TOTEM ANIMAL BY JUAN FDEZ 3ºC

MY TOTEM ANIMAL

My “totem” animal is the deer.

SCIENTIFIC FACTS ABOUT THE DEER

The deer is a mammal of the cervidae family. Deer are native to all continents except Australia and Antarctica, and many species have been widely introduced beyond their original habitats as game animals. In all but one species of deer, males carry antlers; the exception is the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), in which both sexes carry antlers. Deer are specialized herbivores, as is reflected in their large and complex digestive organs, their mobile lips, and the size and complexity of their teeth. The most usual colour for this kind of animals is light brown.

DEER SYMBOLIC AND HISTORICAL MEANING

When you have the deer as spirit animal, you are highly sensitive and have a strong intuition. By affinity with this animal, you have the power to deal with challenges with grace. You master the art of being both determined and gentle in your approach. The deer totem wisdom gives those with a special connection with this animal the ability to be vigilant, move quickly, and trust their instincts to get out the most difficult situations.

The meanings associated with the deer combine both soft, gentle qualities with strength and determination:

• Gentleness
• Ability to move through life and obstacles with grace
• Being in touch with inner child, innocence
• Being sensitive and intuitive
• Vigilance, ability to change directions quickly
• Magical ability to regenerate, being in touch with life’s mysteries

IT HAS A MEANING IN BUDDHISM

In Buddhism, the deer is a symbol of peace and harmony as well as longevity. In a past life, Buddha himself was a golden deer who spoke to men. Many native North American tribes see the deer as a messenger of Spirit who represents sensitivity and intuition.

The Pentagon by Daniela Escudero

The Pentagon (Arlington Country, Virginia) is the headquarter of the United States' Department of Defense. As a symbol of the U.S military, the phrase The Pentagon is often used to refer to that.
The building was designed by American architect George Bergstrom and built by contractor John McShain.
The Pentagon is the world's largest office building, with about 6,500,000 sq ft (600,000 m²) of space, of which 3,700,000 sq ft (340,000 m²) are used as offices. Some 23,000 military and civilian employees, and another 3,000 non-defense support personnel work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi (28.2 km) of corridors. The central five-acre (20,000 m²) pentagonal plaza is nicknamed "ground zero" on the presumption that it would be a prime target in a nuclear war.

Niemeyer

Done by: Daniel del Busto and Alejandro Moris from 3rd C
                                                                         Niemeyer

Niemeyers centre is a cultural place where many expositions from all over the world take place. It was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 2011. He was born in Brazil in 1907 and died 6 years ago. He was known specially for designing this building in this way, in that time architects used to search perfection, lines and inflexible things, however he decided to do it in a curved way. One of his most famous frases says that the world is curved, thats why I designed it like that.

  It is located in Aviles in a northen  city of Asturias, Spain and brings tourists from all around the world thanks to its etravagant and peculiar design.The building by itself its made of white concrete, which is very resistant to humidity, a very intelligent choice. Niemeyer is one of the strangest works in the world because he employed things that society used to think were imperfect. He decided to risk, and he succeded... 

Las Hilanderas, by Velázquez.

The picture that I´m going to analyze is: ‘’Las Hilanderas’’. This picture was painted by Diego Velázquez in 1657. The movement of this picture is the baroque. This picture is painted in oil on canvas. 

This picture has two main parts: -In foreground, we can see five spinners. The two spinners in the right have more light, so we can see them easier. In the left, there are other three spinners that are darker, so it´s more difficult to see them.

- Behind this five spinners, we can see five women looking to a picture that is in front of them. They are rich women because they were beautiful clothes and dresses.

In this picture, Velázquez uses red and brown colors. This colors make the picture very dark, but we can also see the light in the back of the picture. 

This picture is now in "El Prado" museum, in Madrid.

