Downtown Misfortune

Since I live in the city and I through of no better way to honor it, I decided to write about my hometown. The picture below is one taken by my passenger as we prepared to spend the day downtown. To those who don't know, Downtown Roseville is full of fun places to visit. Between an impressive library, great food joints, and an archaic movie theater, one can spend a lot of time enjoying the downtown streets. Because of that, I thought it best to visit the museums of my very own neighborhood.

As the title of this article suggests however, my plans were quickly met with obstacles. My friend and I first attempted to visit the staple museum of Roseville known as the Blue Line Arts. Unfortunately, despite the impressive display they had for this month, they did not allow photography. I was very tempted to take a few pictures secretly, but my conscience told me otherwise.  With that being a bust, out next stop was to visit the bizarre Phone Museum. Once again, we were met with misfortune as we learned that the only way to enter the museum was through appointment due to its private nature. I have set up an appointment since I am extremely curious, but I will not be able to enter until the beginning of April. Even then, they might not allow photography, so we shall see.

Without any true options left and not wanting to leave empty handed, my friend and I decided to walk to the outskirts of town and watch the trains go by. Downtown Roseville is a center of railroad activity, so many trains often pass through.These trains tend to be some of the best art that the city has to offer, sporting carts with impressive graffiti. While we waited, I took a few pictures of the trains that were stalled.

Sadly for us, no truly interesting trains passed by despite us waiting for nearly an hour.

With all this misfortune, I didn't think I'd have anything to talk about. Luckily, I took a picture of the wall that is beside the tracks. This is a mural with no discernible purpose or reason. For as long as I've lived in Roseville, this mural has been here. Upon closer inspection. it was made in 1992 which is a year before I was born. The names of who made it as well as much of the information have long since faded, making it a bit difficult to make out. Doing the best I can, it was said to have been designed by Juanishi Orosco and Juan Cervantes. As for why they designed it, it remains a mystery to me.

Finally, our trip paid off on the way home after a long and nearly uneventful day. As we drove down the road, a train came by sporting some impressive graffiti. The one that stood our most was the one above. It is a tribute to the popular series known as  Breaking Bad. Something can be said about graffiti art. On one hand, it is illegal, but on the other, it is quite beautiful and pleasing to look at. Maybe it's this challenging of legality that gives the art that extra flare. Whatever it may be, one can't deny that it is a sight for the eyes. Anyway, I know I didn't have much to say today, but I didn't want leave an awful taste of defeat in my mouth. I hope this little misfortunate trip provided some entertainment. Below is one final picture before I depart.

Crystal Chaos!

I recently just got promoted at my workplace and have been awfully busy recently. I don't have any fancy visits to galleries or insightful participations in lectures today, but I do have an interesting topic I want to talk about brought to me by one of my other Professors. Feast your eyes below on the wonders!

This, my fellow classmates, is the "Cueva de los Crystales" or the "Crystal Cave" of Mexico. In a remote town in Northern Mexico within a mine know as Naica, this cluster of crystals was  discovered by two brothers drilling down as much as a thousand feet below ground. These crystal are truly a wonder to behold. They grow to enormous size, reaching and puncturing the earth in a plethora of chromatic colors. To show the scale, here is another picture.

As I'm sure all can see, these crystals dwarf those who stand among them. If a tourist was curious enough to want to take a look themselves, they will learn that it is not so easy. Being so deep underground, reaching the cave is an endeavor all on it's own. When done so, anyone entering must wear the appropriate outfit. All who go to the caves as can be seen in these pictures are in cooling suits. The amount of heat produced by the chemical reactions to create these crystals are not something the human body can withstand. It has been reported that temperatures can reach well over one hundred degrees and that humidity levels are as high as ninety to one-hundred percent.

If all these obstacles are conquered however, the reward is a view of some of the most fantastic natural structures in the world. The many prismatic colors that these crystals can produce are said to be life changing. Even so, it is ill-advised to stay too long. The continuous  chemical reactions between water and elements such as calcium to form these nearly limitless shapes and designs can be straining. It is said that the reflective quality and jarring translucency and transparency created by these minerals can cause some searing migraines. Regardless, their beauty is still worth all the trouble to see them personally.

With all that being said and done, I would like to mention again that these crystal are truly beautiful. They actually remind me of Donald Judd's works, but on a more gigantic and less precise scale. I don't know how I made this connection, but I did. Now I ask you, my fellow classmates. How is it that I have come to this comparison? I might not know myself, but maybe the lot of you can explain it to me. To make things easier, here are some examples of Donald Judd's works.

 Anyway, that's all I have for today. Hopefully I'll have something more substantial for next time.

Crashing the Crocker

I've been wanting to write about this for days now! Just last week on Sunday, my friends and I decided to take a trip to the Crocker Art Museum. I'll be honest and say that I have not been to this museum in over half a decade. Going to it after such a long time was truly an experience. I had no idea that the expansion that was just being built on my last visit was finally complete. Seeing all the extra exhibits were quite breathtaking.

Myself standing beside one of Ai Wei Wei's Zodiac Heads.

