Week 1: Sol Lewitt, Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, & One Kilometre

On Sol Lewitt:

I think that Sol Lewitt utilizes the inspiration derived from a vision in making his works come to real life. Especially in terms of conceptual art, where often artworks can’t necessarily be made by a singular artist. Conceptual art has a beautiful way of integrating a lot of different fields of knowledge and subsequently creating an interdisciplinary experience, even though at first glance it may not seem so. Lewitt’s genius is in letting the plan become more than just an artwork – the foundational blueprint for the piece creates a creative process with so many different layers: there’s someone doing measurements and tracings, someone checking colour codes, someone dabbing ink, and someone streaking ink. That blueprint pushes forward every member on that creative team to delegate their skills to finish the piece, is what the team refers to at all points in assembly, and essentially mechanizes all the processes needed to create his art. I think in terms of conceptual art, the artist’s hand, or power, is in concept, is in delegating task, and assembling parts that eventually make a whole work. Without the artist’s original concept, the work falls apart. The artist is essentially (at least in my opinion) playing with puppets to tell a story or explore an idea, but it’s important to remember that although the “puppets” are what we see, there is a figurative puppeteer above the stage, pulling the strings. His hand lies in the approval of the final realization of the concept – this in my opinion leads back to that interdisciplinary way of thinking. When you think of it that way, you can also consider chefs conceptual artists – they hold the concept, the recipe, and delegate to create that total vision – like if they’re opening a new restaurant. And at the end, the consumer’s investment is not just in the food itself, but in the total experience, in the amalgamation of all these cogs that came together to make an engine.

On Yoko Ono: I think if you are looking at Yoko Ono’s work and conceptual work as part of an experience, then her works do fulfill the definition of what conceptual art is, and is still within the boundary of art. I think the boundary would be that you are not directly shown the work. But I mean, ideally conceptual art doesn’t have a boundary, right? It’s interdisciplinary, it’s expansive, and it doesn’t have a label or limit. In that sense you can always argue that there are no boundaries to draw. The artworks themselves are essentially experiences. They’re essentially instructions, which is interesting because she divides the different tasks she gives you based on the experience or based on the connection it might have to the world around us or to a specific category. It’s very feeling-based or very grounded and in some natural elements as well, so the artworks are essentially self-experiential tasks. The end result of the work will always be different and ever-changing in the sense that she’s not providing the artwork, and is instead allowing the viewer to engage in conceptual art themselves by imagining the individuality of their work.  If you think of Sol Lewitt’s job in providing the blueprint, Yoko Ono similarly reflects this process, and she directly confronts the viewer to create their own experience through their unique understanding. The artwork is conceptual in Yoko Ono’s performance of the work, but also is conceptual in the sense that it is a conceptual extension of the person experiencing it. She creates this almost 4-dimensional or 5-dimensional sense of artwork where she’s relaying information and she’s allowing you to create the experience in  your own space and time. In my opinion she sort of functions as the trunk of a tree, while the roots are the persons consuming her art – extensions of her that overtime create their own network.

On Bruce Nauman: I think in examples like ‘Double Poke’ and ‘Wall/Floor Positions’, Nauman essentially questions the idea of how far the boundary lies in terms of understanding and visualizing work. As he defined himself, his profession automatically makes all of his actions art if he chooses, which in retrospect is a perfect conceptual ideology. In that art can come from anywhere, and that even in simple human gesture there can lie various meanings, and fields of depth that we might not see otherwise. It’s interesting because he does essentially create art out of different meanings, while continuing to explore his ideas of analyzing semantics and the limits of conceptual art/art. That might be my favorite part about Bruce Nauman – that he uses language and semantics as a material to visualize.

Double Poke in the Eye

In this piece, the shifting of each hand positions creates several stories of violence, in more and more extreme degrees. There’s a great contradiction in the neon-colouring versus the actual signs themselves that creates both a sense of amusement – but also uncomfortable-ness. The lighting shifting back and forth creates a sense of depth – and literally reflects the idea of “layered meanings”, as each light shift creates a different story. There’s clearly an exploration of language and a sense of social commentary here (although I’d have to do more research to discern the exact context) – and in the neon experimentation, the continuous cycling visual imagery – therein lies the art, in my opinion.

Wall/Floor Positions, 1968

Because Nauman has the idea that all of his actions are accountable as part of his art practice – this work is quite on the nose – although the work itself is photography, he seems to be creating gesture as the specific art form. The stills of him moving his body in different ways comes together as a collage of something somewhat silly (especially the full butt shot – it’s somewhat porn-y (is that a word?) to me which is hilarious). But besides the fact that Nauman is again using language and his understanding of art to create gesture – I see a more layered understanding of the gesture here that I really like. Throughout art and art history the human body is painted as a figure of respect, as an idol almost. Think of Da Vinci’s ‘Vitruvian Man’, or Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’. In these works, the human body is exalted. I think what Nauman is doing is altering our understanding of human anatomical art. He’s pushing the boundary of how the human figure can be seen in art, how even a butt shot can be considered an artistic form of expression. He takes gesture, and pushes it to the extreme or the silly, to question the meaning of it, and that becomes his art.

Kilometre Exercise: I initially had some trouble with deciding on how to measure my kilometre, so I initially delved into what I relate kilometres to in my everyday life. After some thought, I realized that often in conversations with my family, they sometimes remind me of how they travelled halfway across the world, almost 11,000 km, to immigrate to Canada. In thinking of that, I decided to investigate the connections I have to my heritage, and how I might measure that with what I have around me. My mind immediately went to saris, which I’ve collected over the years, from trips to Bangladesh and from my mother as well. To give some context, saris are a traditional South-Asian women’s garment that simply consist of one long piece of cloth – which is draped around and tied to stay in place. Here’s a picture of the most common style of sari (this was me in 2017) and of what it looks like, I’m sure it’s familiar to most.

Sari length can vary based on region and style, but the saris that I have and Bengali style saris are often about 9 meters long. Sari blouses are often custom made – the fabric for them are made as part of the sari, and after purchase the wearer will separate the fabric for the blouse and make it in the style they prefer. The fabric for the blouse is usually an additional 1.5 meters long. I have some saris with the blouse already made (since I’ve worn them before) and some with the blouse fabric still attached. I decided to make a kilometre of my saris, sort of as a kilometre of my history and roots. Subsequently, this is the math I did: I counted each sari as 10.5 meters total (with the blouse fabric included)

So: 1 km = 1000 meters, 1000 meters/10.5 meters = 95.2= ~95 saris total.