Vista de Toledo

"Vista de Toledo" is one of the two surviving landscapes that "El Greco" has painted. This picture makes "El Greco" be the first landscaper in the history of Spanish art.
Because of the enigmatic symbolism it shows, it is tought that it was related to the mystic spirit that the city involved during those times.
On the background we can see "El Greco's" representation of Toledo. All, the cathedral and the rest of buildings are painted in light grey, what contrasts with the sky. On the foreground we can see the river and some hills.
It's easy to see the different colour contrasts among all the elements in the picture. It should be pointed out the contrast of the sharp colour of the sky and the hills below. Because of this contrast, the sky is considered one of the best representations of the western art. We can also see contrasts between the dark colours of the river and the light greens of the fields.
I really like this picture because of the diferent contrasts and also, because of "El Greco's" courious representation of Toledo.

FRANCISCO FERNÁNDEZ LÓPEZ

THE OWL

The owl is a type of bird. It lives all around the world, so it has different meanings in each culture.

This animal lives and hunts in the night, so africans and americans thin it's a symbol of dead and bad luck. Chinese and Japanese cultures think that if you see one during the day, you'll have bad luck, but if you see them in the night it gives you good luck and a very long live.

In the european culture, it's a symbol of intelligence, so many book's companies have this animal in their logos.

In greek or roman cultures, this animal usually goes with Atenea, so they think it's a good symbol.

In North America, the owl, like all the animals, is usually the image of football teams.

In other countries this animal is the logo of many companies, like security comapnies for houses:

This post was made by Iyán Fernández and Alfredo Fernández.

The Horse.

Due to its natural companionship with man in both work and art, the horse easily wins a special seat in history, ranking high marks of honour, reverence and symbolism.

Serving man in war, mobility, productivity, agriculture, development of all kinds, the Horse is by far one of the largest contributors to the enhancement of civilization.

http://www.hdwallpapersarena.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/horse-running-beach.jpg

With such recognition and accomplishments, a vast and diverse trail of symbol meanings is sure to follow the Horse’s rich history with humankind.

A summary of prevalent symbol meanings for the horse:

·         Power

·         Grace

·         Beauty

·         Nobility

·         Strength

·         Freedom

The Horse symbol meanings of power are widespread through most cultures, and it is linked as an emblem of life-force. Many cultures assign the attributes of the four elements to the Horse: Earth, Fire, Air and Water.

As a Celtic symbol, the Horse was associated with war. With war, comes attributes of victory, conquer longevity as well as procurement of territory and other spoils that come with triumph in battle.

In Greco-Roman myth the Horse is said to be created by Poseidon (Neptune) and is devoted to Hades (Pluto) and Ares (Mars). Romans also believed the Horse to be a symbol of the continuity of life, and would sacrifice a horse to the god Mars every October, keeping its tail through the winter as a sign of fertility and rebirth.

In Hindu Brihadaranyaka, the Horse is linked to Varuna and as such, is equated to the cosmos. Additionally, a white horse is believed to be the last incarnation of Vishnu.

Buddha is said to have left this physical plane riding a white horse. Also in Buddhism a winged horse is often depicted carrying the Book of Law.

The Horse, is also an animal which is regularly used in lots of logos such as the logo of the american football team, The Denver Broncos:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwSyRzBbooaB5AwgrlBb3ZIFhiM5uT-kosN9bnQSgTb66itNmPrhCUk15b-3hfsAJS4OvX9iUwi4ixFOe9wli-F26hKqZk0IQjETyzAyt4p0UyR2Pox0enbhTHrbnh_y1ri5_5Dr6mmW9M/s1600/denver_broncos_mascot-9119.jpg

Another example, is the Wisconsin State Horse Council:

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/98/97/98975239b24dd39bba5a99d8e59e7b5b.jpg

Some other international brands use horses on their logos.

        Ferrari's logo: 

http://www.fondosdepantallapc.com/imagenes/1299158563_765.jpg

         Ralph Lauren's logo:

http://img.mujercosmopolita.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/lauren1.jpg

By Francisco Fernández López & Arturo Fernández Fernández

The peacock

 

This animal have been used for so many iconic represations, incluying being the national bird of India in 1963. In this country they represent in the art, mythology, poetry, folk-music and traditions. 

