Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik & Walt Disney - Essay Example

Question Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik & Walt Disney Three major artists that I believe have had the greatest influence on me and on my style of art are Andy Warhol, Nam June Paik and Walt Disney. These artists have each influenced me for different reasons and I want to try and strive to attain their level of excellence within my own designs. One of the greatest single reasons that each of these artists had such an impact on my life was the fact that each of these artists broke barriers and changed perceptions throughout the world. They each had a profound effect on the view that was held of their style or type of art. These men set the benchmarks by which others are measured to this day. Andy Warhol was one of the originators of the Pop art phenomenon that came to the fore during 1962 when he had his first exhibition as a solo artist. His innovative use of techniques allowed him to break away from current art conventions and groups; this is a trend that I hope to follow by being an individualist in my illustration style. He made use of a technique in his early works that resulted in a slightly printed look to his illustrations that has been employed by many other illustrators after its method was disclosed. The style was much noticed and the method of creating it remained unknown until one of his assistants noticed how he did and told others. This use of alternative techniques brought Warhol's art works to the attention of the art world as a counter point to homogenous art works that had proliferated previously. It is this method of standing out from the surrounding artists that is one of the greatest ambitions that I have. It is indeed an ambition that each person has had through all time, to be singled out as exceptional from the ranks of the general populace. This was done by replacing the singular nature of artworks with mass produced works that purposefully removed the great passions from the art. This allowed the art itself to be appreciated in a dispassionate way for the technique more than for the underlying emotions. This was displayed for the first time when he displayed "Campbell's Soup Cans" at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles in 1962 and the art world received its first true glimpse of a new art style emerging. Nam June Paik has had a far more personal effect on me since he is a fellow Korean artist and as such, his ability to capitalize on his talent so greatly within America is something to which I also wish to aspire to. Though he died earlier this year, he leaves behind a great legacy through his craft that was used to provide many different people with a spark of beauty and artistry in an industry that is becoming increasingly homogenous. He had a huge influence on the perception of video as a form when he began to use it as an artistic medium in a manner unlike any other. He worked with numerous musical partners including Charlotte Moorman for whom he created a cello composed of television screens that continued to display constantly changing pictures in artwork that he titled "TV Cello". Paik's movement towards electronic art has been attributed to a meeting with composer John Cage to whom he later paid homage through various works. There is so much variation within his work and he had such an unusual grasp of the artistic possibilities of an object that had become a part of mainstream culture. This abstract viewing of a commonplace object was also influenced by the neo-Dadaists with whom he was at one time affiliated. He has in turn inspired a generation of other artists to explore the artistic potential of everyday objects. Walt Disney founded one of the greatest multi-media empires on animated designs and illustrations and his creation of Mickey Mouse gave birth to an icon that has endured to this day. He made sure that each new bound that technology took in the early days of film were utilized when he created his motion pictures including providing his illustrated pictures with sound and color as soon as those technologies were made available. His fertile imagination was one of the major background keys to his overall success as well the optimism that shone through so clearly in all of his works. He created an image of himself through his illustrations that endured through his lifetime and is how he is seen to this day regardless of other information presented to the public that refuted that persona. He took an art form that was still in its infancy, illustration and animation, and developed it into an art form that is widely used and created a legacy that has endured far past the time of his demise and is likely to continue far into the future. It is his legacy as an illustrator that I admire and which has provided me with so much inspiration as well as his drive to succeed and his willingness to work as hard as was needed. His greatest talent was his imagination and this reduced or eliminated any restrictions that could have been placed on his creations. His work has inspired many other designers, illustrators and graphic artists, including myself, to combine the talents and skills that we have with the hard work that any person is capable of to create artworks. He also demonstrated that artwork do not have to be paintings on canvas to provide joy to people and provide beauty for viewers. He also made use of a medium that was available to the masses in order to present his artist visions. This use demonstrated to all artists that the greater the ease with which an artwork can be distributed to people, the greater the amount of people whom can derive benefit from having seen it. Question 3: Risk Taking There are an infinite number of reasons why a person will take a risk in their lives and an equally infinite number of risks that a person may take throughout the course of their lives. People may take small risks that will have next to no impact on their lives and their future while other people may take risks that can completely change their lives and their future, positively or negatively. One of the greatest risks that I have taken is one that I am taking at this current time and that is the risk of standing up against my parents and my cultural upbringing by becoming a designer and illustrator. There are many different reasons why my parents do not wish me to follow such a career path including the fact that they are afraid that I will not be able to support myself through this form of career. This is an important consideration for any parent since no parent would wish their child to live a life constrained by inadequate finances. I believe that I have the talent and dedication to be able to support myself and be an exceptional artist once I have completed this Illustration course. I believe that the money that will be invested in my education will be made use of and will allow me to make a success of my chosen career. My parents believe that as their oldest son I should be pursuing a more profitable and professional career such one in medicine or law. This is exacerbated by the fact that during high school I was an honors student and performed very well academically. The fact that I am their son is an additional reason for this belief since they follow a thought pattern that dictates that only daughters should follow artistic paths and sons would follow paths that are more likely to provide a greater financial reward. This is especially true of the eldest son since they are traditionally given the greatest advantages within the household. This is a part of my culture that is in direct conflict with my own belief that a person should be allowed to choose his own path in the world, especially in terms of career. I believe that there are some things that should take preference over financial considerations. I believe that finance is an integral part of every person's life, but that it does not need to be the overriding concern of every person. There are aspects to life that deserve to be given priority although eventually every aspect of life is influenced in some way by financial status. This includes being able to provide benefit to others, whether tangible or intangible. I believe that through my illustrations and designs I can provide a flash or spark of beauty and joy to people which can help to enliven the life a person. This ability to provide benefit to others is very important to me and I believe that it should not be disregarded due to financial considerations. The fact that I believe that I have the ability to help another person is something that I feel I need to prove to others, including my parents. I believe that the training that I can receive at this institute can help me to hone the talent I posses and make it something that is beneficial to others as well as being financially rewarding. If this risk that I am taking pays off and then my skills can become honed to a level where I can create artworks or illustrations that can help me to support myself financially then I will have fulfilled my life's ambition. I wish to make a career in an area that I love and I believe that I have the talent for. I believe that the risk that I am taking, like any other risk that a person can take through their life times, will help me to grow and develop as a person and as an artist. This development can be stultified if I merely submit to my parent's decree and use my knowledge to pursue a career in an area other than the artistic. The ability to bring joy to other people and provide them with a constant source of beauty is one of my greatest sources of inspiration. Read More