After I did this math, I wasn’t even sure I had that many saris! I raided my closet and our storage closets and collected all the saris I could find and did an initial time-lapse video to count exactly 95 sarees! Turns out I had more than that too! Then I laid them all out on my bed (see below) and took a picture of every one of them individually as well. Here are the depiction(s) of my kilometre below:

Week 2: Marina Abramovic & Stillness Exercise

On Marina Abramovic: I just want to make a short comment on Abramovic after viewing her work and watching her film – on something that I think she does and that I actually really like. I really respect Marina Abramovic’s work in the sense that she relinquishes control of her body, but in the same sense, gains power in the freedom she allows her body to undergo. She lets others see and explore their own mistreatment of her body and gender (especially depending on the work), rather than necessarily only internalizing that feeling. From my personal experiences in looking at her work – I think that is why she is so comfortable and masterful with performance – I think that in the experience of it she finds a sense of inner understanding and peace – and she’s able to reflect that energy to her viewers – which in turn creates that cathartic experience for the participant. Even in her pieces that are mostly meant to engage with others – that release of control allows the participant to feel comfortable enough to do so themselves – and that is where you get those rare moments that people dream of having with Abramovic, where in sitting with her they get to delve into their deepest self. In her piece “Art must be beautiful, artist must be beautiful”, I really connected with the internal frustration, the sense of female rage that emanated from her action. Aside from her dedication to the action, there was a true involvement in the emotion behind her statement. The action itself is a direct testament to the feeling – women in my opinion are often not simply respected for their work, but must also be considered societally attractive for their work to be respected, and for them to be respected. I think with time this is changing, but the feeling is exactly that – you become trapped in your vanity because it is the only way you can be respected – but in the process, you feel like tearing your own hair out.

1 Hour Stillness Exercise: For this project, I had some experimentation and some trouble-shooting I went through. At first I sat in the corner platform of my stairs – we have a bunch of plants there. However, my mom runs a home daycare, and so not long into the process the kids my mom supervises see me at the top of the stairs and ask questions, as expected. So I ended up breaking my hour-long session, and decided to try again.

Soon after though, I took notice of a small space in my room, in between my desk and my bed. That space is always unoccupied, and I noticed that it was just wide enough for me to fit in. It made me think of the gap between my desk and my bed – which know have become most of my world, and how often I feel like I’m in limbo between the two. And looking at this space, I felt exactly that. I also decided to really try to take the hour to reassess myself, and truly spend an hour with myself. I did this twice as well – my first try was a bit of a fail and I wasn’t as still as I would’ve liked, so I tried again in a second position (as seen below). I had a lot of racing thoughts, but I think it was nice to sit and analyze myself, go over where I’ve been failing recently, where I’ve been struggling, where I’ve been thriving, etc. It’s been a super tough year – the hour to myself was really nice. At times I itched to get up and get back to work – and that was the worst struggle. I had to push myself to stay seated or in position. I felt so depleted, but I also felt like I had to get up and work. I kind of realized that being busy should not really be synonymous with being burnt out. I had to push myself to realize that it is okay to slow down, to enjoy myself. I often feel guilty when I’m not working on something, but I realized that I’m allowed to slow down and figure out why that is.

I had a really tough year (2020 and ongoing) with mental wellness – and it’s something I’m still working on and that I’ve also never experienced before. This exercise made me realize how mentally strong Marina Ambramovic must be – because there is a strength in being still, with only yourself. I think often many of us might be in go mode as a way to avoid our inner emotions and how we’re feeling. But Marina not only allows herself time, but she shares her self with others – and practices a full vulnerability in life that is truly admirable.

And in terms of the physicality as well – it’s much harder than it seems – whether sitting or otherwise. I finally understood how Kathryn (in class) described feeling – your body almost rejects the feeling and begins to react to the process. There’s a real physical effort in staying still. When sitting down my legs fell asleep twice and I had to extend them out because they were in so much pain. My back hurt, my bum hurt from sitting for so long, my neck hurt. When I was on my knees it was somewhat easier actually – I had very focused breathing however because somehow all my muscles were engaged – I felt like I was in a yoga pose almost. Marina’s training and art is truly full of so much depth and passion, more than I realized.

Week 3: Lee Walton, John Sasaki, Lenka Clayton, John Baldessari & Defenestration

On Lee Walton – Getting a feel for things: I like the integration of conceptual art as an exploration of semantics (kind of like Bruce Nauman) – especially now where almost all dialogue is often politicized (whether it’s done in due course or is unwarranted) – so I think Walton sort of prophesized the ridiculousness of semantics and how semantics can be even artistically configured to fit an exploration. It also allows art to be more comical and humorous – this sort of breaks down that barrier that might exist when we think of conceptual art – as he takes conceptual art quite literally.

My 6 Sentences

Lee Walton:

1) In any setting, move one object from it’s original place, and once you are satisfied, quietly go about your day.

2) Sit closely and quietly beside a stranger, and enjoy the company in silence.

John Sasaki:

3) On a sunny day, uselessly attempt to climb an unsupported ladder.

4) Drive your van into a narrow alleyway, and then proceed to turn back the other way.

Lenka Clayton:

5) Test how long you can bear separation anxiety from your toddler.

Exercise: Defenestrate objects. Photograph them in mid-air: I was quite unsure of how I wanted to go about this project. I didn’t have too many items I was comfortable throwing around. And then one night I was looking out my window and I realized that I wanted to explore how objects might look in the night. Eventually I came across the items I wanted to use as well. At first I experimented with a newspaper roll – but it felt sort of boring to be honest, I wasn’t interested in seeing how it might visualize because it had no individual movement and character.

But then I realized: I might have just the thing. My birthday passed earlier this month – and one of my lovely friends had a balloon bouquet sent to my home. I took it apart and played around with throwing ribbon, the balloon portion and a gold foil weight – I had my mom throw them in the air whilst I tried to capture some images – and I really like the variation of light and movement that came from the process and that you can see in all the photos – I also unintentionally had included the moon in some of the photos and I quite like the effect is created:

Below are the images I took for the gold weight in the air – my personal favorite. There’s an effect of bright light and some great movement – it creates the image of something like a firework that really nicely contrasts the greyness of the sky surrounding it.

Week 4: Adad Hannah & Social Distancing Artwork

On Adad Hannah: Adad Hannah’s work is interesting in that he investigates human behaviour by paralleling the experience in his artwork. His videos (both during the pandemic) and prior to, like the Burgher’s of Vancouver create a reaction in the viewer similar to Marina Abramovic’s The Artist is Present, where the viewer begins to analyze and monitor their own behaviour and emotion in response to the video of other individuals engaging in stillness.

There’s also a different power to a still video because that subtlety of movement (the humanistic shake) allows you as a viewer to imagine, to really feel the natural rhythm of the figure in each video, what their movements would probably feel and look like.

Adad Hannah observes people of every type it seems – he’s diverse in his selection and seems to select people in very naturalistic settings and routines. They’re different in their occupations, their lifestyles, and more, but through Hannah’s lens (and beyond) they get a moment to stand in solidarity whilst facing their lives during COVID-19. The portraits are like a snapshot in time – the environment continues naturally – people walk by and are unbothered. I think the importance lies in the simple humanity of these people. Especially when COVID-19 is looked at and investigated in a very wide-scale statistical way, it’s really nice to be able to focus on the individual journey each of us have in going through COVID, and how often sharing experiences can be so monumental in moving through it – again, in a time where almost everyone is learning to function more independently and more alone, Hannah’s videos are an insight to our collective human experiences, especially within the few moments we have outside of our homes.