A story in the Uttara Ramayana describes the head of the Devas, Indra, who unable to defeat Ravana, sheltered under the wing of peacock and later blessed it with a "thousand eyes" and fearlessness from serpents. Another story has Indra who after being cursed with a thousand ulcers was transformed into a peacock with a thousand eyes. In Buddhist philosophy, the peacock represents wisdom. Peacock feathers are used in many rituals and ornamentation. Peacock motifs are widespread in Indian temple architecture, old coinage, textiles and continue to be used in many modern items of art and utility. In Greek mythology the origin of the peacocks plumage is explained in the tale of Hera and Argus. The main figure of the Kurdish religion Yezidism, Melek Taus, is most commonly depicted as a peacock. Peacock motifs are widely used even today such as in logo of the US NBC television network and the Sri Lankan Airlines.

The peacock is originary from the India, where Alejandro Magno catch it in there conquests in Babilonia, and where there also die. These animal extend into Persia and where the romans catch into Italia.





These birds were often kept in menageries and as ornaments in large gardens and estates. A reference in the Bible mentions a peacock owned by King Solomon. In medieval times, knights in Europe took a "Vow of the Peacock" and decorated their helmets with its plumes. Feathers were buried with Viking warriors and the flesh of the bird was said to cure snake venom and many other maladies. Numerous uses in Ayurveda have been documented. Peafowl were said to keep an area free of snakes. In 1526, the legal issue as to whether peacocks were wild or domestic fowl was thought sufficiently important for Cardinal Wolsey to summon all the English judges to give their opinion, which was that they are domestic fowl.

In Anglo-Indian usage of the 1850s, to peacock meant making visits to ladies and gentlemen in the morning. In the 1890s, the term "peacocking" in Australia referred to the practice of buying up the best pieces of land ("picking the eyes") so as to render the surrounding lands valueless. The English word "peacock" has come to be used to describe a man who is very proud or gives a lot of attention to his clothing.

The peacock where into the NBC logo. A TV channel in South America. A DJ have been also catch this animal to their company. Another, not so much knowing by the people, is a restaurant in Panmá called "Pavo real". Finally, an internacional conexion, called "Hafla" use the plumage of the peacock.

 

But this animal also attack. Two months ago, one peacock attacked a little boy in a park in Gijon. The boy were going to give him some bread and the animal gave a peck to the boy. 

By: Bruno Álvarez & Nel Suárez
Images: Google Images
Text: Wikipedia

Totem animals: Symbols, brands and meanings

EXERCISE FOR STUDENTS OF 3rd. LEVEL

1. You have to join each name with the appropiate image and definition.
2. In pairs, choose one of them (It´s necessary not repeat the same animal)
3. Look for more information abour the meaning of this symbolic animal. Search examples in Art, History, legends, etc
4. You have to find logos, brands and icons where we can see the animal related to.
5. Write a post with the information and add more images and drawings.

For learn more: http://artspilesenglish.blogspot.com.es/2011/11/symbols-on-line-encyclopedia-quite.html

EDUARDO URCULO

EDUARDO URCULO

Eduardo Urculo (1938-2003), was a Spanish painter and one of the greatest pop art's artist in Spain. He is also known by his works in other styles like neocubism and black expressionism. He also worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and set designer. Most of his paintings were about nudes, suitcases, trrips and hats. 

  

He was born in Santurce, Vizcaya, but two years later his family and himself moved to Asturias. At the age of 18 he began to make several comics for the local newspaper "La Nueva España", In 1957 he made his first exhibition at La Felguera. When he got money enough he went to Madrid to begin to study Arts.

A year later he moved to Paris and he enrolled the academy of Grande Chaumière of Montparnasse. He exhibited his paintings in some of the most famous gallerys of Paris. Since that, he began to travel very often to many different places (Paris, Oviedo, Tenerife, Marbella, Madrid , Suecia, Dinamarca, Ibiza, New York) This trips allowed him to meet the greatest artist of the XX century.

He madde a lot of individual and group exhibitions in Spain, Germany, France, Cuba, USA...He died of a heart attack in the 31st of March of 2003 in Madrid, at the age of 65. His latest plans were to exhibit his painting at the Salander O’Reilly gallery of New York, but he couldn't never do so. The Spanish Royal House was also ready to give him the Gold Medal of Arts, but he died before that event.

