Jan Michael Cruz: Blog One

When looking at art, a myriad of actions process in our minds. We see its color, its shape; the immediate natural responses take place. The reading refers to a pieces’ form and content line, wherein lies the art. Where is the work placed, on the form end of the line, or the content end? That’s were the critique begins, or ends. I better understood this through the red rectangle example. Untitled #3 vs. After the Massacre. We see the large painted rectangle as two different things when a simple thing as a title is given. But other factors can alter ones view on the painting, for example if the painting was painted with actual blood, compared to the same painting done with acrylic paint. Perhaps the “untitled #3” was painted with pig blood, and “slaughterhouse” was painted with oil. The content-and-form line where the “art” gets placed is suddenly in a pickle.

The reading mentions Anthony Caro and him commenting on the period of time where it was difficult to create a sculpture that did not remind him of something else. Caro must have seen a lot of work. He proposed a problem, and through what the reading explains, the work to be evaluated had to be done so formally, understanding and seeing the piece as a whole, by means of its shape, color, parts, material and weight. A pillow for example is soft, reminds one of sleep. But take the very same pillow, but create it in carved stone, suddenly the pieces’ content changes. Do I think of the difficulties some face when sleeping? Or is this an artist’s rendition of a caveman’s sleeping accessory?

A discrete object in space, where a sculpture is a work consisting of a singular object, or a work expressed by multiple parts, are both read as a single form. How this form gets shown in a gallery is something of another feat. Taking a work and placing it on a pedestal is one way. Incorporating a pedestal to that same piece, whether it be made of the same material, or follow lines already occurring in the artwork and be constructed independently in another material will definitely cause the viewer to have more thought in what he or she has to say about the work. Instead of the art having a footprint consisting of the pedestal it rests on, the art could be larger (or smaller) depending how the pedestal is incorporated into the work. The pedestal could then be considered part of the art, rather than being the slave the work uses to be shown off to.

This reading proposes new ideas and ways of thought that are new to me. Applying the concepts into my own ways and reasoning when I go out and view and critique others artists’ work will definitely be an new experience.