Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys was born in 1921 in Germany. As a teenager he was involved in Hitler youth and participated in several demonstrations. He was always interested in natural sciences, but decided that he wanted to become a sculptor at a young age. He was a gunner in WW2 and was shot down. When he was, he stated that tribesman rescued him and covered his body in felt and animal fat to protect him. However, when he was found researchers never found record of any tribesmen in the area. This is why he uses felt and lard in many of his works.

He is considered to be one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He used his work for social sculptures. He was influenced by ideas that were going on in society. All of his artwork was based on the human body producing a good. His work with the hare was considered by some critics as the new Mona Lisa of the 20th century. His work where he locked himself in a gallery with a coyote he says that he wanted to isolate himself and only look at the American coyote and nothing else. He actually never even stepped foot on American soil.

He died in 1986.

Dali's "Un Chien Andalou"

This film was extremely weird and very hard to follow. The characters all looked very similar so it was difficult to distinguish one from another, especially the men. The beginning had no explanation for the women having her cut open and then she is never seen again. The film does not follow a constant time frame going 8 years before and then 16 years later. There are several metaphors for death present in the film such as the ants climbing on the man's hand and the moth that has a skull on it's back. The film was overall confusing. Several people die and the young woman never seems to be happy until the very end when she is on the beach with another man. At the end, they are shown buried in the sand but none of our questions are truly answered.

What happened when the man was dragging the piano, men, and dead animals across the room?

Why was the woman allowed to get away only to be trapped in another room with another negative situation? The movie was bizarre, but I guess for its time it was considered revolutionary.

Mona Lisa Postcard

I believe that Duchamp wrote L.H.O.O.Q. on the postcard of Mona Lisa in order to make fun of it. Her face is so serious that he wanted people to laugh at it and realize that it was not natural. The mustache is present because maybe he knew that Mona Lisa was a self portrait of DaVinci so he wanted a manly feature to be present. When I researched I found that Duchamp gave Mona Lisa a mustache to look more like himself. Also, he gave an interpretation of L.H.O.O.Q. saying that it meant she was horny. He is basically poking fun of the entire piece.

Grid Project

Here is my grid. I chose to do a needlepoint for my project. Even though it is somewhat small, it took a very long time to complete!

Grid Project

For the Grid Project I am going to do a needlepoint canvas. My aunt has always made stockings and Christmas ornaments for everyone in our family so I think I will give it a try. Wish me luck!

Triumph of the Nerds

Too bad the movie kept skipping during the second episode!!! So far, the film has been interesting and I have learned a lot about the beginning of computers. I only knew of Steve Wozniak before this from the Bravo show "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List." It is crazy how computers have come from being boxes with switches and lights to laptop computers and iPads. Also, I can't believe how much money all of those guys have made! It's crazy. At least they seem pretty humble about it, but I am sure they have robots running around their homes and have smart houses! Hopefully it will work today!