Gallery Visits and Artist Talks

WILLIAM KENTRIDGE

We visited Kentridge's show during class, and I also visited during the "Family Day" event organized by the Art Ed department. Sometimes I find it extremely important to understand the meaning behind an artists work, like when it isn't very obvious, or it peaks my interest enough that I want to find out more about it. The animation and Kentridge's interview video provided me with enough knowledge about his body of work that I didn't feel the need to look further. I'm not inspired by politics in my own work or life in general so I sort of tuned that information out and viewed the work for its esthetic value instead. My favorite peice in the show was "Blue Head." The intense emotion evoked by the man's expression was mesmorizing, and the colors and line quality was beautiful. My own drawing and painting style is similar in that we don't use smooth, clean linework. Instead, Kentridge and I almost scribble in the desired form.

I enjoyed my visit to the gallery with the class, but the interactive and educative quality at the family day gave me (and the kids I was babysitting) a different perspective of Kentridge's work that I would not have experienced without the crafts they designed to relate to the show. The kids learned about series images by creating five pattern drawings made with geometric stamp shapes, and we created stories about losing and finding parts of our faces, inspired by "Nose." Overall, it was a fun day for the kids and myself. The activities will help me remember Kentridge which is important as I have a difficult time remembering artists names in general..

Tenzin Yignyen

I enjoyed the artist talk with Tenzin soooo much! He taught us about meditating and how to do it properly. One thing that stuck with me is his explanation of joy. He put a huge emphasis on the importance of joy in your life and how it affects your relationship with those around you. To always smile is the most important thing. He said that it is impossible to think of nothing at all,which is what I thought the goal of meditation was originally, but he explained focusing on the breath as it travels through your body. It reminded me of my yoga practice. The energy of breath is so powerful and has such a calming effect on the mind and body. The talk was a perfect way to start the day. Tenzin's mandala was truly stunning and his ability to set his art free after spending days on it is mindblowing to me. I do relate a little bit, since glass is such a fragile material, I never become too attached to the work. I can have the most beautiful vase I've ever made on the end of the pipe crash to the ground right before I finish. That's just part of the process of glassblowing though, it has helped me to put less emphasis on the final product and more on the process, making the work (like the mandala) a meditative practice. The difference is that I can make a vase in 30min.- 1hr and Tenzin spent days on his work..also he is conciously freeing his work where as my glass breaking is usually unintentional.

I told myself that I would continue with meditation after his lecture, but I haven't meditated once since then :(