Sunday, May 8, 2016
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Exploring a City
I'm still a little self conscious about taking my sketchbook/art journal out in public, so I'm exploring Longview with my new (to me) camera. The Longview Museum of Fine Art has continually blown me away with the caliber of work in their permanent collection. So much, that I bought my first membership to a museum! Last week Longview had their Art Walk and the Great Texas Balloon Races all in the same week, so I thought it would be a great time to go and explore my new city.
From the downtown sculpture garden.
From the Gregg County Historical Museum
From the Great Texas Balloon Races balloon glow. I loved the unfocused photographs as much as the others!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Knitting up a storm!
Since my last post I have been knitting up a storm - almost literally. My vortex piece is complete and constructed. In order to get the top of to open up I had to knit it on a long straight loom and gradually cast off the ends down to the same number of pegs as my circle loom has. It is approximately 24 feet long (I was hoping to get 12) but may shorten up some once I add the forms inside. This piece was constructed in three pieces then knitted together into one.
Those forms are going to be pillow-ish to represent figures that are being consumed/constricted. I am going to sew these together this evening and begin to stuff them - this is basically the last bit of trouble shooting to do other than installing.
I have put my flag pieces on the back burner so that I can do more research and decide which direction to go in.
Pictures will posted as the installation process has started!
Those forms are going to be pillow-ish to represent figures that are being consumed/constricted. I am going to sew these together this evening and begin to stuff them - this is basically the last bit of trouble shooting to do other than installing.
I have put my flag pieces on the back burner so that I can do more research and decide which direction to go in.
Pictures will posted as the installation process has started!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Revised (and Revived) Artist Biography
The unique beauty of East Texas is like nowhere else in the
world. Christy Adair first realized this as she explored the fields, lakes and
creeks where she was born and raised. Christy received her Bachelor’s of
Science degree in Arts Education from Texas A&M – Commerce, and has been
spreading her passion for the visual arts to her high school students for over
eight years.
As a member of the Texas Art Educator’s Association, Christy
has presented and co-presented workshops at the state conference for several
years, and The Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council recently honored her
with their HERO award for her outstanding efforts in arts education. When taking a break from pursuing her Master’s
of Education degree from Texas A&M – Texarkana Christy can be found in her
home studio creating her medium scale fibrous sculptures or outdoors exploring the
wonders of nature.
The Synectic Trigger Mechanisms
As a result of my day job I have been reflecting over ways to enhance creativity. This week I was introduced to The Synetic Trigger Mechanisms, and I thought they would be worth sharing. This information was taken directly from here.
The Synectic Trigger Mechanisms: Tools for Creative Thinking
Subtract. Simplify. Omit, remove certain parts or elements. Take something away from your subject. Compress it or make it smaller. Think: What can be eliminated, reduced, disposed of? What rules can you break? How can you simplify, abstract, stylize or abbreviate?
Repeat. Repeat a shape, color, form, image or idea. Reiterate, echo, restate or duplicate your reference subject in some way. Think: How can you control the factors of occurrence, repercussion, sequence and progression?
Combine. Bring things together. Connect, arrange, link, unify, mix, merge, wed, rearrange. Combine ideas. Combine ideas, materials and techniques. Bring together dissimilar things to produce synergistic integrations. Ask: What else can you connect to your subject? What kind of connections can you make from different sensory modes, frames of reference or subject disciplines?
Add. Extend, expand, or otherwise develop your reference subject. Augment it, supplement, advance or annex it, Magnify it: Make it bigger. Think: What else can be added to your idea, image, object, or material?
Transfer. Move your subject into a new situation, environment or context. Adapt, transpose, relocate, dislocate. Adapt the subject to a new and different frame of reference. Move the subject out of its normal environment; transpose it to a different historical, social, geographical or political setting or time. Look at it from a different point of view.
Adapt an engineering principle, design quality, or other special quality of your subject to that of another. (The structure of a bird's wing, for example, has served as a model for designing bridges).
Transfer can also denote transformation. Think: How can your subject be converted, translated, or transfigured? (See also METAMORPHOSE and HYBRIDIZE.)
Empathize. Sympathize. Relate to your subject; put yourself in its "shoes." If the subject is inorganic or inanimate, think of it as having human qualities. How can you relate to it emotionally or subjectively? Offering helpful insight to an art student, the eighteenth century German painter Henry Fuseli once advised, "Transpose yourself into your subject."
Animate. Mobilize visual and psychological tensions in a painting or design. Control the pictorial movements and forces in a picture.
Apply factors of repetition, progression, serialization or narration. Bring life to inanimate subjects by thinking of them as having human qualities.
Superimpose. Overlap, place over, cover, overlay: Superimpose dissimilar images or ideas. Overlay elements to produce new images, ideas or meanings. Superimpose different elements from different perspectives, disciplines or time periods on your subject. Combine sensory perceptions (sound/color, etc).
Change Scale. Make your subject bigger or smaller. Change proportion, relative size, ratio, dimensions or normal graduated series.
Substitute. Exchange, switch or replace: Think: What other idea, image, material or ingredient can you substitute for all or part of your subject? What alternate or supplementary plan can be employed?
Fragment. Separate, divide, split: Take your subject or idea apart. Dissect it. Chop it up or otherwise disassemble it. What devices can you use to divide it into smaller increments- or to make it appear discontinuous?
