Up Week Nine- Modern and Postmodern - Blog: Video Review

 Andy Warhol: Images of an Image

Andy Warhol worked as a commercial artist until 1960 when he began experimenting with advertising images. He worked until his untimely death in 1987.  Andy Warhol's interest in the lives of these famous women inspired several repeated images.  Photographs are blown up and developed onto silk screens; they are transferred to paper and canvas, using ink and paint.  The techniques used for Warhol's silk screen, Ten Lizes, featuring Elizabeth Taylor was created in 1963.  Andy Warhol saw the repeated silk screen images as a way to make money.  Warhol begins to photograph his friends; soon he is filming them also, shooting about 100 films. He begins adding paint to his silk screened images.  Warhol produced dozens of self portraits. As an art journalist his work addresses race riots, the conquest of the moon, the cultural revolution in China, and the universal reign of the dollar.  The museum visitor critiques Ten Lizes.

Isamu Noguchi: The Sculpture of Spaces

Sculptor Isamu Noguchi describes his art, sculpture gardens in Japan, and his vision of space and sculpture. His UNESCO garden in Paris is an "homage to the Japanese garden."  Sculptor Isamu Noguchi creates sculpture gardens to "humanize space and sculpture." Noguchi's childhood holds many clues to his interest in sculpture gardens and to his feelings of isolation.  In Paris and in the U.S., the young Noguchi is plagued by poverty. To make a living, he sculpts heads, including the head of Martha Graham. Archival film footage shows Noguchi's minimalist sets for Martha Graham's productions.  In 1980, Isamu Noguchi is commissioned to redesign Miami's Bayfront Park. A retrospective of his sculptures reveals his artistic versatility and vision.  Sculptor Isamu Noguchi convinces Miami officials to accept his vision of Bayfront Park. This segment features construction of the park and its features, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony.  Sculptor Isamu Noguchi experiments with different media such as water to create a new manifestation of an approach to sculpture. His EXPO '70 fountains in Osaka and others demonstrate how he delineates space around his sculptures.  Sculptor Isamu Noguchi's "Black Water Mantra" exemplifies the artist's commitment to create something useful for people. This sculpture provides joy and delight for the children of Sapporo.  This segment features sculptor Isamu Noguchi's "Water Stone." It demonstrates that nothing in nature is perfect--yet Nature is perfect in its imperfections.  Isamu Noguchi's Billy Rose Sculpture Garden in Jerusalem, Israel, is acclaimed for its sensitivity to the spirit of the Holy City.  Sculptor Isamu Noguchi explains the relationship between a human and the sculpture he or she observes. Viewers of this segment take a tour of the sculptures in the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden.  This segment features the Japanese residence of Isamu Noguchi and the gardens surrounding it. The gardens consist of metal, stone, grass, and earth in what the artist calls "a celebration of life."  In 1988, Isamu Noguchi draws the master plan for the 400-acre Moere Numa Park in Sapporo, Japan. Working with 3-dimensional models, Noguchi imagines himself within the spaces of the park.  Friends of Isamu Noguchi talk about the great artist's love of solitude and of his home at Mure. Aerial views of Moere Numa Park under construction reveal the extent of Isamu Noguchi's vision. The park is itself a journey into a different realm of his sculpture, and it stands as a monument to his tenacity and vision.