During the course of this class, I have gained insight into the history of art, different styles of art, and different ways that art is used. Throughout this semester, we have learned about many different types of art: abstract art, sculpture art, and musical art, to name a few. Before taking this class, I did not know a thing about art. All I knew was that it was created by a person and often sold for money. Artwork can be divided into those that are representational and others that are non-representational or abstract. Now, after taking this class, I look back at what I once thought and say, “Wow, I had no clue.” I had no clue that art had such a rich history in representing different time periods, actions, or emotions. The first thing I learned when I began this class was that art had been used as a representation since its beginning. The concept of artwork has no barriers nor any limitations. It cannot be contained. Art gives you a way to express yourself without using words. In my opinion, the purpose of art is to create a reaction out of people. While analyzing many pieces of art to complete the assignments of this class, I found that studying each one made me feel an emotion, specifically bravery. Every article of art that I used for an assignment in this class evoked a feeling in me.

Art also enhances people’s feelings and help them feel a bit better about the world. Representational art is a term that usually refers to a painting or sculpture that is recognizable for what it claims to be and what it stands for. In my first assignment for this class, “A Work of Art,” I used a painting that was created to represent black power named “Soul of a Nation.” One of the requirements for that assignment was to find a work of art that sparked a feeling or an emotion in you. This portrait did both. It gave me a sense of courage. The same courage that people that were apart of that movement had to be able to stand up for what they believed in. Another assignment for this class, “Public Art: America’s Sweetest Town Heroes,” required me to go out into my community and find a statue and to elaborate on its history. I chose a figure that was put up in remembrance of the brave men from my town that went out and defended our country in World War II. This photo made me feel the emotion and feeling of being grateful for those that put their lives in harm’s way to protect our country. It also made me analyze the statue. Before taking this class, I did not know that a statue is considered a work of art. I never paid them any attention, definitely not the figure that I used for the assignment. The works of art that I used for those assignments also represented bravery. They both were created with a purpose, and that was to share history. During the time period that Soul of a Nation was painted, African Americans were facing oppression and were seeking the same treatment that was given to white people. During World War ll, France and Britain declared war on Germany. In a way, the manifesto of this is representation and bravery. The assignments up above have demonstrated both of these things. I believe that everything is art, and this class has shown me just that. Now that I have taken a deeper dive into the art and learned about its different forms, I have gained a new understanding of its concept. Now when I look at a piece of art, my first thought is, “What did the artist try to represent by making this painting? What is the message they want to send?” The overall point of this manifesto that I want to display is that art can represent anything. It can describe actions and emotions.

An ekphrastic poem is a clear description of a work of art. When I began to read the description for the assignment, I started looking for photos in chapter fourteen, none of them spoke to me except for figure 14-5. This painting is titled “Freedom from Want” by Norman Rockwell in. The painting shows a family sitting around a table to have family dinner. Children and adults are sitting down while someone that looks like a mom is placing a turkey in the middle of the table. By looking at the food that is on the table, I can say that they are probably eating on Thanksgiving. I see a bowl of fruit, celery, pickles, casserole dishes, a turkey, and what looks to be cranberry sauce. The work of art shows a representation of an American family during World War ||. It was parodied from the movie “American Gangster.”

With this ekphrasis, I am attempting to capture the value of family that is expressed in this illustration. Everyone is enjoying each other’s company. The expression on everyone’s face displays joy. If I were to imagine myself in this image, I believe I would feel the same joy that is expressed on the face of these people. This seems to be a happy family, that is displaying a typical American family during that time period. I am not very creative, but I think that I captured the values that are showed in this picture. I believe that I now have a better understanding of what the piece truly is, after looking deeper into the article and analyzing it.

The video that I chose to discuss is titled “Francis Alys and Rafael Ortega, Re-Enactment.”  It is based on a true story that occurred in Mexico in the year 2000. Two videos are being displayed side by side, one is real filmed footage, and the second is a re-enactment of the original footage. The man being followed in the video purchases a handgun from a gun store and walks out of the store with it openly; he does not try to conceal the gun. He was given many strange looks as he walked through the streets. The police eventually arrest him. I feel that this film is attempting to show the lack of awareness people have can be harmful. Especially in today’s society, we do not pay attention to our surroundings, so we often do not know when danger is about to occur. The video shows the man roaming about, carrying a gun in open view for a while before anybody realizes that it is a gun. This is an example of how video art can be utilized to express important messages and not get lost in the development of a show or film. The video also appears to show how easy it is to miss something that can be dangerous. The angle of the video places you near the man by having the recorder next to him to help you seem as if you were really there. Video Art can be just as captivating as other art forms, and this film proved it. 