Isolate. Separate, set apart, crop, detach: Use only a part of your subject. In composing a picture, use a viewfinder to crop the image or visual field selectively. "Crop" your ideas, too, with a "mental" viewfinder. Think: What element can you detach or focus on?
Distort. Twist your subject out of its true shape, proportion or meaning. Think: What kind of imagined or actual distortions can you effect? How can you misshape it? Can you make it longer, wider, fatter, narrower? Can you maintain or produce a unique metaphoric and aesthetic quality when you misshape it? Can you melt it, burn it, crush it, spill something on it, bury it, crack it, tear it or subject it to yet other "tortures"? (Distortion also denotes fictionalizing. See PREVARICATE.)
Disguise. Camouflage, conceal, deceive or encrypt: How can you hide, mask or "implant' your subject into another frame of reference? In nature, for example, chameleons, moths and certain other species conceal themselves by mimicry: Their figure imitates the ground. How can you apply this to your subject?
Think about subliminal imagery: How can you create a latent image that will communicate subconsciously, below the threshold of conscious awareness?
Contradict. Contradict the subjects original function. Contravene, disaffirm, deny, reverse: Many great works of art are, in fact, visual and intellectual contradictions. They may contain opposite, antipodal, antithetical or converse elements which are integrated in their aesthetic and structural form. Contradict laws of nature such as gravity, time, etc.
Think: How can you visualize your subject in connection with the reversal of laws of nature, gravity, magnetic fields, growth cycles, proportions; mechanical and human functions, procedures, games, rituals or social conventions?
Satirical art is based on the observation of social hypocrisy and contradictory behavior. Optical illusions and "flip-flop" designs are equivocal configurations that contradict optical and perceptual harmony. Think: How can you use contradiction or reversal to change your subject?
Parody. Ridicule, mimic, mock, burlesque or caricature: Make fun of your subject. "Roast' it, lampoon it. Transform it into a visual joke or pun. Exploit the humor factor, Make zany, ludicrous or comic references. Create a visual oxymoron or conundrum.
Prevaricate. Equivocate. Fictionalize, "bend" the truth, falsify, fantasize. Although telling fibs is not considered acceptable social conduct, it is the stuff that legends and myths are made of. Think: How can you use your subject as a theme to present ersatz information?
Equivocate: Present equivocal information that is subject to two or more interpretations and used to mislead or confuse.
Analogize.Compare. Draw associations: Seek similarities between things that are different. Make comparisons of your subject to elements from different domains, disciplines and realms of thought. Think: What can I compare my subject to? What logical and illogical associations can I make?
Remember, stretching analogies is a way of generating synergistic effects, new perceptions and potent metaphors.
Hybridize. Cross-fertilize: Wed your subject with an improbable mate. Think: "What would you get if you crossed a ______ with a _____?"
Creative thinking is a form of "mental hybridization" in that ideas are produced by cross-linking subjects from different realms.
Transfer the hybridization mechanism to the use of color, form and structure; cross-fertilize organic and inorganic elements, as well as ideas and perceptions. (See also METAMORPHOSE.)
Metamorphose. Transform, convert, transmutate: Depict your subject in a state of change. It can be a simple transformation (an object changing its color, for example) or a more radical change in which the subject changes its configuration.
Think of "cocoon-to-butterfly" types of transformations, aging, structural progressions, as well as radical and surreal metamorphosis such as "Jekyll and Hyde" transmutations.
Mutation is a radical hereditary change brought about by a change in chromosome relations or a biochemical change in the codons that make up genes. How can you apply metamorphosis or mutation to your subject?
Symbolize. How can your subject be imbued with symbolic qualities?
A visual symbol is a graphic device which stands for something other than what it is. (For example, a red cross stands for first aid, a striped pole for a barber shop, a dove bearing an olive branch for peace, etc.)
Public symbols are clich6s insofar as they are well-known and widely understood, while private symbols are cryptic and have special meaning only to their originator. Works of art are often integrations of both public and private symbols.
Think: What can you do to turn your subject into a symbolic image? What can you do to make it a public symbol? A private metaphor?
Mythologize. Build a myth around your subject.
In the 60's, Pop artists "mythologized" common objects. The Coca-Cola bottle, Brillo Pads, comic strip characters, movie stars, mass media images, hot rods, hamburgers and french fries and other such frivolous subjects became the visual icons of twentieth century art.
Think: How can you transform your subject into an iconic object?
Fantasize. Fantasize your subject. Use it to trigger surreal, preposterous, outlandish, outrageous, bizarre thoughts. Topple mental and sensory expectations. How far out can you extend your imagination? Think: "What-if" thoughts: What if automobiles were made of brick? What if alligators played pool? What if insects grew larger than humans? What if night and day occurred simultaneously?
Creative transformation demands an iconoclastic attitude. To invent, one must be contrary and go against established conventions and stereotypes. Remember, inventors create great inventions only by breaking the "rules".
Art-Think: Ways of Working
1. Identity: Set the problem or task, identify the subject.
2. Analyze: Examine the subject; break it down, classify it.
3. Ideate: Think, fantasize, produce ideas. Generate options towards a creative solution. Relate, rearrange, reconstruct.
