Artist of the Week - 6EMEIA

It's an unusually wet spring here in Dallas with lots of rain. I was awakened at 4:00 this morning by another storm blowing through. We take storm drains for granted, but the lowly storm drain keeps our streets from becoming rivers (at least most of the time). Check out the work of these South American artists! They are hard at work painting the cityscape they live in. It's great to have some color and humor on the street!

The Design of the Flag

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day - a time to celebrate the important job our Military does to preserve our freedoms. Flags fly everywhere as we reflect. This site is dedicated to the United States Flag. Our flag is an artistic expression of this country - each color, shape and arrangement symbolic of this great land.

(From the website:) 50-Star Flag: Executive Order of President Eisenhower dated August 21, 1959 - provided for the arrangement of the stars in nine rows of stars staggered horizon tally and eleven rows of stars staggered vertically. This is the current flag of the United States. Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state on August 21st, 1959. The 27th flag of the United States became the official flag on July 4th, 1960. Nine presidents have served under this flag; Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961), John F. Kennedy (1961-1963), Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969), Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974), Gerald R. Ford (1974-1977), Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Ronald W. Reagan (1981-1989), George Bush (1989-1993), William J. Clinton (1993-2001) and George W. Bush (2001-present)*.

So check out the beginnings of our flag and notice flags of other countries. States and even cities have flags! Why not design a personal flag for yourself?

Obama's Logo Design

Watch this video narrated by Mark Scheffler from Chicago: A Crain's Chicago Business video profile about the firm that developed Barack Obama's logo.

Logos are incredibly powerful visual symbols used in society. We see clear designs that are simple and direct represent complex groups of people throughout society. They play a very important role in Visual Culture by communicating quickly and efficiently. Obama's logo is new and exciting. Don't be surprised to see it in lots of places - even AFTER he's been elected president! What other people, places and companies can you think of that have similar "brands" or logos? Post a comment and let us know what comes to your mind!

Political Cartoons

Election day is close at hand. It got me thinking about the Political Cartoon and it's power. These cartoons allow the artist to communicate a complex situation in a quick and direct way. The site I have linked to this post title is a page from Dr. Paul Parker's university website. He teaches political science at Truman State University in Missouri. This webpage is a wonderful little history of the political cartoon. He outlines the 4 things an effective political cartoon need to have: 1) good artistry, 2) genuine sentiment, 3) uncomplicated imagery and 4) the subject must be of lasting nature.

I teach Art I and Speech Communication (one semester credit of each). I mix the two disciplines up all year to make it more fun and interesting for both student and teacher. Art and Speech are both about communication! It is a wonderful interdisciplinary combination. A persuasive speech is typically on the list for the year and political cartoons are perfect for the speech's visual aid. This gives my students a chance to try their hand at political cartooning.

Artist of the Week - Justine Smith

Money, money, money! That is one of the major topics in the news right now - AND, we get minute by minute updates - what's up, down, gone, promised, lost, hoarded, slashed or stashed. It got me thinking about artists that might work with money, so I googled and found Justine Smith, a British artist whose medium is primarily paper and can be more specifically money. Here's what her website has to say about this piece I'm featuring, "Money Map of the World" 2004/05.

"Her work is an exploration of our relationship with money and our response to it, in a political, moral and social sense, whilst also exploiting the physical beauty of the note. A Banknote is not only an abstract representation of our labour, but the imagery depicted on it also symbolises the ideas and ideals of a given country's culture and the society that its people live in.

The 'Money Map of the World' compounds many of Smith's ideas relating to money. This piece of work took seven months to produce and is made up of banknotes from every country in the world. The images and cultural symbols on the banknotes are significant and can give an indication not only of the economy of a given country, but also important aspects of its culture. Aside from more obvious images of the local flora and fauna, one can also see elements of a country's history, religion, its aspirations and defining achievements. In some areas such as the Middle East, spiritual and cultural alliances can be seen as groups of countries appear to merge due to the similarity of Islamic design on the banknotes. One can also see economic alliances such as the Eurozone, or West and Central African states, which share common currencies between a group of nations. Similarly, one can also see traces of old empires - some countries borders are naturally formed by rivers or mountains, but other countries borders are man-made and to an extent divided by money."

Have you ever thought about the artistic design that goes into money? The images that are promoted, the ideas, the POWER symbols. When do we stop "seeing" money - what does it represent to you? What do you think about the cutting up of money to create an art piece? We "buy" materials to make art; is it the same when we "buy" money as an art material? Look at the areas certain bills covers - does that indicate the power of the country? What makes some countries money stronger than others? Interesting stuff...

Artist of the Week - Banksy

Graffiti can be a controversial subject. Before I went to Rome this summer, people told me how ugly it was because of all of the graffiti there is in the city - well, there were some sections of Rome that DID have a lot of graffiti. Certainly the largest issue is that of personal property...would YOU want someone painting stuff on something you paid for and owned? Probably not. But it can't be denied that it is an art form that lives on and is very dynamic.
Banksy is a British artist that takes graffiti to a new level...check out his website. What makes his art so interesting to me is the juxtaposition of imagery with political ideas. This image shows two young children with traditional beach toys, yet the trees seem to have been blown over by some terrible storm. The additional contrast of color with grey tones adds to the tension in his image. Fascinating guy.....oh, and he pulls some pretty funny art pranks you can see on his site....check out the video links!

Dramatic Design for Advertising

Images of these trucks showed up in an email, and I was entertained. The art technique of trompe l'oeil (an image that looks realistic but isn't) was being used to create drama in advertising. We know that trucks carry our goods, but by putting provocative designs on them, the advertising force is greatly increased! When I googled "German truck art", it took me to the Snopes.com site. Someone had written in to ask if these were 'for real' (pun intended!)! There was a design competition for ideas to be presented, and two products "Pringles" and "Pepsi" were the winners. Click on the headline above, it will take you to the Snopes site and you can click on the links that show the winning advertising on the real trucks as they rolled out! How effective is this idea in making YOU want to buy a certain product?