COWPARADE

COWPARADE is an Art exhibition. It is the largest and most recognized art event since 1999 in over 50 cities including Chicago (1999), New York City (2000), London (2002), Tokyo (2003), Brussels (2003) and Dublin (2003). CowParade holding corporation is the worldwide owner of the CowParade brand.

The symbol of their products is a cow and they‘ve chosen this animal because firstly, it is an easily recognizable animal, in some places cow was a sacred animal and it seems to be as one of the most loving animals. Furthermore, the shape of a cow has interesting lines and curves that can be edited or even provide inspiration for an artist.

                                       

Many artists transform the cow into an object, a fruit or even a human. The cow sculptures are made out of flame-retardant fiberglass and have within them steel rebar for reinforcement. The Cows weigh approximately 125 pounds before application by the artist. For public display the cows are mounted to cement bases which weigh approximately 400 pounds.

CowParade, organises events in which many artists, sculptors and architectures take part. The events encourage the artists to design their own unique cow.  

Each artist gets $1000 for each cow and a large part from the cow sales goes to charities.

The Cow products are very popular and they seem to be as one of the Top collectible things in the world. I also have my own collection of CowParade products which I hope to expand as I go along.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKrwwqrkR6c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGb-2MENnao&feature=related

SAUL BASS

http://youtu.be/Tek8QmKRODw

SAUL BASS was born in New York in 1920. He was one of the greatest graphic designers of the mid-20th century. He was also a filmmaker and was characterised as the master of film and title design as his great qualities were undisputed.

Bass was the first to discover the creative potential of the opening and closing credits in a movie. Furthermore, his experience and uniqueness in the field brought him a long and successful career. During this period he achieved a lot; he designed title sequences, worked with well-known directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese and had the biggest hit in his life with the very famous movie he produced ‘The Man With The Golden Arm’. The movie was a great success and received good critics.

Buss’s big contribution to the film industry in addition to his exceptional skills inspired people in the world of film but also attracted public attention.

 (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/filmotype

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000866/awards

http://youtu.be/Tek8QmKRODw

MODERNISM/POSTMODERNISM

MODERNISM is a revolt against realism and took off in the 1850’s. It is a new modern movement with perspective people who cannot stand the classicism of the time. The main characteristics of Modernism were the Self-consciousness, the Identity of the Unity and the power. Organization regarded as a social tool and an extension of Human Logic.

According to agreement was a progressive trend that confirms the power of people to create. Surrealism was the most extreme form of Modernism.

In Modernism there are no rules, artists follow their feelings and you will see at their painting or in any creation something abstract. Paul Jackson Pollock was one of the biggest dealers of abstract. He was a pioneer and original artist who found a new way to express his feeling and give a message at the same time. As he said he liked to work on the floor because with that way he could see the work from all sides. When he was painting he didn’t know what he was doing and he had no fear to make changes. He was spontaneous and he had a contact with his creation all of the time.

and nice combinations he used to represent those.  Also, I felt very peaceful and calm while looking at his work, as it felt like I was travelling in another world.

POSTMODERNISM is a movement that came to hit the Modernism. It presents social structures that follow the change that characterizes the time and the place. People, who follow postmodernism, are more reactive in comparison with modernism and threaten the stability of managed life. Furthermore, the work it presents has an opposite theme like for example, Female vs. Male, Black and White, Rich and Poor. These paintings aim to deliver a strong and powerful message to the person who observes them.

The main features of Postmodernism are pluralism, textuality and scepticism. This movement has influenced many areas, such as the theatre, architecture, cinema, marketing and religion. Banksy’s creations can be characterized by this movement.

ERIC GILL

ERIC GILL was born in Brighton in 1882. He was characterised as one of the most colourful figures in early 20th century and became well known for his sculptures, engraving sketches, writings and type fonts (Sculptor, Typographer, Printmaker and Engraver).

Gill was a modern artist and had his own way of creativity. Hel lived a very eccentric life and we can recognize that from his creations which received various kinds of critics. Lots of people did not accept some of his works because as Eric was religious, dared to combined the religion with his eccentric style.

One of the painters that received a great amount of critics and shocked me was one drawing that showed a Christ having sexual relations with an undefined woman saint. An example of the critics they characterised him was a ‘highly sexed creative artist’.

