Artist Lecture: Alan Berliner

When I had originally stepped into the lecture of Alan Berliner, I really had no interest in being there, I was tired, wasn't in the mood to watch a film, really wanted to just walk out. But I'm really glad I didn't, he wound up showing his film entitled "Nobody's Business" which made a real connection with me during the viewing. I feel like recently I have been growing up a lot more lately, and by doing so, I can relate to specific issues that I probably wouldn't have been able to, or just didn't feel was as important. Family has always been a huge part of my life and having viewed Berliner's film made me think about a lot of things. It made me think about my relationship with my dad, which is great, me and my dad are very alike, we get along great and he completely supports me in anything I do. I think having me and my brother go through art school may have made him feel a little hesitant, but see how far we've come and how successful we're becoming, he's realized we're exactly where we are supposed to be in life and that theres nothing to worry about. A lot of my dad's characteristics have definitely rubbed off on me, he's a very intricate, technical person, he's the kind of person who gets into a hobby, but has to know everything about it, he can't go into anything half-assed, I'm the same way. For example, when i started playing lacrosse, it took up my whole life, i was obsessed with it. Not only did was I part of a team, worked out and practiced regularly, but I bought around 6 different sticks, learned to hand-string them, all with a completely different style. There is no stone I leave unturned, which is the same route I'm going with photography. At this point, I'm definitely trying to make myself as well-rounded as I possibly can, which should help me out greatly in the future.

Artist Lecture: Anthony Goicolea

Just wanted to sit down and reflect the lecture given by artist, Anthony Goicolea. Initially, I wasn't too excited about sitting in for the lecture, I had a long day and really wasn't in the mood to listen to someone speak in the dark. I must say though, getting to learn more about his artwork really gave me some insight on the past work I've done, and things I had wanted to experiment with in the future. I always have ideas jam packed in my sketch book, and typically, I'm too busy to carry out some of my ideas. I'd really like that to change, especially while i'm in college, because I have access to equipment now that I won't have next year, so i'd really like to take advantage.

To start off, I was interested in Anthony's first images, such as "the last supper" and his other wear he used himself as the model. I find that interesting because to me, it deals with self identity, something I would like to address in a body of work, not sure exactly how yet, but because i'm a identical twin, there is definitely room for experimentation and finding myself through images. Maybe I could pose as me and my brother, just doing different activities, or we could both pose in an image, but have multiple instances, like Goicolea's images, so we can depict the differences me and my brother have (how we differ, our styles, interests, opinions). We may look close to the same, but our personalities are different, i'm more of a preppy jock, and Derek is a rocker, has more of that Richmond influence to him. So I find that it could be a really interesting concept. Maybe have a multiple exposures of us in our living room, but show us doing different activities, sitting in the different spots on the couch, making it look like a big crowd. I could be wearing my Pats jersey and going crazy, watching a football game, or playing a video game, while Derek could be drawing in his sketchbook or working on his computer. Just different things like that could be really cool. Or the backyard, I could be messing with the football or lacrosse stick, grilling, while we find other things for Derek.

I also really enjoyed Anthony Goicolea's later works, the ones that show multiple photographs manipulated to create one image, just digitally edited. This is a concept I have worked with in the past, and that I'd like to work with in the future. I typically just stitched different images together, mainly black and white stuff, and just make it really abstract looking. But with more thought behind the images, I could find inner meanings to the objects that I decide to use and create an underlying narrative of the finished image. I started on one thats a montage of my friends apartment in Richmond, him and my other friends have lived there for 3 years now, so its a routine hangout, i wanted to create an image that reflects on some of the memories we've had there.

To end of the recap of Anthony Goicolea's lecture, I just want to say, even if you've seen an artists work and you don't initially like it, go see the artist talk about his work, it can really change your perspective on how you feel about someones artwork. I wasn't particularly impressed with his work the first time i saw it, but being able to hear him speak personally about his work gives you an idea of his background, and why his work went in the direction it did.

