artwork presentation

Vincent Willem Van Gogh (30 march 1853 – 29 july 1890) painted The Starry Night (73 cm × 92 cm) in 1889. He was a Dutch post-impressionist artist. We can see a view of a village at night, there are stars in the sky and the moon. There are mountains far away.

Now I am going to speak about the description. First, we can see that there is a lot of different blue, and a little bit of yellow and white. Blue is a cool color, it represents the temperature of the night in a country. Yellow is warmer, it represents stars, the moon and some light in houses. About the tone, we can say that there are predominantly dark colors, actually it is the night. In the foreground, there is a cypress, it is the darker object of the artwork, and it emphasizes it. And we have a few lights from stars, moon and houses with yellow.
Lines are curved, heavy and hard. We can see lines with clouds, stars, the moon, mountains and trees. We can see that there is everywhere lines in the sky, they are moving around stars and the moon. With houses, we have a little bit of straight lines with roofs, windows and wall. But these lines are not really straight. We have a straight direction with the line of mountains and a vertical with the cypress in the foreground. There is a curved direction with clouds, in the middle distance of the sky. Directions suggest movement, we can imagine that there is wind and that the cypress and clouds are moving.
There is no void in this artwork, there is a heavy mass. It is accentuated by the fact that the painting is only covered by little touches of paint.

About the analysis, we can say that there is a contrast between the yellow and the blue used in the sky, it makes stars and the moon more lively. The focus of this painting is the sky. The eye is attracted by it because there are contrasting elements with white and yellow of stars and moon opposed to the dark blue of the sky. Moreover, clouds are moving, they make a curved direction and there is everywhere lines moving in the sky.
There is harmony and unity in this artwork, because it has been made with a lot of little touches of painting. There are a lot of curves. It gives us a sentiment of calmness and lightness.

There is a lot of movement in this painting. In the sky, clouds are moving, lines are moving and the tree is moving too. We can imagine that there is wind. I think there is an opposition between the calmness of the night with blue, curves, and little touches of painting, and the idea of movement. Moreover, houses looks safe but the cypress looks like fire, and it is not really safe and calm. I learned that Vincent Van Gogh suffered from anxiety and had a mental illness. I think that he could have liked starry nights because the atmosphere is calm and safe, and he had wanted to paint it. But in this painting, we can feel his anxiety and his confusion because there is insecurity, the cypress can be a fire and all the sky is moving.

I like this artwork because I think it is beautiful, there is beautiful colors and movement. Moreover I like to watch starry sky. This is an example of the technique to paint with little touches of paint. It is a characteristic of the artist.

secrets for success

The 8 secrets of success according to Richard St John are :

- passion, it means that if you like something if it is important for you, you will do everything you can for it, so you must be successful with it

- work, if you want something, you have to work hard, you will not get it without effort

- focus, you have to concentrate yourself on the thing you want, you have to concentrate your effort on it

- persist, you have not to get discouraged, you have to persit, to fight

- ideas, ideas allow you to know what to do and tell you how you can get what you want

- good, you have to feel good and to be optimistic

- push, you have to motivate and to boost yourself

- serve, you will fell happy

I think that the 8 secrets are necessary to success. When you want something, it is the beggining point of the success, but it is really not sufficient. You have to fight and to be active if you want to be successful. It is quite certain that it will not be easy, but you have to persist, you have not to get discouraged.

The first example I have is the preparation cycle before the engineering school. Actually, it was a difficult period for me. There is a lot of work and lectures are not easy. You work hard and you have not good marks. If you get discouraged it is the end, you leave, but if you persist, you can carry on but you have to fight. It is possible only if you really want to become an engineer, only if you like science. But you have to work hard, to persist and to focus on it.

But I think that predisposition and luck contribute also to success. Actually, for example if somebody has asthma, he can not become a sport champion. A dumb can not become a singer. We have to dream about something that is possible if we want to be successful.

Moreover, sometimes people are lucky and sometimes they are not. For example, we are not lucky if our clock does not ring just before a job interview.

How art gives shape to cultural change

1) The work of art that I have chosen is the very last one. It appears in the speech at 11:09 minutes approximately. It seems to be a picture but it must be a photomontage.