4. Select: Choose your best option.
5. Implement: Put your ideas into action. Realize it. Transform imagination and fantasy into tangible form.
6. Evaluate: Judge the result. Think about new options and possibilities that have emerged. Go back to Step #1.
The Synectic Trigger Mechanisms: Tools for Creative Thinking
Subtract. Simplify. Omit, remove certain parts or elements. Take something away from your subject. Compress it or make it smaller. Think: What can be eliminated, reduced, disposed of? What rules can you break? How can you simplify, abstract, stylize or abbreviate?
Repeat. Repeat a shape, color, form, image or idea. Reiterate, echo, restate or duplicate your reference subject in some way. Think: How can you control the factors of occurrence, repercussion, sequence and progression?
Combine. Bring things together. Connect, arrange, link, unify, mix, merge, wed, rearrange. Combine ideas. Combine ideas, materials and techniques. Bring together dissimilar things to produce synergistic integrations. Ask: What else can you connect to your subject? What kind of connections can you make from different sensory modes, frames of reference or subject disciplines?
Add. Extend, expand, or otherwise develop your reference subject. Augment it, supplement, advance or annex it, Magnify it: Make it bigger. Think: What else can be added to your idea, image, object, or material?
Transfer. Move your subject into a new situation, environment or context. Adapt, transpose, relocate, dislocate. Adapt the subject to a new and different frame of reference. Move the subject out of its normal environment; transpose it to a different historical, social, geographical or political setting or time. Look at it from a different point of view.
Adapt an engineering principle, design quality, or other special quality of your subject to that of another. (The structure of a bird's wing, for example, has served as a model for designing bridges).
Transfer can also denote transformation. Think: How can your subject be converted, translated, or transfigured? (See also METAMORPHOSE and HYBRIDIZE.)
Empathize. Sympathize. Relate to your subject; put yourself in its "shoes." If the subject is inorganic or inanimate, think of it as having human qualities. How can you relate to it emotionally or subjectively? Offering helpful insight to an art student, the eighteenth century German painter Henry Fuseli once advised, "Transpose yourself into your subject."
Animate. Mobilize visual and psychological tensions in a painting or design. Control the pictorial movements and forces in a picture.
Apply factors of repetition, progression, serialization or narration. Bring life to inanimate subjects by thinking of them as having human qualities.
Superimpose. Overlap, place over, cover, overlay: Superimpose dissimilar images or ideas. Overlay elements to produce new images, ideas or meanings. Superimpose different elements from different perspectives, disciplines or time periods on your subject. Combine sensory perceptions (sound/color, etc).
-
Think syncronistically: What elements or images from different frames of
reference can be combined in a single view? Notice, for example, how
Cubist painters superimposed several views of a single object to show
many different moments in time simultaneously.
Change Scale. Make your subject bigger or smaller. Change proportion, relative size, ratio, dimensions or normal graduated series.
Substitute. Exchange, switch or replace: Think: What other idea, image, material or ingredient can you substitute for all or part of your subject? What alternate or supplementary plan can be employed?
Fragment. Separate, divide, split: Take your subject or idea apart. Dissect it. Chop it up or otherwise disassemble it. What devices can you use to divide it into smaller increments- or to make it appear discontinuous?
Isolate. Separate, set apart, crop, detach: Use only a part of your subject. In composing a picture, use a viewfinder to crop the image or visual field selectively. "Crop" your ideas, too, with a "mental" viewfinder. Think: What element can you detach or focus on?
Distort. Twist your subject out of its true shape, proportion or meaning. Think: What kind of imagined or actual distortions can you effect? How can you misshape it? Can you make it longer, wider, fatter, narrower? Can you maintain or produce a unique metaphoric and aesthetic quality when you misshape it? Can you melt it, burn it, crush it, spill something on it, bury it, crack it, tear it or subject it to yet other "tortures"? (Distortion also denotes fictionalizing. See PREVARICATE.)
Disguise. Camouflage, conceal, deceive or encrypt: How can you hide, mask or "implant' your subject into another frame of reference? In nature, for example, chameleons, moths and certain other species conceal themselves by mimicry: Their figure imitates the ground. How can you apply this to your subject?
Think about subliminal imagery: How can you create a latent image that will communicate subconsciously, below the threshold of conscious awareness?
Contradict. Contradict the subjects original function. Contravene, disaffirm, deny, reverse: Many great works of art are, in fact, visual and intellectual contradictions. They may contain opposite, antipodal, antithetical or converse elements which are integrated in their aesthetic and structural form. Contradict laws of nature such as gravity, time, etc.
Think: How can you visualize your subject in connection with the reversal of laws of nature, gravity, magnetic fields, growth cycles, proportions; mechanical and human functions, procedures, games, rituals or social conventions?
Satirical art is based on the observation of social hypocrisy and contradictory behavior. Optical illusions and "flip-flop" designs are equivocal configurations that contradict optical and perceptual harmony. Think: How can you use contradiction or reversal to change your subject?
Parody. Ridicule, mimic, mock, burlesque or caricature: Make fun of your subject. "Roast' it, lampoon it. Transform it into a visual joke or pun. Exploit the humor factor, Make zany, ludicrous or comic references. Create a visual oxymoron or conundrum.
Prevaricate. Equivocate. Fictionalize, "bend" the truth, falsify, fantasize. Although telling fibs is not considered acceptable social conduct, it is the stuff that legends and myths are made of. Think: How can you use your subject as a theme to present ersatz information?
Equivocate: Present equivocal information that is subject to two or more interpretations and used to mislead or confuse.
