Edward Burtynski

Nature transformed through industry is the theme in Edward Burtynsky's work. He takes photographs of industrial landscapes and, with his amazing talent, makes something we normally view as ugly and make it so we view it as beautiful. Recycling yards, mine tailings, quarries and refineries are all places that are outside of our normal experience, yet we partake of their output on a daily basis. These are the places Burtynksky uses to produce his photographs. As Burtynsky says, "Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times".

Edward Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes are absolutely amazing photographs. I viewed these photos at the MoPA a year or so ago and they are massive images with great content. After refreshing my memory of the images online, I wish his pieces were back at the MoPA so I can go see them again. Burtynsky is very talented and creative.

Wendy Richards

I found Wendy Richards to be very interesting. I had evolved a new found interest in Wendy Richards work. I found it to be quite an interesting experience to view Wendy Richards cell phone project. Recording people in their daily routines when they do not know that they are being recorded, is something I would never think of doing. After reading about and viewing Wendy Richard’s exhibit, I understood, a little more, the passion and excitement that can be expressed through the mundane experiences of everyday life. The images are very raw and none of the people knew they were being captured. I feel that Wendy has a lot of guts to get out there and make a series like she did. It is not easy putting yourself out there in the public eye and take images of people, who some might not be that happy about getting their pictures taken.
In relation to Richards work, the piece I really enjoyed was the piece about space. I liked how each image had unique structures in that background. The structures framed the image and the people were the secondary objects. It was very interesting to see how each set of images were different but similar toward each other.

Duby Tal

Cover, Book on Dead Sea by Duby Tal, I felt, was an amazing photograph because of the great texture and bold colors. The image doesn’t look like the Dead Sea; it is full of textures from the salt that forms pocket like holes. The contrast of the white from the salt and the turquoise blue water add interesting contrast the Israeli landscape behind the water. This image is a very realistic shot, but at first glance, it almost appears abstract. This is why I was drawn to this piece first.
Another image by Duby Tal that intrigued me was called Dead Sea Sinkholes. This image really plays up drastic color and pattern, as well as texture and unity. At first, I did not understand what the image was, then I read about how the sinkholes are formed in the Dead Sea and I found it interesting that each sinkhole captured in this image was a different, bold color. It really draws the viewer’s eyes to the sinkholes first. As a mirror image of the brown, green and orange sinkholes, in the water to the right are three more sinkholes, but we see them under the water in what appears to be a deeper part of the Dead Sea, making them look like shadows of the sinkholes on the left. Like I said before about the first image, I like how Tal makes a realistic image look abstract.
These images are absolutely amazing!

Dick Ditore

I really enjoyed Dick Ditore’s Quantum series. I have always been intrigues by glass blowers. I have had a friend for many years that uses glass as her medium of art. I have always found it to be beautiful and precise.
I like that Ditore used certain techniques to portray certain emotions in his pieces, as he stated in his artist statement. I liked that the movement in his glass pieces are different in everyone and the movement, I feel, is what portrays the emotion he wants the viewer to feel.
Quantum VI was my favorite one out of all of the pieces I saw. I really enjoyed all of the different levels; it made my eye travel in different directions. I liked the unique spacing and how each circle was neatly placed upon the circle right before it making a fun swirl shape.
The emotions I felt while viewing this piece was a sense of confusion and a precise happiness. Now, I am not sure what emotion Ditore was trying to evoke but for me, the cluster of lines and colors had two completely different meanings for me.
I liked the usage of colors Ditore used. The bright blues, pinks, yellows, turquoise, reds, and oranges evoke emotions in it. I was always told that colors evoke certain meanings, for example, red means passion, yellow means happiness, etc. The fact that there were so many colors in this piece makes me feel those emotions. Then each level that was created by the different circles makes me feel that each day, one can feel all different types of emotions. The fact that the same colors are used in each level, but not one circle looks the same shows me that each day will be different.

Intertribal Drummers

At CSUSM on Tuesday, September 19, 2007, the Intertribal Drummers performed on our campus to help celebrate California Indian Day. The Intertribal Drummers include members from local Tribes as well as tribes from throughout the United States. They have been playing together for more than a decade and bring the spiritual traditions of their tribes to their playing.

I really enjoyed this performance, although it was very different than any other kind of music performance I have seen, they performed with such passion and spirituality.

My VSAR 302 class went there to take photographs of them playing so they can post them on their website. It was very interesting to view this performance through a lens cap, I saw things that no one else would of scene. I had to view this performance in a very creative way in order for my photographs to come out well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Intertribal Drummers and I would love to see them again.

Troika Ranch

On Wednesday, October 3, 2007, Dawn Stoppietllo of Troika Ranch, came and visited my VPA 302 class. Dawn and her partner Mark Coniglio started this project called Troika Ranch, which represents the three mediums of art they work with, music, dance, and technology. For nearly twenty years, Dawn has created choreography for bodies interfaced to computers through different systems, one being called the mini dancer. The mini dancer is a device that Mark invented after seeing drummers use a device that produced sound when a stick was waved in the air. He took that concept and made a similar device to wear on the body to would produce sound as the body moved. This group had content-driven mediated performances that were shown to us.

Throughout the two and a half hour lecture and viewing of their past performances, Dawn took us through the past twenty years of her and her companies life and showed us how they grew into the company they are today. She also made me realize that passion is the number one, most important feeling to have in art making. This group has a passion to learn, create and make better. They have a drive to create powerful pieces that will touch other people. I was very motivated after watching all of their pieces and hearing Dawn speak. Great performance.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

On Saturday, September 15, 2007, my step dad and I took my mom to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls, in Balboa Park, for her birthday. Out of all the times that I had been to the Natural History Museum, I have never been through so much security. These findings of the Scrolls are so precious and valuable.

After we got into the museum, before the exhibit leads you downstairs to actually see the scrolls, there are huge, colorful photographs of Israel and Jordan, where the scrolls were found and of the towns and animal life nearby. These images where breathtaking and a great lead into seeing the actual scrolls. "Tracing the scrolls and their meaning through time, the exhibition connects the ancient world to the modern. The Dead Sea Scrolls - objects of great mystery, intrigue and significance - are widely acknowledged to be among the greatest archaeological treasures ever discovered." Dead Sea Srolls, presented by Joan and Irwin Jacobs, www.sdnhm.org/scrolls

Once downstairs, we were given these ear pieces to give us a guided tour of each item of display. Each scroll had its own story. It was amazing to see this history being found and displayed for us to see. I would recommend anyone to see this exhibit. It is very well worth it.

These never-before-exhibited ancient Hebrew codices from the Russian National Library, medieval manuscripts from the British National Library, and stunning modern interpretations of the texts