Diego Chilo

Diego definitely has a different way of doing things. His works are generally very abstract in that they all don't really seem to be representing anything. They are very decorative and I would even go as far as to say that his work is more representative of him as an individual because of how it shows his personality. I really appreciate art that doesn't have a purpose. A lot of critics say that this kind of purposeless art misses the point of art. I however take up the position that art is in the eye of the beholder and if you see a meaning in it, then you've taken something away from it. That is exactly what happens when you see some of his work. Each of the pieces takes everyone into a different place and beckons towards different styles and settings. 

Diego Chilo

This is a good example of art that really doesn't emulate anything we've seen before. It is there for the purpose of being there and looking good. The translucent qualities of the glass used in this work make the overall style of this piece very appealing. Not only that, but the form of the curves that make up the majority of the piece are very beautiful in and of themselves. 

Diego Chilo

Again, Diego shows us another piece that really doesn't have a specific goal in mind. It is there because it is there. Not only that, but the medium and overall qualities of the piece are far different from the previous piece in a way that not many artists enjoy doing. What I mean is that many artists find their niche and stick within those boundaries but I enjoy seeing artists in their full spectrum. I think it actually humanizes them a little bit more for me in that I see their strengths and their weaknesses. 

William Strange

William is truly strange in the art world in that he doesn't use the typical mediums that other artists use. He is a carpenter and you can see that in his work because everything he makes is made of wood. Though he has many elements of a traditional carpenter, he is definitely an artist. You see he actually makes furniture like a conventional carpenter would. However, his furniture is far from conventional. often times you’ll find an odd number of legs on what would otherwise be a very nice table. Other times you will find he makes conventional furniture out of unconventional material. All in all, this guy is one of the most creative carpenters I’ve seen and I think that he elevates carpentry into an art.

William Stranger, 2009

This piece is pretty typical of Will in that it is bizarre for a furniture design. The fact of the matter is that many people would pay a lot of money to have something like this in their home. I would categorize this piece under the pop art category in that it has a cultural reference that is specific to our nation. 

William Stranger, 2009

This is another personality that is represented through Wills work. It definitely has a more rustic feel than the previous work. I think that the bowling table is a more modern approach to the table whereas this holds the original form of the wood so as to represent the wood more directly. Will tends to do this and I'm not sure if I like it. I tend to lean more towards the modern and sleek look whereas this gives off a more old-fashioned and weathered feeling. 

Joan Robey

Joan Robey is another one of those artists who I would classify as abstract, even though she often uses real objects in her sculptures. Often in her pieces, you will find beautiful curves and awkward (in a good way) arrangements of very standard shapes. She enjoys using wood and acrylic paint to create a sort of giant building block feel to her works which give off a sort of childish aura but at the same time are very modern and fancy-looking. Another common feature you will  find in her work is the way she plays with balance and gravity. Often times when she uses real  objects they aren’t put into positions that you would normally see them. In fact there are several of her pieces that look like they are frozen in mid-fall.

"Machine Series: Third Position" Joan Robey

This is a really good example of a piece that has motion without literally having motion. As you can see, the cylinder on the top looks as though it should just roll off which makes the fact that it isn't moving make all the more tension-inducing. I'd also like to point out the quality of the curve that is created by the wooden arc. I think that the choice of items that are included also give the piece a little bit of context which also defines the style of the piece as a whole. Compositionally, the piece is very well-orchestrated. 

"Congruity" Joan Robey

This is another good example of the structures that Joan creates and how they never really seem like they should stay upright. Nevertheless she does a really good job of creating a wonderful composition without sacrificing creativity. I also would like to point out the variation in color and how they all seem to really compliment each other very nicely. There are also small bits of writing on there that I would equate to a sort of graffiti that actually adds a different twist you don't normally see in her works. 

Chris Mason

Chris Mason likes playing with the human figure. Not only that, but he also like to play with the conventional poses that wee see too often in the art world. His sculptures of human figure are made out of a relatively thick wire that is continually twisted until it makes the desired shape. I really appreciate the amount of accuracy he puts into his works. If you notice, all of the figures are very abstract but at the same time have all the appropriate amounts of digits on their limbs. I would say that he also does a good job of expressing emotion through his figures without incorporating faces into the composition. Though this choice to not include faces makes the figures have a less obvious center of attention, they also force you to search for it elsewhere

"Climber-Aluminum" Chris Mason

This piece is exactly what was referring to in the text above. Not only does this play with the classical poses that so many other artists use, but through that and the material choice you really turn a classic figure sculpture into a very abstract and interesting modern piece. The texture that is created by the meshing and tangling of the wires is no doubt done on purpose and changes the way the piece is read from simply a figure to a more mechanical style. I also think that specific elements of it were done really strategically to create tension and stress the sort of hanging force such as the way the shoulders are oriented or the way the feet are bent.

