Thursday 30 April 2009

Aesthetic

What's my aesthetic?

That is a very difficult question for me to answer. I find that many different types of art appeal to me, however, they do have something in common. I find that I enjoy art that I can connect to emotionally, I also enjoy art that represents something, that conveys a message. The message does not need to be clearly conveyed, but to have some type of purpose to the artwork is what needs to be there for me. If there is a message as well as an emotional connection to a piece of art, in my consideration, it makes it great art.

In the Turner/Rothko Exhibit, I enjoyed Turner's work better than Rothko's. I found that Turner's watercolor pieces had some similarities to Rothko. However, I found that even in what seemed to be a very abstract watercolor painting by Turner, you could still make out what he wanted to portray. I did not particularly care for Rothko's work. I sat in the Rothko room, and examined his paintings, I understood what he wanted to portray but I found his pieces were interesting but not captivating, they did not draw me in. There was no depth in any way in his paintings. In many of Turner's pieces, they reminded me of photographs, in the way that he framed the images. I enjoyed most of his pieces because you can see the detail and depth of the artwork, I also enjoyed the several pieces in which he painted the lighting into the piece, such as the one to the left. I found that if you compared his oil paintings to his watercolors, you wouldn't think they were done by the same artist. How I saw it was that his watercolor paintings were a completely different style than his oils.

Friday 24 April 2009

Regent's Canal Infrastructure


Why was Regent's Canal built and what was it used for?
I believe that the canal was used to ship goods locally in London. The Regent's Canal was built to link the Grand Junction Canal's Paddington Arm with the Thames at Limehouse. It was opened in two stages, from Paddington to Camden in 1816, and the rest of the canal in 1820. When building the canal, there were two serious setbacks and a shortage of money which delayed the completion of the canal. First there were design failures, then the embezzlement of funds. The canal was also short of water supplies. Due to the water shortage, it was necessary to dam the river Brent to create a reservoir to provide for the canals, and so several basins were built over the years.
The goods carried on the Canal was principally coal and building materials. The main center of trade was the Regent's Canal Dock, this was a point for cargo to be unloaded onto canal boats. Cargo from abroad, was unloaded there and continued its journey on barges. The City Road Basin was the second most important traffic center, handling incoming inland freight. The opening of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838 actually increased the tonnage of coal carried by the canal. However, with trade lost to the railways, and more deliveries made by road, the canal unfortunately fell into a long decline.
Today, the Canal has become much more public. An increase of cyclists and pedestrians on the canal's towpath has created a different route for commuters.

Information found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent%27s_Canal as well as, http://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/history/regents.htm

Thursday 23 April 2009

Aesthetics Dinner at Tas

This Tuesday, for class, I had dinner at TAS, a Turkish restaurant in Bloomsbury Square. This was the first time I have ever had Turkish food. When walking through the doors to the restaurant the first thing that I noticed was the decor. It was simple, clean and white. I really enjoyed the simplicity along with the calm soft music playing.
I really enjoyed all the different starters that they provided. The starters consisted of Humus, Zeytin Yagli Patlican (aubergine, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and chickpeas cooked in olive oil), Tabule (chopped parsley salad with tomatoes, onions, cracked wheat, olive oil and lemon juice), Manca (spinach with fresh yogurt served with garlic), Zeytin Yagli Bakla (fresh broad beans, coriander, red & green peppers, dill, garlic, olive oil served with yogurt), Sebzeli Kofte (ground chickpeas and broad beans tossed in spices, deep fried and served with tahini sauce), and Borek (filo pastry filled with feta cheese and spinach). They were nicely displayed as well as quite tasty. I liked the humus the best. The Manca starter surprised me because it had a mint taste, but it was good. For the main course, there were several choices, Karides Guvech, Kalamari, Turlu, Ispanakli Patates, Karisik Izgara, Mousakka, Tavuk Sis, Eksili Kofte, and Tavuk Guvech. I chose the Karides Guvech which was prawns cooked with garlic, tomatoes and mushroom. It was delicious, I ate it with white rice which balanced the sour, tart taste of the sauce. Along with the food we had a choice of the house wines, thanks to Dr. Manley. I'm not a big fan of wine in general, but it was nice to try and the white and red wine weren't that bad.
Overall I enjoyed the food, however I wasn't too thrilled with the waiter for our table. In general, it's not good for a waiter to reach across someone's face to place things on the table or to rearrange place settings, and this occurred throughout the dinner. I didn't order sleeve with my dinner. Despite the waiter, I enjoyed my dinner at Tas, the food was delicious.

