So I had thought that last week was going to be my last blog entry for this class that I am taking, but I was mistaken. This entry will in fact be my last entry on this particular topic.
For my last art experience I decided to visit a place that is very close to my school and is also probably overlooked most of the time. It is the Cathedral of St. Paul. This is the central church of the diocese and spreads over St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Normally a church would not be thought of as a place that holds art, but this is so much more than just a church. It is designed in the classic renaissance style and follows the look of St. Peters Basilica in Rome. There are a lot of very large paintings, a lot of sculptures, bronze castings, and marble everywhere. The floors and walls are marble, also there are many columns all over the cathedral that are made of marble.
Around the back of the alter are seven very tall bronze castings. These look like they could be gate doors, but are not. They were designed by E.H. Atkins in 1927 in an attempt to represent the seven episodes of the life of St. Paul. They each have a story to them that you can see if you look at the different people who are carved into them. The top of each panel is topped by the symbol of St. Paul which makes them all look uniform from the top.
The history of the cathedral is interesting, dating back to the first settlements here in Minnesota. The word cathedral doesn't mean anything more than the church that holds the chair of the bishop. This chair is called a cathedra. So a cathedral can be any size and still have that name as long as the chair is in it. The first cathedral in Minnesota was a small log cabin looking building which was built around the time that soldiers were at Fort Snelling. That small log building was the first of four cathedrals in Minnesota, the fourth being the current cathedral we have on Summit Avenue.
The designer of the cathedral was Immanuel Masqueray. He, together with Bishop John Ireland, were the two people with the most influence in the building of the cathedral. The bishop was able to convince many of the congregation and the people of the Twin Cities to donate money for the construction. Masqueray was a famous French architect that John Ireland had met while studying seminary abroad in France. Ireland asked Masquray to design the cathedral, to which he enthusiastically agreed.
After much research, and designing of blue prints, the first days of building began in June of 1907. By May of 1914 the dome was done and the next spring the whole exterior of the building was done. The new structure was dedicated on Easter of 1915. It took many more years for the internal parts of the cathedral to be finished. The cathedral was completly finished in 1958.
Every bit of the cathedral was planned down to the last detail. Masqueray was sure to include all the elements of both this planet that we live on, and the christian values that many have come to cherish. There are saints, crusifixes, sculptures, and other religious symbols all over the church. Also, there are huge stained glass windows which have a lot of color and symbolism. Along with all the stone, there is carved wood everywhere. Then there are the candles, and the huge open space of the dome. This pulls together all the different elements of what people find important.
Walking up to the front of the cathedral you will see a large arch overhead. This has christ and the apostles on the fascade. Right below that are two allegorical figures that represent science and religion. One holds a torch and the other holds a cross. Then you walk in to the back of the church. On your right and left you can see areas dedicated to Mary and Joseph, Jesus' parents. This is supposed to make you think of the nativity. Looking forward you will see the large body of the church. All the pews spread out in many rows in front of you. Masqueray designed it so that the asiles in the cathedral are in the shape of a greek cross. This means that all the sides are the same length. Up at the very front of the church you see a very elaborate alter area. Many large columns of black marble surrounding the tabernacle. This is the area where you see a lot of the power and beauty of this cathedral.
For me, the most beautiful part of the cathedral is the large central dome. This is 96 feet in diameter and is very high. The ceiling is painted in blue and has gold leaf painting in many different places. There are many paintings of saints and other important figures. There is a large star shaped chandalier that hangs down into almost the middle of the open space below. Looking up at the dome is like looking up into space. It is beautiful.
The cathedral is a place that I went to a lot as a child and have a great fondness for. Even though I no longer follow this religion, the cathedral will always be a medatative place of beauty for me to visit. I like to go in there when I am feeling stressed out or down. It is very relaxing. I would recommend for anyone to go in and see this beautiful building.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The Walker Art Center
This is the final week of this blog. I don't know that I will be updating it after this, but if I am out and I see something really neat, I just may.