"Rewired 14" 

There are some pretty obvious implications with this particular piece. Obviously, he is referring to Spider man in the pose, the proportions, and the way it clings to the wall. Again, there are similar qualities to the ones we saw before but what makes it different is the pose which again, is unconventional in that it makes a pop culture reference. I'd also like to point out the digits and how different the piece would be without including details such as that. 

William Leslie

William Leslie’s work reminds me a lot of the first project we did as a class. His work include mostly skeleton and skin-based projects that have light emanating from the center of the work. The translucent qualities of the material he uses to be the skin makes this choice to put light in the center very appealing. not only that but the forms he creates using a variety of different materials, but I would assume mostly wire, are both elegant and stylish. They remind me of sea shells in that they are very balanced would look good in the medium he chose and in a more ceramic medium. All in all, I think he does an excellent job of keeping his forms elegant and sleek while not putting too many twists and turns into them.

William Leslie

His process is as follows. He stars with strips of wood and bends them into an appealing shape such as the one above. After the wood has settled and the joints are secure, he then covers the strips of wood with different type of paper. He chooses the type of paper strategically so that only so much light can penetrate through. Lastly he coats the paper with a polyvinyl resin in order to really stress the tension on the paper so as not to have any slack in between the strips of wood. Finally he takes a regular old light bulb and uses the previously created structure as a lamp shade. William takes every opportunity to be creative in this process. He often changes things like the structure he is emulating, the number of light bulbs involved in the piece, and the color of the paper that is stretched. 

William Leslie

This is just another example of how he uses all of the variables possible to create different pieces. Not only would anyone want to see this piece in a gallery, but it would also make a very interesting thing to put inside your house. 

Junior Fritz Jaquet

This is another one of those artists who you know has spent hours upon hours perfecting his technique. Junior is a paper sculptor. He uses paper to make objects ranging from amazingly abstract lamps to little human figures. Junior is extremely talented at what he does because he doesn't necessarily make the cleanest of folds on his pieces but that only adds to the style that he is attempting to create. As for the lamps, When you add the element of light into a translucent medium such as paper, the outcome is marvelously coordinated gradients of faded color that ends up looks beautiful. 

Junior Fritz Jaquet

This is another work by Junior. These three faces, as well as many others, are made from empty rolls of toilet paper. Not only is it remarkable that he uses this medium, but he also manages to pack tons of personality and individuality into each one. I'd like to take a second to mention that these three in particular remind me of the three stooges. But seriously, these little caricatures manage to maintain all the elements of a real human face in that you can see the cheekbone structure and can almost imagine a real person who looks like that. 

Junior Fritz Jaquet

This is one of the lamps I mentioned earlier. As you can see, the addition of the light into the already beautiful form that he made out of the paper takes this sculpture to a whole new level. With the light carefully placed inside the form, you get to see how the light reacts to different angles of the structure. as the points get further away from the body, they seem to get more and more saturated by the blue color that the paper most likely was initially. 

Junior Fritz Jaquet

Here is an example of Junior doing more traditional origami-like work in which you can see his representation of a human figure holding up this twisted mess of what would appear to be branches. Now about the figure, it is obviously stylized to his particular taste and I really like how the joints are slightly larger to the point where it looks like they were meant to fold in that method. The bramble-like structure that is being held up by the figure ha a really nice texture to it that is most-likely being created by crumpling up the paper so that the folds sit on top of each other. I really think that he does a good job of developing his style in this piece. 

Vik Muniz

Vik is one of those artists who tries and experiments with a lot of different types of art. The one I find most out of the ordinary is the photographs of junk. The really cool thing I find about the majority of his work is the amount of color that you find in trash. There aren't only colors you would affiliate with garbage, the color brown comes to mind. Rather there are large explosions of color through the random pieces scattered through the maze of garbage he creates. I also like the idea of taking something no one cares about and turning it into something remarkable.

