One artist who we were particularly moved by was Lauren Pascuzzo, who made the following abstract artwork:
Lauren used the people from her dance class as the main inspiration from this piece. She asked them what their favorite type of dance was, and which colors they associate with that dance. She then chose items that best represent each type of dance, took up-close pictures of the items, and made them unrecognizable by editing them on the computer. After doing this she created twelve shapes that flowed together to make an interesting composition. Finally she painted the distorted picture along with the color(s) that the dancers gave her to each of the twelve shapes.
*This information was paraphrased from Pascuzzo's own Content Summary (2008) about the artwork
1. What, if anything, do you intend when you make your art?
"I want the art to be interpreted in the way I see it. I wanted to convey the feeling of movement, without them really knowing what they were seeing." -Lauren Pascuzzo
Lluvia Creek is another University of Arizona artist who was willing to share her artwork with us:
Lluvia used two different groups of employees as inspiration to create this artwork. She wanted to convey how each person felt at the end of the day, and she did this by using ink blots and a series of questions and either-or choices:
1. Choose a number between 5 and 10.
-This would determine how many ink drops she would use to create their ink blot
2. What is your favorite color?
3. What is your favorite number?
-Both of these questions would help the artist pick out a color and manipulate the color for their ink blot.
4. Choose either right or left (this has nothing to do with the hand you write with)
-This would determine which way the artist would travel on the color wheel, which was the opposite of the direction they chose. If the subject chose left and they said their favorite number was 6, she would travel 6 color slots to the right, and that would be the color of their ink blot.
5. Tell me what you see in your ink blot in relation to how you feel right now.
-With this question the artist would allow the subjects to see their ink blots for ten seconds, and describe how they were feeling with only one word.
The artist compiled all of the subjects' information by blowing them up and cropping sections to create the layout of the painting. The artist enjoyed making this piece because she learned how, at times, the painting itself would tell her what to do next.
*This information was paraphrased from Creek's own Content Summary (2008) about the artwork
"Art grows from feelings, whether it’s happy or sad or whatever, I think people will see that in art. If I can convey how I’m feeling it’s perfect art." -Lluvia Creek
The interesting connection with forming art by using ink blots. In doing this, the artist has found a new way to draw inspiration and enlightenment from ink blots. The blog about Interpretation discusses the science of Ink Blots, and how this is a form of backwards interpretation, it is art determining the person, not the other way around. Lluvia Creek has found a way to harness Ink Blots in a way, and make them into something beautiful.
Jeff Cole is another University of Arizona artist who was willing to share his artwork with us:
Jeff focused on the elements of music for this painting. The artist asked ten friends about this topic, asking questions like what they first paid attention to when they listen to a song and which part of a song is their favorite or the most important. Their answers would range from bass, drum pattern, lyrical flow, and beat pattern. After talking with them, the artist would asked his subjects to draw what they thought the element they chose would look like it if was rendered on a piece of paper. The artist then compiled all of these figures onto his painting. He chose these colors to show an energy and intensity in the artwork against a black background. The artist commented that he wanted to marks to be so abstract that the viewer would not be able to tell the artwork was about the elements of music. *This was paraphrased from Jeff Cole's own Content Summary (2008) about this artwork.
1. What if we were to just take art as it is? Do you think this would improve or dampen the “experience of art”?
I think that it’s like that already. Anyone can put out artwork, and that’s positive. One can never know the artist’s influences, we can see that the ideas are endless.
Art is an endless word; it will go on forever, it will change and evolve. -Jeff Cole
By reviewing the artists' own words about their artwork, one can see what artwork is like before the act of interpretation is placed on the artwork. This art has not been "tamed" or made to fit the viewers' needs and wants. What we have here is pure, unadulterated art with the true artists' points of view. There is no need to interpret this art to make the viewer feel more comfortable-for the viewer has everything they need to know already.
