MOMA- Cindy Sherman

I was very surprised to see how Cindy Sherman's work resembled so many forms of art, such as film and paintings, although it was all photography. Aside from one set of work, she is present in all of her pictures. She creates different characters for her to portray almost to the point of the viewer not recognizing they are all her. However, she does not consider herself to be a photographer, but uses the camera as a tool. Most of her work is very erotic, sexual, and have a violent feel to them. Her expression, positions, and locations resemble women in vulnerable, threatening states. A lot of her "Film Stills" resemble stills from Hitchcock movies and other films of the 1950s and 60s. Through her art she expresses how women were portrayed by the media. One collection of work were photographs for magazines with her wearing very expensive clothing. The photographs I found to be very contradictory, for her appearance herself did not fit the luxurious clothing she was wearing. The set of photographs where she was not present were extremely sexual. She used dolls and put them in awkward positions to create a uneasy, erotic feeling. Her pictures that resembled paintings were done to look like painting that you would see hanging in an old castle. She completed this set of work while living in Italy. Some of the pictures in this set were also sexual, revealing women's breasts. The last set of images I saw were extremely colorful and violent, like portraying someone with sharp teeth. As a horror fanatic, I found her work to be very inspiring. You do not need a video camera to portray violent, scary images. She can still achieve that tone with photographs and paintings without a chain of events that the viewer is watching. I recommend the exhibit to all people that can appreciate art without judging the fact that you will not get a happy feeling from the work.

Class Reflection

Although I have gotten sick a few times this semester, causing me to miss certain classes, I definitely enjoyed taking the course MEDP 150. I have enjoyed the labs more than lecture because I tend to learn more when I'm working hands-on, then sitting in a classroom listening to a professor and reading a textbook. Blogging has been a new experience for me and as the semester went on I have gotten used to it. My favorite project was our Photoshop project. I have definitely learned a lot about how to use Photoshop and loved making my stamp. However, I do wish we would have used Final Cut to teach editing. My main focus is on film and television and I definitely need to work on Final Cut more to advance my knowledge. At my previous school, Brookdale Community College in New Jersey, I learned Avid and am much better at editing when working on that. Many companies use Final Cut though, so I would like to be just as good when editing with that program. HTML was the hardest for me. There were a lot of problems I encountered that took a while to figure out and fix, such as uploading my images to fit in the space on my page. I also found the codes to be confusing and it would have been easier to make a website using Photoshop. In the end though, I was able to do it. I give people who design websites for a living a lot of credit, it definitely is not easy. The MOMA field trip was fun and I loved watching the film about the events going on in Bahrain. I do not usually enjoy documentaries, but I enjoyed watching this one very much. Not only did we get to view an amazing film, but we also learned about something going on in the world today. I know I was not aware of these events and I assume a lot of the other students did not as well. Overall, this was a great class and I look forward to taking MEDP 160 in the Fall.

HTML Site

http://fmundergrad.hunter.cuny.edu/~silversteina/index.html

Film Exercise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjyAUSM0WXU&feature=youtu.be