Blindfold photography

       On 29,sep，two of my friends(Liu Qiao & Ouyangdenian) and I went to Mong Kok to do our homework. We tried to take photos with a plastic bag on our head so that we could not see anything, which could make our photo seems more random.

       Actually I wanted to focus on the photos I took at first, but as soon as I put the plastic bag on my head, I found that I no longer pay attention to my job, I just felt quite afraid because I saw nothing. I can only heard trumpet from car and the wind blowing from the road.

       As for the images we made, I found that most of them looks good because they showed the busy of the daily life in city. Some of them also amazing! For example, I caught my shadow in the window in a shop, and a bunch of sunlight shooting between two buildings. In some pictures, I can see people`s eyes looking at me in wonder. I have to admit that our performance may be quite strange for the other people. Anyway, this experience gave me a different point of view towards photography, art and the word around us. 

Surrealism & Dada

        After the class as well as searching for the internet, I have known many things about Dada and Surrealism.

For some historical reason, people in the World War One are all quite hurt and they had some wound on their mind more or less. These may lead to the Dada artists proposed that everything should be destroyed, even people and history. I don`t think it is a rational opinion which is another kind of Nihilism, but I can understand these people under that background. They are anguished and need to create a new meaning for their lives.

After the World War One, many Dada artists turned Surrealism. They paint with fantasy and drifted from the real world. The color is pure and bright, such as Salvador Dalí`s work: The Persistence of Memory (1931). We can see from some typical works that the Surrealism also had absorbed some element of romanticism and symbolism.

Thoughts after today’s SM1701

      In today`s class, we learned about Dada and The Merzbau and so on. Kurt Schwitters`s art The Merzbau impressed me a lot. Schwitters himself has described it as his life's work. In the bulding,the ceilings and walls were covered with three dimensional shapes and filed with a variety of objects. Actually , I don`t think it looks beautiful,but it conveys a feeling of war, which causes people thinking. Maybe that is the reason that it become famous,noy just because it`s creative shape of building.

   Then I start thinking about the title of our course­­——CONTEMPORARY & NEW MEDIA ART. Which work can be one of this ? I think the artist should be creative enough to create a new style or a new form to express the art. What`s more, the work should convey an idea to the viewers. A surprise and a deep thought are enough to make a work succeed, and it may be a little difficult to achieve.

An eye on Winter Pool by Robert Rauschenberg

        

        This is one of Robert Rauschenberg's Combine painting. This style breaks the limit of tranditional painting which only with a kinds of material. What`s more, it use many common things in our daily life such as fabric, wood, metal, sandpaper, tape, printed paper, printed reproductions, handheld bellows,  ladder, canvases.  The wooden ladder bridges the gap between the two pictures , just like inviting the viewer to climb into the colorful art world which fulls of imagenation. So I think this work reflects his idea” work in the gap between art and life perfectly.

As for the painting on the wall, it closes to our life and is energetic though it is in the shape of rectangle. The unequal size of the two painting also show a casual life attitude and they are beautiful enough just by themselves.

My First SM1701 Class

       The name of this class is Contemporary & New Media Art. Before the class, my general idea of this is funny, new and interesting art. However, I found some work is very difficult to understand which need us to search for the history, politics and the author.

       I think this class will lead me to a new world art which I have never thought of I will try to understand them carefully. As an artist, he should learn as much as possible about the art history and the excellent work. So this class will be my first step on my road of art. Good luck!