Analogize.Compare. Draw associations: Seek similarities between things that are different. Make comparisons of your subject to elements from different domains, disciplines and realms of thought. Think: What can I compare my subject to? What logical and illogical associations can I make?
Remember, stretching analogies is a way of generating synergistic effects, new perceptions and potent metaphors.
Hybridize. Cross-fertilize: Wed your subject with an improbable mate. Think: "What would you get if you crossed a ______ with a _____?"
Creative thinking is a form of "mental hybridization" in that ideas are produced by cross-linking subjects from different realms.
Transfer the hybridization mechanism to the use of color, form and structure; cross-fertilize organic and inorganic elements, as well as ideas and perceptions. (See also METAMORPHOSE.)
Metamorphose. Transform, convert, transmutate: Depict your subject in a state of change. It can be a simple transformation (an object changing its color, for example) or a more radical change in which the subject changes its configuration.
Think of "cocoon-to-butterfly" types of transformations, aging, structural progressions, as well as radical and surreal metamorphosis such as "Jekyll and Hyde" transmutations.
Mutation is a radical hereditary change brought about by a change in chromosome relations or a biochemical change in the codons that make up genes. How can you apply metamorphosis or mutation to your subject?
Symbolize. How can your subject be imbued with symbolic qualities?
A visual symbol is a graphic device which stands for something other than what it is. (For example, a red cross stands for first aid, a striped pole for a barber shop, a dove bearing an olive branch for peace, etc.)
Public symbols are clich6s insofar as they are well-known and widely understood, while private symbols are cryptic and have special meaning only to their originator. Works of art are often integrations of both public and private symbols.
Think: What can you do to turn your subject into a symbolic image? What can you do to make it a public symbol? A private metaphor?
Mythologize. Build a myth around your subject.
In the 60's, Pop artists "mythologized" common objects. The Coca-Cola bottle, Brillo Pads, comic strip characters, movie stars, mass media images, hot rods, hamburgers and french fries and other such frivolous subjects became the visual icons of twentieth century art.
Think: How can you transform your subject into an iconic object?
Fantasize. Fantasize your subject. Use it to trigger surreal, preposterous, outlandish, outrageous, bizarre thoughts. Topple mental and sensory expectations. How far out can you extend your imagination? Think: "What-if" thoughts: What if automobiles were made of brick? What if alligators played pool? What if insects grew larger than humans? What if night and day occurred simultaneously?
Creative transformation demands an iconoclastic attitude. To invent, one must be contrary and go against established conventions and stereotypes. Remember, inventors create great inventions only by breaking the "rules".
Art-Think: Ways of Working
1. Identity: Set the problem or task, identify the subject.
2. Analyze: Examine the subject; break it down, classify it.
3. Ideate: Think, fantasize, produce ideas. Generate options towards a creative solution. Relate, rearrange, reconstruct.
4. Select: Choose your best option.
5. Implement: Put your ideas into action. Realize it. Transform imagination and fantasy into tangible form.
6. Evaluate: Judge the result. Think about new options and possibilities that have emerged. Go back to Step #1.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Web page design
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with Stephen Petaia of Petaia Media and discuss themes and other ideas for my web page. We were able to take some photographs, interviews and other video. I am excited to see what is to come of this impromptu meeting! Look for the launch of www.christyadair.com in mid November!
 |
| Stephen and I not taking ourselves too seriously. |
Thursday, October 4, 2012
First draft: Artist Bio
Christy Adair is currently creating a body of work that
centers on the themes of personal and national identity, as well as spirituality
using a variety of fibrous materials. She
was born in raised in Henderson County, Texas and currently resides in Texarkana.
Christy received her Bachelors of Science degree in arts
education through Texas A&M - Commerce, and has been teaching high school
art for eight years. She is currently working towards her Master’s degree in Curriculum
and Instruction at Texas A&M – Texarkana.
** This definitely needs some revision as it isn't very interesting and doesn't even hold my attention at all.. **
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Artist Statement
In the
corner of my bedroom growing up was my mother’s sewing machine and scrap fabric
pile. Among the ever growing mountain of fabric were clothes long outgrown, old
curtains, sheets worn thin, and other fabrics that had a variety of roles in my
life. As a teenager with a rather peculiar sense of style I once had to rescue
my favorite, hideous dress from the depths of the scrap fabric pile;
sentenced to impending doom. Out in the world today there are large amounts of
discarded fabrics that have played prominent roles in someone’s life.
We spend
approximately thirty six percent of our lives depositing hair, dead skin cells,
various bodily fluids, and other proofs of life through our sheets into our
mattresses while we sleep. The suggestion of spiritual death permeates through
my knitted pieces with the use of discarded sheets. By choosing this media, I
am alluding to how much of our lives can easily be spent on the ‘stuff’ of the
world that we can quickly be consumed with if we are not mindful; things that
do not matter when seen in the big picture of life.
In
relation to the knitted pieces the flag pieces are an exploration of my
thoughts, feelings and beliefs on politics and the state of our nation as it
stands today. I feel that to be a responsible citizen of America you need to
know what you believe politically and why you believe it. By exploring familiar
iconography and texts I am solidifying my political beliefs why encouraging the
viewer to question theirs.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Sewing One Oh... Oh No.
