Semester 2 Summary, Dec 2012


Semester 2 Mission


My mission for the second semester was to explore the relationship of painting, performance and object-making. I also wanted to address the idea of satire, as it seemed (to me) an inherent component of my work. Most of all, I wanted to take advantage of and indulge in producing work without censoring or refining the ideas too much, in order to push and experiment with material that I would polish in the coming semesters.


Mentor Meetings


Suzanne Kanatsiz’s feedback:


“focus less on attaching meaning to your work, and more on your process and the layering of your processes, so that meaning emerges, rather than is assigned. Don’t worry about loaded symbols or cliché’s; throw yourself wholeheartedly into whatever subject matter moves you. Give yourself permission to do as you please, and don’t pre-judge or tighten up the outcome.


I encourage you to think about moving out of the “normal and regular markers of order and normalcy” in art. You told me you like the formality of the   stretched canvas in rectilinear form. I suggest recklessly “un-restraining” yourself from those parameters. Perhaps instead of working towards refinement, you work towards un-refinement, and you end up with some very exciting ideas and processes, albeit more raw.”

Artists suggested by mentor:


Ann Hamilton


Joseph Beuys


Siah Armajani


NorthWest Coast Indigenous peoples in British Columbia


Central Desert natives of Australia


Janine Antoni


Dieter Roth


Cia Guo-Qiang


Brian O’Doherty – “Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space”


Yoko Ono

Studio Developments


Sculptures/ ceramics/ snowglobes/ scrying mirrors – elements of: fire (kiln), air (drying), earth (clay), water (snow globes) – objects that perform in some way.


Small scale collection of objects with ambiguous references to artifacts one finds in a museum. By having historical connotations, it visually evokes a sense of integrity, as a starting point from which the viewer is hopefully inspired to create a narrative.


Mentor SZ: “Is the idea not to have them grounded in any context but have them as these floating entities?”


Hair: Magic, (Julia Kristeva’s )“the abject”


Sound – creating an intimate/ claustrophobic space – using collected sounds from my immediate environment. Connections with Haraway’s cyborg created through the melding of sounds human, animal and technology.


Moving image: Composites human/animal/masks/technology (Haraway)


Experimenting with creating “chimeras” that draw from my diverse identity, and legitimise my urge to hybridise its discordant elements.


Film – Jungian archetypes – masks – split personality. Connections with Paglia and her analysis of Hitchcock’s women and their Freudian stereotypes (Objet d’art vs devouring mother).


-       EYE/ASS film – parody of sensuality, obsession with devil worshipping being synonymous with kissing (his) ass; inner darkness and clarity (inner vision)



Exploring the ‘objectification’ of a performer, especially that of women and/or animals.


Ideas for future work


- installing a CCTV and restraining myself to a small space. Stretching “performance”.


Suzanne Kanatsiz: “That’s good because you are living a surreal existence in this weird capsule”.


- Large scale sculptures – what happens when small objects become large? How do they perform?

Artist Statement


A microcosm of internal things. A compression of incestuous intimacy. A schizoid prism of oppression. A snowdome of dark specimens.
Museums always provide me with an experience that is a dramatic combination of reverence, fantasy and a sense of loss. The objects are removed from their banal utility and perpetually exotic because of their remote context. Installing a fictional archive of a fictional character performs to inextricably link fantasy and reality and hopefully enhance their individual potency within that complex bond.

I explore the role of the performer and who or what the performer should be. Does one’s own body and image enable more control of the process and result? The ‘objectification’ of a performer is interesting, especially when dealing with women and animals, and I intend to push this in my own work. I use video and photography, as a device to move experiencing the performance from directly to indirectly, and thus heightening the mystery and the unknown.
Camille Paglia’s insistence on the connection between the awesome force of women and nature, which I believe is a fertile ground for questioning the historical subjugation of both, and the demonisation of all things pagan has also informed my work. Donna Haraway’s ideas complement my own experiments with creating “chimeras” that draw from my diverse identity, and legitimise my urge to hybridise its discordant elements.
List of Artists and Readings


