blog #4: cantor arts center

Last Saturday, I went to the Cantor Arts Center. It's funny since I have been to Stanford a couple many times growing up, but have never known there was a museum nearby with FREE entrance! (that's why i chose this one over the ones in san francisco) When I first entered, the first thing I saw was a Venus statue which reminded me of the Greek statues in our textbook. It was quite remarkable, not much taller than us. In the pictures, the power and force of the greek statues would have us imagine it being more enormous in real life. I loved how I got to be so up close and actually see the texture of something that was created so long ago, long before I, or any of my great great grandparents were born. As I entered on, there were many portrait and family paintings of the 1800's, who I believe were the famous founders of Standford University, the Leeland family.
To the left, is a painting of scattered jewlery, very decadent and ornamental, much more extravagant compared to today's more everyday functional jewelry. This painting above is what I was talking about in my blog #3 entry. in comparision to The Unswept Floor. I really like this picture i took of my sister as she was looking at some ancient silverware. I thought the light reflection was cool & how her face is cut off but you see the reflection.
This sketch reminded me of my friend's very first project for his Architectural Rendering class. The main objective of the project was not a layout of a building or anything, but to display different textures and shades. And this sketch did just that. It has an abstract geometrical black and white aspect to it.
This either illustration or engraving, I thought had both a regal and etheral feel to it. The old man above reminds me of the typical wise wizard characters found in so many Medevial stories, except he has a crown which provides a sense of power and authority; and he doesn't seem so friendly as the cartoon wizards I grew up with.
The young girl with wings and a halo surrounding her head, made me think of angels, but the proportion of her scale seemed so much smaller than of the man, possibly showing her less significance. It was interesting to think about, was this trying to symbolize the mortal man's higher power over a young girl of divine status?
I loved the lighting and shades of depth of this engraving. It was called the Treachery of...something. It seemed like a chaotic scene where a crime might have happened, like a stolen jewl or a secret love affair. I could imagine this taking place on a pirate ship.
The downstairs of the Cantor museum had a whole row of black and white engravings that reminded me of Childrens' stories, not for the younger toddlers, but the chapter books based on fairytales. They had a similarity like of the Abbey Church of Saint Riquier drawing. I guess fairytales became popular within Medevial times. (if that's the right time frame of the engravings)
This painting, (sorry the lightings makes it not so clear) had a storyline where the guy on the left held an audition for the woman he would paint. When I first saw it, I thought the colors and play of light was beautiful and it caught my attention amist the rows of black and white engravings and simple leaf illustrations. But when I read the print, I thought it was a bit superficial. Real event or not, I didn't like how the man in orange and a red robe had to hold an audition and give many women the message: oh you're not beautiful enough. (notice the blonde on the right weeping against her friend)
Why can't he fall in love with one woman & believe she is just soo beautiful, that he just HAD to paint her? Now that story line, I would have loved.

After going upstairs, my sister and I came upon more recent art works, including the famous pop culture changer, Andy Warhol. Above, is my sister against a much modern, geometrical piece. When I saw it, I told her to go against the white since she was wearing a black blazer. It's what i believe is called figure ground. This piece by Andy Warhol, I really liked since I thought it had portrayed this woman quite well. I don't remember who she was, but she seems like a beautiful woman possibly of hispanic descent. Her face and the hairstyle reminded me of West Side Story, and the vivid red background & magenta lips brought out the passion which contrasted with the cool blue of her eye shadow.

Outside was truly beautiful; the landscape reminded me of the animated film, Hercules. The tall pointy trees, stair steps, naked scuptures...it's where Megan was singing the "I won't say I'm in love" s2 that song :)
I wished I could have stayed longer but it was closing. I hope to visit there again someday but make a day out of it! Enjoy all that Standford has to offer... go for a bike ride, have a picnic, visit the Standford shopping center & visit the museum again!

