Wk 13/ Artist Conversation/ Nick Bamford

Artist: Nick Bamford

Exhibition: Untitled

Media: Cement, Foam Objects, Plaster, Wood

Gallery:  CSULB School of Art, Max L. Gatov Gallery East

Website: None

Instagram: nickbam4d

 

About the Artist

Nick is an undergrad here at CSULB ,graduating this semester with a BFA in Ceramics. After graduating, Nick plans to go to a grad school which he hasn’t made the final decision on yet. Nick stated that he gets the inspiration from his work by living life. Things that have happened to him in his life give him the spark of imagination that helps him with his art. Although it is somewhat tied to his connection with “life”, he says that he is trying to escape from the “real life” by creating art that is weirdly shaped and psychedelic which seems abnormal to the “real life”.

Formal Analysis

The neon lights in the dark room give a flashy mood. The sculpture is built so that it seems very unstable as if one touch can make this “tower of cards” come crumbling down. There are noticeable items that were used to build the structure giving the viewer a sense of The abnormal and dysfunctional way that the sculpture is built shows a “Chaotic” style.

Content Analysis

The nature of Nick’s art was meant to be different. Nick stated that he wanted to leave the clutches of our reality. His artwork shows modern items with twists, whether it is with flashy neon lights or the distorted way he sculpts the figure.

 

Synthesis/My Experience

I thought that Nick’s art is what I would consider “Eye Candy”. The bright neon lights gave my eyes a feeling of euphoria. While I admired the aesthetics of the the colors, I also liked the deeper meaning behind his work. The idea that he wanted to escape reality and somewhat join and create a new one in which he can immerse himself in fascinated me very much.

Wk12/ artist conversation/ Tiffany Le

Artist: Tiffany Le

Exhibition: Tau

Media: Watercolor, Colored Pencils, Charcoal, Acrylic, Pastel, and Ink.

Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Dennis W. Dutzi Gallery

Instagram: letealeaf

Website: http://www.letealeaf.prosite.com/

About the artist

Tiffany Le is a Vietnamese student here in  CSULB. She is currently in her last semester and will be getting her Masters of Fine Arts. Her work is highly influenced by the Vietnam war. This is due to the fact that her parents have gone through the effects of the war in their times. Le described of a time where she spoke to her parents, asking for information about the war. Her parents were very hard about giving that type of information, and she had to do some investigating on her own. Afterwards, from what she learned, it helped her convey emotion into her work.

Formal Analysis

   

   
  
Something that I notice in her paintings is the use of colors. She uses black a lot, which I believe conveys the darker side of the Vietnam war. The yellow color in the clothes seem to represent a lighter side, where people escaping from the war were carrying all these things and hoping for the best, but some parts of them can’t let go of the darker side of the war.

Content Analysis

I believe that this was about the journey that Vietnamese immigrants took when they left Vietnam. It shows a boat, in which the Vietnamese immigrants, including Le’s parents took. They would grab their belongings and take them on their journey to a new world. The boats also show the items they carry when the light is shone on them.

Synthesis/My Experience

This was very moving, mainly because I am also a 2nd generation immigrant. My mother brought me from South Korea, to Australia, to the United States. I have not been in my home country since I was an infant, so I do not have an extensive cultural background that I can reiterate. 

I think that Le’s wanting to learn more about herself, is also present in myself, and I could look at her work and think “wow, I wonder if my parents went through something like this too”. I am an anthropology major, and I have been studying all these different cultures, but why do I have little to no knowledge about my own culture? Le’s artwork brought up these kind of questions and thanks to these pieces, I went to my mother and asked her to tell me about me, but not as a Korean American, but only as a Korean.

Week 12/ art experience/ geocaching

   
    
 
Geocaching is definetly something that I see myself doing even after this class. When I went out to look for a geocache, I was quite lucky. The first one was a bust, apparently because the rain might have swept it away. So on my second attempt, my friends and I went by an IHOP where a fairly easy geocache was hidden. The hint was the name of the street, and after thinking about it for 5 minutes, we checked the street sign. Sure enough, there it was, tied with a voodoo doll. I signed my name, but for some reason someone drew a huge penis on the log.

 

The next day, I made my geocache out of an altoid case that I bought earlier this morning. ( Yes, I ate the entire thing) I decided to put a foam bracelet, a checker piece and the logbook and pencil.

I hid it in Dennis the Menace park,  

 

Wk11/ Art Experience / Turning Pages

How can we document ephemeral experiences like Turning Pages?

• I think ephemeral experiences such as Turning Pages are documented cognitively. Our minds can keep the memory of experiences, and it is just like documenting on paper, except in our mind. However, there are also photos which is a primary source in documenting experiences. They show what happened at the moment  when the photo was taken. Photos are unique in documentation because it has a variety of answers, in fact, the answer is up to one’s own choice.

Can words and pictures capture an experience?

• I think that words and pictures go hand in hand when trying to capture an experience. Words can explain with much detail, but can’t have the appeal that pictures have. But while pictures can give great visual detail, they can’t actually “explain” the meaning behind a picture. But if they both go together, such as a picture with a description or even just a title, it can capture the experience in countless ways.

D0es the style of the words or images matter? For example, a blurred photo is less precise but might capture more of the experience of motion of a dancer, musician, or other active event. A poem might be a less precise description of an event, but it might offer access to the feelings of the art.

• The style of the words or images do matter, for they help with capturing the emotion and feelings. Words do this by using certain words to convey a certain mood. For example, a love story would use more words that express matrimony or intimacy. Images can do something similar such as focusing on one certain point in an image and blurring out the rest.

Can you think of other ways to share an experience with people who weren’t there to share in it live?

• Well, with the advancement of technology there is an app called Periscope which allows you to stream what you are doing live through your mobile phone.

Does the act of trying to document an experience take you out of the experience? For example if you’re trying to photograph something as it happens, does the camera insert an experiential distance between you and the event?

• It definitely does create a gap between the experience and yourself. By using  a phone ,camera, or notebook, you are taking yourself out of the experience. I think it is like taking notes in class. You are there writing out the information given to you into your paper while people that aren’t taking notes are writing out information into their brain. When you go back and read your notes, it will recollect your memories of what you heard, but those that didn’t take notes have the experience to recollect.

I think this week’s art experience was pretty cool. We all met at the same place on Thursdays and we went to the library to read books. We picked out a book and went down to where the computers are in the Library(I don’t know my floors very well). After we read, we would switch books. Then we went to the Bookstore and did the same thing. The difference between these two experiences was that we were only allowed to take photos in the bookstore. It was kinda weird that a “bookstore” sells things like clothes, computers, and even guitars, but it is called a bookstore. Overall, this experience allowed me to think about the unique qualities of ephemeral experiences. How if anyone outside of CSULB were to ask me about our experience in the library, how could I give them proof?