Transform "Marxism will give health to the sick" to "Self/Save" by Frieda Luk, Verna Kai and Sisi Kam

    

Marxism Will Give Health to the Sick         

Artist: Frida Kahlo                                             

Year: 1954

Medium:Oil on panel                                                                           

Dimensions: 28.8 x 23.8 in. / 73 x 60 cm

         
Self/Save 
Artist: Verna Kai, Frieda Luk, Sisi Kam 
Year: 2011
Medium: Acrylic
Dimensions:  21cm X29.7cm


Chosen Frida Kahlo’s “Marxism will give health to the sick” is base on our desire to through produce an art work to document our lifetime, our dream and our situation in Hong Kong. We named ours “Self/Save“. Similar to Frida, we want to establish and re-assure our identity through art (the motivation). At the same time, the composition and use of icon are quite similar. However, the medium, the mood and the subject matter are different. 
In order to discuss “Marxism” and “Self” in details, rather discuss it in separate sphere we would like to combine to three main areas: subject matter, style and mood.


Starting from subject matter, we would describe it as “the similar motivation but different in message”. From the very beginning, we have no intention in painting a portrait; instead we choose to create a self-expressive iconic painting. Unlike Kahlo, she painted a clear and recognizable portrait at the center and with clear symbolic colors (red book-Marxism rule, green and white dress) that indicate her Mexican identity. We choose to paint a figure that would represent three of us. Actually, the figure we paint is the situation that we are now. The white dress worn by the figure is embodied with white flowers, and is much shorter than Frida’s one. Here, we are stating that unlike Kahlo, from physical and mental, there is no unbearable pain within three of us. Showing our body would be easy. However, the figure is without a facial structure. It is with ambiguous features. This symbolizes we still in search of who we are. The white flower, at one side, is representing our purity which we still clean and naive as a baby. At the other side, it is a way to express our femininity. We treasure being as a female and want to protect our identity to its genuineness and originality. 

Who is the savior and who is the devil in “Self” are both ourselves which is distinct from Kahlo’s one. That means our work does not consist any political messages. What we express is how we struggle through our own lust and desire for materialism in order to survive in a profit-oriented society (indicated by the crowded infrastructure and buildings at the bottom right hand side). We believe only ourselves can save ourselves. In “Marxism”, there is a clear political stance and message that is only Marxism can save Mexico from poverty and social in-harmonious. As Frida has wrote: "Peace on Earth so the Marxist Science may Save the Sick and Those Oppressed by Criminal Yankee Capitalism". Yet, we still believe in the wisdom of eye. That makes us and Kahlo a similarity in being protected and saved by wisdom. And, that is what we expect one day we can achieve. 

Like Kahlo, we have the intention in re-establishing our identity in our work too. Also, we focus on our individual expression more than anything. We use painting as a way to document the status of mind in the year of 2011. Same as Frida, she documented her mental status and thought into “Marxism”. Her enthusiasm in joining protest and movement held by Marxism integrated into the painting too. 

Following, we would like to move on analyzing the similarity and differences in style. Before analyze the style, we would first point out some main points: similarity are composition, iconographic and use of space; differences are color, tone, brushstrokes and medium. These similarity and differences are clear and obvious. Even so, from our perspective, we do believe we have integrated characteristic of the Vernacular Modernism which is dialectic and with recognizable regional style. At the same time, the piece is enriched with individualistic style. Frida’s “Marxism” (more precisely is most of her paintings) is influenced by Retablos and Ex-votos which means her work are in vibrant color, iconographic, reveal directness of emotion, vivid and simplified forms and dramatic contrast. In “Marxism”, we can clearly see the trait. Firstly, is iconographic: The Marxism man, the eagle (capitalism), the dove (peaceful), the red book (Marxism rule), the mushroom-like explosion (atomic bomb), the green-white dress with the red book (Mexico flag) and so on. Secondly is the intense color: red and green, orange tone skin and blue sky are with great contrast. Thirdly is the rough, harsh and heavy brushstroke. These are revealing her immense passion for the Marxism ideology and her eagerness to get rid of the physical and mental pain caused by years. Now, we can learn how Frida’s work being described as Vernacular Modernism.

