May 1, 2012
(Photo by Michelle Breland)

(Photo by Michelle Breland)

10:20am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxKgo3Yf
April 27, 2012
Blog #2

My original intention with this project was to interpret a quote from Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar.  As my ideas developed and I began the physical part of the creative process, I became aware that it was much more than an illustration of someone else’s work. My project became more about unrelenting time and my life. I found myself telling my own story rather than Plath’s.  However, I did not want to completely get rid of Plath’s idea so I kept the color purple present, which references the figs (opportunities) from her story.

 

My process entailed a lot of thinking and waiting. Once I had all of my balloons (around 26), I set my camera up on a tripod and began photographing them. There was not a lot of change in the size or altitude of the balloons for most of the first day. Despite my efforts to be as attentive as possible, I actually missed quite a few of them falling between the hours of midnight and 4:00 a.m. because I was sleeping. The people who I bought the balloons from said that they would only last about 6 hours…they lasted for days. This made it difficult to photograph the process because of my work and school schedule.

 

I made a change in my final presentation of my project. I originally stated that I wanted to print out photos and do a mock installation of them in a horizontal line on a wall. I thought that it would be more aesthetically pleasing to project the images onto a surface. I decided to project the images in the actual closet that the balloons descended in. The real-time act of the balloons falling cannot be changed. It is not possible to go back in time and keep them from falling, just as it is not possible to go back in time and change events or things that we regret. For me, the closet represents the mind and memories. Replaying the fall of the balloons represents the past and missed opportunities.

 

For the most part, I am happy with my final product. It was never my plan to have this installed in a public space. In terms of a final product, I treated this project like a proposal. I installed it in my own home as a mock installation. Viewing it while it happened was awesome. I thought that it looked really great and polished. I believe that my photographs portray this but my video does not. I hate the quality of my video, which was due to the camera that I was using. I am only including the video because it is the closet thing that an audience can get to the actual experience.

1:59am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxKPPJTu
April 27, 2012

Blog #1 (Part 1)

An Unforgiving (Linear) Time

On the surface, crossroads only appear to exist during major milestones in life. This thought becomes transparent when we realize that every decision we make places us on a specific route. Sometimes certain decisions permanently place us on paths, making other paths and opportunities unattainable. Here, we feel the effects of linear time which is independent of consciousness. It does not care about our feelings, plans, or even how we look at it; time does not change for us. An Unforgiving (Linear) Time attempts to visualize this notion through illustrating a section from Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Bell Jar:

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.  From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.  One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out.  I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose.  I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”  —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, Chapter 7

1:55am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxKPOx8q
April 11, 2012

High school is a very typical place in life to be aware of crossroads. For me, it was the first time that I read Sylvia Plath’s only novel, The Bell Jar. As I have grown older, I have realized that decisions are constant and occur on a daily basis. Sometimes certain decisions can take you down a certain path and you may be able to backtrack or you may not. This quote from The Bell Jar has always encompassed this idea and I want to make this concept tangible in my own personal way:

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.  From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.  One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out.  I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose.  I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”  —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar, Chapter 7

I have already cleared out my closet, as I plan to use this space for this project. I plan on filling several purple balloons with helium and document their decent through photographs. The color purple references the figs from the novel and their decent represents the deteriorating pathways as time passes.

9:22pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxJW0QWb
(Notes: 1)
  
March 20, 2012
Straying: documentation narrative

The thought to play with the idea of sleep as escapism felt like a very natural thing to do. Since I was a baby, I was basically conditioned to sleep in chaotic, noisy environments. My mom was a single mother who worked very long shifts and needed to wind down when she got home from work. Consequently, she would put me to sleep with the television or music on so that she could move about the house without having to worry about waking me. This condition has existed and evolved over time, and I resort to sleeping whenever I feel stressed, emotional, or angry. I thought that the best way to portray this concept was through video. The opening of the video contains sound, which represents the chaos of reality. From there, the video transitions to a time lapse of me sleeping. This sped up time emphasizes my break from reality and the constant movement of the outside world. When I wake up, the video returns to sound, symbolizing my inevitable return to reality. Even though I went into this project with the expectation that it would exist purely as a conceptual video, I think that it overlaps with performance art because I lived out this action in a public space and elicited reactions from the people around me. As you can see from the video, someone gave me a dollar and another person laid down next to me for a little while. I would often hear the sounds of people taking photos and talking about what I was doing.

This project was challenging for me because it took me out of my comfort zone. I do not feel comfortable being the center of attention, especially within the realm of performance. I felt vulnerable to the public and how they might react to me sleeping in public.

2:00am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxIHIGJc
March 20, 2012
Straying “Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an “escape” from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to help relieve persisting feelings of depression or general sadness.” Memories are filled with an abundance of information and experiences that can build up over time and can leave us feeling overwhelmed. In addition to already stored information, we are constantly adding more each day, which can make us feel the need for a pause or a refresher in our daily life. I find sleep to be the perfect escape and even a crucial stray from reality. Sleep is our bodies’ natural “break” in our day that allows us to experience a time for our brain to process the information of the day and solve problems.

