Non-Westren 2

I wanted to do something different for this blog. Like my costume blog I wanted to step away from the norm and venture into new waters for myself. Paintings and sculptures and other forms of art from around the world are amazing. It is fun to see how art in other country’s is not just an expression of one’s self but yet an expression of their entire culture. I am drawn to the art of China; their work seems to have a great deal of peace and happiness to it even though throughout the years in which we see this work China was at war. Massive and brutal battles between the peoples of eastern Asia over control of land and government, which lead to fourteen different dynasties; and for this blog I move away from art work on paper and step to the art work of war.

The Great Wall of China

A master architect, like ones we might have encountered in the Northern Renaissance or the Classical period, did not build the Great Wall of China. In a time of war, soldiers and men would have work around the clock to build and fortify such a structure to protect themselves, their families and the country. There can be a lot of confusion over the wall itself, I myself felt a bit betrayed by my high school history teachers when I found out that the great wall that stands today is not the original. In fact the original was built during the Ch’in dynasty from 221- 206 B.C. as a way to protect the smaller states of China from each other. Then after the Han Dynasty took over a massive wall was build to protect the northern board from invasion. Over the years these walls have been eroded away to almost nothing.

Han Dynasty, Great Wall

Over the years other walls were built, but it was not until the Ming dynasty when the great wall saw a total rebirth. The wall that we know today if from the Ming and it played a huge part in the defense of the dynasty. The great wall was used in the Battle of Tumu, but it failed the Ming, as they could not hold back the surging Mongol warriors. After the battle the Ming decided to refortify the walls with brick instead of “rammed” earth, which was used previously. Then another shocking idea was also decided, the Ming chose to change where the wall was going to have its most effect. Prior to the Ming the wall was placed close to central parts of the empire. This time the Ming decided to move the wall away from these populated areas and out to the edge of the empire itself. With Beijing being an exception to this they decided to triple reinforce the wall there. The wall protected the Ming trough many battles including an attack by the Manchu in 1600 A.D.; it was not until 1644 A.D. when the wall failed to protect the Ming as Manchu advanced into Beijing and quickly overthrow the empire and formed the new Quin Dynasty. The Quin quickly pushed the Mongolian resistance out of China an all-future construction of the wall was halted.

Walls over the Dynasties, Click to Enlarge

The wall that we all know today goes from Shanhaiguan to Lop Nur an amazing 5,000 miles. I choose this master of engineering because it was not something that was built to look at and admire, it was built out on necessity without any clue on how important it was to become. The Chinese amaze me, their culture and their sense of art is great. I could have sat here and wrote a dissertation on the Great Wall of China, that is how extensive and involved its history is. I felt that wall deserved at least a small blog in this class to show my aesthetic appreciation for the people and art of China as a whole. Because show one’s love for the Great Wall of China was, and what it stood and fell for is showing respect to the entire culture.

“The Great Wall of China” Wikipedia. 13 April 2010. Web 23 April. 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GreatWallOfHanDynasty.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GreatWall_2004_Summer_1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Great_Wall_of_China.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20090529_Great_Wall_8185.jpg

Non-Westren 1

"Planting Chrysanthemums", Ming Dynasty

Lu Zhi did this painting, “Planting Chrysanthemums”, during the Ming Dynasty. Lu Zhi was a painter, calligrapher and a poet who specialized in landscapes. Zhi studied under Wen Zhengming, a Ming Dynasty art scholar, until the death of his father. At that point he worked selling his paintings to support his family. After his retirement he moved into the mountains to live alone. There he continued to paint and write poems in his own personal utopia of flowers. This painting tells an amazing story. It is said that this painting was a gift from Lu Zhi to Tao Qian. Which seems odd to me, because these two men lived in two different dynasty periods, Zhi from Ming and Qian from Han. I am not quit so of the time frame between the two. Both men were poets, and it is believed that in the painting Zhi is referring to Qian famous poem “Peach Blossom Spring” were Qian talks about finding a utopia. The poem on the painting reads:

I hear you have opened up a “Dao path” near the ocean,

Where clouds of leaves and frost-covered flowers vie in wondrous splendor.

