Module 12: Video Review

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I watched Isamu Noguchi: The Sculpture of Spaces and Hockney on Photography. I watched both of these videos because they are both about artists I was unfamiliar with and wanted to learn about.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

 Isamu Noguchi: The Sculpture of Spaces taught me about Isamu Noguchi and his spatial sculptures. He uses the earth as his main inspiration, and his sculptures are often built with or around existing space. Noguchi had an emotionally hard childhood and never quite felt in. His father was a poet and did not wish to recognize Noguchi. He moved to America at 13 by himself. He later received a Guggenheim scholarship and studied under Brancusi. He began making sculpture of heads when he returned to America after his scholarship. He credits creating stage sets as the beginning of his ideas for his spatial sculptures. He also credits Japanese gardens as his main influence. The video then discusses his major works at Bayfront Park in Miami, Moere Numo Park and at the UNESCO Gardens in Paris. Noguchi struggled with municipal guidelines while creating these; citing that he was not interested in that type of collaboration. Noguchi stated that his favorite thing about creating sculpture was creating something useful for people, which led to his creation of playgrounds. The video next explores his water sculptures, as well as his work in Jerusalem.  Noguchi used natural surroundings as his main influence, he valued the interaction between man and his sculptures, and his work became part of the communities in which his sculptures were built.

Hockney on Photography discusses the work of David Hockney and his experiments with photography. The video begins with discussing Hockney's use of photography as an art form in itself, specifically his use of photography in collage and to mimic painting. He began using a polaroid, and his use of these images within larger works to create a scene made from these grid-like photographs. This experimentation led Hockney to explore single-point perspective, cubism, shape, and movement. Hockney then began experimenting with reproduction with the copy machine and fax machine; the idea of duplicates and reproduction fascinated him. Hockney's work consistently waivers between the space he has to work with, painting and representation with photography. He seems, however, to be fascinated with space and the limits available to him within these spaces in which he creates. The video then looks at his collage work with photographs, in which Hockey states he was trying to convey movement. Hockney then moved into capturing images of the theater. At the end of the film, he describes his work as a visual silence.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The videos relate to the text through highlighting two contemporary artists who are influenced by past artists we have learned about in the text, but also how they use modern technological advances to create something all their own; to bring their work to relate to a contemporary audience. 

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I thought the most interesting thing about Noguchi's art was his playground sculptures. I found it quite fascinating that he creates his sculptures for people to interact with and enjoy. I feel that when I think of a sculpture, you shouldn't touch it or get too close to it so that it does not compromise the integrity of the work. However, Noguchi's work is quite different, and I think it's great that he creates his work for the public to interact with and enjoy. It expanded upon the earthworks explored in the reading; and gave me a different perspective on this.

I really loved Hockney's work. I had never seen his work before, and I am enamored with it. I specifically liked that he moved from painting to photography to fax machines and back again. It really expands upon the discussion in the text that contemporary art is constantly evolving, changing, and none of it is more important than the other. I liked that Hockney does not concentrate on one form of creating his art; as I feel that is a misconception of being an artist in general- only being a painter or sculptor, and so on. I also enjoyed how his works often evoke Cubism, yet in a more interesting way that a contemporary audience is able to understand; through the technology of photography.