4A. A revised post addressing how a theme or theory we discussed in this course relates to your practice.

I'm supposed to write here more about how our studies relate to our own art. Since I've already discussed the relationship to our studies the first half of the semester I'll try here to relate to our study in the second half of the semester, which has been largely on site, fieldwork, and location.

What this means is that the manner in which I present my art work and its location contribute to its aesthetic and interpretation. Currently I display my artwork in galleries and will have some in the Hallie Ford Museum during the senior art show. Because my work is not shown out-of-doors I find it difficult to address the theories about outdoor spaces affecting my work. Instead I will focus on how the indoor space of a gallery affects my work. I place both descript and non-descript art in shows, usually in the form of paintings and ceramic wall hangings.  By hanging the work on the wall I am elevating it's importance and making you look at it as an equal. The viewer has to involve themselves under controlled conditions of light and view at a distance that pulls them into a relationship with the art. This requires them to share the same space and alter it with their presence. The outside world cannot insert itself in the experience and I control what the viewer can see. The mood will be the one that I choose and is difficult to reinterpret. The viewer may choose to accept or reject the mood I have created with my art, but the only way they can change it is through their own philosophy about what is represented. If they participate in interpreting the art they will insert themselves somehow.

My work is not monumental, and I do not put my sculptures on a pedestal, but rather I hang it in front of the viewer for them to interpret as a more tangible and equal object. Because the work is not monumentalized its function is nomadic and it depicts its own reference.  It is almost homeless because you have nothing to relate it to but itself and a bare wall with lights. Because it is transportable the viewer may take the work to her own place and imagine it included there, in some sort of idealist place.
Or the viewer may exclude the art from his world and choose to limit its influence. The viewer gets to choose, in some regard, how important to make the art. If it were monumentalized and permanently installed in a location that the viewer must interact with, the viewer would have to interact and the art would be an architectural feature in their world. This is more of a cultural situation and would expand the world of the viewer.

My art would not easily qualify as relational art because of its portability. But should a viewer purchase it and take it home to install it in a semi-permanent location they would be making it relational art. In relational art the authorship and audience become more important and gain a social aspect because the audience participates with the art.

Even in the gallery a critic could spend time with my art critiquing it for relationships. In pieces like my "Tea Time" and "Coffee Time" (see below) a critic could discuss either isolation or sharing. In something like my untitled clay tiles or flowers (below) a critic might expand into meanings of society, patterns, repetition, individuality, or seductiveness. Using these expansive ideas the art takes the viewer into an expanded field of influence.

Coffee Time, 2011, Acrylic on Canvas, 9"x12"

Tea Time, 2011, Acrylic on Canvas, 9"x12"

Poppy, 2011, Ceramic, 5" diameter

Unfinished, 2011, Ceramic, 5" tiles

Elevator Talk

This assignment was to post a copy of our elevator speech/talk.  I wrote this:

Hi, I’m Bonnie Balogh. I am a contemporary ceramic artist. I like working with clay because it makes me feel like I am a part of nature. I am an idealist and choose to reflect on growth, spirit, and relationships by modeling shapes that reflect patterns, society, and the expectations of others. My current theme is a social commentary on controlling and repetitive structures in society, and the stagnation they can cause. I believe societies can cause a group-think of oppressive rules and I feel controlled by them. Patterns are visually seductive so I use them to represent society, and then I insert an element that is different to juxtapose the pattern and represent my breaking free from the rules. The viewer has to decide what is more important, the seductive pattern or the individual element. 

Photo assignment

This week our assignment was to do a random act assigned by an artist.  Mine was to cut a rose and give it to a stranger.  Here is my picture doing this.  Nice lady deserved a flower, but I found this assignment to be an unfullfilling time-waster. I hope there are no more assignments like this.  Where is the art?

Influences Map

This weeks assignment was to create a map of our artistic influences and post it on our blog.  I didn't like doing this because it is nobody else's business why I do what I do and I don't want to put it out there for others to judge. I didn't realize how strongly I felt about this until we were reviewing our assignment in class. I unintentionally picked the crappiest piece of paper I had, and though we were asked to use pencil I didn't care that it was hard to read.  And as I heard others tell what influenced them I realized some of those things could go on my map too, but I didn't think to add them while I was fighting with myself about what was "safe" to write down. I feel pretty strongly about telling others what influences me, because I don't want to be told what to think or do.  I don't mind listening to other perspectives and choosing what works for me, but I know that naming something is giving it power and I don't want to give others power over me.

I also realize the reason I really don't like to blog and don't want to have one is because I feel so strongly that I am not safe when I divulge my innermost thoughts. For the longest time no one has cared what the heck I think anyway.  Why should I waste my time writing down things no one reads or responds to? I'd rather be making art.  That is something people respond to. Only a few people have earned my trust and are truly interested in my words.

I have had a web site for several months that I post my art images to and my husband blogs on. We get about 16 hits a day on it and in as many months neither one of us has had so much as one response or email from the site.  (Yes, we tested it by emailing ourselves.)  I feel like blogging is a big waste of time. I don't follow any blogs except for this class, and it seems like no one interacts much here either.  Hmm. If you are out there reading this and want to prove to me that I am wrong and blogging is being read, I invite you to post a comment on this site.  :)

Here is the map.  It is the best image I could get with my 10 megapix camera, a flash, and sharpening the image in Photoshop. TTFN.