Brigitte Jurack

I found Brigitte Jurack to be very interesting, both as an artist and a person. My favorite aspects of her work were her Still Waters Run Deep pieces. I thought it to be interesting how she transformed a natural disaster into a piece of art. I am glad that she spoke about this piece and how she linked together science, (ultimately the community are affected) and the arts (or else I would have no clue what the underlying image was). I should have asked her to explain more about how the piece was created. My second favorite piece was the Junge Mit Jacke (young man with jacket). I was attracted to the lonliness of the boy being that there was no way possible he could be reached by the public.

Being that she was speaking about her own work, the conversation was intriguing as she explain some of her work and the process behind it (both thought and process wise). I was confused by her work with Foreign Investiment. I understood her personal involvement and how the piece affected those who participated but I am not sure how it may or did affect the observing community. I also loved her accent.

Flakey

Tate Britain (Eadweard Muybridge & Rachel Whiteread)

In past art history classes, Eadweard Muybridge's images concerning movement have frequently come up in discussion. As far as my learning experience, those series of images were the only ones of his that i was exposed to in the classroom. I was shocked to see the photographs he had concerning perspective. At first it was difficult to see the differece between the two images and i found myself confused. Upon further glance and after reading the short description, i began to notice the slightly different angles and shift of perspective between each set of images. These series of images held my attention for quite some time. My next favorite part of the exhibit was his panorama's. Each piece was seamless and perfect. One of my friends recently made a panorama of main street in New Paltz and i watched as he struggled to complete the project. I really appreciate how clean and clear his images are especially since these photos were taken so long ago. Seeing both these series of photographs makes me want to learn about the process of professionally taking photos as well as developing them. However, i found Muybridge's images concerning movement to be a little redundant. I was interested in seeing the image of the horse galloping in person since it is so publicized but after a while, the movements were not as interesting. I understand the innovation that lies behind the process of making these images at that time but i found myself to be far more interested in his other works.

In my design foundation classes, we went over a majority of Rachel Whiteread's sculptures. That being said I was excited to see the drawings behind her works and learn more about her process. It was interesting to see how well planned out each piece of her work was, seeing her extensive drawings. I probably would have enjoyed the exhibit more if there was a final image of the sculpture next to her sketches. Additionally, I read the sketches more architecturally than drawing-like which went along with her final product. When first walking into the room, i saw and was drawn to the negative space underneath the table. I immediatly wanted to touch the resin since it looked so shiney and greasy. From different angles, there was a shift in the color of the resin. I just cannot get past how much i wanted to touch the sculpture. I wish i could see more of her works in person.

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey is by far the most beautiful church i have seen as of yet. It is amazing to think that this church has been standing for so many years with so minimal repairs. In fact, if the guide had not pointed out the significance of the different colored stones, I would have never noticed the restorations. I was impressed with the intricacy and complicity of the architecture and how contractors were able to construct such a large, detailed structure so long ago. Since it was not a very nice day outside, myself and two others decided it would be best to revisit the site on a better day to truly observe the outside structure. It was disappoint to not be able to photograph the inside of the church. I noticed a repetition of the colors red, blue, green, gold, white, and silver. I found the unknown warrior buried in the church floor with the surrounding poppy flowers to be one of the most interesting and admirable aspects within the church. I was surprised to learn that during a royal wedding, which are the only weddings that occur in the church, the bride and groom walk around the blocked off tomb stone while walking down the isle. The amount of respect is admirable. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in glass work. It is one aspect of art that i have no clue what-so-ever how to do. Although every church i have even been too has stained glass windows, I have never seen any as large, detailed, and colorful as the numerous ones in Westminster Abbey.

To be honest, I am not sure how interested I would have been in Westminster Abbey if we did not have a guided tour. There was so much information concerning the church that I would never have known by walking around myself. The guide was full of interesting facts about small details such as the story concerning how Almericus de Courcy bought his way into being buried in the church.

