The Analysis

What, in your opinion, has been the most difficult part of writing your analysis? Thinking critically? Expressing your thoughts in an organized fashion? Connecting your ideas? Please elaborate.

Issues

What, in your opinion, would be interesting topics to examine as persuasive/argumentative paper topics? Why?

As a matter of fact, I can't think of a good title.

If I were to say I prefer the city to O'Fallon, I don't think I'd be entirely alone. There's some weird sort of thrill in walking through clouds of secondhand smoke and supporting small businesses. A greeting from a homeless person on the street incurs a strong nostalgia for New York City, and even being ripped off by a chain fast-food place is more comforting when said establishment is not set into a standalone building next to a Target store. Even if city life isn't to your liking, you have to admit it was fun to pretend for a day.

The Loop

Frequently, many (not all!) people who live in St. Charles County express wonder and surprise upon their visits to the city. What were your thoughts/experiences surrounding our visit to Forest Park,the St. Louis Art Museum, and the Loop in University City. How was it the same/different than where you live in O'Fallon, MO?

What does it mean to "have a good aesthetic"?

Art Museum

Please share your thoughts on your Art Museum Experience.

What work do you plant to analyze and why?

This mush of paint is nice, but where is the art that pops?

See, here's the thing about my preference when it comes to art...I like it to be pretty! Sure, when it sends a message I can be proud of the artist. Not to mention, it's great for scholars and such. I'm sure they quite enjoy it. I like having things to think about, as well. But that's not my main priority when I'm looking at a piece. When I see art, I want something that is to my eyes as delicious chocolate cake with raspberry sauce is to my tongue.
Consequently, I am a pop art girl through and through. The clean lines and bright colors give me an image that is easy to process and enjoyable to look at. I also think the orderliness of pop art gives one more to think about than abstract expressionism does...in the sense that it gives one less to think about. Specific images open up infinite possibilities within limited interpretations, whereas the infinite interpretations of abstract expressionism limit its possibilities.
Am I making sense here? Don't answer that.

Abstract or Pop?

If I had to choosed between abstract expressionism and pop art, I think that I would have to say that I am closer to abstract expressionism. I find it difficult at times to express myself with conventional words (or images in this case) and the option of expressing my deepest psyche with colors and seemingly unplanned splatters is very attractive to me. I truly enjoy the pieces by Jackson Pollock and how much effort he put into each creation. I like the fact that it is easy to connect with because it doesn't have one concrete meaning. I am excited for the field trip to the art museum!

All About the Pop

I would definately have to say that I am closer related to the Pop-art. I'm a straightforward kind of person, that doesn't necessarily have any deeper meanings to them. The pop-art is easy to understand and analyze, it's not abstract with as many interpretations to it. The pop-art is more "me" because I don't feel like I'm the type of person that you would ever have to sit back and think about, because I say or show what I mean and how I feel.

designation art

Art comes in all shapes and forms. When it comes to creating my art I believe I lean towards both, if that is possible. You can create your own art and you can use other things to make art but in my eyes I take what is already there and make it something more. I think that has to do with I am so in touch with my surroundings (pop art) and I have a lot of free emotion that wants to get out (abstract). Like right now if I were given paper I might take the blank paper put lots of color on it, pictures of real people living their lives, and add some random drawings to represent what I feel brings the pictures out more kindof like props or something. I also feel most people do this in their everyday lives. They may lean more one way than the other but technically they invision both most likely because that is what we see normally everyday. Most people see things as they appear and even sometimes we see them or give them something more out of instinct. But that just might be me.

Pop Art or Abstract Expressionism

Well lets look at this from a different perspective. I don't like sharing everything about myself, which would lean towards Abstract Expressionism. Although, I really enjoy making jokes at peoples expense and making fun of random ideas based on everyday observations. That would push me towards a more pop art personality, seeing as they like to poke fun at the common man for putting material ideals on a pedestal. So, from this perspective I guess I can't take either side.

snap, crackle, pop art

abstract art requires abstract thinking.  i am more of a functional thinker, where everything has to have a purpose.  the use of pop art for commercial purposes not only satisfies my utilitarian thought-process, but appeals to my practical view of art.  through pop art's influence, im sure most of you imagined a rice krispie cereal box as you read my title

false ads

most people today dont allow themselves to be effected by advertising.  we as a society have learned to block out the harmful ads and only accept those that we see actual potential in.  these ads can be harmful to foreigners, the elderly, or young children because they havent been exposed to advertisement that much

Pop or Abstract

I see myself as more of an abstract expressionist simply due to the fact that I receive my feelings, emotions, and thoughts for the subconcious. I like to display what is going on in my head at that very second. Even though it may be tougher to understand what the artist is trying to convey, it still, in my opinion, has deeper meaning. I believe that the artist is able to express their thoughts more openly and more creatively than a pop artist. It gives the viewer a chance to look more closely at what the artist is trying to get across. It makes you think rather than glancing at the piece and automatically knowing what it is depicting.

