The eyes are the window to the soul, or at least that is the saying.
For my last project I would like to base my project around that saying. I intend on wearing a mask that shows my eyes but conceals the rest of my identity. I will be doing it in the DSU next week some time. The viewer will get the chance to come and stare into my eyes for as long as they want, there will hopefully be a table next to it in which they can draw or sketch out what they saw when they looked into my eyes.
Trapped, confined, small, and hard to breathe are feelings I experience when forced to exist in tight spaces. Claustrophobia is a constant challenge by my mental well beings when my physical surroundings close in on me. Expanding to life experiences, in a metaphoric comparison, claustrophobia is experienced when considering the fact that there is always something that will keep you confined or trapped in your current state of being. Life forces in to boxes that form the boundary of our existence and lead to the same feelings when our physical space becomes confining. Using a simple box to demonstrate the trapped feeling of a claustrophobic person it takes sheer determination to not struggle to be free while battling the impending confinement. As our mental will weakens and the body moves to try to find space and air the box also moves and retains its form and our boundary that is within the box remains unchanged. At the core of this work the viewer must understand the struggle and turmoil that is taking place within the box. In order to simulate this environment of being inside a box, I have placed myself in a white room and created an imaginary box on the floor to show the struggles that happen when feeling trapped and confined.
Claustrophobia was a multi-step project, one in which the process was important to achieving the final piece. It first started with testing out boxes that were pre made of wood in the gallery. From there I discovered that wood was too heavy and did not allow air in for me to breath. Then I decided that cardboard would probably be the best material, lighter and allowed some air flow. Once I had the material chosen I went to a storage unit to find the right sized box. With the help of the storage gentlemen I came to the decision that I needed a medium sized wardrobe box. From there I headed to the Alexis Gallery to set the stage for my performance. A white room where I could control my surroundings. I decided that the white needed to be connecting factor from me to my surroundings. Therefor I dressed in all white. The 1st performance was where I sat in the box. In hopes that I would last 30+ minutes, leaving it open ended seemed suitable seeing as I would have no clock to tell me the time. The second performance was one in which I explored the possible feelings in which one that suffers from claustrophobia would have sitting in the same spot in an all-white room. The second part was also to show the viewer what happens, seeing as when I was in the box all you could see was the movement of the box. Both performances were done on separate days so that my mind had time to rest from one performance to the next. It was important that the mind be cleared so that each was done with a new outlook on the performance instead of thinking of the one before it. My hopes in preforming a piece about claustrophobia was in hope that the viewer would feel the anxiety and fear that one feels when dealing with claustrophobia; trapped, scared, and alone.
Observations during these performances; sitting inside of something that does not bend to your body or forces you to sit a certain way is extremely hard and makes the effects come alive faster and harder to deal with. I also believe that this is a performance that would have different outcomes the more times I do it and greatly different depending on your surroundings. If I revisit this piece I plan on doing just the box with a camera on the inside and allowing people to crowd around and listen and watch as I sit in a box.
For this project I plan on facing my fear head on....
Step 1.
Will to actually sit inside a box. My goal is to do 30 minutes. I am not sure that it will happen as I usually freak out after a few seconds.
Step 2.
To sit in a room where there is nothing to look at in an imaginary box. I will do this by taping out the dimensions of a box on the floor. The theory is that even if you are confined by lines that the room will enclose in on you and that you will feel the same effects.
The box:
I am going to use a cardboard box mainly because when I did a test run with a wooden box it got hot and with a cardboard box i can put some small air holes that will not distract me from my task.
Documentation:
My partner gets the fun job of photographing and videotaping me while I am doing my thing.
Yinka Shonibare was one of the artist that stood out to me in class this past week. I first of just enjoyed looking at his work. At first I was just drawn to the bright colors but as he began to speak about them I became even more infatuated with them as a whole piece. So I decided to do a little more reserch on him....
Shonibare examines in particular the construction of identity and tangled interrelationship between Africa and Europe and their respective economic and political histories. Mixing Western art history and literature, he asks what constitutes our collective contemporary identity today. This is shown a lot in his headless sculptures that wearing Victorian style clothing that have African prints on them. "But actually, the fabrics are not really authentically African the way people think," says Shonibare. "They prove to have a crossbred cultural background quite of their own. And it’s the fallacy of that signification that I like. It’s the way I view culture it’s an artificial construct." Today the main exporters of 'African' fabric from Europe are based in Manchester in the UK and Vliscofrom Helmond in the Netherlands. I personally loved how he was taking the things that he knew about history and art and mixed them all together to come up with these striking clothes. He also mentioned how he recreates scenes using these sculptures. I think the other element that I really like are the headless sculptures. I think not having a head allows you to picture yourself in the place of the person or to envision on your won what they will look like.
