Landscape and the Sublime

 

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?

The Age of Enlightenment is the era in Western philosophy, intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. It is also known as the Age of Reason.The "Enlightenment" was not a single movement or school of thought, for these philosophies were often mutually contradictory or divergent. The Enlightenment was less a set of ideas than it was a set of values. At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals, and a strong belief in rationality and science. Thus, there was still a considerable degree of similarity between competing philosophies. Some historians also include the late 17th century as part of the Enlightenment.Modernity, by contrast, is used to refer to the period after The Enlightenment; albeit generally emphasizing social conditions rather than specific philosophies.

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

In aesthetics, the sublime is the quality of greatness or vast magnitude, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation.

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

In 18th century, landscape paintings where only seen in the background, and were ignored if a painting was just of a landscape, and religious paintings were the most important, during this time artists wanted to show every the beauty of the nature and It wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that more landscape painting were being painted and also being accepted.The concept of the sublime came out of the enlightenment when it was in the 18th century when people began to think more of they way world was ruled through the rules of the government, rather then the rules of their religion.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work.

the sumptuous study of weather, time, color and light in his serial photographs of the Golden Gate, and On the Beach, an aerial perspective of human interaction and isolation. Recent projects mark departures from his work to date.

PDN readers voted Richard Misrach’s 2007 book On The Beach one of the most influential books of the decade in a survey conducted for our January 30th Visions of the Decade issue. Taken from hotel room windows in Hawaii over the course of three years from 2002–2005, Misrach’s large-format photographs of beach scenes were published by Aperture in a beautiful oversize book.

“I was drawn to the fragility and grace of the human figure in the landscape,” Misrach wrote of the series. “My thinking about this work was influenced by the events of 9/11, particularly by the images of individuals and couples falling from the World Trade Towers, as well as by the 1950s Cold War novel and film, On the Beach. Paradise has become an uneasy dwelling place; the sublime sea frames our vulnerability, the precarious nature of life itself.”

In one series, he has experimented with new advances in digital capture and printing, foregrounding the negative as an end in itself and digitally creating images with astonishing detail and color spectrum.

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

Misrach’s photography give a completely different feeling. Especially On the Beach , Both are great photographers .They make me feel so peaceful and silence.

 

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

http://www.pdnphotooftheday.com/2010/01/3367

The social status of the artist.

1. Identify aspects of Durer's self portrait that show a changing view of the artist's view of himself as individual.

The self-portrait is all the more remarkable because it so closely resembles earlier representations of Christ. Art historians note the similarities with the conventions of religious painting, including its symmetry, dark tones and the manner in which the artist is shown raising his hands to the middle of his chest, as if in the pose of blessing. Why Dürer chose to portray himself like this is unknown, though it is likely that it was a combination of arrogance and a desire by a young and ambitious artist to acknowledge that his great talents were given to him by God.

2. Explain how the artist's social status increased during the Renaissance period. Briefly explain why this happened.

Durer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, had secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance. This was reinforced by his theoretical works which involved principles of mathematics, perspective and ideal proportions.

3. Comment on Gavin Turk's work in relation to individualism, status of the artist and egotism.

Like Knob (1997) Gavin Turk explored issues of authorship and identity by making a number of works based on his own signature that comment on the value that the artist's name confers onto a work. He has also made a number of photographic and sculptural self-portraits that often involve some degree of disguise. One of his best-known sculptures, Pop (1993), is a life-size waxwork self-portrait in which he adopts the identity of Sid Vicious singing 'My Way' in the pose of Elvis Presley as depicted by Andy Warhol.

4. Find 2 images of work by artists or designers that reflects some of the ideas of individualism, self promotion or egotism that have been discussed on this blog. Upload images to your blog, title and date the work, identify the artist/designer and comment on the work in relation to the question.

  This self portrait is dated 1498 and inscribed: "I have thus painted myself. I was 26 years old. Albrecht Durer." Since the artist turned 27 on the 21 May, the picture must date from the beginning of the year. The artist's pose is self confident, showing him standing upright and turning slightly to lean his right arm on a ledge.

The Germans still tended to consider the artist as a craftsman, as had been the conventional view during the Middle Ages. This was bitterly unacceptable to Durer, whose second Self-Portrait (out of three) shows him as slender and aristocratic, a haughty and foppish youth, ringletted and impassive. His stylish and expensive costume indicates, like the dramatic mountain view through the window (implying wider horizons), that he considers himself no mere limited provincial. What Durer insists on above all else is his dignity, and this was a quality that he allowed to others too.

This is Durer's first painted self portrait, dated 1493. It is the earliest known self portrait in European art produced as an independent painting (although earlier artists had sometimes portrayed themselves among figures in an altarpiece or fresco).

Durer inscribed at the top of the self portrait: "Things with me fare as ordained from above", a sign of his faith in God. His strong nose, heart-shaped upper lip and long neck are emphasized in the painting. Using a mirror, Durer obviously found it difficult to paint his hands and eyes, the two features which are always a challenge in a self portrait.

References:

1. Self-Portrait (Dürer, Munich), Bailey, Martin. Dürer. London: Phaidon Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7148-3334-7, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Portrait_(D%C3%BCrer,_Munich)#cite_note-B68-2

2. Renaissance, http://www.moodbook.com/history/renaissance/index.html

3. Gavin Turk, http://www.skny.com/artists/gavin-turk/

4. Self-Portrait at 26 (1498), http://www.moodbook.com/history/renaissance/durer-portraits.html#self-portrait-in-a-fur-collared-robe

Self-Portrait at 22 (1493), http://www.moodbook.com/history/renaissance/durer-portraits.html#self-portrait-in-a-fur-collared-robe

Barbara Kruger

After analyzing the 'I shop therefore I am' and 'Face It' images by Barbara Kruger the first thing we notice is the style is not much different from her other works. Both images are Two-tone images with overlaid captions. Also the captions are in 'Future bold oblique' font and typed over white which is usual in much of her work.

In 'I shop therefore I am' Barbara has used French philosopher Rene Descartes famous quote '"Cogito ergo sum' in a materialistic way. It simply means--A person is defined by not what they think, but what they own or wear. The captions in 'Face it' are self-explanatory and relates to 'I shop therefore I am'. If we read it in this way--'Face it! This luxurious garment won't make you rich or beautiful' .We need no more explication.

I think these images communicate theses ideas effectively. We should value the thoughts of people rather than their outlook or assets.


Mercantilism is a political and economic system that arose in the 17th and 18th centuries. It purports that a country's economic strength is directly related to the maintained  of a positive balance of trade. That is, in order to remain economically and politically viable a country must export more than it imports. Barbara's work also relates to consumerism and self-economic,which after country's economy.









Barbara Kruger(n.d), wikipedia the free encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/barbara-kruger. 


Mutis(n.d), what is the meaning of 'I shop therefore I am?' yahoo!Answers, answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090525205/55AAqYRNP


Mercantilism(n.d),Reference for business, www.renferencefor business.com/encyclopedia/Man-Mix/mercantilism.html.