Blog Entry Assignment 3

I strongly believe that we define places rather than places defining us. Every person is different and sees places in their perspective. In the show Art:21-Place, each artist is influenced by a certain place which can be seen in their art work. Richard Serra builds very large steel structures that reflect a moment from his childhood when he looks up at a massive ship being launched. These steel structures are so tall and peculiar in shape that they make people, who view these structures and walk through them, really think about how we walk through space. Photographer Sally Mann sees everything in an artistic way. She likes to express herself with her landscape photographs and uses her own dreams when she chooses what to photograph. Mann likes the aspect of peculiarity and ambiguity in her work or else it is not interesting. Artist Margaret Killgallen was influenced by art that is often avoided by others. She saw billboards as garbage and graffiti as real art. All of her pieces are hand drawn and inspired by folk art. Artist Barry McGee enjoys doing graffiti. He sees his work in the gallery as being solely for viewers in the gallery. However, his graffiti is there for everyone to see. McGee strongly believes that if a person wants to become a master at his art and make a career out of it, he should do it well. The artist I feel most connected to is Sally Mann because I to am a perfectionist when it comes to my art but I also like the small imperfections that are produced in the end product. It is these imperfections that make art look interesting.

When I was young, there were several places that interested me. One place was this very large park that was near my house in Cleveland Heights. If I wanted to get away from my house and be alone for a while, I would go to this park because it made me feel safe and inviting. Another place that I liked going to was the beach. It was a very calming place for me. There were woods near my house that frightened me when I was little because I always thought there were scary creatures living there. Another place from my childhood was Squire’s Castle. I would describe it as being very interesting and ambiguous because its history is a little unclear. Another place that I would go to when was little was an old baseball field where I watched my stepfather play baseball. It was a very fun place where I could just enjoy being young. Out of these five places, I enjoyed Squire’s Castle the most. The castle is located in Willoughby hills and made out of stone. It has several rooms that people can just walk through. When I was there it was very bright out and very warm. It was a very happy place. I enjoyed running around where there was a big open area of grass in front of the castle. It is a great place for people if they want to explore.