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Double Dancer

Same View Changing

X-Ray  by Denise Kupferschmidt

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Opportunity Zone

Funnel Horn

Game Ready  by Aaron Flint Jamison

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Speech of Aristophanes

The abstraction that go into stories made to explain concepts people didn’t have the means to scientifically determine are very entertaining. I respect the imagination that goes into it, but to blatantly make up things with the intent to explain the unseen leads to false interpretation of the world.

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Baggage Series 4  by Mohamad Hafez

(Zandt Lavish & Anna Laimo)

What do you see?

A building that seems disheveled and even burnt down to a rubbled state

What does this work represent?

The depiction of Damascus in ruins depict what former residents may have left behind. It represents the physical and psychological trauma experienced by families forced to leave their homes from the Syrian civil war.

What is the title of the piece?

Baggage Series 4

Is there any other text description provided?

Yes, as seen on the wall beside the piece

How do the title and additional texts affect the meaning of the work?

The title links his other works of the Baggage Series through the different dimensions of travel and the text gives it historical context and personal relevance to the artist.

What is the genre or medium of this artwork?

The contemporary, third-dimensional effect of the work enables a metaphorical depiction to be produced in more detail. This in turn also allows for underlying features to be included that – because they’re not upfront – hold meaning in special regard.

How does this medium affect the meaning of the artwork?

The small scale and sculptural aspect of the piece provide the viewer with a 360º view to see inside each room in great detail.

What materials were used to create the artwork?

Plaster, paint, antique suitcase, and found objects

What associations do we have with those materials?

The antique suitcase allows us to resonate with the concepts of travel, motion, change, and transition. Specifically, it resembles an Odyssean death in there is a before and after state, as one has when traveling from one place to another where death is the in-between.

How large or small is this artwork in relation to the human body?

It’s about half the size of an average-sized human body.

What meanings or uses can we associate with an object of this scale?

The more personable usage of a to-scale suitcase rather than one of an atypical scale.

How long will the artwork last?

Centuries if not exposed to continual wind, water, or extreme heats.

Is it especially ephemeral or durable?

Yes as the suitcase is designed to sustain the strains of travel and the plaster is holding as a durable shell. However, the piece within the suitcase looks fragile and would probably break if dropped.

How does its duration contribute to the meaning of the piece?

The fact that it must stay away from exposure to wind, water, and extreme heats gives it a sense of degradability. Though it will be preserved while being displayed, it wouldn’t last long in the “real world,” similar to the abandoned homes in Syria it represents.

What is the setting and surrounding context of the artwork?

The piece is placed in the center of a room, not touching any walls. The piece description is even a few feet away from the piece itself.

How does the context contribute to its meaning?

It contributes to its expression of isolation and abandonment.

Does the work provide clues about the time period and culture it was created?

There is some writing in Arabic on the building. Perhaps the style of architecture and items in the building can give away time period and culture too.

How does an understanding of the artwork’s place in history or art history affect its meaning?

It directly correlates with its specific meaning towards the Syrian Civil war. Without context, one would most likely assume this to a personal trauma of the artist rather than a shared effect.

What are the strongest visual elements?

The darkness of the building and how decimated it is. Also how it’s balanced in the suitcase.

How do the formal properties of the artwork embody meaning?

They all come together to form a feeling of isolation and abandonment and to link the expressed ideas together.

Color: Exaggerated gray tones

Shape: The single building structure that’s broken apart

Line: asymmetrical and disorderly other than the basic structure of the building

Form: The perpendicular relation between the building and the suitcase makes them seem like individual ideas yet connected holistically

Tone: A blandness in visual stimulation while the subjects are supposed to be naturally happy in the thought

Texture: Rough and unrefined

Pattern: Chaotic with those that are familiar and those that are underneath the surface of structures that have been exposed

Composition: The composition of the building within the suitcase connects the ideas of the civil war’s forefront destruction and the effect it has on others in forcing them to flee.

Does the artist’s attitude come through in a way that shows wit or irony?

The addition of a birthday cake – a feeling of gathering and love – is contradicted by its abandonment.

How does this gesture affect the meaning of the artwork?

It emphasizes how unnatural the emotional strain the civil war imposes on the Syrian people.

Does the artwork create any immediate physiological response? 

Anxiety and concern: the feelings when you look at a burned building.

How does it make you feel?

To me, it looked upon first glance that the building had been burned. Since there are no people inside, you can assume they died or abandoned their homes. This along with how it is balanced in the suitcase evokes anxiety and chaos.

Does it capture a mood, feeling or emotion which you have experienced?

It reminds me of the feeling I had when seeing an enormous house fire from 3 blocks away in my house. I felt unsafe in my own home knowing it could potentially happen in our house.

