Project 2: Inside/Outside

 

This project was inspired by Style Wars. I created my own "tag" that i think would be particularly interesting to all Tucsonians and residents of Arizona. It features a drawing of a squid, holding a sign that says "NEED H20". Squids live in water, without it they would cease to exist. Humans need water too and living in Arizona's harsh heat can sometimes be fatal (heat exhaustion etc.) I taped this sign on a random house in my neighborhood. This "artwork" wasn't necessarily a mark of my name but rather a statement I think our state would appreciate.

Style Wars

                        The Hip Hop subculture of NYC is spoken about in this documentary. The Hip Hop kids are reimaging and reconstructing New York City by tagging the tunnels under the city. They are physically manipulating city property to make a statement or to show who was there. They deface to represent their ideas and culture. Graffiti is everywhere in New York and now has become a part of it. A tourist claims that many tourists come just to see the graffiti.
                        The Hip Hop culture “bombs” the city by taking ownership of the things tagged around the city. They do it for recognition so that people will remember who did it. I think bombing for them is a way they can have a voice and show that they matter within New York City, especially in areas where their demographic might lack power. Break dancing is also a way for them to freely express themselves. Graffiti has a permanent mark unlike break dance, but break dancing has the power to lure people in to watch while you are in your own space. Self expression is one of the most powerful tools these kids have to be influential.
                         The mother claims her son does not own anything on the subway. Though that is true, he doesn’t physically own the subway, he did make a mark on it that will permanently state some ownership or “I was here” title. He has imprinted on it and I believe that as long as that is there, his ideas will remain as well. I don’t believe the boy was trying to have ownership over anything by tagging it, but rather as a tool to show that he does exist and has a voice and opinion. I think he chose to graffiti a train because it travels all over and his main point of why he did it was so that his name would be seen.
                        Banksy has a very conceptual way of thinking when it comes to his graffiti. He is not just using the graffiti itself as a statement but rather as a catalyst towards a bigger meaning. The one thing I can think of that the hip hop kids have over Banksy is that they sign their name. Unless you follow art, many people would not recognize the political artwork to be Banksys. However, Banksy might not be interested in who knows his name but rather what issues he is trying to talk about. He thinks about his locations before he tags, and makes sure they are in the public eye where people can walk through and see. He exercises his freedom of speech through graffiti. I definitely think tagging private property is a means for exercising power. It doesn’t necessarily mean the tagger owns the property, but it does mean that they had some sort of influence on it and use it to portray their identity.
                        Hip-hop culture defies societal expectations and stereotypes of social scales because it does not follow the rules of class and race. People from every race are involved. When the white kid spoke about how easy it is for him to steal paint cans, it upset me. Of course, store owners would look at him and not expect him to be a thief, although they are very much a part of the hip hop culture as well. Kids always want to be a part of pop-culture and if the trend happens to be hip-hop culture, everyone from every race is sure to be interested.
                         I think white kids, who may be the more privileged, are attracted to graffiti because it is not something they have seen before. They are not raised around it. I have been sheltered most of my life, and near my house  there is no graffiti to be found within miles. Whenever I come across it, I think two things: 1. That it is really cool/interesting & 2. I know I am in not in suburbia anymore. It is a stereotype that has existed for quite some while although it is not always right. Every culture has its own class level.
                        Hip Hop artists use their own body to shift and activate the political space of the city not only by tagging their names, but also break dancing among many other things to exercise their freedom of space. Their bodies become their own medium just like a can of spray paint. “Make your own mark in society, not ON society” was created to try and stop graffiti from happening. They see it as vandalism not art.
                        “Yeah, I vandalism (sic), but I did something to make your eyes open up, right? So what are you talking about it for?” This reminds me of online blogs. Sometimes people spend hours on the computer writing hate messages to people. If you hate them, why are you giving them any attention? By wasting your own precious time, you are giving them fuel. I think he is explaining that even though he vandalized, the point is what he wrote or is trying to say. He is explaining that most taggers like him don’t tag to vandalize but instead, to give out a bigger message.
                        The war between “Burners” and “Bombers” is probably one of the most interesting things I learned about while watching this documentary. Bombers, such as one in the video named “Cat”, sprayed his name all over graffiti, so that not only would people see his name, but the artists he bombed over. A “Burner” is someone who sprays over graffiti. “More v.s Quality” has been an idea thought about forever, yet it is interesting to me that it includes graffiti. (My mom used to always tell me it was better to buy one item of quality rather than 5 cheap items that wouldn’t last.) I have noticed that some graffiti looks like it took more time than others, and maybe what I am seeing is the hierarchy of these artists.
                        In the gallery scene, graffiti was shown on canvas. Even though it is physically the same, spray paint on some medium, it was not the same. Graffiti is more than just the spray paint. The medium it is on becomes a part of it. I honestly don’t think graffiti is considered true graffiti unless it is on some sort of property, public or personal. Although it is still art, graffiti on canvas gives it a kind of elegance that doesn’t work and therefore takes away the power graffiti has.