It represents a hand of a black man holding something that has a cone shape. I do not know what it is. In the background there is a white landscape and a blue sky. We can also see mountains on the left and the right.

I do not understand what it exactly represents, I do not understand if there is a hidden message. But when I see this work of art I feel calm. There is peace in this work of art; it allows us to escape from reality and to dream. I can also say that there is an opposition between the white of the landscape and the black of the arm.

2)a) Thelma Golden says that images are powerful, images can change lives. It allows people to understand themselves and each others. She says that art can change the way we think about culture and ourselves. It allows talking about beauty, power, about ourselves and with others persons. She wonders how images could word and did work. She thinks that images have to change ideas in the society.

  b) Thelma Golden wonders if a museum can be a catalyst in a community and if it can allow artists to be change agents. She says that it is a place where we discuss and think about ideas. It is there that artists can expose their creativity and innovation; it is where they can be catalysts.

3) I think that Thelma Golden exaggerates when she says that artists are real catalysts. Firstly, the main objective of the art is to make something that is liked by people, something that is beautiful, original… Sometimes an artist can convey a message (like Guernica) and there are some kinds of art that are made only to convey a message (like a cartoon). But even if an artist wants to tell us something, it is not always a success. Not only, we have to understand the message but also we have to see his work. It depends also on the type of art and how the message is conveyed. For example, it is easy to understand the song Manhatan Kaboul but the message of George Orwell is not explicit in Animal Farm. Sometimes, the message can be understood only by a few people.

What is art?

I think that there is not a single definition of art and I think that each person has his definition of art. Moreover, there are differents types of art. For example, a book, a picture, but also music, cinema or dance can be called art.

I think that we can call art something that causes emotion. Depending on the person, the emotion can be different. For example, there are persons who like modern art and persons who think that it is ridiculous.

For me, art is something that is original, something that takes time to be done, something that is done with passion. We can for example say that tradition is art, it is something that people like, it is singular, an inheritance.

Art is something done by a person, and this person put a part of himself in his piece. The author is the only person who can completely understand the meaning of his piece.

Craft

Firstly, I am going to speak about the card making process :

At the beginning, the woman chooses images and differents papers (4). Then, she figures out good colors to put whith the papers. The next step is to colour the images, to cut it and to put ink on it with a sponge. After, she glues soft flowers on it.

Finally, she makes layers of the papers and she puts her sentiment on the card. She can also put buttons or diamond on the card.

Now I am going to speak about silk painting, it is a way to make scarf, card, cushion... :

The first step is to choose a pattern and to cut the silk. You have to use a framework in order to tense the silk, it has to have the good size. The next step is to reproduce the pattern with paint. It is easier to put the silk on the pattern.

Finally you have to wait your work to dry. If you want a better look, you have to put salt on the silk just after painting. Salt brightens the color, and give a light effect.

The silk painting is a very old art. The silk appeared in China, and the Chineses were accustomed to paint on silk before the invention of the paper.

The composting

I am going to speak about the composting. It is a natural process which consists in decomposing fermentable waste. Microorganisms (like mushrooms and bacterias), water and oxygen decompose organic to begin with. Subsequently, we have the compost. So I am going to explain how to make your own compost.

The first step is making a tank. You can take wooden planks and pallets. On the top, you have to put a lid. In the next stage, you have to gather waste together and put it in your tank. You can take meal waste like pieces of vegetables.

Fermentation causes a rise in temperature. Then, the mixture should be well-mixed every two weeks to allow ventilation. At the same time, will appear worms and other insects. A part of organic will be consumed by them.

The last step is to use compost for your plants. Compost has beneficial effects on the diffusion of nutrients in the soil and it will be used by plants roots.

rock'n'roll dance

You said that you like music, perhaps you will like to dance rock'n'roll.
When I was in CPP, I dreamt of learning to dance rock'n'roll. A day, I saw an advertissement in the entrance hall, it spoke about rock'n'roll dance in the maison de l'INP.
It is every monday from 20 pm to 22 pm in the campus. It is organized by students from Phelma. A couple is there to show how to dance. There are students who know how to dance and others who learn. The music is lively, it is very funny to learn and you will probably tangle with your partner in the beginning. It is a way to meet students from different schools.
Moreover, it is only 2 euro if you come every monday of the year. If you come only sometimes, you have not to pay.