"Sisyphus After Titian" Vik Muniz, 2006

One thing I really should mention about his work is that he not only performs through the medium of trash and generic garbage, but he also recreates classic paintings and other older works of art. Following this trend, he names his pieces after the old ones but adds "pictures of junk" after so as to not impersonate people like Monet. Granted, I will say that the execution is a little off because there aren't many ways to create the effects of shading through the material he used but I still would say that the images he creates are awfully two-dimensional in comparison to other art being created. 

Vik Muniz, 2008

This is another example of him turning trash into treasure. Not only do these small children's toys allow for him to create a much more believable portrait because of the size of the toys. With the previous picture, you would often run into big blocks of color whereas in this, the toys act as an almost pixel-like item that allows for full control of the form that the toys take. Given that this medium is still very restricting in comparison to other mediums, i find that the execution of this piece is phenomenal. 

Theo Jansen

This guy blows my mind with the creations that he makes. All of his important work is kinetic sculpting and it all works on making what he calls "strand beests". These things aren't made to look like anything specific but the mechanics that goes behind them is remarkable. basically, they use the power of the wind pushing them along and the manner in which the joints are placed to create a continuous movement over land without the use of wheels. The end product is basically a giant walking pile of sticks.

Theo Jansen, 2010 

Now, they are all simply modifications of one another so I'm not going to go into detail about each and every one of them. However, I will talk about Theo as both an artist and an engineer. Theo is both because of the complexity of his creations as well as the beauty of his contraptions. In an interview, Theo claims that engineering and art are one in the same. He says that the only place that we differentiate between the two would be in our minds.

Theo Jansen, 2010 

Some of his creations are completely wind powered and harness the wind using these complicated and also kinetic sails on the top of them. Now, for each of them, the sail structure is different and that is where I think he gets a chance to express himself artistically through his machines. 

Theo Jansen, 2010

When I first saw these things moving around as if they were actually alive, I felt a little bit of fear in that they looked like giant spiders and glided over the ground in a both elegant and awkward way. It is hard to describe in words so i'm going to post a link to his video and website ar the end of this blog. actually, right now: http://www.strandbeest.com/

Andrew Matin

Andrew Martin more than anything else is a satirical sculptor. He takes the concept of the bust and turns it into something both informal and amazing at the same time. The majority of his work is done by creating molds and using the molds to make the final piece. His subject however is much different than that of any other sculptor I've seen. Apart from playing with the associations that come with making a bust of someone, he also enters some of his work in contests.

"Zombie" Andrew Martin, 2011

This piece is exactly what I was talking about. Andrew takes the classical concept of a bust and turns it into something a more modern audience can enjoy. Some characteristics of this piece that I think were very well done would be the texture of the skin and gore that comes with creating a zombie. Also, I think that the mastery of the human (or less than human) form is evident in this piece in that the facial expression of the figure is very accurate to that of a real person. 

"Tweedle Deedum" Andrew Martin, 2011

This piece is less satirical and more just an example of the style of sculpture that he likes to create. The story behind this sculpture is that he entered it into a contest held by deviant art in which you had to create a sculpture of a character from Alice in Wonderland that you think best represents yourself. Now, I don't know about any hidden messages inside the piece but I do appreciate the quality of the work. Not only is that texture still apparent in there, but the piece as a whole is accurate to the character in the story in that you can see the personality of the character through things like the posture and the facial expression.

"Mario" Andrew Martin, 2006

This is the part where I get a little depressed. This is a sculpture that he made when he was just starting to get into sculpture and art as a whole. The character is obvious and there really isn't a meaning behind the piece but what I really appreciate about this piece is the size of it. If you look at one of the pictures above, you will see that the sculpture is only about three inches tall. Now, if you take into account the amount of detail that is behind this, you can see why I would be depressed. Some people have to work hard to become good at what they do but this guy just comes in and does this on one of his first tries. ugh.

Jeremy Mayer

Jeremy is an expert of taking things apart and using the pieces to make something very special. His medium is old typewriters. His process is pretty much exactly what I just said, taking apart old typewriters and finding the form that is hidden inside them. This is why I chose to cover Jeremy. I really appreciate how he uses the material withing an already made object in order to take something that already works and change the purpose of it. Not only that, but I think that the way he arranges the parts often times is really engaging. 

