I really loved the majority of the second reading set, mostly for their encouraging spirit - starting with Stepfan Sagmeister's Is it Possible to Touch Somebody's Heart with Design.
"If I have nothing to say, the best design won't help me"
How relevant that statement feels. That is what we are all aiming to do with thesis, figure out what we are trying to say, something that I am certainly struggling with. What is it that I want to put into my work? This line really stuck with me and I suspect through out the rest of my design process I will continually come back to it, making sure that my work is content rich and not just surface design.
Reading through his list of what design needs to touch someone's heart a few more things stuck out for me.
1. They have the ability to make me see things in a new way
- I love when something is ambiguous or you are not quite sure what it is and then you can come to realize that it is in fact a very familiar subject. That is when something is zoomed in really close to highlight detail. The big picture might be lost at first but the longer you look at it the more it can be placed and perhaps even further appreciated. Not sure if that is where Sagmeister was going with his example, but it is where my mind went.
2. Somehow they remind me of an experience, maybe of my childhood
- Again, reading just this statement before Sagmeister's example, I began to think of my own interest with memory and how attached we can become to places, the emotions that such memories can trigger, and the experiences that stay with us far beyond their occurrence. It is these memories and the desire to evoke a nostalgia that I have been leaning towards in my work.
The rest of the list had some more valid associations but it was after the list under "How to touch somebody's heart" that I found another noteworthy line: "If I want to touch somebody's heart with a piece of design it has to come from my heart, it has to be true and sincere." This resonated. I need to push to put everything out on paper, to personalize, to find my process, my voice, in order to create works that not only am I passionate about, but that I can make others passionate about. After all, I too really just want to make art that matters, that means something to someone, that connects.
There were a few lines that I picked up out of Michael Rock's Fuck Content. In particular "The difference between designers is revealed in the unique way each individual approaches content, not the content they generate" and then a quote he borrowed from Roger Ebert, "A movie is not what it is about, it's how it is about it." I really liked these two ideas, encouraging that the best design can make any content look good, but then I thought back to what I really loved about Sagmeister's writing and his statement that "If i have nothing to say, the best design won't help me." I think I'd fall more in line with Sagmeister on this one.
And then I came to An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau Design. THIS I LOVED.
I will just pick out some of my favorites, but I truly enjoyed them all and feel genuinely encouraged by them. I want to cut them out and hang them around my room, paste them in my sketchbook, use them as a pick me up every now and again.
1. Allow events to change you.
2. Forget about good.
4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child)
5. Go deep. The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value (push yourself!!)
8. Drift
9. Begin Anywhere
14. Don't be cool.
18. Stay up late. Strange things happen when you've gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you're separated from the rest of the world. -- this one I have experienced and it sure is rewarding.
21. Repeat yourself. -- this one I liked even more in its explanation: If you like it, do it again. If you don't like it, do it again.
32. Listen carefully-- By listening to the details and subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world into our own. Neither party will ever be the same. -- I love that sentiment.
37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.
39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms. -- the waiting place.
41. Laugh
42. Remember
I have not included these in their entirety with every explanation but I didn't feel they were always necessary.
Following in the spirit of lists being really exciting and encouraging, I really also enjoyed Milton Glaser's Ten Things I Have learned. I'm going to post a few of my favorite lines.
"Some people are toxic. Avoid them. Professionalism as a lifetime aspiration is a limited goal. Just enough is more. I am a great advocate of drawing, not in order to become an illustrator, but because I believe drawing changes the brain in the same way as the search to create the right note changes the brain of a violinist. Drawing also makes you attentive. One of the signs of a damages ego is absolute certainty. Rule number one is that 'it doesn't matter.' Wisdom at last. Tell the truth."
These are certainly taken out of context here, but I kind of like the compiling of them. I liked Glaser's language and his matter of factness as well as his commenting on not only design as practice but on like in general. He was very relatable.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Design III Reading Sets (1 and 2)
Admittedly when we were given the readings sets for Design III, I felt overwhelmed by them. But perhaps that is something to be embraced. I mean I would a thousand times over choose to be overwhelmed by design then by say algebra or scientific writing. In each packet there were readings that really stuck with me whether in theme, as a whole, or in some cases even just a phrase or two.
