Lyrical Abstraction

Absurdity is key to this exhibition and bringing some humour or levity to minimalist art which otherwise is too often seen as confrontational, anti-humanist, emotionless and intellectually cold. Minimalism may hide its humour behind imposing machine-made structures or recontextualized ready made industrialized forms, but curator John Hampton attempts to show a lighter side of minimalism, he attempts to show us that it is inherently absurd that we take it so seriously. Upon entering the space, even before we ascend the stairs we are met with a cartoonish cacophony of bird like sounds which immediately engages the listener in a light-hearted welcome. At the top of the stairs, we are met with Jon Sasaki’s Slab, Base for a Future Monument, 2014, a rudimentary box placed on a blue tarp filled with cement that has been modified to never set. Scrawled into the wet cement are the words “This is not art”. This elicited a good smirk from me and my partner, we are immediately engaging with the art in a non-serious way. While I didn’t think this was visually particularly representative of minimalism, the form being quite messy, it was in principal. The use of simple, everyday objects from the hardware store, implying that the art is accessible and not specialized in any way pokes fun at the seriousness of art and in particular contemporary art practice. The fact that the cement has been modified to never set, allows for an interactive time specific, ever-changing piece that is no…

Jasper Johns’ early works were composed using simple representation such as flags, maps, targets, letters and numbers. These were ordinary familiar things, but also had an iconic, symbolic quality. This work is one of a series that he undertook in the summer of 1960-63, using the superimposed numbers 0 to 9. This portfolio was printed in three variations. All the prints were made from one lithographic stone; Johns destroyed and reworked it after drawing each numeral. Of this series, I chose 9,…

The painting is composed using all of the elements of art, with special attention to line, color, and texture. Abstraction art is supposed to be about the act of painting itself, with a nonobjective, universal concept. However, the way that this painting is composed it resembles a human being, most specifically a skeleton. I can clearly see a skull, with a lines shaped like a brain, and a rib cage, that of a human form. This painting makes me think of death or dying not only because of the line…

Many paintings that come further after previously stated ‘Banksia Cobs’, truly presents Preston’s change in themes ideas and concepts through the styles and techniques she has elected to use. A set of paintings all incorporating banksia’s in them, including ‘Rose and Banksia’ (1936), ‘Banksia’ (1938), and ‘The Brown Pot’ (1940), all present the drastic changes in the styles, techniques, elements, and principles Preston uses. In ‘Rose and Banksia’ it features exactly what would have been depicted…

In the article, The Role of Definition, the author discusses how a mere definition can affect the way a student will interpret information. A definition can contain concepts that are difficult to understand and will hamper a student’s ability to learn. As math in the classroom progresses, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommends that the students create their own definitions of for mathematical terminology with the modification from a teacher. This is done to get the student to…

Transact is a website that provides language translation. Schools can use this program to communicate with non English speaking families. The school nurse can operate this program in the role as the school nurse. School health forms are available in many languages on the Transact program. Growth screens are done on the students yearly. This includes height, weight, and BMI. The school nurse can use Transact to get documentation that is sent home in the families in their primary language. The…

Diction 19. Abstract/Concrete (create one of each; effectiveness should focus on concrete) Original Example (abstract): Every teen in the United States wants happiness. Original Example (concrete): The tireless student spent up all night cramming for his final exam in hopes to get a good grade in the class. Effectiveness/Ineffectiveness (concrete): Concrete is often useful when the author wants to refer to distinct and evident things which are clear and precise. The reader knows what the…

The basic tenets of materialism and abstraction often clash against one another. Materialism, after all, results in “shapeless, [describable] emotions such as fear and joy,” while abstraction encompasses those “inner, subtler feelings…beyond the reach of words” (Section I, Paragraph 4). These contrasting depths of emotion give rise to the potent tension between materialism and abstraction in Section VI, Paragraph 18 of Kandinsky’s essay “Concerning the Spiritual in Art.” Here, Kandinsky comments…

I was initially interested in how throughout history there have been archival silences where certain events have been excluded from the archives due to the powers of the time deeming them unimportant. It is mainly female history that is unrecorded and the idea of silencing women because they are less important than men really made me think if there were times in my life where I had been silenced or told I was not allowed to do something because I was a girl. This was the idea I started to work…

Who I am in Reference to my Future You can tell a lot about a person by what they want to do in their careers, what their hobbies are and what they are interested in. This self-directed search (SDS) is a good tool to learn more about yourself, your interests, and what career you are suited to pursue. The SDS is a series of self evaluation questions. Questions that ask you what activities you enjoy or do well, occupations that interest you, and what you like to do in your leisure time that…