Reflection Blog

Unfortunately, I'm leaving this course on a sour note, for I'm turning in my blog a day late. I foolishly assumed the Reflection Blog would not be due until Wednesday at the earliest, as that is typically the earliest things were due, and didn't bother to check the actual due date until today. Considering I also turned in my very first blog a day late as well, perhaps it's fitting--I've gone full circle.

I expected this course to, for the most part, be about art history. This expectation was met, and I think it provided a good art history overview for me, as I had had little art history experience from the Renaissance onto Impressionism. I suppose I expected the art material explorations to be less at a beginner level, for I did not realize that so many non-majors took the course, but they were fun and challenging nonetheless. I wasn't expecting to learn about such a variety of perspectives in the artworld, such as curators and critics, so it was good to see others' points of view.

I don't think my definition of art has really changed, but I would say that my prejudices against some types of art may have lessened. I wouldn't have argued beforehand, for instance, that lowbrow art did not count as art, but I may have personally considered much of it "bad" art. From what we learned in the class/video, however, I can appreciate it a little bit more, even if it's not to my taste. I would still hold that art can be anything as long as at least one person considers it to be art, and that the "best" art typically elicits some kind of emotional response from the viewer, though it doesn't have to. 

Originally, my favorite artist was Sue Coe. I would stay say that, message-wise, she is my favorite. Aesthetically, however, I would not call her artwork my favorite. For that, I might go with someone like Rene Magritte. His artworks, beautifully painted and cleverly tricking the eye, are what I enjoy looking at the most. The ideas behind his art, as well, are thought-provoking. Learning about any of the Surrealist artists is a fun and sometimes almost eerie experience. Seeing all of the artists through the textbook and videos reminds me that Coe might be promoting a viewpoint that I strongly agree with, but that does not necessarily mean her artwork is the strongest.

I would have said that I feel much more at ease taking an online course now, but here I am turning the very last assignment in late! For some reason, I still have a much harder time remembering when assignments are due. I guess it's because I'm so used to being reminded about assignments by physically attending classes, and that does not exist for this course. I liked how I could do assignments more on my own schedule, however, having them due by midnight rather than during the day, as this semester has been very busy. I wouldn't be opposed to taking another one, though it kind of seems like students try harder on assignments when the class is not online. I had a much easier time participating, I think, because I'm generally shy in person, and I'm able to write my ideas much more easily than I can say them out loud. Over all, the class was a fun experience, that not only taught me about art, but also made me slightly more computer-savvy!