Finally, I think it is important to highlight some of his achievements as he has been an ‘interesting’ and not very likeable figure in the world of art. Gill held a number of teaching jobs, including at the central School and lettering at the LCC Paddington Institute. Moreover, he was a founder member of the SWE and an associate of the RA and in 1937 he was awarded an honorary association ship of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. Despite of his eccentric work, Gill left behind him a great amount of his work which until now are being observed and discussed by many people in the art world.

EDWARD FELLA

‘Everything is possible’; what an inspiring and motivating quote; that says little but means a lot. Edward Fella is the artist who used and encouraged the above quote whilst talking about his work. In my opinion this can say a lot about an artist and this is one of the reasons I admire him.

He was born in Detroit in 1938 and except from being a great artist he also holds the qualities of a graphic designer and an exceptional educator. 

 Fella had a long and successful career. For over 30 years he worked as a commercial artist in Detroit top advertising and in 1985 launched a master at Cranbrook Academy of Arts where his incredible skills in typography emerged. Furthermore, Fella used some of his own unique self-published work in many design publications and anthologies.He currently works at the Institute of Arts in California, in which as he quoted ‘I didn’t think I would still be here after twenty-one years, from where I first came to visit this place.’

Fella is a unique artist with a great sense of humour and passion for his work. Many young artists get inspired from his work as well as his personality as he seems to have a positive influence on people.

In nowadays, you can find him carrying around a small sketchbook and a pencil with four colours and draw. As he said ‘anything can be made in anything’ and ‘everything is possible’. I will try and keep his words as a motto for my life and work too. I think he is a great source of inspiration for many artists.

Here are some of his achievements:

1997-The Chrysler Award

1999-An Honorary Doctorate from CCS in Detroit

2001-A Finalist for The National Design Award

*His work is in the National Design Museum and MOMA in New York.

http://vimeo.com/8868251

http://www.edfella.com/index.html

SEMIOTICS

SEMIOTICS is the study of signs and symbols, symbols and signs that we find in our everyday life and are able to recognise from their distinctive signs. For example, McDonalds,            a worldwide known restaurant which we can identify its semiotic from anywhere in the world.

The following video (which is an example of a semiotic) is a Nike Advert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PueqGYoyRt4&NR=1  

The advert starts with a little boy kicking an empty can; at the same time there is an emphasis on the boy’s shoes where immediately the audience can recognise the brand which is NIKE. Later on the NIKE logo appears again in the football and the football player’s clothes.

The story unfolds and it passes on a message, a message about achieving your dreams, facing fears of life and challenges and trying to overcome those fears. Furthermore, the song (California Dreaming, by Jose Feliciano) that plays in the background plays a significant role too. What makes it important and effective to the audience is the lyrics that encourage you to pursue and fight for your dreams and even though life might bring some difficulties, the most important is to overcome them and reach for your goals.

This commercial advert increased consumption of the NIKE products and passed on a very strong message.

THE SOWER

 The themes around farm life and people were always one of the main interests of the artist Vincent van Gogh (McMillan, 1989) therefore his painting of ‘The Sower’ which is a celebrated and recognised piece of art of the 19^th century.

The main theme of this painting which is human figure of a sower was in one of the artist’s favourite figures. As Bakker et al (2010) points out, Van Gogh considered the life and work of a sower meaningful and purposeful, but also considered him as a person who works lonely with nature.

His significant painter of ‘The sower’ represents a lonely human figure in a field.  The bright colours of the sower match with nature which is an evident point of Van Gogh’s representation of the relationship between the sower and nature.

In this painting it is interesting how the colours of the sun and nature almost ‘overtook’ the human figure and seem to be the main theme of the painting instead of the sower himself. Uhde (1998) significantly states, that Van Gogh liked the colour yellow and tried to include it in his paintings in different forms. At this painting, the presence of this colour is very intense. 

Furthermore, the bright and lively colours at first show a pessimistic and love for life, but on the other hand the lonely human figure and the darkest colours of the field shows the opposite feelings of misery and survival for life.

IDENTITY/GENDER

...Men, women, boys and girls; what are the differences between them? Are they all considered equal? In what way? Does the gender matter in some cases? All the above, are questions that arise in nowadays life and are not necessarily answered. The words ‘identity’ and ‘gender’ are significant in our society. However, how well these are acknowledged I am not certain. The aim of my article is to explore these two terms in more depth by comparing the role of the two genders in the Cypriot society before seventy years ago and the present.     

 Cyprus is a small island- country situated in the Eastern Basin of the Mediterranean Sea. This small island has a long history and thus far some customs and traditions are still followed and celebrated.

