Mark Lombardi- Global Networks

Mark Lombardi lived from 1951 to 2000. He was an American Neo-Conceptualist and abstract artist who specialized in drawings of uneven geography. He's an artist that does a lot of map-making in his works.
Lombardi called a lot of his works and diagrams "Narrative Structures". In his historical diagrams, each node or connection was drawn from news stories from reputable media organizations. His elaborate drawings chart the complex relationships behind some of the world's biggest and most complex scandals. Unfortunately, Lombardi committed suicide in 2000.

-O.D.


Lombardi is an interesting artist because his style was very different. Also the fact that he committed suicide shows that Lombardi may not have been all mentally there. Although he is known for his artwork. His "Narrative Structures" was truly historical for they were complex diagrams that outlined scandals. It is very different, and I don't know if I would really consider it a specific type of art. I'm not a critic but I still respect Lombardi for what he has achieved as artist for this time.

- Owen

Dave Hickey- "Custodians of Culture-- Schoolyard Art: Playing Fair Without the Referee"

Dave Hickey was born in 1939. He is an American art and cultural critic. He has written for many American publications including Rolling Stone, Art News, Art in America, Artforum, Harper's Magazine, and Vanity Fair. He is currently Professor of English at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and Distinguished Professor of Criticism for the MFA Program in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of New Mexico.

During his podcast, he compared selling art to a famous basketball player named Julius Erving. He said that Julius always played by the rules, even in the schoolyard, because of his great will and desire to be a professional basketball player one day. He urged artists and art sellers to do the same thing when it came to art, in order to preserve the integrity of all artworks. He said that even though their isn't a "referee", people should still play by the rules and do things the right way.

-O.D.

Whats interesting about Hickey is that he didn't care for the fame or fortune of art, but he cared about the quality and how it came across. His example of Erving being a professional who played by the rules is truly inspirational to all of us. Hickey's true love for art is so important to Hickey he wanted people to play by the rules meaning he wanted their to be morality in the art world especially with trading and buying art. Hickey is a great inspiration for all of us and if art is going to be preserved for its integrity we need to all listen and believe Hickey.  

- Owen

Andrea Zittel- Installation Artist

Andrea Zittel was born in California in 1965. She is an American sculptor and installation artist. She received a BFA in painting and sculpture in 1988 from San Diego State University, and an MFA in sculpture in 1990 from the Rhode Island School of Design. In her PBS video, Zittel talks about her mission as being an installation artist. Zittel’s sculptures and installations transform everything necessary for life—such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and socializing—into artful experiments in living. Influenced by modernist design and architecture from the early part of the twentieth century, the artist’s one-woman mock organization, “A–Z Administrative Services,” develops furniture, homes, and vehicles for contemporary consumers with a similar simplicity and attention to order. Seeking to attain a sense of freedom through structure, Zittel is more interested in revealing the human need for order than in prescribing a single unifying design principle or style.Her “A-Z Pocket Property,” a 44-ton floating fantasy island off the coast of Denmark commissioned by the Danish government, contrasts the extremes of a creative escape with the isolation that occurs when a person is removed from society. One of her specialties is her uncanny ability to alter and examine aspects of life that are for the most part taken for granted.


-O.D.

Zittel is an interesting artist because she created pieces that weren't only art but were ways of living. Her one piece the giant installation where a person could eat, sleep, bath, and doing everyday things was amazing. She revolutionized the way a person could live by having it all contained in one small compartment. She is very inspiring and very creative. The 44 ton floating island was truly amazing. It was mind blowing because it weighed 44 tons! That to me is simply amazing and the fact that it actually floated on the water was just a massive piece of art. Her contrast of the extremes is inspiring and very motivating for anyone trying to become an artist or someone who wants to deal with installation art. 

-Owen

Nicolas Bourriaud- How Art Reprograms the World

Nicolas Bouriaud is a French writer, art critic and curator who was born in 1965. He co-founded, and from 1999 to 2006 was co-director of, the "Palais de Tokyo, Paris" together with Jerôme Sans. He was also founder and director of the contemporary art magazine "Documents sur l'art", and correspondent in Paris for "Flash Art" from 1987 to 1995.

"How Art Reprograms the World" is a recent essay written by French writer and curator Nicolas Bourriaud. The author discusses how, since the early nineties, an ever increasing number of artworks have been created on the basis of preexisting works; more and more artists interpret, reproduce, re-exhibit, or use works made by others or available cultural products. This is one of most famous works, and obviously helped him gain the great amount of recognition by people all across the world.

