Module 12: Video Reviews

1.      Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I selected the videos “Andy Warhol: Images of an Image” and “Uncertainty: Modernity and Art” because they seemed to be the most interesting out of the selection. I have heard of Andy Warhol and know he is very famous as a pop art artist, but I do not know much about his work. 

2.      For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Video 1: “Andy Warhol: Images of an Image”

·         Andy Warhol never wanted to be an artist growing up, and worked as a commercial artist up until the 1960s for advertising companies.

·         In 1962, Marilyn Monroe died, and Warhol created a whole series of Marilyn silk images, and these works made him famous. Eventually he was interested in another famous actress Elizabeth Taylor, and produced another silk image of her, and news stories revolving around her life.

·         Warhol constantly created works that repeated a cropped image over and over, eventually overlapping the images at the end of the work.

·         Warhol used silk screen printing to mass produce paintings to bring in more money, as he was very focused on becoming rich. Silk screen printing allowed his assistants or anyone else to help reproduce the images, and he didn’t have to work on the image every single time. He took Polaroid pictures of people, including his friends, and turned them into silk screen imagery.

·         Warhol bought a movie camera in 1963 and filmed hundreds of his friends in movies. He was obsessed by the idea of celebrities.

·         He also published his own magazine.

·         He became an international superstar by the 1970s. Rich clients would come to Warhol to pay for their portrait images.

 “Uncertainty: Modernity and Art”

·         The Industrial Revolution began to change man and machines, and modern life emerged. At this time, modern art was created.

·         The future civilizations will look back on our art and see a complete change in society and a break in art from the past. Most modern art is questioning and full of uncertainty.

·         Modern art began in the 19^th century and shows reality trembling, and reality completely transformed in the 20^th century.

·         Distortion appears to give new life old forms in modern art

·         Abstract Art is hard to understand and determine the meaning of a work of art. It is usually bigger and bolder.

·         Our museums are filled with uncertain modern images, rather than war heroes like museums in the past.

·         Consumerism has influenced Modern Art, and was first expressed in Pop Art. Pop Art expressed how we should live our lives in regards to our values constantly changing. As the world becomes more interconnected, people are becoming disconnected with themselves and how they should live their lives. Rather than turning to Greek Gods or art for the answers as we have in the past, we turn to advertisements. Shopping is how we attempt to find what we need to live our lives.

·         Religion is expressed differently in Modern Art, as it is known that every person does not believe in the same higher power, if any nowadays.

·         Any style or subject is acceptable in modern art and art now is a mass fascination. 

3.      How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

In Chapter 22, there is an artist section on page 508 that pertains to Andy Warhol. This section details his past and the video correlates this information in greater detail. The second video discusses how modern art is completely different from art in the past, and it reflects the changes that civilization has gone through industrially, and religiously. The text discusses modern art, pop art, and abstract art but the videos reiterate information while enhancing the material.

4.      What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I enjoyed these videos because they were more informational than the text in regards to modern art now. It was interesting to see the reasoning for the huge change in art from the past to art now. It was a concept I had always wondered about but never knew why. I also liked that the video on Andy Warhol detailed the reading in the text by emphasizing his famous works, and discussing them and how they were made. Both of the videos were helpful in highlighting the themes of the chapters in this module in more detail with specific examples.