-       Susan Hiller


-       Donna Harraway


-       Camille Paglia


-       Julia Kristeva


-       Suzanne Gablik


-       Rene Djikstra


-       Joachim Koester


-       Joan Jonas


Bibliography


Einzig B., ‘Working Through Objects”, The Archive (Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art), MIT Press, 2006, pp.41 - 48


Gallagher A., ‘Susan Hiller’, Tate Publishing, 2011


Lambert-Beatty C., ‘Make-Believe: Parafiction and Plausibility’, October Summer 2009, No. 129, pp. 51 – 84


Ratti A., Pinto R., Jonas J. et al, ‘Joan Jonas’, Charta, Milan, 2007



Haraway D., ‘Simians, Cyborgs and Women; The Reinvention of Nature’, Routledge, New York NY, 1991


Paglia D., ‘Sexual Personae; Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickson’, Vintage, New York NY, 1991
Websites
 ‘Did a New Human Species Thrive in Stone Age China?’ 2012, Jennie Cohen, online article, accessed 28 August 2012, http://www.history.com/news/did-a-new-human-species-thrive-in-stone-age-china


‘If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution’, Joachim Koester, online article, accessed 17.9.12, http://www.ificantdance.org/Artists/JoachimKoester


’Tarantism’, Sebastian Smee, Bostonn Globe, online article, accessed 17.9.2012, http://www.smk.dk/en/visit-the-museum/news/artikel/joachim-koester-tarantism/


’Tarantism’, Jan Mot, Whitehot magazine, online article, accessed 17.9.12, http://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/explore-screen-space-power-plant/2043


‘Joachim Koester at MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge’, Conversation with Joachim Koester and João Ribas , MIT press release, online article, accessed 17.9.12, http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/joachim-koester-2/


‘A Return To Video Is Moving, Roberta A Smith, New York Times, online article, accessed 17.9.12, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/13/arts/design/13dijkstra.html?pagewanted=all


‘At the Guggenheim, Rineke Dijkstra’s Portraits Dive Into the Deep Waters of Human Vulnerability’, Blouin Artinfo, Kyle Chayka, online article, accessed 17.9.12, http://184.106.39.147/news/story/814016/at-the-guggenheim-rineke-dijkstras-portraits-dive-into-the-deep-waters-of-human-vulnerability


‘Teenage Wasteland’, Don Burmeister, The New York Photo Review Volume 3/Issue 30, online article, accessed17.9.12, http://www.nyphotoreview.com/NYPR_REVS/NYPR_REV2400.html  


 ‘Kadiview with Joachim Koester 2’, Kadview, online video, accessed 17.9.12, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssUpgttEj8Q 


‘Joachim Koester’, typischmichiel, online video, accessed 17.9.12, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTRRFuoK5lg


‘Artist Rineke Dijkstra on “The Krazyhouse” Series at the Guggenheim, Guggenheim, online video, accessed 7.9.12, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcGKg3t7K-I


‘You Tube - Donna Haraway’s A Manifesto for Cyborgs’, online video, accessed 28.7.201  http://youtu.be/hOYjxs0O55E


‘You Tube - Donna Haraway. Companion Species Manifesto Lecture 2003 1 - 10/10’, online video, accessed 28.7.2012, http://youtu.be/59N5xwmw5x0


‘You Tube -Donna Haraway. Cyborgs, Dogs and Companion Species 2000 1-9/9’, online video, accessed 28.7.2012, http://youtu.be/-yxHIKmMI70 


‘Donna Haraway’, Wikipedia, accessed 7.9.2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Haraway


‘Introduction: The Cyborg Manifesto Overview’, accessed 6.9.2012, http://artsweb.uwaterloo.ca/~s6bell/printview.html


‘Mad About the Girl’ by Camille Paglia for the Sunday Times, online article, accessed 7.9.1202, http://www.uarts.edu/sites/default/files/downloadable-resources/madaboutthegirl_camillepaglia_sundaytimesmag2012sm.pdf 




‘Camille Paglia’, Wikipedia, accessed 9.9.2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_paglia


‘Western Culture's Lurid Evolution; A titillating work of guerrilla scholarship’ by Kevin Cassel, accessed 7/09/2012, http://www.kevincassell.com/blog/index.php?id=21


Videography
‘Joan Jonas Visiting Artist Presentation’ DVD, The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, 25 June 2012




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