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Digital Media Final- Screen 1

https://vimeo.com/305129721

This is a link to part of my final installation for my Intro to Digital Media class. This video would be played alongside a second video. The two videos strongly contrast eachother in terms of presentation and content.

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Superman, Andy Warhol, 1961. Casein and wax crayon on canvas.

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Murtaza Vali- Other Abstraction

I made it- last Monday we had our last guest lecture in my art research class. This week, we had the opportunity to hear from Murtaza Vali, a painter, art historian, and freelance critic. Vali’s presentation was actually very unique, as it spoke mainly about the artistic concept of abstraction rather than a bunch of works from individual artists (though there was some of that). 

The presentation, entitled Other Abstraction, was very conceptual. The “Other” referenced in the title refers to anything that is not the self, or in the concept of colonialism- the underlying context of the abstraction Vali explores- anything rejected by Western society and history as not it’s own. Within the context of colonialism, abstraction has by and large been claimed to be a Western invention. Through Vali’s research, he has recognized the falsehoods of this claim. The power that colonial powers had (and still have) over the global South has not only claimed superiority over the region’s art and culture, but disenfranchised it to the point of “the Other”. It’s also why mainstream art history classes generally only cover Western and European art, whereas the art of oppressed cultures is put in it’s own classes that are deemed less-important.

In combating this, Vali uses his work and ideas to decolonize art, to “level the playing field”. His approach has many parts- from analyzing and combating stigma in art to decolonizing museums. Vali showed us a lot of comparisons between similar artists/works, including Jackson Pollock and Norman Lewis, Sol Lewitt and Rasheed Areen, and Kazimir Malevisch and Byron Kim among others. Through post-colonial theory and historical thought, Vali spoke a lot about how non-Western artists were generally shunned, despite the originality of their work.

This, with his other examinations of abstract minimalist art, are great steps for the causes of recognition and decolonization. By combating myths and showing the the works of disenfranchised artists, Vali and his contemporaries are presenting art in an entirely new way that helps the audience shed their preconceived notions about abstract art. This is definitely a field of art that will grow as society becomes more aware of the big picture of art and history.

On a personal note, I really do like our guest lectures in class. I feel like they are a great way to not only hear from artists, but to understand them on a level deeper than that possible through a large, formal lecture.

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The Adventures of Conor 2: Lost in New York

So last Friday my class got to go on a “field trip” of sorts to New York City. To most of my classmates, this is not a big deal. They’ve either lived in or visited many times, but for me, this is not the case. I’d never had the opportunity to go until this last week, so needless to say, I was pretty excited. The first time I saw the skyline, I was in awe. Never before had I seen so many massive buildings in one place.

Anyways, we were there to visit 2 museums- the MoMA PS1 and the Whitney Museum of American Art. I think I must have hyped the MoMA up a lot in my, because to be honest, I thought it would be a little better. While I did appreciate the experimental nature of the gallery, and the fact that the museum does give a home to alternative forms of art, I wasn’t a huge fan of Bruce Nauman’s work, which inhabited most of the museum. I found it overall inconsistent and hard to understand.

Luckily, the Whitney Museum made up for it completely. The Whitney was inhabited entirely by a massive Andy Warhol exhibit that collected a vast selection of his work. I loved the exhibit, as I had no idea his work was so diverse. Basically I hadn’t really ever know about the large rage of themes that he tackled in his art, so to see these beautiful works with tangible ideas behind them was sublime.

Overall, NYC- 8/10. I definitely want to go back again and do some more touristy stuff, like seeing the Met and the Natural History Museum.

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Costacos Brothers Posters

I guess this isn’t really great art, but I found these ridiculously over exaggerated series of posters the other day. I really like sports, so when they kind of intersect with art like this, it really sticks out to me. Anyways, I guess these really evoke our obsession with sports and athletes; we elevate these people to god-like statuses.

