Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Blog 2-Kidd, Hickey, and Weschler


Within the article by Kidd, I found it interesting the manner in which the various concepts of art were discussed.  Kidd takes the approach of vividly depicting the basic concepts of art through metaphor and real world examples.  For example, Kidd describes the surface on which art is created as a battle field and the elements of art as invaders to this territory.  The way in which Kidd described the elements of art and how they are incorporated led me to think about the creation of art in different way.  The idea that there is truly no real big or small also intrigued me as it is true-something can always be bigger than big or smaller than small. I also was intrigued thinking about how dimensions play a role in art.  We see our world as it is in 3 dimensions and think it is better than 2 dimensions.  Yet, what about a world of 4 dimensions or even, what would perceptions of things be like there?
               In this article, I found it a bit difficult to imagine being able to design a moment in time.  What would this mean in terms of creating this?  I found this idea that Kidd was mentioning to be a little puzzling and difficult to wrap my mind around. I also found that a few of the references that were mentioned in the text were unfamiliar. For example, I would have been better able to understand the reference to a Beckett play if I had previous exposure to it.
               In the article by Hickey, I enjoyed how the author used basketball as a cornerstone to provide insight into the fine arts. I found it engaging how Hickey incorporated Jefferson’s wisdom about how a rule that evokes pleasure and liberty at one point will one day be a form of governance.  He alludes to how art seems to be guided more by rules than merely by a form of personal expression. Hickey describes how basketball was created with a firm foundation of rules that have withstood decades.  I found it intriguing that the only changes in rules that were made to the game were in the interest of aesthetics. One of the rules that has had a seemingly large impact is the fact that there must be a coach. It was interesting that the article suggested that college basketball is a sport that is programmed methodically by coaches only in the hopes of winning the game. Yet, Hickey goes onto later contradict that professional basketball art prevails in the rule making as rule changes are made in hopes of making the game more intriguing to watch.
               I had to reread this article a few times to fully grasp what Hickey was trying to really say.  I found it difficult and somewhat problematic that Hickey believed that fine art seems to now be governed by rules rather than liberated.  I found it hard to truly believe that the changes that have occurred in art have served to make fine art less articulate and joyful. I have some experience with art and I have not come across an opinion such as this.  When I think of art, I think of a form of personal expression and creativity that is not meant to be governed by any rules.  However, Hickey seems to contradict this in the article.
               I found the article by Weschler to be very interesting.  I have grown up watching various animated movies and have never really thought about all of the effort and preparation that goes into making the animated characters appear “real.” Every detail from the way the character to moves to how they express emotions is carefully calculated and even acted out by human actors. It was interesting to think about how without sound in an animated movie, the imperfections of the facial features of the screen character would be readily apparent.  However, with sound the audience is captivated by the storyline that is occurring that these imperfections typically go unnoticed.
I found it a bit problematic that animators would want to attempt to create characters who looked completely like a human. I found it to be very true that the possibility of creating an animated character who is completely realistic is probably unattainable as it would be very difficult to recreate the “soul” that an actual human being has.  It would be eerie to see an animated character with all of the lifelike qualities that a human being has.  It is after all animation and it is would be expected for the characters to not be completely realistic looking.

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