I experimented with two Adad Hannah-style videos. My parents did not want to be filmed, so my options were pretty limited. I was speaking with my younger brother and we both sort of realized that our relationship with screen-time really changed during COVID-19 – so I decided I wanted to explore what that relationship might look like for each of us.

I was sure to center our figures as much as possible, like Hannah so we were the main focus, but my portraits do differ in that my brother engages with the camera, while I do not. Our videos are also inside. I do think my brother’s is the stronger of the two, my video was just initial experimentation. Mine took a bit of extra work – I had to tape my phone to my ceiling, and I think that the distance was 2-3m, whereas my brother’s video was definitely filmed from 5 feet away.

Week 6: Thoughts on the Mask: Reflections on Darcy Steinke, Maurizio Cattelan, Cindy Sherman, Erwin Wurm, Janine Antoni, and Others.

On Darcy Steinke’s “Turn and Face the Strange”:

Describe a situation from your recent experience where not seeing faces has caused significant misunderstanding, confusion, or grief: Often when I think of not seeing faces or understanding the message I might be receiving from an individual (in terms of body language), there are both positive and negative experiences that come to mind. In the past I’ve had the embarrassing scenario or waving back to or saying hi to someone that wasn’t speaking to me, but it is interesting how often that happens now due to masks. The more significant (and unfortunately negative) scenario I’ve had due to not being able to see full faces due to masking is the amount of public sexual harassment, catcalling and uncomfortable behaviour from men I’ve received. Steinke mentioned that overtime she has felt less interesting to men and that the mask (among other things) further emphasizes the experience of becoming invisible. But I might argue that the mask at times dehumanizes me as a woman, makes it easier for inappropriate men to dissect my body and objectify it as a separate identity. It makes me invisible but makes my body into a mannequin for display. As mentioned by Steinke, not seeing my family and friends creates this feeling of almost floating within an empty abyss. And then if and when I am violated, I begin a free drop within the abyss, and lose myself. This feeling sort of exists in general for me as a woman in public, but the pandemic, masking, and the ratio of these occurrences in comparison to how little I venture outside my home amplifies the experience tenfold. I grieve for the self, and for the loss of what little control I had over my body.

Which of the faces discussed in the text were of particular interest to you and your experience? How do you think about these faces?: What I found quite interesting was the discussion of racial identity functioning as a mask, whether the mask be applied by a specific POC as a shield or by a white individual in the name of oppression or even understanding. It was interesting to hear about people experimenting with blackface experiencing the sort of extreme burnout or fatigue that comes with the experience and attempting to control the amount of experience they want to have. There is always an irony in the fact that the individual who often doesn’t require the mask in the first place, can decide when and where to put it on, or take it off.

Who are you without your face? How is your experience different without your face in public? Can you imagine new ways to face the world?: To be quite honest my face is where a lot of my confidence lies. Especially as a women of South Asian culture my body is secondary to my face. If I go out, my outfits might be quite similar in styling, but my face, my makeup is what I play with to feel ready to head out. Sometimes when heading out there is comfort in knowing I don’t have to show my face; at times I feel way more comfortable not wearing makeup and wearing some baggy sweats and a tee – I know that I’m relatively hidden, and in this sense it no longer matters. But I will say that in my life, taking the time every morning or day to become “presentable” in my eyes was the way that I spent time with myself. It was the way that I was able to prep for a day, feel ready to conquer my goals and energize myself. And that experience is something that is now few and far between, and I miss it greatly. I think now I still try to take the time to present myself – and work with what I have. False eyelashes and colourful eyeshadow have been my new best friend,  and hair products are also a bit of a new priority too.

Alternative Masks Exercise: I was actually quite inspired in this exercise – I had lots of fun and enjoyed exploring the different meanings I could create in altering my “mask”. I even went back in my previous work – and found this image I took in SART1050 that I felt was very fitting as a sort of mask, so I’ve attached it here as a sort of prequel:

Here are my masks that I created. There are more than three, but I’ve categorized them so that you have different angles or poses in the same type of mask. Initially I was inspired by Janine Antoni and her “disguise-based” masks and work. I thought of her investigation into identity and purpose, and additionally thought of the reflections I made above on Steinke’s article. Based on this I created the following “masks”.

Hair felt like a good-starting point – hair plays a big role in my presentation, identity and self-image. But in understanding that it can also be a sort of shield for me I decided to experiment in imagery that shows how it often can control some of my choices.

Then I moved on to make-up. Make-up can function as a mask and a shield for me – so I decided to see if I could sort of camouflage myself in makeup. I was inspired by Janine Antoni and by Sol Lewitt as well in terms of the layout of all the makeup swatches. And yes, my skin is crying underneath.

In removing the makeup (which was very difficult) I found myself in a new state of reflection. Could my makeup really become a true face covering? In the moment I stuck my micellar water and makeup soaked pads onto my face and snapped a quick picture. As a note, this was gross. Don’t try this at home.

This was a small experimentation based off some inspiration from Jan Hakon Erichsen and Erwin Wurm. I found some tissue paper in my room and stuck it up my nose. Surprisingly, it’s a rather charming photo to me (save for the first image), and is so opposite to my actual experience of the pandemic.

Finally, I was really inspired by Jackie Nickerson’s work and immediately thought of this South Asian long drape I have. The patterning was so naturally attuned to what the pandemic feels like most of the time – and I especially like that the sheer quality of the fabric allows the impression of my face to peek through – it makes the tonality and messaging of the drape even more intense in my opinion.

Weeks 7-9: Audio Art

On John Cage’s Interview: It’s quite interesting that Cage makes clear the fact that music, in reality, doesn’t have to mean anything. He said it so simply and it was quite a shock to hear, and even more interesting to have to think about. But it’s true – music if you really delve into it functions as a conceptual art piece with no true bounds to it’s expression, save the medium the work is formatted into. But sounds can be experimented with in any way really – and it can become impactful to a million people or just one – but it would still always exist as a piece of music. I also enjoyed his thoughts on how he didn’t like sound to be a puzzle – often we overlook the emotional experience and resonance that occurs in very simple and direct noises. For example, the uncomplicated sounds of nature are calming to many people, baby toys and old nursery rhymes are a consistent and classic form of nostalgia, and old songs from our childhood become faded memories that we end up sharing with our families. The idea reminds me of that audio clip that we were shown in class called “Forgotten School Song”, and how endearing that audio piece was. Simple, charming, and actually a quite meaningful insight into the way memory functions as a marker and as our inner child.