Set 1: Thesis Writing
Danielle Aubert's Track Record stood out to me in theme. She discusses her interest in a person's traces that are not necessarily seen or even conscious. The line that most stood out to me came towards the end of her explanation when she writes: "When a person's traces are read as signs they can generate a fragmented portrait that is perhaps more telling then the color of their eyes or their skin, or the way they part their hair. The tracks a person leaves behind might reveal that the sole of their left shoe is held together by duct tape, or that they tend to be late with credit card payments, or that they favor a particular cereal." This is what interests me, although perhaps not in the same way. I am interested in the choices that people make and in that way how they design themselves. The overlap in Aubert's work, for me, is that sometimes the choices people make don't even seem like choices to them. They might not realize that they collect a certain item or how much a single element comes to define them to others. She goes on to dicuss process and carrying out her system to its logical end. This is less important to me at the moment, but maybe that is just because I don't have a system yet.
Seeing the Unseen followed Track Record nicely in my mind. Another project exploring things often not seen normally. Huy Vu discusses her thesis statement and interest in focusing on things at the periphery, the objects in our surroundings that tend to serve merely as background. As artists and designers I think alot of us share an impulse to focus on detail that many would overlook and I think Huy Vu very eloquently describes this desire to highlight the ordinarily overlooked. She has divided her focus into three strategies. They are all interesting, but the first two especially stayed with me. Discussing her joy in coming across a forgotten child support paper in a book Vu writes "we are left to imagine who they belong to [the scraps] and why they were left behind. We, as viewers, want to complete this incomplete story." Now perhaps the interest here for me was out of context, but in my work photographing interior spaces my goal is to create the same interest for viewers, for them to want to know something about the people that occupy the space they are looking at. Vu calls it "reducing our field of vision" and that is an apt description of why I crop alot of the time. I zero in on a particular detail and blow it up. In the second category Vu mentions the work of Uta Barth and her series Grounds "exploring the margins of interior spaces." I looked up the series and found some really compelling images.
The last reading in the packet that I felt strongly about was Mary Banas thesis essay I Read My Mind Through You. First and foremost she explains her reasoning for her title writing "because I comprehend my own inner working by understanding others." I really enjoyed this explanation and even more so this calling out to the fact that she only knew herself through other people and connections and interactions with those people. As social beings it is something that is important and relevant to all of us. Even the most independent people have interactions that shape them whether they are acknowledged or not. I also particularly liked the way that she spoke about communication through technology and its ability to "mystify our self awareness." Banas goes on to discuss her work and desire to explore what she "percieves as a gap in our understanding of our own psyches, a lack of self-awareness resulting from the passive consciousness of others." In thinking about thesis and in my other work, my interest has continually been other people. Recently I have tried to put more of myself into the work and I think that it is a longing to create a better sense of myself- so reading this was quite relate-able for me. Banas says she wants her work to make people feel comfortable and I think with a few specific projects that is an aim of mine as well although now I would like to accomplish this and at the same time push myself out of my own comfort zone.
Set 1: Thesis Writing
Danielle Aubert's Track Record stood out to me in theme. She discusses her interest in a person's traces that are not necessarily seen or even conscious. The line that most stood out to me came towards the end of her explanation when she writes: "When a person's traces are read as signs they can generate a fragmented portrait that is perhaps more telling then the color of their eyes or their skin, or the way they part their hair. The tracks a person leaves behind might reveal that the sole of their left shoe is held together by duct tape, or that they tend to be late with credit card payments, or that they favor a particular cereal." This is what interests me, although perhaps not in the same way. I am interested in the choices that people make and in that way how they design themselves. The overlap in Aubert's work, for me, is that sometimes the choices people make don't even seem like choices to them. They might not realize that they collect a certain item or how much a single element comes to define them to others. She goes on to dicuss process and carrying out her system to its logical end. This is less important to me at the moment, but maybe that is just because I don't have a system yet.