"Cold Assembly" Jeremy Mayer, 1994

The cool thing about most of his pieces is that it looks like there is a possibility that is could work. It seems like if you had one of those old wind-up keys to plug into it, you could literally bring it to life. Features like the ears, eyes, and hip joints seem to infer that the old typewriter was really meant to represent a cat in the beginning and that is why i really like his works. You can almost seem the process of him seeing the pieces and relating them to a specific object. 

Jeremy Mayer, 1994

Again, this is one of his works where you can see that he found the pieces and immediately thought of a specific body part. Things like the old keys that make up the fingers seem to have really been created to be fingers of something but were accidentally put into a typewriter factory. There is one thing that I don't find appealing about this figure and that is the proportions. At this angle it seems as though the head is really too big. 

Tim Noble & Sue Webster

Tim and Sue are very good at what they do. They take something that people interact with everyday. Their work shows how complex shadows and light can be. I don't think they are trying to make a statement through their work, but if I had to search for one it would be that we shouldn't take things for granted. Even the light that we use every day is given to us.

Tim Noble & Sue Webster, 2008

This piece is really remarkable. What i find really cool is that they took simple blocks that small children would use to play with and made something that most people can't make with the best of tools. I also think that the way they showed the human figure to such a believable standard using straight lines rather than a curved and fluid form that more closely represents the human figure. 

Tim Noble & Sue Webster, 2008

This piece has so much personality. Not only does it take something else we take for granted and make it more significant, the luxury of paper, but it also shows individual characters in each piece. you almost get a sense that the faces are going to turn around and start talking to one another. I'd also like to point out the variation of color which further separates the faces into groups. This brings me to the possibility that the message of this piece is different from the rest in that it shows a variety of facial structures and a variety of colors but they are being separated by the space in between them. They sort of cling to their individual identities which makes the piece more about making a statement on society and how we draw lines instead of erasing them. 

Tsang Cheung-shing

Tsang Cheung-shing is a ceramic art tutor and product designer. He demonstrates his mastery of the ceramic arts in many  ways and we can see his level of expertise through his work. He does a very good job keeping is figures accurate but at the same time, you can tell that if he wanted to. What i find really very interesting about his style is the way he represents water and the fluid qualities that are in his pieces even though the medium would suggest otherwise. I tend to really lean towards abstract art. Not only do abstract pieces really allow you to see how the artist views the world but they tend to question how I view the world.

"the Kiss:" Tsang Cheung-shing, 2007

This piece is very interesting in that it has both very appealing visual qualities and it illustrates a very common concept. Tsang made this sculpture to illustrate the moment when two people become married. This sculpture illustrates the combination of two lives that occurs when two people commit their lives to each other. Not only this, but it shows a very cool moment not only with the kiss, but in the pouring of the water. The piece as a whole has a very epic quality to it in that it represents a very giant moment in a person's life.

"Splash" Tsand Cheung-shing, 2007

Tsang Shows his mastery of the fluid form and the ceramic medium through this piece. The overall form of the sculpture is a water droplet. He continues with the previous theme of abstract art involving elements of the human form and water. The execution is phenomenal and the legs are very realistic which makes the piece in and of itself all the more interesting.

"Karma" Tsang Cheung-shing, 2006

I don't know the story behind this piece but I do appreciate the qualities of the piece as a whole. The piece shows a step-by-step process of how a water droplet impacts a surface. The addition of the color red gives the piece a more negative and morbid tone that completely changes the meaning of the piece to someone who doesn't know the back-story. 

Carl Jara

I’ve seen and made some pretty cool sand sculptures in my eighteen years but none of them compare to what Carl Jara does with this popular material. Carl takes a simple medium and brings it close to high art sculpting with marble. Many of Carl’s works seem to defy gravity in that they don’t look like they should be standing. Much of Carl’s work is very abstract. What I really appreciate about his sand art is that he represents the human form in a manner that you’d think he started out with a solid block of stone. the sad thing about working with this material is that it’s form is beautiful for now but not permanent. just like everyone else’s sand castles, his too will be washed away.

Carl Jara, 2008

This piece is very interesting in that it illustrates Carl's mastery of the human form in a manner that he can represent it abstractly while making the outermost figure realistic. Proportion and posture aren't sacrificed even though one would think it would have to be considering the material. most people can't make a sandcastle half that height but Carl manages to pull it off while making the shape really appealing.