On Daniel Olson’s Thumbrolley: Olson essentially played various toy musical instruments as his prompt. His piece however deviates from the expectation of what musical instruments might sound like. To me, the sounds are more calming, reminiscent of traditional sound bowls compared to loud nursery songs, electronic noises, or even the “loving” memory of children incessantly banging on toy instruments (Initially I was apprehensive of this piece since my family owns a daycare – but this was a nice surprise). Film scoring is often created to amplify the mood or tone of a scene – whilst this audio piece exists as an outside force – not entirely linked to one specific emotion or event. There seems to be a slower experimentation present – Olson seems to have experimented with the sounds to hear how long they extend, the sort of “wave pattern” or vibrato that each sound makes, and also seems to have experimented with the actual musicality of the toys – it sounds like he’s trying to see which sounds are complimentary to one another, and which sounds aren’t. There’s a cycle of singular notes, which then overlap with notes played together – I can sort of visualize the two short drumsticks being hit and tapped along the toy. The effect is quite calming – and sort of functions as this meditative yet nostalgic experience. It reminds me of those moments of comfort and quiet within childhood especially.

On Christian Marclay: In watching Marclay’s short documentary, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the literal investigation into lingual meaning and sound in repetition. I also found it interesting that he experimented with vinyl records – specifically in terms of what musical sounds they might make in the literal sense. It sort of functions as this layered investigation into the noises instruments make – in this comical and interesting form of irony within its extremely literal interpretation of the prompt.  Marclay also clear investigates the role of sound as a marker for social behaviours and patterns, such as his “Hello” piece. And his influence in this regard is similar to Laurel Woodcock and Dave Dyment, and seems to be visible in student works as well, such as Carmen Mattear’s Love, in Kathyrn’s 60 “Seconds” in Under a Minute and Maddi’s Name piece from class. His work is also somewhat reminiscent of Daniel Olson’s Thumbrolley, but in a way that is more experimental, and comical in practice – it’s more of a consistent investigation done consecutively by both the artist and the listener, whilst Olson’s piece is a themed piece with a specific language of memory and effect on the listener.   ­

On Marclay’s Guitar Drag: Marclay extends his original prompt from his documentary (Make noises that a musical instrument might have) using vinyls further, using a guitar instead to create this eerie, uncomfortable and loud noise that quite literally, drags on. It is sort of reminiscent of the musical sound that happens when you drag your fingers along the strings of the guitar – but in an almost radical and angry expression of the idea. The drag allows for this randomized freedom of expression – but reminds me of horror movies and the building soundtrack that occurs in moments of extreme tension. There also seems to be some repetition present – which may be something to sort of add mystery to the possible editing and conceptualization of the piece – it forces the listener to question whether editing played a part – whether audio was only recorded up to a certain distance away and then looped so sound was consistent all the way through the piece, etc.

On Kelly Mark: To me, Mark’s work is reminiscent of John Cage’s thoughts in his interview, and in his mentality. She sort of has this perfect amalgamation of Thumbrolley’s effect, whilst using the more literal style of artists like Marclay, and perfectly utilizes pause and silence like in John Cage’s work. It’s very direct and honest – and Mark doesn’t manipulate her pieces and her sounds to create an altered meaning. She, like Cage, uses sound in it’s everyday form, in order to investigate it’s impact and human response.

On Mark’s I Really Should: Kelly Mark quite literally goes through a list of things she should really get done. The messaging itself is extremely relatable (there’s a lot of things always left to get done) but the repetition creates this depressive feeling. It functions entirely differently from music or film scoring, and instead acts as an internal dialogue that loops essentially, with new tasks being added. Eventually it sounds the way those psychedelic trippy art videos look – forever ongoing without any seeming end, every addition ringing louder and louder in my ears.

I can also imagine how long it may have taken Mark to prepare for the work – I’m curious about the process of conception itself – she may have possibly had a list prepared well ahead of time – or maybe it was on the spot. However, she maintained interest quite effectively, in the specific tasks she mentioned. Some of her tasks were quite essential, or even emotional; there seemed to be a sort of sorry behind each one. Other tasks were seemingly meaningless, but interesting nonetheless. Again, her piece really exemplified the way our thought process might give way to becoming overwhelmed, anxious, sad and stressed – and made me think of the way we attribute responsibility to ourselves – often we are much harder on ourselves than others.

Audio Piece Ideas/Proposals:

1) Vegetable Violence – the sound of cooking as a microscopic and ironic look into environmental destruction – I specifically thought of this work as something inspired by Marclay’s and Matthew Saywer’s work – sort of this fun rethinking of an albeit regular noise

2) What is Unsaid – Recently I was watching Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah and I sort of noticed how effectively pause was used – in other words, the absence of noise. I’m curious to see how I might record this noise – or sort of catch the hesitation in conversation as a separate emotive noise

3) Broken Telephone – I wanted to explore technology as a barrier – I’m interested in depicting what often happens in zoom calls – i.e., the lag, the breaking up that can sometimes be such a barrier in conversations, especially emotional and serious ones. This audio piece can be played off as this almost comical piece as well, where a serious conversation is continually cut off – and could also function as a commentary on avoiding the uncomfortable.

4) What It Is To Be in Love – I was also thinking of possibly collecting snippets of songs that make me sad – or specific moments that make me feel entirely vulnerable – I might even try to collect the emotional response to the music – because I’ve always been surprised when I’ve cried to music – and I was wondering if I could end up collecting that experience.

My Completed Audio Piece(s):

I ended up completing three audio pieces in total.

Firstly, I created Veggie Violence. This piece in it’s creation was quite simple. I just cut some veggies. I wanted to mostly experiment with how uncomfortable and unnerving I could make the noises – and how far I could push the range of noises. I experimented a lot with the moving around of the knife as well, and also handled some veggies as well to make noise in that sense as well. I took inspiration from Olson in the sort of “one-take” fashion of the piece, but my main inspiration was from Marclay’s Guitar Drag and Matthew Sawyer’s Piss Record – in terms of how uncomfortable the noises – and the conceptualization of a sort of story with items and noises that often have entirely different connotations.

Then I created Broken Telephone. The process for this one was harder than I expected – but luckily my mom calls abroad and long-distance often and so anytime she would have a call abroad I would sort of sit and wait until a lag happened and would go ahead and record them. It took a while, but I managed to collect enough sound clips to be able to use. In terms of this piece I was sort of inspired by Kelly Mark and John Cage in their emotional honesty and really smart use of silence as a tool in their works, but I was also inspired by The User’s Dot-Matrix Symphony as well. Because of The User I actually ended up creating a second piece called You Seem to Be Lagging, that only consists of those glitchy disconnected noises and no additional noise. I think both have different tones and experiences, but I enjoyed both (even though making Broken Telephone was a little more awkward).