Abstract Expressionism

I feel that I am closer to Abstract Expressionist(AE), is the spontaneity of their art. The way they just go with the art is often how I personally write, I get an idea, think about it for a short while and then go with it. Just write in a not quite stream of conscious way that seemed to be used by the AEs to create their art.

The art of AE feels like poetry with paint. Not the formal and stuffy poetry like sonnets which while read wonderfully, must be an absolute pain to write. No I mean poetry that comes straight from the soul and that is what makes it beautiful; not the syllable count but the sincerity of the poet.

Pop Art

I think that I am more like pop art. I think it is because I am very outgoing and I don't hide my feelings and emotion. When you look at abstract art you have to dig deep for the actual meaning of the colors and lines. When you look at pop art it is straight forward, no confusion or mixed feelings.

Are you closer to Abstract Expressionist or Pop Artist?

Here is an actual picture of Jackson Pollock creating one of his drip paintings.

Your answers in class were so very intriguing; I would be interested to read them on the blog. Are your sentiments/outlooks closer to the abstract expressionists or the pop artists?

The hardest part of writing the essay was being "All Killer, No Filler". When I first sat down to write the essay I wrote about a page before I started to repeat myself. Writing the curent draft I had to stop myself from writing because all I was going to say was what I said a paragraph ago.

Fallacious Advertising

Advertisements of all kinds are around us every single day and I think that they are images that we should and must be accustomed to. Some ads may be harmful when they hit a personal note, however, most are just there to get in our face and sell us a product. At the beginning of the year in my Contemporary Literature class, I discovered the true meaning of being literate. I learned that not only does literate mean being able to read and write, but it also means being literate in other aspects of our world, such as the computer, magazines, and yes even advertisements. If we cannot become accustomed to advertisements we, in a sense, are illiterate in modern society. They are thrown in your face everyday whether you know it or not. Those that are harmful to us tend to be the ones that stand out the most. So to answer the actual question, yes advertisements can be harmful, but under certain conditions and circumstances.

Essay and Ads

As I am still figuring out this whole blogging situation (I am quite computer illiterate for being a member of the digital generation), I will respond to two posts at once.
First, I will respond to the prompt about the difficulties of the essay. My biggest obstacle that I was made to over come, not just by the essay but by growing up in general, is coming to terms with who I am. I am proud of being a hard-working, responsible person but I am still figuring out who I am. That was why it was difficult to know what to write. I also had trouble putting into words what I was feeling or wanted to describe about myself (especially in an academic discourse that would be appropriate for a college level class.)
Next, I will respond to the prompt about fallacious ads. I believe that by recognizing the fallacy of the ads, we as an audience, are already demoting the purpose of the ad itself. In analyzing the rhetorical value of the ad, I would hope that we would be able to look past the obvious "everybody's doing it" appeal. I do believe that there is a more severe effect on people who do not have a confident outlook on who they are or what they want to be.

Falseies.

Just because there is an over-abundance of ads doesn't necessarily mean that we are so overly sensitive to them that they brain wash us. Ads are usually the easiest way to get word out of a new product. Ads are also a freer way of demonstrating what the product is about.
In this sense, though, yes, they could be harmful.
Ads are what you make them. It you take the ad as saying you're not beautiful enough without their product, then that's how you take it. It's probably some fault within yourself, though, if that's what you believe.

transition words are the devil?

up until about 6th grade, transition words were encouraged by my teachers so that my paragraphs would flow properly.  then at the start of middle school, transition words were for elementary kids and they made papers weaker.  so it has been over 5 years and i constantly avoided using these words.  while i was writing my essay, i found it hard to connect all the aspects of my personality.  competitiveness doesnt go with the inability to plan.  through my teacher conference, i was told transition words are useful if used in moderation, which allowed me to show contrast between my topics.  why do teacher tell us one thing only to have another teacher in the future tell us the opposite?