Seeing the Unseen followed Track Record nicely in my mind. Another project exploring things often not seen normally. Huy Vu discusses her thesis statement and interest in focusing on things at the periphery, the objects in our surroundings that tend to serve merely as background. As artists and designers I think alot of us share an impulse to focus on detail that many would overlook and I think Huy Vu very eloquently describes this desire to highlight the ordinarily overlooked. She has divided her focus into three strategies. They are all interesting, but the first two especially stayed with me. Discussing her joy in coming across a forgotten child support paper in a book Vu writes "we are left to imagine who they belong to [the scraps] and why they were left behind. We, as viewers, want to complete this incomplete story." Now perhaps the interest here for me was out of context, but in my work photographing interior spaces my goal is to create the same interest for viewers, for them to want to know something about the people that occupy the space they are looking at. Vu calls it "reducing our field of vision" and that is an apt description of why I crop alot of the time. I zero in on a particular detail and blow it up. In the second category Vu mentions the work of Uta Barth and her series Grounds "exploring the margins of interior spaces." I looked up the series and found some really compelling images.
The last reading in the packet that I felt strongly about was Mary Banas thesis essay I Read My Mind Through You. First and foremost she explains her reasoning for her title writing "because I comprehend my own inner working by understanding others." I really enjoyed this explanation and even more so this calling out to the fact that she only knew herself through other people and connections and interactions with those people. As social beings it is something that is important and relevant to all of us. Even the most independent people have interactions that shape them whether they are acknowledged or not. I also particularly liked the way that she spoke about communication through technology and its ability to "mystify our self awareness." Banas goes on to discuss her work and desire to explore what she "percieves as a gap in our understanding of our own psyches, a lack of self-awareness resulting from the passive consciousness of others." In thinking about thesis and in my other work, my interest has continually been other people. Recently I have tried to put more of myself into the work and I think that it is a longing to create a better sense of myself- so reading this was quite relate-able for me. Banas says she wants her work to make people feel comfortable and I think with a few specific projects that is an aim of mine as well although now I would like to accomplish this and at the same time push myself out of my own comfort zone.
Monday, September 20, 2010
WLCMBKCB Review
To kick off the new school year Mason Gross faculty, staff, and second year MFA students all submitted works to be exhibited in the first group show of the year: WLCMBKCB (Welcome Back). The show was curated by the second year students and run along with a tribute room to Lyda Craig, a Mason Gross graduate who passed away, as well as another room with an installation by Jim Toia entitled Dissolving Gardens.
The call for work was general with the guidelines being that the work be a small or medium piece. A guideline which, as Caetlynn pointed out, can be interpreted differently by each artist depending on the scale at which they work. There was no intended theme, but with works ranging from sculpture, painting, print making, photography, video and installation, there was a lot to see and the space was full and in fact welcoming. Even without a unifying theme the collaborative curation allows for attention to individual works and displays each piece in such a way as to highlight formal elements of each.
1. Eileen Behnke, ... On the Grass
... On the Grass draws the viewer's eye in with it's bright warm colors. Situated as the largest painting on one of the main gallery walls I found it to be the piece that brought me over to that wall. The brushstrokes, the lines, and the perspective of the painting keep your eyes constantly moving both throughout the painting as well as into the surrounding works. Each figure gazes in a different direction, with only one looking out at the viewer. Those looking off take us out of the painting, while the woman in the red shirt draws us back in. Looking at the piece from across the room, even the colors from the sculpture at the center of the gallery help to create a steady flow into Eileen's painting or perhaps out of it depending on which way you read it. The lines and brush stokes are very organic which provides a nice stark contrast to the surrounding works.
(Alternate gallery view of ... On the Grass)
2. Traci Molloy, Prototype: Killer/Killed
The faces in this piece intrigued me from a distance. I wasn't sure what to make of it but the haunting title gave me a much clearer picture in my head than the slightly blurred faces in front of me. The detail in this piece, which was small in comparison to the works it hung with, really says alot. Printing ever so faintly over the images of the boys are names. While I don't know anything definitive about the piece, the names are presumably victims names as well as perhaps even the murders names. The side by side comparison calls out many questions. Which one is the killer? Which one was killed? Did one boy kill the other? The names over each face are repeated adding even more to be worked out. The work is very provocative which is fitting when looking at the other work it hangs with, most especially the politically charged work of Ortiz.