Blog Post #9
Today in class we talked about David Byrne. I thought that his work was interesting.I really like when artist make musical pieces that are interactive. To me it gives the viewer the feeling as though they are a great musician and are making the music that comes from within them come alive.
Guitar Pedals is an interactive piece in which the audience is able to walk on 96 guitar pedals and make different sounds come alive and be amplified over and over. To me it as though David has a young soul in which he connects to all the wonders and noises that go on in kids heads.
I also really enjoyed his Playing the Building. Part of the reason that I enjoy installations that make noise is that it takes a lot of time and understanding. You not only have to understand how sound is effected by space but how to manipulate the sound to get different noises. It is truly astounding. The other reason in which I loved this pieces is the fact that it all starts with a piano and moves outward to fill the entire room, and that you don't just hear the piano, he has incorporated other instruments like a flute. I would love to go there and compose my own little song.
Then we watched Stop Making Sense. I was blown away by this mind boggling show. At first I was not sure that I was going to like the video. The opening made me feel like I was watching a wanna be rock star at a high school talent show. However as the songs moved from one to the next it was clear that we were watching a genius. Even though it was done in the 80's I feel that today's generation could get into it and see the beauty that they presented. I think some of what made this video so amazing was the filming style of Jonathan Demme. I think that his lighting technique made it come alive in a whole new world. I also like how he had the change from one song to the next, by adding and taking away different people and elements of the stage. It made it more than just a concert but an art form. To me it was not just about the music but convey the emotion behind the music and making the audience apart of the performance.
We as a group decided that we wanted to do something that couldn’t be done here on campus. So from there we thought about the words on the project outline: time, space, and the human presence. It hit me and steph that a continuation of her senior seminar project fit those words all too perfectly. When Melissa saw her photos she agreed that it was perfect. We thought about what we could do as zombies that would bring to life the realization that we dwell on death all too much and that we as humans tend to do the same things day in and day out with conveying emotion. Then from there we decided on a location. A GROCERY STORE. From there we had to choose someone that could keep a straight face while getting quite close to a stranger and never breaking character. That was how I landed with the job. I knew that it was going to be hard to break out of my normal character and get as close as I could to a person in a situation in which you often don’t get supper close.
My first taskin this group project was to a test run. I was kind of nervous to do this dressed as me and not as the soon to be “zombie marie.” However after I got to the store I discovered that it was not as hard to take on this persona of being in someone else's special bubble. It was most definitely uncomfortable and people were rather rude or looked at me like I was some complete moron. I ended up only doing a few people because I was way out of my comfort zone. After I left the store I was feeling pretty confident about my experience and was interested to see the difference in my experience as a zombie.
Our second taskwas to record how I felt while doing my test run. Which is where my partners learned of my personal experience and how I felt. They reassured me that I could do this. Then we sat down and thought about which store we were going to use. We couldn’t do Walmart because too many weird people go there that already violate your space and make you stop and stare. We finally decided on Foodlion.
Zombie time! Task Threewas to turn me into the walking dead and head to the store. We had to make a pit stop at the doctor’s office for steph eye appointment. While there we decided that we should do a test run. We decided that it would be great because the people in the room had nothing to stare at or to distract themselves from me. This actually turned out to be more uncomfortable than the grocery store. Do in part that I too was trapped in this room. I felt more aware of the stares and how uncomfortable I was making the people I was sitting across from. From there we went to Foodlion. It was not quite enough people so after I did my thing we headed to Harris Teeter’s to do another run. This time we found lots of people for me to get close. We spent about 45 minutes at each store if not longer. We did not have a set time. It was just until I felt like I was done or we ran out of people.
Finally, task four. Put it all together. We then sat down and I did a testimonial on how I felt the second time through. Along with My testimonial Melissa and Steph also described how they felt during the process and what they saw.
Observation #1: People act out more around normal people than they do when you are dressed out of the normal or act in an un-normal manner. When I was dressed like I would on any other day people were not afraid to give me weird looks, ask me what I was doing, or just plain run away from me. But when I was dressed like a zombie and walked like one too people were polite. They moved out of the way, they said sorry and over all tried not to stare at me. I have decided that people do not want to act un-normal around un-normal people because it is considered rude, but if you act un-normal and look normal people are not afraid to be on guard.