-O.D.

"How Art Reprograms the World" is interesting because Bourriaud explains how art is being reproduced or created already by preexisting pieces. It's interesting because it implies just a full cycle of reproduction. Since the early nineties its been done and is working is actually revolutionizing the art industry. It's amazing because you wold think works of art being redone and refurbished would get old and out dated but they actually have caught on and Bourriaud has stumbled upon something actually quite extraordinary.

- Owen

Banksy-graffiti

Banksy is the name of a British graffiti artist, who identity is unknown. He combines irrelevant dark humor with graffiti done in stenciling. His artwork has been featured on streets, walls and bridges of cities throughout the world. His work was born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. According to Tristan Marco, Banksy was born in 1974 in Bristol, England. Banksy is known as one of the most famous graffiti artists of his time.

I really like Banksy's work a lot. I think its very creative and interesting. It makes you put things in a different light. I also like that many of his works are exhibited all around the world. It gives everyone a chance to take a look at his work. His work is done in great detail, which makes it that much more realistic.

-O.D.


When I first saw Banky's work, I liked it right away. I am a big fan of graffiti and I think Banksy is one of the best in our time. Not only is he a great artist, he's work has such great meaning and importance. Many of his works are done on regular buildings but are about war, peace, starvation, and even the oil problems the world is having. Not only is Banksy a graffiti artist he is a speaker to the world showing through his art that people and countries need to change. They all have deeper meaning then what they are actually shown. His work is really inspiring and the fact that his pieces are all around the world shows his work is doing more then just being graffiti on the wall.

- Owen

Gillian Wearing-I'm Desperate

Gillian Wearing was born in 1963 in Birmingham. She is an English conceptual artist. She moved to London to study art at the Chelsea School of Art and later went on to Goldsmiths College.
Gillian Wearing is known as a very private and shy person, but most of her works are about revealing to the public very intimate thoughts and feelings. She is also considered very enthusiastic. One of her most famous works is this picture which is known as "I'm desperate". A very well-mannered, well-dressed man is holding a sign that apparently indicates that he's desperate. This is strange because in my opinion, the man doesn't look too desperate. I like her work because she is very unique and different. It makes people have a different outlook on things, which is why she is considered a very good conceptual artist.

-O.D.


Wearing is such a good artist because her works contain greater meaning. Take "I'm desperate" as an example, Nothing from the photo seems desperate except of course the actual sign. Other then that nothing seems desperate. The man is clean, has a nice suit, isn't a bad neighborhood, and almost seems rich. But, we are are thrown off because he is holding a sign that implies he isn't rich, he's desperate. Her art is very moving and has an underlying theme that brings out a different reaction then what is being shown. "I'm desperate" does a very good job at this and that is why I think Wearing is such an outstanding artist.

- Owen

Damien Hirst- For the love of God

Damien Hirst was born on June 7 1965. He is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is internationally known, and is known as Britain's richest living artist. He focuses more on conceptual art, installation art, and painting. He become famous for his many excellent works with death often being his central theme.
In 2008 leading art critic Robert Hughes said Hirst was responsible for the decline in contemporary art. Hughes said Hirst's work was tacky and absurd in a 2008 TV documentary called The Mona Lisa Curse, made by Hughes in Britain.
I have to agree with Hughes on this one. I don't see how a work named "for the love of God" like this one is can be so ugly and scary. I think the words "tacky" and "absurd" fit this piece of art very well. I don't see how Hirst has gotten people to fall in love with artworks such as these, but then again I'm no art critic. In my opinion, I think anyone is capable of making an artwork such as this one.


-O.D.

Damien Hirst was given a lot of bad press for making his For Love of God skull. Most critics say he ruined art and that he was involved in the decline of contemporary art. The Mona Lisa Curse video we watched in class really showed how crazy the art world has really gone. But, I want to talk about this skull. To me as an art piece I find it very artistic and different. I'm not talking about its price or fashion. I'm talking about how he took a different medium (diamonds) and covered a canvas (skull ) with them. To me this was very different and a new style or art form. But on the money side of it I find it disgusting and unappealing. If this skull was made for money then its a shame. If it was made out of creativity and imagination then I can see how it is a form of art. Hirst was a creativity and an art killer at the same time.

- Owen