Art History/Reflections/Connor

Connor's Reflections So far, I have a rough draft of what I am going to turn in. I have a page of information about Rodin, his sculpture of Eve, and why the Musee Rodin needs it. In addition, I also have a lot of information about the Gates of Hell, which is what this statue of Eve is part of. I also have a picture of the sculpture that I got off of Artstor. I think that I could turn it in in a few days. 23 August 2007

Sep. 9, 2007 I presented my project and did my self- evaluation last week. I also just got back from discovery, so I'm still catching up. At the moment I'm looking for those 3 museums. I'm also getting some background information on Serra.

Sep. 12, 2007 Last class we had a long argument about whether Serra's work is really art. I was on the side of that it is absolutely not art. However, after seeing a video of his work, and a video of walking through it, I have changed my mind. The optical illusions of some of the pieces are very cool, and how he changes the sense of reality in his statues is definitely worthy of being considered art. However, there are a still a few of his sculptures that I do not like, and a few that I still don't consider art, even if I have seen them in video.

Sep. 14, 2007 I just finished my review of Serra's work and I have a new appreciation for some of it. However, that is only some of it. I still do not think a row of belts is art, but to each his own.

I still need to add my bibliography and edit my review and then I'll be done.

Sep.17 2007 I liked the new yorker review better than the other one. Plus, that guy had an awesome last name. He also actually had an opinion, while the other review just seemed like random background information.

Sep. 21 2007 We had some trouble thinking of in depth questions, but we eventually got some.

Skidway Joe Why is it blurry? Who is it? What does the title mean? What is he doing? Why is it the only unfocused picture in your collection?

Gonna Walk All Over What was the meaning of this picture? What were you trying to portray? Why is it titled Gonna Walk All Over? Do you know this person?

Cake Walk What is a cake walk? Who are the people? Why did you include it in your collection? Where does this take place? Have you ever participated in a cake walk?

American Sharecroppers Why do they look so happy, despite their poverty? Why is the kid not happy? Why did you feel like this was picture-worthy? During what time period was this picture taken?

Ghetto Baby What’s the point of this picture? Where is this? Why did you choose to take a picture of a baby in a go-kart? What is the setting of this picture? Where are his parents and why is he in a go-kart? Do you know this baby or did you just take a picture of him?

September 28 Mr. Anderson's second presentation was very helpful. I am getting a deeper understanding of the greater meaning in his photos. However, I do not understand what we are trying to do with this though

October 5th I am working with Rawson for the museum project. The theme we chose was Power and Authority. There should be a lot of works about this.

October 9th As I predicted, there are a lot of works relating to power. For the five works we chose Korean gold that only royalty could wear, a ceromonial Mesopotamian sword, a bust of Caesar, a painting of Napolean, and a picture of Mao Zedong. We tried to concentrate on different figures, and tried to also use dictators, like Mao as part of the collection.

October 12 Questions about Power and Authority What are some typical examples of power and authority? Do you think that overexaggerating things to make leaders look more powerful is right? Do you think that it is impossible to show a work involving power and authority without it going into the realm of propaganda? Is it possible to have authority without power? Or vice versa?