AP Art: Solarplate Etching

Yesterday's solarplate etching workshop with Dan Weldon was a great success and above are a few of the results from Paige, Harry, Allison, and Andrew.  You can see some of the different additive and reductive techniques that were used to aid your work on our future printmaking projects but what's nice about these prints is that they reflect the individual style of each artist.

 

This week in AP art class we will begin uploading the AP Studio Art Submissions  using our etching in the breadth section.  Below is the information you need to know to sign up:

School Code: 335001

School: SMITHTOWN HIGH SCH E CAMPUS

Teacher Key: xwt0100

Denmark Day 2013

Today we have students from Denmark visiting so lets take a quick look some of my favorite Danish at art and media and learn a little bit more about the home of the Vikings.

In the world of film Babette's Feast is a modern Danish classic and films such as: Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and the far out their Melancholia came from Danish director Lars von Trier who was part of the Dogme movement which came about in the 90's with like: Thomas Vinterberg, Søren Kragh-Jacobsen and Lone Scherfig.

In the world of art I've always admired the work of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, who  studied  with Jacques-Louis David in Paris as well as work from contemporary artist such as: Per Kirkeby, Richard Winther, and Olafur Eliasson who did the terrific piece shown in the video above in 2008 titled New York City Waterfalls.

Hans Christian Andersen is probably the most famous author from Denmark and there's a terrific Little Mermaid statue based on his 1913 story by Edvard Eriksen in Copenhagen that you might recognize. Danish design and architecture is also pretty amazing notably Jørn Utzon's iconic Sydney Opera House which earned him the distinction of becoming only the second person to have his work recognized as a World Heritage Site while still alive.  Finally in music modern groups such as: The Raveonettes, Mew, and Lars Ulrich, drummer of the band Metallica are Danish

Art Honor Society Field Trip Reboot

If you haven't heard the news, yesterday the murals at 5 Pointz were all destroyed by one of the owners to end a controversy about trying to save the building vs. it being torn down so we will obviously no longer be visiting it on our field trip next week.  We will still be visiting the Metropolitan Museum (and possibly another short surprise spot but we are currently trying to work out the new details and timeline).  It is certainly a sad day for art, our club has visited the engaging spot for years and it's always been a terrific experience, below are some of the highlights from the past few years...

Media Arts: The Bully Interviews

Last week Smithtown High School East media arts and AP students in Mr. Needles classes had a chance to have a talk with actor and performer Nick Cannon about bullying and the world of entertainment.  Above is a short clip from the question and answer portion of the event which underscored a few of the most important points.

Media Art Honor Society: Volunteering at the Hampton's Film Festival

The Media Art Honor Society will be volunteering at the Hampton's Film Festival on October 10-14 and in order to participate you need to fill out a volunteer agreement and email it to volunteer@hamptonsfilmfest.org.  We've had students volunteering for the past 12 years in East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Southampton, and Montauk and it's been a great experience.

This year there are a number of really interesting films in the program such as: Alexander Payne's Nebraska, Jason Reitman's LABOR DAY, Spike Jonze's HER, Alex Gibney's THE ARMSTRONG LIE, as well as Kill Your Darlings featuring Dane DeHaan and Jack Huston and the Conversation with actress Helena Bonham Carter.

Media Art: The Emmys

The Emmy Awards were last night and there were a number of surprises and big moments.  The big winners were AMC's Breaking Bad and director Steven Soderbergh's Behind the Candelabra along with Emmy regulars Homeland, The Colbert Report, and Modern Family.

AP Art: Summer Assignments checkup

The first 5 summer assignments were due last week and I'm almost finished going through all the work and responding with notes.  Here's a few great examples from Dana (above-Chronicle), Mikenzie (below- Inspiration John Baldessari), Lena (below- Self Portrait without showing your face), and Gabby (below- Decay).  Most of what I've seen so far has been great and might just need small tweaks to be complete but some of the work needs a bit more so make sure you give yourself time and don't wait to the last minute!  There are a few people who's work I haven't seen so be sure to get it in as soon as possible via email, instagram, or dropbox! Hope everyone has enjoyed their summer so far, lets have a great second half- looking forward to seeing some more great work- nice job!

School's Out for Summer!

Now that the grades are completed and art room 161 is packed up for summer, here's my last post for 2012-2013.  Above is a great montage of images and video from this year's Art Honor Society that was put together by our president Jess and I which I wanted to share, she did a great job this year! 

I also wanted to sat congratulations to all my seniors who are graduating next week, I wish I could be there but I'm actually part of Mt.Sinai's graduation ceremony as part of my 20 year high school reunion.  I just want to say thanks to all of the club members and cabinet members who worked hard to make this such a great year in our clubs and a special good luck to Gabby who was chosen by the Japan Society to travel to Japan for 3 weeks this summer after working on the Going Global project- Godspeed!

Media Art: The Oscars

The 2013 Oscars were handed out on Sunday and the Best Picture went to Argo which also won Best Film Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay with Ang Lee winning Best Director, Quentin Tarantino winning Best Original Screenplay, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence winning Best Actor Awards and Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway taking away the Supporting Actor Oscars.   Best Documentary went to Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn for their film Searching for Sugar Man and Best Animation went to Pixar's Brave.

Today we'll be wrapping up Hugo, a big Oscar winner last year and you'll be asked to write a critique using the same format which will be due on Friday but take a look at the video clip below for a peak at the author and the inspiration for the film, a real automiton.