1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.
The first video I chose to watch was Uncertainty: Modernity and Art because I feel as if modern art is often questioned because it is often observed as a philosophical study of art and is often frowned upon by those unwilling to understand it.
The second video I chose to watch was Andy Warhol: An Image of An Image because I find Andy Warhol a very intriguing person. I find Warhol’s commentary on the society he lived in and popularity through his work to be striking.
2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
Uncertainty: Modernity and Art
“Art shows us what we are. Modern art asks and reflects us back to ourselves.”
Our society defined by change. Art is a response to life. Messages can be concealed in simplicity.
Modern art is rebellious in that in broke the rules of traditional renaissance art.
In WWII Hitler put on an exhibit for modern art called degenerate art. He said that distortion is a mutation of society.
The narrator reveals that “Reality is always different and composed of jostling points of view.” This statement can be compared to the work of Picasso, cubists, Impressionists, and more.
Abstract art is open-ended for the viewer. “Starting a painting is taking a line for a walk” -Paul Klee
Emotion and ever-changing life can be captured in the building and erasing of DeKooning.
Rothko focused on the void. The colors are meant to evoke your humanity as a sort or ancient type of ritualistic meditation.
Pop art evaluated materialistic culture and the artists themselves fed into the corporate and fame of the culture they were documenting.
Andy Warhol: An Image of An Image
Warhol focused on the power of images within our society. Warhol used icons and advertisements which offer a dialog to the people recognizing these images during the time.
Warhol originally worked in advertisement.
Warhol repeated images of gossip and drama almost as if to give people what they wanted.
Silkscreen printing was used to enlarge and replicate images in Warhol’s work.
Warhol’s work also serves as a commentary on mass production an obsessional quantity in the society at the time.
Warhol threw parties in his studio called, “The Factory.” Warhol was obsessed with fame and making celebrities. He often pushed off other artists’ carriers such as the Velvet Underground and even became an international superstar himself.
Warhol was a highly rated society painter. Essentially, Warhol exploited the technology and society of his time just as corporations or advertisers did.
3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
Chapter 22 talks about Warhol the person in more depth by giving more of a play by play of Warhol’s life while the video was more concerned about the connection of his art and the society he was present in. The book also misquoted Warhol by stating that the artists described himself as a machine. While Warhol is machine-like, the quote needs more context and actually reads, “Paintings are too hard. The things I want to show you are mechanical. Machines have less problems. I’d like to be a machine, wouldn’t you?”
The film, Uncertainty: Modernity and Art. relates to the text in a much broader way. Chapter 21 actually discusses the beginning of modern art, while Chapter 22 discusses the ladder half including images abstract expressionists which became a large topic point in the film. The text focuses on describing composition more than explaining the meaning behind the work. Rothko’s work is merely used to explain color field painting rather than discussing the idea behind why he focused on painting large swatches of color.
4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to the understanding of the readings and art concepts?
I found the film, Uncertainty: Modernity and Art to be thought-provoking. The film did a wonderful job of relating many stylistic periods in modern art back to the society of the past and present. I enjoyed this sociological stance on the artwork and art world. The film added depth to the meaning behind famous works of modern art and how they are merely reflections of the age they were present for.
I found the film Andy Warhol: An Image of An Image to be extremely insightful in exposing the meaning behind Warhol’s iconic artwork. The film captured the essence of Warhol and related his work back to the society he was living in, while the text focused on a more vague idea of Warhol and his dual artistic personalities.
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