Serpentine Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, Globe Exhibition

Before going to the Serpentine Gallery, i never really experienced art in the form of videos. Philippe Parreno completely controlled the movement of the viewer through the gallery space which was confusing at first. My favorite section was The Invisible Boy. Parreno provided an interesting visual with a fictional character scratched onto the film. The quality of the film was flawless as were the scratchings. The child shown was easy to relate to as the concepts of desolation, loneliness, and fear were beyond apparent. The darkness of the room added onto the concepts that were common throughout all of the films. At first I was confused by the snow at the conclusion of the film but after watching all, i realized how Parreno was trying to tie the outdoors with the indoors.

Due to the rain and getting lost, we did not have a lot of time at the Saatchi Gallery. What first caught my attention was the layout of the space. Each room was flooded with natural light that gave a distinct emphasis to the pieces. I felt pressed for time so i found myself rushing through each room. However, as a whole i enjoyed the gallery and found myself interested in a large majority of the paintings although i did not have the time to study them individually.

Although I dreaded reading Shakespear in high school, I found the tour of the Globe to be interesting. I loved the general architecture and attention to specific details from the Shakespear era. What tied the extire experience together was the video shown in the exhibition of a play done in the space. It was hard to imagine the space filled with people watching a show but the recording helped to do so.


The moral of this days adventures was to always carry an umbrella and to pack extra socks.

The London Eye, Tate Modern, and War Horse

The London Eye gave me the opportunity to see London from a birds eye view. Although it was scary, it was a great chance to absorb the city from a distance.

I was plesantly suprized by the Tate Modern and so far it has been my favorite gallery. Before reading anything about the piece, Ai WeiWei's Sunflower Seeds instantly reminded me of my past softball teams and the unity that sunflower seeds brings to a game or practice, regardless of who is on the team. The only aspect missing was the distinct scent of the seeds. Ironically, according to Ai WeiWei the sharing of sunflower seeds is a sign of friendship and kindness which is very similar to my own experience with the seeds. I enjoyed the fifth level entitled States of Flux. I spent alot of time in Andy Warhol's artist room as well as the Pop room. His choices of context, composition, and overall imagery entrances me. The room had a very calm aura to it. I appreciate all of the prints in the Russian propaganda room. Each print was flawless and aligned perfectly which is something I know is difficult to achieve. I was not a big fan of the Gauguin exhibit. I am not really a fan of paintings but the second room, Making The Familiar Strange, stood out the most to me. I easily related to the childhood dream like aspect of the pieces, especially the ones of his children. Overall, the gallery was very relaxing. It was not overcrowded and the staff was beyond helpful and friendly. I am used to the Met or MOMA where the lines just to get in are out the doors and around the corner.

I am a big fan of Broadway plays in general. However, i did not enjoy War Horse. I felt as if the plot was drawn out at parts and jumped around in others. I also found the play to be confusing since i do not understand German or French as most of the audience did. I was most interested in the craftmanship of the horses. The mechanical aspect, quality, and overall craft were beyond admirable. I wish i knew more about the actual construction of the horses.

The Turner Prize

When I first entered the Tate Britain I was suprized at how open and calm the entrance was. The last museum I went to was the Met. The entrance to the Met always seems to be jam packed with long lines. Tate Britain was not buzy or conjested at all which instantly gave me a relaxed feeling.  I also found it hard to believe how calm it was being that the museum is huge. Walking towards the Turner Prize exhabit, i was entranced by a large painting on the wall. It was hanging over the staircase. The colors were pink, blue, and purple and the composition fascinated me. Reflecting back, I should have photographed the image, but at the time i was too entranced by its features to do so. That being said I intend to return to it to learn more about the artist and the context.


After viewing all four of the artists, I found that i related to Susan Philipsz the most. When i entered the room i instantly felt calm. I sat down and looked around the room, observing the people around me. It took me a while to realize that the same song was being repeated through three different speakers at different times. After a few minutes, i read the bio about the artists and began to really think. I realized that the artist made an environment without physically changing the room which was beyond impressive to me. You did not need to know the lyrics or the context of the song to respond to the work. I have not had much experience with sound art so I feel as if I am being biased in a positive way towards the artist in this situation. I think her work stood out the most because it is so drastically different from anything else i have ever experienced. It definatly opened my eyes to a new form of art and for that I believe that Susan Philipsz should win the Turner Prize