I tried to learn how to sew today on this dinosaur of a sewing machine. The lady who was trying to teach me did a really great job of figuring out all of the archaic ins and outs of this thing. She finally got the thing threaded and ready to go, however the thread wouldn't catch the bobbin and even google coudn't even help us with that one. We surrendered. Time to call a professional - they better be old. Ancient sewing machine: one - the two of us: nada. We do live to try again another day, however. We will succeed. 
 |
Knitting is going well. My studio time consists of cutting sheets for an hour and a half and then knitting for a couple of hours. I usually spend three to four hours at a time in the studio.
I am playing with the idea of getting this thing mostly constructed and dying it. I realize some of the underlying patterns and colors will show through, but I think it will need something to unify it. My previous knitted piece was tied in on itself and linked together, so unification by color wasn't necessary. Since this piece will hang from the ceiling and have the two columns I'm thinking that it will need to have a similar color to them.
In each of the two columns there will be an abstracted mass that will represent an figure. Think this form, but without the snake:
There will be a third column but it will be very short and no 'figure' inside of it.
The red knitting on is the start of the 'net' that the columns will hang from. I like knitting on the straight part much less than the round, but I think I got a system working out for me now.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Agnes Martin Gold
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36073257/Agnes-Martin-Writings
Someone scanned in one of her books! Worth the read.. don't try to print it out - they want a membership fee. Pft...
Someone scanned in one of her books! Worth the read.. don't try to print it out - they want a membership fee. Pft...
Artist Statement Stew??
Ginger asked if there were some good tips or advice for writing an artist statement. I found a few websites that help walk you through the process. My artist statement will be posted when I have a little brain room to think about it.
http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/marketingresources/artstatemt/
http://artiststatement.com/ (this link references the first one.. )
http://www.artstudy.org/art-and-design-careers/sample-artist-statement.php Examples - some of what NOT to do.
http://10gallon.com/statement2000/ Brain dead yet? Fill in the blank and let this page generate your statement for you!
http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/marketingresources/artstatemt/
http://artiststatement.com/ (this link references the first one.. )
http://www.artstudy.org/art-and-design-careers/sample-artist-statement.php Examples - some of what NOT to do.
http://10gallon.com/statement2000/ Brain dead yet? Fill in the blank and let this page generate your statement for you!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Knitters? Please... and some textile artists
Magda Sayeg
Dave Cole
Elaine Reichek
Barb Hunt
Janet Morton
Sally Spinks
Tom Deininger
Sara Rahbar
Liz Collins
Pippa Andrews
Looms Constructed
I tried to knit on some existing looms that I have last night, but it didn't work out. Wouldn't you know that the looms are specifically designed to knit yarn and not strips of fabric?
So, today I constructed the two looms I will need for my hanging project this semester. Let the knitting begin! The circle loom will be for two 6 - 8 foot columns, the straight loom will be used to create a 7'x7' square knitted piece to connect the columns and it is what will be suspended. Sketches to come soon.
I also bought my domain name today. christyadair.com is under construction. Things are starting to happen!
So, today I constructed the two looms I will need for my hanging project this semester. Let the knitting begin! The circle loom will be for two 6 - 8 foot columns, the straight loom will be used to create a 7'x7' square knitted piece to connect the columns and it is what will be suspended. Sketches to come soon.
I also bought my domain name today. christyadair.com is under construction. Things are starting to happen!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Food for Thought
Be calm and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work. -- Blaise Pascal
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Dear Diary/Death in Art
As artists some people will ask you to do some interesting
things. Hey, will you go to the nursing
home to take a picture of my mom? Or will
you draw a portrait of my dead dog? Usually it’s safe to just say no. Your
picture of their mother will look like their mom currently looks – like she is
dying in a nursing home. The dog portrait will look like a dog. It won’t be the
most stimulating thing you’ve ever done and you will probably not do it to
their standards anyway.
Today’s request was an interesting and heartbreaking one. Last
weekend a person was beaten to death in this area. The police need some artistic
help making a connection with some fibers and came to a dear friend of mine for
assistance (so, I got to help her brainstorm and give hugs). My friend referred
the police to Lois Gibson (http://www.loisgibson.com/)
one of two full time forensic artists in the state of Texas and someone we have both been to
workshops by. I really hope they can get what they need and this person can get
justice.
Previously in the week I did have a conceptual breakthrough
with the knitting I’ve been doing using sheets. Studies show that we spend roughly
one third of our life asleep. If anyone has had a visit from the Kirby vacuum
people (or done some bedbug research) you know that in every sleeping moment
you are depositing dead skin cells into your bed through your sheets. Dead
flesh. In Christianity if one follows the ways of the flesh will lead to
spiritual death.
The knitting piece I am working on this semester has a
working title of Portrait of a Family
Consumed. It will be a large scale hanging and will represent how quickly
we could become consumed by the ways of the flesh.
While it’s not offensive or breaking many boundaries (there
is no flaming poo, after all) it is honest and insightful - or will hopefully
be.
One of the questions this week was about what went through
my mind to get my failure/offensive art so offensive. The key was what wouldn’t
I create art out of? What would
offend and repulse me? One of the issues with my flag piece was that maybe it
was still too tame, and I didn’t push the boundaries enough. From then it was a
natural conclusion to continue with the flag theme and use materials that
repulse me. Like seriously repulse me. From
then it was a no brainer. The army men comment stuck in my mind about how it
doesn’t need to be about a bunch of army men.. so let’s put those in the pile…
and then it kind of became like a ceremony. I was walking through the house
collecting these items, and laying them out sort of in order and at hand so I
could use them when needed. Woodstock is an inside dog, so every time he goes
outside he tends to go strait to the right spot to take care of business. I let
him marinate in the house for a little while as I set up all materials and lay
everything out. I used my Nikon cool pix camera and set it up on a pile of DVD’s
pointed where Woody usually goes, turned the camera on and let it happen. I had
to choke back some puke several different times. At one point I just sat back
and watched it burn and was thinking about how this did not make me feel like a
good person.
