Mod 2 Video Review

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

The first video I chose was Andy Warhol: Images of an Image. I chose this video because through my own experiences I am familiar with Warhol’s work. I wanted to lean some background information on the artist’s life as well as his artistic motivations, I thought this video would also be the most interesting for me.

The second video I chose was Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art in the 50s and 60s. I chose this piece because I have always been a fan of these two art styles. I was interested in seeing how the two styles influenced each other and changed thought the two decades highlighted in the video.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

In the first video, Andy Warhol: Images of an Image, I learned that to transfer an image to a silk scene it must first be enlarged several times and put on a large sheet. Although the “silk screen” was made of silk when it first appeared, today it is normally made of a mesh material. The sheet with the picture is then placed on the silk screen and exposed to a strong light, this produces a negative image. Next, the negative image on the silk screen is placed over the canvas or paper that the final art work will be placed on and ink is poured over, creating a final positive image. The silk screen can then be used numerous times. Warhol was often inspired to use images of famous females, especially after tragedies had happened in their life, putting them in the spotlight. For example, he started his famous Marilyn Monroe series after her death, his Liz Taylor series after her public divorce and his Jackie Kennedy series after the JFK assassination. I also learned that a main theme of his images was death, he often depicted car accidents, electric chairs, plane crashes, suicide, and even human skulls.   

In the second video, I learned about various abstract art of the 50s and 60s. The first painting that was discussed was Fanz Kline's C & O, painted in 1958. This painting, as well as many of Kline’s painting is considered abstract expressionism, he is best known for large black and white paintings that many have said resembles the NYC cityscape. bearing abstract motifs set down with strident confidence. The next work that was examined was Helen Frankenthaler's Mountains and Sea, painted in 1952. This painting actually launched Frankenthaler’s career in abstract expressionism, and like the paintings of Kline, Mountains and Sea depicts the cityscape of Nova Scotia.

An example of pop art examined in this film was Cologneo Roy Lichtenstein's Girl with Hair Ribbon, painted in 1965. Pop art is considered an art based on modern popular culture and the mass media, Lichtenstein drew his inspiration from comic strips, a very popular form of art and communication at the time.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

These videos related to the text because chapter 22, From Modern to Post Modern, dealt with art after the Second World War. In fact, chapter 22 talked about art of the 60s and 70s which was heavily influenced by Pop Art as well as Andy Warhol.

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I thought the videos were helpful. I thought the video on Andy Warhol brought up some interesting points that the book didn’t cover, the narrator suggested multiple times that the repetition of the faces in Warhol’s Ten Liz’s , each one flawed in its own way from the screen process, is actually a commentary on the evils of capitalism and the assembly line. I don’t know if that is true but it was still an interesting perspective that the book didn’t touch on.

         I liked the second video because it went into detail on specific paintings of abstract expressionism and pop art. While the book did talk about some of these style paintings, the video went into detail about the artist, medium and influences of the work.

         Both videos added depth to my understanding of the text by giving me valuable background information on each art style that the book didn’t cover.