couch that viewers could come in and sit and watch the video. We stayed for about five minute because the repeating video got very annoying.

Visiting this exhibition was quite an adventure for me. I thought it was very interesting that I was able to go into this museum and actually visualize some of the piece of artworks we have been studying all semester. I would have liked to have actually met some of the student artists that created the pieces displayed and ask them questions about their work and what had inspired them to do them.

-Jessica

Graffiti as Art

After watching the video on the two artists who drew graffiti, it made me realize that it much more of a form of art than most people take it to seem. Graffiti is any type of public markings of images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted, or marked in any manner of property. I never believed it before, but graffiti artists have to be one of the most creative people. They not only are imaginative, they relay their feelings in their pieces as well as having purpose and significance. It may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. What is interesting is that graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Now in modern times, spray paint, normal paint and markers have become the most commonly used materials. Now that I feel like graffiti is more of an art and that the people are trying to get their point across, still in most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner's consent is considered vandalism. Sometimes graffiti is used to communicate social and political messages which can catch the eye of any by stander. The controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials and law enforcement. Now that I have a better understanding of graffiti I feel as though these officials and enforcements should relax and give graffiti a chance. It is a rapidly developing artform whose value is highly contested. People should view graffiti with a more open mind and take it as it is.

-Jessica

Graffiti Art

After watching the video in class about the artists who draw graffiti on trains and buildings I was interested to learn the history and background of graffiti. Basically, graffiti is the name for letters or images that are painted onto property. The earliest types of graffiti appeared in ancient times, in the form of cave paintings and writings but modern day graffiti arose during Ancient Rome and Greece where images were carved into monuments and walls representing love declarations, political rhetoric and thoughts. Today graffiti displays messages of social and political ideas and it is normally intertwined with hip hop culture. A famous graffiti picture dates back to the 1920s during Word War II and is called "Kilroy was Here." Graffiti is also used as a memorial for certain occasions. After learning the history and background of graffiti, I consider it a form of art more strongly than I did before because I believe it is an expressions of feelings and thoughts.
--Rachel