Thursday, March 30, 2017

Postmodernism


  • Our culture has evolved into a very blended people with multiple belief systems and view points 
  • There isn't really a clear sense differentiation between cultural groups 
  • Constant change; "new realities" constantly erupting 
  • "Postmodernism artistis, just like explorers of past centuries, simply plunge into the unknown and then try to represent it." 
    • I found this to be really interesting; I like the idea that the artists are trying new things and taking risks 

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Kubler: "The Shape of Time"

I think Kubler’s analogy of comparing a single artists life as a unit of study to a single travelers experience on a railroad to be very interesting and extremely applicable to the tangible world. What he means is that while a single artist’s life are important to an artwork or a trend in art, the true meaning of it stems so much further beyond; the artists before and after also need to be considered in order to fully understand. 

Another point I found to be really interesting was that similarly to how two scientists of different specialities will likely struggle to understand each other, two painters from different schools have nothing to learn from each other and are incapable of communicating soundly with one another. While I think I understand what Kubler means by this, I personally have a hard time agreeing with it and think it in some ways contradicts his previous point of an artist's biography not being enough information because it does not adequately depict the "whole picture." I feel that as students, we are taught from our earliest years of schooling that we can learn something from everyone. For example, one of my roommates is a biology major and I am a business major, but there have been several instances where things I have learned in my classes have proved to be helpful in her studies and vice versa because it offers a different perspective or new way of thinking. 

Fractured Histories: Ancient Greek Pottery from Haverford's Allen Collection Gallery Opening

 When I first entered the gallery I thought I was just looking at intricately made pieces of pottery. However, after the lecture, I learned that these pieces were sacred to the Ancient Greeks and served many purposes. The designs painted on them were used to depict the beliefs of the Greeks or to tell stories, which I found to be very interesting. I was also pretty amazed by the age of these pieces and how well they’ve withstood the test of time; which I think is a testament to the craftsmanship that was put into them. 


Another thing I found to be really interesting is the functionality of the pieces;  that they weren’t just supposed to be decorative vases. The historian explained how each piece was designed with a specific  use in mind. For example, vases intended to carry oil or other valuable commodities featured a narrow opening at the top so it wouldn’t spill when being poured. Whereas a vase designed to carry water- a more plentiful resource- had a wide opening and handles on either side to make pouring easier. The vase used to carry water is called a hydria and was my favorite piece in the exhibit, I’ve included a photo below.



Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Data Visualization

I really enjoyed this video because I feel like the topic of data visualization is something that we can all relate to. Today, we are surrounded by an overwhelming amount of data every single day; every message sent or received  on our smart phone, every scroll through Instagram, and even each time we swipe into a building on campus, is generating some form of data. Due to the almost infinite amount of data generated on a daily basis, data visualization is so important because it allows us to make more sense of a this information. 

This video reminded me of a data visualization application called Tableau, which I learned to use In one of my info systems classes. The purpose of this software is to take data from applications such as Excel or Access and create visual representations of the data. When we look at data as just numbers or letters, such as how they appear in an Excel worksheet for example, they’re really just letters and numbers on a page; they don’t make much sense to the human brain. By creating some sort of a visual representation of the same information, however, it allows people to make sense of it and draw important conclusions.