The Birthday Party

Sheryl Oring created a website called iwishtosay.org dedicated to her live art performances, "The Birthday Party" being one of them. She did a cross-country tour in 2006 wearing a '60's party dress and set up a portable birthday party in parks and within flea markets. As people passed by, she asked them to write letters to President George Bush for his 60th birthday. She used a typewriter to type up their thoughts onto a card which would demonstrate their feelings about the presidency. It was very much a political move, which is what performance artists seem to do a lot.

http://iwishtosay.org/index.php

Joseph Beuys

He is a German performance artist who is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. Beuys is especially famous for works incorporating animal fat and felt. He is very good at creating scenes that are culture shocks. For example, he locked himself in a room with a coyote for 3 days straight and considered his work a piece of art. He frequently blurred the lines between art and life, and fact and fiction.

Xerox Project Comments

Megan: I loved the pattern that the different body parts made among the surface of the umbrella. The end product was amazing and gorgeous. It seems that the project took a lot of time to complete and her handwork really showed through.

Cody: His creativity really showed through in his helmet made of hands. It looked like something out of 300 but it could include more pieces. It was really well done and interesting.

Sabrina: Her piece was absolutely beautiful. It was very creative and the use of the fabric was fabulous. I like how the extra limbs on her body create a new deity.

Brian: It was very creative. I personally love beach scenes so I really liked the piece. I especially like how everything within the picture was a part or element of his body.

Nakota: It was a very nice piece. It was extremely creative and big and showed lots of emotion. I really like the use of hair and bark within the tree.

Michelle: I loved the texture, which creates a nice fabric pattern. I was creative and portrayed humorous elements such as the dog made from her hand.

Lauren: It was very emotional and showed creativity. I really like how everything is shown including her tattoos.

James: It was very creative and interesting. I like who it broke the frame however it could be expanded. I like how it is very abstract.

Kimberly: It was very creative and abstract. I like the linking fingers because it is what I should have incorporated into mine. It's a nice exquisite corpse.

Catherine: It was very creative. I like how she made a boom box because music is something she really loves. I also really like how she incorporated sign language.

Erin: Her piece was beautiful and amazing. At first glance it reminds me of a box of crayons or a splatter of pant. I really like the reflection.

Juan: His piece was very interesting. He utilized everything possible which is very creative. I like how it tells a story, although I don't necessarily understand it, the story is creative.

Chris: I love the beach scene because I personally love the beach. The sun is amazing and holds a lot of deeper meaning. The repetition is of the waves is great and he utilized his space well.

Maria: The zoom of the face was very good. The piece was creative and abstract.

Xerox Project

My xerox project included copies of my hands in different contrasts as well as my face. I played around with the contrast on the machine to make my project more interesting. I placed my face on the face of the racket as symbolism. Then I proceeded to place copies of my hands along the frame of the racket as if they are growing up the side. This portrays my life because I grew up playing racket sports all my life so as I grew up so did my experience and so did the hands along the racket.

Grid Project

My project was a little difficult to make because I had no idea what I wanted to create. I was on a budget so finding enough sources to create my piece was a task. My idea was to start off with just M&M's but my plan later changed when I had no where near enough of the orange color to create the background, which represents sand. That is when the idea of cheerios came to me because it is similar in color. I created my whole grid by hand which was very time consuming but therefore making it even more worth it.

Grid Art Comments

Lauren: The scene made out of beer caps was very colorful and creative. I like the idea because people who sit on a beach tend to drink beer so the scene is relatable to the objects being used.

Kimberly: The eye was absolutely gorgeous. It was put together very well and inspiring to young artists. The shading was beautiful, really pulling the piece together.

Katherine: Felix the Cat was a very cute idea and I like how she incorporated her nickname into her work making it more personal.

Sabrina: The Ms. Pac Man piece was highly creative and the use of different objects among the grid made it even more fun to look at.

Michelle: The Kony piece was very inspiring. It looked very time consuming but very much worth it. I like the piece a lot.

Erin: The picture of Twiggy was very nice, well drawn, colorful, and just plain pretty. Although it lacked a real grid, it still looked amazing.

James: His piece was cute and creative. He could even go as far as making a pillow due to the design and softness of the objects being used. That idea makes his piece even more fun because ideas can keep flowing.

Juan: It was a little difficult for me to understand the piece but it was highly creative none the less. I like the way the buttons shined. He did a very good job.

Cody: His piece looked very time consuming. It was colorful and very creative. I liked the grid a lot.

Maria: Her grid of the Simpsons was very appealing to the eye. It lacked a nice size grid but the idea still showed through.

Nakota: Her piece was very creative and very cute. She used her materials and sources to her advantage.