WP3 Pre-writing assignment 4

During the class where we examined John Cage’s 4’33”, we were forced to listen and view the piece numerous times and were given absolutely no instruction as to what to listen for, write, or do during the entire class. Some of us were dumbfounded as to what we were viewing, others took the class period to take a nap. No matter what it was that we did during this class period, we all were taken aback by this new form of class. This class made some of us laugh, while others were angered by the fact that this was what we were doing all class. During class time, I jotted down some ideas as to what it was that I thought we were doing, but after viewing the video for nearly a half hour, I became befuddled and confused as to why I was sitting in the class.

After reading the blog and discussing this class session next class, I became aware of the idea that John Cage, and Joshua were trying to emphasize. John Cage conceptualized his piece as less than music. It was still music, but it was a completely different form. The following class we listened to Zaireeka. This forced us to not only do a complete one-eighty from our last class, but we now needed to view this piece as more than music. So, how can Juan Hamilton’s “Fragment X-O” be intensified? This is something that I knew I would have trouble with.

At a glance, Hamilton’s piece looks extremely dull and boring. Let’s face it, it’s just a circle! But what if we were to examine this piece in a completely different way? After getting to know Fragment X-O a little better by observing it from numerous different angles and intensifying it, I realized that it is much more than just art. My initial thought about this piece is that, even though it’s called “Fragment X-O,” there is no “X” to be found. That is, until I viewed the object from behind. When viewing the object from behind and looking through the sculpture, you are able to see that the sidewalks in which the object rests near create a perfect “X” when they intersect each other. Although this may be completely irrelevant to what Juan Hamilton was going for when creating this piece it still is very interesting to see how the art is influenced and viewed when it is considered with its natural surroundings. The topography helps very much in analyzing this photo.

Fragment X-O highly resembles a ring. Actually, it is a ring! Rings are extremely meaningful! An engagement ring can be the most significant item in someone’s life time. A ring symbolizes some form of wholeness or completeness. “One ring to rule them all. One ring to find them. One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” This quote comes from The Lord of the Rings. Here, again the ring symbolizes a binding or a bond. Although this sculpture seems very simplistic, it actually may have some incredible symbolism.

WP3 Pre-writing assignment 3

The piece “Fragment X-O” is constructed by Juan Hamilton in the year 1991. Juan Hamilton, born in Texas as John Hamilton in 1946, is a potter and is most known for his extensive work that he did with Georgia O’Keeffe. Juan’s father was a Presbyterian minister who worked throughout Latin America in schools and churches in countries such as Ecuador, Venezuela, and Colombia. Their family was constantly moving throughout South America, but eventually Juan ended up attending high school in New York then, after graduating, he moved to Nebraska to go to college at Hastings College where he graduated with a double major and a degree in fine arts and literature. Juan Hamilton then went on to study sculpture for a year at Claremont. but dropped out after finding a woman who he fell in love with who also happened to be a historian of Japanese and Chinese art.

Hamilton moved to Japan with her for half a year, but shortly after divorced her.

Down on his luck, Hamilton went to Ghostranch, New Mexico to work in the kitchen of the Presbyterian conference center. Ghostranch was also where he met Goergia O’Keeffe. In 1973, when O’Keeffe could no longer see well enough to paint, Juan showed up at her doorstep looking to help her. Juan ended up doing odd jobs for O’Keeffe and helping her around the house. As O’Keeffe’s eyesight got continuously worse, Juan’s help became increasingly more useful to O’Keeffe. Many people believed that Juan was only helping Georgia out for his own good, but O’Keeffe and Hamilton developed a long lasting relationship that brought about many happier days for an elderly O’Keeffe. While working with O’Keeffe, Juan became very enveloped in pottery. The two worked on pottery together until O’Keeffe died in 1986. After she died, she was cremated and Juan Hamilton scattered her ashes from Pedernal Mountain, just as O’Keeffe had requested.

Juan Hamilton’s “Fragment X-O” is made completely of cast bronze. It rests in the Sheldon Art Garden in Lincoln, Nebraska. The piece was put there in 1991. The piece does a very good job of blending in with the environment around it. By that I mean that it is not something that seems to be intensified by any means. It is somewhat of a simple piece of art and seems to characteristically match the lifestyle that Juan Hamilton lived. Juan was a very simplistic man, and was never extremely outgoing. In fact, Juan would not be known nearly as much had it not been for Georgia O’Keeffe. When googling his name, almost all I could find were biographies and stories on Georgia O’Keeffe. When walking by this sculpture, It did not grab my attention whatsoever. Only after taking a step back and realizing that I was in its presence did I realize its true beauty. Hamilton’s life seems to reflect his sculpture very well.