Artist Lecture: Leigh Wen

Okay, so not necessarily a lecture, I didn't have the opportunity to see her speak (because of prior plans), but I did encounter her work at Red Door Gallery and really felt the need to discuss her work. Leigh Wen, with her new body of work, entitled "Flow", captures the fluidity of water through her intricate brush strokes. I really got engaged with her work because she seems to share the same passions with the elements of nature as myself. She also paints other elements such as fire, air, and earth, but the paintings that really got me interested in her work were the ones including water. Its not only the precise brush strokes that capture my attention, but the color, which really makes the large scale paintings believable. To me, the scale really helps in the overwhelming sensation I get when viewing her artwork. The large scale of the paintings really allows me to look deep into the painting, which gives me an idea of how much time and effort went into the artists interpretation of the ocean. The portrays the ocean at different times usually a full range of colors in her palette which has to be one of my favorite features. I also like how you can key into one section of the painting, which gives it a really colorful, abstract feel, but when stepping back, you see how each winding brush stroke connects to form a whole, the ripples in an emencse body of water. I really love the paintings and recommend everyone to check out these paintings, they really connect to me in a deep part, I have a close affinity to the ocean, as many others do.

Artist Lecture: Justine Kurland

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Justine Kurland speak through VCU's artist lectures. I feel being able to experience her work and have her discuss it aided me in understanding her photographs a little more. Previously, I had only seen her work in conceptual photo classes, which never applied to the work i was doing, so I never really looked into it deeper. I was impressed with the fact she attended Yale, which is obviously a very prestigious school, with photography as well. My favorite works were when she traveled around the country, locating small villages tucked away in mountains and forests. I don't want to sound shallow, but basically a bunch of hippies, which is fine, I see nothing wrong with living off the earth and needed nothing more than nature, and community. Her photos really captured a essence of what the communities were about, most contained nudes comfortably walking around, but it doesn't bother me. I was just fascinated with hearing her speak about the connections she made between with these people. As she discussed her work, she'd go into these short stories, telling about a specific individual, or what occurred during a photo, it was interesting. I really love to travel, eventhough I haven't had the opportunity to do so recently. Once I get out of college, I'd like to take some time to move around, see different parts of the country, maybe even Europe. I feel that its important to do things like that, as Justine is doing, find something that really interests you, and explore it photographically, continuously study it. Thats the only way you're going to get good, and standout from the rest. It really motivates me to take a ton of sport photographs, I also need to look into what I'm going to do in the future, for sports. I'd like to continue to photograph for the school paper or possibly just VCU athletics. We'll just have to see what happens, I'd like to stay in the college realm, so I don't have to worry about working my way up from high school, if I can continue to gain access as I already have, I'll be okay. Well, I went a little off topic, but I feel she's made me think a lot of about what I am doing, and where I need to go from here. I do think i'm on the right track though, i've got a good internship, and should learn a ton about sports, the latest photography equipment, and the business side of it.

Artist Lecture: Su Friedrich

Based on the artist lecture from Su Friedrich today, I just wanted to write down a few observations and opinions based on what I saw in the presentation. I feel like she was really well spoken, and seemed like the majority of the audience really liked her work, but to be honest with you, there was very few things about her work that I liked. I felt her videos were a little too abstract for my taste, it seemed like she was explain some aspects of her films, give the audience a taste of what it was about, but when she showed the film, i was completely lost. The imagery within the film appeared really scattered and unconnected. As a respected artist, I don't feel I should hate on her work the whole time, there were some things i did like. I liked the color film she showed that was entitled "rules of the road", the music was really good, upbeat and fit well with the time period that was portrayed in the film. The opening title was really nice too, I like how she did the letters on the cards to spell out the title, it was really original and also played on the idea of being alone. It gave foreshadowing to the game of solitaire she had talked about prior to the viewing. I also feel the game of solitaire also contributes to the idea of loneliness, as it seemed the film was about a past partner she had. I can't remember when she had filmed the video, but I did want to say that I liked the color throughout the film, gave a very retro feel to it, a lot of different elements play on the feel of the film, she executed in a lot of different ways that gave you the sense of 1980s which i enjoyed.

