Orlan

What I find most interesting abour Orlan is her plastic surgery performances. Something that many women go through but in an element of privacy. Most women wont even admit they've had work done. Orlan saw this as an opportunity to shock the world and create art that nobody else has done. The glamorizing the procedures with costumes and props, Orlan went through numerous surgeries to her body without amnesia. As you can see in the image, the perfomance wasn't fake and included numerous bloody, graphic scenes. She also had horns installed in her forehead that remain there today. She wanted to make her performances obvious, and by adding horns - there was no hiding it. I think her message was that if you're going to undergo certain procedures that are costly and life changing - why not share the experience with everyone. By making artwork out of it she attracts a new audience - an audience who have never seen anything like this. By integrating props I believe she is saying how normal and everyday these procedures are for people. I think she made a huge statement by filming these surgeries and took a huge step in the definition of art.

Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys was an artist who came into light during the FLUXUS movement. Although he did participate in many FLUXUS performances he decided to take a different route in art. His main goal in his artwork was to present political and social issues within in order to show his feelings about a subject and to evoke emotion in others. An example of one of Beuys' performances was him holding a dead hare and whispering things to it behind a glass wall. People didn't know the hare was dead and they didn't know what he was saying. He was also covered in honey and gold leaf. Each aspect of the performance meant something to Beuys and symbolized some sort of social or political relationship. Another interesting image is a piano covered in clot with a stiched red cross on it called "Homogeneous Infiltration for Piano." To me he is saying playing the piano is old art. It is art, but needs to be combined with other mediums to create something special in this era. By covering the piano, he is enclosing it's identity and forcing the music to be closed off. By the addition of the red cross I am getting the idea that it needs to be fixed, or combined with other art otherwise it is not new and fresh. He was making a stand for his new way of art that presented problems in society.

FLUXUS

FLUXUS was started by a man named George Maciunas. This term stands for a network of artists who blended different means of art together. FLUXUS means "to flow" and that is what these artists strived for. In the early days of the movement John Cage explored music. With different compositions he created art. Other artists chose to get visual and create video art as well as short performance pieces. In my opinion this was a good move in art. By combining different elements they create something new and fresh. These new creations have so much more power than traditional art and music, because with the combination they present new ideas - they represent the feelings and the opinions of the individuals creating it. This is something that hadn't been done in the past. And, it was the door swinging open for talented people to combine their means and basically go crazy with the artwork presented.

Xerox Project

I decided for this project to scan whatever I could at the library and to create different monster like puppets with different arrangements of body parts and objects. I cut out and glued each peace to thick neon paper to add some color to the vast array of black and gray.  I then glued pieces together and used beads as a handle so the finished project could hang. There are 4 versions of the monsters (seen above) and each is unique in its own way. I really enjoyed this project once I went ahead and did it, but I'm a procrastinator so I didn't leave myself much time to complete it. I think it came out pretty well, just wish I could have created a better way of hanging it/displaying it.

Grid Art Project

These beads created my impressionist sunset. By lining them all up vertically and horizontally I created this grid art. Blues, greens and silvers were used for the ocean and reds, purples and golds for the sky.

Un Chien Andalou

Un Chien Andalou, done in 1929 was quite interesting. The beginning with the slicing open of the eyeball (donkey's eye) seemed gross but held so much power being something that doesn't come up in film often. The clever use of transistions allowed this silent film to leave a powerful memory. Everything seemed a bit chaotic and unworldly. The ants in the hand, the dead donkey, the boy being killed. It was all random and not put in film before. I dont know what else to say about this film, it was just so random and at times disturbing.

Marcel Duchamp Mona Lisa

This recreation of Leonardo De Vinci's Mona Lisa was done in 1919 by Marcel Duchamp. By adding facial hair and labeling it after translation"her ass is on fire" Duchamp gave Mona Lisa, and women as a whole new freedom. Not only was it different then what was done in art in the past but it was the end of WWI and it was a point in history where women were coming into their own. Throughout the war the women held the fort and worked while their husbands and brothers were gone at war. So, when the men returned, if they did at all, the women had experienced something that they werent going to let go of. Mona Lisa, a portrait of a woman with a very deceiving look upon her face; you can't tell if she's happy or sad. You just don't know what she is thinking. By Duchamp adding some elements it really hides her identity and what she stands for. I think this gives women power and a slight rising in status. She has more freedom, the freedom to do whatever and think whatever she likes.