Weeks 10-12: My Conceptual Portrait

Conceptual Portrait Ideas/Proposal:

1) A collection of my singular moments of joy, based on funny moments with friends, and family. This idea was sort of inspired by John Cage stating that laughter needs no meaning. I am considering a collection of items or words by chance? For example, I have a list of words that I add to every-time my friend messes up a word in a ridiculous sort of manner, whether it be over text, call or in-person. This piece can also be done in reference to On Kawara, in the sense of recording time through subjective means – motifs and symbols that are personal and depict a sense of a journey over time. This work can alternatively be reminiscent of John Baldessari. Baldessari’s work reminds me of having to write lines back in elementary school when you get in trouble. But I can also see the process of actualization that Baldessari goes through in what he writes – he becomes the writing itself. In this way, it might be interesting to see how written forms of memory can shape my identity and journey with my relationships over time.

2) Another idea I have is based off Sophie Callie’s work. She essentially records the variation in the visualization of universal human experience, but I’d be very curious to see what that might look like from one person instead of say, twenty. Below is the jot notes for this idea:

• A series of videos with me looking for something (this can function as a metaphorical concept or a literal one)
• Different vantage points, different shots
• They can be one after another – or be put together at all once as a collective “Where is it?”
• At the end maybe it can be found? – what is it? – a small paper airplane (emotional value – a callback to Callie’s work).

My Conceptual Portrait:

I decided to create a timeline of my emotional journey with someone – through the depiction and collection of mementos over a period of 19 months. It is quite literally titled How I Fall In Love With You: A Timeline of Monthly Mementos. I decided that amongst all the chaos that I wanted to create something a bit more lovely and quiet and sweet. Especially considering that the person this piece is about is one of the better parts of my life. I really hope they never find this website. Anyhow. I was inspired by Kawara’s exploration of time as the main set-up, and then wanted to create an emotion-based collection of items. It’s based off of my first proposal but with a few changes so that the overall piece is more streamlined.

The project took some deep thinking. Firstly I created a list of specific times in my life that I wanted to mark within the piece. I’ve known this person for a few years, but I decided to record 19 months specifically. Originally I had included texts and conversations and notes I had shared with them – but then decided that I wanted each object to speak for itself and have their own sense of mystery. I also felt like the individual objects create a more elevated discussion with the viewer – where the true significance might be only known to me, but the viewer can ask and question what the significance of each memento might be. There’s also a universality in that even the most insignificant or random objects can have emotional value – and there’s always a sense of connection that can be found in that aspect. Each object is a specific symbol for a memory I have with that person for each month I have loved them, or something that built my relationship with them or my understanding of them. Objects are specific to their chronological month, but I won’t share which month the series starts with (I don’t think that it matters). And some objects are just things that remind me of them, and have nothing to do with them at all. Overall I think keeping it relatively anonymous is what makes it visually and conceptually interesting. Currently this is an individual project, but it could become a larger project, like that of Sophie Callie’s.

In a perfect in-person world each object or picture would be framed and set up in one long line that would be ongoing as the months and years continue. But I’ve tried to arrange them below in a chronological grid order (from left to right). Each image is the same size (or ratio of 3:4).

How I Fall In Love With You: A Timeline of Monthly Mementos

Week One

How does Sol Lewitt express the notion that “the idea is the machine that makes the art” in his work? What does the artist’s actual hand have to do with the final work in a conceptual art context?

• The thought and planning that goes into the piece is more important than the final product. The idea is what drives the piece, it’s what makes the ‘machine’ produce
• The artist’s actual hand wasn’t technically in the final execution, but he didn’t need to be because his hand was in everything else leading up to it: the planning, the concept, and the decisions
• Because it was conceptual art, it’s the idea that carries the piece, not just the final product

Where do you draw the boundaries around the artworks in this video? What are the artworks? What strategies and tools does Ono use to challenge the viewer? Do you like any of these concept-works? Discuss.

• These artworks seem to be very interactive with viewers and friends. I think the only boundaries are ensuring the safety of others so no one gets hurt in the process of creating the pieces. They all seem to be fairly harmless though so I don’t think that would be an issue 
• The artworks are interactive, and cause you to either engage with other people, or the earth. They’re pieces that have to do with shadows, the sun, footprints, or shaking hands, sending letters to your friends
• To challenge the viewers, Ono is encouraging them to interact with other people or the world around them which is often something people avoid. Often us humans get caught up in our busy lives that we forget to engage with others or forget to appreciate the beauty of our planet. Ono’s pieces may put people out of their comfort zone and challenge them to be more attentive to what’s occurring around them.
• I like the artwork where you make a numbered list of times you’ve felt sad and get a pile of rocks that correspond with that number. Then she says to burn the list and appreciate the beauty of the pile of rocks. I think this piece is amazing because it allows someone to acknowledge their sorrows, but not live in them, and encourages the person to look at the beauty in their sorrows at the same time. Not only is this art, but it is an opportunity for someone to pay attention to their emotions and deal with them in a healthy way

Describe two works by Bruce Nauman (include images) where he frames every day actions (non-heroic, banal) as art. How are they “framed” as art, and what does the framing do to our understanding and experience of the actions?

1. Double Poke in the Eye

BruceNauman-DoublePoke.jpg

I think this piece is hilarious. It is a simple (and very random) action of two people poking each other in the eyes, yet it is framed in a way to make it art. The fact that it is captured in neon, the banal act is glorified and exaggerated. You simply cannot miss this piece due to its bright colours and flashy performance.

2) Walking in an exaggerated manner around the perimeter of a square

Walking-in-an-exaggerated-manner-around-the-perimeter-of-a-square-1967-68-10-min.ppm

In this piece, Nauman did exactly as it was titled; he walked in an exaggerated manner around the perimeter of a square. He took the most banal act ever (walking) and made it into art. To frame this action as art, Nauman created this piece like how Sol Lewitt created his. The art is in the process, in Nauman’s planning, in the painting of the square on the ground, in the thought process behind his movements, and in the setting up of the camera. It’s not just Nauman’s final performance that is considered art, it is all of the leading up to it as well. 

Kilometer Assignment

keeping a strong friendship,

is harder than it seems.

like a plant that needs some water,

our relationship, it needs:

memories to hold on to, and

experiences to gain.

to keep this union going, to

each other we must

remain.

This is an acrostic poem spelling out the word “kilometer”. When you think about a kilometer, your first thought is usually distance. I reflected on that and I began thinking about what distance looks like nowadays, during a pandemic when you feel so close yet so far from all your friends and family. When there’s physical distance separating a relationship, it’s important to remember to continue making memories, putting effort into reconnecting, and encouraging one another as you maintain your bond. This poem is a reminder that distance is okay, but we can’t forget to reach out to one another if we want to keep growing alongside each other.

Week Two

Marina Abramovic:

Art must be beautiful:

• What I appreciate most about this piece is her devotion to her craft. She put 100% of her effort into the artwork to ensure her performance was as moving as it was. The vigorous brushing of her hair was a statement that not only emphasized the meaning of the piece, but also shows that she is willing to sacrifice her body, and the health of her hair, to achieve the performance she was intending to portray.
• My overall impression: being completely honest, this made me very uncomfortable and I didn’t enjoy it at all. At one point in my life after I bleached my hair many times, some pieces started to fall out so hearing her hair ripping as she brushed through it, made me very uncomfortable. 

