WP3: Pre-writing 2

Arietta II is a painted steel structure made by Catherine Ferguson by 1998. It is made to look like birds in the shape of an upside down pyramid, but with a rectangular shape. The birds are all touching each other connected by head, tail, or wings. It has been painted black and is placed in front of the Sheldon Art Museum. The two sides that are wider than the other two both contain three prominent bird bodies, while the two smaller sides each contain part of a bird body but are mostly made up of wings.

The birds are not all pointed in the same direction, as to be moving around in a circular motion; rather their placement is random as to which direction they are facing. This represents the unpredictability of the birds or of nature as a whole. However, they all are tilted slightly upward towards the sky. This makes the vector of attention the sky. This would not be as effective if the structure were placed indoors, but because it is outdoors the birds tilted upwards literally points to the sky. The sky is a key place of the birds’ habitat. Because it is where they spend much of their time and how they do most of their traveling, birds are a common thought with thinking of the sky. Likewise, the sky is a common thought when thinking of birds.

Another result of the sculpture being placed outside is natural lighting. The view of the sculpture will be slightly different from a nice, sunny day and a gray, cloudy day. When it is sunny the black sculpture is very bold because its colors contrast with the bright blue sky, the green grass, and the light pavement that surrounds it. Opposite of this, on a dreary day the black will not be as bold because its surroundings will be gray and darker as well. Similar to this, birds come in a variety of colors and have a variety of effects on people. Some birds are brightly colored and sing cheerful songs, while other birds are black and only seem to squawk. Also, birds can be associated with happiness and also negative feelings, such as fear. Often, spring time is thought of as a happy time after winter, and the birds’ singing are associated with spring time. On the other hand, a grackle is seen as mean and seeing a raven or a falcon soaring in the sky provokes a sense of fear and is can be associated with death.

The birds all touching is necessary to make the structure stand, but it also makes them appear as a team. It is common to see birds flying in a v-formation in the sky. They do this so the front person will take the burden of some of the wind off the rest of them. They gain quite a bit by working as a team. However, because they are not placed all in the same direction of movement, the viewer is reminded that they do not always work together. Much like nature as a whole, sometimes cooperation may be best, but there’s also a lot of competition within the team for individual gain.

WP3: Pre-writing 1

The most experience I've had with art is in an art class in eighth grade. I remember using markers, chalk, pencils, and paint for the projects we used. We also learned about various artists and art terms and strategies. For example, we learned about hue, brightness, and saturation. However, most of the facts about art periods and strategies I do not remember. I enjoyed the class a lot and was interested in it, but I didn't take any further art classes because I didn't see myself as artistic. The main problem I had in it was that I never felt like my work was good enough. Therefore, it took me too long to get things done because I was always correcting my work.

I think it would be really helpful, when looking at and analyzing art, to know about the different eras of art. Each one has different goals, techniques, ideas, and events of the time that affect the art. Since most of the time when you view art a placard with the artist and time period displayed on it, you could see what period of art it was created in. The artists name might provide for where it came from, also narrowing down the art movement of the time it was created. By knowing those, it would add an element of context to the creation of the piece, and likewise give incite to what the argument may be.

Likewise, I think it would be helpful to know of the famous artists and their respective styles or techniques. Although, there are way too many artists to know about each one, especially because some only may only have one piece while others have many, the popular artists are the ones that are most influential to the general art movements. By knowing about the artists known for which styles or techniques, I would be able to compare the artist of a certain piece to the style of the artist known for that technique. This could also provide an insightful context to which what the artist was trying to argue, and that could be added to or compared to what the piece is actually arguing.