ALGO IMPOSIBLE (Something Imposible)

CARACTERISTICS:

•  This painting was create on 1996
• The painting is an oil canvas
• The dimension of this painting are 150 x 180 cm
• This painting shows 2 of the themes that Eduardo Urculo used in his paintings, the travel and the hats.
• In this painting he use complementary color to contrat the 4 mens and in the background the big city and the sky.

Our opinnion:

LUCAS: 

I like this picture because of how he use the colors to contrast the 4 mens, I mean he uses yellow, green, blue and red, each for each men, he also contrat ech men with other colors for example the that wear red coat, his hat is blue, an other example the men who wears yellow coat and hat, has a green hat bow tie. And that's why I like this picture. At the background there are a city I think it's New York because of the building and also Eduardo urculo travelled to New York many times. For the city he uses dark colors such as black and brown, and for contrast it he use bright colours for the sky (pink,green and yellow)

PABLO:

On the other hand I do not like most of these contrasts

Why are these stripes painted here? I do not know, I do not like it. The combination of orange and green in this man totally disgust me. Also it doesn't express any feelings. I have a lot of  pictures of the painter at home, and I think it's very repetitive, I mean, he always paints characters with hat and suitcases, always. Otherwise the picture is not bad

Lucas Secades y Pablo San Miguel

Picasso_Cubism

Pablo Picasso(1881-1973), was a Spanish painter, who is considered as one of the greatest artist of the 20th century. He is widely known for co-founding the Cubist style. He also was sculptor, ceramist, stage designer and printmaker.
Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realist in his early years, painting in a realistic manner at that time. Then, his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas.
He arrived in Paris from Spain around the turn of the century as a young and ambitious painter.
Picasso's carer is in fact a patchwork of different styles. Picasso's work is often categorized into periods and the most commonly accepted periods in his word are the Blue Period (1901-1904), the Rose Period (1905-1907), the African-influenced Period (1908-1909), Analytic Cubism (1909-19129, and Synthetic Cubism (1912-1919)
His influence on art transcended the Picasso style and marked the beginning of a new era in modern art.
Synthetic Cubism was developeed by Picasso, Braque and Juan Gris and others in the 1913-1919. This cubism movement was characterized by the introduction of different surfaces, textures, papier colle, collage elements and a great variety of merged subject matter. This was the beginning of collage materials introduced as an important ingredient of fine art works.
Piccaso declared: 'When we painted as we did, we had no intention of creating Cubism, but only of expressing what was inside us' 'Art is a lie make us realize the truth'


LES DEMOISELLES D'AVIGNON

 It is the painting we have chosen
- This painting is an oil on canvas, with dimensions 243.9 cm x 233.7 cm created by Picasso in Paris, during the summer of 1907.
- It represents Picasso's black period which was inspired by African art and overlaps the first phase in cubism, which is called anlaytical cubism (lasted until 1911)
- It was a revolutionary and controversial painting, leading to anger and disagreement, even amongst his closest associates and friends.
-It is caharacterized by monochrome and relatively unemotional subjects.
- The painter depicts human figures by using several viewer points, which became one of the characteristics features of cubism. He dissects and reconstructs the characters, depciting its essence rather than  its appearance. Although  largely abstract, the faceted technique still produces a recognizable image of the subject.
-The work portrays five nude female prostitutes from a brothel located in Avinyó Street, in Barcelona. Its original name was 'The brothel of Avignon'.
- Each figure is depicted in a disconcerting confrontational manner and none are conventionally feminine. The bodies shape appear angular and disjointed. Two are shown with African mask-like faces and three more with faces in the Iberian style, giving them a savage aura.
- It is important the abandonment of perspective in favor of a flat, two-dimensional picture plane.

