Monika Bravo

CREATIVE

I found the way she portrayed the pieces with this sense of movement very compelling and creative. Nothing ever stayed the same and you could see the depth. Instead of using a painting outlet she wanted technology that shows this movement. There were three panes of glass that had this changing landscape on it and all of them were made up of words. It talks about how Monika was trying to create this “narrative” meaning that these changing landscapes were telling a story. Landscapes are always being affected by society and are always changing and reconstructed by us. I talked with two people who were hanging out in the room and we started having a discussion concerning the art. One of the landscapes came up and it was Paris and he asked me if I had never been to Paris. I had been, and I started talking about my experiences there- how it affected me. These cities were all made of same the same colors and different tiny words but we make up in our mind the kind of city it means to us.

HOW? 

Monika has traveled all over the world. She has studied different subjects in different places and these places most likely all have meaning to her. I think she came up with the idea to put cities that she loved or may still want to go to and have people talk about it. I think she achieved her purpose as two strangers and I started a full on conversation about Paris. Belief is of the mind and we believe different things about different places. I think ultimately she came up with these ideas by having this one ultimate landscape within her mind but many different versions of it depending on where she’s been and the connections she’s had with those versions. 

Landscapes of Belief - Greg Taylor

I too had quite the time finding this room full of creativity hidden in the deep corner of the Art Museum. It is left down in the basement for the truly curious who wander their way to the corners of the large museum.

What really amazed me like many was the several creative mediums used to display the creativity. It was the perfect blend of hardware, software, typeface, light, dark, motion, and scenery. This is where I would like to see creativity go. It’s one thing to paint a beautiful picture on a canvas, but making the canvas a part of the discovery is powerful.

I think the artist is a lot like me. I didn’t quickly find bursting talent when I put pen or brush to paper, but when I discovered powerful tools like Photoshop and illustrator I discovered a whole new world of things I could create. The artist  used very unique programs and a set of skills he must have developed at some point in his life.

Landscapes of Belief - Allie Sullivan

What struck you as creative?

I think what’s creative about this piece is that the cityscapes aren’t entirely realistic. Parts of them are true to life representations but some parts are made up. I think this is a creative way to imply a harmony between belief and reality and that what we believe or what we imagine shapes our reality. I think using words to create the cityscapes is also creative. It’s a creative way of conveying the idea that we build our world out of our beliefs just as the visuals of the piece are built out of the words.

How do you think the artist came up with these ideas?

I think she probably started with what she wanted to say with the piece and then thought about how she could convey that idea in an interesting and captivating way. What really struck me about the piece was how engaging it is to look at. I visited the museum last semester and saw this piece and even then, without needing to do an assignment on it, I still spent a really long time looking at it because it was just so fascinating to watch. I think that Monika Bravo might have specifically designed the piece with that intention in mind, to get her audience to really engage with the piece and its message.

I think, then, that she probably knew early on that she wanted it to be something you could walk all the way around and see from all angles and perspectives. Perspective is another way you can talk about beliefs so I think she may have known that she wanted to do something where the piece was different depending on where you saw it from.

As for how she came up with the idea to create cityscapes out of words, I think that the places in which we live play a tremendous role in how we think and what beliefs we have. Monika Bravo may have thought the same thing and that is why she chose to represent different cities from around the world. The decision to use words to build the cities could have come from the idea that one of the primary ways in which we communicate our beliefs and act on them is through words.

Tom Blackham- Landscapes of Belief

After staring at the wrong exhibition for half an hour, I finally realized where I was supposed to be. At first, I didn't exactly know what to make of the art piece because I could only see a little of the piece at one time. The longer I spent in the room, however, the more it intrigued me. I don't pretend to be a huge fan of modern art. In fact, I often get frustrated by its meaning. I don't pretend to know the meaning intended in Bravo's piece. All I know is that it intrigued me by the way the shapes of each skyline were not stagnant but seemed to flow and move in the wind. This illusion was most likely reinforced by the constant hum of the projector in back corner of the room.

