Analysis of the still-life paintings of contemporary Cuban artist Julio Larraz, which reflect the temperament and emotion of Cuban nationals under ruling dictatorships with vibrant color, profound symbolism and aesthetic grace and intensity.
1,625 words (approx. 6.5 pages), 3 sources, 2002, $ 52.95
Abstract The paper features an in-depth analysis of the still-life paintings of Cuban artist Julio Larraz, which combine deep symbolism and emotion in vibrantly colorful palettes and scenes infused with drama, humor and psychological references representing the perspective of Latin American life under oppressive dictatorship in the 20th century. Julio Larraz is a celebrated contemporary painter who began to exhibit his works in the U.S. after 1967: the paper closely examines a number of specific works produced during the 1980s. Julio Larraz is currently an active, prolific artist, exhibiting his works in the U.S. , Europe , and Latin America .
From the Paper ?Within his still-life paintings, Larraz achieves visual transmission of his sentiments through the handling and selective placement of the natural forms of everyday objects. The still-lifes feature objects derived primarily from nature such as vibrant fruits, flowers, and shells, usually placed within or upon a man-made vessel, pedestal, or table. Repetitive use of the containment of organic objects within such vessels in works such as Four Lobsters in a Tub (1984) and All Hands Aboard (1983) is reflective of Cuba's position in regard to U.S. "containment" policies of the Cold War era, isolation of Cuba as a Communist regime within a Latin American sphere striving to embrace democracy and develop free-market economies, the economic isolation imposed by the U.S. trade embargo of the 1960s, and the futile attempts to halt the continuous outflow of millions of Cubans to U.S. borders. Larraz also made reference to disguised elements within society in portrayals of baskets filled with a variety of colorful fruits, among which the viewer may glimpse such espionage hardware as a camera, his chosen instrument of exposure (The Spy Ship (1980) and Mango Boat (1986)).?
Abstract This paper provides a lengthy description of the history of copyright law in the U.S. The author discusses copyright laws, registration, congressional acts, standards and guidelines. The author also discusses copyright infringement, its repercussions, damages and defenses within the judicial system.
From the Paper "Everyone doodles, writes, composes, paints, or sculpts. How does one protect oneself from their creation becoming copied? Moreover, if it is copied, what can be done to remedy the situation? The establishment of what is called a copyright is the protection against copying. Copyright is actually a set of rights, which ?include the right to reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works based upon, perform and display a protected work.? (Fishman 12/2) In today's society, focus is constantly on one's rights. One right that is often overlooked and is seldom caught up in controversy is the right to control the copying of one's creation. Even though seldom involved in controversy, copyright law is still an important factor in everyday life."
Tags: art, congress, act, infringement, damages, fair, use
Abstract This is a paper that analyzes and contrasts the style and technique of the poet William Blake and the artist Edouard Manet. The author compares between the styles of Blake's poem London which portrays traditional societal values and Manet's painting "Luncheon on the Grass", which breaks all traditional thoughts and ideas, in an attempt to contrast their artistic intentions.
From the Paper "Blake's poetry is a masterpiece. The poem under discussion is one of his finest poems wherein he talks about young children on the streets of London, his town. He talks of these children in a slightly amused, slightly chiding manner. The poem has three stanzas, each containing two rhymed couplets. The lines are longer than is typical for Blake's Songs, and their extension suggests the train of children processing toward the cathedral, or the flowing river to which they are explicitly compared. The form of expression is unique as Blake narrates in another's voice. He says the children are actually angels of God and speaks of them grandiosely as singing like the 'mighty wind' and 'harmonious thundering."
This essay looks at the world of art in motion-kinetic arts, and how it is becoming increasingly popular for artists interested in using technology in their work.
1,410 words (approx. 5.6 pages), 6 sources, 2001, $ 46.95
Abstract This paper presents an overview of kinetic art, motion in art, and its history. In addition, the author argues that the artists are responding to technology and continuing to evolve as they learn to use technology in their favor. The paper focuses on sculpture.
