Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Blog 4: Contemporary Art Concepts
Meshes of the Afternoon
The following are a few concepts I saw in Maya Deren's experimental film, Meshes of the Afternoon. Keep in mind that these are my connections, and they might not represent the artist's original intent.
Code-switching from body to object (0:39) The fragility of the flower, shaken and roughly carried, is similar to our main character. She is beautiful, but her life seems to be ruled by abusive powers out of her control.
Double-coding such as the key/knife (10:00) Destruction (as signified by a knife) can potentially offer the same outcome (freedom) as a key. *This can also be seen as a juxtaposition, a Postmodern Principle recognized by Gude.*
Reversals in the relation of subject to object (6:29) Deren's character watches herself try, and fail, to catch a cloaked figure with a mirrored face multiple times. She becomes an object in her own narrative. This repetition of Deren's character watching herself perfect representation of a visual palimpsest. *The Postmodern Principle of "Gazing" can be applied here.*
Subversion of normalcy (9:06) Three physical manifestations of the same character are not as surprising as the reappearance of a key.
Hypersignification of domestic objects, e.g., with extreme close-ups, slow zooms, camera angles, & space constriction (2:00) A purposeful pause before the protagonist ascends the stairs acts as an acknowledgement of a nearby unhooked telephone. The telephone reappears many times throughout the piece, culminating in the male figure's replacement of the handset back on the receiver.
Harlem Rose
This piece (now on display at the Palmer Museum) was created by Willie Cole, a contemporary artist currently working out of Newark, NJ. I'd like to discuss its relationship with many of the issues stated in our readings.
In Museum Culture and the Inequities of Display and Representation (2007), author Alice Wexler provides a damning description of museums and their exhibition selections. After working as a graduate assistant at the Palmer for 6 months, I must say that some of these claims are not universal truisms. In fact, I was disappointed to see that the role of museum educators (and their work) was not discussed. Museum education seems to be the perfect place to start changing the attitudes Wexler describes.
For example, many docents have told me that Harlem Rose is a favorite of children visitors, a prominently placed sculpture by a black artist. Dana, the Curator of Education at the Palmer, uses it to bring up many contemporary concepts. In one tour, she described titular "Rose" as referring to both the shape of the piece (a flower) and the verb "to rise." This takes on many different meanings when juxtaposed against the female working-class shoes that make up the sculpture. Could the artist be honoring the females in his community that worked to raise their families? What implications does this have for the type of beauty "grown" in Harlem?
Attentive Learning (a Principle of Possibility) can be achieved through questions that museum educators (or other art educators facilitating a museum trip) ask in order to foster connections between visitors and contemporary themes. Here are a few prompts that I would ask in response to viewing Harlem Rose.
Investigating Community Themes (Principles of Possibility): Why do you think the artist mentions Harlem in the title? What type of community values are being portrayed through the use of female shoes?
Appropriation (Postmodern Principles): Why do you think shoes were chosen to create this piece? What do shoes symbolize?
Representin' (Postmodern Principles): What connections can you make between the artist's background (growing up in New York City) and the themes discussed?
I hope that by respecting each museum visitor's agency and abilities to make connections, museum educators can help right some of the historical wrongs mentioned by Wexler. To my classmates: what experiences have you had in museums? Where there any times you felt particularly welcome (or unwelcome) and do you have any suggestions for inclusive future tour planning?
The following are a few concepts I saw in Maya Deren's experimental film, Meshes of the Afternoon. Keep in mind that these are my connections, and they might not represent the artist's original intent.
Code-switching from body to object (0:39) The fragility of the flower, shaken and roughly carried, is similar to our main character. She is beautiful, but her life seems to be ruled by abusive powers out of her control.
Double-coding such as the key/knife (10:00) Destruction (as signified by a knife) can potentially offer the same outcome (freedom) as a key. *This can also be seen as a juxtaposition, a Postmodern Principle recognized by Gude.*
Reversals in the relation of subject to object (6:29) Deren's character watches herself try, and fail, to catch a cloaked figure with a mirrored face multiple times. She becomes an object in her own narrative. This repetition of Deren's character watching herself perfect representation of a visual palimpsest. *The Postmodern Principle of "Gazing" can be applied here.*
Subversion of normalcy (9:06) Three physical manifestations of the same character are not as surprising as the reappearance of a key.