Relation in time:

• I found it fascinating how they did 16 hours leading up to the final performance and the last hour was the section they allowed viewers to experience it
• The visual of the effect of this action over time was very powerful; you could see their hair loosening, their posture becoming more relaxed, and their eyes closing. This shows her dedication, no matter how sore their backs are, or tired they are, they still pushed through to fulfill the performance

Breathing in/Breathing Out:

• This piece seemed to be the most dangerous of all of them. It’s almost as if they were signing up to be slowly suffocated. 
• I think the overall message is really powerful – relationships that are so dependent on the other person, leaves you getting hurt. In a relationship, both people must be whole themselves and know how to live on their own without needing the other person. 
• The piece called “Rest Energy” also has the same effect – it is portraying the potential damage that can occur when there is a lot of trust in a relationship

The Artist is Present:

• I love how she says there’s 3 different types of Marinas – one is the product of two national heroes and she can do anything she puts her mind to, another is a child whose mother didn’t love her enough, and the last is a person who is able to tap into more spiritual levels
• The artist “bootcamp” that she did seemed to be very fascinating. All of the exercises they did focused on experiencing earth in new ways and paying attention to the little things. They sat outside with a blindfold on, they counted different colours of grains of rice, and they stared at each other in the eyes
• “The hardest thing to do is next to nothing” you have to rely on your own energy and nothing else
• It takes a lot of physical strength do do all of her performances, especially ro do nothing for such a long period of time
• A lot of her performances required fasting, silence, and no motion. Completely avoiding all distractions
• The relation projects – the more successful the performance was, the worse their relationship got in private
• “I feel like I’m Marie Antoinette going to get her head cut off” she says as she’s walking to begin her exhibit Artist is Present
• My Takeaways on her final performance “Artist is Present”: 
  • The most touching part for me was when Ulay sat in front of her and she broke the idea of sitting still
  • The act of her reaching out to him and showing the emotion on her face reminded the viewers that she is a human being and not just a motionless, lifeless machine 
  • “Without Ulay, the audience is her lover”
  • Talking about her looking down before looking at the new person in front of her “everyone gets a clean and personal contact with Marina”
  • “She’s treating each person with the same amount of contact and attention”
  • “There’s so many reasons why people come to sit in front of me. Some are angry, some are curious… and you feel incredible pain… When they’re sitting in front of me, it’s not about me anymore. Soon I’m just the mirror of their own self.” – Marina
  • “For most masterpieces, people sit in front of it for around 30 second. Most people sit in front of Marina for a whole day”
  • My final thoughts: it was a lot more emotional than I thought it would be. When you think about the concept or even talk about it with others, sitting and staring at people every single day for months seems absurd. The thought of people having such an emotional and spiritual response also seemed to be a little extreme, but once I saw the documentary I grew more of an appreciation and understanding of Marina’s work. I found it so fascinating how dedicated she was to the execution of the “Artist Is Present”, and how she ensured that each encounter got the same amount of attention from her. 

One Hour Photo

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In my attic, there is a torn apart old chair wedged up into this ‘window nook’. It is a very sad corner because we didn’t know what we should do with the nook, and we had no other place to put the deteriorating chair. Even though I forget about this corner all the time, there is one creature who doesn’t; my roommates cat. She loves this chair. She climbs on it, sleeps on it, sits on it and stares out the window. She can spend hours on that chair. So that got me thinking, if a cat can spend so much time on this chair, can I sit on it for an hour?

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I was up for the challenge. I set a timer and tried to find the most comfortable position (leaning my head and knees on the window like in the photo). Going into this task, I honestly thought it would be easy for me since I’m the type of person who naturally can do nothing for hours on end. The first (what I think was) 15 minutes were easy, I people watched and thought a lot. I wasn’t feeling antsy at all because I was able to occupy myself with my own thoughts. What I think was halfway, was when my back started to hurt and my butt became numb. That wasn’t fun, but I still wasn’t bored at all because I kept myself busy by looking at people outside and guessing their lives. Then I remembered got really cold towards the end of it and I kept hearing my roommates downstairs so I got a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out). I tried to listen to the muffled conversation to figure out what they’re talking about, which kept me busy for another while. The timer went off sooner than I anticipated, however as I was sitting there, I was eager for the time to be up since I was cold and a little sore.

Overall, this task was a little bit more challenging than I thought it would be for me. It is surprising how physically demanding it is to simply do nothing. As I was sitting there for only an hour, I reflected on the countless days and months Marina Abramovic sat in the exact same position on a rigid wooden chair. Since she faced many new people every day, I can see how she could keep her mind busy and entertained, but it is how long she did that for, and the sacrifices she had to do for her artwork that really impressed me. She fasted every single day, she probably had to train her body, and I am sure she suffered from pain and bodily harm after each day of sitting. After getting a little sore from just one hour, I have so much respect for Abramovic and I admire her so much more for her dedication to her art.

Week 3

Video 1 – Move and manipulate other people’s objects without causing a great disturbance.

Video 2 – Sit right next to a stranger like you know them, while ignoring all the other places you could have sat.

Video 3 –  try climbing a free standing ladder.

Video 4 – Try turning a big van around in a very tight space.

Video 5 – As a parent, see how far you can let her child aimlessly wander away without following them.

Video 6 – Not available

For this assignment I don’t have a window that can open completely, so I threw an object off my balcony. In deciding what object I wanted to throw, I was thinking about finding something light that can be carried and pushed around by the wind. I thought a feather or bubbles would be interesting but then I went to blow my nose, and I thought of just throwing a tissue instead (a clean tissue of course). When I threw it off the balcony, I loved how the action didn’t come from me throwing the tissue. It came from the wind that immediately swooped in to toss it around in the street. I didn’t even have to be there for the movement to occur, I could’ve just let the wind do its thing. I also found it interesting how it moved like how I would imagine a snowflake would move because they’re both flat and light objects. It was funny how the tissue blended into the white snow, to the point where my roommate who was taking pictures for me couldn’t keep track of where the tissue was. As it landed it folded itself neatly into a little square, seeming as though it was preparing to tuck itself back into a tissue box.

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Week 4

This video is a one minute “quarantine” portrait of my mother. She is a teacher and is currently back in the classrooms for in person learning after several weeks of online school. My mom has found quarantine challenging, but the most difficult part has been teaching and guiding her young students through online platforms. To escape from the stress of it all, she loves to go for walks on trails nearby. This one is her favourite and she especially loves the many routes it can go. For this video, she chose to be looking at the map of the conservation area to capture the many possibilities the trails can take you. “I just love coming here and going for walks right as the sun is setting. The tops of the trees glow and the sun shines through the cracks of the trees. It’s so beautiful, it helps me calm down after a busy day at work” she says.