"We Can't All Be Angels" Carl Jara, 2005

This piece has a lot of very well-done aspects about it. Not only are the feathers and hair of the angel way better than one would think sand could pull off but he also manages to create a very smooth skin texture that complements it very nicely. I also think that compositionally, this couldn't get much better. "There's only so much you can do with sand" is broken by this and many of Carl's other works. 

Dentsu London

Dentsu London is one of the most up-to-date artists I’ve ever seen. This is because hi material that he uses is light generated by an iPad. Through a very complicated process of creating digital 3d images and using the iPad to simulate them in space, as well as an HD camera to capture the frames on the screen. The end product is this hologram-like clip of stopmotion-like video that can be accurately placed into a space including being placed behind different translucent surfaces and still being able to see the light. Basically, it takes what we’ve seen video editors do on a computer and translates it into something that a designer or artist can do without having to know how to use complicated programs. Apart fro being on the cutting edge of the video world, Dentsu also is a moderately-skilled photographer. I say moderately-skilled because for the most part, the things that he has done have been done by a select few others. This isn’t to say that his work isn’t any less impressive, but rather that he wasn’t the one who innovated it. Basically he has worked on a pretty good method of capturing liquid collisions in a beautiful manner that actually landed him a lot of money from our friends at Hewlett Packard.

Dentsu London, 2011

This work is very interesting in that it is a style that very few people can create apart from Photoshop, which he doesn't use. I really appreciate the amount of time that it took to move the ipad back and forth along the same path to create a stopmotion-like effect for a still shot. 

Dentsu London, 2011

This photo was pretty simple to take. Basically, he put several drops of paint on a speaker and then proceeded to send a single loud sound through the speaker. The vibrations from the speaker cause the little bit of paint on the speaker to jump up for a second or two. What I really appreciate about this piece is that all of the colors are strategically chosen to make the piece very visually interesting. This shot in particular has a very nice triangular composition.

Andrew Chase

When I first saw some of Andrew’s work, my mind immediately jumped to steam punk and things of that similar style. Andrews works are very mechanical in nature because they are made out of metallic pieces and because they actually are moving. Andrew takes a simple concept of beautiful creatures and turns it into something much more than that. The animals that he makes are remarkably realistic considering that he had to design the form himself. They defenitely can be interpreted in many ways because the concept of turning something found in nature generally is a criticism of modern innovation creating unnatural beings. however, I tend to lean more towards the opinion that his work is created the way it is because that is what the artist liked. The feature that really catches my eye was ironically the eyes of the animals. They all light up and are one of the first things you notice about the sculpture.

Andrew Chase, 2011

This particular piece is very interesting. It's pretty obvious what it is supposed to represent but I think that the combination of textures, types of metalwork, and the green eyes. Again, this is fully mobile and actually demonstrates its movement by picking up a large metal pipe. 

Andrew Chase, 2011

This is another very interesting piece. I think that the joints on this cat are what make this distinctly a different piece from the elephant. Another thing that makes this piece different is the type of movement that this piece involves. It can do nearly everything the real thing can.

Andrew Chase, 2011

This is yet another way that Andrew shows how internal processes work inside real things. He cleverly uses hydraulics in order to show how internal mechanics of the real thing work.

Harmony Hammond

Harmony Hammond is a very prominent feminist as well as an artist. Much of her work revolves around a combination of sculpture and painting. The majority if not all of her pieces are very intricate and well-made. They all seem to have very good craftsmanship. Her choice of materials is pretty unique in that she goes out into wreckages of old farm houses and finds scraps that she then uses in her works. One could see her pieces as having a certain archaeological feel to them in that their appearance beckons to a different time and place than most are accustomed to.

Harmony Hammond, Suture 2002

This is an excellent example of Harmony's style that she commonly creates in her pieces. both of the panels have their own texture and color which allows for this piece to be read pretty openly. You can see the piece of roofing material she used in the piece. Not only do the colors in the rust compliment the colors on the two panels but they also allude to a very rural setting that is common in her pieces. 

Harmony Hammond, Floor Piece V 1977

This floor piece is a really good example of Harmony's technical skills. Not only do I believe that she had full creative control in the design of this, but also that she did an excellent job of coordinating composition to create a good looking piece. This brings me to my last topic about harmony. This piece lacks something that the majority of her pieces have, which is a message. I really appreciate the fact that this piece isn't making a stand on an issue that divides people. Harmony tends to take moral stands in her work when I think her art is more appealing without the hidden messages. 

