The Thinker

The sculpture was made by Auguste Rodin in 1880. He was from France.It is made of bronze melted with marble. Its weight is around 650 Kg.Rodin was inspired in the renaissance artists like Michael Angelo and Donatello.(Swingalia)

At first, the sculpture was made for a representation of the characters of de Divine Comedy and it was originally named The Poet. The thinker was supposed to be Dante meditating his life and his past, in front of the Gates of Hell. It is actually located in the Musée Rodin in Paris, France. (Wikipedia)

The Thinker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thinker

El Pensador de Rodín. http://www.swingalia.com/escultura/el-pensador-de-rodin.php

Reinterpretation

It is obvious that The Thinker is a sculpture related to the thoughts and meditating. But I want to believe that this goes deeper, that is not about superficial things, no materials. I think that it has more to do with the feelings and of what a person has to live everyday.

What I was trying to make was a Brain Tree. It is a tree but with a brain instead of leaves. For me, it represents all the power of the imagination, all the things that make you think. This goes for the feelings too.

I put the brain on a base of a tree because it represents for me in some way, the rational thoughts. Like putting your feet in the ground, and think about of what is real. Think of what its really worth of thinking.

Perseus beheading Medusa

VARIABLES FOR SCULPTURE ANALYSIS							DATE: 06/10/09
CLASSIFICATION:
NAME OF THE WORK:		Perseus beheading Medusa
NAME OF THE AUTHOR:		Benvenuto Cellini
PERIOD:		1545-1554
PLACE WHERE THE WORK IS AT:		Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence
TECHNIQUE:		Fusion and assembling of metals
ANALYSIS
CONCEPT					VARIABLES
MATERIAL					Bronze
MOVEMENT					Smooth
TYPE					Sculpture in the round
POSTURE					Straight up
BODY PART					Whole body
RELATIONSHIP WITH ARCHITECTURE					Separated from a building
THEME					Religious	Nudity		Mythological
PRINCIPLES					Asymmetrical balance	Proportion		Variety
					Movement	Rhythm		Emphasis
SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORK
What is so special and unique about this work of art?				The harmony between the upper sculpture made of bronze and the marble base one. (Sullivan) The way Benvenuto signed the piece of art. He signed it in the belt and made his self-portrait in the back of the helmet. (Ramerini)
RELEVANT EVENTS OF THE CONTEXT
What was the prevailing atmosphere of the period? What was the cause of it?				It was a competition atmosphere. Everyone wanted their own masterpiece. “The sculpture can be considered as the result of a direct competition with Donatello's earlier sculpture, Judith and Holophernes.” (Web Gallery of Art)
What were the predominant political, religious or artistic ideologies?				The artist had to do whatever the Duke said. Cosimo I was the Duke in that time. (Borghi di Toscana)
What scientific and technological advances made and impact in the period? In which way?				There was more research in the anatomic aspects. This helped the artist to get more familiarized with the human body. (Diez)
REFLECTION: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONTEXT AND THE WORK
Is this work of art reflecting the atmosphere of the period? In which way?			This work of art is reflecting the atmosphere in that period because it was an attempt to make a sculpture as good as Michelangelo’s and Donatello’s. (Web Gallery of Art)
Is this work of art reflecting the predominant ideologies of the period? In which way			Yes because the Cellini’s Perseus was a desire of Cosimo I, the Duke. He asked him to make that sculpture to tell the people that the past republic was over. That the true democracy was coming. (Tuscany turist)
Is the impact of the scientific and technological advances reflected in this work of art? In which way?			Could be, because in this sculpture we can see a whole body, and it’s well worked. Benvenuto had to know the human body to make a good representation.
PERSONAL REFLECTION:
What are the aspects of the period that you identify yourself with? Why?	The aspect of being in competence. I always try to be one of the best. I give my best in all what I do. I want to be remembered for something big in a good way. It just like Benvenuto, he tried to compete with Donatello for example.
GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OF THE PLACE OF ORIGEN OF THE WORK

Opinion

I’m really amazed by the realism of the sculpture. You can actually see the veins and the muscles. How the skin is stretched. The abdomen is so well worked. But giving it an interpretation is kind of hard, because they are mythological characters. As how I said before, it was a demand of the Duke, saying that the past republic, the republic could be Medusa, was over and the democracy was starting, the new democracy or the government of Cosimo I could be Perseus.

Representation

For my representation I decided to actually make an sculpture, but not a marble or a bronze one, i decided to make one with my body. The sculptures always are kind of perfect, a body just amaizing, but what if mine is not that perfect. It is just like all of us. Also, as you are going to see later, i'm holding my own head. What i'm trying to say with this is that all of us have our sad face and our happy face. I would like to invite you to cut your sad head off and let the happy one live.





Bibliography

Web Gallery of Art.http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/cellini/index.html

Artcyclopedia.http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/cellini_benvenuto.html

JSS Virtual Gallery. Wallace, Natasha. http://jssgallery.org/other_artists/Benvenuto_Cellini/Photo_Cellni_bronze_statue_Perseus_beheading_Medusa.htm

Sullivan, Ann.Bluffton.http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/lanzi/lanzi.html

Ramerini, Marco. Borghi di Toscana. http://www.borghiditoscana.net/eng/tuscany/firenze/firenze/loggiasignoria/perseo.html

Tuscany tourist. http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/intoscana2/export/TurismoRTen/sito-TurismoRTen/Contenuti/Elementi-interesse/Monumenti/visualizza_asset.html_549916293.html

Diez, Monica. Cibernous. http://www.cibernous.com/crono/historia/renacimiento/rena.html

The Persistence of the Memory

The Persistence of the Memory is the piece of art that I chose. I'm going to analyze it according to Ingarden's Theory.

Concretion
I think that the clocks are melted because it represents that the time has stopped. Also the white thing, for me is kind of a head with an eye, a closed eye, just like when you are sleeping.

Aesthetic Object
My aesthetic object is that the painting represents how does the time seems to freeze and it doesn’t let the things grow up. Applying this to a situation, I would represent it like the time when you just don’t want to continue and go on because an experience you had before. This could be because a bad experience, for example, that you are afraid of something and you don’t want to feel it again, or a good one when you just want to stay there forever. Also, the shadow of the fly in the golden clock seems to me a fairy more than a fly. This could be for representing the fantasy of a situation when you are away of the world but in your own world.

Aesthetic Values
The aesthetic values that I feel in the painting are deepness, because when I see it, I feel like I actually merge with the picture and freeze the time and all around me. Also I feel peaceful and relaxed because I see that everything has stop and it think the same happens for all my problems. Is like a way to escape from them.

Artistic Values
It is a Painting that is considers part of the Fine arts. It doesn’t have a frame and it is painted on a canvas. The artist’s mark or signature can not be found in the painting. It uses cold (top left side) and hot (top right side) colors. The light is coming from the top right corner.

Physical Object
It is a painting made by Salvador Dalí in 1931. How I already said, it is painted on a canvas with the oil painting technique. It size is about 24 x 33 cm. It’s actually keep in the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.

Representation

Here I posted some pictures of my own representation of what the Persistence of Memory makes me feel. I tried to express the absence of time with the broken clock. So that means that everything has stop, as we can see with the jumping whale and the walking person. The little Leprechaunt is there because of the little sense of fantasy that all of this represents.