Maquette? Like a Baguette?

No, a Maquette is not like a Baguette, Mom. In fact, a Maquette isn't even edible.

THIS is a maquette; it is the equivalent to a sketch for a painting. This is the "outline" to my project. It was really helpful to do this because it has hammered out what exactly I want to do and the dimensions that I will be working with. The poem seems like a web to me, and the speaker seems horribly peculiar. The sense I got was that he was sort of going through this scene, frame by frame. This lead me to want to articulate the piece in 8 "page", or frames. It will be hung in the hall and it will be much more spread out. I'm excited for it!

The Marionettes of Distant Masters

The Marionettes of Distant Masters

Russell Edson

A pianist dreams that he's hired by a wrecking company to

ruin a piano with his fingers . . .

On the day of the piano wrecking concert, as he's

dressing, he notices a butterfly annoying a flower in his window

box. He wonders if the police should be called. Then he thinks

maybe the butterfly is just a marionette being manipulated by

its master from the window above.

Suddenly everything is beautiful. He begins to cry.

Then another butterfly begins to annoy the first butterfly.

He again wonders if he shouldn't call the police.

But, perhaps they are marionette-butterflies? He thinks

they are, belonging to rival masters seeing whose butterfly can

annoy the other's the most.

And this is happening in his window box. The Cosmic

Plan: Distant Masters manipulating minor Masters who, in turn,

are manipulating tiny butterfly-Masters who, in turn, are

manipulating him . . . A universe webbed with strings!

Suddenly it is all so beautiful; the light is strange . . .

Something about the light! He begins to cry . . .

This is the poem I intend to use for the artist book/poem visualization. I found this poem after a long search through contemporary poets. It was difficult for me to decide between Russell Edson and W.D. Snodgrass. Both poets had spectacular poems that would have been great to visualize. I chose this poem because I had the most peculiar "vision" while reading it.

When I read something, it is very easy for me to "vision" the text. For instance, fictional novels work as movies for me in my mind. It is spectacular, really. I have my own motion pictures while I read books. This happens better during some book.

The "scenes" I pictured while I was reading the poems were all very different. I chose this poem because the scene I was able to see was spectacular. It was an art in itself. A rush of a million project ideas came to my head. I love the idea of marionettes. There is something youthful and energetic about them. Better yet, the idea of two warring Master Marionetteers was enthralling.

I will have fun creating the piece for this poem. I intend to make it hand from the ceiling. I'd like to keep the rest a surprise.

Whitney Biennial Artist Comparison

Robert Williams and Charles Ray were two featured artists at the Whitney Biennial.They were not featured near eachother in the museum, but they were two pieces I noted and found interesting when I put them side by side on my laptop desktop. Ray’s “Untitled” was exhibited with a series of other works very similar. The works were either flowers, trees, or “garden-esque” subjects. He did not feature and real “foreign object;” each work was relatively recognizable. I could relate to the piece beacuse I was so familiar with the subject matter. He uses vibrant colors and colors that work in complimentary fashions (not in the sense that they were “opposite colors,” but they complimented each other). I loved seeing the series of works taking over the room. It was an explosion of colorful flowers and trees. It felt like a delft garden to me. I enjoyed his work.

Robert Williams’s work, “Astrophysically Modified Real Estate” was fantastic as well. I loved the series of works displayed on the wall. They were humerous and honestly reminded me of some of the sketches of a friend of mine. The ideas were impossible and rather absured. I love peculiarities. This artist certainly fit my taste. Like Ray’s work, the subjects of his pieces were recognizable. There is nothing outlandish about houses and real estate and cul-de-sacs. Each thing is very recognizible, like in Ray’s work. Also similar to Ray’s work, their pieces came in a sort of series. Ray’s work were featured in a room, taking up much space. Williams’s came in a series as well... but on a much smaller scale. Also, the medium of the artists work seemed “relateable.” Ray’s flowers seemed to be colored by markers, which evoke a sort of reminescence of kindergarten when I always drew multi-colored daisies. Williams’s works also evoked a sort of reminiscence, as their medium is a simple watercolor on paper. Watercolor was a common medium for me as a kindergartner and yound elementrary student. I could relate very well to to pieces of both artists through their medium

Their works are also very different. First of all, the scale of their works differ in that Ray worked rather large scale, with his “Untitled” at 47 x 32 1/2 inches, and Williams’s work at 36,8 x 44.5 centimeters. Color is also a great difference. Williams’s works have a soft coloration to them. He uses primarily neutral tones with no unusual colorations for the objects in his work. Ray uses a breadth of colors in his flowers. In nature, Daisies with a different color for each petal are likely non-existant. His colorations are unusual and not representative of the colors of flowers in real life.

I really enjoyed the simplistic works of these two artists. They’ll definitely go in my “faves” folder.

Word Visualization: HYPER AND STRESSED

Feeling hyper? I most certainly am not. In fact, I went to bed at 3:30 AM. I chose this word because it is the complete opposite of how I am feeling (and do not worry, I am happy). I also did the word stressed. I feel pretty stressed, so articulating the word felt real nas. I scratch things subconsciously when I'm stressed.

Me, in Three

These are my final three images, after many hours in the Mac lab.

The first is a representation of who I was. I composited images I scanned from letters I've written or just writings I did in school when I was very young. I included some pictures that I've drawn (you can see a little blog sketch of a person) and other small drawings. I placed the picture in a corn field background because it made it unify with the other two pictures much better. The background had previously been a yard which was distracting.

In the second image, I included pieces that I felt described who I am today. I am free, and I feel like the composition and my position give that sort of essence, especially in the setting of the picture. The scrabble pieces and the very faint writing were the only two pieces that I did not sketch myself. The other phrases and sentences were sayings that I wrote in my handwriting (because I felt like it was totally lame to do otherwise) phrases that fit me or describe me or are phrases I enjoy. I included "...and fa-la-la's," which matches my oblivious, free spirited personality. I also included "and the truth will set you free," which is from John 8:32. I really do feel like a free individual, and people tell me that I live like I am free. Well, that verse is the reason why I feel so free. Because I know the Truth. Simple as that. I also included little monsters I've drawn, a couple guitar sketches, and some scrabble pieces. Why the scrabble pieces? I've kind of become obsessed with them since my conceptual art project. I might put some scrabble pieces on the frame of the final picture. We'll see.

The last image is what I hope to be remembered as. I included other sketches that I scanned and more phrases. The one says "and she was free," and another, "yes, curiosity." I am a curious person, and rather naive. I want to be remembered as being free. I brought a picture of a holga camera into Illustrator and did Live Trace and Live Paint, and put it in the picture. I adore photography, and I hope I am remembered as a talented artist and photographer.

I really like the final product of my project. Its going to be a keeper.

triptych, before the final product.

These were the three images I used for the basis of my triptych. I wanted to use the theme of who I was in the past, who I am in the present, and who I will be remembered as in the future. I used the image of my little sister (because I looked exactly like her when I was little) to represent me as a child.

The second image is a picture my sister took of me specifically for this project. I'm kind of strange, and I'm perfectly ok with that, so I wanted the picture of me in the present to be odd. I love rolling around in corn fields and feeling free. I wanted an image to capture a kind of "freedom".

The final image is also a picture my sister took of me for this project. It also presents an essence of freedom which is so important to me.