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Freischwimmer

Freischwimmer 207

It’s Only Love, Give it Away  by Wolfgang Tillmans

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Deep Blue

Helter Skelter I

Pickett’s Charge  by Mark Bradford

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Historical Falsehood

The artists Ksenia Pavlenko uses for inspiration in her own work raise the awareness of simulation of the actual. Focusing on historical daguerreotypes, she acknowledges many of the photos were taken for the sake of propaganda and the displacement of others. Thus, Pavlenko studies the practices of those who have exploited these intentions and even counter acted them with the same media. Andrei Karelin, for example, effectively presented the people of rural Russian as a productive and knowledgeable people with his photography. This group – often demonized by those with more power and wealth with the aid of staged photos – could be seen in a true perspective. Thus, we today aren’t blinded completely by a passing down of false ideas. Wendy Red Star also takes the idea of these photograph’s staged nature and exploits them to be seen. In her work, she dresses up in native-looking clothes and sets herself in a staged atmosphere with an obviously fake background, plastic animals and plants, and other objects that that would make the photo seem natural if they weren’t clearly fake. Though her work seems undeniably false, in actuality, the many pictures taken for historical and geographical account are no different. It’s enjoyable to make this realization through her work and she allows her audience to do so effectively via her exaggeration of color and the props that are only representative. Similarly, Edward Curtis takes these staged daguerreotypes of Native Americans and labels the pieces of their subjects cultural attire which would quickly lose meaning without proper detailing. This true preservation of culture effectively counteracts the falsehood of the photos meant to impose an out-of-place image to the audience. Furthermore, this process of false recording relates to the skull collection and the Craniometry research kept by Penn university. While we now know there is no scientific support for racial superiority of any kind, a century ago biased scientists arranged their data in a way to support their hypothesis that did. Unfortunately, this type of thinking process continues on today. It’s easy for pre-intended results to taint the data and conclusion of a test as well as an artist’s display of actuality. As artists we must be careful not to skew ourselves in this way and to rather point out the instances of their occurrence.

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Duende and its Superposition

David Antonio Cruz expresses his art through what is termed as duende. By using this method, he’s able to convey his message loudly and quickly gain direct attention. In Theory and Play Of The Duende, García Lorca describes a need for this dark aether of duende to come into play for true creative and emotionally stimulation. However, I see the creative process in a different light. In everyday life, we are open to the emotional scape, and in the process of growing up we learn how to control its influence. But by using the creative process, we open ourselves much more so to this dimension for the sake of inspiration. Thus, we become faced with more emotional inclinations than before. While some emotions are lighthearted, others are darker on the spectrum. Though many people are influenced by them when in this creative state, the dark emotions aren’t crucial for the source of creativity. By allowing shadows to creep in, a violent side and negative spiritual charge comes to the surface. I understand the reason behind Cruz’s use of “duende,” but it’s a double-edged sword. Many times, people are turned off by his process, and even when he gains attention, it might not be the type needed to effectively change the world.

This said, the letting in of positive emotions is easier said than done. Many are in a state similar to the superposition phase Amrou Al-Kadhi describes in Gender identity: 'What quantum physics taught me about my queer identity.’ It can also be related to the depiction of “nationality” in Taiye Selasi’s Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local  TED Talk. The emotions having characteristics of more than a single set charge. Where we often see extremities, the majority of the universe is built on the gradient in between them.

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Lee Bul

While some of her works are quite grotesque, I appreciate the abstract thought and symbolism that go into them. Interestingly, the materials she chooses create a clean feeling while her method of their use is almost chaotic. Furthermore, I find her inspiration from dreams is personally interesting and relatable.

The futuristic karaoke pods and their interactive characteristic are especially admirable. The method conveys the idea of the simultaneous growth of social hindrance and the personal bubble is impactful just by hearing about it.

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Yayoi Kusama

The display of dots and concept of infinity Kusama presents is very pleasing to the eye. Furthermore, the course she takes to overcome her fear via art practice is admirable.

However, the height she goes to contradict her fear swings her actions to another extremity of the pendulum. One can’t live life with constant fear nor blatant comfort with everything. There is a difference between accepting reality and changing what one thinks reality is. Yes, we are each very small parts of a wholistic universe, but in that we are individually a component of it. Relevant to the concept of infinity she expresses, any quantity is indisputably infinitely greater than zero. We must accept that we aren’t uniquely alone, but rather uniquely pieces of a universal – possibly “multiversal” – puzzle.

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Cian Dayrit

I appreciate the presentation of Cian Dayrit’s message via the multiple levels in his art. By layering his paintings on a base of collaged maps, his works’ expressions over colonialism are that much more embellished. However, the blatantly placed words he writes in many of his pieces – relating to their meanings – become a little overboard. The graphics might be placed to give a piece the style of an actual map, but since the mixture of different kinds of maps is more of a jumble than a depiction to be labeled at different categorized areas, the concept doesn’t quite come across. Either by applying more specific imagery or some other, less blunt tactic, it would be more of an experience than to read his works’ expressions.

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The Artist’s Message

Through her installations, Heather Hart provides an interactive dimension to her art. This allows the audience to receive her message in a very personal form. People are able to take the creations for their own meaning while also gaining incite by the explanation behind the piece. While this makes the experience impactful by its personally oriented influence, the configuration is so general in design that it requires description from the artist to know it’s intended deeper meaning. This hinders its communication from beyond those who hear the message alongside the artist’s work.

