Project 2 Experience

     In my project I talked about politics and Arts. I specifically talked about the National Endowment for the Arts, an organization created by the U.S. Congress in 1965 to stimulate the culture of the country. In this project I learned that the U.S. government has played an important role in how people value public art. I also learned that art can be used as propaganda, especially when it is funded by the private sector.
    I also learned about other interesting topics, such as value of arts, art appreciation, sculpture and beauty in arts. I think that this project helped me to increase my knowledge and look at artworks differently.
    What I most liked was the artwork that compared the life in Africa and here. I think that he was showing the history of his life. It is difficult having two different worlds and make this big transition from one to the other.
   It was interesting to share my experiences with my classmates and all participate as a group.
  

Essay body(revision)

    I went to an interview with Rebbecca Stephenson. She is the executive director of Space Taker. I asked her about the causes of the NEA's creation and she answered that although she has not so much information about the history of the NEA, she consider that is was created to stimulate the culture of the U.S. society and to compete with other countries such as Russia and European countries.
    She talked about the Texas Commission for the Arts, wich is funded by the NEA, Houston Arts Alliance and by the private sector. She consider that the use of private sector money has issues bacause they want to use art and artist as propaganda.
   One of the issues associated with the National Endowment for the Arts was that sometimes people complained because of the kind of art that was created. People critiziced the NEA because it helped controversial artist as Robert Clark Young, Barbara Degenevieve, Andres Serrano, Robert Mapplethorpe.
    She also sended me an article to get more information about the NEA.
   This interviee helped me to understand more about the topic and also to know some of the issues associated with the NEA.

Conclusion

    The references I read had almost the same information about my topic and question. The main difference that I found was that while our text book talks about the role of the National Endowment for the Arts, the others talked of the conflicts and problems of this organization. My suggested answer is that the creation of the NEA was part of the political policies. I think that this organization was created to stimulate some kind of political interests. The artwork I analyzed let me look the positive things of this organization. Even when I think that the NEA was creates for political interests, I appreciate that it has increased the cultural level of this society. In my piece I want to reflect a comparison of how people appreciate public art before and after the creation of the NEA. I will try to reflect it in a piece of paper. I have not started my artwork, but after my interview with Jenni Rebbecca I will decide what I want to do.

Essay Body

      

The three literatures that I read had different points of view about my question. In our art book they talk about the importance of government (with the creation of the National Endowment for the Art) in the appreciation of public art. In the other books they also talk about this role of government as a business. They mention that the private sector funds the National Endowment for the Arts to use public art as an advertisement tool. They agree in the fact that the creation of the National Endowment for the Art has been so important to increase the cultural level of our society. I think that every literature, even having a different approach of the topic, has a fully developed history about how the U.S government has played an important role in stimulation of public art, using public or private funds. I agreed that private patronage of public art presents a complex range of problems. I also agreed that public art can be biased and used with political purposes. If an artist receives money from an organization, he could be forced to create what that organization wants. In my opinion the most important thing is that our society has changed the way it value public art. In order to answer my question, I compared how people appreciate public art before and after the creation of the National Endowment for the Art. Noticing a big difference in this appreciation I can say that the National Endowment for the Art has increased the importance of public art for our society.

         The art work that I chose for my essay is “Monument to Joe Louis”. It is related to my question because it can be compared with the role played by the government in appreciation of public art. This monument is a symbol of action, power and stability. I think that this artwork is related to my question. As a strong arm, the U.S. government created the National Endowment for the Art to change how people value public art. While I was thinking I realized that using appropriate methods the U.S. government has changed the way people live and socialize. I think that even when this monument was created with other purposes, it represents public art and can be related to the topic discussed in this essay. If this artwork could speak, it would say: “This is the National Endowment for the Art and I was created to destroy any interference between people and public art. My strength and stability will allow me to change what needs to be changed in order to increase the cultural level of the U.S. society”. The visual elements that create this effect are the color and motion. This two elements show strength.

      In my artwork I want to make a comparison between the time before and after the creation of the National Endowment for the Art. Instead of show the strength of this organization I want to show how it has changed people lives.

    Note: I will interview Jenny Rebecca, the executive director of Space Taker. I will ask her several questions about the topic and I will post them so you can give me comments.

       

Literature review ( revision)

  In order to answer my question I will interview  Jenni Rebecca Stephenson, the executive director of SpaceTaker. I will ask her defferent questions about the role of government in public arts. I will ask my question by making a comparison. I will compare the role of government in public arts today and years ago. 