This week we visited the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This is a very large building that looks like a piece of tinfoil that has been molded into some cubed shapes. When you are on the inside you can see these strange angles in the ceiling. Sometimes they come down so low that you could bump your head on them if you were not careful.
There were many things to see at the Walker, as it is seven stories tall and has a different exhibit on each floor. While I was there I needed to see several of these different shows. These were Benches and Binoculars, Even Horizon, Haegue Yang: Integrity of the Insider, Elemental and Dan Graham:Beyond. It was a lot to take in and took me a few hours to get through. When you are at the Walker it is best to just walk slowly and look at things for a few minutes. Sometimes you need to read what the show is about so that you can really understand the artists intent.
The first show I went into was Benches and Binoculars. This was relatively small and contained in just one large, high ceiling room. When you walk in you are over whelmed. Almost all areas of the walls are covered in paintings. They are all of different sizes and shapes. Its hard to know what to look at, so you just stand and stare. Look at one, turn head slightly, look at another. This was an interesting way for art to be displayed and maybe not the best. It took away from each piece as your eyes were always being distracted to the next piece. There was one though that really stood out to me. this was called The vagaries of painting by Jim Dine. It was the biggest painting in this room and looked like a painters desk. Bottles of colors were all over the desk but there were also body part models here and there. A skull, a hand, and a female figure with no arms. Makes you think that the artist is probably looking at these while painting.
Next I walked into Event Horizon. This was a very large exhibit that holds art which pushes the outer limits and portrays the events in life as episodes. I saw four pieces in this area that I really liked. First was 6th Light by Paul Chan, made in 2007. This was a video image aimed at the floor in the shape of a window. Every so often you would see the silhouette of items falling across the window. These represented an alternate version of our universe being created in seven days. Instead he was showing how we have become industrialized and just how dependent we are on all the items in our everyday lives, such as cell phones.
Second I looked at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, by Gerhard Richter, from 1992. This was a painting showing Lake Shore Drive with Lake Michigan in the background. There were many cars on the road. I like it a lot because it reminded me of my few trips to Chicago. It's a beautiful part of the city. Hopefully I can make it down there again soon.
Third piece I liked was very unique. It's called Upside Down City by Claes Oldenburg, from 1962. He took very large pieces of cloth, tye dyed them, and sewed them into shapes of large buildings. Then he hung them upside down from the ceiling. This was an interesting affect, as you would never see this usually. Made me think about how you normally see the normal side of things and never the crazy side. If things are flipped upside down you see the crazy side rather than the normal side.
The last piece I saw in Even Horizon was untitled. It was a video by Ann Hamilton of a mouth with stones inside of it. The stones were moving around and it hardly looked human. I wasn't really sure what the point of this one was, but it just really caught my eye.
This whole area was interesting to walk through. It was very large and was housed on two different floors of the museum. Being in such a large space you were really able to look at each piece and develop an opinion of it.
Next I walked over to the Hague Yang: Integrity of the Insider. This was interesting because the items being used were things you could find anywhere. My favorite thing in there was called Yearning Melancholy Red from 2008. This was an entire room filled with red light. And hanging from the ceiling were a lot of mini blinds. The red light was shining through them and making lines on the wall that looks like the sunset. Another interesting thing is this room was a drum set in the back corner. This is meant for people to play. As you are playing the red lights flash to the beat of the drum. So this is a form of artistic expression because you never know what rhythm is going to be played on that drum set.
The last area that I needed to visit was called Elemental. This area holds works by many different artists that do minimalist types of art. What is really neat about minimalist art is that they use such basic things to make an impact. For example in this showing there were boxes drawn in the corners of the room that looked three dimensional. However they are not. So you could touch the wall, but think you were going to touch a box. This is probably my favorite type of art to look at because you never know what you are going to see. The people who create these works are so creative to turn nothing into something wonderful.