From the Paper "While most of us love the look of a wind chime or the way a mobile twirls over the crib of a baby, we don?t understand that it is a form of artwork. When we think about art we usually think about paintings on canvas, a still photograph or other types of works. Rarely do we realize that anything that is created and has movement is also art, and it is called kinetic art. Kinetic art is not a new concept but it has enjoyed recent popularity as artists around the world are being put on display. Its history and its allure are no longer a mystery and we can enjoy the movement in the open today. Kinetic art can be defined by the term kinetic meaning related to or produced by motion."
Abstract This paper addresses the body of work that is now known as Modernism, including an examination of how it developed and what has succeeded it. It gives examples from the world of art, music and architecture - Mark Chagall, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustave Courbet and others.
From the paper:
"Modernism is a much harder artistic style to define than either Romanticism or Realism ? although not as difficult as Postmodernism. This probably results in part from the fact that the closer a style is to one's own moment in history the more difficult it is to assess, but it also has to do with the fact that Modernism is itself a complex movement. It is not the relatively straightforward reaction against the movement before it that Realism was, nor is it a reaction against a single historical change in the way that Romanticism was primarily a response to industrialization."
Abstract This paper deals with the issue of the industrial revolution and it's impact on American woodworking. The paper discusses pre-industrial revolution times, what happened during the industrial revolution and tells what is in the future of American woodworking.
From the paper:
"The Industrial Revolution had a tremendous impact on American woodworking. It took woodworking from little shops in villages to huge industrial factories within large cities throughout America. The Industrial Revolution also changed the tools used in woodworking and altered production methods as well. "This was a period in history when new inventions changed the way that people built things and changed where people worked and how they lived" (Industrial Revolution Booklet, 1998, p.1)."
Abstract This paper examines Dorothea lange's famous controversial photograph: "Migrant Mother". The author looks at how the photograph became a symbol for propaganda for the New Deal. This photograph caused a stirr in the government and became a controversial topic. The author looks at the career of Dorothea Lange and her involvement in government.
From the paper:
"Dorothea Lange's "documentary" photograph, Migrant Mother, became a symbol for a plethora of causes after successfully being created as propaganda to legitimize the New Deal. When Dorothea Lange shot Migrant Mother, she had completed her transition from portraitist to documentary photography and was working with the Farm Security Administration. Lange's work was required to fit the New Deal's ideology handed down from the Roosevelt administration. In order to achieve these mandates, Lange significantly manipulated her subjects. Due to these actions, her photograph is easily adaptable. Migrant Mother not only catalyzed relief aid to the migrants; people later manipulated it into other symbols."
Abstract This report explores the design of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the designer and the contributors. It also explores the mysterious healing and understanding that The Wall of Names has brought to the nation, due to its intense, yet delicate symbolism.
From the paper:
"In American history, war has always ended in the glorification of the soldiers who served fighting for their country. The Vietnam War, however, marked a change in this patriotic veneration. Shrouded in uncertainty, the war left the American public questioning their faith in a secretive government, and therefore questioned their faith in those who served for it. President Nixon described this disastrous public view when he said, "No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.... Never have the consequences of their misunderstanding been so tragic."
Tags: sodier, kill, die, memory, respect, remember, honor, death
Abstract This paper explores the works of Leon Battista Alberti, Adolf Loos, and Jennifer Bloome and compares and contrasts their opinions on combining different forms of art and architecture. It also examines why it is important for architecture to be aesthetic and practical.
From the paper:
"According to the AOL World Book Encyclopedia's definition of
architecture, architecture is an art form like painting or poetry writing. However, architecture is not entirely like these arts in its practice. The World Book states one of the essential differences between architects and other artists is the fact that while other artists have a certain amount of creative control in the fashioning of "rough drafts" of their work, architects face additional constraints because their work costs so much money to fashion."
Abstract This paper describes the origins of American popular music in European and African culture. The author claims that In effect, American music is a hybrid of musical movements from blues and spirituals to European folk music.