To recreate the artwork with an altar in subject matter and style, the result is that the composition, iconographic and use of space we chose to follow Frida’s “Marxism”. Since we hope when people approach to our work they can immediately think of “Marxism” and be reminded the emotion of release and being saved. As a result, (we picture that) it helps us to intensify the struggle we faced in nowadays Hong Kong and the huge expectation we put on ourselves (we can save ourselves from a financial-dominated society). As “Marxism”, the background is horizontally divided into sky and earth. Also, the earth is vertically divided into destructed land (right) and meadow (left). The blurred face figure representing us is placed in the middle. The scene which is the clear face figure and the girl with mask being clutched is placed on the right hand side to represent how we struggle to get rid of succumbing to the reality. The use of space is also as spontaneous as Frida’s. The senses of spaced is not clear. There is no sense of three dimensions. On the other hand, our work is full of iconic image. For instances, the explosion of buildings represents the real estate domination in Hong Kong; the sun represents hope; the white flower represent purity and the all-over coins represent abandoning the profit-making lust.

Moreover, we make some differences in color, tone, brushstrokes and medium. The color is more soft and coherence, not that vibrant. The tone is more tuned down, earthier. We would like to describe the brushstrokes and medium more. For the brushstrokes, overall there are lesser lines and trait. Mostly are plain and smooth areas of color. However, at the left hand side we integrated Van Gogh impressionism style in drawing “Starry Night” into our sky and meadow. It is because we want to express the dreamy and un-realistic feeling which represents our pursuit in one’s passion. More importantly, the medium is quite opposite. We choose to create something similar to collage. We painted the figures and symbol on a paper and cut it out and stick it onto the background so as to create a sticker-book like vision. This represents how we try to fit into the society without abandoning our own pursuit. At the same time, we stick our painting onto a brick-wall randomly on street and painted “Who save us!” on the wall. 

The painting is the answer: only we can! To place our artwork onto the wall is mingled with Hong Kong popular art form: street art. This can help us re-establish our identity.

Last but not least, the mood overall is soften than Kahlo’s one. The color use is not that intense; the style we chose is milder; the subject matter without political statement is not serious. 


In conclusion, we are inspired by frida’s artwork and we recreated it to suit our own purpose, which is to express our concern on nowadays Hong Kong. Actually, we are really enjoy on doing the project because we can practice our skills and express our ideas to the others. Even the project was finished, we won’t forget the memory that we have.


By (Animal Mask)
    Kam Wan Sze
    Kai Yuen
    Luk Shao Shin
    

Group project

Comparing “The Old Guitarist” and “The Crazy Otaku”

Minnie Cheng Mei Ling
Venus Li Ka Ching
Jimmy Li Kam Fung

Artist: Pablo Picasso

Year:1903

Media: Oil on panel

Dimensions: 122.9 cm × 82.6 cm

Artist: Venus Li, Minnie Cheng, Jimmy Li

Year:2011

Media: Water colour painting

Dimensions: 26.5 cm × 18.5 cm

The original work that we have chosen is “The Old Guitarist” painted by Pablo Picasso in the year of 1903. And the title of our own work is called “The Crazy Otaku”. The similarities between the original work and our own work are the composition, the perspective and the colour tone. And the differences are the subject matter, the medium and the message brought by the painting. For the composition, both include a man who is holding an object. Also, both use similar colour tone, there are only two contrasted colours used in the paintings, blue and brown for the “The Old Guitarist”, green and pink for “The Crazy Otaku”, the colours used are monochromatic. And for the difference in medium, the original work is an oil painting but in our own work we use water-colour.

In the following essay, we would like to focus on the composition, subject matter and the message brought by the paintings. Firstly, the composition of the two paintings is similar. The perspective of depicting the paintings is similar that the men and the objects held by them occupied the largest area of the painting. Both men are sitting on the floor with the head looking downward and holding an object with the same posture. Also, the objects of the two paintings that are the guitar of the original work and the Lang mo cushion held by the otaku are also facing the audience.