When I was on my way out I wondered through another exhibit that was interesting. This was Dan Graham: Beyond. The thing I was most interested in was a room with two TV's in it, and two mirrors on either end of the room. This was one of those optical illusions where you think you are seeing yourself repeated over and over again in the reflection. The thing with the TV's was that there was a video camera that would record what you were doing. It was on a six second delay, so you could run over to the other TV and watch yourself. This was neat because you could make art on your own.
This was my long trip through the Walker Art Center. I enjoyed it a lot and will probably be going back there soon. Every Thursday night they stay open late, until nine o'clock, and it is also free. This allows all the people who can't usually go to experience the best museum this area has to offer. It was a great place to close out this class with.
This week we visited the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This is a very large building that looks like a piece of tinfoil that has been molded into some cubed shapes. When you are on the inside you can see these strange angles in the ceiling. Sometimes they come down so low that you could bump your head on them if you were not careful.
There were many things to see at the Walker, as it is seven stories tall and has a different exhibit on each floor. While I was there I needed to see several of these different shows. These were Benches and Binoculars, Even Horizon, Haegue Yang: Integrity of the Insider, Elemental and Dan Graham:Beyond. It was a lot to take in and took me a few hours to get through. When you are at the Walker it is best to just walk slowly and look at things for a few minutes. Sometimes you need to read what the show is about so that you can really understand the artists intent.
The first show I went into was Benches and Binoculars. This was relatively small and contained in just one large, high ceiling room. When you walk in you are over whelmed. Almost all areas of the walls are covered in paintings. They are all of different sizes and shapes. Its hard to know what to look at, so you just stand and stare. Look at one, turn head slightly, look at another. This was an interesting way for art to be displayed and maybe not the best. It took away from each piece as your eyes were always being distracted to the next piece. There was one though that really stood out to me. this was called The vagaries of painting by Jim Dine. It was the biggest painting in this room and looked like a painters desk. Bottles of colors were all over the desk but there were also body part models here and there. A skull, a hand, and a female figure with no arms. Makes you think that the artist is probably looking at these while painting.
Next I walked into Event Horizon. This was a very large exhibit that holds art which pushes the outer limits and portrays the events in life as episodes. I saw four pieces in this area that I really liked. First was 6th Light by Paul Chan, made in 2007. This was a video image aimed at the floor in the shape of a window. Every so often you would see the silhouette of items falling across the window. These represented an alternate version of our universe being created in seven days. Instead he was showing how we have become industrialized and just how dependent we are on all the items in our everyday lives, such as cell phones.
Second I looked at Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, by Gerhard Richter, from 1992. This was a painting showing Lake Shore Drive with Lake Michigan in the background. There were many cars on the road. I like it a lot because it reminded me of my few trips to Chicago. It's a beautiful part of the city. Hopefully I can make it down there again soon.
Third piece I liked was very unique. It's called Upside Down City by Claes Oldenburg, from 1962. He took very large pieces of cloth, tye dyed them, and sewed them into shapes of large buildings. Then he hung them upside down from the ceiling. This was an interesting affect, as you would never see this usually. Made me think about how you normally see the normal side of things and never the crazy side. If things are flipped upside down you see the crazy side rather than the normal side.
The last piece I saw in Even Horizon was untitled. It was a video by Ann Hamilton of a mouth with stones inside of it. The stones were moving around and it hardly looked human. I wasn't really sure what the point of this one was, but it just really caught my eye.
This whole area was interesting to walk through. It was very large and was housed on two different floors of the museum. Being in such a large space you were really able to look at each piece and develop an opinion of it.