From the Paper "Much of American culture bears the mark of the melting pot effect. Essentially a land of immigrants, America has served, in many ways, as a palette from which popular culture draws an innumerable array of shades. As such, popular social trends often are a reflection of the hybrid mainstream instinct. Pop music, in its incubational phases, is highly indicative of that notion. This is particularly evident in ostensibly indigenous musical movements like blues/folk music and spirituals, both of which employ extensive European and African influences, social imports that create a tapestry of globally unique and distinctively American sounds."
Tags: art, jazz, music, race relations, rock, social traditional, values, blues, folk, Africian American
Abstract This paper examines the iconography of the gods and goddesses within traditional Indonesian art, looking at the ways in which they are dressed reflect larger stylistic concerns within the culture as well as illuminating the relationship between the gods and their worshippers.
From the Paper "Before examining this particular issue in greater detail it is important that we provide an overview of the country's religious mix and heritage. The majority of the current population is Muslim, but it is an Islam strongly influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism as well as the islands" older, indigenous pagan and animistic beliefs. The island of Bali is home to most Indonesians of Hindu descent, while in the current day there are small Christian population scattered throughout the country. There are also followers of Confucianism.?
Abstract This paper shows the evolution of magic through history, and gives examples of some famous magicians and their tricks. Magicians discussed are Houdin, Houdini and Copperfield among others.
From the Paper "Magic has enticed and amazed people since ancient times. Many magicians have come forward to distinguish themselves as masters, with original stunts and tricks that have revolutionized the craft. My purpose in this research paper is to show the evolution of magic through history, and to give examples of some famous magicians and their tricks."
Abstract The paper investigates the aesthetic and moral principles that have had a major influence on historic photographers. It looks at the issues of photographing an unsolicited subject and the artistic right of free speech.
From the Paper "Photographic images of unaware subjects have had a significant impact on society. Some of those images have artistic quality, and some have created public outrage. This photographic method of capturing reality can be has both aesthetic and ethical implications.
Capturing reality is not a new idea. Jean-Baptiste-Sim?on Chardin (1699-1779) recorded the plainer features and rituals of life unlike his contemporaries. Chardin's paintings of common objects were a ?healthy antidote to the dreamy ephemera of Bouccher and Fragonard (which tended to shut out political, economic, and social realities)? (Cole 200)."
Abstract The paper begins with a general overview of the meaning of religion in Michelangelo's art and then moves its focus to the panel of the Drunkenness of Noah. It explains the basic story that this piece hopes to capture and compares how this Biblical story differs in a way to what is portrayed in the picture.
From the Paper "Michelangelo's frescoes for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are regarded by nearly all art historians as being amongst the most significant ? and most lovely -- of all works of art created in the West since the beginning of the Christian era. It is no doubt because of their artistic importance that it is easy to overlook their religious significance, for while the religions stories that Michelangelo gave vision to are well known and in no way original to the artist, the images were overwhelmingly original. We cannot fail to be impressed by their beauty when we look at them and so we may forget to see what is actually contained in them."
Tags: Noah, flood, Seth, Ham, Japeth, Genesis, Italy, art
This essay examines the origins of the unconventional Dada art movement. These pioneers of the avant-garde thrived for a few short years after World War I before splintering into several groups in the early 1920s.
Abstract The Dada art movement was about using protest, confrontation and chaos in the arts as a way to change an unjust society recovering from the horrors of World War I. By explaining the origins of the Dadas and looking at their most famous sculpture, "The Spirit of Our Time", this essay explains how the Dada artists were making direct challenges to modern culture and technology long before it was fashionable.
From the Paper "By the late 19th century machine technology was everywhere, available to millions, and part of humanity's daily existence. The products of machines, such as giant structures and trains, planes, and automobiles, were infinitely more "useful" to people than traditional art had ever been. Some artists became envious of scientists and wanted to match their achievements, and some scientists wanted to be thought of as artists."
