Vienna

I never thought that I would enjoy Austria as much as I did, but this Eastern European break from Florence was just what I needed. The weeks seem to be flying by as we are traveling, focusing on our artwork and trying new things. For the midterm break in our term we decided to leave Italy behind us and travel to Austria and Hungary. They were each beautiful in their own way, but I think Vienna is more my type of place at least when it comes to traveling.

In Vienna we tried to make it to as many museums and attractions that we could. After taking an 11 hour over night bus, we only went to the Albertina Museum in the afternoon. This was a museum filled with everything from Van Gogh, to Picasso to Piet Mondrian. They were magnificent and some pieces that I had never seen before. Another museum that we visited was the Belvedere and this was possibly one of my favorite things we did on our trip. When we walked the grounds into the palace, there were pieces by Ai Weiwei that were amazing. I have never seen any of his controversial pieces in person so I was awe struck just by the name recognition and then hit again with the concept. The piece that left my jaw on the pavement was in the pond in the front of the palace. A lotus flower, symbolizing peace, made out of life circles of life jackets in the fight for the refugees. This museum was also full of portraits by famous artists, but they are mainly known for their Gustav Klimt works. I have learned about Gustav in many different classes, but standing in front of an actually piece painted by him was the perfect way to start my morning. His style is so distinct that you are able to see it from a mile away. Some of the other attractions that we did while in Vienna was visit the outside of St. Stephans cathedral, ride the Ferris wheel in Prater amusement park, and enjoy endless meals along the street walks. Vienna was amazing, and I could not have asked for a better place to explore endless museums filled with masterpieces. I hope to one day make it back and see the modern museums that we just didn't have time for this trip. Until next time, ciao!

Ai Weiwei

This past week, we were able visit a fascinating museum. Palazzo Strozzi was used for the first time as a stage for a single artist, world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Ai filled the entire building, including the facade, with old and site specific artworks. I haven't seen much of Ai Weiwei's work before, besides his performance piece dropping an ancient urn. This museum was a much needed inspiration that I needed, a fresh beat of contemporary in my months of renaissance.

Something that I found important within Ai Weiwei's work was his use of simplicity throughout each piece. He takes his single complex idea and uses the most powerful symbols to explain his stance on the issue. I find this very difficult to achieve, as an artist I think that I am always adding to my pieces every detail that will go with subject. One of my favorite pieces in this gallery was his piece Study of Perspective, where Ai's middle finger is shown in front of some of the most iconic landmarks and government buildings around the world; including the Mona Lisa, the Louvre, the White House, the Eiffel Tower, St. Mark's Square, La Sagrada Familia and many others. He wants viewers to question their approach to their government, as his was always trying to take him down. With one simple gesture, he is able to either shock the viewer, make the viewer think into their own lives or both. Just with one small change to a normal photo anyone might take when going to visit these places.

I hope to see more of his work, or continue to learn about his other pieces. This exhibition left me craving knowledge about not only his work, but work of many artists. Throughout school I enjoyed art history but it was something that we had to take, so I didn't put my whole heart into it, I wish I would have. Now I want to learn about artist's works and what makes them so passionate to create this pieces that may have been provocative of the time. On to the next museum, Ciao!

Nasty Women

This past week, I was losing my motivation for working in the studio. We have had one critique, with limited feedback so I have been stuck in my own mind. Homesickness was also not helping, seeing all of my best friends meet up for a reunion at our sorority house was probably one of the hardest points here so far. I was just at a standstill waiting for our much needed week off. My roommate and I finally found something that we were passionate about when watching recaps of the third political debate. I am not one to share my political views, but when it comes to the way that women are perceived and treated I tend to find my voice. Overnight the hashtag 'nasty women' went viral when one candidate used that phrase during the debate. It was a phrase that every woman was able to relate to. Many women have been called nasty or bossy, and this is just another one of the numerous examples of the unequal way women are treated. When a woman is independent and stands up for what she believes in, she is considered bossy. When a woman is affectionate and dresses to show off the body that she worked so hard to get and feels confident in, she is considered slutty. The inequality needs to stop, and I believe that we can get there soon. And with that I stand by the 'nasty women' movement because I am a nasty woman.