I too have built a new residence at Zhixing Mountain,

May I share some of your autumn colors on my eastern hedge.

Enlightenment seems to be the idea hear. A Dao path is something you cannot seek out and find with your eyes. It has to be seen from within, when peace with one self has been accomplished. Zhi being secluded from the rest of the would have had a better chance to seek peace with himself and reach down into soul to find the inspiration needed to complete his work. The picture shows a house along a path in the mountains, at the house there are two people working on flowers, ironic since Zhi lived alone. Maybe he was picturing Qian joining him in his actual utopia, because unlike Qian imaginary world, Zhi has in fact created a utopia all on his own. Just a side note: Chrysanthemum greens would be used in Chinese cooking, while the flower would be brewed to make a tea.

This painting in my opinion is amazing. I personally am not into art enough to say that I am a buff or know more then someone else. What I do know is that this painting has a lot more depth and heart to it then most of the other work we have seen. While most of the work is to serve other purposes, Zhi’s work serves only himself. You can feel the peace that this man had just by seeing how peaceful this painting is. The poem as well is not dark and morbid, it is calm and inviting and full of personal joy.

“Lu Zhi: Planting Chrysanthemums (1986.266.3)”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1986.266.3 (October 2006)

Visual Exhibit

What is art? I have been asking myself this question ever since we reached the Impressionist era. It seems to me that art is in the eye of the beholder, just as one might say about beauty. So how do we judge exactly who is right and who is wrong when it comes to artwork. Then how does my personal opinion about a certain piece of work become any more or less important then the next persons? I wanted this blog to be about something different, something artistic that some may not always consider art, but in fact it is just as artsy as paintings, sculptures, drawings and so on. I found this assignment to be a lot harder, a least for me, then what I though it was going to be. At first I wanted to do comics but quickly realized as an English major my interest in comics is based on the writing and not so much the art. Then I wanted to do it on artists that draw fighter jets, such as the: F-16, F-22, and F18. Again I was stopped to lack of information, then I saw the blog that Chelsea Wilkes did on Cirque de Soleil, and I was inspired, this is my blog.

The Art of Costume, Hollywood Style

The first artist in this visual display is Stan Winston. He started his career in the 1960’s after graduating from the University of Virginia. Several failed attempts to become an actor lead Stan to follow his college career path and take up a makeup job at the Disney Studios. In 1972 Stan Winston opened his own company known as Stan Winston Studios. He became extremely successful in the world of visual arts, makeup and costume design. He has collaborated and worked on 57 different movies with directors, which include Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. Some of his most famous movies include: Aliens, Predator, all of the Terminators, all of the Jurassic Parks and Iron Man. He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards and has won three for: Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park. Stan Winston died on June 15^th 2008 from multiple myeloma and even after his death his amazing work continues on as his studio works on new movies which include G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and Avatar.

Alien Costume from Aliens, 1986

Aliens was the sequel to Ridley Scott’s hit movie Alien. In 1986 James Cameron new that a new costume for the Alien was needed, but yet it still had to maintain the concept of getting into it. A wearable suit rather then a computer-generated image would make the movie feel more real. Stan Winston was the man for the job. After working on a mock-up of the Alien queen for Cameron in the studios back lot, Stan impressed Cameron with a new Alien made of foam and trash bags. Right way Cameron approved and Stan went to work designing the Aliens and the Queen for the new movie. As seen in this picture you can see how it is a suit that is warn and the actor which allowed the actor to walk and move just like normal. This made the Aliens look quit scary especially when you saw them coming at the actors. Stan won an Academy Award for his work on this movie. This costume is only one of many amazing feats of artwork in costume design in Hollywood today.

Predator Costume form Predator, 1987

After Aliens Stan went on to work with director John McTiernan in the movie Predator. The Predator like the Alien has become a well know visual icon of American Sci-fi movies. This costume unlike the Alien suit was extremely difficult to put on and took almost three hours. The suit was made up of individual parts, which included: feet, hands, chest and back plates and a molded face mask. The skin was spray painted the color of the Predator and the miscellaneous accessories were added later. There was also animatronics in the facemask to make the face movements. Unlike other suits the original Predator had one major flaw, no eyeholes. The actor Kevin Peter Hall had to memorize his scenes and then do them blindly. I would say he did a good job after watching the movie but lead character Dutch, Arnold Schwarzenegger, comments that he was slapped several times by the blinded Hall. Today, the Predator has evolved with the Alien and there are several new movies in which the costumes have change yet again. The Academy nominated Stan Winston for Predator but he did not win. He will always be known as the creator of this amazing costume.

