"Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary"

The given name "Tentative de I'impossible" refers to attempting the impossible. The man in the suit in this painting seems to be attempting what's impossible, where by painting a woman she'll come to life.  He paints her as if she was right in front of him. These two figures are often identified as Magritte himself and his wife, Georgette.In this painting, Magritte shows what a painter does is simply apply paint by using the man in the suit as an example. Magritte might have had the idea of painting of what he sees a woman would appear as or what he finds a "perfect" woman to look like, therefore the man in the suit is painting a figure of that "perfect" woman. The term "perfect" woman I refer to the woman the man in the suit wants to marry and live the rest of his life with. Also, I feel Magritte stresses the use of oil paintings on this art work. 




René Magritte
"Tentative de I'impossible"
Oil on canvas
1928

“Design in Our Lives”

Ergonomics is the study of functionality in design. Art designs are upon our daily routines; from the alarm clock stricking in the morning to when it's time to call a night and go to sleep. Our style from what clothing we wear, what materials we use, the type of food we consume, and the space we occupy. At the MOMA's design exhibits, I approached two works that have "high functionality" and two other works that have "low functionality".

   

"Coffee Table" 

Coffee Tables are found in any type of offices.  Coffee itself is something we can't escape from and although this design was created in the 1950s I believe it has a "high functionality" because it's something that takes up space and that we tend to use in our daily lives. There are different types of versions of coffee tables. Starbucks and Caribou Coffee are famous for their coffee, they both have different types of coffee tables. Are you interested in getting a free coffee? Well your out of luck because "National Coffee Day" was on September 29th. Better luck next year.

"Bed Cover"

A bed cover is a decorative cover for a bed. I would say this work has a "high functionality" because it is something we still tent to use. Although this "bed cover" is plain there are various of designs a bed cover could have. It's a blanket in which we keep ourselves warm. 

"Buzzcocks, Orgasm Addict"

This poster was created in 1977, it is a lithograph, and I chose this work in particularly because I see it unnatural for their to be an iron to dry clothes to resemble a face. Don't forget about the mouths and the fact that "woman" is naked. I would say this work has a "low functionality" because it is something we don't tend to see at all. Despite how well it captured my eyes towards the image, its text is odd by the way its presented and the colors used for the overall.

"Olivetti"

This work consists of a woman wearing a hat and her palms are on top of a typewriter. I would say this work has a "low functionality" because it's something we no longer use, we upgraded to computers, laptops, ipads, and mobiles. As for the hat I believe its still in stock yet I haven't seen anyone wear them but in movies where the actors wore huge hats for sun protection. Being in movies is not something that is daily for certain class of actors.

In conclusion, my "high functionality" objects can be found in a household  while my "low functionality" objects are outdated and would be difficult to find. To make my "low functionality" objects more ergonomic I would say to replace the typewriter with a laptop or computer and the woman's hat, in order to be up to date. In my opinion I would say an object doesn't need to be "highly functional" to be considered a good design because it's all up to the art appreciator and their style. Art and design aren't always two separate ideas, they are both considered to be works of art.

Sources:

Florence Knoji

"Coffee Table"

Rosewood and chrome-plated metal

1954

Lilly Reich

"Bed Cover from the Philip Johnson Apartment"

Wild silk

1933

Malcolm Garrett

"Buzzcocks, Orgasm Addict"

Litograph

1977

Xanti Schawinsky

"Olivetti"

Offset litograph

1934

“Illustrate a Story”

This story is about a teenage boy, Samuel, who came up to his mother and confessed to her he's gay. Samuel states, "you feel like being gay is a virus", and he's doomed, so he decides to believe it'll be easy for him to pretend he's straight. His mother, Connie, blamed her self because she didn't know how to raise a child and she's a single mother. Also the fact that there was no man around the house to be an influence to Samuel. She believed his life would be terrible because of her. Connie made an attempt to "fix" Samuel, by him going through therapy.  The struggle they go through to open up to each other came to an end at their home one day. Samuel realized it was important for his mother to accept him by a magnet on the fridge with a rainbow heart, "love is spoken here". Connie admits her child is gay and apologizes for her behavior. Samuel admitted he forgave his mother and was grateful. I made a drawing based on the obstacles of Samuel and Connie in which they went through. I used pink as the background, butterflies, stars and bright colors to represent gay pride. I chose to draw out the magnet in Connie's house to represent the love for one another at the end of the day. I drew out icons to symbolize viruses, gay couples, hearts, flowers, smiling face, lips, stars, and of course Samuel and Connie. Also, I drew text bubbles to represent what was going on through their minds.