False Advertisements

In reality, every advertisement out there is somewhat false. They all claim to make the buyer better in some way, whether it be physically or emotionally. In some cases this might result in the truth, but in most it doesn't. The thing is, people know this about advertisements but they still buy those products. So the advertisement agencies must be doing something right. It may mean most people have low self-esteem, or they have no other choice. Is there really a product out there that doesn't have some sort of over-the-top, corny ad in the television or magazines? So yes they may be false, but are they really causing harm? No, unless your one of those gullible people who doesn't realize promoting products has been done this way for decades.

Personality Paper

In my opinion the personality essay was a little difficult to write. I found it challenging to narrow down my traits into a three to five page paper. Most teenagers, including myself, don't know who they truly are yet. Which doesn't make a personality essay an easy task to accomplish. I felt I left many of my personal traits out, because I didn't want to make my essay too messy, with too many details. But on a lighter note, I had fun figuring out which of my traits to put into the paper. It caused me to think about my true personality; what I could do to improve it, the things I liked about it, and how it affected other peoples feelings about me. All in all I feel the essay was a good learning experience and an okay way to start off the year.

The Paper

I actually really enjoyed writting my paper and I will also admit I am surprised! I love to write which I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but I am more or less surprised of my capability to write such a thing. I am more of a poetic writer and I love artistic value to write beautiful things but this paper was completly different. I expressed myself on paper but not with words but a story. The story of my life I should have named it. I really hope though no one will take me to be coinceded though because I enjoy writting about myself or something all I mean is people should try writting from their hearts not their minds and they will be surprised by what they can accomplish. I also believe most people think from their minds and not their hearts mainly because your motivation and gut drives you more than your mind, no matter how hard you work when ya think. And I belive that is a important task to intake. Defining your heart from your mind. When you write a paper such as the one we did, you have to remember, it's for a grade, but it is more for yourself. That goes for anything you do in life. Just because you have to do it doesn't mean nothing is in it for you except for the grade. My thoughts are do what ya do and you do it your best. No one is great at everything. We all have our talents. But for the things you can't do as well, those are the things you should attempt to learn more on. To give your life variety! Including the simple thing such as writting a paper. Make it yough so that one day it will become easy.

Advertising

The fact that they're so many fallacious ads means that some people most believe them and by the product. Companies would not keep putting out ads if they did not make more money in exchange. Many ads try and tell people that their product will make you pretty or handsome. This means that some people must believe these ads. There wouldn't be so many ads about this if they didn't work. Some of the ads intended audience is people with low self-esteem. They know these people are more likely to buy a product that is supposed to make them pretty.

I enjoyed this far more than my Spanish homework.

First, since I missed the prompt about the personality essay, I'll answer that...

The hardest part of writing the essay, for me, was being truthful. It's not that I'm a chronic liar or anything (though I am an actress), but I tend to embellish my memories and self-image in my mind. While I know I do this, I have trouble telling what's real and what's not on ocassion. Therefore, I tried to stick to facts...which, being a fictionista at heart, I also had trouble with. Finally, I decided to just type something. I think it came out fairly well.

As for the advertising prompts...oh bugger, that's loaded. I definitely think that advertising, while necessary in a market like ours, can be harmful. The false ideals projected onto us through some of the airbrushed images out there wounds our national psyche--it is partially the fault of advertising that the American dream has mutated into a race to have the best clothes, hair, skin, cell phone, gaming system, grades, college, career, income--advertisements appeal to and inflate our lust for power and superiority.

...or something like that.

Can Advertising Be Harmful?

Today, we all pretty much agreed that many ads are false (fallacious). What might the abundance of fallacious ads say about us? Or what might be the impact of being told that we are never pretty, handsome, rich, clean or good enough?

Personality essay

The most difficult part of writing my essay was trying to fill up space. I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it but my paper wasn't all of the three pages. I can take the blame for a lot of that though maybe if I had thought about it a little more I could have come up with something to fill in an extra paragraph. Overall I liked the essay, I love expressing myself and writing when I am passionate about the subject and this was something I was passionate about. My personality has changed so much in the past four years it was good to put some kind of definition on it.