Hamlet is a beloved play that was written by William Shakespeare. Analyzing this piece is a quite tricky task that leads to a deeper understanding of the art of theatre. It is a tragedy that was written in five acts. Shakespeare is telling a story about the Prince of Denmark, Prince Hamlet, who is mourning the death of his father. Not long after his father’s passing, his mother married his uncle Claudius. The ghost of Hamlet’s father comes to him and lets him know that he was killed by Claudius pouring poison in his ear as he slept. Hamlet then wants to take revenge for his father’s death.

The scene that I chose to analyze from this play is Act 1, scene 5. I decided to use this scene because this is, in my opinion, one of the essential scenes because it is a climax of the plot. After the ghost told Hamlet to take revenge for his father’s death, he asked Hamlet to leave his mother’s punishment to God. The video form of the scene I watched reveals the genuine emotion of the scene. It was what I imagined it is like. Hamlet was shocked at the information the ghost told him, he believed it and grew angry. The emotion of the characters is what really brought this scene to life. The demeanor of both the ghost and Hamlet went adequately with the dark environment of the stage. This scene was very intriguing, which helps to form the plot of the rest of the story.

References:

“A Synopsis of Hamlet.” Hartford Stage, https://www.hartfordstage.org/stagenotes/hamlet/synopsis.

Mabillard, Amanda. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamletscenes.html.

The documentary “Gimme Shelter” recalled the events that led to a free concert at the Altamount Speedway by the Rolling Stones in 1969. Instead of it being presented as a regular documentary, Gimme Shelter’s portrayal of events was mostly very raw and real. It has shots of the Rolling Stones, and it subsequently goes through the process of everything that went into the concert.

The 2nd film I watched was called “Moonlight.” This film was a drama directed by filmmaker Barry Jenkins. It won a Golden Globe, Academy Award, and many more awards for numerous reasons. It was about the life of an impoverished, abandoned African American man named Chiron through three different phases of his life. In the movie, he discovers that he is gay, and he tries to deal with that. The three phases include when he was a kid, a teenager, and lastly, an adult. His mother was a prostitute who sold herself to make money to support her drug addiction. Juan played a father figure for him throughout the movie. There is a particular scene that reached me. The scene is when Chiron was a child, and Juan, who acts as a father figure to him are at the beach in the ocean. This scene stood out because Juan holds Chiron and dunks him in the water. He baptized him. While that took place, the camera went under the water. It moves with the waves in the ocean, which gives you the impression that you were looking from underwater. Throughout the rest of the movie, Juan shows Chiron how to live in this world with the many obstacles that he may face being both black and gay.

I chose to analyze the movie “Moonlight.” There is a scene in the movie where Chiron is approached by his mother, and she asks him for money, but he does not admit to her that he has any. It begins outside and gives a view of his mother, and she seems forgiving like she is glad her son is back home. As she begins to grow annoyed and asks questions, Chiron gets defensive and walks back into the house. As the shot advances, the house becomes darker, and the scene matches the mood, which is tense.

The Godfather is an exceptional film that has been around for a long time. It is an American crime film made in 1972. This movie helped to show the transition from good to bad in people. The Godfather accomplishes its artistic goal by displaying the good characters with a bright light and the evil characters with a dark light to be able to tell the difference of who’s good and who’s bad. La Jetée was a fascinating film because, unlike most movies, it still used images to build a short film. There is barely any narration in this film, so the viewer would have to interpret it on their own.

Have you ever heard the saying, ” A picture is worth a hundred words”? Photos can sometimes say more than we could ever express in words. The collection of photos I am doing for this assignment is scenic beauty. That means I will be posting pictures of the beautiful scenery that I have seen. I chose to focus on this because I am a person that never really pays attention to the view, but when I see a beautiful scene, I capture it. I have five photos that I will include in this post, which will help to exhibit how five unrelated images can contribute to a theme that expresses beauty in the world around us.

Photo #1

This photo is what I call “serene retreat.” It shows an empty beach at sunset with calm blue water. There are no people pictured on the beach. One small detail is a sailboat that is out in the ocean.

Photo #2

I call this photo, “A Lonely Road To Nowhere.” I live in a little country town where roads like this are all I see. There is nothing but trees and pastures with animals roaming freely on this long stretch. It is a two-lane road in the middle of nowhere. The only people that live in areas like this are ranchers with a lot of animals.

Photo #3

The name of this photo is “The Perfect Pasture.” This was taken on my friends’ ranch in Texas. When looking at this photo, I see an empty pasture with trees and a sunset in the background. There is an equal focus on this picture. Nothing is more precise than anything else.

Photo #4

“The Caloosahatchee” is a photo that I took on September 30th, 2018. This was two days after I got into an accident in this exact spot. Two miles down a dirt road, as the sun was setting, all we can see are clouds and trees. The sunset reflects off of the calm water flowing through the river.

