An Artist's Point of View

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884.

I chose this video simply because it is one of my favorite paintings. I think the style is mind-blowing because I can’t imagine the patience require to use pointillism to create an image much less than one of its size.

Georges Seurat is the artist of this painting.

1. It began as an experiment and wound up an obsession.
2. To this day, no one is positive what it is about. The people don’t make sense nor do the proportions.
3. There’s forty eight total people in the painting.
4. There’s a monkey on a leash that is questionable. Some suggest that it could mean the term known as, “monkey business”.
5. There’s only one photograph of the artist, Seurat. He was known for being a very strange man.
6. Pointillism is the term given to the technique that Seurat used. More simply put, it is the use of individual dots to create a piece.
7. He spent 6 months visiting the same island from the same vantage point to study the surroundings.
8. He didn’t just use dots but also dashes and verticals and horizontals.

This video relates to several different chapters in the text. It covers style, technique, color, interpretation, and the mind of the artist.

I thought the film was excellent although I was a little disappointed to hear Georges Seurat wasn’t mentally all there. It makes sense though that a technique such as Pointillism would first begin as an experiment and then suddenly become an obsession. It seems like the type of work to take over ones life.

Dada and Surrealism

I chose this film because I wanted to know more about it. Prior to this chapter, I had not heard of the term “Dada”, although the category of work it covers seemed relatively familiar.

Schwitters

1. He was known for making collages.
2. He collected fragments of WWII to use in his creations.
3. The use of old items opened up art on a new level.
4. Often used the term, “Merz”, and even created a magazine called that.
5. In 1933 he was forced to leave Germany by the Nazi’s but this helped to mold his persona.

Hoch

1. Dada meant, “yes, yes” in Russian.
2. Hoch used Dada as a “weapon” to act out.
3. She used political and business figures to revolt and to create characters mocking them.
4. She was ruthless and spared no one “neither friend or foe”.

This movie wasn’t as exciting as the first one. I was hoping to see several different examples of work rather than just two. It didn’t provide me with any additional knowledge of Dada and Surrealism than the book already had explained. It could also be because I don’t think I care for this style too much. I feel like the work created is so negative and is done strictly to destroy the reputation of others. It’s definitely personal preference.