Here is where I get on my soap box. As I said before, I think that too many artists abuse their role as an artists to protest issues that open them up to criticism. Too often does this concept of expressing personal innuendos through art turn people away from art completely. I think that artists should strive to use creativity to advance art forward instead of making another one-sided painting that divides people. 

Nathan Sawaya

Nathan is another one of those artists who takes something that we all know and love and makes it extraordinary. His material however was actually designed for being creative. Legos allow for him to create a sturdy structure while creating a style specific to him. The variety of colors also allow for each of his pieces to have different personalities even when some of them incorporate the same facial or bodily structure. The majority of his works incorporate the human body in one way or another. This leads me to a criticism of him which is that it seems like once you've created a figure, you now have the blueprints to creating another. One of the ways that Nathan overcomes this criticism is by creating figures in different poses, and in the process changing the blueprint of where the individual blocks go.Another criticism that I have personally is that he isn't very creative in naming his pieces. Generally, they are simply named the color of block he uses. Though this was probably an artistic choice on his part to allow people to analyze the piece without outside preconceptions, I feel that, rather than being artistic, it communicates that he didn't take the time to assign a purpose to each of his pieces.

"Yellow". 2006 Nathan Sawaya

This piece is very interesting in that it uses two different techniques in placement for the legos. Not only that, but the form itself is very well-executed. The overall concept of the piece is also very intriguing. There both is an attempt at realism and there isn't. It is realism in that the form is as exact as the medium allows. However it is pretty obviously fictional in that the chest cavity of the figure is being ripped open. In this way, I really think that Nathan enjoys playing with reality. The medium is actually really fitting for this purpose as well. It gives the piece a sort of childish feel as if a child has created the piece. Thats not to say that it is poorly done, but that the medium is most commonly used in the context of children. 

"Green". 2008 Nathan Sawaya

This is yet another example of Nathan playing with reality through the use of legos. Again, the preciseness of the figure is remarkable, especially within the context of the rigid blocks. One thing that he did differently with this piece was create a much more surprised expression on the face of the figure. All of the different elements of the piece, meaning the color, the stance that the figure is in, and the face point to this emotion of being surprised or almost disgusted. 

"Grey". 2006 Nathan Sawaya

I hope you have noticed a trend here with his pieces. The major difference here is that the full figure isn't incorporated into the piece. Not only that, but he also plays with scale in the piece making the face much bigger than an actual one. One thing I really appreciate about this sculpture is that it gives the impression of the box being hollow. I also really like the shine that the darker blocks give to the flat exterior of the box. The scale that he used also allows for him to add a significantly larger amount of detail. 

Janine Antoni

Janine Antoni is a very unique artist. During a few of the interviews we've seen during class, she has described her creative process as her seeing something that interests her, learning and mastering the technique, and finally making a sculpture or performance in response to that. What i really appreciate about her as an artist is how she doesn't seem to recognize that she has limits. If she sees something that she likes, she goes out and does it without question of her capabilities. The cool thing about the few pieces seen in class is how related they are to each other. She was almost telling a story of how she learned to do this through her end product. I also really like how she incorporates pieces of her life into her works. It makes the work that much more personal.

"Moor". 2001 Janine Antoni

This piece was a response to her wanting to learn how to make rope. Therefore, she went out and learned how. The piece is a long rope made out of a variety of different patterned and textured cloth, as well as many other random materials specific to her. She also made the piece really personal and specific to her by adding in materials from her life such as her old clothes or donations from people she knew. Not only is the piece very special in that no one could make one exactly like her's, but it is also remarkably well done considering that this is one of her first attempts to make a rope out of anything. 

"Touch". 2002 Janine Antoni

This is a theatrical piece that was performed in response to her learning to walk a tightrope which was in response to her learning to make a rope. The purpose of the piece was to illustrate a desire she had to walk on the horizon. The piece was performed by stringing a tightrope across two tractors. She made the piece all the more specific to Janine by having this piece take place in front of her old house in the Bahamas. 

"Saddle". 2000 Janine Antoni

This piece was about her connecting with something that people take advantage of almost every day. The material was rawhide from a cow and was draped over her and hardened to form what she calls a "ghost" of herself. All of the folds and creases are placed specifically by her. The structure created by the hide  and isn't held up[ by anything but the stiffness of the hide itself. What I find interesting is how she almost puts herself in the same posture as a cow would be.