Full Costume Iron Man from Iron Man, 2008

These days there is a constant battle between what is real and what is not in movies. Half of the time we could be watching a “cartoon” without even knowing it. Iron Man director Jon Favreau was aware of this and did not want visual effects and real costumes to clash when they transitioned in the movie. He turned to Stan Wilson to help him with his problem. What resulted was a great deal of computer-generated Iron Mans but when it was time to see Iron Man up close Stan created several metal and rubber armor configurations. These suits would allow actor Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man, to wear a body suit that was iconic of what Iron Man looked like. The suit and the CG worked fluidly together, I in fact thought that all of the Iron Man scenes were done through the use of CG, after finding out there was a suit, I appreciated the time and effort that Favreau and Wilson put into visual effects of the movie. Winston died shortly after the movie was released and after receiving an award from Spike TV Favreau dedicated to the memory of the amazing man who turned movie costumes in to art masterpieces.

The second costume designer is English born John Mollo. Unlike Winston, Mollo movie list is much smaller, but that does not make him any less important. Having only 17 movies in his filmography, they include such hits as: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Alien and Gandhi. Mollo won Oscars for best costume design for Star Wars and Gandhi. He and his brother are both experts on military uniforms and have both written books on the subject. They have both also been consultants on films, for John it was the movies Barry Lyndon and Nicholas and Alexandria. John Mollo had become a major player in the world of Hollywood costume design in the late 1970’s.

Darth Vadar from Star Wars, 1977

Film creator and director of Star Wars, George Lucas never seems to do anything easy. He is a master of movies and Star Wars was his first hit, he smashed movie records out of the ballpark. Star Wars became an instant hit around the world. The costume for Darth Vader took some time to create. The original artwork for Vader was done Ralph McQueen but it was Lucas fascination with Japanese samurai warriors that lead to the final design by Mollo. The design was simple itself it consisted of a body suit, cape, chest piece and a helmet which originally was a World War I German army helmet. The image of Darth Vader is iconic and known around the world, thanks to the collaboration between Lucas and Mollo.

Chewbacca from Star Wars, 1977

Yet again Lucas has to be involved in absolutely every part of his movies. Which I guess I would be the same way. When it came to the visual representation of Chewbacca, the costume team was at a stand still again. Then Lucas chimed in an idea of how his dog an Alaska Malamute looked. The idea quickly caught on and an idea for how Chewy would look was created. Actor Peter Mayhew would be chosen to wear the costume, at 7’3” he was the perfect choose for the role, he also played the voice of C-3PO. The original costume was made of yak hair and mohair, which completely covered the body. The only thing that could be noticed of Mayhew was his eyes. Again do to the collaboration of the costume designer John Mollo and director George Lucas a character on paper was brought to life without the use of computers.

Alien costume for Alien, 1979

After Star Wars Mollo went on to work with Ridley Scott in the movie Alien. At first this movie would be considered a B-movie and was not paid much attention to, but that shortly changed after the movie was released. Scott wanted the Alien to be a man in a suit but he did not want it to be cheesy, as most of the horror movie costumes were. So Mollo made the suit while Carlo Rambaldi made the head. The suit was made of latex and was covered in K-Y Jelly in order to give it the look of saliva all over its body. The head was separate from the body suit and had animatronics inside of it to control the second mouth. Bolaj Badejo at 7’2” was the first man to wear the suit in the movie, a full body mold was taken so that the latex suit would fit him perfectly and snug. A mix of Hollywood magic and art resulted in the first of many more Alien configurations to come as the movie series moved forward. Rambaldi first head for the Alien is now on display in the Smithsonian.