Photo #5

This picture is what I call, “Endless Cane Fields.” This photo depicts a cane field in the morning at sunrise. There is nothing else around besides cane fields.

My theme focuses on how some of the simplest locations can have beauty. Having pictures of just scenery with nothing else in it to take attention away enhances beauty. All of the photos are taken in different places but still add to the theme of the collection. These five images express beauty that is in the world around us.

Poetry means a lot of things to a lot of people. It is words that are written in a form that has pattern, rhythm, and rhyme. They use it as a way to express their feelings. It is very important to remember that every poem has a meaning and the poet intends for you to understand that meaning.

The poem that I chose was “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. He is an American poet that writes insightful poems about ordinary experiences that anyone could have. This particular poem is about making choices and how the choices that we make mold us.

The main theme of this poem, “The Road Not Taken” is about making choices. The “road” in the poem is referred to as a symbol of our life. The path that we do not take is the ” road not taken.” The narrator describes his feelings about leaving a decision that he left in the past. He does not say if the road he chose was right or wrong. He took the road less traveled by, and it completely altered his way of life. In the second and third stanza, the poet used the literary device assonance. He used “As” repetitively. Imagery is relevant in this poem because the narrator describes the setting for the poem. The central image of “The Road Not Taken” is that in life, we are given choices. The things that happen due to the choices that we make are a result of our decision. The road that split in the woods is a metaphor for an opportunity. The roads symbolize choices. 

This poem sparked an interest in me. Right now, I am a senior in high school, so the choices that I decide to make are going to affect my future. At this time in my life, I feel that I should take “the road less traveled by” because, in reality, it will make all the difference.

Music is present in every aspect of our life. It has a significant influence on people. It influences how we feel, think, and act. When we listen to sad songs, we tend to get in a depressed mood. When we listen to energetic, upbeat songs, we feel happier and more pumped up.

Since music has such power over people, I decided to choose a positive them that could influence people for the better. My theme is encouragement. I sometimes listen to songs about encouragement to pick me up if I am feeling down or to encourage myself and boost my confidence.

The song ” Blackbird” created by The Beatles in 1968 gives me a motivational boost. It expresses that no matter how broken we are, just believe, and have hope. The lyrics “Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise” displays that well.

In 1966, The Supremes created this song old r&b funk song ” You Can’t Hurry Love “. The lyrics that say “No, you just have to wait. You got to trust, give it time, no matter how long it takes” expresses that we should not lack patience, and we need to let things grow and unfold. The lyric above encourages me to be patient and know that everything will fall into place in due time.

” I Believe” by R. Kelly is an inspirational r&b song about recognizing your courage and strength. If you believe it, you can achieve it. It is a song that was written in 1998 if you listen to the song and receive the message you finish the song feeling courageous like nothing can hold you back.

“If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.” The lyrics of this song sends the message that if you want something, you might have to try and fail a few times before you get what you are working towards.

” Eye of the tiger ” is a song written in the era of the 1980’s by the band Survivor. The chorus ” It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight. Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night And he’s watchin’ us all with the eye of the tiger” basically tells us to keep our eyes on the prize.

This 1940s song Maybe by The Ink Spots gives off the vibe of encouragement and optimism. The lyric “Maybe the one who is waiting for you will prove untrue Then what will I do?” It describes that you should hang on and see what the outcome will be.

Interior Architecture is the design of a building inside and out. Architecture could be said to begin with geometry. Interior Architecture is the design of a building inside and out. A piece of domestic architecture that I chose was my church. It is a two-story building that has quite a bit of space. Upstairs there is the sanctuary and two other rooms. Downstairs there are three other rooms, a kitchen, and an open space. It does serve its function as a domestic space. It is a homey and welcoming space that makes me feel comfortable while I am there. It is not cramped or uncomfortable; it is a big open space that allows everyone to have their space and not be piled on top of each other. I do not think that the church needs remodeling because it has enough space. All of the walls are rectangular with oval cut stained glass windows.

Another space that I inhabit regularly, and that I enjoy inhabiting is the Boca Town Center mall in Boca Raton, Florida. This mall has quite a bit of space. It has 220 stores inside of it according to the Simon mall website (Simon Property Group). Space is divided by all of its stores and the food court area. Compared to the church, this space is functioned to hold a large group of people. This interior is uniquely shaped. These two buildings are different because they have different numbers or stories, and because their interior layouts are different. I prefer the mall over the church because I believe that the interior and exterior layout of the mall is more concrete and structured than the church.

Citation:

Simon Property Group. (n.d.). THE LUXURY OF TRUE LUXURY. Retrieved from https://www.simon.com/mall/town-center-at-boca-raton