Observation #2:When you stop thinking about your self and start paying attention to the world around you, things come into the clear. My first run through I was to concentrated on how I was feeling and not as much on how others were acting around me. The first few people I stood next to were a blur, I was too consumed in my own inner thoughts. As i got my head straight I was more aware of how they acted. Then on round two I was barely thinking about how I felt and was more concentrated on my surroundings and how others were acting. It was definitely an eye opening experience.
Well based on the power point that we saw in class the other day, I would have to say that the one that I responded to the most was Yoko Ono – Cut Piece - 1964. Part of the reason why I was drawn to this video was mostly because I know that this is something I could not do my self. I don't think I could let strangers come up and cut my clothes off. The other reason as to why I wouldn't be able to do is because of what happens when the guy cuts her bra off. She keeps her composure. I know that I would most likely say something to the man about how they were spose to cut the dress off, or refuse to let him cut it off. However to contradict myself there was no explanation of what they could or could not cut off of her. As the lady states it invites people to explore the boundaries, are there any or do we make boundaries for ourselves? It is piece where you can walk away with your own interpretations and feelings whether you were took part in cutting away her clothes or if you were just a spectator.
I did a little more research on this piece:
1. Yoko Ono first performed ‘Cut Piece’ in 1964 in Japan. She repeated the performance at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1965. In September of 2003 she performed the piece for the last time in Paris.
2. The piece ends when nothing more can be cut, or when the performer decides that the piece has ended. (The piece is non gender specific, meaning that the subject in which you cut clothing off of could be male or female.)
3. Art historians and critics have descried it- “more like a rape than an art performance”. Yoko Ono lies still and quiet, her eyes fixed and distant as pieces of fabric are removed from her body… first someone takes a sliver at the neck, then someone tears at an arm, then a piece is cut at her belly…and so the piece proceeds, sometimes with long pauses until somebody grows bold and proceeds again.
Blog Post 2:
This past week I would have to say that my favorite artist was Tony Orrico. I found his work incredible and inspiring. The first aspect of his work that really inspired me was his personal connection to his work. With out his understanding of math and how the body moves his art work would not turn out as it does. I appreciate the time he spent planing out the circles based on the 4 different mathematical shapes. For me the other aspect that really drew me into his art work was the combination of dance and art. Between his arms and legs and the almighty drawing tools we get this truly mind boggling art work.
Not only is he and his art work one but it started out on his kitchen wall. In what most people consider the heart of the house he discovered that if not one hand was in control but rather they moved as one you could take your art work to a whole new level. It may be just me but I find it interesting that he started this drawing in his kitchen. A place where was as humans run to all the time but tend to also over look its importance. Now he could have just seen a white wall that he could practice his new found talent out on but I see it as a symbol.... he puts his heart and soul into his work... like I said before he was in the hearty of the house.
Blog Post #3
Earth art: is an art movement which emerged in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which landscape and the work of art are inextricably linked.
Most deffinitly true for Christo and Jeanne-Claude. A husband wife duo that have worked side by side to create these monstrosity earth art works. I was familiar with a few of the pieces presented in class from a previous project I did in digital photography. However they were just a side note to my presentation. Apon hearing the presentation I was interested in doing some reserach on my own. A few things that I thought were interesting were:
How do they chose the locations?
Well sometimes they have a location in mind and other times they have an idea but no lactation. for the projects that they don't have a location they end up going on road trips to find the perfect space for their art work.
Inspirations, where do they come from?
“Projects come from ideas from their two hearts, and two brains. The artists never create works that come from other people's ideas. Never.
Lastly.....
YOU CAN WORK ON THE ART WORK ALONG SIDE OTHERS! YES PLEASE!
I found it interesting that they go on road trips to so many different locations to pick the right spot. Sounds like an extra bonus to me, travel, art work, get paid! However in their Over The River, Project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado, they drove 14,000 miles in the Rocky Mountains and inspected 89 rivers in search of the river that would provide all the characteristics they were looking for. That is a lot of time and driving; I don’t think that I could do the driving part.
I also found their works interesting because for most people they have no idea that they are about to walk on/drive through/or pass by the art work till they are there. How awesome would that be on a family vacation, driving through the mountains when all of a sudden you are going under this bright orange fence! I think that there should be a lot more of these works throughout the US! It would make long rides more enjoyable and art educational!
