Blog #9: Today's Art

                         Contemporary art as said by Shelley Esaak, "art that has been and continues to be created during our lifetimes" (http://arthistory.about.com/od/current_contemporary_art/f/what_is.htm), in simple words, it is the arts today. It ranges from 1960's, after the world war II, up until today. Contemporary art may occur right after the World War II, but it's not a reason for art to vanish. In fact, it even inspired many artists back then to pursue art and make it even better. Expressions were then, shown through art. Feelings that were not noticed before are now very noticeable and impressive.

source

                         New set of styles emerged and art definitely became open to all. What I like most about contemporary art is that, it extends up until now wherein anyone can be his own artist, it has no limitations, as long as you can create a masterpiece, it's an art. However, nowadays, even the unintentional art is really impressive and could really leave impressions to the viewers.

photo-to-painting

                          Contemporary art doesn't only cover still arts. It covers all kinds of arts, even Multimedia arts. It covers, paintings, architectures, sculptures, photos, videos, animations, music, and even performing arts such as, dancing, singing, poetry, plays, and many more. Art is no longer limited. Anyone can already express himself in any ways he may prefer to. And any form of art it may be, no one can ever question it, for art is art, everything depends on the artist and the viewer in different perspectives. The artist may mean this thing but the viewer would think and interpret differently, that's art! It's unpredictable. Flexible. 

                           Even children, with their young age can have their own art. And later on can be developed. Actually, artists start at a very little age and then will be enhanced if it's practiced. Parents might interpret their children's doodles to be annoying and just a burden for them that need to be cleaned, but little did they know that it's their own art. Because of Abstractionism, just a drip of paint or ink-blots are already considered art. Emotions are really hard to express through words, and even through visual arts, but with the help of abstractionism, everything is now possible.

                            Even a student like I, can already be an artist in any way I could, just like the above photo that I transformed into a painting. Well that's art! It's unstoppable and even extending to its widest. Express things through art, it's the easiest way if you prefer to express things without using your mouth. Well, that's contemporary art! That's TODAY'S ART! :)

(you can view my article about my photo-to-painting art here: mlbelen.wordpress)

Blog #8: All is movement, all is sensation. Dynamism.

                        The 8th group's topic is the 20th Century Art. Apart from modern art, 20th Century art put aside the traditions of the past in a spirit of experimentation. They started a world of experiments. They created new ways of seeing things in an artistic way. This is the era where the advent of Abstractionism took place. 

                        20th Century art consists of many styles, and among those styles, Futurism is what I like the most, for it follows a principle called, "Dynamism". According to their report, dynamism, "defined as the theory that force or energy is the basic principle of all phenomena. All is movement all is sensation." From the word itself, dynamic, full of energy. Here's an example of dynamism, The Street Light by Giacomo Balla:

The Street Light

by: Giacomo Balla

                         For Giacomo Balla, dynamism is more important than the subject matter, the movement is more important than the thing itself. In this painting, it shows that the subject is in constant movement, and that leads you to see the movement, not the subject. That's how artists of futurism see things, remarkable. Creating a masterpiece as that is really difficult to achieve, you'll need a richer imagination to see things as that.

                         As an aspiring artist, such a work as that is one of my goals to attain someday. To see things in a different way ordinary people could. To develop a richer imagination, see things in an artistic way, where "all is movement, all is sensation." (8th group)

Blog #7: Leading Lights = Grandeur

                       Modern art is the topic that was discussed by the 7th group. According to their presentation, "modern art begins with the changes in the representation of space as introduced by artists of the late 18th century. Unlike Renaissance masters, who sought to open up endless vistas within the canvas, the artists of the latter 1700s thrust all of the imagery toward the picture plane. The flatness or two-dimensionality of the canvas surface was asserted by the use of planar recession rather than linear recession." 

                       Modern art, covers powerful styles, that made it more interesting. One of them that I like the most is the Impressionistic style. Impressionism is a style that conveys emotions, opinions and personal views of the artists. In this style, we can say that art speaks. In this style, artists make their own rendition of things when perceived by the light. Here's an example of an Impressionistic art:

  

Le Moulin de la Galette
by: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919)

                       But in this case, the artist, Renoir, didn't just portray things when perceived by the light. He painted a scene that seemed like it just happened yesterday. He used the "leading lights" composition, it's when you look at the painting from the bottom left, the light will lead you the center then to the top-most right then back to the top-most left which is the main subject. It's a very powerful technique and is very difficult to do.

                       Digitally, creating a masterpiece as that is really hard to do, what more if it's a painting (from scratch)? It's really remarkable and amazing. I, for one, would want to create a masterpiece as that!! I want to use this painting as my inspiration to create my own. No photograph can match a grandeur painting as that!