sawsaw Benjamin

In Benjamin's writing I found his comparisons between different centuries value of art and how "mechanical" our art has become in today's society to be interesting. The quote on page 29 really stood out to me, "Mechanical reproduction of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art." This quote is talking about the different affect mechanical reproduction has on people who are opposed to the more traditional production of art. I think this quote is talking about how art is affected by technology and how a mass of people view mechanical art different from ancient art forms. Most people define art as painting, drawing, sculpting or photography. We think of art in its traditional forms and compare it to works by Picasso or Monte. What Benjamin is trying to convey in his writing is that art comes in many forms and we as a society must consider film, television, graphics and many more modern technologies as being art. We must critically analyze film and television as art forms and determine the purpose and point for their existence.

sawsaw 2/1

I found today's class discussion on postmodern architecture to be very insightful. The fact that buildings and architecture have a significant role in a countries culture, forces people to analyze exactly what the building portrays and what impact that building has in that society. When I nanny in neighborhoods like Baldwin Park and Heathrow I really get a good sense of what the architect was trying to create. These neighborhoods represent an idealistic community where the architecture is so similar all the house look the same. It is very difficult to define people’s own personal styles and tastes when your house looks exactly like your neighbors. I personally am not a fan of utopian communities like Baldwin Park because I feel they neglect creativity and expression. Every building should be designed with a purpose and a specific style that makes it unique from others. It is through these differences that people can really appreciate the personal ideas and open-mindedness of the designers.

Jiggy 2/1

This week we moved into postmodern archetecture, an interesting and ever changing feild. We are offered many styles that convey the ideals and mindset of postmodern thinking. This was conveyed by the eleven styles outlined by Jencks in his peice. Our classroom talks cleared up these styles and provided examples to go along with them. I found that many of the styles think outside the box, radical designs that push us to think and wonder. This is much inline with many of the philosophys of our postmodern world. Authors push us to think outside the regular and everyday to expand our knowledge and worldlyness. Buildings are one way to express yourself, as writers do in essays and papers. Archetects are not often credited for provoking thought as a philosopher would do but in many cases in fact do so. I found many of the building inspiring and uplifting, all crafted to serve a certain purpose and make us think. If you take this concept and apply it to your everyday life many thinks can change. Its the approach that you can make a difference in every little thing you do. I am excited to go downtown next week and start to see the city of Orlando alittle differently. It will be hard to see a city skyline and not think about postmodern archetecture and postmodern ideas.

boo boo bear 1-31

I have a couple different thoughts to add about last class, the 31st. First of all when we first got to class Dr. Rog gave us this quote,

“The ordinary critic… And the author are equally remote from a true appreciation of the work.”

I believe our instructions were to write down what we this quote meant to each one of us personally. As I stared at the quote awkwardly for a couple minutes, my sheet of paper remained blank. I couldn’t really get a grasp of the quote and what it meant. As everyone started to give their ideas on the quote it became a little clearer to me as to what the quote was saying. However, one small thing bothered me about this conversation. When Dr. Rog started to break down some of the words that make this quote hard to grasp, such as ordinary critic or true appreciation, he said that some people would say “EVERYONE IS A CRITIC”. As he said this I noticed around the room many people were nodding their heads in agreement. I don’t because in this case, if everyone were a critic, this quote would really be saying that NO ONE could truly appreciate the work. This quote could be read as,

“Everyone is remote from a true appreciation of the work.”

My second thought goes back to last semester during CMC 100, as I was growing as a student I would struggle to ever look at advertisements, television, and commercials the same as I did before taking the course. I was always being critical of these forms of media noticing things such as the objectification of women or hegemonic ideas, ect. (I know most of you felt the same way). After learning about the different types of postmodern architecture I noticed myself seeing a building and trying to figure out whether or not it falls into what we have talked about. The time that sticks out to me the most was when I saw that weird metallic art statue/sculpture thing close to the soccer field right in the middle of our beautiful old Spanish Mediterranean campus I couldn’t help but laugh and think of the Louve’ (spelling?) and that huge glass pyramid in front of it. I know its art but both just seem totally out of place to me.