Personality Essay

Personally, I find it very difficult to write let alone even talk about my personality. It's not something I think about everyday. I did, however, like that we were able to have some freedom in writing the essay. The most challenging thing was how to describe myself. I really have no idea what kind of a person I am and it was interesting to hear what others had to say about me. It was also difficult to express some of my private memories that made me the way I am today. However, I think writing is a great way to express strong emotions that you normally wouldn't show in class or to anyone else. I felt proud and scared of reading my essay to my fellow peers, but I was glad to find that they liked it. I hope that we have other essays in class that allow us to search deep within our selves to express our feelings and cherish our writing abilities.

Hardest Part of Essay

I thought that the most difficult part of the essay was with creativity. I'm never a creative person, and it is a lot harder to be creative when I have to talk about myself. It was difficult for me to think of creative and detailed examples to support who I am.

Who am I?

The hardest part about this essay was writing about myself. I will admit I had to ask the person I am closest to, too describe me. I started with one topic, and it wasn't very good, in my own opinion. Because of this, I scrapped the whole paper and started fresh. I asked what I should write about and now I almost feel like I know myself a little bit better. This paper has opened my eyes to things that I have never even thought about. It has been difficult but my paper is much better than the original.

In my opinion it is somewhat difficult explaining yourself in words. Personality to me, are characteristics that define yourself. People around you pick up your personality automatically. The only tough part I had during my personality paper was choosing the best words to describe myself. What makes it harder is that you know your personality is great but the words you choose dont make it sound as good as you feel it is. So you spend more and more time thinking of a great strategy to make the words flow, and search for something large and important in your life to compare yourself to. The fact that you want your teacher to like is always on your mind. I try and use better words that dont suit me, but if the teacher likes them does that make it a good paper? Sometimes I feel like I have to act like someone im not in the form of writing to impress my teacher. I like the challange and im always willing to take it so in conclusion; writing this paper was tough but a success to me. I just have to wait and see my results.

What was the hardest part of the paper

I had a very hard time writing the personality paper. It was hard because I didn't know what personality trait to write about. Do you write about one or your flaws, or one that people admire? For me, it was hard to pick a topic because if you pick one of your flaws it makes you seem uncomfortable with yourself, but if you pick something you/others admire about you then you look conceided. After a while, I decided that I would pick one of my qualities that people admire but put in a twist. The twist was that I added why its not an amazing trait to have. That kind of made it easier to write and expanded the length of my paper.

Which me?

For me, the most difficult part of writing the personality essay was which me to talk about. No one is totally static, and I am certainly no anomoly to this belief. I brainstormed with several different aspects of my personality and ended up cheating and writing about the most complex side of me.
I don't think anyone enjoyed writing this essay. No matter how hard one tries, when writing about oneself, one will either as though they're looking for some pity or just plain egotistical. I think mine turned out more of the latter.
Once I got over feeling like a total jerk, I just wrote the essay. It flowed fairly easily. I mean, after all, it's easy to write about a subject you're familiar with.

Most Difficult

What was the most difficult part of writing your personality essay? Please elaborate.

Art or Not?

Art can not be defined in Webster's terms. It isn't clearly stated by this picture one way or another. Therefore because there is not a definite explanation as to whether it is art or not I believe it is. Art is an expression, it doesn't have to be drawn or painted it just has to be let out in some sort of creative way. This expression might not have been done by one person but that, I think, makes all the more beautiful.

Agreed

I love what some of my fellow classmates have come up with. I do agree that there is a difference between art in a vandalism sense and art in a visually pleasing sense. On my comment earlier in the year I previously mentioned that I believed that anything created from God or man is art and I still hold true to this statement. However, some of my classmates have brought to my attention that this graffitti is determined by its main purpose. I agree. Was this graffitti meant to just be a senseless word scribbled on the side of a building or was it put there to be aesthetically pleasing to the viewer? I guess like I mentioned earlier, only "the eye of the beholder" can dictate whether or not this is a piece of art. I really don't have anything else to say except that I loved what everyone else published. It showed me different perspectives I was previously blind to.

Is it Art?

I believe that grafiti has the ability to be considered art. This doesn't mean that all grafiti is art. The definition of art is subjective to whomever defines it. In my opinion, a piece is art if the person who created it put feeling and hard work into it. I also believe that the level of artistic value a piece holds depends on what the viewer brings to it (emotionally and experiences). For example, if someone who has never had any similar experiences as the artist sees the grafiti, they might not see past the illegality of the piece. However, if someone with similar experiences and emotions were to see the piece, they might see a deeper meaning in it and consider it to be artistic. I personally enjoy to see grafiti in certain areas, such as blank concrete walls along a highway, but I don't believe it belongs on historic buildings or similar areas. I don't like the fact that many gangs use grafiti as territory markings. I believe the artistic credibility of grafiti could be increased if it weren't used as gang markings.