Well it was a great winter session guys! :) I have enjoyed reading your thoughts on art and learning something about yourselves. Take Care! C=

xox Diana Nguyen

Blog #3

Throughout the chapters of reading, this mosaic variant called The Unswept Floor stood out to me in a modern, everyday relatable, casual way. When I first saw it, I thought the items were shells on sand, which I love and thought of writting about. Looking closer I realized some of the scattered items were shells and a few were leftover food scraps including bones or the stems of grape branches. The painting was by Sosos of Pergamon but it was signed by Herakleitos. By seeing the random pieces of this mosaic, i do feel like i had, in a sense, been part of their feast which i think is part of the artist's intention.
Unlike the Greeks (banquets were more of private affairs), the Romans held lavish feasts, (consisting of up to SEVEN courses) where their possessions were used as display as proof of their ultimate wealth and social lifestyle. This is still very true today. You can often tell a lot about a person's wealth and lifestyle by the possessions they hold in their homes out for display. People back then and still now, just love to show off their riches! The jewelry, the clothes, the cars... home decoration, some which are not necessary, are bought in order to decorate their homes and of course, to let their guests know of their wealth and class. In a way, home decoration or any sort of display can be another outlet of expressing oneself, like 'this is my taste of style'... but people can, and often do, go overboard.
When hosts throw dinner parties, if the hosts care about making an impression on guests of their class and riches, special dinner ware is usually brought out. Magazines sell day to day by giving tips on proper table setting display and how to throw dinner parties. & Instyle magazine always has a feature at the end, where they showcase a celebrity's home or closet!
When thinking about the mosaic The Unswept Floor, it raised the thought of simply, the Art of display. The Unswept floor also reminds me of a painting I saw at the Cantor Arts Center at Standford University. Instead of shells and food, there was decadent jewelry scattered upon a rich red canvas.
The art of display is used everywhere, with everyone, and used everyday all around the world. Even small things, like the arrangement on your desk (choice of photo frames, pencil cups, bullentin boards) or how girls arrange their perfumes and jewelry on their vanity desks. It's a way of expressing who you are through the items you own.
Even teenage guys, i know, do a lil home display to show off to their guests their social lifestyle, but not in a tasteful home decoration way.
A guy i once knew, was persistent on having me come visit his house one day. I finally came, & to my surprise, his house was a mess! The place was completely trashed with beer cups scattered all around. While my girl friends would be excited on having me visit their home to show me their room painted a different color, guys, like the Romans, love showing off their party lifestyle.

Blog #2

This sunken relief sculpture is called Akhenaten and his family. (pg. 73) It shows Akhenaten, his wife Queen Nefertiti, and three of his daughters. (He had six altogether) Akhenaten believed in maat, the philosophical principle of divine truth and it was clearly evident in the realistic portrait of his family. Unlike rulers before and after him, Akhenaten wanted his artrists to portray his family, though royal, in informal situations. Earlier scupltures of Egyptian art (like King Khafre pg. 59 and Pepy II pg. 61) showed royal figures as well as less prominent people (seated scribe pg. 61) in an erect posture, sitting up with their backs straight. Akhenaten's royal family potrait is a high contrast. The royal couple are seated upon cushions lovingly playing with their children and displayed realistically rather than idealistically- which is popular for many royal or authoritive figures. When I saw this relief, I thought of other 'royal' families & how it's becoming more and more popular to see their personal photos. It's as if people find it surprising that presidents' (in America) or queens' (in England) families have lives outside of the public and can smile and bond with their children as well. But it can also be a source to identify with. Like, your president understands where you're comming from & your concerns for your family, he's a family man too! My dad is very interested in politics & history, so when I look through his books based on the history of the 70's, I'll often find photos of JFK and his family. They are often portrayed glamouroulsy, yet still casual and real. (i think it's great how, although i haven't lived through it, i can experience what the 70's was like, w/ photos & all, through him, like what we're doing in this art history class! )

I found it very interesting how this sunken relief, dated in the 18th dynasty, c. 1353-1336 BCE shows a family with their flaws and all; their bodies don't seem strong, and the young girls and dad have deformed heads (egghead shape). Akhenaten actually had a condition that caused his skull bones to fuse at an early age, & a genetic mutation which caused some of his male hormones to convert to female, thus his wide hips and slight female figure.