Pawel Kuczynski

Pawel Kuczynski is a polish artist whose work mainly revolves around satirical two-dimensional pieces often commenting in some way on modern culture. His pieces make you think about why we do things as a culture as well as other hot topic issues. Though his pieces aren't meant to be seen as realistic in the slightest, they are meant to be seen as his imagination placed in everyday issues that our society has. 

"Cleaner". Pawel Kuczynski

The piece above is very typical of most of his designs. Not too much of an attempt towards realism. In a way, the piece is very cartoon-like in that the figures aren't given too much detail as well as the clouds aren't convincing enough to be seen as real but nevertheless, his work is more about what the piece is trying to communicate. The concepts themselves are a little bit naive as well. The point of the piece isn't about reality but is more like a "what if we could" statement. What this piece communicates to me is centered around the green movement and how we as a culture are growing more and more conscious about how we affect the world around us. As a result, people make an effort to reduce  pollution which I believe is what is being depicted. 

"Cell Phone" Pawel Kuczynski

This piece is rare in that it shows a more positive situation depending on the way you think of it. In the foreground you have this very realistic cell phone filled with an almost pixel-like texture. The entire piece has this almost computer screen texture to it. the cell phone represents modern technology and how it is always moving forward and becoming more and more advanced. In the background you have the decaying, old technology that is no longer useful. The rest of the piece is purely purposed for the more somber side of the piece in that the silhouetted birds are now without telephone lines to perch upon. This is more of the theme of satire that we see in all of his works. 

"Wedding". Pawel Kuczynski

The same theme applies to this piece as well although in a much less surreal manner. This work has a slightly more realistic feel to it than the others in that something that is impossible isn't being represented here. Again, the underlying meaning behind the piece is what matters more here than the realism. On the left is a very idealized wedding scene that shows the happy couple but on the right, it shows a more serious take on the situation. The piece's title is deceiving in the the term "wedding" has a happy connotation but at the same time, there is this concept of starvation and poverty that is thrown into the mix. 

Reuben Margolin

Artists take many different approaches to coming up with different designs. Some artists use the ordinary and turn it into something extraordinary. Reuben Margolin is no exception to that concept. Reuben is a Kinetic sculpture meaning that his works move. What is interesting about how he comes up with designs is that he simply recognizes the amount of math that we constantly interact with. Almost all of his work is based off of mathematical equations and are designed to make you think of something you interact with or see on a daily basis. Most of his work is made by timing pulleys connected to wire in order to have the pieces move in a perfect, mathematically-sound motion. The way that his pieces hang from the ceiling and also move is very surreal. 

"Round Wave". 2005 Reuben Margolin

This work was inspired by the concept of a drop of water and the math that is behind all of the ripples that the impact creates. Though this sculpture doesn't look like the impact of a drop of water, the motion that it was adds a sort of realism that couldn't be instilled into the work without motion. the use of simple materials also allows for the viewer to use his imagination in the work. I also appreciate how he decided not to use planes to connect the circles but rather left them to be independent of one another. Though this decision was probably made for the sake of function, it also sets it apart from directly representing a drop of water but rather representing the math that is behind the drop of water. 

"Square Wave". 2005 Reuben Margolin

The work above is another by Reuben. Rather than a single drop of water however, this is a more mathematical design. The fluidity created by this square wave is seen in real life in any number of areas, from water to an open field with a strong breeze. The wind was his inspiration for this particular piece. This kinetic sculpture illustrates an excellent use of line without plane. The material he used for this was wooden dowels and joints. The motion for this sculpture is created by a system of pulleys that are timed to give it a sort of flowing design. I really like how he took something so solid as wood is and created a fluid curvilinear feel to the piece. 

"Hexagonal Wave". 2008 Reuben Margolin

The picture above is a closeup of a section of the hexagonal wave sculpture. This is almost a fusion of the previous two having been made by wooden dowels and joints but at the same time exhibiting a circular wave that would be seen in the round wave sculpture. While this sculpture exhibits characteristics of the previous two, it creates its own identity by how it moves and the emotion that is given off by the piece. It has a very calming and serene aura about it mostly because of the speed at which it moves but also how the shape resolves itself over and over.