This week’s speaker Carla Bengston made some interesting points about the relationship between nature and arts.  One thing I found interesting was how an artist’s medium can enhance an art piece’s value and make it more intriguing.  I also thought it was interesting how artist’s are becoming more innovative with the use of nature and using almost every aspect of it to create art pieces.  Whether its dirt, sticks, tree trunks, minerals, plants, flowers, or even being inspired by nature.  Knowing an art piece has a connection with nature makes it so much more meaningful because it has an origin.  Basically what I’m trying to say is that someone can look at nature and be reminded of a certain art piece.  Also it can intrigue more viewers to look at an art piece when they are able to recognize such common figures we see everyday.  She also made an important point about how artists are using the earth rather than removing it entirely.

The reading for this week to me was very complicated and hard to understand.  But I also had fun with it because it’s the epitome of what this class is all about.  Instead of viewing it as a reading I viewed as a contemporary art piece and trying to find the meaning to why this piece was created.  This process is what we are striving to be able to do with contemporary art.  Not only did this reading have its own message but also as a whole it meant a lot to what this class is really about.  My first thoughts after finishing the reading, were blank, the vocabulary and structure of it blew my mind.  But, the sentences that I could understand made the meaning seem so much clearer.  On thing I got out of the reading was that the death of the author is an aspect in art and literature that cannot be prevented.  Just like life, everyone has a point in life when his or her time ends and moves on to a better place.  In order for new ideas, or message to be spread the death of the author is necessary for this process to keep on going.  But, this doesn’t mean we completely forget who the author is, but sometimes it takes one to bring back the author and recognize them for their work.  Also I learned that literature, when read by the public the author’s intended message would always be interpreted differently no matter what.  Everyone has his or her own perspectives and views that it’s hard for a message to be comprehended by everyone.  Just like contemporary art, every single viewer will have a different thought or idea of what the meaning of the piece is.  Even though the artist has their own intended meaning and inspiration it doesn’t mean that all will understand that message.  In order for an artist to show their work it comes with a cost and that is themselves.  Once their art is displayed to viewers opinions are unlimited and the amount of interpretations sky rocket.  Probably only 1 out of 10 viewers will interpret it the same way as the artist, but the rest are free to view it anyway they want.

Another artist we studied this week was Kiki Smith, who does sculpture installations.  Her work is very strong and powerful because she used the human body.  In her first couple installations she uses here own facial features to create these full body sculptures in order to portray a message.  She makes that connection with nature because she never makes a new sculpture.  When watching her video I found it interesting how she reuses her sculptures and just makes adjustments to them.  Her work has this uncomfortable and bone chilling feels because of the expressions on these sculptures. One work I found very powerful was the witchcraft installation.  In this installation she has three women sculptures on top of a pile of wood representing a fire.  This work had such a strong feel because it portrayed the controversy and harsh death these “witches” had to endure.  Also she explained how she formed their body to resemble Christ because they both were killed unwillingly.  Lastly I really enjoyed here animal piece because of the craftsmanship and tedious detail she put in those sculptures.

The movie we watched in class, I found it very hard to understand just like the reading.  But I found it interesting because he established himself as an artist that draws and nothing else.  And he was able to expand his talents and merge it with the art of opera.  Its fantastic how he was able to take one skill of drawing and connect it with different art forms to create these inspiring and one of a kind pieces.  Other works he created were using animated film, sculpture, optical illusions, and even performances.  Also his pieces focused on very strong issues dealing with politics and putting them in a very poetic and calming presentation.  On of the works I liked was where he did a time lapse of his works and the drawings felt like they had a mind of its own.  Also with the trance like music in the background created by the artist him self is also very interesting. 

When looking back at this week, it was one of the most complicated and hardest concepts to grasp.  Honestly, my mind is all over that place with these artists but one thing that came to mind was the Korean Memorial in Washington D.C.  I thought of this memorial because we were discussing how art and nature are being used together to create an installation.  Also, it relates to the reading because the sculptor and artist who created this memorial are the only ones who can fully explain the piece.  The thousands of people that view this memorial probably only see it as figures standing in a grass area, and it takes a pedestal with words to fully explain the piece.