Thousands of years later though, in Britain & elsewhere, as royal family portraits continued (usually in paintings or photographs), it became more rare to see an authoritive family portrait portrayed like Akhenaten's. If you look at paintings of King Henry VIII's family, they are shown in a serious manner, as well as the photographs of Anastasia's family. (Russian princess) The royal were perceived with serious faces and began to be displayed individually. The paintings often display the royalty in lavish indulgement, jewels, crowns, and with a serious face to provide a sense of power & authority. It wasn't often that they were shown freely playing and smiling with one another which is a contrast to the Akhenaten sunken relief that existed thousands of years before. But the informal family portrait principle began again & is applied to many of America's president's families as well as celebrities. (obama & Jfk's family photos)

the art medium itself, called sunken relief- 'where the outlines of the figures have been carved into the surface of the stone' essentially has the same principle in handmade footprint & handprint impressions! Although i've never had any made when i was a baby, i see them all the time. Though these are made with pressure versus carving, it still is a form of engraving & provides shade & depth within the shapes. the technique is also applied on hollywood's walk of fame, where stars' handprints would be engraved for all to see, another type, in a sense, of art form.

Blog #1

This is the Woman of Willdendorf. (on the left) She originated from Austria during the Upper Paleolthic period and dates between 22,000-21,000 BCE. The statue carved from limestone shows the female figure with rounded forms just about everywhere. Her features are exaggeratted with large breasts, thighs, a huge belly and a deep naval. (although her arms remain very tiny and practically unvisible) She's faceless; her bead like hair surrounds her whole head. Hundreds of these statues were found & were called "Venus" of Willendorf for some time. The statue was believed to be fertility figures & mother goddesses. During the Paleolithic period, it wasn't likely for actual women being of this form & figure to exist (pretty much impossible). With moving around from place to place & food being scarce and not even guarenteed, humans, both men and women, were most likely skinny or of normal size and figure.
It's interesting how some scholars have named her Venus of Willendorf. Venus-the goddess of love and beauty. This tiny statue, of about 4 inches, had once represented the ideal form of women's beauty, a HUGE contrast to today's standards.

http://www.donsmaps.com/images/avdeevovenus.jpg to the left- "venus" figures found around 20,000 BCE in Russia

This small statue (of about 11cm height) found in the Czech Republic, was believed to represent a nourished body that expressed health and fertility. Made c. 23,000 not far from the Women of Willendorf, the figure displays more of today's typical body figure. I find it very interesting how, though both created during similar times, they vary greatly. It just goes to show us how there is no right definition of beauty.

So how does this relate to my everyday life? A lot! & hugely. Though today the Women of Willendorf might be seen to display an image of either an obsese or pregnant woman, the artist carved out then desired traits. & I, as well as many others, am glad that many of these W.o.w exist. With today's culture of supermodels & insanely non-realistic gorgeous celebrities, we need it! My younger sister often complains about how fat she is getting. I often have to reinforce that she's exaggerating & mention curvy, or at least not super skinny celebrities out there who are beautiful & known for it. She went on a squeeky swing & said: "See! I'm so heavy even the swing squeaks."
I've gone through high school listening to my friends complain about everything of their looks! & degrading songs on the radio doesn't exactly help... like how fellow rapper Mike Jones states: "I need a dime, a top of the line, slim waist, cute face with a big behind".
random funny icon ;)
In a way, how you look & how your body is shaped, can determine your interests & personality. (sad, but somewhat true) Skinny, tall girls may end up loving fashion while girls w/ more of a shapely figure can end up liking hip hop music. And with the media portraying people's bodies the way they do, skinny girls are being left out of the hip hop music scene and girls w/ more curves are being excluded in the fashion world!