The world that we live in seems to change everyday. Technologies change, ways of life change, peoples taste for art and music change, and political views change. When it comes to art there will always be a forward progression toward change as it changes rapidly with the tide of social acceptance. In the world of Hollywood art takes on a new form, a new mold, not only in the form of movies, but the music, set design, costume design and all of the other art forms that go into making a movie so wonderful. In today’s Hollywood computer generated visual effect take priority over doing it the old way. It is safer and more economical, plus there are things seen in movies today that could have never been done in real life, without a great deal of time and money. Costume design is without a doubt a major rule in the production of any movie and should always be viewed as a form of artwork. Never in my life other then in movies have I seen a man be change from a man into something completely different. What is art? Anything can be art, as long as you feel that it is.

“Alien (film)” Wikipedia, 18 Apr. 2010. Web 18 Apr. 2010

“Alien” picture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alien_(1979)_-_The_Alien.jpg

“Aliens (film)” Wikipedia, 18 Apr 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

“Aliens” picture, http://www.stampede-entertainment.com/monstermakers/wallpaper/wp-alien-1-l.jpg

“Chewbacca” Wikipedia, 18 Apr 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

“Chewbacca” picture,

http://acct.tamu.edu/smith/starwars/Chewbacca_w_Han_Solo_ANH.jpg

“Darth Vader” Wikipedia, 18 Apr 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

“Darth Vader” picture, http://dadwhatsapad.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/episode_5_darth_vader.jpg

“Iron Man (film)” Wikipedia, 15 Apr 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

“Iron Man” picture, http://marlboroughmultisport.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/ironman1.jpg

“John Mollo” Wikipedia, 28 Mar 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

“Predator (film)” Wikipedia, 15 Apr 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

“Predator” picture, http://unrealitymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/predator-1.jpg

“Stan Winston” Wikipedia, 4 Apr 2010. Web 18 Apr 2010

Early Modern

“Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange, 1936

The Great Depression was a time of unimaginable hardship for the people of America. Work was almost impossible to find and of what work was found did not last for long. The lower class people had to face horrors that some of us today would not understand. Starvation, to the point of chewing on ones owns body parts, and the loss of common necessities such as: shelter and clothing was common place. A great deal of children died from starvation, infants were dying at an alarming rate to malnourishment. Children were forced to go without clothing and an education. Everyone in the family had to work in order to make enough money just to make it by one day at a time.

Seeing a need for everyone to have a chance to put food on the table, President Roosevelt started the Resettlement Administration (RA) in 1935, which later became to know as the Farm Security Administration. It was for the RA that Dorothrea Lange worked as a photographer. It was her job to travel around the country and document through photos the troubles that Americans were facing in the world of the Great Depression. Her pictures are sometimes depressing and somber. Depicting the hardships that fell upon the average man, women and child, who were forced to live in a world that was destroyed finically not of their own fault.

One of Lange’s most famous pictures was that of the “Migrant Mother”. Her name was Florence Owens, she and her husband along with there seven children were forced to stop at a pea picking farm after their car broke down. As the men went to have the car fixed, the women stayed behind to pitch camp. During these times many families without homes were forced to move from town to town just to find work. Lange was compelled to take pictures of the mother with her small children, all of which showed signs of starvation and a loss of hope. After the pictures were published in a San Francisco News Paper a public out cry lead to the government sending a large quantity of relief food to the work camp for the people. Unfortunately by the time the food got to the camp the Owen family had already moved on.

I choose this picture because it is a true portrait of American history. There are images that stick in our minds as Americans that symbolize who we are. They remind us of the hardships and pain and glory that the people before us had to endure for all of us to enjoy the freedom that we are all trying to hold on to. Some of these images include: Washington crossing the Delaware River, President Lincoln the night of his assassination, the American flag being hoisted up by Marines during World War II and the picture of the New York City Firefighters placing a flag up amidst the destruction of the World Trade Centers on September 11^th 2001. Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother picture truly shows the plight of the people during this said time in American history, and just like the rest of our history it should not forgotten.

“Dorothea Lange” Wikipedia, 9 Apr. 2010. Web 12 Apr. 2010

“Farm Security Administration” Wikipedia, 9 Apr. 2010. Web 12 Apr. 2010

“Florence Owens Thompson” Wikipedia, 8 Apr. 2010. Web 12 Apr. 2010