art events

ok, so I thought the art events had to be tech related, which apparently isn't the case. easy peasy, i've been to quite a few things over the semester.


1. I'm gonna count this as one, but I went to the Asian Art Museum twice this semester. I was required to because of Asian Art History but I liked it anyway. You start on the third floor and travel though to the 2nd floor and you get a good scope of Asian Art and how it traveled through India, Korea, Japan, and China. You start at the Ganesha statues because they signify the start of something, as well as fertility which is like the start of something. I really liked the Buddhist stuff because the deities are cool. I always liked Ganesha images but it was interesting to learn that his parents were Shiva and Parvarti. When he was a child his head was cut off and they replaced it with an elephant head. Elephants represent wisdom as well as fertility. Fertility was a very common theme in all the Asian art I saw. Any fruit with a lot of seeds represents fertility, and are often seen in Chaek-kori (spelling?), which are korean book pile painting. Paintings of book cases, which often held lots of symbolic objects. It was also some of the first perspective art Korea practiced. The museum has a jade area full of amazing little detailed figurines and water jugs-type practical stuff. The museum is cool if your into Asian art, otherwise I think it could be really boring for some people.


2. I went to an art party about a month ago at a friends house. Everyone put painting and pictures up with price tags and we could buy each others art. There were about 100+ people there, it was really packed. I sold one picture for $25, not an exorbitant amount but you have to start somewhere. Other paintings sold for a few hundred dollars. I didn't buy anything because I don't have a ton of money but it was an older crowd who specifically went to purchase art. I liked that someone I knew threw the whole thing together and networked it. I think she might have used craigslist and other networking websites to help get a good crowd and artists together. I want to do the same and I encourage everyone to hold art parties, because they are really fun!

3. This one is actually tech related. I went with my friend Mike to his friends art thing. I'm not sure what something like that would be called... basically there was an entrance lobby area with some interactive exhibits and video stuff. There was a keyboard that when certain keys would press a song would play and a light show would go with the song. the lights went over this all white geometric sculpture. It was really fun to play with and to alternate keys really fast. There was a cube, which was the friend of a friend's piece. He projected video onto different parts of the cube and the cube is angled hanging from the wall. There was a video someone had set to music in processing. The video was of a train in Japan moving, and it moved in time to the music.

Then there was a show in another room of different videos, some original and some I think might have been a little older and I have no idea if the artist was there. It was so crowded it was hard to see. There was an electronic music band too that played synth and drum pads. I hope to go to more things like this in the future.

sketch of monumental project

Here is a sketch I did of how I envisioned Jack's statue, it's not too crazy but it's improbable because it has marijuana plants growing on it and Jack is probably not someone who a lot of people would get behind to build a statue of. I envision this in golden gate park, the end near Haight Street, somewhere around hippie hill area.

poster redone and sticker

I redid the poster so it's easier to read, also made a version that I'm going to turn into some stickers.

improbably monument ideas cont...

I came up with other ideas but I really like my first one. I'll be writing an essay with it as well to make up for absences and I feel like I can really talk about the work Jack has done. He wrote a lot of great material about the uses of hemp. I think some type of likeness of him would be cool, but something made out of hemp maybe? with information pamphlets about the uses of marijuana and hemp. I think he would really like something like that. He was very much about the spreading of facts and information into the general population, because with marijuana and especially hemp there is a ton of misinformation out there.


sources of information i will use:
http://www.jackherer.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Herer

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/LegalizationNation/archives/2010/04/15/hemperor-jack-herer-passes-away-at-70

ideas for improbably monument

1. So Jack Herer just died, he "was an American cannabis activist and the author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a book which has been used in efforts to decriminalize cannabis."- wiki

I really loved his book the emperor wears no clothes, it was super imformative and really advocated for the multitude of uses of hemp.

In my monument commemorating Jack, I would make a hemp statue of his likeness. You can basically make anything out of hemp.

other ideas to come!

monument intervention project

Julianne is my partner, we wrote a lot of stuff together on her blog.

Juliann's blog

here are pics from Delores Park the 2nd trip we took, it was windy and not that many people were there. Lots of people with their dogs, we showed it around a bit again.

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Dolores Park in San Francisco is a wonderful park where local San Franciscans go to relax and enjoy the sun with the family and friends. But it was not always a happy hang out for youth to elders. At Dolores there were two Jewish Cemeteries here before they moved to San Mateo County in the late 1880's and early 1890's (Hills of Eternity and Home of Peace Cemeteries). They actually were the first to relocate south of The City, mainly because new land was impossible to find after the Gold Rush happened.
There was a totally different vibe when Dolores was a cemetery not only in that area, but within the entire city. We wanted to bring to attention to the people who love being at Dolores that it was not always the happy place it is now. We placed grave stones at the park to represent the bodies that were once buried there. Many people that we talked to had no idea that Dolores was a cemetery and they had different reactions. Some people did not care and said "Oh, I did not know that. Cool." While others wanted to learn more about the cemetery and the reason for its relocation.
We found this project very interesting because we were able to bring back into attention to the people that Dolores was a cemetery and not always the hang out that they have grown to love.

We were able to talk to a bunch of people carrying around our grave stone asking them if they know that Dolores Park was a cemetery and that it was relocated to San Mateo.
The grave stone reads... "R.I.P. In the 1880's Dolores Park was a Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was relocated to San Mateo after death was no longer allowed in San Francisco.

Be Colorful! poster

Poster

this poster is telling people to be more colorful. Stop wearing black every day, get some pizazz! Get some color into your life. Don't be boring.