It was absurd and profound all at the same time. I realized that if my flag art offends people,
then it is bringing their attention to an issue I care deeply about. If they
think some art about a flag is awful then they should really just think about
what it is our country is doing to itself and see how they feel about that.
This is something that I would never do, so in doing it did
I compromise my standards? Did I just succeed at another assignment, and what
happens if you don’t like my ‘real’ art? I want my flag pieces to have meaning and
substance outside of sensationalism.
We Were - We Were the Youth of a Nation:
We are not a lost generation.
So, Saltz thought that the Venice Biennale had a weak
showing. There could be multiple factors involved other than the artists have
hero envy towards their teachers. Maybe the
curators had an off week?
One of the comments suggested that maybe the lackluster
showing was due to grad students going straight into teaching and possibly don’t
take the time to fully develop their own work. Could it be that their teachers
didn’t push them enough? I was kind of shocked to realize that no one through
my undergrad degree really challenged me and asked why I was doing what I was
doing. No one (except one) really asked about my voice or what I was trying to
say with my art. I just went through assignments. Due to the education part of
my degree I didn’t have to take some of the upper level art classes, and I was
trying to get out of there – so I didn’t. I didn’t make much art after I
graduated, either – there were no assignments!
Frances Stark – The overall theme I get from her work is
loneliness. Isolated figures and cold whiteness are repeating themes. It’s
depressing. In fact she was so lonely and isolated that she had to go online, have
virtual orgies with strangers and make simplistic Lego’s videos out of it. AND
she said it taught her how to write again. I like some of her imagery due to is
elegance and simplicity. She looses me when she starts making flower collages,
though.
Christian Marclay – Art about time and sound. It is very
thought provoking. I enjoyed how his video pulled some old time movie scenes in
order to provide a time reference for every minute of the day. The one thing
that I did think was amusing - I was watching an interview over his work and
there was a clock on the wall behind the lady that was giving her statement. I
LOL’d. I didn’t watch much of the sound stuff, though.
Back to the lost generation thing – all of our Great-Great-Grandparents
thought that our
Grandparents were going to be the ruin of the nation. Now
our Grandparents are saying that our kids will never amount to anything. When
you look at the state of things in America now you REALLY have to
wonder if they were right. What light isn’t shed on is the truly beautiful and
good things that are coming out of our generation. It’s not sensational enough,
I guess.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Thoughts on the Presentation of My Work.
1st thought group: Oh no. That's not working. Time to get back to SERIOUSLY working out.
2nd thought group: I'm still doing that nose in the air thing. I hate that my glasses slip down my nose, and I guess all of that 'being conscience that you look like a stuck up brat when you do that' was long forgotten, because it does seem as if I'm looking down my nose... BUT, the camera angle IS low...
3rd thought group (and the only one that was really wanted): I wasn't really sure this was a Q&A type presentation, and I expected to just kind of go straight through it. With that being said I feel that I presented my work well and answered all of the questions honestly. I stayed pretty even keel emotionally and tonally. When the answers to some of the questions were 'I'm still trying to figure that out' or 'I'm not sure' I didn't come across as confident as I would have liked.
I do appreciate all of the comments and suggestions on my work. As a result of this lecture I'm at a fissure of what direction to take my work in next. I had originally planned on going in a pretty drastically different direction with making a series of headdresses based on different historical and cultural pieces but change them up so that they represent the things that we as a society and culture make important. So, if a headdress is something that is worn in ceremony and of important significance I would then be making headdresses to represent what we (and I) tend to put as the most important things in our lives. Money, technology, 'stuff', and sexuality were a few areas that I wanted to explore.
I do see the need to refine and continue to work with the fabric. There were a lot of questions that still need to be answered. What do you do when you create something and you aren't conceptually sure about?
You create more.
2nd thought group: I'm still doing that nose in the air thing. I hate that my glasses slip down my nose, and I guess all of that 'being conscience that you look like a stuck up brat when you do that' was long forgotten, because it does seem as if I'm looking down my nose... BUT, the camera angle IS low...
3rd thought group (and the only one that was really wanted): I wasn't really sure this was a Q&A type presentation, and I expected to just kind of go straight through it. With that being said I feel that I presented my work well and answered all of the questions honestly. I stayed pretty even keel emotionally and tonally. When the answers to some of the questions were 'I'm still trying to figure that out' or 'I'm not sure' I didn't come across as confident as I would have liked.
I do appreciate all of the comments and suggestions on my work. As a result of this lecture I'm at a fissure of what direction to take my work in next. I had originally planned on going in a pretty drastically different direction with making a series of headdresses based on different historical and cultural pieces but change them up so that they represent the things that we as a society and culture make important. So, if a headdress is something that is worn in ceremony and of important significance I would then be making headdresses to represent what we (and I) tend to put as the most important things in our lives. Money, technology, 'stuff', and sexuality were a few areas that I wanted to explore.
I do see the need to refine and continue to work with the fabric. There were a lot of questions that still need to be answered. What do you do when you create something and you aren't conceptually sure about?