Mapping: This American Life

The Chicago Public Media program, This American Life, was extremely engaging. Within the first 5 minutes I already learned something I never knew about. Maps aren't necessarily just visual representations of the world, but it can be a documentation of the places, things, etc. that you encounter. It was fascinating enough to listen to the people that mapped by visual drawings, but even more so from the people who mapped based on the other senses. I would love to incorporate this into a project, especially using the challenge that photography is a visual medium.
           

I came across this video and it is so perfect for this. Stephen Wiltshire draws Rome completely from memory. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVqRT_kCOLI

 The idea of using your own body as a map is very intriguing. I remember being a child and trying to count every freckle that ever happened to appear on my body. The body can be a very powerful landscape in photography yes, but not to the obsessive point where some of these people take it. Deb Monroe mapped through sense of touch. She compulsively checked for lumps in her breasts. When first hearing this, I would think she suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder, or something similar.
            After hearing "Mapping", I understand her thought process. I do kind of think she is a hypochondriac (because on stressful days she says she checks for lumps up to 5 times) , but also interested in mapping her body day by day and recording changes. She says that when you start mapping your own body, it seems inaccurate. You might start to see things that don't exist, or things that do suddenly become bigger. This might be body dysmorphic disorder (which i also think she suffers from) or just the fact that you have lived with your body your entire life, and mapping makes you take a closer look and not oversee things you might have before.
            Jonathan Gold mapped his life through taste. He decided to go to every restaurant on Pico Blvd. where he lives. He had a set of rules, he had to try every place, in order. He started mapping the street through food. I definitely think that we all do this. Maybe not in the same manner than Jonathan did, but we definitely create assumptions about a restaurant based on what we ate. I recently decided that I would stop writing off restaurants just because I had one bad meal. It doesn't mean the place has nothing else to offer.

Project 1 : Ephemeral

Thinking of River and Tides, I thought of doing something natural and temporary, something the environment would eventually destroy. I decided to take flowers from my yard, and put them in one of the many potholes that frequent my neighborhood. I also tried to incorporate putting something beautiful and fresh in someplace old and cracked. I made sure that I placed them in a location where incoming traffic would drive over.