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Forced Interaction

See what I mean? Within, the gallery, the audience has very little room to move around the piece. Even if you walked through this room with your head down, you’d still be forced to interact with the piece in some way. I wish I knew more about the mindset of the piece, but I love how intentional the size of the work is.

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Beverly Semmes

It’s Monday night, so it’s time for everyone’s favorite program- Conor Talking About Guest Lecturers!

This last week we got to hear from Beverly Semmes, a multimedia artist who teaches for AAP NYC. Semmes is primarily an installation artist who works in a lot of different mediums, including, textiles/clothing, sculpture, film, painting, and performance art. She showed us a variety of works, but really focused on two different kinds. First, she has a large body of work using altered clothing- altered in the sense of exaggerated sizes, lengths, and materials- many of which are very large and tend to take up most of the gallery, and second, pages from Penthouse Magazine that she painted over and turned into modern abstract art as part of the Feminist Responsibility Project.

Along with this range of mediums comes a range of themes, but for the most part, her art is very woman-centric. She loves dealing with all the ins and outs of how women and femininity are perceived; how our perception of them are shaped by all of their paradoxes and complexities. 

Because of how abstract and broad as these themes are, her work takes a very conceptual nature. Some of her works are just these free-standing arrangements, while others incorporate performers holding handmade ceramic sculptures. 

One thing I would like to talk about is the format of these lectures, and how that has affected my perception of Semmes’s and other artist’s works. For starters, I really do love having very renowned fine artists come to speak. I believe that it’s a great way to gain insight into the artistic thought process behind great artists and their work, but this does tend to create an issue. The thing with famous artists is they tend to assume- through no fault of anyone, neither the artist or the viewer- that you, the listener has heard of their artwork. In the case of most of the artists we’ve heard from, including Beverly, I and some of my classmates haven’t heard of this person, and maybe don’t understand the thematic elements behind their art. As a result of the assumption made by the artist, they tend not to get into the themes of their art and instead give the lecture as kind of a “show and tell”. In the case of Beverly Semmes, this was true. We got to see a lot of her very interesting art, but we barely got anything on the ideas behind the art.

That said, I still really did like Semmes’s work, and I respect her as an artist. I just wish I could have heard a little more. What I can do, is talk about an aspect of her art I really love- the forced interaction with the viewer. In many of her large clothing sculptures, the articles really take up the whole room. Additionally, the color of some of the pieces alters the color and lighting of the room. Both of these qualities force themselves onto the viewer, with no conscious effort made on the part of the viewer to receive these interactions. By doing this, Semmes is forcing the audience to ponder the implications of her work as they step through the gallery, avoiding the mounds of cloth piled on the floor.

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On “The Problem with Wokeness”

So for my art research class we got assigned to watch this YouTube video called “The Problem with Wokeness”. The video basically outlines how moral superiority (wokeness) has replaced compassion and empathy; the person in the video- who I do agree with at times, and am sure is a much smarter person than I- basically says we’re too reactionary and need to try and understand others more. Here’s a link to the video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-WimRb2jXs&feature=youtu.be

In my opinion, the video comes off as really centrist, saying that we’re so divided because everyone refuses to understand each other; that we have to sit down and create discourse with certain people to understand why white supremacy and patriarchy exist. This video is definitely in reference to the political and social climate in the world today, and it does correctly identify the widespread division that exists.

The video reminded me of the above comic, which I had previously seen on like Reddit or something like that. The text, inspired by philosopher Karl Popper (who was also a Jew who fled from the Nazis in the 1930s) basically outlines how intolerance, such as the kind outlined in the video (i.e. racism, misogyny, homophobia) has no place in society. And while it may seem paradoxical, if we want to create a preserve a society that is tolerant of differences, we must be intolerant of intolerance.