Week 6

Takeaways from the Article:

• The better humans are at expressing their feelings through their facial expressions, the more successful we are

• Facial expressions came before languages
• the face is our main mode of communication
• The first masks were not used to avoid sickness but rather in death rituals
• Through studies it is understood that humans have been making masks for more than 30,000 years
• Masks are protective and medical, but also “stop-gaps” between known and unknown (covid, and what it does to us)
• Awful people wear masks to hide themselves, for example the KKK or villans in movies. Also the masks can act as an element of fear
• Wearing masks can make us feel unseen, and not in touch with our identity
• Wearing a mask for covid is comparative to a woman aging and feeling like she’s less interesting to men
• Wearing a mask can result in us not making an effort in conversations. Feeling less animated and interesting
• Wrinkles of a face is like carrying history
• Your face determines what kind of experiences you will go through – this was proven in John Howard Griffin’s experiment where he (a white man) disguised himself as a black man to have a first hand experience on what it’s like to deal with racism
• Even before the conscious mind begins to process, the brain is activated by face-like objects which alert the observer to the emotional state and identity of the face,

My thoughts:

• It took me some time to get used to wearing masks but I don’t mind it. It doesn’t bother me or make me feel unseen
• I find it difficult to connect with people like cashiers in stores, but I think it has made me more conscious of my words and has encouraged me to express kindness further than just a smile
• I constantly worry about really little kids growing up seeing people wear masks all the time and constantly seeing people on social media. I wonder if it will make them less expressive or more anxious in social settings

Mask Assignment:

For this assignment, I wanted to focus on using paper since all of my schoolwork is completely online and it has been a while sine I have written notes or done work in a paper notebook.

The first mask I have is my face covered in sticky notes of my “to do” list. Throughout the school year, I have found it very useful to write all my tasks on sticky notes to stick them to my calendar and rip them off when I’m done. A lot of the time, it gets very overwhelming to see all the things I have to do, and it feels like they’re taking over and getting in the way of seeing clearly, like what is happening in this photo.

My second mask is very simple. It is an homage to the hard days of the pandemic that I wish I could just copy and paste a smile onto myself. Some days, I even feel like I have done that. When I am struggling to maintain a smile, I look in the mirror and it almost looks like this photo; I have ignored my actual feelings and I’ve taped on a smile to my reflection.

I made the last mask by ripping out facial features from printed out pictures that I’ve used as references for painting portraits. I loved how the different sizes and angles of the features transformed my face to a Picasso-like orientation. It’s me with my own facial features taped on my face, however it doesn’t look natural. It’s me, but it’s not me. Like I created a mask out of my own face.

Week 7

Research and Inspiration:

• Similar to John Cage
  • The sound of traffic is acting – it changes in time, it gets louder, and quieter, longer and shorter
  • Duschamp – “sculpture musicale” – music isn’t a time art it’s a space art, producing a sculpture
  • Listening is more than listening, it’s about the meaning of sound
• Alter Bahnhof
  • Ambient and natural background noise that fits with the scene
  • Voice speaking on top, describing the scenery and painting the picture of what activity is going on 
  • Bahnhof’s piece is carried by the visuals in the video so I would have to really describe the setting if I were doing something like this
• Daniel Olson
  • Manipulating toy instruments to make a different sound
  • It would be cool to get to manipulate sounds 
  • It sounds like a song, it sounds pleasant, like an actual song
  • You wouldn’t know it was created with toy instruments
  • I’m interested in doing the same by manipulating a sound to sound different 

Ideas for Audio Art: 

• Something about my busy street
  • Record and manipulate the sounds of sirens that pass by 
  • Voice over talking about the stories that my roommates and I made up about our neighbourhood 
  • Voice over people watching and predict the story of people walking by with the sound of cars going by background
• Record sounds that I hear on a daily basis and manipulate them to sound different and fit altogether
  • Doors and floors creaking, sirens, people yelling walking by, getting tea, neighbours playing guitar etc.
• Play guitar but with tape on the strings so it doesn’t sound like much, layered with a keyboard that doesn’t have sound connected 
• Like Kelly Mark – record the many times in a day that I start singing something and my roommates go along with it
• Singing a note until I’m out of breath
• Find different objects around the house that’s the same pitch, jump cuts like Lee Walton

Audio Project

These are my two audio assignments. I created these pieces by going around my house to find any object that made the note A# when I hit it. The first audio excerpt is me naming the sounds, playing them consecutively, then repeating them and layering them all together. The second audio is a short rhythmic song that I created with each of the sounds.

Week 10

Conceptual Portrait:

Throughout the school year, my thoughts have been very scattered. It takes a lot of effort for me to be able to manage my days, keep up with deadlines, and organize my ideas. In the summer my mom got me this notepad so I had something tangible to write reminders on. I didn’t think I would use it as much as I have, but this notepad has been a lifesaver.

In this collection of photos you will see that I’ve used the notepad to write notes, doodles, daily lists, schedules, and project ideas. You will also see the progression of my small business “Lume”, where I have come up with the title, logo, and a few sweatshirt designs on these pages. When looking over these pages, only I know what list was the aftermath of a mental breakdown, or what tasks I wrote down the day my boyfriend and I broke up. These to-do lists not only helped me manage my days through some tough times, but they also act as a window into my mind over the past year, and it is so fascinating for me to look these over and be transported back in time to each of those days.

If you are wondering why I kept these lists the whole whole year, I don’t have an answer for you. I had no reason why I kept them, but I’m glad that I did for the purpose of this project. As soon as a page was completed, I would rip it off and put it in my drawer. I’m sure there has been a few tossed in the garbage, ripped up, or turned into a mediocre airplane, but for the most part I still have these 20 pages remaining.

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Week 11 – Conceptual Portrait

I wanted to capture myself through my own gestures and habits that I repeat often. Anytime throughout the week that I noticed myself doing one of these gestures (i.e rolling thread, bouncing knees, etc) I would record it. The settings change as a result of this, sometimes outside, other times inside. I liked the idea of getting the essence of someone through just their gestures and habits.

Week 8 – March 16

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Week 1

How does Sol LeWitt express the notion that “the idea is the machine that makes the art” in his work? What does the artist’s actual hand have to do with the final work in a conceptual art context?

Sol LeWitt creates his art by making blueprints of his ideas and passing them along to others. The curator compares LeWitt’s approach to composing music in that he creates instructions to be realized by others that can be repeated. While LeWitt’s contribution ends at articulation of the idea, this is a collaborative effort between the artist leading and the various people who realize the work. Those who do as instructed to finish the work have no creative input, and although they are crucial to the process, the art is ultimately formulated by LeWitt. In this way he supports the notion that ideas are what make art.

In terms of the relation between conceptual art and the finished product, the artist is instrumental as the decision maker while not being physically involved. I noticed one of the comments on the video was “Need other artist to do the work”. I’m assuming this is to discredit LeWitt’s involvement. Youtube comments are generally not the place for constructive discussions or passable grammar, but I find myself relating to this person’s sentiments. I don’t personally like the concept of allowing unrelated people to realize an idea in the context of creating art because it strips them of their free will and creative input and in this way they become tools or machines, like a pencil or paintbrush. At the same time however, I don’t think this method of creating art is inauthentic or wrong because the artist is using tools to bring his vision to life, like any artist. Whether or not LeWitt physically creates the final artwork does not matter, and although I would argue that he does not put in the effort that a sculptor or painter would, art is not assessed by the effort one puts in but by the finished product.

