Visiting LACMA (4 Q&A)

Four Questions and Answers are based on ONE piece from LACMA

Q&A are based on the following pieces in LACMA.

"Urban Lights"

1. "The Treachery of Images" 1929 -Rene Magritte

2. "Weeping Woman with Handkerchief" 1937 -Pablo Picasso

3. "Cold Shoulder" 1963 -Roy Lichtenstein

4. "Kellogg's Corn Flakes Boxes" 1971 -Andy Warhol

5. "Band" 2006 -Richard Serra

6. "Urban Light" 2000- 2007 -Chris Burden

Questions and Answers are based on "

1. Does the artist use distinct working methods and processes?
Burden collected street lamps, restored them, and painted them to create this outdoor display.

2. Has the artwork been created in isolation, in collaboration, with a fabrication team?  What kinds of materials were used? Traditional, unconventional, or a combination?
Burden had spent money and years collecting his lamps before he restored and painted them.  These lamps used to be street lamps; his first lamp was bought at the Rose Bowl Flea Market for $800.

3. Does the artwork reference elements for popular culture, mass media, or art history?

Burden's sculpture may reference mass media, because street lamps are mass produced for utilitarianism. 

4. Does the artwork serve as a form of critique, questioning or reframing debates about art or society?

This artwork symbolizes society; it is "a building with a roof of light" (Burden) which represents a civilized city.

Describe their formal qualities.

Color: achromatic; warm colors make up the lights when they are on

Line: vertical lines

Shape: there are a variety of shapes, because many different lamps were used

Scale: some lamps are taller or more detailed than others

(LACMA, LA Times)

At LACMA Visit (Q&A)

Q&A are based on the following pieces are LACMA.

"Urban Lights"

1. "The Treachery of Images" 1929 -Rene Magritte

2. "Weeping Woman with Handkerchief" 1937 -Pablo Picasso

3. "Cold Shoulder" 1963 -Roy Lichtenstein

4. "Kellogg's Corn Flakes Boxes" 1971 -Andy Warhol

5. "Band" 2006 -Richard Serra

6. "Urban Light" 2000- 2007 -Chris Burden

Based upon your observations, discuss the following on your blog:

Define Contemporary Art.
Contemporary Art may be seen as modern art which includes work produced during the times of World War II and work produced in the present.

Does Contemporary Art have specific boundaries?

The boundaries of Contemporary Art my be blurred; however, some may argue that there are boundaries.


If so, what are they?
The boundaries may be the time it must be produced.  For example, the works above were all produced after the 1800s.


("Urban Lights")

Modern Art Movements

Below are examples of some modern art movements.

Cubism

"Candlestick and Playing Cards on a Table"

Expressionism

"The Scream"

Impressionism

"La Grenouillere"

Modern

"Relief Rhythm"

Surrealism

"Photo: This is the Photo of my Dreams"

Pop Art

"Vegetarian Vegetable from Campbell's Soup  II"

Realism

"Crowd at the Seashore"

(Cubism, Expressionism, Impressionism, Modern, Surrealism, Pop Art, Realism)

Modern Art LACMA (Online)

Visiting LACMA Online

Answers are based on the following pieces.

1."Still Life with Violin" -Georges Braque

2."Bird in Space" -Brancusi

3. "Sweet William" -John Chamberlin

4. "Large Standing Woman IV" -Alberto Giacometti

5. "Anger Hans" -Siebert von Giacometti

6. "Untitled Improvisation III" -Wassily Kandinsky

7. "Two Women" -Ernst Ludvig Kirchner

8. "Black and White Number 20" -Jackson Pollock

"Still Life with Violin"

What is your definition of art?
Art is the application and expression of someone's imagination which is presented through their creative work.  Art should be visual, but can range from performance work to free-standing pieces.

What are the traditional subjects of art?
Traditional subjects of art were immortal individuals since as deities of pagan beliefs or gods and goddesses of other religions.

"Black and White Number 20"

What are the tools and materials of art?
There are many tools and materials of art.  Some of which includes pencils, pieces of paper, palettes of paint, clay, and canvases.

For what different purposes or reasons do artists create art?
Some artists create art in order to present their emotions or inner feelings while some artist create art due to class requirements or obligations.  However, there are endless reasons as to the original purpose of artists in their creations.

In what ways can works of art reflect the society in which they are made?

There are many other ways works of art may reflect a society. The work of a certain time period may reflect the daily life of the artists and their surroundings and therefore, would shine light for future observers of their work.  Similarly, our current fashion trends may symbolize what we value. 


(LACMA images)

DIGS STATS

The Three Activities from DIGSTATS


Cigarettes  
1. Which has the smaller standard deviation?
Nicotine
Tar: 5.66
Nicotine: 0.35
Weight: 0.0859491602
CO (mg): 4.74

2. What is the range for the tar?
28.8

3. What is the range for the nicotine?
1.9

4. Which data set, the tar or the nicotine, has data points that tend to cluster around its mean?
Nicotine

---
Windspeed
1. What is the mean?
10.97

2. What is the standard deviation?
6.39

3. What is the 95% confidence interval?


4. Would the confidence interval become wider or more narrow, if the confidence level was 90%?

5. What is the primary reason the interval is the width that it is?
---
Geyser

1. What is the mean duration of the eruptions?
3.58

2. Is the median duration much different from the mean duration?
The median duration is not much different from the mean duration.