At this point, nothing there really butts heads with the video’s contents. Upon closer examination however, this isn’t true. Basically, the fact that the video condemns wokeness leads me to believe that the creators of the video think that those who identify with wokeness (generally progressives, leftists, minorities, etc) are the problem and need to try and understand those different from themselves. In the case of real life, “woke” people differ ideologically with people who elected a president who condones white supremacy, ableism, sexual assault, misogyny, and harm towards immigrants. The debate suggested by the video would essentially be between “the woke” who believe that being different is okay, and those who support everything wrong with society.

Additionally, by creating discourse with people who support racism and hatred, we are legitimizing their views, which have no place in society. This neoliberal (just to clarify, when I say that, I am not referring to what we think of when we think of liberals) and centrist mindset could drastically hurt those already oppressed by those in power. 

Essentially, debating with a racist ain’t worth it.

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Blake Fall Conroy

Blake Fall Conroy (Cornell alumni), in my opinion, is an interesting new media artist who creates technological art- machines and pieces that capture what he referred to as “dysreality”; warped yet literal views of social or political ideas. These pieces take a variety of forms- some are highly technical machines that incorporate the ideas behind their design into their math and code, while others are simple, physical statements that pose almost metaphorical ideas to the viewer.

Conroy began developing his worldview while studying at Cornell, where he had an art professor who challenged him to use unconventional materials in his sculptures. From there, he began working on multimedia, conceptual sculptures that often force interactions with viewers.

The concept of “forced interaction” itself occurs in a variety of ways in Conroy’s art. In some pieces, such as an instance where he bought a bag of army men from a dollar store, removed the weapons, and placed it back on the shelves, shows whoever buys the army men, even a child, a unique and subliminal critique of society’s obsession with war. Other pieces in gallery settings, like the day and time box, interact with the viewers without any action on the viewer’s part. And yet still, other pieces like the Police Flag, interact with the viewers outside of gallery settings, with the bright lights drawing gazes from anyone nearby.

Thematically, Conroy’s art is extremely compelling. The pieces he create are deep, technological meditations on problems facing society. While not always large or apparently profound, the pieces are very literal (in a good way) and present uncomfortable associations to the viewer. In this aspect, Conroy’s works are similar to things like car crashes (which he even touches on in his art); you cannot look away no matter how uncomfortable the implication is.

On a personal note, while I really loved his art, I thought Conroy’s presentation was a little impersonal; it felt like a show and tell where he explained the technical aspects of his art more than the emotions and themes.

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Hank Willis Thomas

1. I Am A Man, 2009

2. Saving Grace, 2015

3. Cotton Bowl, 2011

Hank Willis Thomas is easily one of my favorite artists. His work generally examines the intersections between identity and culture; specifically how society affects and molds identity and culture. A lot of his works also speak on our cultural obsession with sports, which surprise surprise, really speaks to me. Essentially, sports at times can be extensions of oppressions. Take football for example, the most popular sport in America. Football players are like modern-day gladiators, killing themselves for the entertainment of the masses. Interestingly enough, playing football is more common in low income, minority communities where the sport is another opportunity out, at the cost of being viewed as entertainment.

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Jasmine Wahi

This week in our continuing series of guest lecturers, my class got a personal lecture from Jasmine Wahi, an artist and organizer who has dedicated her talents to fighting injustice and oppression. Among other things, her art has dealt with many political & social themes such as feminism, identity, poverty, empowerment, and perhaps most importantly- intersectionality.

I’ve written a bit about intersectionality on this blog already, but I’ll write some more and add in some of Wahi’s own insightful thoughts on the concept. To begin with, Wahi introduced us to the Oxford Dictionary definition of intersectionality- essentially, intersectionality is the interconnected nature of social categories such as race or gender, regarded as creating overlapping systems of discrimination, and intersectional thought is a theoretical approach on such a premise. While this is true, she said, there is much more to intersectionality than that definition. There are so many categories that privilege and oppression can apply to; intersectionality affects everyone on a spectrum.  Lastly, it is not a theoretical approach, intersectionality is a well-documented concept that occurs everywhere in society.

