Cycle

Monday Nov. 22nd's Class

Monday Arielle and I worked on the performance piece for our most current project.  We did go with the idea I mentioned in an earlier blog about the cycle of group homes.  Arielle did the performance and I documented it.  We thought it was appropriate for her to do the performance part because she actually grew up in and out of group homes.  Even though I had friends who went in and out of them, I never experienced it firsthand so we thought it was a good conceptual choice.

Here are some shots that were taken at the performance site:

Jennifer Wallace and Final Piece

I really enjoyed the class when Wallace came by and spoke to us.  I've been thinking about the different exercises she had us do in class, for instance making a repetitive sound, saying a word oddly over and over, making a traveling motion you constantly do, etc and trying to think if I can incorporate it into a work I do in the future.  Its definitely something I've been thinking about for my final project.  Still not sure entirely what I'll do but I am leaning towards video and the concept of identity.  Kind of like a throw back to our first project but a bit deeper or concentrated, not sure.

Gomez-Pena Temple of Confessions & Alfredo Jaar

Alfredo Jaar

Last year I saw Alfredo Jaar speak at UNCC.  I really liked his message.  He was addressing political issues he felt strongly about and finding ways to portray them in a very poetic manner.  He inspired me somewhat to keep in mind that political art is possible.  Its weird because coming out of high school I was very political and following the leaders of the U.S. and keeping up on many different issues concerning Amnesty International.  But since entering college I've lost a lot of it.  I guess Jaar reminds me that there is something out there to speak about and a way to do it. 


Gomez-Pena

From what I saw I really like Gomez's work.  I think I responded to it so much just because its so interesting.  The whole visual aspect and the interaction between viewers, it kept me very entertained.  Though I wonder if keeping me entertained in a work of art like this is a good or a bad thing.  As in am I just viewing his Temple of Confessions as something to gawk at and then miss the point of it all?  Of course I recognize the message and different things he is trying to say, but I do wonder.  
 

Reading D.J. Martinez 374, W. Gu 295

D.J. Martinez
 
Starting out questions:
1.  Is he a primarily political artist?
2.  What's going on with the piece saying "I Can't Imagine Ever Wanting To Be White."
3.  Did he place the piece Quality of Life in front of a U.S. flag on purpose?



Ending Questions:
1.  How did he get so far in the art world coming out of such a trapped cycle life style?
2. How does he feel about the current immigration rights controversy in Arizona? 
3.  What is his recent work?


W. Gu

Starting out questions:
1.  First off, whats the message with the tampons?
2.  Very similar but what is happening in Oedipus Refound #3:  Beyond joy and sin?
3.  What is this artist's concept for their works?

Ending Questions:
1.  Does Gu realize that the bodily items he uses to unite humans (like semen, menstral blood, and placenta) are items that actually repulse humans?
2.  Do humans ever look at his work and actually think, wow, we all menstrate that means we are connected?
3.  How does he think impregnating multiple women around the world and leaving them to raise a child without a father or child support is a good or artistic idea?

Class Nov. 10th & 15th

I'm passionate about a lot of things in my life right now.  For one I'm a vegetarian who would like to see a change in the meat industry in many areas including mass waste production, animal cruelty, and a change in the hormones/steroids they use in meats.  Also growing up I was very involved in Amnesty International and Save Darfur, mainly concentrating on the areas of refugee law, immigrant rights, and genocide in Burma and Darfur.  However I must admit after my best friend died I completely broke away from all of these things for about a year when I was adjusting.  But now I'm coming out of that and I'm feeling more passionate these days wanting to make a change.


Class on November 10th left me paired up with Arielle on the topic of child abuse in group homes or something related to the matter.  Another topic that I feel pretty strongly about.  I never would have thought of it though for a project, so I'm excited in a way.  At first we had a very clear idea on what we would do, visit a group home she's very familiar with and give a presentation.  Though after class this past Monday I'm questioning it.  Especially after seeing Gomez-Pena's Temple of Confessions and hearing Jennifer Walace speak.

I think I want to do more of a performance piece.  Maybe centered around the cycle children and teens often get stuck in when they enter group homes.  A very close friend of mine growing up went in and out of group homes with her brother.  I constantly saw the effects on her as she was shuffled around into homes she didn't want to go.  Her brother had more extreme reactions to it.  I remember him running away all the way from Texas back to Fayetteville, NC.  Of course he was thrown into juvi once he was caught, but its extremes like that, that sound off an alarm that something isn't right in the system.

Red String

Red String is a short film about making a path.  Connecting to nature.  And taking what is not ours.

When I was in 10th grade one of my friends went missing.  It wasn't until my freshman year of college her remains were found in a wooded area back in my hometown.  From there I developed a type of phobia of woods.  Of what I could find, or the people who might be lurking in them.

When we started this project the first thing we covered was safety.  A fellow classmate shared an experience about a flasher in Reedy Creek Park.  I reflected on all of the scary things I used to find at a wooded park back in my hometown.  Once my brother and I found shredded clothes, another time we heard crazy screams for help, another time a duck that had been ripped apart by what looked like hands.  It was a park where a woman pushing her child in a swing was stabbed to death by a stranger, and it was a place I was warned not to go alone.

So when this project began those two aspect came to mind.  Another thing that came to mind was how these things happen, how they are allowed to, and how we deal with it.  One thing was our connection to nature.  Its been said time after time, but it seems these days we are disconnected.  We are disensitized through the hundreds of images we see a day.  Our thoughts are peversed to think things are okay when they really shouldn't be just because it happens so often.

In the film Red String I make a path with red string.  I drive.  I follow the path the string leads me to.  I witness something disturbing with the string over, and over again.  I come to notice nature.  I change the outcome of the disturbing string.  I pick up what is not mine.  I show an image of what happened and then change it at the end. 

These actions are both of the victim and the peverse.  Leaving a path to retrace it for safety.  Drive to forget, to get away, to get to a place.  Following a path to follow someone else.  Following a path that is supposed to be safe.  Seeing what someone else has done and becoming horrified.  Seeing what you yourself have done and being horrified.  Notice nature.  Connecting with nature in the park.  Taking what is not yours.  Changing what has happened in your mind.  Changing what you have done in your mind.  Replaying it over and over again until it seems normal....

I feel like I get hung up on these subjects in my artworks.  It was supposed to be an installation project in the park and somehow my project turned into dealing with some twisted mindsets.  I'm glad I am finally formulating them somewhat, but I hope I'm not missing the point of the class assignments. 

In the end I can't even tell you if the film is saying connecting to nature will heal us or if we'll still be in danger.