In addition, the subject matter of the two paintings is different. For the original work, “The Old Guitarist”, there is an old, blind, pale man with shabby clothing weakly sits beside his guitar. But for our own work, “The Crazy Otaku”, there is a crazy otaku with glasses holding his Lang mo cushion with 1:1 size tightly. “Otaku” is originally a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, or video games as defined by Wikipedia, and it is also widely used in Hong Kong to describe those men who are crazy for the Pseudo-models or Lang mos. Lang mo is a Cantonese slang term used to describe a type of models in Hong Kong who appeared in the late 2000s, and became popular in Hong Kong in 2009. Lang mos refer to young “models” with no professional model’s training and who do not have the fit bodies to perform high fashion catwalk, as they do not have a minimum height of 5'9". Lang mos usually work as promotional models at fairs and expositions. They often attract media and otaku by welcoming photo-taking of their beauty and body figures.

Furthermore, the message brought by the two paintings is different. For “The Old Guitarist”, the soft and mixed blue palette highlights a tragic and sorrowful feeling. The guitarist is nearly dead, representing that he is not so satisfied with the world. Simplified details and elongated proportions are found to emphasize his quiet meditation and a sense of spirituality. Moreover, the dull brown guitar fills up the area around the guitarist in both symbolical and physical ways. It is also the center and focus. The guitar indicates the guitarist's isolated world and the only wish to survive. A guitar, as a musical instrument, is a natural mean for expressing emotions so this allows the guitarist to share his loneliness. Some art historians believe this painting expresses the lonely life of an artist and the automatic struggles that are brought by the profession. Therefore, music, or art, comes as a burden and a dividing drive, isolating artists from the rest of the world. Art itself is a symbol of rejection and solitude. Although the old man is as poor as Picasso that they could even hardly make a living, they still continue to pursue their hobby, playing music and painting respectively. It implies that what Picasso chases for his whole life is something spiritual and intangible.

However, the message brought by our own painting “The Crazy Otaku” is about the present day Hong Kong. In these days, there are lots of Otaku who are crazy for the Lang mos. They only focus on their Lang mo idols and go to all of their functions. Those otaku will buy the sexy items of their Lang mo idols, just like the cushion with 1:1 size, bikini’s photos and photos album, etc. Those models are usually beautiful with good body figures, they become a kind of wish-fulfillment for the otaku as most otaku are those who are not good at communication and socializing, they are afraid of making friends with girls, so they have to buy the 1:1 sized-cushions to fulfill their wish of holding a girl and have the sexual imagination. We painted “The Crazy Otaku” not only for criticizing the unhealthy situation of those Otaku but also the Lang mo in Hong Kong. Many of them have now issued 'albums' which are launched at book fairs and sold at newsstands. These have been generally criticized as 'low-class' and 'inappropriate'. A famous social critic Chip Tsao, said: "allowing these vulgar photo books to be sold in the book fair reflects a wide spread of stupidity in Hong Kong." Also, they appeared in the annual Hong Kong Book Fair and signed for their album, this caused a media stir and a chaos of otaku. Therefore, our own work “The Crazy Otaku” probably shows the phenomenon of otaku and Lang mo in Hong Kong nowadays.

In conclusion, “The Crazy Otaku” is a work criticizing the corrupt condition of the otaku and the Lang mos in Hong Kong. We think that Hong Kong people should not provoke the harmful trend of the Lang mos as they twist the original nature of models’ career and affect the attitude of teenagers towards money since Lang mos give a wrong concept for them that they can earn money in that easy way by showing off their body with scanty clothes. Instead, we should face this problem squarely and stop the prosperity of Lang mos’ business in order to help those otaku to return to society.

References:

“Pseudo-model – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudo-model (accessed Jul. 2, 2010).

“Otaku – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku (accessed Apr. 14, 2011).

“The Old Guitarist – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Guitarist (accessed Apr. 9, 2011).