In response, Jasmine has spent much of her life fighting and bringing light to intersectional injustice. She has created art, organized demonstrations- including one against a corporate mural painted by a man who was caught talking about raping women- and even headed a rotating gallery- the Project for Empty Space- showcasing all kinds of intersectional discourse.

That last part is arguably the most important facet of her art. By raising questions and starting conversations, Wahi and her contemporaries are bit by bit chipping away at the ideological cloud that surrounds intersectional oppression. After all, to fight and change problems like misogyny, sexism, racism, and so many others, we must be aware of how they intersectional affect everyone. Problems are not as simple as a bunch of categories, so we need to look at how they intersect.

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William Bradford

William Bradford, in addition, to being another great artist I’ve looked a lot at lately, was one of the first painters to capture Arctic expeditions in the mid- to late 1800′s, primarily on whaling or scientific vessels.

I really love these kind of paintings because of their use of color- everything looks so serene and natural- despite the true brutality of the Arctic environment- and the contrast is absolutely phenomenal. These were made in part as documents of the Arctic, especially before the widespread usage of convenient photography, but the artist’s “artistic” views and talents really shine through the apparent utilitarian nature of the art.

On a side note, there’s this one really big, really famous painting that looks really similar to these works, and I know it was at one point in one the art museums in Washington, D.C. (that’s where I saw it) but for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the painting or artist.

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Intersectionality

So I watched a really good TED talk given by Kimberlé Crenshaw on privilege and intersectionality. These 2 ideas are eternally interwoven. Privilege is essentially the absence of some form of disadvantage or oppression, whether it be racial, financial, or one of many other factors. Privilege is also basically a spectrum, with all kinds of different people having different kinds of privileges. Intersectionality, in terms of thought, is an examination of what happens when 2 of these disadvantages (the absence of privilege) combine. Intersectional issues are often forgotten and rarely considered, because they occur outside of our own ideological “frames”, as Crenshaw put it. We can’t find a single category to place intersectional disadvantages in, so we often discard them entirely. For instance, Crenshaw spoke mostly about women’s issues and African-American issues- 2 things that are often spoke about and acted on, but we rarely hear about the issues of and threats facing African-American women.

All things considered, if we want to bring light to intersectional issues, we have to see them. This is why many civil rights groups have created movements like #SayHerName to bring visibility to these causes. We have to look intersectional injustice in the eyes; we must confront it if we want to bring about change.

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Mariam Ghani

This past week, our art department had the opportunity to hear artist Mariam Ghani speak. Ghani is an internationally-recognized artist famous for her interesting take on, well, settings.

I use that word because the vein in which she creates art is very unique and versatile. Essentially, Ghani’s works live in place, spaces, moments- or as she herself defined it, the “in-between”. 

Ghani’s work takes shape as visible and tangible forms of these settings- whether this be a city, a prison, or even a self-defined boundary in which culture lives. She creates multimedia works that represent and visualize a realm that often lies between conventional aspects of art, like politics or emotion. Other works create fictional histories between the real stories, examining how we reconstruct the past, present, and future.

Her art does often deal with political and social themes, both of which struck a cord with me. A part of her examination of cultures is how they have been altered. Much of history and culture- especially that belonging to the oppressed and disenfranchised- has been bought, sold, and demolished by those in power. The people themselves often remain, as Ghani reminds us, but they are left without many core tenants of their identities.

She also creates works that deal with geo-spatial politics- something I found extremely interesting- particularly in her ongoing work, The City & the City. While the themes of that particular work are interesting, she did bring up a series of events that reminded me of the injustices in modern society. Essentially, in the 90’s, the St. Louis airport was set to expand, so the developer purchased land in a historically African-American area, one built by hard-working families over the course of many generations, and used eminent domain to claim other parts. Eventually, the expansion itself was scrapped, and the land bought by the developer was left completely razed by bulldozers and wrecking balls. The culture was wiped away.