3. What is the most frequent length of the eruptions?
4.3

4. If you went to Yellowstone National Park to see Old Faithful, how long would you have to wait between eruptions of the geyser?






(DIGSTATS/ Partner: Sandy V./ work done with an IT 84 graphing calculator)

Russian History

History of Russia – Social Science Using Materials Adapted from Cambridge History of Russia

Part 1 – Early Rus’ to 1689

The Prologue

Questions you should be able to answer

Why did the title of Grand Prince fall out of usage?

Due to power struggles caused by ambiguous succession systems, the title of Grand Prince began to fall out of usage. Tsar took the place of Grand Prince, meaning Khan or Emperor.

What are the three major cities of the Early Rus’?

The three major cities of Early Rus' included Keiv, Novogord, and Moscow.

Describe the economy of the early Rus’.

With a large peasant population, early Rus' relied on an agrarian based economy. As the Rus' economy thrived, they participated in the trade routes of the Baltic, Black, and Caspain Sea and the Silk Route along with strong trading centers, with Novogord being the most important.

Who were the major rivals to the early Rus’ and their relative geographical location?

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the western enemies of the Rus' included the Livonian Knights, Poland-Lithuania, and Sweden; their southern enemies included the Crimean Tartas and the Ottoman Turks. Their relative geographical location of the early Rus' is near their enemies; it sat on a Eurasian landmass that housed a diverse population, including Slavic and no Slav nomads, Siberians, and other non-Russians.

Name the most important sea trade route for the early Rus’.

The White Sea Trade Route was the most important sea trade.

Name the trade route made possible by the Mongol Invasion.

The opening of the Great Silk Route was made possible by the Mongol Invasion.

Name some modern states that claim the early Rus’ heritage and ethnic identity.

Modern Ukraine, Belarus, and the Russian Federation are some of the modern states that claim the early Rus' heritage and ethnic identity.

What is the major religion of the Rus’?

The major religion of the Rus' was their belief in the Orthodox Church.

Why was it important for leaders to endorse or appease the officials of this religion?

While this religion unified early Rus' by serving as a national identity symbol, it also helped leaders establish their legitimacy as leaders as in the Divine Right to Rule/ Divine Anointment.

What is autocracy?

A legal system where there is no limitations on the power of the leader.

Questions you should consider as you read further ahead (Think of these as essay questions with no real answer but could argue either for) -- to be update as studying progresses (:

Russian identity could be argued to have been formed by military, religious and political institutions.  Which do you think played the most important role to its development and why?

Consider why Post-Soviet states would feel eager to lay claim to early Rus’ identity.  Which modern state do you feel has the strongest claim?

Why would the Rus’, following Peter the Great’s reign be divided into the Western and Slavophile camps?  What are the aspects that could favor or disfavor one side?

What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of colonization from above versus colonization from below?  For the colonization from below, what would cause this phenomenon?

Russian Buildings

St. Basil's Cathedral 

St Basil's Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of the Intercession, was under construction from the years 1555 to 1560.  The popularized name, St. Basil's Cathedral was named after St. Basil the Blessed (1468- 1552) because he is buried within the Trinity Cathedral. It was constructed by Postnik Yakovlev in Moscow, Russia.  The cathedral sits on a single foundation as it consists of nine chapels with colorful symmetrical domes.  The interior consists of many galleries, stairs and arches. Up until the recent years, the cathedral had gone through many changes.  A ninth chapel was added by Ivanovich in 1588 and survived Stalin's destructive attempt of destroying the building.  Currently funds are being used to restore the cathedral after years of neglect and natural disturbances. 

The Small Hermitage

From 1765 to 1766 the Small Hermitage was constructed by Yurt Velten following the order of Empress Catherine.  The name of this building originated from the "small hermitages" or parties once held by Catherine II.   Late Baroque, Early Classicism, and Eclecticism styles are seen in the designs of this building as it sits alongside the Winter Palace and is connected to the other pavilions by the Hanging Garden.

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Located in St. Petersburg, St. Isaac's Cathedral was once the Russia's largest( standing tall at the height of 333 feet) cathedral as it was constructed by Auguste Montferrand from the years 1818 to 1858.  This cathedral was constructed for the dedication to St. Isaac of Dalmatia, but has also served as a museum and continues to hold church services today.  Neoclassical characteristics are seen in the exterior design of the cathedral with a gold plated dome decorated by Josef Hermann with twelve angels. 

Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building

As one of the Stalinist skyscrapers, Seven Sisters, or Stalin Heights, was under construction from the years 1947 to 1952 near the Moskva River.  The Chief Architect of Moscow, Dmitry Chechulin and Andrey Rostkovsky both took part in designing the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building.  Built for the citizens of Moscow, its main tower consists of thirty-two levels which includes an apartment block of nine stories.  

(St. Basil's Cathedral , The Small Hermitage, St. Issac's Cathedral, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment 2)

Cup-A-Noodle Sonnet

Steamy, hot, and spicy Cup-a-noodles
Ready to eat in only three minutes
During the wait you can draw and doodle
Never leave the Cup-a-noodle App mute

All you need is hot water and chopsticks
No hassle, no struggle, they are ready 
There are varieties for you to pick 
Some are really hot, mild, or steady 


Ready for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack-time 
You may eat them cooked or dry when you like   
Have fun eating your noodles as you read my rhymes
Bring your noodles along as you go hike


Cup, cup, cup, cup, cup, cup, Cup-a-noodles
I love love love love to eat and doodle