3. Anna Bushman, Untitled (Moire)
This is a work you could wind up spending a lot of time in front of. It deals with perception. At first glance I saw a radiator cover, somewhat of a vintage item. Depending on your distance to it, there was much more to see. With a mirror placed behind the screen the viewer is thrown off a good deal by what it is that is in front of them. If you are close enough you may be unsure and even start to get cross-eyed trying to figure it out. As you move back, it begins to be a little clearer although straight on it is never 100% certain. The lights cast shadows, other viewers move about, and each of these movements changes what you are seeing. With that in mind I really appreciate the juxtaposition of this work next to Annie Hogan's Double Vision #2 which deals equally with perception and a layering of images.
4. Betsy Vanlangen Paige
Walking into the second room in the gallery, Betsy's photographs are not the first thing you see, but turn around and you are unable to look away from the intense gaze that meets your eye. The eyes are so vivid, a bright color popping immediately. Add in the vibrant green/yellow makeup and the combination is quite striking. The fact that the work is really a pair of images lines up quite nicely with the other works in the space, especially the 4 images to the left and the grid of paintings across from it. The intensity makes me want to know more about Paige. The lighting, the makeup, and the mood, all suggest that she has a lot to say.
The call for work was general with the guidelines being that the work be a small or medium piece. A guideline which, as Caetlynn pointed out, can be interpreted differently by each artist depending on the scale at which they work. There was no intended theme, but with works ranging from sculpture, painting, print making, photography, video and installation, there was a lot to see and the space was full and in fact welcoming. Even without a unifying theme the collaborative curation allows for attention to individual works and displays each piece in such a way as to highlight formal elements of each.
1. Eileen Behnke, ... On the Grass
(Alternate gallery view of ... On the Grass)
The faces in this piece intrigued me from a distance. I wasn't sure what to make of it but the haunting title gave me a much clearer picture in my head than the slightly blurred faces in front of me. The detail in this piece, which was small in comparison to the works it hung with, really says alot. Printing ever so faintly over the images of the boys are names. While I don't know anything definitive about the piece, the names are presumably victims names as well as perhaps even the murders names. The side by side comparison calls out many questions. Which one is the killer? Which one was killed? Did one boy kill the other? The names over each face are repeated adding even more to be worked out. The work is very provocative which is fitting when looking at the other work it hangs with, most especially the politically charged work of Ortiz.
This is a work you could wind up spending a lot of time in front of. It deals with perception. At first glance I saw a radiator cover, somewhat of a vintage item. Depending on your distance to it, there was much more to see. With a mirror placed behind the screen the viewer is thrown off a good deal by what it is that is in front of them. If you are close enough you may be unsure and even start to get cross-eyed trying to figure it out. As you move back, it begins to be a little clearer although straight on it is never 100% certain. The lights cast shadows, other viewers move about, and each of these movements changes what you are seeing. With that in mind I really appreciate the juxtaposition of this work next to Annie Hogan's Double Vision #2 which deals equally with perception and a layering of images.
4. Betsy Vanlangen Paige
Thursday, September 16, 2010
An attempt to stay focused.
I am never quite sure how to phrase my "statement". I get caught up in the formality and can't ever figure out the best and simplest words to sum up my interest. But then i have to remind myself that none of this is binding or contractual. So here goes nothing.
My focus is on personality and identity.
Not so hard. Now to expand slightly. (baby steps)
I am interested in what makes a person who they are, myself included. I am interested in the visual ways in which these things are and can be communicated. I generally have been looking to their stuff, the things that they choose to keep, the things that they choose to include in their environment. I think the key word continues to be choice and that is why looking at collections and belongings is so interesting.
My focus is on personality and identity.