Some of her other notable works deal with Pakistani culture, the treatment of areas (in the case of her art, New Mexico) by outsiders, the intersections of cultures, and government secrecy.

On a personal note, I really did like her art, but I wished I had a better chance to think about it and understand it more in depth. Her presentation was very good, seeing as how it encompassed a large portion of her work, but she really only gave a surface analysis of it. This is understandable, but I would really love to see more of her thoughts on her subject matter.

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Rummana Hussain

This past week, my art class had the opportunity to hear Swapnaa Tamhane- a writer, artist, and photographer in her own right- give a guest lecture. In her own growth and research, her work has in a sense left the domain of art, and she was able to intensely follow the career of the late artist Rummana Hussain.

Rummana was born and raised in Western India, leaving as an adult to study in the UK. At this point, she married and had a daughter, but instead of living with her family in India, she lived on her own and worked with fellow contemporary artists. While working amongst some of her contemporaries, she made gorgeous, allegorical paintings of Indian history and life.

Much of her art carried a great sense of social and political weight to it, as Hussain herself was a feminist and had Marxist tendencies at a time when nationalism and fascism were sweeping the recently partitioned India. These factors pushed her art in an entirely new direction- performance art.

At the time, performance art had yet to gain any sort of foothold in India, and there wasn’t really any “art for art’s sake”, art was generally created only as a commodity. Rummana was one of the great artistic pioneers who changed that, combining her own identity with relevant themes. She began giving very spiritual and metaphorical demonstrations, including several that referenced the 1857 Indigo Revolts against British rule, in the British planted indigo dye instead of desperately needed food.

As previously mentioned, at the same time that Rummana’s art grew, division and fascism were rumbling in India. Among other events, there was a massive string of violence between Islamic and Hindu communities in India, resulting in several deaths and forcing Rummana and her family to briefly go into hiding, as her upbringing was muslim. Additionally, several religious sites significant to both nations were destroyed, and several creative and/or leftist figures were murdered. Rummana’s art began to combat this loss of secularism, and she gained international recognition for her bold stance against the division and violence.

Rummana continued creating installations both in India and around the world about the feminist struggle and experience. She died in 1999, but her legacy still remains. In addition to pioneering modern art in India, she helped establish discourse on a shared culture, free from harmful and dividing labels, gained recognition for feminist ideals, helped establish Indian art as it’s own discipline and not a part of a “global” discipline of art- separate from Western art history- and used art as an image of psychic survival in the face of fading historical visibility.

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Bio-Network Scans

These are some scans I made for my bio-network project when I was first starting it a few weeks back. I was able to get pretty good use out of these and a few others, especially because the contrast on some of them is pretty good, but on the whole, I wish I had pushed them a little harder.

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Xu Bing- Character of Characters

Recently, my class had the pleasure of hearing Xu Bing, acclaimed Chinese artist and creator of Character of Characters, a work displayed in our very own Johnson Art Museum.

To preface this, I want to share my own thoughts on Bing’s work. Personally, I think it is absolutely beautiful. Digital multimedia art is one of my favorite artistic platforms- because it can provide a language for many forms of diverse art- and  Bing’s work stands out among some of my favorite works of art because of it’s specifically unique presentation.

Unlike other examples of digital art, Bing’s work is large, presented as if it were a large unfurled scroll (even the tone of the background matches scroll paper). The animations that inhabit the screen are beautiful, multi-faceted celebrations of Chinese history, all the way from the creation of Chinese society to the modern industry that large cities in China are home to.

Like many scrolls of past emperor’s, Bing’s is a comprehensive example of all aspects of Chinese life, from the art of emperors, to lowly scribes, all the way to war and the atomic age. 

Essentially, Bing’s scroll works well as an unconditional love letter to his upbringing; to the culture of the common Chinese citizen. He acknowledges it’s faults and champions it’s great achievements, such as the language that has given life to much of his own artwork.