Jing Assignment #1

First Role of an Artist:  Here is "The Hedgehog and the Fox," by Richard Serra located at Princeton University. The rust-colored steel sculpture is designed to do just what the text states: "to transform our experience of the world." Serra himself backs this up saying "Walk through it. It's not like a still life, where it's the apples on the table. The experience of the subject is the piece itself. Without the interaction, there is no piece." Imagine walking through and around the steel walls and your perception of light, the sky, and the view of the world outside will change. Another work done by this artists is located on page 48 of the text called "The Tilted Arc" which strangely was destroyed because some did not like the alteration it posed on the plaza around it. Serra's work has altered views of our environments with his work and made us look at our surroundings in a whole new way.

Works Cited: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2001/10/09/3531/

Second Role of an Artist: Here, the "Memory of Civil War (The Barricades)" by Ernest Meissonier, based on his own realistic observation, shows us an ugly aftermath of a workers riot which resulted in the National Guard overtaking Paris. Meissonier was a member of the National Guard and painted this picture to show the hostility of war and the results of it. The text explains that the painting has "been drained of all nobility" and leaves behind the results of riot. Meissonier painted the picture to depict and event from his memory and highlights the aftermath of civil war.



Third Role of an Artist: Making this structure functional, but giving it meaning is exactly what Renzo Piano did. It is called "The Shard" and its visual inspiration comes from the steeples of London's beautiful churches and the masts of the ships that once used to anchor in the Thames River. The glass triangular facets narrow and reach up to the sky, but never touch at the top. The buildings functional purpose is to prolong central London's community with  newer retail locations, offices, apartments, restaurants, and hotels habituating it. The height of the structure allows this in an already crowded section of the city and the building stands with 72 stories at about 1,016 feet. With both practicality and meaning embedded into this structure it is a perfect example of the third role of an artist.

Work Cited: http://www.dezeen.com/2009/08/25/the-shard-by-renzo-piano-building-workshop/

Fourth Role of an Artist: Here the "Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich, shows the artists personal feelings. Friedrich painted a lone figure in this painting, with no identity or even facial expression to read meaning. Forced to look at the surrounding landscape, the artist is sending the message of a feeling of lost and alone in the fog. The immense skyline is a reminder of how vast the land ahead is and the jagged rocks poking out of the mysterious fog show possible dangerous terrain too. The painting can be interpreted as a metaphor to life and its surroundings, sometimes we feel lost in life, even overwhelmed, with a fuzzy picture of what lies ahead. Friedrich's feelings about life were injected into this piece and he gave meaning to an ordinary landscape painting.

Aesthetics: Aesthetically, Vincent van Gogh's paintings are wonderfully pleasing to the eye. Here, "Starry Night Over the Rhone" depicts a waterside in the city of Arles in France at night. Capturing the nighttime scene with the beautiful glowing lights of the homes and the twinkling stars above the reflecting is a challenging task, but van Gogh truly captures the deep rich hues that only appear at night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bJOIqVAD-s

Kitsch: *This 2009 McDonald's commercial is not very aesthetically appealing. Questioning whether a commercial or song like this would sell a food product and I'd have to say no, but it may just be so "Kitsch" that it actually worked. The commercial was wildly popular and was followed by another the following year. The song is silly, but nonetheless sticks in your head and you find yourself singing it.

*I apologize for the link, while I could upload the video to Jing, the audio was slow and distorted. I hope this is OK. Next time, I will probably not use a video.