Not so hard. Now to expand slightly. (baby steps)
I am interested in what makes a person who they are, myself included. I am interested in the visual ways in which these things are and can be communicated. I generally have been looking to their stuff, the things that they choose to keep, the things that they choose to include in their environment. I think the key word continues to be choice and that is why looking at collections and belongings is so interesting.
Meeting Tiffany
One of the things that I would have to say I am most excited about in Thesis is the fact that after four years we are coming together in larger group with all disciplines working together. (ok so freshman year we were mixed in foundations classes- but now we are back together). It is great to be meeting new classmates and reconnecting with others. I drew Tiffany Dodson for my interviewee whom I had never met. Friendly and enthusiastic, she was a great person to work with.
MS: So Tiffany, you are a video major right?
TD: Yes
MS: And before you came to mason gross were you set on video first or did you fall into it once you got here?
TD: I was actually looking for film and I was sorta fooled, kind of like everyone else in the video department, that we have a film program. But we don’t, so then it just ended up being video. Technically its video art it’s not really film or narrative or things like that.
MS: So what is it about film that you were looking for?
TD: I wanted to be taught I guess how to edit. Editing programs and how to put together a story kind of. And I have been taught editing and stuff so I am glad about that at least.
MS: Were you interesting in film in high school? Did you have any sort of TV program?
TD: I actually was interested in film critiquing in high school, I still kind of am, but uh didn’t really have - we had tv stuff but not really. We had one film and literature course which I took.
MS: So was there a particular teacher or person who influenced your decision to come here?
TD: No.
MS: How have you felt about the other fundamental courses?
TD: At mason gross?
MS: Yea. Did you enjoy taking classes like drawing- cause you had to take that right?
TD: Yea. I’m not really a drawing person but it was ok. It depended on my teacher really. My sophomore teacher for drawing was really good and I learned a lot from her.
MS: What kinds of themes are you interested in- doesn’t have to be specific to thesis, but in your video work what do you find yourself focusing on?
TD: Race and gender mostly
MS: And has that been consistent since you started here?
TD: Not really. Well somewhat, yea. I kind of fluctuated between body image and sexuality- not like gay or straight but more like - I did a video piece freshman year about these prostitutes and they were picking up a guy or whatever, and we followed this one and she went to this guy’s hotel room and started doing stuff but then he kind of abused her and she stole his money and she kind of became more spiritual and stuff like that. So it’s kind of I don’t know. I kinda play with lots of themes. But I like to think of myself more– I would say a minimalist but I don’t like to use a lot of after effects, like you know - a lot of different effects and stuff in my videos, I’m more like a straight on person.
MS: Shoot it and use it kind of?
TD: Yea
MS: That’s cool. So do you think you will continue along those lines with your theme for thesis?
TD: Well last year I kind of played with stop motion a little bit. It was kind of random- I was just like “oh let me try this” and I started to like it. So I might do a stop motion video for thesis.
MS: Can you kind of explain stop motion- I have an idea of what it is, but just to clarify.
TD: Stop motion is basically a series of photographs used to make a motion. Essentially that is what video is or film. Millions of different photographs or frames to make that. Let’s say you wanted to move your hand it’d be like a lot of different small pictures.
MS: So kind of choppy?
TD: Well it kinda depends on how many picutures you take. If you take 100 it will be pretty smooth and fluid. It you take 50 it will be you know kind of choppy.
MS:Which do you prefer?
TD: More smooth but it takes a long time. So it depends on how I feel.
MS: Fair enough- that could get really lengthy.
TD: Yea. Last year my stop motion project took about I dk, a week and a half and it was only 3 minutes long.
MS: Wow.
TD: Yeaa and I took over 500 pictures. It was ridiculous.
MS: Sounds it. I’m kinda stealing a question you posed to me- but do you have a theme in mind that you would like to see for the group thesis show as a whole?
TD: Maybe something that shows that we’re all different but all similar at the same time. Something that. I don’t know shows that we’re all connected but then we’re all diverse you know? I don’t really know what exactly but something along those lines?
MS: Sounds fitting. What are you most excited about for thesis?
TD: I guess showing my work really. It should be cool.
