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Today for our SOVA lesson, we were introduced to Brancusi, another sculptor who was the apprentice to Rodin. After learning more about him, his background, his inspirations and such, we were asked to interpret his 3-part war memorial sculptures and then create a response to it given a bunch of standard wooden blocks. Our class was divided into three different groups for this task, and here are our responses (in comparison with Brancusi's actual sculpture)
Today for our SOVA lesson, we were introduced to Brancusi, another sculptor who was the apprentice to Rodin. After learning more about him, his background, his inspirations and such, we were asked to interpret his 3-part war memorial sculptures and then create a response to it given a bunch of standard wooden blocks. Our class was divided into three different groups for this task, and here are our responses (in comparison with Brancusi's actual sculpture)
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If I were to think like Magritte and create a room filled with ordinary objects in everyday life that are representational of my own personal values, what would they be? The seven objects I have decided to include into this room are a traditional fan, a pair of shoes, a flowerpot of red poppies, a first aid kit, a foundation makeup brush, a mirror and a soft toy bear. This is a dull room with the only source of light shining through a full-length window in the middle. Unlike Magritte, the size of the objects does not determine the significance and importance. The distance of the object from the light source does.
Pot of Red Poppies
Poppies are flowers of forgiveness and are often symbols of remembrance days. By depicting poppies in a flowerpot that can be placed in our homes instead of in the wild, I actually want to bring about the message of bringing forgiveness closer to our hearts and self. Everyone makes mistakes, and what makes them continue on with life is forgiveness and acceptance from others. Rejection and stagnancy brings about no benefit and no progress. Therefore, forgiveness is very important and thus why I placed it under the beam of sunlight coming through the windows.
Another hidden message that I wanted to convey through this pot of poppies is of how we, as humans, should learn to forgive not only humans but also other living things, such as animals as well. One reason why more people are inclined to buying pets from pet shops and not adopting one from a shelter is because of the distaste generated from the feeling of the dog being "old", "used" and "ugly". Although shelter dogs do have had such a past, but don't they deserve a new chance at life as well? Why shouldn't they have the right to enjoy the lives of any other normal pet dog? This is the other reason for me including this pot of red poppies as the only living object placed in my room.
First Aid Kit
The First Aid kit I placed in this room is a symbol of one's health and also care between each other. Being in the St. John Ambulance Brigade CCA myself, I have often seen people who fall ill or get injured due to improper care of themselves and the lack of precautions taken. Health is extremely important to us; without good health, we will be unable to do anything with joy and with ease. This First Aid kit is a reminder for us to be aware of our own physical (and mental) health and should we ever get injured, we should seek medical care immediately to prevent further worsening of the wound.
Traditional Hand Fan
Instead of putting a modern and more widely used electrical wall fan, I placed a traditional, manual hand fan on the wall instead. This is due to the double meaning I intended behind the word 'fan'. Everyone knows that Singapore is a very hot and humid country, and I sweat very easily as well thus a fan which provides wind and relief would be of utmost necessity to me. The other meaning would be that of devotion. Fan in this case would mean an idol's fan, and I have looked up to the same idol for a few years counting. Devotion is important- not only in an idol-fan relationship, but more in pursuing your own dreams and passions, which is the key factor to your success.
Mirror
The mirror here simply represents self-esteem, self-consciousness and self-awareness. These three factors are very important in contributing to our outlook at our own lives and also how we present ourselves to others: such as the confidence we exhibit in our daily actions. The mirror can also be a symbol of self-reflection. Without reflection, we will never improve ourselves and this will cause us to lag behind in society. Therefore, the values which the mirror contains are important and necessary to our personal improvement.
Soft Toy Bear
This soft toy bear is one that I bought last year when I went to China for my GCP. It was the first time in my life that I am going overseas without my parents, and considering my medical condition, it was an extremely tough decision for the approval to be given. Therefore, my elation was over the moon when the decision was made. This soft toy bear thus is an extremely memorable souvenir to me. However, this soft toy bear also conceals another meaning, and that personal value is endurance and perseverance. Whenever we meet difficulties, no matter how hard the challenge is, we should always "bear with it" and hold on until we complete the task. This is important for us to set new milestones in life and to step out of our comfort zone to arm ourselves for new challenges ahead.
Pair of Shoes
Have you ever heard of the saying "To walk in someone else's shoes"? This pair of shoes represents my personal value of empathy (and possibly a hint of sympathy). Empathy is important our society. Empathy- the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner. If empathy is practised, you will be able to understand the feelings of people better around you; treat the people you care the way they wish you would treat them; understand unspoken parts of communication with others; learn how to motivate the people around you; less trouble dealing with interpersonal conflict; find it easier to deal with the negativity of others and so on and so forth. All in all, empathy is a necessary life skill and is a particularly important personal value to me, thus it being the second closest object to the light source.
