Week #14

Today in class we talked about pop art.  It was strange to talk about artist that are still alive and using art that is a little more popular today.  We talked about Robert Rauschenberg who was an artist who used materials that were pop culture "junk". Then we talked about Andy Warhol, an artist who uses serial use of images. He loved american popular culture. He takes Duchamp's indifference to a new level.  We learned that he made a 2 hour movie of a guy sleeping and a 24 hour movie of a tower.  I thought that was pretty American flag was interesting.  Professor Tucker brought up some interesting point about how we treat and actual flag and how we would treat a picture of a flag.

Week #13

This week we have been reading the book that Professor Tucker wrote himself.  It is call Derridada.  In class however, we have been talking about ready-made art.  We have discussed this before in class.  We also watched a video on Marcel Duchamp.  Professor Tucker talks a lot about Duchamp in his book.  The movie basically describes some of Duchamp's works and their significance.  Duchamp tried to bend the rules of art and create a new definition of it.  Duchamp would take everyday, useful objects and turned them into art by signing his name on it and naming the object. This lead us to discuss ready-made art.  On Friday, about half of the class brought in their own ready-made art in exchange for 100's on the rest of their quizzes.  Some peoples ready-made's were pretty interesting.  One guy made a chair out of a cardboard box.  I wasn't sure that was actually a ready-made but it made an interesting point.  The rest of the art was seemed relevant and most people seemed to think a lot about what their art meant.

Week 12

This week we finished reading The Stranger, which was about a man who basically had no feelings or concern for others.  It was interesting to think about how the main character lives a basically normal life only he avoids attachment to anything.  He ends up killing a man.  His excuse for killing the man was because the sun was in his eyes.  He is convicted of the murder and sentenced to death.  Most of the time while he is awaiting his death, he doesn't seem to care much about anything.  Right before his death however, he decided that he hopes when he is executed the people will greet him with cries of hate.  I found this book easy and interesting to read.  It was interesting to look at this book in detail.

Week 11

This week we have read Existentialism is a Humanism.  I found it fairly confusing to read.  In class, we discussed the various definitions of existence.  Dr. Tucker explained how the author was pondering his own existence and how he even knows that he exists or not.  Eventually, he decides that the one fact he can rely on to support the theory that he exists is "I think, therefore I am".   Dr. Tucker also talked about the relationship between God and man.  He talked about how God is considered absurd simply because his whole existence is irrational.  He is considered irrational because we can't see him.  We have no real proof that he is there.  So we must have faith to believe in him.  Man, however, is rational.  We can see man and know they are there.
Tonight we have our second to last movie to watch.  I'm hoping there are technical difficulties again or else I will be late. I am also hoping that this movie is in English.  Other than that, most of the movies have been ok. I at least was able to find something to write about both of them.

Blog # 10

This week we finished up reading Freud's book, Civilization and its Discontents.  We watched a movie about Sigmund Freud and his nephew. For today's class we read a bunch of poems off of the internet.  So today in class, instead of a commentary, we worked in groups.  We were given two poems and had to find certain elements in each poem. The elements weren't too hard to find.  They were things like "line that made you laugh" and "line with contradicting elements".   Then as a group, we made our own poem.  We each had to write a certain part of speech.  The catch was we didn't know what anyone else had written.  So the sentences came out really choppy but very entertaining.  Today's class was a good change from the usual lectures.

Week #9

This week is short because of fall break so we have only had class once since we got back.  Yesterday we watched a movie that talked a lot about art and inventions.  Last Wednesday we took our midterm exam.  I liked how we got immediate feedback after we took the test.  I didn't think the test was too bad.  I didn't study as much as I wanted to but I still did alright.  I think the test was scaled also so that helped my grade even further, which was nice.  For tomorrow I need to finish Sigmund Freud's book.  So far I find this book fairy confusing.  I am hoping that we will discuss it a little bit in class tomorrow to help me understand it.

Blog for week #8

This week we have reached the half way point of this class.  So that means that we have a midterm this week on Wednesday.  Today in class we discussed what will be on the test.  I was glad we discussed it because I had no idea what to expect on it.  Last week, the second movie showed at the local coffee shop.  I enjoyed this movie more than the last one.  It was called the Bicycle Thief.  The movie wasn't in English though so reading the subtitles got annoying.  Other than that, I found this movie much more entertaining that Dead Man.  I just finished writing the review for it.  So once I am done blogging, I will need to study for the midterm and then I will be done with this class until after fall break.