MS: So you mentioned you are doing an internship? Where is it?
TD: At WBGO FM 88.3
MS: And what are you doing these?
TD: I am working with the news department, So I’m basically helping to cover stories. I am learning Pro Tools which is the music- A lot of music recording artists use it for that, but also its used to radio- obviously- so it’s basically to edit voice. So I’m learning that. And eventually I have to have my own feature which is a news story I am interested in personally, it could be anything. It’s 7-10 minutes long and I have to interview people.
MS: That’s exciting. Do you have any thoughts on what you wanna do yet? Or still too far off?
TD: Not really. My supervisor keeps telling me “oh you have to start thinking about it cause it’s going to come up really fast” but I really have no idea.
MS: Ok well there is no way to ask this really since you already told me, but so readers know- you’re a double major?
TD: Yes.
MS: And your other major is?
TD: Journalism and Media Studies
MS: So do you have any thoughts or plans to combine your two majors after you graduate and what do you think you want to do?
TD: I don’t know. I’ve thought about a few different avenues. One was art director- that could be for a film company or for a magazine or I could do work for production like CNN or something like that. You know video and journalism. Or I could even do radio if I wanted. I mean that’s audio so it still has to do with video, but I dk if I wanna do that.
MS: Lots of options
TD: Yea.
MS: What has been your best experience at mason gross, or well Rutgers in general? First academically.
TD: I’ve had some interesting professors that some of them made me want to learn more, encouraged me to learn more. And sparked interest in my two majors. I’ve had at least on in both majors so that’s a really positive thing.
MS: That’s great. You can answer it non- academically as well if you want.
TD: I guess meeting new people, new friends, stuff like that. And growing as a person from being away from home and having different experiences.
MS: Do you want to tell me a little bit about the videos you are going to have me watch?
TD: There are only two videos on youtube right now. The first one is called Hiku and that’s one I did junior year. It’s off of a poem I wrote and it has to do with race relations kind of between blacks and whites. Sort of. It does but it’s not wordly, it’s sort of about my experiences. It’s a poem, so you see a lot of the text, the actual poem. And you see images that are shown in stop motion. In the background the audio is sort of an upbeat- children- you hear children’s voices. So it’s sort of a strange parallel between what i’m talking about and what you are hearing. And I did that intentionally. People are always like “oh why does it sound like that” No. it’s supposed to be like that. That’s basically what that one is.
The other one, Cameo, is very very short. That’s why it’s called cameo. And it deals with stereotypes that are prevalent in the black community like being over weight, or fried chicken and kool-aid- stuff like that. It’s stop motion again but it’s more just photographs. Like there’s little pieces where its actually stop motion – you see me eating the paper kind of. And that’s what that one is.
MS: You said the first video is a poem that you wrote- do you do a lot of writing?
TD: Yea, especially with my other major being journalism. I like to write.
MS: Would you say it’s about equally creative writing vs. news pieces? Do you have a preference?
TD: Yea, I do have a preference, I’m more into the creative artistic writings. I told you before about the film critiquing- I’d rather do a creative opinion pieces vs. a news story. But I’m kind of getting used the news stories now, I don’t really mind them as much as I did.
MS: But your interest started and lies in the creative side?
TD: Definitely.
Due to technical difficulties, I watched Tiffany's videos after the interview. I was glad to watch them after having all of background information on the style that she likes and the types of themes she tries to portray. All of the elements fit well together and I could see her vision as she described it. I especially enjoyed watching Haiku and being able to see all of the parts Tiffany worked on, especially a sampling of her creative writing. She has alot to bring to thesis, and I am excited to see more of her work as she continues this year.
Haiku
CameoWednesday, September 15, 2010
capturing personality.
