Robert Smithson/entropy

     I did not realize,until many days after I had read the article, that the author was the creator of the sculpture "Spiral Jetty." I feel as though the role that he played in the earth art movement plays a crucial role in the opinions that are conveyed throughout the text. The notion of entropy being something that can occur on a social scale was a new concept at that time. In this current day and age people can use the term on a personal scale.
    The term extropy was not coined until 1984. The author refers to extropy as "reverse entropy" throughout the article. Smithson also mentions that actions like recycling contain "reverse entropic" properties. In this day and age extropy has been stretched to other ideas and actions that pertain to the maximization of human life. A strong example of such a thing would be a drug that prevents, or slows down, aging within humans.

hello.

     After finishing page three of the article, I had to walk to the library desk and ask the librarian for a hi-liter. The article jumped between so many ideas and examples within the first three pages alone. I felt as though a prescription of Ritalin might have been more beneficial than attempting to root through muck of ideas that the author is bringing in to play. I did enjoy the comparison of the I-pod design flowing into the design of many everyday things. The author makes the claim that his neighborhood has succumbed to the i-pod design invasion.
     "Optional environments, optional creatures. Made for each other." This statement was made after the author made a paragraph rant about some of the more important advancements humans have made over the past fifty or so years. The amalgamation of all these things into one possible entity is a scary and formidable thought. The supreme example of this idea is accredited to the example of a quadriplegic whose paralytic state has been "cured" by connecting him so a large amount of wires, which enable him to control a computer mouse. This literary representation of the crippled man serves as a puppet to make claims that the meshing of human life and technology is more than likely going to advance to more bizzare, and macabre, states in the near future.

Thesis Hypothesis

I believe that my work has been not consistent in nature. It is a constant goal to leave art school with a body of congruent work. This is something that i have already begun to fix as we have started this break. I believe that research is extremely important to the making of art. I plan on having six pieces done and ready to frame by the time that break is over with. I would like to continue to research entropic and iconoclastic ideas, and the possibility of converting those thoughts into images.

Semester Plan

My goals for the semester were met. I finished the amount of pieces that I claimed that I would for my senior show. I succeeded in making two prints a week in the Printmaking labs.

For Orals i plan on making one hundred prints. I also plan on making six hand framed photographs with text hand carved into each photo. I had also planned to do research on the concepts that I believe go along with my current art. I have ordered a book titled "Entropy and Art." The book was recommended to me by a professor, and I plan on reading it and using it to validity the thoughts behind much of my current artwork. 

Application

For my application I requested to do an internship at a gallery in miami. I emailed the gallery director, met with him, and was granted an internship. The internship lasted one month. I experienced the various things that go into running a gallery.

Christine Mehring-Emerging Market

The negative and positive aspects of art fairs, and many mini art fairs, that are currently occurring is discussed throughout the article. The author uses moths fluttering around a flame to reference the massive amounts of people that attend these fairs yearly. A positive aspect of these fairs is that the types of people that attend these fairs are extremely varied. The visitors of these fairs are extremely varied in nature. The notion that capitalism and wealth play a large part in the success of a gallery, or even artist for that matter, is discussed in the article. KUNSTMARKT 67 is spoken of in the article as an answer to the rich and wealthy art collectors that thrive in areas like New York City. It seemed as though the fairs that occurred throughout the sixties went through many trials and many errors, but in the end succeeded in capturing that is what should properly occur at an art fair showing what is actually new and exciting. I believe that much of the excitement at these early german art fairs may have come from political dissent that the country was experiencing at that time. 

Burgess/contemporary art

I could not tell if this video was meant to be a funny representation of the art that they are discussing. THe video was four minutes long, and shot in a "andersonesque" style. They discuss early art throughout the first minute of the video. Towards the middle the narrator discusses the fact that conceptual art can be anything. He claims that it "can even be candy on the floor." In the end he makes a joke about taking the notion of the video out on a date. I did not really understand the video.