Week 13: Video Reviews

Abstract Expressionism and Pop:  Art of the 50's and 60's
 I am not really sure why I chose this video, other than it was one of the choices.
The key concept I learned from this video was that the unpredictability of experimentation is a fundamental approach to the art of this period.  Techniques are uncontrolled and the artists act/react instinctively. The artists of this period are more or less part of an incoherent group, and their art is more of an attitude in the New York art scene.
The content in the video corresponds well with the text, Living with Art, by including narrations explaining Kline, Frankenthaler, deKooning, Johns, Warhol, and Lichtenstein's art works.
In my opinion, the film is just as abstract as the art of the period, but does cover the "movement" and enhances the content covered in the text.

Hockney on Photography
I chose this film because of my fascination with photography as art.
The key concept I learned from this video was that an artists' (Hockney's) perspective of how as technology evolved so did the artists' work in response to the development. Hockney made light of how his work was based around the equipment he could afford at different periods,and his limitations of what was available to him.  It's really the truth, not all artists are endowed with equipment and material.  The old cliche "the struggling artist" holds true.
The video relates somewhat to the material covered in Living with Art, in the respect of limitations of technology and the release of those limitations as technology advances.  I feel the emphasis was more on the work of Hockney who is not at all mentioned in the text.
In my opinion, this film is fantastic. It's a wonderful documentary narrated by the artist, including commentary from other critics.

Andy Warhol:  Images of an Image
I chose this film because I'm not a huge fan of Warhol and was curious to hear what would be said about the artist.
I watched it twice, and still can't say I have a key concept that I came away with other than that hype played much of the artist's success among celebrities and very typical of "New York City".
The film correlates to the text, Living with Art, almost repeating the short biography on page 504.
In my opinion, the film is not very dynamic and as unappealing as the repeated celebrity images.

Isamu Noguchi - The Sculpture of Spaces
I chose this film because I often walked pass the Red Cube in New York City, and I like learning more about artists whose work I have seen. 
The key concept I learned from this video is that Noguchi's thoughts on sculpture and art were prophetic, as he dreamed of the concept of installation and land art in the 1920's and 1930's. Noguchi's parks and gardens were a combination of installation and land art, as one experiences the whole space!
There is very little mention of Noguchi in Living With Art, however, I think the film correlates well to the text on the topic of sculpture, installation and land art, with Noguchi giving narrations on his various works.

In my opinion, this is a very good film and a a good example of pluralism in the art world, as Noguchi's work spanned many decades including modernist and post modernist movements, yet his work was an entity that existed somewhat separately from the rest of the "group's" art.