Sabrina YANG Wen talks on Dorothea Lange: Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona (1940)

About the Photo
Title: Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona
Creator Name: Lange, Dorothea
Creator Nationality: North American; American
Creation Date: 1940
Object Type: Photographs

Medium:

Photographs, Photograph | Gelatin silver print (printed c. 1950)

Size: 10 7/16 x 13 7/16 in. (26.51 x 34.13 cm) (image)11 x 14 in. (27.94 x 35.56 cm) (sheet)

Creation Place:

United States

Culture:

United States

Style:

20th century

About the Photographer : 

DOROTHEA LANGE (1895-1965)

Dorothea Lange has been known as the greatest American documentary photographer. She is best known for her chronicles of the displaced farm families and migrant workers during the Great Depression. The Migratory Cotton picker is one of them. The most poignant image done by her is called: The Migrant Mother

This picture explicitly depict the anxious and destitue mother: Florence Owens Thompson (age 32) and her children in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California, which has become the icon of the Great Depression era. 

I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean- to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it. (From: Popular Photography, Feb. 1960).

Dorothea Lange was fiercely independent, she dropped her middle name and adopted her mother's mainden name as family name after her father abandoned the family when she was 12 years old. The other traumatic incident happened to her is her contraction of polio at age of 7 which left her with a wakened right leg and a permanent limp. The pain of her childhood, however, gave her a fuller sense of what suffering meant, and later on when she worked for the government to document the effect of the depression, her compassion for the destitution and despair of migratory families were deepened. She has always believed that the undertanding of the psychological aspect of her subject is essential in making a portrait. When she walked  in to camps, talking to the hoeless pea-pickers and refugees of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, they are starving to death and desperate for a better living condition. She talked to them untill they feel comfortable enough to let her take pictures. Her limp, she thought, created an instant rapport between herself and her subjects. She siad that people trusted her more because she didnt appear "whole and secure" in the face of their poverty and insecurity.

At 1941, she later gave up a prestigious award (Guggenheim Fellowship)to record the forced evacuation of Jpanese American tointernment Camps, which is against the federal givernment's will and many these photographs were censored  untill later (1972), the Witney Museum commemorates her work and held an exhibit.

Backgroud of the picture: Great Depression
The Great Depression in the US began with the stock market crash of october 29th, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, which is  the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, and deflation.

During the Depression, the government created jobs for writers, scholars and artists though various documentary assignment, and Lange was one of them. In 1934, she met her second husband : economist paul Schuster Taylor from UC, Berkeley, who taught her the social and political issues, they travelled together to rural area documenting poverty and exploitation of sharecroppers and migrant laborers- Taylor interciewing and gathering economic data while lange taking photos. They published the American Exodus in 1939.

Farmers from the Midwest were so devastated by the economic harships and draought that they made a long trip all the way to the west in search for jobs, lands and dignity. They wanted a new start, but was faced a harsh reality.They are proletarian class who are forced to till the soil for others. They migrate relecutantly, seeking a foothold on the land, which it seldom gains.
Lange's photo humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly influenced the development of documentary photography. Her works inspired Steinbeck's "The grapes of Wrath" which in turn inspired a film adaptation.

About the picure

Style: Social Realism ,Vernacular Modernism

Unlike the Migrant Mother photoed by Dorathea, which explicitly depicts the anxious and destitute mother and her children. The Migratory Cotton Picker, Eloy, Arizona tells us the story of the proletarian class in a mellow and euphemistic way. The space is very dense, the depth is shallow and the background is plain and empty, so that audiences can focus exclusively on the single subject: the cotton picker. He lean his one arm on his cotton picking tool, with the other withered hand slightly touching it. His skin is tanned and rough, loose and dirty, a result of on end exposure under the hot sun.

The picture resembles Courbet's realism painting: The Stone Breakers where the figure rendered anonymously, faces unclear or lost in shadows - an epitome of a certain class of work rather than their individuality. In both works, the image of the men are captured from a relatively lower angle which turns the subject into a position of heros. The image of the cotton picker is clearly magnified, stretching to all directions in the photo, symbolizing a strong human spirit in the time of difficulties. Though we cant even see his entire face, we can imagine what was going on there, we can hear his inner cry for a better living condition. our compassion is invoked instantly once we look at the picture, our eyes linger bewteen those eyes and the withered palm. In this way the image is much more powerful than any other colourful photo or photo with an entire sad face.