Hypersignification of domestic objects, e.g., with extreme close-ups, slow zooms, camera angles, & space constriction (2:00) A purposeful pause before the protagonist ascends the stairs acts as an acknowledgement of a nearby unhooked telephone. The telephone reappears many times throughout the piece, culminating in the male figure's replacement of the handset back on the receiver.
Harlem Rose
 |
| Willie Cole, Harlem Rose, 2005 |
In Museum Culture and the Inequities of Display and Representation (2007), author Alice Wexler provides a damning description of museums and their exhibition selections. After working as a graduate assistant at the Palmer for 6 months, I must say that some of these claims are not universal truisms. In fact, I was disappointed to see that the role of museum educators (and their work) was not discussed. Museum education seems to be the perfect place to start changing the attitudes Wexler describes.
For example, many docents have told me that Harlem Rose is a favorite of children visitors, a prominently placed sculpture by a black artist. Dana, the Curator of Education at the Palmer, uses it to bring up many contemporary concepts. In one tour, she described titular "Rose" as referring to both the shape of the piece (a flower) and the verb "to rise." This takes on many different meanings when juxtaposed against the female working-class shoes that make up the sculpture. Could the artist be honoring the females in his community that worked to raise their families? What implications does this have for the type of beauty "grown" in Harlem?
Attentive Learning (a Principle of Possibility) can be achieved through questions that museum educators (or other art educators facilitating a museum trip) ask in order to foster connections between visitors and contemporary themes. Here are a few prompts that I would ask in response to viewing Harlem Rose.
 |
| Detail: Willie Cole, Harlem Rose, 2005 |
Appropriation (Postmodern Principles): Why do you think shoes were chosen to create this piece? What do shoes symbolize?
Representin' (Postmodern Principles): What connections can you make between the artist's background (growing up in New York City) and the themes discussed?
I hope that by respecting each museum visitor's agency and abilities to make connections, museum educators can help right some of the historical wrongs mentioned by Wexler. To my classmates: what experiences have you had in museums? Where there any times you felt particularly welcome (or unwelcome) and do you have any suggestions for inclusive future tour planning?
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
3: Installation Art Encounters: Extending the Invitation
To: מִרְיָם (Miriam)
Because: I would like to invite Miriam, the Jewish “prophetess,” to Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party table because I feel like there is so much more to her story than what has survived in the bible and Qur’an.
Miriam was first mentioned in the Old Testament as the sister of Moses. It was her cleverness that kept him alive and suggested that the Pharaoh’s wife should use her mother as his nursemaid. More importantly, I believe, it was Miriam along with her brothers that led an enslaved people out of oppression. Her part of this narrative is often overlooked. For example, only a couplet of her (probably much longer) victory song is recorded.
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:20-21).
Jewish women sang victory songs to men returning from triumph, but reading her story made me recognize their importance in creating and maintaining oral histories. The meanings and words of these lyrical poems were lost, removed or mutated by generations of biblical transcribers.
The challenge Miriam and her brother Aaron posed to Moses, “They said, 'Was it only to Moses that God spoke? Did he not speak to us as well?” (Numbers 12:2) shows her attempt to ascertain female equality. However, tradition states that she (but not Aaron) was punished for insubordination, becoming ill and exiled from her tribe’s camp. Perhaps the most telling part of this account is the response of her followers. Miriam’s popularity and importance are illustrated by their refusal to continue walking toward the Promise Land without her leadership, which forced her brothers to plead for her recovery.
While some or all of this narrative may be fictionalized, Miriam’s influence on history is well established. She is one of a select few heroines mentioned in the bible, and her importance to the people she led continues to be recognized. It makes me question that if these impressive acts survived the interpretations of scribes for millennia, how many other things did she accomplish that are now forgotten? After all, it would be in the transcriber’s best interest to manipulate historical narratives into cautionary parables that maintained priestly authority.
