"Digital Collage" reading response.

I didn't get a chance to read all 5 of the articles assigned in the folder, but I did read the following:
"Interpreting Visual Culture" by Terry Bartlett, " "Big Ideas and Artmaking" by Walker and "Works of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin.

The first 2 readings (Bartlett and Walker) definitely held my attention more because it seems like they focus on the eye of the artist and the ways the artist creates his/her artwork. While the readings talk about how we perceive art based on certain aspects, a majority of the information draws from the choices in which the artist made when creating their pieces.

In "Interpreting Visual Culture," Bartlett brings up the terms Denotation and Connotation and explains how they are "simple, yet powerful means of interpreting images." With these terms, a viewer could possibly sit for hours and find many different meanings behind an image, but really, it all draws back from the artist's choices and how they wanted us to perceive it. While yes, it is important for the artist to have their own "voice" in the image, it is also highly important that we, as fellow artists and viewers, decipher pieces so that we aren't promoting and following ideas that we may not entirely agree with.
The article "Big Ideas and Artmaking" greatly draws on the idea of the artist's voice. As it states in the article, "big ideas can make artwork go from simply crafting a product into a meaning-making endeavor." It helps the artist tap into a deeper level of thinking. Big ideas can assist both the artist, and the viewer, to see more then just an overall theme. It can help set up that theme, subject matter and create meaning to the artwork.
I was only able to briefly read over "Works of Art..Mechanical Reproduction," but from what I did read, I gathered that this article was more centered around originality and authenticity of artwork. We live in a time where basically anything is possible when it comes to creating/reproducing artwork, so with that, what makes a piece art if it is a reproduction of something else? Should we be able to simply call something art because of the "voice" of its artist?



I will admit, one statement that I really enjoyed while reading the articles was from "Big Ideas and Artmaking." Jennifer Bartlett has said, "I've always like rules...I figure out ways of breaking them." I think that is a great line, especially when it comes to the art world.