Straying

“Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an “escape” from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to help relieve persisting feelings of depression or general sadness.”

Memories are filled with an abundance of information and experiences that can build up over time and can leave us feeling overwhelmed. In addition to already stored information, we are constantly adding more each day, which can make us feel the need for a pause or a refresher in our daily life. I find sleep to be the perfect escape and even a crucial stray from reality. Sleep is our bodies’ natural “break” in our day that allows us to experience a time for our brain to process the information of the day and solve problems.

1:57am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxIHHxQi
March 14, 2012
The Talking Heads’ concert movie, Stop Making Sense, was enjoyable to watch with a group of people and hilarious at times with it’s totally 80s funkiness. I was a bit jealous that I was not part of the generation that experienced the film close to its year of creation in 1984. Growing up outside of that time means not necessarily being able to be completely aware of its social and political context. While I was watching the film I was sensitive to the fact that I was probably missing out on a lot of symbolism and underlying meaning that would normally enhance my overall experience of Stop Making Sense. I had a similar experience when I saw Indiana Jones for the first time a couple of years ago. The film did a lot of firsts that have now become clichés in within the realm of action movies, but there exists a very high level of gratitude and appreciation for those people and the doors that they open through their innovations and creativity. Despite some disconnect, there were some aspects that were obviously different from other rock concert movies: there were not a lot of audience shots; no colored lights were used; there was a unique energy; and long camera shots. The lack of more intimate audience shots creates a focus on the performance and the music. Viewers of the film are able to come to their own conclusions about it without visual cues from the concert audience. The long camera shots also left enough room for the audience to relish in the moment and experience the performance as if you were actually there—first hand.

The Talking Heads’ concert movie, Stop Making Sense, was enjoyable to watch with a group of people and hilarious at times with it’s totally 80s funkiness. I was a bit jealous that I was not part of the generation that experienced the film close to its year of creation in 1984. Growing up outside of that time means not necessarily being able to be completely aware of its social and political context. While I was watching the film I was sensitive to the fact that I was probably missing out on a lot of symbolism and underlying meaning that would normally enhance my overall experience of Stop Making Sense. I had a similar experience when I saw Indiana Jones for the first time a couple of years ago. The film did a lot of firsts that have now become clichés in within the realm of action movies, but there exists a very high level of gratitude and appreciation for those people and the doors that they open through their innovations and creativity.

Despite some disconnect, there were some aspects that were obviously different from other rock concert movies: there were not a lot of audience shots; no colored lights were used; there was a unique energy; and long camera shots. The lack of more intimate audience shots creates a focus on the performance and the music. Viewers of the film are able to come to their own conclusions about it without visual cues from the concert audience. The long camera shots also left enough room for the audience to relish in the moment and experience the performance as if you were actually there—first hand.

3:42pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxH_SGkG
February 29, 2012

These are a few photos for my mid-way critique—sleep as escapism.

8:40pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxHGI909
February 25, 2012
Alfredo Jaar, Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom, 2005. Zinc platform, 25 zinc containers, nine compact axial fans, air conditioning system, irrigation system, lighting system, 100 flowers, earth, video projection. Platform: 26 1/4 x 26 1/4 feet. Installation view: Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma.This week I responded more to a specific piece rather than to an entire body of work or an artist’soeuvre. Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom is a thoughtful exploration into the role played by intellectuals facing the forces of power. Even though this piece was motivated by a specific incident, it is still a relevant issue and is significant on both a large and a small scale. This suffocation by authority is painfully true to most but I definitely feel it as being a part of the arts and the education system. I think that this piece is extremely successful because the concept is represented by using simple metaphors. When ideas are stripped down to their bare parts, it is easier to understand them. Plus, I have respect for anyone who can take the cliché, beautiful object (i.e. a flower) and elevate it. He talks about these elements of beauty in his work in an interview with Art21: ART21: Considering the fact that you are tackling such difficult subject matter, how do you explain the presence of beauty in your work? JAAR: People describe me sometimes as a conceptual artist, as a political artist, with work of a strong political connotation or social content. I always reject those labels. I’m an artist, and believe it or not, I’m interested in beauty, and I’m not afraid of it. It is an essential tool to attract my audience, and sometimes I use it to introduce horror because the audience has to be seduced. If we learned anything from the activist art of the 1960s, it is that when you make that kind of work, people don’t even get close to you. They don’t want to see another drop of blood on the floor. So, beauty becomes a tool to bring the audience in.

Alfredo Jaar, Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom, 2005.
Zinc platform, 25 zinc containers, nine compact axial fans, air conditioning system, irrigation system, lighting system, 100 flowers, earth, video projection.

Platform: 26 1/4 x 26 1/4 feet.

Installation view: Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma.

This week I responded more to a specific piece rather than to an entire body of work or an artist’soeuvre. Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom is a thoughtful exploration into the role played by intellectuals facing the forces of power. Even though this piece was motivated by a specific incident, it is still a relevant issue and is significant on both a large and a small scale. This suffocation by authority is painfully true to most but I definitely feel it as being a part of the arts and the education system. I think that this piece is extremely successful because the concept is represented by using simple metaphors. When ideas are stripped down to their bare parts, it is easier to understand them. Plus, I have respect for anyone who can take the cliché, beautiful object (i.e. a flower) and elevate it. He talks about these elements of beauty in his work in an interview with Art21:

ART21: Considering the fact that you are tackling such difficult subject matter, how do you explain the presence of beauty in your work?