I would like to visually represent Miriam’s acts through a sculptural fountain place setting, as water plays an integral part in her mythology. A small waterfall-style tap could be installed above a receiving area, constantly issuing clean and sweet water ready to be used to wash or drink. Like strong women, water is a valuable resource. Unused water will be collected and filtered before returning to the fountainhead to flow once more like the retelling of an epic story.
Nominated by: March
Images used:
http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/13716-lady-of-the-water-illustration-vector
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-1630327-formal-place-setting-on-white.php
http://www.amazon.com/Kraus-Golden-Rectangular-Waterfall-Faucet/dp/B00467HGBY
More research on Miriam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible
http://www.womeninthebible.net/1.7.Miriam.htm
Assignment:
Explore all 14 encounters in The Dinner Party Curriculum and read through the entire Encounter 2: Extending the Invitation that explains how this activity might be used in the classroom, and do "Extending the Invitation worksheet" and "Extending the Invitation Guest Placard." Share these on your blog by 2/2. This involves selecting a women who you would like to "invite" to be among the women honored in The Dinner Party. Judy Chicago and the many people who assisted her used a set criteria to determine what women would be included in The Dinner Party. Research prior to artmaking is a content-based approach to artmaking.
Because: I would like to invite Miriam, the Jewish “prophetess,” to Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party table because I feel like there is so much more to her story than what has survived in the bible and Qur’an.
Miriam was first mentioned in the Old Testament as the sister of Moses. It was her cleverness that kept him alive and suggested that the Pharaoh’s wife should use her mother as his nursemaid. More importantly, I believe, it was Miriam along with her brothers that led an enslaved people out of oppression. Her part of this narrative is often overlooked. For example, only a couplet of her (probably much longer) victory song is recorded.
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea” (Exodus 15:20-21).
Jewish women sang victory songs to men returning from triumph, but reading her story made me recognize their importance in creating and maintaining oral histories. The meanings and words of these lyrical poems were lost, removed or mutated by generations of biblical transcribers.
The challenge Miriam and her brother Aaron posed to Moses, “They said, 'Was it only to Moses that God spoke? Did he not speak to us as well?” (Numbers 12:2) shows her attempt to ascertain female equality. However, tradition states that she (but not Aaron) was punished for insubordination, becoming ill and exiled from her tribe’s camp. Perhaps the most telling part of this account is the response of her followers. Miriam’s popularity and importance are illustrated by their refusal to continue walking toward the Promise Land without her leadership, which forced her brothers to plead for her recovery.
While some or all of this narrative may be fictionalized, Miriam’s influence on history is well established. She is one of a select few heroines mentioned in the bible, and her importance to the people she led continues to be recognized. It makes me question that if these impressive acts survived the interpretations of scribes for millennia, how many other things did she accomplish that are now forgotten? After all, it would be in the transcriber’s best interest to manipulate historical narratives into cautionary parables that maintained priestly authority.
I would like to visually represent Miriam’s acts through a sculptural fountain place setting, as water plays an integral part in her mythology. A small waterfall-style tap could be installed above a receiving area, constantly issuing clean and sweet water ready to be used to wash or drink. Like strong women, water is a valuable resource. Unused water will be collected and filtered before returning to the fountainhead to flow once more like the retelling of an epic story.
 |
| Invitation and Place Setting |
 |
| Closeup of Invitation |
Nominated by: March
Images used:
http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/13716-lady-of-the-water-illustration-vector
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-1630327-formal-place-setting-on-white.php
http://www.amazon.com/Kraus-Golden-Rectangular-Waterfall-Faucet/dp/B00467HGBY
More research on Miriam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/miriam-bible
http://www.womeninthebible.net/1.7.Miriam.htm
Assignment:
Explore all 14 encounters in The Dinner Party Curriculum and read through the entire Encounter 2: Extending the Invitation that explains how this activity might be used in the classroom, and do "Extending the Invitation worksheet" and "Extending the Invitation Guest Placard." Share these on your blog by 2/2. This involves selecting a women who you would like to "invite" to be among the women honored in The Dinner Party. Judy Chicago and the many people who assisted her used a set criteria to determine what women would be included in The Dinner Party. Research prior to artmaking is a content-based approach to artmaking.
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