Introduction
The art and architecture pieces selected for comparison are Ruscha's "Standard Station" and "Randy's Ballroom" by Joe de la Cruz, a local artist. Edward Ruscha is known to create vibrant signature styles by mixing words, images, objects, and he has been associated with Pop art in the 1960s and Conceptual art in the 1970s. The gasoline station remains one of the most iconic images from the artist. Joe de la Cruz, a local artist, is inspired by the series of screen prints and roadside markers that inform drivers of gas stations, eating joints and any other information. The Standard Station sign of a gasoline station by Rushca offers a hope for those on the open road and makes the place a lot more welcome. He went on to create more than 300 prints, and his books show that how he was able to bridge pop art and conceptualism.
Joe de la Cruz responds in his own style to Ruscha. His work "Randy's Ballroom, is framed in a wooden frame with the white background. It is interesting to see how different artists react and respond to his post-1960 art and his style of combining text with his imagery. Joe de la Cruz reacts to Ruscha’s imagery which is iconic. One cannot undermine Ruscha’s huge influence on contemporary American art.
If one looks at "Randy's Ballroom", what will strike one are the words “Randy” written in red over white background. They add a welcoming cheer to the landscape of the road and break the monotony of the electric poles behind. The edges of the white board are rounded, and the lines are not very sharp. The words Bingo are smaller in size but are clearly legible. The artwork creates the right perspectives and angles.
"Randy's Ballroom" is a good example of perceptual space and volume and depicts spatial relationships on a two-dimensional plane. One can make out the parallel lines in the spatial recession that seem to converge. The artist makes use of angular perspective that makes use of two vanishing points. The artwork stimulates perceptual space and volume.
Analysis of the artworks
Both the artworks can be compared as they are made for the roadside. However, they remain worlds apart. Joe de la Cruz makes use of bright colors that are slightly cartoonish in Randy's Ballroom. The image offers a nostalgic view of the 1960s-vintage sign (Goddard). If we look at Ruscha's "Standard Station", the lines are straight and sharp. The main colors that impact you are red, blue and white. The fogy sunset is made of varied hues. Randy's Ballroom, on the other hand, has a more descriptive background. Standard Station was included in the groundbreaking photographic book by Ruscha in his photographic book Twentysix Gasoline Stations. The subject and its form is one of the signature subjects of the artist Ruscha, and the print transforms the station into something like a place to fill your car’s tank. In Standard Station, the project slices diagonally across the smoggy sunset and the cantilevered roof are kind of triumphed by the brand name (Brown).One can see both the skies and the ground levels in the sign. The name of the casino and its phone number is clearly displayed. Here too, blue, red and white colors are used primarily. This could be because they make a sharper contrast and higher legibility. Still, the lines in the graphic of "Standard Station" are sharper and give a clear and direct message to the onlooker, while “Randy's Ballroom” carries a softer and fun look. One can see a cinematic reality in both "Standard Station" and "Randy's Ballroom". There is a baseline perspective, and one can see a sense of depth and perception in them. The proportions carefully measured and scaled down to add reality and depth. "Randy's Ballroom" brings back memories for San Antonians who once made a visit that one-time nightspot. Ruscha is known to make use of solid, flat color as well as blended colors. He continued to experiment with Standard Station and used varied colors and compositions to create different printed versions. The iconic screen print is a proof that the artist' liked to explore a variety of ways in his work. In both these works we find
the use of the linear perspectival system.
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Works Cited
Brown, Sienna. "Ed Ruscha and the Standard Gas Station." Unframed.lacma.org. Unframed, 2012. Web. <http://unframed.lacma.org/2012/09/20/ed-ruscha-and-the-standard-gas-station>.
Goddard, Dan R. "San Antonio Artists Pay Homage to Ed Ruscha's Pop Classic 'Standard Station'" Www.sacurrent.com. Sacurrent, 2015. Web. <http://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/san-antonio-artists-pay-homage-to-ed-ruschas-pop- classic-standard-station/Content?oid=2382309>.