Foundation Makeup Brush
Personal grooming is important and vital. Through grooming oneself, you will not only learn to appreciate more of yourself but also learn more about yourself. You decide the image that you want to present to others, and the impressions you create. Like its name, the foundation makeup brush is the foundation to all makeup, thus why I chose it instead of other products such as the lipstick. Without its roots, a tree can never stand tall.
There's another meaning behind this brush, and this is the message reflected through the broken foundation powder which I included into the room together with the brush. Makeup products have to be tested first before they are deemed safe for human application, and most of such products have underwent vivisection, in other words, testing on animals. These animals live for the sole purpose and benefit of humans, and many of us are unaware of that. We continue using makeup products that have been animal-tested, even those big branded ones. These lab animals are harmed, forced, uncared for and once tested, killed. Their welfare is non-existent. The cracked foundation powder represents the feelings these innocent animals have, if they could express their thoughts. I hope to also spread more awareness about such a cruel method of cosmetic testing to consumers like us, especially females who are the main buyers of cosmetic products.
Labels: Assignment
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Quote from Magritte
"My painting is visible images which conceal nothing... they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean?' It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."
Description
In this painting, common everyday objects that we use in our daily lives are proportionately blown up, occupying a representational amount of the available space in the room. These objects: the comb, the wine glass, the soap, the wardrobe, the bed, the matchstick and the shaving brush, are lying in various positions in the vicinity of the room with the a serene aerial view of the sky as the wallpaper. The objects are randomly scattered about, with no obvious pattern or fixed arrangement. The presence of the bed in this room also hints to us that this is a bedroom. Carpets on the floor are also haphazardly placed, not covering the entire surface area of the floor, revealing the bare wooden planks that make up the base of the room. The carpets seem to be also carelessly left about, unaligned and unattended to. The reflection in the mirror of the wardrobe also suggests to us that on the other side of the room which the painting does not reveal, there is actually a window adorned with curtains. Colours used in this artwork are diverse, realistic and life-like. The vibrancy of the colours employed seems to give a glow to the objects, attributing to them their own personal vibe. The colours used are mostly bright, with a cool and warm palette. Some of the warm colours used consist of brown and yellow hues while majority of the cool colours are blues and whites. There is a balanced harmony between the two spectrums of colours. The composition of this painting also seem quite balanced, if taking the wine glass as the centre of this artwork, there are 3 equal objects on each side of the artwork. The brushwork used here is also extremely fine and well-blended, adding to the life-likeness of the stationary objects. The forms are also painted with extra detail, paying careful attention to the shadows and highlights which adds to the dimensions of the subject matters. The fine brushwork also serves to distinguish the different textures of each object, achieving a realistic quality in the painting.
Analysis
Judging from the adequate lighting in the room and the light that shines through the curtains, it is safe to assume that it is probably mid-day or in the morning. This painting exhibits a sense of joy and a generally positive atmospheric feeling in viewers, further encouraged by the use of strong and rich colours by Magritte. The overall mood of this artwork is also calm and peaceful, where everything seems to be still and quiet, and the only sound that one can hear is one's own breathing. The clouds painted as the wallpaper of this room also adds on to the overall serenity of the scene. A clever sense of harmony is also created among the objects despite how they vary in size, shape, texture and colour, brought by the balance in the artwork. However, viewers are also bemused by the whole idea of this artwork, given the unusually large size of these everyday objects that we use. This introduces the surrealistic quality of the artwork, which makes viewers wonder at the artist's intention behind this and the rethink the significance of it.
Interpretation
As the title of the painting suggests, Rene Magritte probably chooses these objects because they mean something special to him in terms of defining who he is as a person and what makes him a person; perhaps it could even serve as a platform of reassurance for him when he is feeling down to remind him of who he is, and regardless of what happens he must remember that he is who he is and that he is unque in his own way. The objects that he choose to place in this room is representational of such. Each object must have been considered carefully before, and their orientation and size in this room also serves some significance. The bigger the size of the object, the more the importance of that personal value that object represents in Magritte's life. The shades and hues of colours used for these objects might also possibly represent his overall mood and outlook towards that particular value. By placing these objects together, Magritte causes us to rethink our own relationship to ordinary personal items, to question our thoughtless and routine interactions with familiar objects, and to stop and assess the values they represent. Each of the individual objects in Personal Values also hold their own symbolism. For example, the closeness of the bed and the matchstick in Personal Values suggests a play on the French phrase “Tu m’allumes” which means “You turn me on.” Magritte incorporates risqué humor in the work with both of these objects. It is discernible that the scene of the painting is a bedroom because of the floorboards and the ceiling. Even so, Magritte challenges this by painting the sky on the walls. He plays with notions of mental and atmospheric space, implying that the room is not constricted by its four walls, but unbounded nor restricted by its physical limits, just like the imagination of people. This causes me to recall the familiar phrase used “the sky is the limit”.
"My painting is visible images which conceal nothing... they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean?' It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."