Drawing inspiration from people and trying to figure out their personalities, the things about them that make up their identity, I came across a photographer named George Lange. I was struck by all of his images but I was truly inspired when I read his biography and the way he described what it is to be a portraitist. He writes, "my job is to photograph how you tick, how you breathe. My job is to take pictures of what everyone knows but never sees. My job is to connect the dots.... my job is to take pictures that trigger a connection and then disappear. No one carries pictures around for very long. They carry connections around forever... Each day I have the privilege of telling stories of people..." What he so eloquently writes about is exactly what interests me, and his effort is clear in his work as well as the enjoyment he gets from his job. These are three of my favorites, especially because they are not so traditional and do not even include the subjects face, yet still say so much about them. I am constantly fascinated by how much can be said about a person with just the tiniest of details.
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| photo credit: George Lange Photography |
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| George Lange Photography |
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| George Lange Photography |
Monday, September 13, 2010
Water II - My collection
There were several works which I found myself drawn to each time I walked through the water exhibit. After photographing them I tried to look at them and find connections and themes which had drawn me in in order to narrow it down to my final 4. These are the images that I would hang:
I started with the black and white image of the ship- it was one that I was drawn to aesthetically. The ship appears majestic, and the image as a whole seems to celebrate the sea and the ability to travel the ocean. Everything about it is bold.
When looking at the other images I had collected, I decided to string them together with feelings towards the sea, wonder, awe, and danger, as well as the mystery that is presented. The storm image depicts large ships as the first image does, but more so portrays the struggle with the sea.
The Wave imposes the profile of a woman over the giant, perhaps stormy wave. She gazes out on the scene with an expression that suggests not only wonder but also perhaps concern, hesitation.
Arion and the Dolphins shows curiosity both on the part of the swimming boy (or perhaps he has fallen out of the boat) as well as the creatures of the sea. This final image fits well with the rest because it takes the viewer UNDER the water that has been the source of mystery in all of the previous images.
I started with the black and white image of the ship- it was one that I was drawn to aesthetically. The ship appears majestic, and the image as a whole seems to celebrate the sea and the ability to travel the ocean. Everything about it is bold.
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Gilbert COMBAZ A La Toison d'Or (The Golden Fleece, Argo) |
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| Bror Julius Olsson NORDFELDT Northsea Fisherman (The Storm) |
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| Henri PRIVAT-LIVEMONT The Wave |
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| Adrienne ADAMS Arion and the Dolphins |
Water
"Water is essential to life on earth. It is at the core of human civilization". These words begin to introduce the current exhibit at the Zimmerli Art Museum. Going into the exhibit I was unsure what to expect. I just had water in my mind as this word for a basic element and was only thinking in the simplest terms. Walking through I quickly realized just how much deeper the theme ran. One thing that stood out to me in listening to Donna Gustafson talk about her curatorial process and in reading the various statements, was how water could "cross boundaries" how it in fact was the bridge between two places, and could bridge between past and present as well. It could have such a far greater reach than is perhaps considered on a daily basis.
The theme immediately hits the viewer as they come down the staircase. The walls of the gallery are painted in cool shades of blue and the installation by Ross Cisneros entitled Ice and Ark, brings water into the gallery literally with plastic bottles of water suspended in a fishing net from the ceiling, commenting on ownership of water and the use of such a natural resource in today’s society. Beyond this installation each room took the theme a little bit further. Literal representations of rain, of rivers, of clouds, of H20 in all its forms lead you through the first room and each room there after takes another twist.
For me the room entitled “Women in Waves, Men in Boats” had pairings that were very successful and intriguing. There was a very interesting interpretation of the theme much beyond the literal. I felt that the images placed on opposing walls of the different encounters with water between the sexes were very interesting. It was in this room where the question of artist’s intent versus curators imposed vision came up. How would the artist feel about the examination of gender roles and water in their images? How far does it reach past the original intent? While there may be some discrepancy between the two, I think that it is important when addressing the theme of a show to bring in works through a different lens. The entire show rests on pairings of images and requires that the curator juxtapose them in such a way that maybe allows the viewer to see more than they would have if the image had been on its own. I think this only enhances the work being that the viewer often brings a work to completion. It is an area that the artist essentially can’t control.
(some of the images from "Women in Waves, Men in Boats"- I really feel that they do well to represent the variety of types of works found in this room and the exhibit as a whole. time and time again and in various medias the theme of water and gender has cropped up)
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