My Trip to Rome!

I went to Rome, Italy last week for my spring break this year, hence the radio silence. The art and history clubs at my university sponsored the trip and took 11 students and 2 faculty to the Eternal City to learn about...well, art and history.

And we did.

Our group went with Casterbridge Tours, whom I highly recommend. We had a guide with us wherever we went on our itinerary but also some time to go and do our own thing almost everyday.  We didn't have any problems the entire trip. That is until we got back into the United States, but that's a whole nother story and not at all relevant to today.

We visited the obvious tourist attractions:

St. Peter's Basilica

The Pantheon

The Coliseum - outside

The Coliseum - inside

Capitoline Hill

The Trevi Fountain

Tragan's Column

The Vatican had an overwhelming amount of frescos, statues, and paintings. We went into the Sistine Chapel but you aren't allowed to take pictures in there, so here's a cool 3D tour that the Vatican has on its website. I tried to take some pictures anyway but they all turned out blurry. Alas.

But seriously, there is art EVERYWHERE in Rome. And cathedrals. You turn a corner and BAM! There's a church. And in the church there are sculptures and paintings in every niche and every inch is covered in carved plaster and gold leaf. It was pretty dang impressive. 

I'm not Catholic but I'll admit, after seeing all of their beautiful churches, I'm a little jealous. If only because they get to look on all that awesomeness every time they go to worship.

Anyway.

ART! more specifically, environmental art. Our trip's focus was more on historical art of the Roman and Renaissance time periods and not on anything more modern. Environmental art in regards to nature or the "green movement" is a more modern concept, but there is a definition that states that environmental art can be "artistic works intended to enhance or become part of an urban or other outdoor environment." (Google Definition)

In which case, Rome is full of environmental art. There are statues everywhere. On church facades and fountains, hanging out in their parks, and even their pubic drinking fountains are beautiful pieces of art.

That's right, this is a drinking fountain.

Granted, not all of them are that intense, but still! If that doesn't make for an inspiring environment I don't know what will. It was definitely inspiring to be there. I came back with all these ideas for projects about Roman mythology. Depending on how they turn out, I may upload some pictures. We'll see.

Anyone else been on art inspiring trips lately?

Jenny Kendler: Inspired by Bowerbirds

Jenny Kendler

Jenny Kendler is an interesting artist I found when researching environmental art in general. She is not only a studio artist but also an "environmentally-minded social entrepreneur," or so her the bio page on her website states.

Her Bio also says that "She is co-founder of the artist website service OtherPeoplesPixels, and oversees the The OPP Fund, which gives grants to arts, environmental and social justice organizations."

So not only does she make her own environmentally oriented art but she helps others to do the same. I like her already. 

Kendler's artist statement (brief verbal representation written by artist about their work) asserts that her artwork is primarily about "humans beings' relationship with the natural world, focusing on the complexity of issues like extinction, habitat loss, mutualism and climate change."

Kender uses a variety of mediums: drawing, painting, sculpture, installation pieces and even some performance art pieces. (Feel free to look at the rest, I just picked my favorite.)

My favorite piece of hers is a sculpture/installation piece called "My Bower I". It was inspired by the Bowerbirds that live in New Guinea and Australia. The male bowerbirds make these really intricate structures made of twigs and then proceed to decorate them with objects that they find, both natural and man-made. The objects differ from species to species, there are 20 species in all. I believe Kendler's piece was inspired by the Satin Bowerbird but I found a better video on youTube talking about the Vogelkop Bowerbird:

 Super nifty, but back to the artwork... here is Kendler's version:

Got this from here

I enjoyed her bower quite a lot. The twigs she used are arranged very tightly at the bottom but loosening up as you get towards the top, ending in a very fluid, whimsical kind of crazy hairdo. There is also an element of fragility or delicateness to this piece. The twigs themselves are very fragile and as individuals would probably break easily but woven together make themselves strong which I find really interesting. 

I'm also a huge texture person, so all those crazy lines made by the twigs just make me want to look and look and them maybe touch them, but carefully. The two finger touch you tell little children to use on animals.

Kendler's artist statement goes on to talk about how there is an element of "myth, magic, and fantasy" to her work; I think this piece captures that aspect exceptionally well. It reminds me of some sort of fairy hideout, the kind of thing I always hoped to find when out on camping trips when I was little (ok, now too). Probably why I like it so much.

In the side info on her website, she says that she gathered objects from around her hometown and some of her favorite places to decorate her bower. It looks like a few abalone shells and some tree trunk slices for the inner sanctum. And maybe some star-like ornaments and other bead-ish looking objects decorating the outside. But overall, keeping in her color scheme of neutral browns, some yellows, white and iridescent highlights. Very pleasing to look at all-in-all. 

But what a neat idea.

Taking on the role of the male bowerbird and creating a place to help attract mates, or perhaps in Kendler's to just show a little of herself on a natural stage. 

What kinds of things would go in your Bower?

What is "Environmental Art"?

Here are some definitions of environmental art:

1. From dictionary.com: "artistic works that are planned, often on a grand scale, to surround or to involve the participation of the spectator" 

2. Google search: 

1. The production of artistic works intended to enhance or become part of an urban or other outdoor environment.
2. The production of works of art by manipulation of the natural landscape.

 3. From greenmuseum.org

• Informs and interprets nature and its processes, or educates us about environmental problems
• Is concerned with environmental forces and materials, creating artworks affected or powered by wind, water, lightning, even earthquakes
• Re-envisions our relationship to nature, proposing new ways for us to co-exist with our environment
• Reclaims and remediates damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic and often aesthetic ways

 My personal definition? 

Any art that either talks about the environment or utilizes the environment in the artwork itself. This also includes art that uses recycled materials. 

Hello there

So, I'm an art student at a small university in Iowa and I'm enrolled in a media writing class this semester. As part of our course we are required to pick a topic we are interested in and write a blog about it for the rest of the semester.

So after much deliberation I've decided to combine my interest in art and my love for the environment and start a blog about up and coming environmental artists. I'm going to find cool artists that either use or talk about the environment in their art. I may pepper in some cool articles I find about art and the environment too. We'll see.

So, here goes nothing...