Paper #1 The Fine Art Of Ed BURTYNSKY

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Personal reflection

The work by Ed BURTYNSKY is one of its own and provides different experiences depending on the intention that he had while doing them. The pictures of landscapes taken by the artist are mainly meant to bring certain sense for the person viewing them. It is supposed to reconnect the person to the things that people used to get from the land in the past. There are different pictures that the artist has taken and all of them point towards reconnecting the person viewing the pictures with the activities that used to take place in the past. According to me, the pictures have achieved this to a great extent. When I view the pictures I get the feeling of what used to take place in the regions. There are some photos that were taken and reveal the mining activities that used to take place in the region. I get the feeling of reconnection with what used to take place in the past. I can relate with the economic activities that used to take place in the past. I also see the effects of human activities on the environment and also gets me to start thinking of the ways that can be used to reclaim the land and be used for other reasons.

The pictures first bring a reaction of a good piece of art that was taken by an expert. Not every person has the ability to take pictures that can speak a lot like the ones taken by BURTYNSKY. Most of them focus on landscape and the major reason behind this is that he feels we should compare the current situation with what it was in the past so that we can see what human activities have done to the natural resources that were available in the past. When you take time to look at the photos, you also get the chance to focus on other issues apart from the face value. At first what I saw were pictures that had been taken. Most of them were of landscapes. A close view brought into my attention of things that led to the scenario. There are other pieces of work that show the sources of the things that we need to survive. These include greenhouse in Spain that can provide people with enough foods for their survival. This is definitely a way of connecting with the source of the things that we need in life.

Formal analysis

In his works, BURTYNSKY ensures that he puts visual elements as well as the design principles into use so that he can come up with the best art. Sometimes, it is not always possible to come up with art that can attract many people if you do not have an idea of how to make use of the visual elements as well as design principles in art. Visual elements help in differentiating one thing from the other and also helps people to get meaning out of the picture. The picture by BURTYNSKY makes use of these elements and in the end achieves the motive of using them. The focus will be on the manufacturing landscape.

The picture that we will focus on in this section is Oil Fields #19a," Belridge, California, USA, 2003 and was taken by the artist to try and convey a message to the people. This project mad a lot of impression to the people. It can be a lesson and can as well teach people history on the things that happened in the past. Through the picture, one can learn many things that happen in oil field and why it is important for people to take care of the oil fields. It is also through such pictures that people have gone ahead to come up with ways that can be used to get such lands back to use.

The oil field must have been in use for a long duration and the picture clearly shows this. In the picture, contrast is very much used to portray different aspects of the picture. First, it is very easy to not where there is vegetation and where there is none. This clearly shows that human activities in the region resulted into clearance of vegetation in the region. One can also clearly see that the land where oil was mined has lost its value to a great extent. No other activity can go on in the region as a result of the oil mining that took place there years ago. Another design principle that has been used in the picture is emphasis. When taking the picture, he focused on the oil field and not any other part. He wanted to bring out the effects of human activities on landscape as well as the value of the land.

elements have also been used to convey message within the art. First, the size of the art is the most important element of the art. It has allowed one to view even the finer details of the photo. Shape is another important visual element that has been put to use. It is easier to view pictures of a region in landscape shape than in the portrait shape. This is a skill that the artist has put to use.

Formal analysis of two different pieces of art by the artist

When you look at different pieces of art that have been done by BURTYNSKY, it is possible to conclude that he makes use of visual elements and design principles in all his works. He is an artist who has the ability to communicate though photos and that is why many people can derive information from the pictures that he took in the past.

There are two different arts that one can use to examine how the artist makes use of visual elements and the design principles to come up with such pictures. Most of them are still photos that have been taken by the artist. The major focus of the artist is one the landscape and that is why most of his works are mainly based on the landscape. For the oil, the focus has been put on the oil field that used to be a mining point for oil. Though not in use, one can learn a lot of things about the activities that used to go on in the area and how they have impacted the lives of people in the present time. The pictures that we will focus on are that of the Gulf of Mexico that was taken by the artist in 2010 and that of the oil fields in California that was taken in 2003.

Both the pictures have elements of contrast and unity. You can see that the picture is one object and not as two separate things that have been joined together. By just looking at the picture of the Gulf of Mexico, one can know where the water is and where the ship is. It might not be possible to distinguish the two if you make use of no contrast in your work. The picture of the oil field also shows vegetation and other dry parts that do not have any vegetation. The visual elements that include size and shape have been used effectively. Both of them have the landscape shape. They are of the right size and anyone can view the details in the photo.