EVENT 1: LEAP BEFORE YOU LOOK

I attended the "Leap Before You Look" exhibition at the Hammer museum this past weekend. I found the exhibit very inspiring due to the unique circumstances of the artists at Black Mountain College, which showcased their collective work. Black Mountain college was located in Asheville, North Carolina.

During the Great Depression, where resources were scarce and artistic education was not emphasized, these artists/ students pushed the idea of artistic education to something larger: a collective desire to push the ordinary and express themselves in non traditional ways. 

"Black Mountain College was an experimental school founded in the middle of the twentieth century on the principles of balancing academics, arts, and manual labor within a democratic, communal society to create "complete" people." Unfortunately the school closed in 1957, after the War settled down. 

One of the most fascinating pieces to me, was the pictures made with different color blocks. 

Although they are seemingly common of what we see more today, the use of different colors and geometric shapes that express them, were new and innovative during the 1920s-1950s. 

During the Great Depression, students were motivated to think critically and creatively as they uncover new visual thinking strategies. In this sense, looking back at our first lecture about the "Third Culture" I can see how the discrepancy between practicality and creatively might have shifted when society started to become more adjusted to economic issues. I personally believe people are more creative when undergoing adverse circumstances like the Great Depression. 

I really feel like i've made some of my most interesting art pieces during times of heartbreak and depression.  Like this photograph that uses mixed media with photography and paint that I made a year or two, during economic and emotional hardships. 

Finally, one of the many things about this exhibit that I found fascinating and relevant to my own artistic endeavors was the "scarcity" element of Black Mountain artists in creating jewelry, fabrics, room decorations using everyday materials like paper clips and corks. 

Searching for beauty in art, as described by author and artist, Frank Dale, is not so much of the quality of brushes used. The price of the tools you use do not necessary mean the art will have as expensive value as what produced them. In my own experience, I have used a college budget on all my works, even with my camera. I used to own a Rebel camera that did not have as many functions as the camera I use today. However, looking through all my images, I feel like those that I made with nothing are more interesting and have more character in them. Like the image I produced above.

Overall, this event reinstated my ideas about what really makes art inspiring: collective, raw, and freed expression. 

Citations 

"The Great Depression." The Great Depression. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://www.artsconnected.org/collection/146204/the-great-depression?print=true>.

"The Art Story.org - Your Guide to Modern Art." The Art Story: School. Web. 03 May 2016.

<http://www.theartstory.org/school-black-mountain-college.htm>

Creativesomething. "The Link between Depression and Creativity, and How It Can Be Good for You." Creative Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://creativesomething.net/post/55508909341/the-link-between-depression-and-creativity-and>.

Vesna, Victoria. “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNI7dF3DIAM.” Lecture. TwoCultures1 . Youtube, 40 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 May. 2016.  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

Dale, Frank. Art a Search for Beauty: A Guide to Classical Painting Based on the Flemish Technique. Place of Publication Not Identified: Authorhouse, 2012. Print