Design Journal

Rolled over to the National Art Gallery earlier this month- no photos though (no picture-taking in a gallery, after all =P )

First thing that happened? Lots and lots of rain. We really should send some water over to drought-suffering countries or something, might as well..

All in all I think we walked about 3 floors worth of art- pretty lovely really. Plenty of contemporary pieces, sculptures (even one using a Doraemon head. surreal indeed). There might be a bit of everything for everyone.

Some pieces that stood out to me were:

Johan Marjonid - Cool Afternoon At Jeriau River

The way the painting was set up and lit in certain areas really added to the illusion of depth and
makes you feel like you really are in the painting. That and its sheer size and detail. You'd think it
was a photograph if you weren't standing up close.

Patrick Lasak - Senja Di Padang Kota

He uses some pretty heavy impasto to depict the people in the foreground of the painting- it really
makes them pop and adds some cool detail.

Mohd Fadli bin Mokhtar - As Soon As Tradition Has Come To Be Recognizes As Tradition, It Is Dead

Well..that's a mouthful of a title. A skull gilded with gold leaf and a tengkolok/tanjak on it
(traditional Malay headgear). Nifty use of metaphor, looked cool too..really got my brain's gears
turning.

Raja Azhar Idris - Gelombang Gelombang

Sculpture piece made of glass and metal. The transparent blue glass layered to depict water tones
and the metal added gives texture that depicts foam and stuff. It was supergorgeous (or maybe I"m
just biased because it's blue...)

Fong Kim Sing - Lotus Series

Lots of cool colors and a soft, dreamy style.The loose, soft art style really gives off the impression of
the lotuses being underwater.

Plenty more in the art gallery, but these are some that resonated most in my head for now..
All in all, I probably should pay it more of a visit sometime. It's got some lovely stuff.

Just putting down some art movements we learned in class- whee~
note: art movements are not set in stone and can merge with other art movements, fun stuff :B

Abstract Art

- Has a loose, 'raw' feel, used to express abstract ideas and emotion instead of concrete objects and shapes

- Can have many interpretations and what one person sees may not be apparent to another

- Meant to grab attention and pull an emotional response from the viewer

Personally abstract art doesn't resonate with me so well..maybe I like the colors and patterns at best, but random Jackson Pollock-esque splats won't make me feel too much.

...erm

Art Deco

- Usually uses intense, outstanding bright colors

- has a decorative look

- was originally called Modernistic style..I guess they wanted to shorten their name :P

- represented modernism turned into fashion

- sleek, anti-traditional elegance, symbolizing wealth and sophistication

- many works made of chrome, plastic, industrial materials etc, 'modern age materials'

Pretty nifty, sleek yet bold style. I prefer a more organic feel to things though..

Renaissance

- spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century (man, that's a long time o.O)

- started in Italy and spread through Europe

- tried to recapture the spirit of Ancient Greek/Roman art, thus lots and lots of religious symbolism

- aspects of Roman statues and architecture were frequently used

- high emphasis on realism and detail

- Some Very Popular Artist Dudes:

Alessandro Botticelli

Leonardo da Vinci (but of course)

and Michelangelo

Visiting the Louvre in Paris I got to ogle half of these paitnings- holy shit their fingers must've gotten amazing cramps because that is some CRAZY level of detail.

Baroque

- emerged in Rome in the 17th century

- Religious paintings predominated but non-religious paintings also began to emerge (eg, still life, landscapes, historical events rather than biblical)

- Chiaroscuro (dramatic light and dark shades) was popular

- paintings of dark imagery (Hell, demons, etc)

notable artists: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens

A bit darker and more variation in subject matter compared to the Renaissance, in a sense, while still being delicate.

Bauhaus

- revived the idea of an artisan 'school/guild', artists as a collective community

- united creativity and manufacturing in response to anxiety that manufacturing was becoming 'soulless' and artistry was becoming irrelevant.