The View from Here

It is hard to write what you feel to be an original idea when you can see every idea that has come before you. I identify with the graffiti creator in this. He sees every idea and design that the canvas of the building has seen and he tries to come up with an original idea, something uniquely his own.

My idea of the artistic value of the graffiti is based purely on how I view it. Just glancing at a building with graffiti on it does not register as art. However if I stopped and looked at the building, it would have a chance of being art. Then the graffiti itself would have to pass an obscenity test. Finally I would have to find it pleasing to the eye to call it art.

This seems process seems complicated but almost everyone goes through something similar every time they look at something that is creative. As to the picture, which piece of graffiti, because all the parts together is distracting, and detracts from each individual piece.

It's What You Make of It

I don't see why this wouldn't be considered art. Obviously, whoever worked on this is had reason behind it and for whatever that reason may be, it holds meaning to them. Putting their work on a building is just the way they chose to express themselves and it may even add pupose to their work from their point of view. Whether or not you agree with this shouldn't alter your opinion of it being art. I, personally, don't think it looks attractive or find it interesting at all. I'm sure the creator sees it from a whole different perspective, though.

Art

This art is somewhat aesthetically pleasing to me. Graffiti is definitely art though. Art is not always pleasing to everyone. I think that Graffiti can look very cool, but can also make an area look bad. Graffiti is often associated with poverty and gangs, so this may make some people look down at it. I think graffiti is just someone expressing themselves. Art can be a great way to express yourself. I don't know if doing it on walls is always the best place though.

Trash is art. Why not the defacement of public property?

I believe that this picture shows an artist's masterpiece.  Art is the expression of an artist's thoughts and emotions using any type of resource to do that.  These artists have decide spray painting a wall would convey their message.  In comparison, some artists choose to express themselves by using trash.  Trash art seems crude and unusual but it still holds an inner beauty that art is meant to show.  So I say that if trash is art, then defacing public property is.

Is it art?

In my opinion art is something aesthetically pleasing made based on your own personal feeling or experiences. So, yes, it is art. The type of of material that you use to make or make it upon has nothing to do with whether or not it is art. Personally, I like to see some skill involved in art, which this particular type of art has, thats why I don't consider myself an artist or anything I have created art.

Is it Art?

I think whether or not its graffiti or not the artist was being very creative in his/her own mindset. It does depend on who is looking at the piece and deciding for themselves what they think. However, in a general definition of art, I myself (the stallion) would say that it is art because the artist is taking it into another level. I mean this because they didnt just make it simple to mark a territory. But in a way they could tell the audience "Hey, look how artistic I am." Another reason to show the veiwer how far they can go with there ability of art, and creativity...

Response...

Okay, Mrs. Coleman, you said in class that we should leave our responses in actual blog posts, so...I hope I'm doing this right.

Would it sound cheesy if I were to say that the definition of "art" is relative? I really think it depends on the viewer; I happen to find some graffiti aesthetically pleasing, but I do not think that means all graffiti is art. I think the real question here is: Where does graffiti cross the line between creative territory-marking and actual art?

Again, I think it depends on the viewer. To me, art serves a purpose: either it is pleasing to the eye, or it makes a point or tells a story. Does the word "poop" sprayed in white on a streetlight's pole fit this definition? I'd say no, and unless you are a DADAist, you probably agree. But does a full-color spray-paint landscape of the rocky mountains, which I once saw on a Wyoming train car, qualify? I believe so.

Another point to consider: The situation of those who are both 'formal' artists and graffiti artists. Keith Haring, for example, was a pop artist most famous for his graffiti on the walls of New York subway stations. Did the illegality of his medium lesson the merit of his artwork?

Back to the original question...the picture from the riverfront. Is that particular graffiti art? Perhaps it is...but it's not very good, is it?

Is it Art?

This is a photograph taken along the St. Louis riverfront in June of 2008. Do you consider this graffiti to be aesthetically pleasing? (Aesthetically means of or concerning the appreciation of beauty and good taste.) Do you consider this graffiti (and by extension, the photograph) to be art? Why or why not?