The other film I liked was the tree house fantasy, where two girls were in a tree house and one had discussed what happens when you "do it", which I thought was pretty funny. I don't really want to go into detail about exactly what was said, but it was a humorous touch and got me a little more interested in her work, after the first few films I was pretty uninterested in her work, but after those 2 films, I had more respect for what she was doing. I dont necessarily feel that I am hating on their work, more just not understanding what is going on within the film, whenever I feel lost about the dialogue or narrative, I find myself drifting away and usually ignore other qualities of the work. I feel her earlier works were a lot more experimental and off the wall, which is probably why I had a tough time understanding her work, the later work she was showing seemed to be more finished to me, possibly because they had a narrator and music, which to me helps, especially when I feel a little lost about the issues discusses within the film, having that extra direction makes a big difference at times.

Artist Lecture: James Victore

For my second artist lecture for the month of September, I actually had a guest speaker in my Design Rebels class. James Victore is the owner of an independent studio out in New York City, James Victore Inc. His work deals with issues present within social culture such as: racism, gays, basically any issue dilemna in society he shares a personal concern for. He was really a well spoken, outgoing guy, really easy to talk to but had a lot of ideas he wanted to express. Because it wasn't technically an artist lecture, it was on a more down to earth level. It was more like a class discussion, but we got to just conversate, ask him questions about his work, the industry, anything that came to mind basically. His work is really cool too, he does a lot of illustration heavy design work. His latest work, entitled "dirty dishes" arose from his past, when as a 20some year old, would steal plates from resturantes and bars, only to scribble catch phrases and illustrations with a thick permanent marker. His work also ranges from surfboards, posters, whatever you can think of. I feel his personality really comes through in his artwork, which is one thing he stressed when talking to us in class. "Don't settle", "how can i get paid to be myself?". These are examples of quotes he mentioned in class, which make perfect sense, why conform to someone else's beliefs and disregard your own? Just makes NO SENSE! But I feel i'm already doing what I want, sports photography seems to be a perfect match for me, just need to work my way into the field. Victore had a really strong sense of sarcasm and humor, when viewing his work, you'll see what I mean. Overall, he was an extremely cool guy, very informative and motivating. I'm glad he came in for the short talk he had with our class, really made a lot of questions arise into the conversation, and whenever you're thinking, especially with a visiting professional artist, you know its going well. If you'd like to check out his work, go to the website below:

James Victore

Artist Lecture: Ann Stroeber

As everyone else in the class, I attended the Ann Stroeber artist lecture, which I found to be very interesting. I think its great that VCU is bringing in these well-known, professional artists that we've been getting in the past. Ann Stroeber has done a lot of sound design in the movie industry including famous films at: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Dead Poet Society, lots of familiar films. I don't so much think that having big names really rates the quality of the artist or her lecture, but she did say a lot of interesting things about how the process goes about. I had no idea that all sound design was done in post-production, I thought at least the character voices were recorded at the time of film, but I guess I was wrong. Sound design seems to completely set the tone of the film and scene, so many textures and layers of sound can be added to make the imagery more believable. This I knew, but when she had given examples within The Elephant Man and Black Stallion, she gave insight to what sounds can come from where. Using the different microphones (frap and air), you can get completely different sounds and feelings. Makes me want to mess around with sound, possibly even add to some photographs of mine, see if I could successfully fit soundscapes to compliment the imagery. Having hear speak about the time and effort that goes into creating sounds for a movie really opened of my eyes to just how intensive the work is. I was glad I got to check out the lecture. Anytime you can hear from a professional artist working in the business, its always beneficial to figure out where you are, and what direction you need to go in order to get on the level as those individuals working in the field.