Reflections of Videos...

1) For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.
- In the first video, “Through the Eyes of the Sculptor”, the key concept I learned was the statement that master sculptor, Emmanuel Fillion, said “A sculpture comes alive in clay, dies in plaster, and is reborn in marble.” I thought that his statement was a great explanation of making a sculpture. The second video, “Glass and Ceramics”, had many good ideas and points throughout the whole film. The main concept I learned from the video was that there is a growing future use for ceramics in the auto industry. An example the video used was the research in ceramic engines, in the automobile industry there are already parts for mufflers. The video describes that in years to come, if there is a ceramic engine, it can be lighter, less polluting, more fuel efficient, and can stand higher temperatures. I hope, in my lifetime, I will be able to see something like that. The last video, “Installations Art”, was (in my opinion) a very strange film. Most of the sculptures on there were on the video were very abstract, an example being Yayoi Kusama’s Dot Obsession, even though this piece was quite strange I was very intrigued with it. The key concept I learned when watching this film was that the term “installation art” only was introduced a little over 30 years ago. In the 1960s many artists used installation art, back then they called it pop art, to get their point across. Yayoi Kusama would use people to “be a part” of her artwork, using even back then, her dot obsession.

2) How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?
- The first two videos, “Through the Eyes of the Sculptor” and “Glass and Ceramics” both talk about the process of making a sculpture, blowing glass, and making a ceramic piece. In chapter 12 of the book, it talks about each process as well. In the third video, “Installations Art”, it steers more to the background of the sculptures and why the artist chose to do that piece. The third video and chapter 11 both talk about Yayoi Kusama and her unique way to create art. After I read the chapters and watched all the videos I got a better understanding of the mechanics of sculptures and the meanings of them through the artist.


3) What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics: Sculpture, Installation, and Craft?
- After watching the videos I have come to a better appreciation of sculptors with the amount of time and work they put in creating such wonderful sculptures. The first two videos, “Through the Eyes of the Sculptor” and “Glass and Ceramics”, showed me all the ins and outs of making sculptures, glass, and ceramics. I always wanted to know how a marble sculpture was made and how they got it to be so smooth. The third video helped me better understand why some installation artists make such weird pieces, as I said earlier with Kusama’s dot obsession, I thought it was a little bit strange that someone had that big of a fixation on something so simple like the dot. But watching the video I understood better about her passion for the dot. The videos add depth to understanding of the topics, (sculpture, installation, and craft), because not only do they tell you how to create each piece, but you can also see the struggle of the artist creating it. Also the videos give you a background of most of the artists, like with Emmanuel Fillion, how he knew even as a boy that he wanted to be a sculptor and with that passion became a master sculptor.