After exiting the exhibition, I took time to read the panel outside the room thoroughly. I had only scanned it the first time to realize that the exhibition was in the room. Obviously, after reading it, I had to go back to see if I could make out any of the words in the piece. While I failed to do so I still couldn't help but ponder the meaning of the piece's title, "Landscapes of Belief." I'm confident that the full message of the piece alluded me, since I have not read Invisible Cities. However, as I pondered the ever shifting and changing scenes made of individual words. I began to think about how the words each represent ideas and how each individual idea contributes to forming the world around one. These beliefs and attitudes differ around the world, much like the architecture varies from city to city. Even within the city there are various beliefs and attitudes held to be true, much like no two buildings are alike, so these varied ideas and beliefs differ from each person.

Monika Bravo would not have been able to come up with this idea if she had not first read Invisible Cities. And then to make it aesthetically intriguing, she decided to a light projector on three panes of glass, which diffracted the light in the way she wanted. In short, she either had a lot of trial and error, or else had studied quite a bit (and probably still some trial and error too.) After all that is said and done, it was a very intriguing and unique experience for me.

Bravo Monika! Landscape of Belief

What was creative about this piece to me?

The thing that struck me as creative with this exhibit was how the whole thing was set up. She used three blades of thick glass and a projector. Who would have ever thought of something like that? That in itself is creative. At first it looked like still pictures of different cities but she did more than that by adding animation to it. It seemed live the city was alive and it was actually something that we could maybe personify. She even had birds flying through one of the scenes which I thought was cool.

How did she come up with the idea though? I think she must have had some sort of limitations on this project. Maybe someone limited her or maybe she limited herself to using just three glass panels and a projector. Or maybe she even saw another piece of art the used glass to display the design. I think she just made the design on her laptop and then connected it to a projector but she could have just displayed her art on the laptop and showed it to people that way. Who knows? I honestly think that she just used multiple ideas and gather a bit from other projects and connected them to create design.

Eric Smith

Landscapes of Belief - Justyne Willets

What Struck You As Creative?

This piece was very cool and unique.  The initial way it was set up with the projector and the three sheets of glass or plastic was creative in itself.  The three separate pieces would diffuse the image as the light went through and that was creative because it illustrated that as we get farther and farther away from something, it can be harder to see the whole picture.

I also really liked how the words would fly in and then fly out.  This was effective because the words would fly out, essentially dissolving the city, and then it appeared to be the same words would fly in and create an entirely new landscape.  This was a creative way to illustrate that the same building blocks are used to create various different things.

How Do You Think The Author Came Up With These Ideas?

I think that the artist was thinking about how ideas come with a spark but that everyone has the same opportunity to find the same spark but can create such different things.  Also, as the world is turning more and more to the digital side, I believe the author wanted to incorporate the idea of technology as a "landscape of belief" in itself.

Living Cities - Lance McDowell

What struck you as creative?

The words were never still. Even though they came together to form structures they were never stationary; rather, they gently rippled and pulsed. The cities seemed to be breathing, alive.

I liked that the various landscapes would linger only a short while then disappear bit by bit. While I studied the work, I felt like I do when I awake from a dream. It seems so real, then it begins to fade. You try to hang on to the images, but they slowly disappear.

I thought the space around the sculpture was creative. The room had two stools, one in front of the sculpture and one in back. Otherwise, it was empty. This allowed the viewer to have a deeply personal experience with the art. In the quiet, dark room I sat and listened to the art speak to me.

How do you think the author came up with these ideas?

Bravo states that she wanted to “create a parallel between literature and architecture…” Literature and architecture are both stationary; printed words on a page, stone and wooden structures. Yet, there is life in each. Perhaps Bravo read a book, and the words spoke to her, beckoned to her, gently took her hand and led her into a metaphysical world. Is that literally possible? No. But does it happen? Yes.

Architecture also speaks. It tells us about people and their history. It tells us about culture.

Then Bravo took the next step. How could she take the metaphysical and make it into something with substance? Architecture could literally have a voice if it were constructed of words. It could literally tell us something.

Bravo also brought the city to life with three glass panels. This layering creates a ghostly light around the city, almost like a halo. I saw the physical city but I also felt I could see its spirit.