In our opinion:

-MARÍA: I like this picture; because Picasso describes the human bodies by using several viewer points and I think it makes it very interesting. The background is painted with blue and the women figures with its complementary colour: orange; and I love the contrast. The body shapes appear angular and disjointed, giving them a savage aura. I like the technique used. This painting has the same characteristics as the cubism, like different surfaces. When I read it was inspired by African art, it surprised me. The woman who is at the right side of the background  remembers me a lion and it makes the painting funny, althought I think not many people has discovered that. I also like it, because it seems like if the women were posing for Picasso. I love it, because Picasso doesn't use lots of colours (only orange, black, white, brown and blue) but it looks like if he had used more colours because there are very different values. To sum up, I like this painting.

-PILAR: I don't like this painting and this type of art because it's very abstract and I don't understand what Picasso wanted to exprese when he painted it. I think that using different viewer points makes it less atractive. It has some characterist of cubism, like it's two-dimensional and that makes us seems an abandoment of persperctive in favor of a flat. Now I understand it was a controversial painting, causing disagreement among his friends and closest painters. The first time I saw this picture, I thought the colours used aren't as stroger as the colours used in other periods of his life. The women who are at the right side of the painting looks like animals and some people think this is an insult to women. But it's true that this pisture is depicted in a disconcerting conforntational manner and none are conventionally feminine. Sorry for people who thinks this painting is beautifull, but I don't like it.


María Carracedo and Pilar Suarez de Cepeda

Abstract art

ABSTRACT ART

 Abstract art is something that simulates individual thoughts, emotions, ideas or even imagination. In its most general senses it is a language of thought which can be understood in many different ways. It creates a kind of connection between the artist and the people who appreciate their work.  A painter, like any other artist has the freedom of creating things based on the limits of imagination.

PIET MONDRIAN

 Piet Mondrian became a famous abstract painter by reason he used an unknown technique which made him singular (the Dutch De Stijil movement). He was known for his non-representational form of painting which consisted on a white ground, upon which was painted a gird of vertical and horizontal black lines and three primary colors.

This is one of Piet Mondrian’s compositions in which he applied the Dutch De Stijil movement. He used a white background, covered its surface with vertical and horizontal black lines forming several quadrilaterals, and painting one of them with a blue tone to make it stand out.

I really like this artwork because is simple, but it can express what you want. It transmitted simplicity, beauty, light, calm and stillness.It seems  very simple the action of repeat lines  but the result was something new.

From my point of view, I am not particularly fond of this piece from Mondrian’s collection. This type of work of art conveys a sensation of coldness and simplicity. The first perception does not invite one to stop and interpret what is between the lines as they are desolate and colorless.

In conclusion, the composition titled In Blue lacks of color, warmth and definition.  

Information and picture from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian

Carmen and Alexandra

                 ANTONI TAPIES, ABSTRACT ART BY MARA AND ALBA

Antoni Tapies was a Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist, who became one of the most famous European artists of his generation. Tapies was perhaps the best-known Catalan artist to emerge in the period since the Second World War. He created a free style inside abstract art. It combines tradition and innovation in an abstract style but with symbolism.He shows much expression in his works too.Tapie´s works had have a great appreciaton for national and international level, being exposed in the most famous museums in the world. Also he received some award for his work such as Wolf Foundation Prize for the Arts (1981) and Principe de Asturias(1990). He died in Barcelona on February 2012.




One of the most popular pictures that he painted is:




This painting is called "Cruz y Tierra". We can see a white cross in the middle of the picture that (we think) represents the death buried in the ground. Its a mixed technique. Antoni Tapies was painted it in 1975. 


We really like this art movement and especially the works of Tapies, because he shows much expressions in his work. But its difficult to understand what pictures, in this case, want to transmit to the person who is seeing it.

Fernand Léger

Fernand Léger is a french painter. First he was an impresionist painter but he prefered being a cubist painter with a very personally style. His principal preoccupation was the search of a new style by the opposition of the forms and the contrast of tones. From 1913 he developed a dynamic conception of painting based on the intensity of contrasts and colors. Most of his paintings have a cubist character, for example ‘Desnudos en el bosque’, one of his most import ants.

With Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Léger played an important role in the evolution and spread of cubism.

The next step of Léger was influenced by his experiences in the world war I. He used many symbols from the industrial world. ‘La ciudad’ is one of his most notable paintings. In his last works carried out a separation between color and drawing his figures, in this way kept robotic forms defined by black lines. One of his last works, ‘El gran desfile’ is an example of this style.