sawsaw 1/29

The thing I found most interesting about Jencks writing was how he described the different types of architecture evident in postmodernism. I have always loved architecture and am fascinated by different countries building ideas. After reading Jencks article I feel much more informed and have a new appreciation for postmodern architecture. The quote on page 294 really stood out to me, "Even more than in the nineteenth century, the age of eclecticism, we have the freedom to choose and perfect our conventions, and this choice forces us to look both inward and outwards to culture as a whole." In today's world we have much more freedom to explore and develop new ideas and conventions. I think this quote is saying that we must examine culture as a whole and really decide exactly how we want our culture to be. Even more than the past century of eclecticism, we are free to decide what we want our culture to be and explore open ideas of creativity and imagination. The buildings and designs people come up with today are so extreme that it is challenging society as a whole to examine what are culture really is. Architecture is an aquired taste. It is something that grows and develops over time through experience and observation. Without designers pushing the limits and challenging our eyes we would never have reached the level of achievment we have now. It is through the different forms of architecture Jencks describes that we can really define the progressive and liberation we have made as a culture.

Nichole Jencks

“Artists such as Eduardo Paolazzi and Robert Graham have sought a deeper collaboration that starts near the beginning of design, so that their work can be modified as it progresses.”

Im going to have to admit, I didnt quite understand the reading so in this blog, Im giong to examine a few quotes and something I do know, which is fashion. I wrote a 20 page senior seminar paper in boarding school about the various aspects of our culture which influence fashion trends. For example before the car was invented, women were expected to wear tight floor length skirts, but when they attempted to step into cars, the skirt was too constraining and made it extreamly difficult to enter. Thus, the side slit trend of 1910s began. So in actuality, I guess I was really writing about postmodernism all along, I just never realized it until now.

When students of fashion, or fashion designers, study their field, they look into the past to unterstand, much in the same way the quote above says, so the work can be modified from the source and progress. Because with each passing second there is more history behind us, finding new places for inspiration is progressively more available but I think what Jencks is saying in this quote is that nothing is truer than the originator and what better place to begin inspiration than from the root itself.

I also wanted to note the opening paragraph quote that says, "previous rules of decorum and composition are not as much disregarded as extended and distorted." This once again is reiterating the idea that new designs, be it in fashion or the art Jencks describes, are merely re-incarnations of ideas influencing the artist at present. That is unless its a truly innovative idea which could be deemed an invention? (If im terribly wrong please correct that statement!!). Kate Moss, London's most stylish woman says that the people that follow the rules of fashion get by fine, but the women that break the rules but still live within the boundaries get credit for being the style icons. I think she has the same idea as Jencks here (althouguh Im sure she has no idea that she does) in that she takes inspiration from the root, she wears 20$ vintage pieces together with a new $600 Chanel blouse that is re-invented from the same era as the jewelry and looks awesome. Who knew I could enjoy postmodernism so much!!??

Cuckoo Jencks

I found this article very insightful. We have been asking the question what is postmodernism, yet never came to a clear understanding and this reading at least made the concept a little more clearly.

The idea of radical eclecticism “the mixing of different languages to engage different taste cultures and define different functions according to their appropriate mood” (283). Jencks shows how a building was created with a mixture of renaissance harmony and Modernist collage to create a heterogeneous characteristic. It was able to speak to a variety of people. This goes along with what talked about at the end of class and open text. It is up to the reader to pick out what is important to them and it matters how they interpret the reading not the author. This goes along with the building and Jencks ends the section talking about how because of the ambiguity it is up the reader to decide what the meaning is to them. While frustrating at times because there may be question left un-answered it allows the reader the freedom to choose their direction. Isn’t it up to how the reader responds to the text, than what the author intended? Authors usually create for the reader so there response is right for at least them.

Another rule that caught my attention because of the school I went to is the idea of multivalnce and how it reaches out to the rest of the environment really caught my attention. While this idea of an “organic unity” is rare, it is interesting to see how buildings have blended into their environments. The last couple of years in high school we were undergoing a huge renovations and one of the main concerns was that we were going to hurt the environment. One of their goals was to preserve as much as they can by finding other solutions. One of the concerns was that the school was going to have to destroy some trees because the parking lot needed to be expanded, after a year or so of going over solutions they found a middle ground. I have also gone on school trips where we went to look at buildings that had been “molded” to their environment. I was on a school trip in seventh grade and we went to this building that prided itself on the fact that they blended in so well with its surroundings. Through the use of color, and natural materials around the building they were able to construct so that it blended in so well that we drove by it without really noticing anything. A few years later I was on a tour through a building that had decided to move the building plan back in order to preserve the trees because they were so old. They also used materials that helped it blend in with the trees so that it was not just another obnoxious building. Now days we will destroy entire areas so that we can get what we desire.