Literature review

   I read two references. One is the book " Critical Issues in Public Art" and "The Business of art". They have good information about the National Endowment for the Arts and the role of government in how public art is valued. One of the key terms that I found interesting in those books and that will help me to understand my topic is public art, which is the art created in public spacessuch as parks and public buildings. The other key term is grant(in terms of artists), which is money that is given to the artists to create their art. Different deffinitions of these key terms will confuse me about the topic. I was not clear about the meaning of public art and that was affecting me with the understanding. The references that I read helped me to answer my question because they offer information(limited) about the role of gobernment in how people percieve public art. They also explain how the National Endowment for the Art works and how this organization has helped artists around the country. The book From Art to Politics does not have so much information about this organization(NEA), but it is still a good source to understand my topic. I have found some images and artworks that are related to my topic. They represent different artworks that have been created thanks to the NEA. Some of them are La Grand Vitesse and Tilted. Ohters are related to politics, such as The Crucifiction proyect and Homeless Vehicle. I have not chosen any of them yet. I am still undecided in which artwork I want to discuss.

Introduction(revision)

          According to some readings and comments that I have received, I have made some changes in my introduction:
     In my essay I will talk about politics and art and my question is: How has influenced the National Endowment for the Arts in the way people value public art?
   Reading the book, I found so interesting how government is worried abuot the culture of Americans. This question will me help to understand that arts and government have a closed relationship. Government can play a role in how art is valued, but at the same time art can be used to control government. In order to answer this question I will read "The business of Art" and "Critical Issues in Public Art". I think that these different references will have a different approach to my question because issues that are related to government are so widely discussed and frequently have different opinions. Sculptures will be relevant to my question because they are the kind of artworks that we regularly find in public space. Their big saizes allow them to attract the public. The medium that I will use to learn about and make my artwork is sculpture.

Proyect #2 Art and Politics. Introduction

      I was reading the section about arts and politics and I think that this is a very interesting topic to discuss. My question is  " How has the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA- founded in 1967 by the Congress) influenced on how people appreciate the value of art created in public spaces?"
      I think that this topic is not common and that is why I decided to write about it. This question will help me to understand that people have changed the way they appreciate art and that the government has played an important role in this issue. I think that creating a society with good education about arts is very important for the future of this country.
     While I was reading the book, I found so interesting how the government required 1 percent of the cost of new public buildings to be dedicated to enhance their public spaces with pieces of art. I think that this was a very smart decision because in my opinion one of the responsabilities of the government is to increase the education of the people, and this include art and culture. Art is part of our idiosincrasy (characteristics of our culture and our country), and it has to be preserved and valued by the people.
    I will go to the public library to find more references about this topic. I will also go to the campus library to find more books.
    I expect that they will have different approaches to my question because I think that almost every topic that talks about the government has too many opinions and approaches. This topic has a so much to do with politics, which is a very controversial issue in our society.
   Sculpture will be relevant for my question because it is the kind of artwork that is more abundant in public spaces. I think that sculptures are so used in public spaces because they can be made in very big sizes.
   I think that the mediun that I will use in my artwork is painting. It looks so interesting and I have never done it, so I want to learn something new.

Dictionary

   

                                                    Charlie Chirino

        In my essay I am going to talk about space. I selected some key concepts that are important to understand the subject. They are:

      

        1-Space: Three-dimensional, continuous expanse extending in all directions and containing all matter. It is all around us, all the time. There are two kinds of spaces: outer space and inner space. Outer space is the space outside our world. It is any region of space beyond limits determined with references to the boundaries of a celestial body or system. On the other hand, inner space is the space inside our minds. It is the spiritual world within a person.

     

        2-Shape: Two-dimensional area. Its boundaries can be measured in terms of height and width. It is the form characteristic of a particular person or thing, or class of things. In terms of art, we talk about negative shape (the ground) and positive shape (the figure that commands our attention).

      

       3-Illusion: An unreal, deceptive, or misleading appearance or image. A sense of depth, or three-dimension, can be achieved on a flat canvas or paper only by means of illusion. There are many ways to create the illusion of deep space:

          -Juxtaposition of a large and small object.

          -Overlapping images.

          -The use of lines (one-point linear perspective and two-point linear perspective)

          -Presence of shadow.

          - Oblique projection.

          - Axonometric projection (commonly employed by architects and engineers)

          -Position of the objects (the farther is commonly the higher)

          -Foreshortening           

                           

                                        I selected these terms because:

        1- Understanding the meaning and kinds of spaces is the central and most important step to discuss about this topic.

        2- The term shape is important to understand how space takes place in a two-dimensional area.

        3- Using different techniques artists can create illusion and at the same time they create space.

visual rhetoric

       

                                              

       In these two pictures we can see how Barack Obama represents peace, hope and new life for the United States. I think that this is a visual rhetoric because these pictures are comparing Barack Obama with a rainbow. Here we can use a description saying: Barack Obama will be as a rainbow, bringing to the United States peace and hope after years of tragedy. The term tragedy can be compared with the rain.