Next I walked over to the Hague Yang: Integrity of the Insider. This was interesting because the items being used were things you could find anywhere. My favorite thing in there was called Yearning Melancholy Red from 2008. This was an entire room filled with red light. And hanging from the ceiling were a lot of mini blinds. The red light was shining through them and making lines on the wall that looks like the sunset. Another interesting thing is this room was a drum set in the back corner. This is meant for people to play. As you are playing the red lights flash to the beat of the drum. So this is a form of artistic expression because you never know what rhythm is going to be played on that drum set.
The last area that I needed to visit was called Elemental. This area holds works by many different artists that do minimalist types of art. What is really neat about minimalist art is that they use such basic things to make an impact. For example in this showing there were boxes drawn in the corners of the room that looked three dimensional. However they are not. So you could touch the wall, but think you were going to touch a box. This is probably my favorite type of art to look at because you never know what you are going to see. The people who create these works are so creative to turn nothing into something wonderful.
When I was on my way out I wondered through another exhibit that was interesting. This was Dan Graham: Beyond. The thing I was most interested in was a room with two TV's in it, and two mirrors on either end of the room. This was one of those optical illusions where you think you are seeing yourself repeated over and over again in the reflection. The thing with the TV's was that there was a video camera that would record what you were doing. It was on a six second delay, so you could run over to the other TV and watch yourself. This was neat because you could make art on your own.
This was my long trip through the Walker Art Center. I enjoyed it a lot and will probably be going back there soon. Every Thursday night they stay open late, until nine o'clock, and it is also free. This allows all the people who can't usually go to experience the best museum this area has to offer. It was a great place to close out this class with.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Herman Miller: Good Design
Sometimes in the course of taking a college class you are forced to do things that you would not normally enjoy. Unfortunatly our assignment this week was one of those occasions. Normally I would not say this, as I feel very fortuante to have been able to vist the many different places around the Twin Cities this fall. This week I went to the Goldstein Museum on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. There I saw an exhibit holding the work of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Herman Miller. These people are all designers and are very well known for their furniture.
In particular the work of Charles and Ray Eames standardized what we now consider affordable and easily reproducable furniture. Th
e item you would likely be the most familiar with is the fiberglass shell chair. This chair is one continuous piece of plastic, and comes in many different colors. It was very popular in the 70's and can still be found in many homes today. They are well known for designing furniture that flows. Many of the parts are rounded and most often are made of one piece. They figured out how to bend plywood without it splintering by carving holes and lines into it.George Nelson was another designer on display there. He got his start writing for architecture magazines but was eventually noticed by Herman Miller and brought in to do consulting work. He helped design ergonomic work environments and office spaces. As I was walking through this display I kept thinking to myself, "these are the people who started the cublicle". All around were the desks, chairs, and walls you have become familiar with in any office. I kept imagining scenes from the TV show The Office.
Herman Miller is the man who started it all. Known for designing what we now know as modern furniture, he made his mark in the office world. His company put out a chair that is called Aeron and is what almost everyone would be familiar with as an office chair. Adjustable arms, seat, back, and height this chair was for everyone. Ergonomics was very important while having an attractive seat. Herman Miller was quoted as saying "Everyone deserves a good chair". The company he started in the 1940's has persisted through today. Many people go there to learn and to work.
While in the show there were three different items that caught my eye. The first was the "marshmallow sofa" by George Nelson. This is a couch made of round blue pieces all held together by metal rods. It looks like the round cushions are just floating in air in the shape of a couch. Very neat looking. The second was the Aeron chair. It looks like a very futuristic version of the office chairs I see at work and school. Also, you could sit in it and it was very comfortable. Lastly I saw a large wooden desk near the entrance of the exhibit. This was also designed by George Nelson and was meant to be a type writer desk. It was very nicely made and had edges that curved together. You could see that it was made from several different types of wood, as they were all different colors.
Overall this was not a very interesting experience. I feel that I now know the history behind both office furniture and where the cheap furniture we buy at Target comes from. The process is very streamlined and allows for many products to be made. If you like architecture or modern interior design this would be an interesting place for you to visit. Other wise, there may not be much there for you.
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