Brainstorm

This entry is to talk about and analyze the artists that I'm currently interested in. One particular artist that I have been raving about is Glenn Jones. I came across his works when I signed up an account on Coroflot.com where artists can post their portfolios online for the public to view. Glenn Jones is definitely a hit on Coroflot, his works get a lot of views and a lot comments and it's no surprise that he has this much views on his portfolio because he is that good. Glenn Jones is a graphic designer and illustrator based in New Zealand. He draws everything on screen, meaning he does all his illustrations with his mouse on Illustrator. I really admire his ability to do that because I know most illustrations are done on paper first and then scanned in so edits and renderings can be done. Most of the works he does has something to do with pop culture. He takes iconic characters from pop culture but puts an original spin to it. I guess in a sense, he reminds me of Andy Warhol and the concept of pop art but instead of portraying mass produced commodities, he protrays things from mass media enterntainment.

"Marching Penguins", Glenn Jones Illustration, 2009

As you can see in the illustration above, Jones has a very clean and simple style which is the result of using Illustrator where his shapes are created in vector forms. I think his concepts for his works are very clever. Like the one shown above, if you've seen the movie "The March of the Penguins", you would understand the idea of this illustration. The penguin is literally dressed in a marching band outfit which I think it's a clever, yet funny way to combine the two idea.

"Forever Plowing", Glenn Jones Illustration, 2011

Obviously not all of his works have to deal with pop culture, the illustration above is shows that. Again, I think his idea is of putting a snow truck in a snow globe is quite humorous. I think I am really interested in the way he comes up with his concepts, the way he looks at things, like a snow globe and questions what if a snow truck was in there. The snow truck would be plowing the snow forever because there's no where for the fake snow to go. And he takes this concept and make a piece of art out of it. I feel that there is no abstraction in his work, it's very literal and anyone can get it just by looking at it. Glenn Jones is also a kind of artist that likes to share his design process, he posted lots of videos on Vimeo.com in which he shows the process of making one of these illustration.

"Dental Care" Glenn Jones Illustration, 2011

"Counselling" Glenn Jones Illustration, 2011

Seeing his works makes me think of a series of prints that I did when I took Print IA during the fall of my Junior year. I call this series of prints as "Mickey in Disguise" where I silkscreened silhouettes of Mickey Mouse's head and have him put on different outfits. In another words, take Minnie Mouse's iconic red bow tie and place it on Mickey's head or take Donald Duck's signature sailor hat and place that on Mickey's head. The reason why this reminded me of Glenn Jones is that I took something simple yet iconic and put a spin on it so that viewers have to think twice about. I also like the way how clean the work came out to be because it was silkscreen. When I showed this series of prints at the critique, I had several comments about the size of the work. I silkscreened these on a relatively small scale, perhaps a little bit larger than postcard size. I agree with my peers and my teacher in trying to make a new set in a much larger scale. I think it would give off a different feel to it, perhaps more of an impact to the piece.

I would like to pursue more in this direction and try to write down what I see every day and to think of ways to put a spin on it. Most recently, I was thinking about the commercials on television where a nonprofit organization tells the viewers to donate to foundation to help children in a Third World Country and other organizations that helps impoverished countries resolve some of the issues that they are facing such as dirty water, civil wars, malaria, etc. Of course, us living in America should feel thankful that we're living in a country like this yet we take that for granted every day. And so many of us, including me, complain about the problems that we have which is probably not comparable to what others have to face. I was thinking about working with this idea, and how I can illustrate this idea in a different way...perhaps incorporating some of Glenn Jones ideas into illustrating my ideas about 'First World Problems'.

Review of First Critique

Last Friday, we had our first critique during Thesis class. Before discussing about the critique, I want to say that I was a bit intimidated by thesis class. Having to show something in a gallery that can be viewed by everyone and not just by people from your class. There's a definite pressure that I want to show my best potential to the public. Going into this critique, I was nervous because I really did not know what to expect from this critique. I was nervous about showing the works that I've done and I was also nervous about not having a clear idea of what I want to do for thesis yet.

