Performance 3

Critical Analysis

Erika Harrsch/Collaborative – Performance

                When attending Bodymaps, a collaborative piece that had been on campus, I was not sure what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised to find out what a unique and beautiful piece this was. This piece was put together by our own visiting artist, Erika Harrsch, for the visuals, as well as compositions by Paola Prestini and the very talented cellist was Jeffrey Zeiger. The piece took each of these artist’s talents and created a show that was gorgeously entrancing as well as thought provoking.

            The visuals created by Harrsch in collaboration with the Zeiger on the cello was a beautiful mix of media that I would never have thought of. The visuals brought together very innocent images such as butterflies, as well as very sexual images that somehow still managed to maintain modesty.  The colors were used so gracefully together and blended well in the entirety of the piece. The silhouettes of men and women making love, of sorts, went across the screen as Zeiger played the cello. In some of his pieces there was a more simplistic plain white backdrop with lights of different colors shining upon the surface. All decisions both visually as well as audio, had been put together so smoothly and seamlessly, yet it is very obvious that there is a tremendous amount of work involved. The hard work and talent of each of the artists is easily seen by the audience. Zeiger had said before he played a very fast piece, that Prestini had said, “If you don’t mess it up, you’re not going fast enough.” That being said the audio had been so intense at some points that with the visuals as well at times one could almost feel overwhelmed, but in an enjoyable way.

            This is one of the most unique performances I have seen. I am really fascinated and in admiration at the idea of the visual arts and the audio arts coming together. Watching Bodymaps inspirational in that art can lead one down so many different roads and it really just matters what opportunities one jumps on and gives their heart to as these artists had done collaboratively. Two questions I would ask are: Is she going to expand off of this project for her next project and do something related? And how long did it take her to put all of this together?

Lecture 2

Critical Analysis

Kendra Larson – Lecture/Exhibition

            Kendra Larson is an artist that currently has an exhibition at our University in one of the galleries in the Church of Fine Arts. The mediums she uses are drawing and painting. Not only is Larson an artist, but also a professor and successful entrepreneur. The work Larson discussed and had shown in the exhibition was comprised of her many beautiful landscape inspired paintings.

            Larson’s work in the exhibit is abstract yet also very familiar and comforting when viewing her painted landscapes. When Larson talked of her work and described the feelings she wanted to feel when viewing the work she said, “Nature is beautiful and helps to slow things down in our fast paced world, and I want them to feel as though they can slow down when they view my art.” To me, this was a very beautiful reason to create art as well as describe the amazing feeling that nature can give us, I appreciate the meaning of her art very much as I also have a love and respect for the environment.

            Larson also explained that her work was very much inspired from Oregon where she had grown up, as well as incorporating unnatural elements, rock formations, and natural formations into her art. Most of her paintings were painted with acrylic on wood. One of her paintings, called, “Ochoco,” uses silicone caulking to create a very visually stimulating piece of art. The silicone is painted in many different and abstract colors for the mountains, with a sky above. Another very amazing piece and perhaps my favorite, was the, “Mt. St. Hellen,” series which was four paintings put side by side in the shape of a square to form one. Not only does it play with texture again in Larson’s style of painting but also keeps her abstract style of art as well. It is Mount Saint Helen a somewhat reflection of the mountain, and is done so well that you cannot help but keep staring at all the detail put into this piece. Another very nice piece which has more blending than the others since Larson used oil on wood, was called, “Forest Park Rhodies.” This is a piece I would personally love to own, it is so beautifully done and gives the calming and slowing sensation that she wants people to feel very successfully.

            I am very inspired with Larson’s work since I am an Art major and Environmental Studies minor. If I were to become an artist this is somewhat the direction in which I would personally like to go. Larson’s work is just the right amount of abstract art in that it does not feel overwhelming like some abstract pieces do, but rather makes it’s audience very much at peace having viewed her art. The use of texture is a very nice feature, which adds a very nice and different quality to her work. Overall, I am very much a fan of Larson’s work. Two questions I would ask her: How does she texture her art so well? And what is her favorite piece she has done, why, and how long did it take her to complete?

Lecture 1

Critical Analysis

Erika Harrsch - Lecture

            Erika Harrsch is a visiting artist to our University for the semester from New York. She is originally from Mexico and has done work there, but has traveled and worked as well in Italy and Germany. Harrsch uses various types of media when exercising her passion for art such as painting, installations, photography, and collaborative pieces involving animation and video. The work Harrsch explains and described in her lecture is beautiful, different, very detailed, as well as meaningful.

            One of her first known pieces she worked with a scientist, and it involved the study of female butterflies, as well as correlating their origins with those of human females. The photos of human female genitalia were placed in the center of female butterflies with the same origin and where the genitalia would be on a butterfly. This piece evolved into many different works of art that were shown around the world, and at times it had been thought to be controversial depending on where it was being shown.

            The work Harrrsch does can also be political as well. In her lecture Harrsch stated that in a piece she tried to help portray, “Who has the power, money over us or us over power.” This piece took Harrsch’s original butterflies, but instead of having the genitalia on them she had the butterflies’ different sizes according to their economy and currency. I thought this piece successfully portrayed this idea of questioning currency, as well as being very visually beautiful and unique.

            Harrsch is currently in collaboration with a composer in a performance piece using her art visually animated and displayed as the music is played for the audience. This piece will be shown next week which I will be attending. The work appears not only to be very graceful and delicate but also incorporates sexuality in a very tasteful manner which is very difficult to do. It is also hard to pull this off as well when attempting to make another artist happy that you are collaborating with. From what Harrsch had described and had shown at her lecture it also looked like a gorgeous, very distinctive and different work of art that I am very excited to see.

            Overall the work that Harrsch has done shows her very unique way of thinking and passion for art, which I admire very much. Each work of art takes Harrsch a tremendous amount of time and it shows with each little detail. I really enjoyed her lecture and thought it was very beneficial in seeing such a successful artist as well as learning from her during the semester. The two questions I would ask are: What does she plan on doing after this collaboration? And other than her love for painting, what is her next favorite medium to work with?