The idea of beauty varies from time and people and place. What one might see as beautiful, others may disagree. The idea of figure also goes hand in hand w/ other physical aspects like skin color and hair and even fashion trends! (that would emphasize a certain body part) During the Reinassance time, like the Paleolithic time, food was scarce; wealthy people could afford a lot of food and poor people, who had little if any, would remain skinny. Being more fleshy was desired and seen as ideal; there are thousands of paintings to prove it! (including Venus looking in the mirror painting below) & now, when food is literally everywhere and easily accessible, a toned body is favored displaying fitness, health & vitality. In Asia, there's an old belief that being pale would mean you are rich. The workers out in the field would be in the sun all day becomming more tan, while having pale skin symbolized wealth and purity. In Western culture, it's usually the opposite: rich meant having many vacations therefore being tan. A girl in India may be wishing for paler skin while an extremely pale girl in America may be wishing for tanner skin. There are numerous ideals of beauty ALL AROUND THE WORLD! Some even seen as very peculiar (ex: rows of rings around necks to elongate in Thailand) The main message: BEAUTY IS RELATIVE!!!
there is no right or wrong answer for what is beautiful, everyone's idea is different.

You can see this is evident with fashion trends. In the 1920's, flapper dresses were in style. Dresses that would just fall down, not revealing much curves, yet this was desired at the time. & as the picture shows above, Victorian dresses with huge bundles of fabric comming out from behind were the norm. (why i do not know) In the 80's, shoulder pads were instyle.. Shoulder pads! I remember trying on one of my mom's old vintage jackets & seeing broad shoulders in the mirror. it was interesting to see, i tried imaging how this look would be everywhere at the time. Shoulder pads did add a dominant, independent look, & women were becoming just that.
During the 1950's both actresses Marilyn Monroe and Audry Hepburn were at their height of fame and glory. Both popular, talented and beautiful actresses of the same decade, yet completely different body types. Marilyn Monroe was a dress size 6 (vintage size 12) the same dress size as my younger sister (I try telling her this in hopes of giving her beautiful examples) while Audrey held the body of a dancer!

In the end, it's all beautiful! :)

Hi! :) & welcome to my blog.
This is my 1st time taking an online class but so far am liking it. I'm taking this class since I love art, (in all sorts of forms) & am interested to learn more about it.
Although this entry, I realize doesn't count :( I thought i should still do an intro entry, just to let you know who it is that's writting.

being indecisive, & not being able to settle on just one pic that represents me really well partly because I'm not completely passionate or really good at one particular thing (like what my major is, love of sports or dance, although i wish i was a dancer) i decided to show a lot instead
i hope you like, feel free to save any pics that you really like :)

the picture above represents my dreamer side. my dad used to say my head is always up in the clouds. I s2 dandelions and making wishes. I can identify with both the dandelion and the girl blowing it. Sometimes like dandelions, i disperse & just float away (or in my sister's words: im quite clueless), & like the girl im often in my own lil world. But i can be focused too, sometimes

i can play the piano, although i haven't played in the lonnggest time, but am planning to start again

i love carnivals, rollercoasters & the nightlife, even though i don't really have one

I S2 music & S2 to sing :)
but sound horrible & don't always know the words ;p

je d'accord! (i agree in French)
this pic is special since i like to swim & have always had a pool in my apartment
though i don't swim often or that well, i love just floating in the water when i get the chance

i used to dive, but haven't since i hit my head when i was little

I S2 swings, i love going higher & higher. I've always lived nearby a park. Serra Park was my childhood park. the girl on the swings shows my youthful spirit. I'll always be a kindered spirit at heart. & by reaching high in the air, it showsmy daredevil side. In high school, since my friends and i couldn't drive, instead of always going out for lunch, we'd go to the nearby park & go on the swings.