Description
In this painting, common everyday objects that we use in our daily lives are proportionately blown up, occupying a representational amount of the available space in the room. These objects: the comb, the wine glass, the soap, the wardrobe, the bed, the matchstick and the shaving brush, are lying in various positions in the vicinity of the room with the a serene aerial view of the sky as the wallpaper. The objects are randomly scattered about, with no obvious pattern or fixed arrangement. The presence of the bed in this room also hints to us that this is a bedroom. Carpets on the floor are also haphazardly placed, not covering the entire surface area of the floor, revealing the bare wooden planks that make up the base of the room. The carpets seem to be also carelessly left about, unaligned and unattended to. The reflection in the mirror of the wardrobe also suggests to us that on the other side of the room which the painting does not reveal, there is actually a window adorned with curtains. Colours used in this artwork are diverse, realistic and life-like. The vibrancy of the colours employed seems to give a glow to the objects, attributing to them their own personal vibe. The colours used are mostly bright, with a cool and warm palette. Some of the warm colours used consist of brown and yellow hues while majority of the cool colours are blues and whites. There is a balanced harmony between the two spectrums of colours. The composition of this painting also seem quite balanced, if taking the wine glass as the centre of this artwork, there are 3 equal objects on each side of the artwork. The brushwork used here is also extremely fine and well-blended, adding to the life-likeness of the stationary objects. The forms are also painted with extra detail, paying careful attention to the shadows and highlights which adds to the dimensions of the subject matters. The fine brushwork also serves to distinguish the different textures of each object, achieving a realistic quality in the painting.
Analysis
Judging from the adequate lighting in the room and the light that shines through the curtains, it is safe to assume that it is probably mid-day or in the morning. This painting exhibits a sense of joy and a generally positive atmospheric feeling in viewers, further encouraged by the use of strong and rich colours by Magritte. The overall mood of this artwork is also calm and peaceful, where everything seems to be still and quiet, and the only sound that one can hear is one's own breathing. The clouds painted as the wallpaper of this room also adds on to the overall serenity of the scene. A clever sense of harmony is also created among the objects despite how they vary in size, shape, texture and colour, brought by the balance in the artwork. However, viewers are also bemused by the whole idea of this artwork, given the unusually large size of these everyday objects that we use. This introduces the surrealistic quality of the artwork, which makes viewers wonder at the artist's intention behind this and the rethink the significance of it.
Interpretation
As the title of the painting suggests, Rene Magritte probably chooses these objects because they mean something special to him in terms of defining who he is as a person and what makes him a person; perhaps it could even serve as a platform of reassurance for him when he is feeling down to remind him of who he is, and regardless of what happens he must remember that he is who he is and that he is unque in his own way. The objects that he choose to place in this room is representational of such. Each object must have been considered carefully before, and their orientation and size in this room also serves some significance. The bigger the size of the object, the more the importance of that personal value that object represents in Magritte's life. The shades and hues of colours used for these objects might also possibly represent his overall mood and outlook towards that particular value. By placing these objects together, Magritte causes us to rethink our own relationship to ordinary personal items, to question our thoughtless and routine interactions with familiar objects, and to stop and assess the values they represent. Each of the individual objects in Personal Values also hold their own symbolism. For example, the closeness of the bed and the matchstick in Personal Values suggests a play on the French phrase “Tu m’allumes” which means “You turn me on.” Magritte incorporates risqué humor in the work with both of these objects. It is discernible that the scene of the painting is a bedroom because of the floorboards and the ceiling. Even so, Magritte challenges this by painting the sky on the walls. He plays with notions of mental and atmospheric space, implying that the room is not constricted by its four walls, but unbounded nor restricted by its physical limits, just like the imagination of people. This causes me to recall the familiar phrase used “the sky is the limit”.
Judgement
My general feelings towards this painting at first is bemusement due to the portrayal of a random array of odd-sized objects in a closed room. However, as I get to understand the artist's intention behind creating such a composition and idea, it is actually very inspiring. Magritte has put a lot of evident thought behind such a personal incorporation of himself into his art, and it means a lot more, at least on the personal side, than other similar surrealistic style of paintings that are formed based on co-existing myths and legends, or playing on fantasies on the mind, or otherwise. It is indeed very clever of Magritte to create such a painting of such personal significance to himself, and should viewers look upon it, be reminded to reflect upon themselves too. It is similar to a mirror- just that there is no reflection in this painting and that is what makes the meaning brought about by it even more impressive. Magritte has successfully conveyed the idea of ordinary objects that define personal values to a person, and that is what makes each and everyone of us unique.
Through this, people may change their perceptions of their personal valued items and influence them to treasure them more.
The overall uniqueness of the basis this artwork is created on is what makes it stand out from the rest and which particularly appeals to me.
Labels: Assignment
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Idea portrayed in imagery and selective phrases.
Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app
Idea portrayed in imagery and selective phrases.
Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app
Labels: Artworks, Coursework
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Welcome to my AEP blog... Totoro is sad. Beware of your screen getting wet. Oh and do prepare some tissues by your side the next time you visit me... hehe.
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