You create more.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Classmates Critiques
Jason
Since I'm the newbie here, I had no idea what to expect when you said your work involved sound and technology. When you showed the short clip of 'Critique Machine' I can honestly say that it took my breath away for a moment. Your work is smart, edgy, clean and beautiful. I know that's a lot of adjectives, but to say I loved it wouldn't be enough.
I liked hearing the story behind how you got to this point. I would like to see what happens if you consider how your work would live outside of the gallery. To me, a big part of your work I was attracted to was the wires and tangles, so would that still be apparent outside of the gallery? I can imagine some sort of lost and found/hide and seek, where you hear the audio aspect then search out and find what it is that creates it.
Lock
He who shall not talk about his day job.
Slow down, memory, metaphor, destructive beauty. I hear you, and I think I "get it" with your art. Any artist can begin creating with one idea in mind (or NO idea in mind) and when the work is finished it has become about something else that may or may not be related to where you started. PLUS, as people view your art and they project their own thoughts and feelings onto your art as well, so that also becomes part of your art. If you take a while to create a piece there are a billion things that go through your mind as you create them.
I would suggest you play a little. Get your sketchbook and your pallet. Throw down a few backgrounds then go outside and look at a cloud or some smoke and make a mark that represents that moment, memory and/or emotion, and do it quick! Do 25, times. Do it 250 times. Then, look at them all together. What does that become? How would that translate into your larger more realistic work?
I personally tend to over-kill things when I work them too much, are you over-killing your work? I think the sample that you showed look very technically well made and beautiful. Are you getting across your message?
Katie
The girl with the best laugh, ever.
I like that you are making a stand that you are working in the book format. I really enjoy your honest and relatable messages. I am also glad that you are working on the overall presentation; box or envelope.
As far as imagery is concerned, I am much more attracted to your portraits than the images in the book. I'm pretty sure it's the outline and lack of line thickness and depth. I don't have to guess or wonder about most of the images in your books - they are outlined nice and neat for me.
Ginger
I'm even more intrigued by your work now that I've seen more of it. My first path down the creative line was with black and white photography, so that is naturally what I am drawn too. I can just smell the chemicals in your alternative process work.
Your graduate work is startlingly honest, and some of it has that creepy weird factor that I am really drawn to. So, a few questions for you. On Self portrait 2010 and Ugly Me1 I'm left wondering why you covered yourself at all? Does it tie into your theme and what you are exposing with your art (because I could see how it would)? If I am viewing these photos alone I'm not going to get that over all theme and I need to ask if this is a full nude shot or not? If it is, then do it - if not then put some clothes on! (Does humor come across in this post?) I'm interested to hear your reasoning for this.
I think the presentation of your work is smart. You know what you are competing against in the market, and you present yourself accordingly. When you stated that you aren't taken seriously as a competitor on sight, I wanted to argue with you.. but I had to think about my first response. 'Oh, here is your friendly neighbor type lady who is bringing cake to class.. how nice. I'm glad someone is friendly! Get ready to see flowers in her art somewhere...' And then when I saw your work it was BAM! I WAS SO WRONG, AND I AM SO GLAD! I am SO excited to see what is next!
Debbie
I love that your work is performance based, I guess I didn't pick up on that this summer. I like the suggestions about the professional actors/dancers performing your work, AND more interaction.
You did shock me some with your statements about how the 'fly in' film was about how long you could keep your audiences attention. Would you say that your now is much more towards the study of people, and not about what it is you actually create? If so, then why these big pieces? How big of a role do these forms actually have if your focus is mainly on the viewer?
Paul
To make an informed critique I really need to see more of your work! I really enjoyed the prints that I have seen, and look forward to seeing how that transforms into your movies.
I'm not sure I agree with the suggestion about the phone video camera. When I think about it I can't think past 'yeah, but a 12 year old could do that'. How would that turn into art? I'm not really sure. I guess it would be worth a try!
I had actually read the story of Jericho in Joshua on Tuesday or Wednesday. I couldn't help but wondering what the people inside the city walls were thinking. Did it go something like 'What? These are the people we have been fearing? Their God is supposed to be all powerful and all they have been doing is walking around the walls of this city for SIX days like idiots blowing their little horns..'
I have to amuse myself sometimes.
I'm looking forward to seeing what's coming of your work this semester!
Since I'm the newbie here, I had no idea what to expect when you said your work involved sound and technology. When you showed the short clip of 'Critique Machine' I can honestly say that it took my breath away for a moment. Your work is smart, edgy, clean and beautiful. I know that's a lot of adjectives, but to say I loved it wouldn't be enough.
I liked hearing the story behind how you got to this point. I would like to see what happens if you consider how your work would live outside of the gallery. To me, a big part of your work I was attracted to was the wires and tangles, so would that still be apparent outside of the gallery? I can imagine some sort of lost and found/hide and seek, where you hear the audio aspect then search out and find what it is that creates it.
Lock
He who shall not talk about his day job.
Slow down, memory, metaphor, destructive beauty. I hear you, and I think I "get it" with your art. Any artist can begin creating with one idea in mind (or NO idea in mind) and when the work is finished it has become about something else that may or may not be related to where you started. PLUS, as people view your art and they project their own thoughts and feelings onto your art as well, so that also becomes part of your art. If you take a while to create a piece there are a billion things that go through your mind as you create them.