“You feel like being gay is like a virus.”

When he was 15, Samuel Taylor came out to his mother, Connie Casey... 

Recorded in Painesville, Ohio

http://storycorps.org/listen/samuel-taylor-and-connie-casey/ 

“Chelsea Galleries Reaction”

I would say out of the few galleries I visited, the Paula Cooper Gallery was my favorite of all. At first I thought it was going to be just like every other gallery, where I didn’t find much interesting but I was wrong. At that moment I was certain that I was hungry because I looked at a painting, “Squiggly Brushstrokes”, Sol LeWitt, as gummy worms, and I love gummy worms. The colors used and how the lines curved at certain places made me think that way. In another room was where I found the “Wall Drawing #564”, the place was big and because it was big I already wanted a place like that to be my bedroom. Over five years ago I moved to a different place, still in the same neighborhood but it took me almost three years to actually settle down and make my bedroom feel like home. I used different colors, designs, and objects.  The “Wall Drawing #564”, left me staring at all the colors, as well as how some lines extended onto another canvas. I would definitely invest in it and display it at home, while attempting to create the same feeling that it gave me at the gallery. In addition, I found out the “Wall Drawing #564” is worth $1.6 billion.  

I disliked the Elizabeth Dee Gallery/Post Culture for several of reasons. For one, I didn’t find absolutely anything that I enjoyed gazing at. “Mostly that your face is like the sky behind the Holiday Inn”, Gabriele Beveridge, a piece of art work consists of a window blind and a frame of a woman and this provoked the word “garbage” to cross through my thoughts. The window blind seemed to be broken and either way I don’t know the woman in the frame to be thinking of purchasing it. It probably took Gabriele three minutes to create this piece. Julia Wachtel’s art work; “Doughnutville”, is based on two colors and a face of a man on a canvas, which only left me wondering it must have took her less than ten minutes to create this piece. Another thing I noticed, right at the moment when I set a foot in this gallery I wanted to leave right away because I felt all those art works weren’t good enough to be bought or be displayed. I'll rather invest in something that actually seems as if the artist took their time to create their art work.

Sol LeWitt

“Squiggly Brushstrokes”

1996

Sol LeWitt

“Wall Drawing #564”

1988

 Gabriele Beveridge

“Mostly that your face is like the sky behind the Holiday Inn”

2013

Julia Wachtel

“Doughnutville”

1992

“Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art”

In the following three paintings, each one resembles personal, cultural or historical identity. These artists use symbols, such as motion, buildings, statues, and flowers to provide the observer an idea of the painting by analyzing it instead of reading its title or text. I personally would say two of these paintings have a positive view but one has a negative view.

 “Dance (I)” I would identify it by cultural because the title says it all, dance, or should I say dancing. It’s among us and every culture. There are different types in each race. It has a history as well. This painting shows us motion, not only by holding hands and how their arms bend but also how the bodies are positioned and a wavy line that crosses from one side of the painting towards the other side. By holding hands I believe it resembles as they are joined as one, therefore, I say it’s cultural. Due to its title and purpose, I believe that is the reason why the artist didn’t use a lot of colors.

 “Family Portrait, II”, I would identify it by personal, it’s a portrait of Stettheimer’s family. She managed a salon in New York City, where she exhibited her work and shared her poems. She has an image of herself, her sisters, which were assistance of hers, and her mother. She has the GE building; 30 Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and the Statue of Liberty. She uses light colors, such as blue for the background, red, pink, and gold.

 “Collective Suicide”, I would identify it by historical. This is a vision to Siqueiros of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. In this painting, Siqueiros shows us Spanish troops riding horses, statue broken, and people in chains or covered in blood in order to avoid slavery. This painting is barbarous. Siqueiros shows a lot of details not only with the colors but its texture and motif.

In conclusion, these three paintings show a lot about the artist based on their perspective and style. They were all done in the same time period. The use of colors and texture informs the observer a lot. I believe each of the paintings has a title that basically gives away the meaning of it. Either way, I enjoyed the different qualities these paintings show.

Henri Matisse

“Dance (I)”

Oil on canvas

1909

Florine Stettheimer

“Family Portrait, II”

Oil on canvas in artist’s frame

1933

David Alfaro Siqueiros

“Collective Suicide”

Lacquer on wood with applied sections

1936