JAAR: People describe me sometimes as a conceptual artist, as a political artist, with work of a strong political connotation or social content. I always reject those labels. I’m an artist, and believe it or not, I’m interested in beauty, and I’m not afraid of it. It is an essential tool to attract my audience, and sometimes I use it to introduce horror because the audience has to be seduced. If we learned anything from the activist art of the 1960s, it is that when you make that kind of work, people don’t even get close to you. They don’t want to see another drop of blood on the floor. So, beauty becomes a tool to bring the audience in.

6:11pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxH1Q56N
February 22, 2012
Something, something…Sophie Calle

At times this class makes me feel like my brain is going to explode, as the semantics of art can get kind of crazy.  I feel like there is this build up of definitions and emotions towards art: what it is and what it can be…that has been exemplified by this class and its participating members. I can see myself heading into darkness—that feeling of obscurity—due to my growing mentality that “art can be anything”. This stretch in meaning kind of scares me because I do not always know where that line is drawn and how far down the rabbit hole I will go. I used to say that it is all about the artist’s intention, but after watching Sophie Calle’s early “work” I began to realize my own confusion and perhaps…contradictions. At first Calle did not have the intent of creating art but I viewed it as such because it was so interesting and beautiful with it’s  social experimentations (one of the main reasons why I love performance art so much). I still do not know how to label her early “work” within the context of art and it is possible that I never will.

11:55pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxGtnauL
February 19, 2012
Christian Patterson 1545 Cornhusker (Oil Spill)

Christian Patterson 1545 Cornhusker (Oil Spill)

1:22am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxGfAivf
February 17, 2012
Humble Genius

Some aspects of Tim Hawkinson’s work has been described as simple, yet every time I look at his work or hear him talk about his work it seems like an impossible feat for myself. It is the same feeling that I get when I view the work of Doris Salcedo. They both use every day, household materials (i.e. furniture and plastic wrap), making them both appear to be very modest when in fact they are more profound and technical than their materials let on. However, unlike Salcedo, the sculptures and installations of Hawkinson do not require the help from a team of architects, engineers, and assistants because he is able to do it all himself. He is somewhat a walking, talking oxymoron because I find him to be a humble genius—if there is such a thing.


1:43pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxGZTd44
February 15, 2012
Oh, Felix.

Felix González-Torres is by far one of my favorite artists that I have seen in this class—maybe ever. By incorporating the universal experiences of love and pain within his work, we are able to contextualize the meaning within our own lives. The juxtaposition of simple components like candy, and the complex stories of loss hit you hard and leave you feeling pensive. In the moments following the presentation and in my moments of reflection, I have felt grief because the artist is no longer with us and can no longer produce art. Even though some of his work lives on through the preservation efforts of the Felix González-Torres Foundation, we will never have anything new from him, and all of this is sweet, beautiful, sad and inevitable.

11:24am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxGSe_zl
February 14, 2012
John Baldessari

I am not necessarily sure why I chose John Baldessari. Perhaps it was a collection of small things, like his deadpan visuals, that eventually added up to something larger — greater. He has had a long art career [he is 75 years old] and has gone from doing art as just a “masturbatory activity” to committing his life to making art and finding purpose in it. This journey makes him very relatable, as the shift in “why I do art” is a right of passage for every artist.

Baldessari started off as a painter but the real magic started when he began to ask questions and think more on a conceptual level. Most of his work deals with the idea of communication in public, as a lot of his work involves text, etc. He has a shit ton of credentials from shows to awards to teaching. Because his life is so fruitful, I am going to go over parts of his art career in little snippets.

A crucial development in his earlier work was when he began to include text in his paintings. The phrases were actually quotes from a famous art critic, Clement Greenberg, and touched on a lot of contemporary art theories. Although he started out hand painting these works, he eventually hired a sign painter to apply the text for him. He did this in order to remove himself from the artistic process in such a way that questioned the role of the traditional artist.

John Baldessari, Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell, 1966-68. Acrylic on canvas. 68 x 56 1/2 in.

Baldessari then moved to working with text and images. From there he played around a bit with “arbitrary games”, such as Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line:


In 1970 he disowned his early work by gathering all of his paintings that he had created from 1953 to 1996 and took them to a mortuary crematorium to have them all incinerated. Coupled with the ashes, he published a paid death-notice in the paper that stated: RIP, John Baldessari, painter.

I think to get a good grasp on the artist and his work, one should watch this video: http://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/segment-john-baldessari-in-systems

1:24am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxGOvcMP
February 10, 2012
Michelle Breland, Untitled (I set your soul on fire), 2012.

Michelle Breland, Untitled (I set your soul on fire), 2012.

2:25pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZTYbdxGB-v3h
(Notes: 1)
  
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