Sunday 19 April 2009

National Gallery


I attended the National Gallery for class and searched for several benchmark pieces listed for us to find. There were several paintings for us to choose from, including paintings by van Eyck, Leonardo DaVinci, Van Gogh, and Seurat to mention a few. At the National Gallery, the painting that I found most appealing to me was The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger. This piece is extraordinary in several ways, first in the way that the artist was able to display the skull as somewhat of an optical illusion. The way in which the skull is rendered is meant to be a visual puzzle for the viewer. Second, this painting is a double portrait, containing a still life of several objects and the display of the skull. This piece shows two different men and their respective ideals, the man on the right dressed in clerical clothes along with various religious instruments, while the man on the left is dressed in secular clothes along with objects to measure time. Having the two men together in this painting is perhaps a symbolic representation of a unification of ideals. The skull is an obvious representation of death and mortality. Momento mori, it is a reminder that we are all mortal and that death is something that was all have in common. The term memento mori is one of a few latin phrases that I enjoy. There are several different translations of the phrase such as "remember that you are mortal," "remember you will die," or "remember your death," but they all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their mortality.

A Little History

Plague, fire, and cholera have greatly affected the history of London. Geocaching is one of many ways to take people to these significant locations that inform the public of these events. The plague had a huge impact on London. The Great Plague was an epidemic in England that killed an estimated 20% of London's population. Historically known as the bubonic plague, was a disease transmitted through a flea and carried by rats. It was remembered as the "great" plague because it was one of the last outbreaks in England. The first geocache that our class took part in led us to the location of the memorial of the Great Fire of London. The fire burned for three days consuming more than 13,000 houses and 436 acres of the city. The Monument was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, to commemorate the Great Fire of London 1666. The monument is 202ft. in height, which is equal to the distance westward from the backhouse where the fire originally broke out. Another location this geocache took us was to the John Snow Pub. This was where John Snow discovered the source of cholera which was devastating this particular area of London. He found that the water from the water pump was contaminated, and today at this site the location of the water pump is indicated by a red curb. If it wasn't for geocaching, I probably would not have gone to these sites and learned about these events. Geocaching is a wonderful tool that can give you an interesting tour of London, or any other place in the world. It is great way to learn things about London that you usually wouldn't know unless you were a Londoner.

Sunday 12 April 2009

Saatchi & Tate

For class I went to the Saatchi Gallery and the Tate Modern, both of which displayed contemporary art. I really enjoyed going to both, the Saatchi had feminist art from Middle Eastern view. The Tate Modern had many different types of contemporary art and massive gallaries, I will definitely need to return to view everything. Here are some pieces that I found most interesting.

Saatchi

Untitled (2008) by Ahmad Morshedloo

This painting had three fully robed women along with three leisurely dressed men. The women contrast with the light colored men and background in their black robes. I really appreciated the message that this painting portrayed, and how it was portrayed. What I took from the contrasting figures is that it emphasized the barrier and inequality between men and women. The women are fully robed where the men wear whatever they please. Off to the side of the painting there hangs a chain which I interpreted as a symbol of oppression.

The Deer (2004) by Michal Cole

This piece was very interesting. As I walked through the gallery, this piece made me stop and stare. It shows a woman wearing a leather deer mask. When looking at the piece, I didn’t know what to think, I mainly wondered why the artist chose to have the woman wear a deer mask. After reading about it, I liked it even more. This piece is one in a series that portray a personal interpretation of the women. The artist shot the photos in the women’s home in the clothing of their choice. The mask is their inner animal. I liked this aspect the best because the mask becomes a tool which allows the women to explore more about themselves.

Like Everyday Series (2000-2001) by Shadi Ghadirian

I found this series very clever and humorous. I really liked the way she portrayed the stereotypical role of women in society. She makes it very clear that women are objectified and are seen as household objects. These pieces show that women have been reduced to cooks and cleaners with the use of a cleaver, strainer, broom, cheese grater, iron, pan, and kitchen glove.


Tate Modern

The Unilever Series by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster

I really enjoyed this series. I liked every aspect of this series, especially how she had it set fifty years in the future and had the science fiction theme. It allows you to interpret everything as you want to see it. When looking at the red piece in the series, Flamingo, I found that what you see is not always what you get. As well as, things are what you make them. I would say that that piece was my favorite of the series. I also liked looking at the books on the beds realizing that I have read several of them, including, but not limited to, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin.

Thursday 9 April 2009

Yay!

Yay, I made a blog just for London!