Interpreting Big Ideas

"I think that painting or the kind of I prefer to explore, is about unknowns or looking for questions more than answers" - artist Brice Marden

     I am not always support the use of quotes but this one in particular intrigues me and suggests that the best art investigated new possibilities and not just the established path/way of doing things. This reminds me of my favorite poem (even if it is considered to be somewhat of a cliche).

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

     The second paragraph of the "Big Ideas and Artmaking" article, which discusses how a "big idea" provides art making with significance, grabbed my attention because that is how I operate as an architecture student.  Architectural design can generate fascinating physical forms but if it lacks meaning then it is superfluous.  It is this endeavor to produce a meaning that, as the the author states, pushes the artist's product beyond a simple craft exercise of technical skills and manipulation.  This is a situation I have faced for the entirety of my collegiate career.  I believe this need for significance extends to all creative fields: sculpting, painting, architecture, drawing, fashion, furniture design, graffiti, collage, etc.  The author also provides some well known artists who fit this "big idea" approach to design to strengthen his argument.
     The only parts that seemed silly were the little tips teachers on how to interact with students regarding the subject matter of the article.  While reading the article, I felt as though I were a student and the tips were written to address an instructor.
     I found the article by Terry Barrett, "Interpreting Visual Culture", interesting in that it attempted to explain the the subconscious way we interpret the our visual surroundings.  As an architecture major, I am somewhat used to interpreting what I see in the physical world.  I have taken an Intro to Architectural Theory, which while partially exploring the historical development of the field, also investigates formal reasons for the way things are designed and the ways they affect our subconscious perception of the world.  In the course, I studied buildings, painting composition, glassware, etc.
      I feel that the introduction to this article could have made this point more clearly.  While the author provides many examples to support their argument, the main idea is somewhat lost.  The examples could have been better integrated into the explanation of our subconscious visual perceptions instead of providing for the bulk of the written content.

Responses to "The Heresy of Zone Defense" and "The Cheese Monkeys"

     I found the "The Heresy of Zone Defense" to be an interesting article regarding how rules have restricted and liberated the freedom and creativity of basketball as a sport.  I was particularly interested in the comparisons drawn to fine art.  The establishment of rules can have drastic implications on how anything creative gets played out.  People often try to have better control and understanding of a topic or area of interest by developing rules.  However, as the article points out, doing this can have a negative impact and hinder the full potential of that topic.  I am also a bit of a sports nut so the comparison of basketball to fine art grabbed my attention.  The fast paced opening paragraph provides excitement before the author segways into his more serious point.

     While I appreciate the argument made by the author, Dave Hickey, I believe he could have made his point in a more concise document.  Other examples and more than just a couple comparisons to fine art would have made a stronger case for his argument regarding rules in basketball.  At times he also states that basketball has developed these rules that restrict it yet without such rules, the sport would change in nature and identity.  Pushing the limits of these rules are the cause for the reactions in the crowd which he describes.

     In the article titled, "The Cheese Monkeys," I found the sarcastic comments inserted by the author to be humorous and they kept the reader's attention.  I appreciated the discussion regarding the governing theories behind formal arrangements.  It introduced several concepts, Left to Right, Big vs Small, Top to Bottom, and in Front of and in Back of, which are very influential in any message depicted by art or propaganda.  I am regularly aware of these ideas, yet due the thinking of the Western world, I understand the implied implications subconsciously.  I believe these basic concepts will aid me in formal compositions both in this class and future artistic endeavors.    

     The article itself didn't bother me, but it prompted me to consider how this world might be different if these governing theories were inverted or did not exist.  People understand particular implied meanings based on the formal arrangement of objects within a composition.  However, these meanings would cease to exist or falter if such rules did not influence our subconscious.  The composition of objects to produce a message or meaning relies heavily on these organizational principles and would struggle mightily without them.

Introduction

 My name is Brian Koehler and I am an undergraduate architecture major at Ohio State.
This is the first blog entry I have to write for Art Education 252.  I never thought I would have to write for an art class so this should be interesting.  It is cool though that the class is inside the football stadium.  I never realized there were classrooms inside the stadium.  I have used the Adobe program Photoshop many times before in my undergraduate college career in architecture to produce renderings for projects so I am excited to be able to further experiment with the program as a means of artistic representation.  I am also interested in exploring other methods of representation such as photography and video.  I hope to learn a lot from this class and taking advantage of the opportunities it presents.  I am in my 4th year at Ohio State and as I fulfilled almost all the required architecture classes to get my Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture, I plan to pursue other creative interests in my remaining two quarters here, starting with this class.  I am in the process of applying to grad schools where I plan to continue my education at the graduate level and earn a Master of Architecture degree.

My Top Five List would be:
1) Manchester United (my favorite soccer team)
2) Architecture (my major and growing passion)
3) Ohio State Buckeyes
4) Running (when I have the time and energy)
5) my girlfriend Bryn