Three Contrasts: 1. The contrast between the white cloth of the cotton picking bag and the dark shadow created by his hand, from which we can tell that this picture is taking outside, probably in the middle of the endless cotton field under the burning sun.

2. Between the lighted bright forehead from the sun and the melancholic eyes merged in the shadow.

3. Between the rough dark dirty palm and the white gaps between the dehydrated parts of the fingers, indicating the long hard work down by those hands.

References:

Oral history interview with Dorothea Lange, 1964 May 22, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

"Migratory Farm Labor in the United States"  New Deal Documents

http://newdeal.feri.org/misc/taylor.htm

(accessed Apr. 11, 2011)

Meltzer, Milton Dorothea Lange: a photographer's life. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1999

"Dorothea Lange ..the greatest American documentary photographer" Oxford School of Photography

http://oxfordschoolofphotography.wordpress.com/2011/04/01/dorothea-lange-the-greatest-american-documentary-photographer/

(accessed Apr. 11, 2011)

Leung Kit Man talks on Le Corbusier:Villa Savoye,France (1928-30)

information:
artist: Le Corbusier
title:  Villa Savoye
place: France
year: 1928-1930
medium: Concrete
style: International style

About the International style:


The international style has four slogans. They are 1.ornament is a crime 2.Truth to materials 3.form follows function 4."machines for living“ by Le Corbusier. First, the number one is about the decoration on architecture. Ornament is a crime means International style doesn’t want exaggerating decoration and just keep it simple. Number two, truth to materials, means any material should be used where it is most appropriate and its nature should not be hidden. For example, Concrete, should not be painted and the means of its construction should be celebrated. Number three, form follows function. The principle is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose.  The last one, "machines for living“, this is the concept by Le Corbusier, the artist of villa savoye. It just means residences can be mass produced as machines. 


how the work fit into this four slogans of International style:

Let’s look into the work. And I try to fit the features of the work into those four slogans of international style. First, ornament is a crime, the example of the work is that’s exterior, front and back. You can see there are not any historical ornament.  The lines are straight, simple and slender without exaggerating decoration. The windows are also neat rectangle, and pillars are thin straight and neat too without decorative elements.

Second, Truth to materials, the example is living area of the house. Actually, not only the exterior but also the interior of the house is using pure color, white, the original and rough color of concrete. This is a color with associations of newness, simplicity, and health, this is an ideas
from the artist when he see the cathedrals were also white.

Third, form follows function, Functional roof, and serving as a garden and terrace, reclaiming for nature the land occupied by the building. The roof garden is build with both plantings and architectural shapes. This shows the close relationship between form and function.

"machines for living“, the example is the Modulor design of the whole architecture.
The Modulor is an anthropometric scale of proportions devised by the Le Corbusier. Modulor is an accurate system and it keeps the great proportion of design of architecture. It is just as accurate as machine so it can mass produce. And this is the concept “machines for living”. Modulor Design for mass production.

Questions:

1.Can you see this piece how to affect modern architecture? 
2.Can it really mass produce?

References:

Villa Savoye - Achine for living. Ultimate House. October 16, 2007. Retrieved on January 19, 2011.
 Pictures of the interior and exterior of the villa by the Boston College
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/Corbu.html

Henry Russell Hitchcock, Philip Johnson. The International Style. W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. ISBN 0-393-31518-5

Lam Yun Ying talk on Francisco Goya ,The Third of May ,1814

Individual presentation (5 minutes max) – 30%

Discuss the

The additional information of this artwork :

Artist :Francisco Goya

Title :The Third of May

Year :1814

Medium :Oil on canvas

Dimensions :268 × 347 cm (106 × 137 in

Description of the third of May

Composition :

It is shapeless and pathetic as old sacks

They are huddled together like animals.

In the face of Murat's firing squad they cover their eyes, or clasp their hands in prayer.

In the middle a man with a dark face throws up his arms, so that his death is just like a sort of crucifixion. His white shirt and laid open to the rifles, is the flash of inspiration which has ignited the whole design.

It just likes there are some special meaning or symbol of this artwork .  The innocent of the citizens.

 The condemned men stand before a firing squad on the hill Príncipe Pío, it is one of the executions took place.

