Geraldine's Files in Art

          The film “Waste Land” by Vic Muniz was an extraordinary film that revealed and proved that art can truly change peoples’ lives. In this film, Vic Muniz’s idea on taking garbage; useless or unappreciated items, and making it into art, changed not only his life in such a positive way, but it also changed the lives of 6 people and ACAMJG community. Before I move forward, a little background on Vic Muniz and how this huge project of his came to be. He was born into a working class family in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In his earlier days, he was shot in the leg and after all that commotion; he came to New York City where he worked. First he began his career as a sculptor but then gradually he became interested in photography. He became so interested in using garbage, dirt, diamonds, sugar, strings, wire and syrup as the main use in his art that he just had to travel to Brazil’s ACAMJG (the Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho).             In ACAMJG, you’ll find the most

Damian Ortega is a very fascinating Mexican artist who uses everyday life materials in his art, for example, Volkswagen Beetle cars, Day of the Dead posters and locally sourced corn tortillas (which I found to be hilarious). His work explores specific economic, aesthetic and cultural situations and, in particular, how regional culture affects commodity consumption. Damian always was fond of art but by watching his brother, who liked to do a lot of experiments and take apart kitchen appliances to see how they work, he then branched out his ideas to taking common materials apart. For example, on the bottom right corner is a picture of "Cosmic Thing," a beetle car was used for this specific type of art because for one, he had his own, secondly it was part of his own family, and thirdly because it was the most popular car in Mexico City. This exploded installation gave this vibe that every piece, every part of the beetle car had it's own life and it&

Marcel Duchamp  In Advance of the Broken Arm August 1964 (fourth version, after lost original of November 15, 1915)      I found this piece of art to be very funny, strange but interesting as this shovel free-hangs from the ceiling by a strong wire. At first I didn't understand at all how this was art, but then remembering that Marcel Duchamp's art revolved around Surrealism, it started to get to me. Surrealism art made people use their imagination, making them think outside the box about everyday life objects and just to basically awake the unconscious mind of the people. Also influenced by Karl Marx, surrealism tries to reveal this contradiction in the everyday world and I agree with this because this piece of art, In Advance of the Broken Arm , already brings this contradictory ring to it. This shovel was just one example of Marc Duchamp's many "readymades" sculptures. He believed that selecting mass-produced functional objects and going against t

Dada Collage " Burger Fish "

EDWARD WESTON (1886-1958)       Edward Weston was one of the great American photographers who revolutionized and modernized photography in every sense of the world.  Whether photographing elemental landscapes, sculptural nudes or everyday objects, Weston's brilliance was allied to a democratic approach to his subject matter. Edward's interest of style fell first into mechanical imitations of painting styles, but soon he became restless with pictorial-ism, which took inspiration from impressionism and symbolism. In time though he found a new sense of style that fit his taste in photography and that was constructivism and cubism. Constructivism was a style or movement in which assorted mechanical objects are combines into abstract mobile structural forms and then with cubism, Edward abandoned the use of single viewpoint and within his photos showed simple geometric shapes. Also he focused on realism, which for Edward he was more focused on the meaning behind the object him

Claude Monet's painting "Impression, Sunrise," depicts an impressionism type of artwork. As it can be seen, Monet paints a beautiful sunrise on the port of Le Havre, his hometown. Claude Monet decided to name this artwork "Impression, Sunrise" due to his hazy painting style in his depiction of the subject.  The imagery of this work of art presents a focus on the calm feeling of a misty maritime scene.  Slightly below the center of the painting, a small rowboat with two indistinct figures floats in the bay.  The early morning sun is depicted rising over the foggy harbor with ships and other various boats at port.  The shadows of the boats and figures and the reflection of the sun’s rays can be seen on the water’s surface.  Monet incorporates a palette of mostly cool, dull colors into the painting with blues and grays, but also includes splashes of warm colors noticed in the sky and the red-orange sun.  This usage of a noticeably bright color draws attention t