Similarly, Sophia Al Maria creates a direct interaction in a selection of her works by placing a third dimensional installation (The Litany) directly underneath a film display piece (Black Friday). Though the observers don’t directly interact with the pieces physically – like Hart’s work– the third dimensional scape pared with the temporal concept displayed by the film does provide the setting for the audience in a form that envelopes them as if they were in the emphasized environment that depicts the spirit behind consumerism and her termed “Gulf Futurism” so well. Al Maria’s style is more effective as it unsubtly produces her pieces’ structures and aesthetics from the ideas of her subjects and the message she intends to present.

As expressed in Tahir Hemphill’s presentation over the Rap Research Lab, we must take into consideration the meaning behind pieces. Furthermore, that which we present on the surface – such as the beat of a song or the physical structure of an art piece – might not impact the audience the same as directly conveying that which sits in the backdrop  – such as a singer’s lyrics or a visual artist’s intended message.

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Do Ho Suh

The complexity in design yet simplicity in its presentation of Suh’s work is stunning to me. From experience of designing a house in an architectural program, I have great appreciation for the planning that must have gone into these cleanly defined pieces. It’s hard enough to do this on a computer, but by bringing it into the real world, one needs a lot of plotting and patience to accurately configure these objects.

I admire the unique touch of silk (rather than a hard surface) and their corresponding colors in depicting the subjects and am intrigued by his personal connection to them. Though some of his pieces seem repetitive in structure and even redundant in blank walls (I prefer the more elaborate of his constructions) the their manifestation's are truly impressive.

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Cultural Portrayals

Rebecca Belmore expresses her Anishinaabekwe culture the struggles she and her people have endured socially and politically through performance and installation work. By actively portraying the position she’s in with this hyper-symbolic form, Belmore conveys the strife and discrimination of Native American’s in a blatant form. Unfortunately, the majority of people don’t recognize the problems of society as the barriers between their world and those being stomped hinders the knowledge of and, thus, the action to help. Similarly, Mickalene Thomas presents the culture of African American Women via a raw style of visuals. This is intended to present the beauty of this style of life, though personally, I don’t see it as the most elegant form to do this. The sexual quality of her pieces isn’t something I relate to beauty but more of an indulgence of the senses. There’s most likely a more effective way to clearly portray the beauty she intends to and get it across to those who don’t interpret it in everyday life. Firelei Báez uses conveyance parallel to these two artists’ portrayals of their personal culture. Incorporating a unique touch to her work with pattern-oriented style, Báez shows the culture and hardships of her people. Her elegant form enables her message of beauty within the subjects to come across clearly while simultaneously the symbolic expression of suppression and conflict is clearly presented through its composition. I find this manifestation to be much more effective in its purpose than that of Thomas as it focuses on visually pleasing details rather than those of more extreme orientation around emotional desires and pleasures.

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Guadalupe Maravilla

The spiritual aspect of Maravilla’s art is both intriguing and overly abstract. I enjoy perceiving his work’s metaphysical nature with his background of hardships for context as to where this energy of desire for meditation come. I admire his perspective of energy and how it flows.

With this, his pieces are sometimes hard to interpret as they bring in a chaotic quantity of elements. Having description on the intent behind his work aids this.

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Brian Jungen

I really resonate with Jungen’s simplistic and minimalistic style. His work and the way he creates them expresses an attack on consumerism as he  repurposes objects that most people quickly consume without thinking about how they’ll effect the environment after use.

Though the pleasing aesthetic of his art does contradict his dark message, I think more people would be more intrigued to view and hear about the work – thus, rising awareness – than if it was blatantly resembling – which could seem overly emotional and extreme to the viewers that need to hear the message.

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Privilege

As described in What Is Privilege?, it can be embarrassing to know you have more than other simply by the setting you were born in. This said, for those who do have more freedom than others, it’s no more their fault that they were born in their specific family than those who have less. We shouldn’t blame others or ourselves when addressing social issues for what we have, only how we act upon what our position is. What’s important is to recognize what benefits one has out of their control and help others by using their stance for the sake of equality. Emphasized in Explaining White Privilege To A Broke White Person, it’s easy to focus on what you don’t have and begin the cycle of blame and antagonizing as well as selfishly get sucked into the self- perpetuating circle of the who-has-it-worse-off competition. While a poor white person might feel incomparably suppressed by their societal positioning, they will never have the same burdens as a black person in society. By accepting this, those with more mobility are more ready to gain a sense of responsibility to use what they have been given for the sake of everyone’s benefit.

For years, and very much today still, I’ve had an issue of being embarrassed when talking about my childhood. I’m subconscious in knowing I’m very fortunate for the life and social position I have. No matter how it’s put, it can be easily assumed that I don’t work for what I have in life as there are many things of benefit I was given at birth. In no way do I think this makes me better or that I simply don’t have to work in life. On the contrary, I’ve seen, especially more so in recent years, that what I have includes a responsibility to help others. I intend to use what resources I have and work just as hard as anyone in any position to go that much further to aid the end of this social inequality. Simultaneously, I’m working to forgive myself for what I shouldn’t blame myself for in the first place.