 We can find that Goya have some special arrangement of the composition ,for example ,the figures to the left of the composition

They demand the attention of the viewers by using blood .

Character

The main figure who dressed in white, practically glows. Holding out his arms like crucified Christ.

The faceless French soldiers on the opposite side are rendered almost inhuman.

The firing squad mean that would reoccur time and again in the horrors of modern
war.

From my point of view , I have the following opinion of this artwork .

First, I find it is mysterious as the background just like a backcloth and the faceless firing squad enhance the mystery of this event ,we can’t see their emotion .The firing squad also make me feel horrifying.

Behind the hill Príncipe Pío or beside the hill ,It seems  that there are coming victims to come .

Then it makes the painting much more horrifying 

Detailed painting

When we focus on the white shirt man ,we can find that in his right hand , there are a stigma  , it just like the wound the crucified Christ has .

Moreover , the man also posing in an X shape and being illuminated him strongly by the lantern .

It just like symbol of the innocent of the citizens and iron the senseless of the government or solider .

Compare with the similar works

The artwork of Monet ‘Execution of the Emperor Maximilian’

Right hand side solider :Silent mode

And a group of solider :Firing

I think Monet’s work is better usage of   the color ,

For example the blue and the grey (cold color to represent the whole thing and the ignorance of the government.

But the amazement do not look like  the third of May .

And the artwork of Pablo Picasso ‘Massacre Korea’

To the left, a group of naked women and children are seen situated at the foot of a mass grave.

On the right hand side ,a few armed "knights" stand to the right, also naked, but equipped with "hard muscles The firing squad is poised as in Goya.

In this artwork , I do really appreciate his present of this event ,his better use the tone of color present the cold and iron of the solider / government .

The Meaning of The third of May

 After this artwork , I can find that Goya do wanna awake the citizen the sense of belonging of the nationalism and emphasize on the aspect of political .

One key quote about the work in question

The Third of May is a work of the imagination. Goya is sometimes spoken of as a realist, but if the word means anything, it means a man who paints what he can see and only what he can see. By a curious chance there exists a sort of version of The Third of May painted by the perfect realist, Manet's Execution of the Emperor Maximilian. Manet had frequently poured scorn on subjects of this kind. "The reconstruction of a historic scene. An historic event painted in this flat and inexpressive way really is as pointless as Manet maintained it to be. Perhaps that is why he cut up his large version (the smaller study survives), so that the fragment of a soldier examining his rifle might be appreciated for what it is, an admirable study of a model.

Mark Harden. “GOYA, Francisco: The Shootings of May Third 1808.” Mark Harden's Artchive, March 2008. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/G/goya/may_3rd.jpg.html.

My Questions

Is that important to the painting that the content is really truth or not ?

  In my opinion , the content need not to be exactly the fact or the truth .Otherwise , the artists would lost their freedom to create artwork ,then the quaility of artwork would also lower . So I support the artwork should based on the artists' creation .

The Question leave to the class

  After this artwork , I can find that Goya do wanna awake the citizen the sense of belonging of the nationalism and emphasize on the aspect of political . But nowadays , there something change for example brand name products is a good artwork , I do wanna

 the definition of 'a good artwork' ?

‘beautiful ?’ ‘trendy’? ‘Religious’?‘Social and political’?

or the other that the classmates discussed in the class , for example the story or history of the artwork ,the content  e.t.c

work you have chosen in some detail. Show that you have read about the work in the required reading and that you have also read additional materials that you have found independently. Unless you have a special reason, do not include the biography of the artist in this brief talk. In the best presentations it will be clear that the speaker has thought deeply about one work of art and what s/he has read about it, forming his/her own opinions about what it means, and how this meaning is communicated.

Kwong ka ming talk on Jackson Pollock, White Light, 1954

Jackson Pollock, White Light, 1954

Individual presentation (5 minutes max) – 30%

Discuss the work you have chosen in some detail. Show that you have read about the work in the required reading and that you have also read additional materials that you have found independently. Unless you have a special reason, do not include the biography of the artist in this brief talk. In the best presentations it will be clear that the speaker has thought deeply about one work of art and what s/he has read about it, forming his/her own opinions about what it means, and how this meaning is communicated.