- emphasis on experimenting and problem solving through the use of art and craft.

Notable Artist Dudes: Kandinsky, Klee, Marcel Breuer

Constructivism

- the last and most influential modern art movement that flourished in Russia (20th century)

- aimed to replace traditional concern of composition in art with 'construction', so objects and pieces were made not to showcase beauty but to showcase functionality of materials that could potentially lead to new objects being designed

- often aimed to demonstrate how some materials could be used, its properties, how they behaved and how they could be transformed

- attempts to describe modern life and its dynamism and disorienting qualities of time and space.

Notable Arty Dudes: Vladimir Tatlin, Naum Gabo, Kasimir Malevich

Shows some pretty cool innovation and the stretching of materials' limits, has a very industrial look to it.

Cubism

- one of the first truly modern art movements

- abandoned perspective and realistic models of figures and played with open form

- also explored use of foreign objects as abstract signs and symbols (eg. newspaper being used in pieces)

- paved the way for geometric abstract art

Notable Art Dudes: Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque

Not an art movement I can particularly brain. It's like....whaaaaat??!

Dadaism

- began in Zurich, Switzerland

- arose as a reaction to WWI, nationalism and rationalism

- influenced by early avant-garde movements such as abstraction, cubism, constructivism, expressionism

- resulted in a multitude of artforms such as performance art, poetry, photography, sculpture, painting, collage

- whimsical, colorful, sarcastic, a form of social commentary through art

- aimed to break the rules of the norms

Notable Art Dudes: Marcel Duchamp, John Heartfield

omg these guys are the hipsters of the art world. I AM AMUSED.

I think Mona Lisa should keep the 'stache, it's a nice look for her.

Expressionism

- emerged in Germany

- a response to humans' increasingly discordant relationship with the world and the thought that people were losing touch with their spirituality and inner sense of self

- a reaction against Impressionism and the academic art form

- encouraged the distortion of form and the use of bright, vivid colours to convey anxieties and emotion

- an expression of the artist instead of depicting the outer world

Notable Art Dudes: Vincent Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Cezanne

^ that is my expression whenever my internet disconnects, which is pretty often.

Futurism

- Italian avant-garde movement, 20th century

- aimed to demonstrate the beauty of modern life; the beauty of the machine, speed, violence and change

- embraced popular media and new technologies to express their ideas

- worked in an eclectic style, no particular defining style of their own until 1911, and that was influenced by cubism

Notable Art Dudes: Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni

Iron Man, is that you?!

Not quite fond of the modern-is-awesome, violence-is-awesome fascism thing, but it does look quite cool. Very sci-fi.

Gothic Art

- not quite related to your sad-kids in black clothes and heavy eyeliner

er. not referring to these goths.

- grew out of the rigorous, limiting Byzantine and Romanesque art forms

- became more natural in shape and posture and allowed for expressive use of line and color

- elegant, detailed and decorative style

- primary medias included scupture, fresues, stained-glass painting, panel paintings

- inspired by the designs and colors of stained-glass windows

Notable Art Dudes: Jean Pucelle, Niccolo da Bologna

so fancy. the delicate detail is really nice though.

Impressionism

- developed in Paris in the 1860s

- aimed to capture the moment, the instant impression of a scene

- many Impressionist artists did their work in plein air, outside of studios for a more naturalistic environment

- featured looser brushwork and lighter, more vibrant colors instead of somber earth tones

- rules of composition were very loose and was open to experimentation

Notable Art Dudes: Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir

always had a personal fondness for Degas and his ballerinas- the loose brushwork really brings out the delicate ballet style and the tulle material of the tutus.

Minimalism

- gained traction in 1960s USA, spreading through art and design

- takes off all fancy embellishments and brings things back down to fundamentals

- attempt to remove composition from works

- usage of simple, geometric forms

- bare composition, 'less is more'

Notable Art Dudes: Tony Smith, Robert Ryman