 Without further ado, let me share some of the pieces that really captivated me on my visit. Let's start with the only piece that I actually took a picture with. Above is myself standing beside one of Ai Wei Wei's installation pieces from the set known as Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads. For those who don't know, Ai Wei Wei is a very well known and perhaps the most popular contemporary artist in China. Born in Beijing, China, he has done everything from being an artists to a curator. When I was told about Ai Wei Wei's pieces in class and I saw the pamphlet with the pictures of the installations, I was initially unimpressed. Seeing them up close and personal however, that quickly changed. Seeing the detail on the bronzes was great. Something about the simplicity of the installation was fascinating. The fact that the installations could be so easily placed in just about any area is interesting. The focus is definitely on the individual pieces themselves. Then again, depending on where the installations are placed, the background or surrounding are can become very dynamic as well. Anyway, each piece was spectacular individually, but viewing them as a whole was more satisfying. I also found an affinity to the particular piece on the picture above because it is my Zodiac Animal.

Up next is this monstrosity of a piece by Robert Hudson known as Outrigger. This is a culmination of multiple metal pieces put together to create this seemingly inconsistent piece. Looking more into Hudson, he belonged to a period when abstract expressionism was very popular. That would answer why he joins random pieces together to create colorful and odd shaped structures. The title which alludes to supports on boats and aircraft might suggest some form of support with the piece. After all, the metal rods are all going towards the middle like it's trying to hold the whole thing together. But since Hudson seems to truly be an abstract expressionist, he could have just fashioned pieces together to create something with no meaning at all. It might simply be a work comprised of obvious and blatant elements to create an obviously outrageous sculpture.

The next piece is this anemone like thing by Bean Finneran known as 20,000 Turquoise Curves. Finneran is an American born artist from Cleveland, Ohio. As of now he resides  somewhere in Marin County, California. Finneran lives near a marsh which is the inspiration for most of his works. Marshes tend to be constantly changing, so it is understandable that his works have the design they do. Marshes have a similarity to coral reefs which are ever changing as they grow and decay. This piece looks similar to an anemone which is a creature often found near coral. Anemones provide minerals and keep coral safe, helping them to grow and change their local environments. With that in mind, I believe that is the reason Finneran has many pieces with the same theme. My only real question is why the use of ceramic? When I first saw the piece, I had assumed it was rubber. It wasn't until a closer look and a read of the description that I learned it was ceramic. To me, I find the use of ceramic odd. I would think that it would lengthen the time it would take to construct the piece and be much more challenging to shape, but artists have their own reasons for the mediums thy use. For example, living in marshland might have inspired Finneran to respect the use of the earth.

Finally, perhaps my favorite out of everything I saw, is this piece by Lewis Jimenez. Made with fiber glass, this piece really blew me away. It's extremely gravity defying and something I can look at for quite a while. In fact, I spent about twenty minutes observing it and would have spent more if my friends didn't pry me away from it. Something about the sense of levitation and movement in the piece was just so aw-inspiring.

With a title like Progress II, I was curious to see if there was a piece that came before this. Lo and behold, I found a Progress I. The piece is basically the same sculpture as Progress II with the only difference being  the color scheme and the horse rider. In the first, it was a Native American doing the wrangling. In this piece however, it seem to be a cowboy. The air brushed paint was also a lighter blue color compared to the deeper brown color. Other than those, the pieces are almost identical.

Jimenez focuses on civilization and it's ambitions and constant changes. With a bit of knowledge on the original piece, one can say that this work shows a change in generations. As time goes on, traditions are forgotten or tweaked to fit anew views in culture. Some new ones can even arise as a result of said changes. I believe Jimenez is just attempting to show and make his audience understand that us as a species are not static.

Cameras, Toys, and Trinkets

Hello again, everyone. With how busy I am between my other Art History classes plus my job, it's been a nightmare trying to find time to post! Luckily, I should have two to three new posts by the end of this week!

A piece by Isla Hansen. It uses the individual's phone camera to play a game. 

With that being said, let's start with the first! Today, I went and attended Isla Hansen's lecture in Mariposa Hall. Miss Hansen was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 1987. She obtained two Bachelor's Degrees in the Visual Arts and English and Comparative Literature from Colombia University in the city of New York and received her Master's in the Arts from Carnegie Mellon University from the city of Philadelphia. With regards to her artwork, Miss Hansen works in contemporary electronic art.

When it comes to electronic art and all knowledge related to it, Miss Hansen is nearly unmatched. The main focus of her works is the use of video and props. She is particularly fond of art using a camera. Miss Hansen believes that technology has a relation to us as human beings. She sees it as an extension of ourselves and therefore a form of advancement in both the machine and the individual. With regards to cameras, they can capture motion in ways that a simple picture cannot. There is a sense of naturality and levitation that gives the images an otherworldly feel. Miss Hansen said it best when she described cameras as connectors of the fictional world to the documentary or real world. It's as if they are the gateways to understanding our world and through which creativity is born.

After a few examples, Miss Hansen's works showed a different side of video that I had not yet seen. Through the use of video and props, she is able to create pieces that encourage the viewer to become a part of. In fact, she even incorporates games and activities for certain props that she presents to children. Despite the use of a media that when viewed on television normally shuts down an individual's mind, Miss Hansen uses cameras to do the opposite. She encourages individuals to take part and become one with what they see. It is both an interactive and thoughtful experience that allows the viewer to delve into the topics she explores such as politics, media, and feminism.

Overall, I found the entire presentation to be spectacularly captivating. I was very interested with her exhibitions and was even considering if there was a way I could try them myself. Miss Hansen was very clear and precise with her pieces and it made for an interesting time. When all was said and done, I asked her why she preferred the use of soft material for her props. Her answer was that it helped made the props more understandable and human. The humanization of these props shows how we are reliant and hold a certain and almost intimate relationship with technology that has developed throughout the years due to its advancements as well as our own.