Artist from the Book= Valie Export
Her artistic work includes video installations, body performances, expanded cinema, computer animations, photography, sculptures and publications covering contemporary arts. The work I found most interesting form her is called "The Screening." To give you a better understanding of what it is I think her own quote will help: "The screening takes place in the dark as usual: except that the movie room has shrunk a little. It only has room for two hands. In order to to see the film, which in this case means to sense and feel it, the "spectator" has to put both their hands through the entrance of the movie house." Strapped to Export's bare torso is a curtained box. In 1968 offering her breast as the scene she created the TAPP-und TASTKINO ( TAP and TOUCH CINEMA). She referred to this as the first genuine women film. A film in which forced its audience to engage in an awkward experience of touching a strangers body while looking at her indifferent face. The media responded to Export's provocative work with panic and fear, one newspaper aligning her to a witch. From 1969-1971 Export traveled throughout Europe, several of her performances provoked hostile reactions. She was banned from a preformance in Stuttgart because of a riot in which Export sustained a head injury.
Another one of her preformances I thought was interesting was Aktionshose: Genitalpanik (Action Pants: Genital Panic), Valie Export entered an art cinema in Munich, wearing crotchless pants, and walked around the audience with her exposed genitalia at face level. The performance at the art cinema and the photographs in 1969 were both aimed toward provoking thought about the passive role of women in cinema and confrontation of the private nature of sexuality with the public venues of her performances. Though this performance did need the audience to feel something every one in the room was a part of it.
Blog Post #5
Felix Gonzales-Torres was actually the one artist that really caught my eye in the book last week for the homework blog, but then I realized that he was going to be presented on in class. It is a win win, I still get the chance to talk about him. He is considered within his time to be a process artist due to the nature of his 'removable' installations by which the process is a key feature to the installation. I think that his work is amazing. I love how he takes something as simple as candy to make a statement and how personal it is to him and to what is going on in the world at the time. I think that the part I found most interesting was his candyinstallations. The fact that each of them are a certain pound to represent something as significant as his partners weight when he was healthy. Then over time the viewer takes away the weight, just as the cancer took his partners weight. I also really like his paper stacks, In 1989 González-Torres presented Untitled (Memorial Day Weekend) and Untitled (Veterans Day Sale), exhibited together as Untitled (Monuments): block-like stacks of paper printed with content related to his private life, from which the viewer is invited to take a sheet. Rather than constituting a solid, immovable monument, the stacks can be dispersed, depleted, and renewed over time.
I had not seen his light installations until they were presented in class. Which made me want to look them up and see what they were about. This is what I found: "The most pervasive reading of González-Torres's work takes the processes his works undergo (lightbulbs expiring, piles of candies dispersing, etc.) as metaphor for the process of dying. However, many have seen the works also representing the continuation of life with the possibility of regeneration (replacing bulbs, replenishing stacks or candies)." I think that it is interesting that his work can be so simple and yet so powerful in context. It really makes you stop and think about the things around you and what they could represent in the grand scheme of things.
Blog Post#6
This week I decided to write about Tim Hawkinson. I was really interested in his work in class and jelous that I have never seen his work. I would like to exsperience the rooms. I would probably spend way too much time in his exibits. I found that I was captivated right off the bat by the face peice, "Emoter." I found it interesting and a bit like surealism... in the way the face was morphed into new faces, un real but real. I also thought that his drawings, the ones where he used a drill to control how wide the circumference of the circles the pencil was making was interesting. I would have never thought about using a drill to do such a thing. I also found "Uberorgan" over the top intriguing. I don't think that I can say it any better than he does... "Several bus-size biomorphic balloons, each with its horn tuned to a different in the octave, make up a walk-in self-playing organ. A 200 foot-long scroll of dots and dashes encodes a musical score of old hymns, pop classics, and improvisional ditties. This score is deciphered by the organ's brain - a bank of light sensitive switches - and then reinterpreted by a series of switches and relays that translate the original patterns into non-repeating vairations of the score."
Blog Post #7
In class I was intrigued by Sophie Calle. I love that she has the guts to do some of the things that were presented. I am not sure that all of us have in us to follow some one around that you don't know and to let them take you place, or lead you to new places. I think that it was an interesting concept though, to just follow some one, let them decided where your feet take you, and by following that person you can learn about them and study their routine. The other one of her pieces that I found interesting was the one in which she let others come sleep in her own bed. Strangers in the bed. Again I may never be able to do such a thing but I definitely find it interesting. I like how a lot of her work are about observations . I think that human observation is fascinating, I am not sure that it is always considered art, but at the same time the close encounter with others can inspire you in the most surprising ways. I also wanted to talk about her address book piece. I love that she found it in the street and took it home and copied it and mailed it back to the person, little did that person know that she had photocopied it. Then she set about making a portrait of the man that she was falling in love with based on his information.