A good presentation will include:

full details of the work – artist, title, year, medium, dimensions
an explanation of how the work fits into a broader style or movement (eg Realism) and the specific historical context (eg the mid 19th century in France).
A description of the work
one key quote about the work in question
why this work interests you/ your own opinion of the work
names of authors, titles of articles, books or websites (and publication information) that are especially relevant to this work
a thought-provoking question about the work for the class

Luna talks on Frank Lloyd Wright:Fallingwater,USA(1936)

   Do you want to live in a house that is surrounded by the spiritual forrest? Are you fascinated by the beauty of nature? If both of your answers are "Yes", then you will be interested in the architectual work which I am going to introduce. It is the marvellous "Fallingwater".

   Now, let me give you some details about this wonderful building. It is called Fallingwater because it is built over a serene waterfall in the woods of Pennsylvania. Frank Lloyd Wright, who is one of the most innovative architects in America, designed this house as a vacation home for his clients, the Kaufmann family. It is constructed from 1936 to 1939 and is around 5330 square feet. The color palette of Fallingwater is limited. Two colors were mainly used, for instance, a light yellow for the concrete and Wright's favourite Cherokee red for the metal frames.

     He has used cantilever technique to build Fallingwater. It seems like the balconies are floating in mid-air and there is nothing to support it. This is a new idea in architecture in the early 20th century. Moreover, some of the features of Fallingwater are in common with the Bauhaus. For example, we can observe that everything is rectilinear, with geometric blocks based on vertical and horizontal lines, which has stylistic similarities with Cubism and Dutch De Stijl.They both are very simple in terms of design.And they aim to stay away from the overly decorative style of other institutes.

   Let us move deeper into the style of the artwork. The design of Fallingwater is based on the Prairie Style which is promoted prominently by Frank Lloyd Wright. According to this style, architectural works should be integrated with natural landscapes. The main principle is that a house should look as if it has naturally grown from the site. The works of the Prairie Style architects usually emphasize on the harmony between human habitation and the natural world through design, so that the buildings, furnishings, and surroundings will become a unified, interrelated composition.
   Therefore, we can observe that the horizontal terraces and the low ceilings of Fallingwater appears like the structure of the rocks below. The chimneys also resemble the stone pieces in the surrounding woods. Wide glass windows, which make nature a constant visible presence inside the house, further reinforce the association of the building with landscape. And even the light yellowness of the house aims to blend with the environment. To some extent, Fallingwater has fulfilled Wright's pursuit of "organic" architecture. He wanted people to live with the waterfall, to make it part of their everyday life, and not just to look at it now and then.

   

    There is one key quote about Fallingwater which is written by Edgar Kaufmann, junior.

"It has served well as a house, yet has always been more than that, a work of art beyond any ordinary measure of excellence. It is set on the waterfall, spouting natures's endless energy and grace. House and site together form the very image of man's desire to be wedded and embraced with nature."
  
 Why am I so impressed by Fallingwater? Since I was somehow fed up with the air pollution from the rapid development and industrialization of the city, I am delighted to see the peaceful Fallingwater. The spirituality of this house has reminded me that we should once again embrace our nature.

Reference:

   I recommend you to read "The Aesthetics of Architecture" by philosopher Roger Scruton.It is a nice book about how you look at architecture in different aspects.

1. http://www.fallingwater.org/37/what-is-fallingwater
2.Carlson, Aesthetics and the environment : the appreciation of nature, art, and architecture, London, Routledge, 2002
3. Sparshott, Figuring the Ground: Notes on Some Theoretical Problems of the Aesthetics Environment, Journal of Aesthetic Education, 1972
4.www.fallingwater.org/assets/Quotes_About_Fallingwater.pdf


Questions:

1.Philosopher Allen Carlson agreed that certain works of art is highly "site specific",and Fallingwater is one of them. What do you think is "site specific"? Do you agree with what Carlson has said about Fallingwater?


2.Can you think of any examples which also emphasize on the assoication between nature and artworks besides Fallingwater?
 
3.What kind of effects will we have if we construct buildings with the same style as Fallingwater in Hong Kong?