Digital Final Illustrations

Thursday Night #12 Prompt Response

The workshop with Joan Laage proved to be informational. The exercises were unique but left some to be desired. In relation to this project, I think they did help relieve some self-consciousness. However, the area that we could have used the most help in is understanding how others perceive our movements and actions. By the last half hour of class, the red faced laughter and creative participation seemed to fade as we kept going through the exercises. As instructional as they may have been, it would have been more helpful if we could have spent more time in discussion on how the audience perceived the performances, especially since the theme was unknown to them. I think it would have given us a more holistic understanding and awareness of how others see us.

Thursday Night #11 Response

I found the zodiac suit by Elisa Schiaparelli extraordinarily inspiring. It reflected a change in women’s fashion at the time as well as an artistic movement. Beyond just the amazing details such as the individual buttons and design of the garment, it represented the modern woman of its original era. The shape and style of menswear began to appear in women’s wear. Skirts got shorter and outfits overall became less feminine. However, they still reflected an elegance distinct to the time and retained a certain feminine beauty and allure. Elisa Schiaparelli was associated with and got a lot of her ideas from Surrealist artists of the time. Her influence and position as an artists and fashion designer has left its mark. Although her garments could be very unique and obviously have surreal qualities, they still maintain a timeless quality that makes her the icon she is today.

Thursday Night # 9 Prompt Response

The feedback I got from my peers was definitely encouraging. We had time to share work from other classes as well. Members of my group said my work had a distinctly “Americana” feel to it, which is also where I draw a lot of my inspiration. Although we had distinctly different concentrations and tastes, we all found facets of each other’s work that was inspiring or we liked. I was fortunate to be in a group that had painting students, making it easy to connect over that medium. Overall my group provided positive feedback, especially on projects that were larger format.

Thursday Night Response

Prompt: What are the values and concerns that Sanroman brings to her work as an independent curator? In what ways can curation alter the work of an artist?

Response:

“Curators are not ‘taste makers’, but creators of discourse” was a quote utilized in Lucia Sanroman’s lecture Thursday night. I feel it accurately sums her approach to working as a curator and the works she chooses to focus on. The works reflect several issues that are present in her personal life, such as the effects of drugs and violence in the Tijuana area where she lived and worked for some time, immigration issues, and other realities widely affecting Mexican American people. She cites Antanas Mockus, a political figure of Bogota known for innovative policies and approach, as being a personal influence in her life which is evident in the work she curates. Many of the works reflect unique personal responses to problems facing the artists. For instance, one work was a silk banner made by a woman inspired by a banner in a church she sought sanctuary in when facing deportation. As far as influencing an artist, curation, if seen as a means of creating discourse, could cause an individual to strongly evaluate and reevaluate their work, particularly on a conceptual level.

Proposal

When presented with the problem of discouraging future societies from opening a storage of nuclear waste in the desert of New Mexico, needless to say, several ideas were exchanged. The idea is meant to be sustainable for ten thousand years and must account for several factors. We began with narrowing down the factors we could absolutely account for in the present, for example, the more reproachable qualities of humans like greed. After discarding ideas involving spikes and even labyrinths, we decided to take a different approach. Our concept for the infant sculpture is based on the idea of creating something aesthetically pleasing, blends with the organic qualities of the landscape, and does little to incite curiosity or controversy. We mainly utilized the principles of scale, dominance or emphasis, and in construction, texture as well. The sculpture is intended to be made of a strong metal such as steel and covered with a mix of materials that resemble the landscape and actual material from the area, such as local minerals and rocks. The sculpture will be large enough to cover the entire area of the waste location with the idea that it will be difficult to move or destroy with easily accessible tools. We also propose use of local native species of plants including several varieties of succulents and cactus. We also would like to draw inspiration from a similar solution oriented project by Mel Chin. In his work, he utilizes plants called “hyper accumulators” that draw heavy metals from the soil. Given that these were able to survive the environment, these plants would be included with the native species in a natural, but aesthetically pleasing surrounding “garden”. We also propose that the land be treated as a state park, to discourage development of the land for residential or commercial purposes. With this in mind, we did however revisit earlier ideas of more detrimental qualities. We decided ultimately to incorporate into this sculpture some devices such as a motion sensitive high frequency sound. When a viewer gets with so many feet, a high frequency noise will be released intending to cause pain, but no severe harm. We also propose that the sculpture include either tear gas or a motion sensitive release of a drug that will render a person incapacitated but not severely injured. We based these concepts around crowd control tactics used by police forces. What is most effective about this solution is that while the sculpture emulates the qualities of the landscape and is unassuming; it also is large enough to protect the waste from future use and does include security measures as well. We began to structure this idea around a parenting method of “removing the forbidden”. Our argument is that a large, obviously protected structure invites curiosity and rebellious entry. If the object is somewhat approachable and incites no conflict or curiosity, people are less likely to attempt entry. The fall back measures of the gas, foliage, and sound are meant to discourage those that would make such attempts regardless.

Thursday Lecture Dawn Cerny

Prompt:
What role does research play in these two artists' works?

Response:Initially, this prompt was meant to be applied to both artists, however, Dawn Cerny was the only artist able to present. I found Dawn's work and lecture style very compelling. Her work, as described by her background experience, is quite varied. I am fortunate enough to have her as a Print teacher, but had no idea she did so many sculptural and installation works. Her work seems based on research she has done consciously or unconsciously her entire life. It seems to be a sum of her unique life experiences. It was most interesting to note the influence of her childhood activities, such as puzzles and listening to audio recordings of the Bible, on her conceptual development. It's as if she approaches her questions of life like puzzles that her art rectifies. Her strongest ability I felt was how she utilizes humor in her work. The titles of works reflect her unique sense of humor. Several works and exhibitions take on a "tongue in cheek" approach in a subtle, subversive manor, versus a direct commentary such as a mustache on a Mona Lisa. My favorite works were her flags she made for the "100 years; for better or worse" show with Patrick Holderfield for 4Culture in 2009. Textiles can be a somewhat lost approach to art outside of the fashion industry in my opinion. I am interested in incorporating textiles into my own work in the future. Overall, this lecture was inspiring and I look forward to working with Dawn more in the future.