However, a significant change in the Cypriot community is the role of men and women. As in other small communities, seventy years ago the role of women was to stay at home, take care of the house and look after the children whereas men looked after the land and farm. Likewise in the Cypriot community this was the role of men and women at the past, men had the power in the house and women do house jobs as well as looking after the children.

Another important fact is that women were not allowed schooling, not allowed to be educated as they weren’t considered capable of doing so (in a man’s view point). According to an old traditional saying, the women’s furthest education in Cyprus was the wedding. Therefore this was their furthest achievement in life, to get married. 

On the other hand, as men had the first word and the power in the house they could get educated and become literate. They also worked the land and became shepherds, farmers, potters, woodcutters, shoemakers. These were some of the traditional jobs Cypriot men had in the past. In nowadays, it is not very often you see people to do these.

The world has changed, so does small communities like Cyprus. A significant example is the following: in 1943 only a limited number of girls attended school and were considered lucky to do so whereas now all girls and women have the right to education.

The issues and problems arising around equality and gender recognition are never lasting. In nowadays, everyone fights for these issues which get acknowledged whereas at the past they didn’t have that strength or authority to so.

We live in a multi-changing society which we are blessed to be part of, therefore when it comes to issues like equality and human rights, we need to stand up to our own opinions and fight for what we believe in.

THE SCREAM

   ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch is a very expensive and unique piece of art of the 19^th century (1893).  It is clearly a very strong and intense piece of work that draws the attention of anyone who observes it. What is special about this painting is the very distinctive contrast of colours which are identified at the top and bottom of the painting  as well as the unique human figure in the middle which seems to be showing a feeling of anxiety and despair.

As Eggum (2000) signifies, Munch used a range of art materials, colours and techniques to complete this painting. For the sky, bright and warm colours have been used such as dark orange, red and yellow whereas for the bottom side of the painting he used cool and dark colours, such as black and brown.

Furthermore, while making the sky, Munch used a more modern style of drawing as for example the curves that he did to represent the sky. On the other hand, a more serious style seems to be shown at the bottom of the painting with straight and dark lines.

What is interesting however about this painting is that even though when you first look at this, you seem to be drawn by the complex and technical colours of the sky at the top of the painting, and appear to be taken away by that, the artist immediately succeeds in helping you to identify the main ‘message’ of the painting, the human figure which is in the middle. He achieves this by the contrast of the colours he used at the top and bottom of the painting.

Many definitions have been given about this painting as to where the artist was inspired from as well as what he tried to represent through his painting. The following abstract comes from Munch’s journal in Bjonstad’s book (2001) about Edvant’s Munch story.

“I was walking out with two friends. The sun began to set. I felt a breath of melancholy. Suddenly the sky turned blood-red. I paused, deathly tired and leaned on a fence looking out across the flaming clouds over the blue- black fjord and towns. My friends walked on and there I still stood, trembling with fear- and I sensed a great, infinite scream, run through nature.’’ (22 January, 1892)

The above abstract coming directly from Munch’s journal, explains in a way a person’s strong feelings which are represented in the painting from the human figure; a person who seems helpless and miserable, someone who is in despair and fear. Fear of the chaos that takes over his life, fear about the unknown, fear about his spirituality and mental health? The distinctive figure of his painting shows a range of strong emotions such as the obvious scream but at the same time poses questions about these emotions. Why is this person feeling this way? What is he afraid of or what is worrying him?

Moreover, the human figure can also be identified as the artist and through this he represents his feelings. In Berman et al (2006), Munch significantly mentions the difficulties he passed during his life such as the disease and death of his mother, following the disease and insanity of his sister.

Furthermore, another interesting point and simultaneously important is the other two figures that seem to be going the other way unaware of the situation of the main figure in the middle of the painting. These figures might be, the two friends the artist has mentioned in his abstract. It is interesting however, how calm and peaceful these are represented by the artist as opposed to the confused and disturbed human figure in the middle of the painting.

Finally, the sky which is clearly identified by bright colours at the top of the painting is explained by astronomers to be caused by the 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano (Edvard Munch website, 2009) hence the bright red colour shown on the sky.

‘The scream’, is an ‘aristocratic’ and emotional piece of art. The artist is not afraid to show strong and disturbing feelings shown by the main figure of the painting. A scream, is an emotion that let people express what they feel, take out everything they are thinking. Sometimes it is a scream of despair and others of happiness.

COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO

I realy LOVE this movie..!! One Great Story with Great Human being.!! But the most importand with a STRONG message..!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzULuO1cBSc