Overall, I think the critique went quite successful for our group. I was definitely impressed by the works of my peers. I really appreciate the diversity we had in our critique, diversity in terms of the people, the style of the works, the medium of the works and the content of the works. It was really interesting to see the different works and the artists explaining their work and their process in making their words. During this first critique, I feel that I got a little sense of what kinds of artists are in my group and I am excited to see what we will each come up with for our thesis project. I felt that my critique went successful in that I got some positive feedback on my works, especially the books that I made. People enjoyed the humor that went into that concept and from the feedback, I felt that I executed what I wanted my idea to be. People also enjoyed the identity work that I did where I designed a new identity to 'Animal Planet'. From this critique, I realized that I have an interest in identity design and also design that contains subtle humorous qualities to it. From that I have researched online for stuff that are related to my interest, and I have come with two artists that I feel really passionate about right now. They are Christoph Niemann and Glenn Jones, both of them are graphic designers but also illustrators. They are relatable in that they take pop culture or regular daily events and make a new concept out of that idea. I think that their concepts are exceptionally clever and for every work, I always ask myself, "Now why did I not think of that?"

Interview with Regina Choi

FORMERLY from Korea, Regina Choi first came to America when she was 19 years old. Many will be surprised that she was actually a Chemistry major when she started college. Regina went as far as pursuing the chemistry field by working in a laboratory producing test kits, later she even moved up positions in the laboratory where she was able to develop anti-body. However, she started to realized that she has never lost her passion for art and believed that art was really her true calling. So she bravely decided to drop all her science classes and came to Rutgers to take drawing and design classes where she felt she was herself again. 

What is your favorite medium to work with and why?

Last semester, I used transparency paper and plexiglass to create layers. I don’t have any persistence with specific medium. I just pick something that I can handle and familiar or help me to get what I want.

Do you like working on a large scale or smaller scale?

Frankly speaking, I like a smaller scale because it’s easy to handle and done quickly. So I can see the result fast. But I think a large scale gives off more effect. A large scale of work takes us into the space and makes us to focus on the piece more. Due to the effect of large scale, I gather small pieces as a large piece. 

  

I see that you working with transparency a lot and overlapping, what is your inspiration behind that?

My first inspiration was Julie Mehretue. When I saw her work at MoMA, I was so into the painting; the deep space, scale, lines, planes, and speed. The space was composed on the canvas with lines and color planes by layers. Accordingly, I created the space to paint geometric shapes with perspective on the transparency paper and overlapped them on a frame. At that time, creating space was only my consideration. I think layering is same as how I live. My thoughts, knowledge, and feeling were accumulated and lay on myself and became matured and profound. 

And most of your works are done in bright colors? Is that your personal style?

I like bright colors but especially I picked rainbow colors. People recognize only seven colors from light; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy blue, and purple. These are primary and secondary colors. I thought the relationship of the colors is interesting. It’s like relationship between people. Some colors are in same category but some don’t. Some colors are in two different categories and opposite another category. If layer is representing me, the colors are representing my relationship. Like…. in and out of the category (relationship). So…. It might be a personal thought. 

I see that there are a lot of geometric shapes in your work. Can you explain that? Are you interested in architecture?

I am interested in architecture. I wanted to study in architecture or interior design. Those are based on art and I thought I need to enlarge my point of view of art. 

Can you name some of your favorite artists and how they relate to your work?

Julie Mehretu, I want to mention about a bit of Julie Mehretu. I know her works are based on political ideas. But besides the idea, I love how she creates space on a huge canvas.  And Franz Ackermann, Frank Stella, and Bridge Riley (and some of optical illusion artists) were my inspirations of my works. I started dealing with space and went to the optical illusion later. I express my own interpretation from their works by different materials that they didn’t use. For example, I cut transparency paper, twist the strips on a color plane to create the optical illusion. 

A painting of Julie Mehretu

 Have you done other work besides installation pieces? Such as painting or drawings?

I have done painting and drawings and I am taking photography.

 Where do you usually go to find inspiration and ideas? Books, websites, blogs?

Mostly websites, books, magazines, and TV. But usually from my instructor first. I don’t know many painters. I mean… I am really bad at memorizing people’s name. When I go to galleries or museums, even while reading books, I was impressed by many works, artists. But couldn’t recall their names. So my instructor would tell me the artists’ name and I would research them or their 

specific work.

  Have you thought about what you’re going to do for thesis? Any ideas on how it’s going to look?

I want to do installation art. Paint would primary or secondary material. And I want make work for people who don’t have much knowledge about art. I want them to smile at my work and enjoy the time with it.  

What do you think about Thesis class so far? What do you think you will get out of this class?

I don’t know yet but I’ll do my best.

Closing remarks: Aside from the questions, Regina also discussed her familiarity with design as she learned how to some of the Adobe programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. She also mentioned her curiosity about typography and her struggles with typography. As last we came to discuss about our individual workflow or her approach to making an art piece. "My answer was that I plan too much before I paint, or do my work, so I always end up doing my work at last minute and mess up sometime due to the too much planning."