Tuesday Walk 5/17/2011

River and Tides

             Andy Goldsworthy is a very interesting and devoted artist. He talks about how he wakes up early to do hard work to try and do something effortless. That is a complicated conundrum in itself. He could very easily sleep in and choose somewhere simpler to work, but his love for it truly shows. He speaks about how sometimes he is uncertain if his art will actually work, because of the fact that nature plays a catalyst in it, and sometimes nature is unpredictable.
            I think that time is a major part of Goldsworthy’s work. I think his created structures are just one part of the work but to fully see it manifest, time must take place. Goldsworthy was on the beach making stone sculptures. It was important that he got there early before the tide came in and ruined it. The first time it collapsed I felt anxious and disappointed. It was very chilling though to see how calm he was, how much of a tolerance he has for his type of work and realization that what he was doing took a lot of patience. The second time around, he definitely reached higher to success than the first time, but it also tumbled down. It reminded me of art projects throughout the year that take a couple times to work out. Of course, I am not building sculptures through trial and error, but patience is a key to succeeding. I think if Goldsworthy had succeeded his very first time in creating the sculpture, he would not be as devoted to it.
            “There are always these obsessive forms…” speaking about mountains, lakes, trees, rivers, etc. He is familiar with them but at the same time, he is “uprooted” traveling to a new place and must adjust to it, which I can personally understand. There will always be repetitions within nature, yet it will never quite be the same as the last place. It is easy to feel displaced in a new area, even if common “forms” are there. It’s not just the landscape, but the environment and people that also factor in.
            Goldsworthy is excited about his ice-sculpture and anticipates what nature’s mystery will do. He expected the sun to rise and hit one side of the sculpture rather than both sides. These little surprises excite Goldsworthy and give him inspiration for his current and future projects.
             “The very thing that brings it to life, causes its death.” Goldsworthy’s ice sculpture begins to melt under the hot sun and turns it into water, destroying it. He is not upset though because nature is a process of constant repetition. As humans, we must nourish ourselves to stay alive. We eat and drink to fill ourselves, but will have to eventually continue to do so to stay alive.
            Ephemeral works can be expected to mutate, shift, and evolve, and eventually destruct. This is a natural part of life. My cats brought in a dead bird the other day, and I became very emotional for the life of that bird. My cats couldn’t help it though; it is a natural part of animals to hunt for prey. I would consider it a natural occurrence rather than destruction. With ephemeral works, time is a huge subject. It will never stop, it will always consume and change. So it is a large variable that must be worked with, not against.
            Something that hit home for me was when he spoke about his uncertainty after Art College. I could not speak for everyone, but at least for me Art College is a safe haven where you grow and learn within an institution, where sometimes it is okay to make mistakes. Goldsworthy experiences the same thing and says that if he were not secure within, he would have nothing. I have not seen an artist make art such as he does so I would definitely be wary of hearing the concept before seeing it.

            “You are only as strong as your weakest image”. Life’s successes in my opinion are shaped by our failures. If we didn’t have them, we would never know the complete potential we have to grow and become better. This is with life in general, not just art. Sometimes they help us realize that something we may be doing is not working, and to change. These alterations may do wonders in the long run. Last semester, I trained for a half marathon. I was so determined to run no matter the circumstance, and I became ill 3 weeks before the race. I couldn’t keep training let alone get out of bed, and thus didn’t attend the race. I learned that because of my failure to take care of my body, I held myself back. When I retrain this summer, I will know to listen to my body when it is telling me it needs to rest.
            I think that Goldsworthy’s works being outside rather than in a museum really mark more of a journey for me. His works will never be permanent outside versus a museum, and a journey is about moving forward and not looking back. His subjects include natural environment and I do not think they could reach their full potential in a museum.
            Although stereotypes often exist for some reason or another, it is a shame that it can sometimes impact an opinion or experience. If everyone experienced something without a preconceived notion, it would be interesting to see how different life would be. The sheep is a major factor in the landscape. The landscape changes and thrives because of the sheep. Both subjects are important in the grand scheme of things.
            The “absence” of what once was, can often be recorded in landscape through visuals or emotion. If you visit a historical landmark, it can give off a certain emotion. I think photographer, Joel Sternfels’s work, “On This Site” speaks about this. He went to different areas throughout America where tragedies took place and photographed them. He would write captions next to the images describing what took place there. It is interesting how violent unhappy times can gather people together to grieve or think.
            Seeing those stone ‘eggs’ in different environments was really interesting to me. When he made them, they were so fragile. Nature takes its course and things fall and grow yet it seemed that his stone sculptures were holding up pretty well. Goldsworthy philosophized about his connections with nature and had he understood from the beginning, he would have had more successes than failures. He doesn’t believe that nature takes his art and ruins it, he thinks of it as a gift to nature, especially the sea and that it can do more than he has ever hoped for. His time lapses were beautiful watch. The stone being covered by water, and then all of a sudden vanished and became just a mere memory, was one of my favorite parts of the film.