1.Where does the lecturer live?
Charles Long was born in 1958 in Long Branch, New Jersey. He lives in California at the moment.
2.Where did they go to school, what degrees have they earned?
Charles attended Philadelphia College of Art, from which he earned a BFA in 1981. He also took part in the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program at the same time. Later he went to Yale University in New Haven, where he received a MFA in 1988. Long also received Guggenheim Fellowship and two NEA grants, a Louis Comfort Tiffany grant and two Pollock-Krasner Grants.
Long doesn't earn his income only by being an artist. He received numerous awards and honors. Howeve, he is also a professor at the University of California, Riverside, in the Art Deparment. Long also taught at Otis College of Arts and Harvard University,
4. Describe the lecturer’s work (sculptures, Los Angeles River).
Charles Long's sculptures are abstract. They belong to the autonomous art and provoke psychological insight. He is inspired by nature. He used various media like rubber, coffee and Abraham Lincoln's hair. Long worked with pop musicians. Some of them are Mark Mothersbaugh, Devo and Stereolab. After moving to Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River inspired him. The river has a flood season every year which passes and leaves various plants growths mixed with discarded furniture. This place becomes a shelter for crayfish and ospreys, mallards and heron. The mixture of these elements inspires Long to make video, sculpture and photographs about this occurrence. The meanings are open for reflection.
5.What ideas, concepts, or themes does the lecturer address in their work?
The lecturer addresses the themes of beauty he finds in whatever inspires him and that happens usually in his surroundings. He wants to show nature in his works, but he doesn't want to be preoccupied by art instead of enjoying nature as it is. His main idea is to represent life through art. Long's concepts are abstract, so that it can provoke critical thinking.
6. Quote or paraphrase three things that the lecturer said, and explain what interests you about each one.
Charles Long thinks that experience is never complete and that is is unlimited. I agree with that, because there are many ways in which the same phenomenon can be interpreted. I am interested in the way Long gains experience.
Long says that an artist shouldn't calculate because art strategies are hollow. I agree with that way of thinking because only that way can true art be created.
He also says that longing is enchanting. I am intrigued by that reasoning because Long find beauty in it and it is a challenge to find beauty in the most unusual places. The purpose if tru art is to encourage new ways of thinking.
7. Were you interested in their work? Why or why not?
I was interested in Long's work because he finds inspiration in life, in nature, in his surroundings and also in books. I loved the peace Direction of My Home because it is about the power of true love and survival of humanity even in the most severe conditions.
Works cited:
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
UCRiverside, Department of Art. Regent of the University of California. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Winer, Andrew. „Charles Long“. Bomb magazine, 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