I would suggest you play a little. Get your sketchbook and your pallet. Throw down a few backgrounds then go outside and look at a cloud or some smoke and make a mark that represents that moment, memory and/or emotion, and do it quick! Do 25, times. Do it 250 times. Then, look at them all together. What does that become? How would that translate into your larger more realistic work?
I personally tend to over-kill things when I work them too much, are you over-killing your work? I think the sample that you showed look very technically well made and beautiful. Are you getting across your message?
Katie
The girl with the best laugh, ever.
I like that you are making a stand that you are working in the book format. I really enjoy your honest and relatable messages. I am also glad that you are working on the overall presentation; box or envelope.
As far as imagery is concerned, I am much more attracted to your portraits than the images in the book. I'm pretty sure it's the outline and lack of line thickness and depth. I don't have to guess or wonder about most of the images in your books - they are outlined nice and neat for me.
Ginger
I'm even more intrigued by your work now that I've seen more of it. My first path down the creative line was with black and white photography, so that is naturally what I am drawn too. I can just smell the chemicals in your alternative process work.
Your graduate work is startlingly honest, and some of it has that creepy weird factor that I am really drawn to. So, a few questions for you. On Self portrait 2010 and Ugly Me1 I'm left wondering why you covered yourself at all? Does it tie into your theme and what you are exposing with your art (because I could see how it would)? If I am viewing these photos alone I'm not going to get that over all theme and I need to ask if this is a full nude shot or not? If it is, then do it - if not then put some clothes on! (Does humor come across in this post?) I'm interested to hear your reasoning for this.
I think the presentation of your work is smart. You know what you are competing against in the market, and you present yourself accordingly. When you stated that you aren't taken seriously as a competitor on sight, I wanted to argue with you.. but I had to think about my first response. 'Oh, here is your friendly neighbor type lady who is bringing cake to class.. how nice. I'm glad someone is friendly! Get ready to see flowers in her art somewhere...' And then when I saw your work it was BAM! I WAS SO WRONG, AND I AM SO GLAD! I am SO excited to see what is next!
Debbie
I love that your work is performance based, I guess I didn't pick up on that this summer. I like the suggestions about the professional actors/dancers performing your work, AND more interaction.
You did shock me some with your statements about how the 'fly in' film was about how long you could keep your audiences attention. Would you say that your now is much more towards the study of people, and not about what it is you actually create? If so, then why these big pieces? How big of a role do these forms actually have if your focus is mainly on the viewer?
Paul
To make an informed critique I really need to see more of your work! I really enjoyed the prints that I have seen, and look forward to seeing how that transforms into your movies.
I'm not sure I agree with the suggestion about the phone video camera. When I think about it I can't think past 'yeah, but a 12 year old could do that'. How would that turn into art? I'm not really sure. I guess it would be worth a try!
I had actually read the story of Jericho in Joshua on Tuesday or Wednesday. I couldn't help but wondering what the people inside the city walls were thinking. Did it go something like 'What? These are the people we have been fearing? Their God is supposed to be all powerful and all they have been doing is walking around the walls of this city for SIX days like idiots blowing their little horns..'
I have to amuse myself sometimes.
I'm looking forward to seeing what's coming of your work this semester!
Ginger Rogers? I think not.
I was asked if I had considered creating under a pseudonym at the end of class; which I hadn't. The thought of creating art under an assumed name was spectacular and brilliant; considering my day job. I really embraced and latched onto that idea and thought of all the wonderful things that could be done with an assumed identity. I thought of Gunther von Hagens http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/gunther_von_hagens/life_in_science.html who is a scientist/artist who dresses like a doctor in one of Rembrandt's paintings, The Guerrilla Girls http://www.guerrillagirls.com who fight against the injustices towards women in the art world while wearing guerrilla masks to maintain their anonymity, Knitta(Please) http://knittaporfavor.wordpress.com who is a group of graffiti knitters, and The Art Guys http://www.theartguys.com who are a couple of guys who create art together. While not all of these artists are anonymous, they are still creating art under an assumed name or identity.
Brilliant, romantic, and some would consider freeing... but it's not for me. In all things I do I try to be honest and transparent. To those who know me will attest that I speak my mind and say what I feel. I offend people, usually unintentionally. I don't like it, it doesn't make me feel good, but it happens. The conflict, then, is with my art. I have been playing it safe. I haven't been as daring as I could be. My art doesn't match my personality. So, I'm going to go there - where ever 'there' is. I'm not going to bend on my core beliefs, but I will push the limit of my art.
Besides, trying to keep up with two of me sounds time consuming. I don't have the time or the head space. PLUS - I've tried it before in another aspect of my life.... it ended up with a broken leg and a broken team.
Brilliant, romantic, and some would consider freeing... but it's not for me. In all things I do I try to be honest and transparent. To those who know me will attest that I speak my mind and say what I feel. I offend people, usually unintentionally. I don't like it, it doesn't make me feel good, but it happens. The conflict, then, is with my art. I have been playing it safe. I haven't been as daring as I could be. My art doesn't match my personality. So, I'm going to go there - where ever 'there' is. I'm not going to bend on my core beliefs, but I will push the limit of my art.
Besides, trying to keep up with two of me sounds time consuming. I don't have the time or the head space. PLUS - I've tried it before in another aspect of my life.... it ended up with a broken leg and a broken team.
The artist as Holy Roller: Roller Derby Queen
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