Hudson Parker

Art in Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a large piece of land that is east of India and south of China that includes the modern countries of Indonesia, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. The small amount of archeological work that has been done in the area means that there is not much known about the people who lived in the area before 2,000BC. However, the hot climate means that only stone and metal sculptures have survived from ancient pieces of art, making things such as writing or drawings difficult to find when looking for ancient history. While all of the areas in Southeast Asia are worth taking a look at, I will be focusing mostly on the art done in Indonesia between the 8th and 11th centuries. The art from this time period was heavily influenced by the Srivijaya empire that originated on the island of Sumatra. The Srivijaya empire adhered to Mahayana Buddhism and when looking at the sculptures that are known from this area and period, it is clear to see.   G...

Video Games Are Art   When most think of art, they think of paintings, sculptures, or exhibits. However, one of the most influential forms of art in the last century has been video games.  Video games offer many traditional art forms such as painting, writing, sculptor, music, storytelling, and cinematography to mash together in on platform that has an exceptional way of engaging with audiences. Players are given the ability to live the art, and gain the feeling of accomplishment that comes with most games.  In 2012, video games were officially recognized as an art form, and ever since then, games have continued to get better and more creative.  Games That Are Considered Art Portal Portal is a puzzle game that was released in 2007 by the company called Valve. This game involves using portals that transport the player between distant points in the game. Portal was praised for its innovative storytelling, writing, and mechanics. Portal was then featured as part of the ...

  The Great Depression      The Great Depression lasted from years 1929 - 1939 and was a period of economic peril for the United States and around the world. A high market bubble burst in 1929 on the famous "Black Thursday" and caused a massive stock market crash. The crash affected many Americans, leaving them without homes, jobs, or food. With the addition of the dust bowl, the disaster ruined many farmers' livelihoods when the American economy relied heavily on farming.       After President Hoover left office in 1933, President Roosevelt was elected in a landslide due to promises to bring back the economy. He followed through with this by enacting the WPA, a program for people without resources to help themselves and their families. This program also supplied artists with government employment programs all across the country, giving us some of America's most interesting art.  Walker Evans, Political Poster, Massachusetts Villiage, 1929 ...

Romanticism vs. Impressionism Impressionism     Impressionism's dabs of color and loose brush stoke techniques lead me to prefer it over romanticism.   It is wild to me that an artist can add to a painting by adding "random" (although well thought out) splotches of paint. Most works of art would be ruined with such a technique but impressionism leaves the viewer with a sense of imagination.  A Van Gogh Self Portrait from 1886     When people think of Impressionism, they often think of Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting, Starry Night (June 1889). While Starry Night is a great piece of art, I prefer the self-portraits that he did throughout his relatively short lifetime. The above Self Portrait  from 1886, painted in Arles France, is one of my favorites due to the fact that he looks so wise and calm. If you look at the way that his life played out, you would think otherwise, but I think these self-portraits allow the viewer to see Van Gogh the way t...