This picture, called The Léger's Woman, is a cubism work of Fernand Léger. In this picture is reflected the most important aspects of the cubism. In this picture we can see a woman. The artist, Léger, has painted the woman body using characteristics of the cubism: geometrics forms, triangles and cubes. There is a cat on the legs of this woman, near a book that is opened. Léger has not used brightly colors, he prefered painting this picture with colours such as grey, yellow, black and white.

We don't like too much this picture because we prefer others which reflect the reality, like impressionist artists. This was the first time that we had heard about this artist, and we think his work is interesting and not completely bad.

On the other hand, I like that people make differente work than usual, and they paint a different vision of the world.

ÁNGELA PÉREZ CAMBLOR Y PAULA LLANA PEÑA, 3º B.

Roy Lichtenstein, Pop Art by Cova and Rachel

Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York (27^th October) He was a prominent American pop artist and along with Andy Warhol Jasper Johns and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the basic premise of pop art better than any other through parody. His work was heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style.

His most famous image is arguably Whaam! The painting depicts a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane, with a red-and-yellow explosion. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the oonomatopoeic lettering "Whaam!"

In addition to paintings, he also made sculptures in metal and plastic including some notable public sculptures.

We really like this art movement and especially the works of Roy, as the comc and the brigth colours make them very special.
Focussing on his work, Whaam, I think it is a very original picture and I find it much more interesting and unique than most other pictures belonging to darker and realistic movements, such as those that had succes in the past. For me Pop Art is the best movement and the funniest one, I find older movements boring and pesimistic.

I think that paintings, for example, in the Impressionism movement, seems to be more elaborated and nicer than pictures of Pop Art. I like realistic pictures, such as portrait or landscapes but I recognize that the picture of Roy Lichtenstein, for example, Whaam, are very funny and really cool.

Cova Grau & Raquel Luaces 3ºA

Pop art. Andy Warhol

ANDY WARHOL

Andrew Warhol was one of the most important plastic artists of this movement in the 20^th century.

He was born in Pittsburgh, USA in 1928. His parents were from Czech Republic. He started her art studies by the 1950’s at the Carnegie Technology Carnegie Institute. The last year he started a degree as commercial artist for magazines as Vogue, Harper´s Bazaar, Seventeen y The New Yorker. At the same time he used to paint canvas using thematic about daily elements, advertisement and comics and he started exposing in different galleries.

The use of mass media images, easily recognizable by everybody, such as the famous soup and coca-colas cans, becomes one of the most interesting characteristics of all his production. He also captured real hard situations, like in “Electric chair”, one of his most representative works.

In 1963 he created a workshop called Factory, where a lot of underground culture artists met.

His most productive period was the 60’s. Hi died in New York in 1987, at the age of 58.

Andy Warhol’s paintings were characterized by:

• The use of monoprint technique in some paintings, mainly his first works.
• The use of offset impression, with bright colours to paint portraits, daily elements, traffic accidents and other disasters… And the repetition of these elements.
• The painting of mass media images, very commercial pictures.
• He used to reflect the underground culture

 MARILYN DIPTYCH

Andy Warhol exposed painted this diptych in 1962. He exposed it in New York, in Stable gallery. It’s an oil, acrylic, and silk-screen enamel on canvas painting. In 2004 it was named the third most influencial work of modern art.

“This image can result very repetitive, monoton and boring because it´s the same picture repeated many times in two different colour ways. However this is one of Andy’s most important characteristics. It neither shows all Marilyns face because colour contrasts make it very difficult.”

“I  think this is a fantastic painting of Andy Warhol, that includes a lot of his characteristics. Andy makes a great commercial picture from a simple portrait. I like the colour contrast: bright colours against black and white, that gives the paint a funny and pop view. It seems  very simple the action of repeat the same image some times but the result was once something very new and modern.”




Extracted from:

http://leahthomason.wordpress.com/tag/marilyn-monroe/

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/w/warhol.htm

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol




Aida and Candela