Where do you draw the boundaries around artworks in this video? What are the artworks? What strategies and tools does Ono use to challenge the viewer? Do you like any of these concept works? Discuss.

Yoko Ono’s video and statements seem to aim to transcend the boundaries of what can be considered art. The interactive concepts suggested appear to challenge the viewer to improve their habits and instill a greater sense of mindfulness. The concepts largely focus on mundane interactions with the world and people around them, such as visiting friends or listening to the breathing and heartbeats of others. Also included are absurd instructions such as “fly”, which aren’t elaborated on but I assume they are meant to be replicated however the viewer intends. I enjoy these absurd instructions the most because of how matter-of-factly they are said.

Describe two works by Bruce Nauman (include images) where he frames every day actions (non-heroic, banal) as art. How are they “framed” as art, and what does the framing do to our understanding and experience of the actions?

Bruce Nauman frames everyday actions as art, and this approach hinges on his outlook that because he is an artist, whatever he does in his studio is art. One piece that arises from this is his collection of videos Wall-Floor Positions. He recorded his own regular, sometimes awkward positions that most would be capable of replicating.

Another of Nauman’s pieces, Coffee Spilled Because the Cup Was Too Hot, is a simple photograph of a cup of coffee that has been partially spilled on a flat surface. Although this is a mundane activity, the colours involved and the composition of the picture make for an interesting image. 

Framing mundane things as art in both of the aforementioned cases leads one to expect to derive meaning from the image, or at least to analyze the composition and form an opinion on it. What would usually be an unremarkable but strange position or an inconvenient mistake in a morning routine can be looked upon in a different light and become interesting aesthetically.

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For my kilometre assignment, I decided that I would illustrate the length of a kilometre through the cumulative length of the largest animal in the world, the blue whale. A blue whale will reach an average length of twenty five meters, meaning that approximately 40 adult blue whales placed end to end would stretch a kilometre long. Instead of presenting them end to end however, I thought it would be more interesting to take a picture of a blue whale and make it into a 5×8 tiled image. For me, this presentation of a kilometre makes it both something small and something incredibly massive. It simultaneously gives me a greater appreciation of this distance when the largest animal is dwarfed by it, but also makes it seem quite small when I think that I would only have to walk the length of forty whales to walk a kilometre. 

I would have liked to multiply images of even more animals, but unfortunately the smaller the animal gets, the larger the tiled image becomes. My computer could barely load a multiplied image of an elephant, so I can’t imagine what would happen if I did this with a picture of a mouse or an insect.

Week 2

For Week 2’s assignment I decided to sit on the floor with my chinchillas for an hour without moving and while holding food in my hands, allowing them to approach me and interact with me while I stayed as still as possible. While hanging out with my pets is a normal activity for me, I am usually studying, using my phone, or interacting with the chinchillas, so I thought it would be interesting to be completely still while they were roaming outside of their cage. The chinchillas, once over the initial excitement of exploring, were visibly confused by the fact that I was not moving or interacting with them and they were hesitant to approach me, and they took a while to find out that I had food. I recorded the first 20 minutes of this before I had to reposition myself when my legs fell asleep. I also occasionally had to adjust my posture as I began to slouch and obviously I had to breathe, so what felt like perfect stillness really looks pretty shaky and restless when sped up.

Over the course of the hour I thought about the restrictions that had been placed on human interaction because of social distancing and how animals have become a crucial source of companionship. By not interacting with my pets during a time when I usually would, I was further distancing myself from those who were within my bubble, even while sitting right next to them. This is similar to how I am unable to interact with my nearby friends and extended family not because of physical distance, but because of the barriers that we have had to put in place to protect the health of our communities. I also thought about how our pets are almost completely oblivious to what is going on in the human world, yet they somehow notice small changes in our demeanors and adjust their behaviour. 

I have a lot of respect for Marina Abramović’s work after completing this assignment. Complete stillness for an hour is hard enough, and I cannot fathom how someone would be able to manage 700 hours.

Week 3

Making Changes by Lee Walton: Move objects around the city in a way that disrupts the original intention of whoever put them there.

Sitting by Lee Walton: Sit immediately beside strangers.

Ladder Climb by Jon Sasaki: Attempt to climb a ladder without supporting it against something and using only one’s balance

Dead End, Eastern Market, Detroit by Jon Sasaki: Approach the barrier in the alley with a van before turning around completely to leave. 

The distance I can be from my son by Lenka Clayton: Measure how far the child can be allowed to walk away before having to intervene.

For Week 3’s defenestration activity I used my pterosaur figurine. More specifically it’s a model of a Quetzalcoatlus, which is the largest animal ever to fly, standing at roughly the height of a giraffe when upright on the ground. I thought it would be cool to take a picture of it “flying” but it ended up looking like it was dive bombing the ground. The model was somewhat front heavy.

Week 4

For Week 4’s assignment, inspired by Adad Hannah’s Social Distancing portraits, I recorded my mum while she was sitting in the living room in the evening. I chose this because I wanted to film someone in a pose that was natural and routine to them during the pandemic, as this is generally where she can be found at this time of day. I almost kicked our dog out for this video but she is generally part of this routine and did a good job staying still, so I decided it would be better and more authentic if she stayed.

Week 6

Turn and Face the Strange: Darcey Steinke on Our New Life with Masks

In the article, Darcey Steinke explains how the face is crucial to our communication as humans and how a lack of facial expression disrupts how we express ourselves and how we interpret the emotions of others. I can relate to this in that my generation communicates through text more than any other, especially during the pandemic, so a lack of insight into other’s facial expressions can sometimes result in misinterpreting what they are trying to communicate. There have been several occasions where sarcasm, joking, etc. have been lost on me or other people because of the lack of a physical face to draw meaning from. 

Of the various faces discussed in the article, what struck me the most was Darcey’s anecdote from the beginning, in which acquaintances recognized her and had to identify themselves because they were wearing sanitary masks. I’ve had this experience as well where I am unable to be completely sure of a person’s identity when they are wearing a mask. I think of people with masks as having half a face, and while I believe that the upper part of the face is more important when emoting, the mask severely hinders our ability to recognize and read the expressions of one another.

As humans we rely mainly on our eyesight to recognize things at a distance because we do not have very acute senses of smell or hearing. Even with a variety of features such as height, body shape, hair colour, skin colour, and clothing, we are programmed to focus and rely on faces. As Darcey mentioned, our face is a stand in for our entire selves. With my face partially covered, I believe some of my identity becomes ambiguous, and my presence and the presence of others in public spaces become less prominent. 

For this week’s assignment we were asked to obscure/and or transform our own faces. I was mostly inspired by Erwin Wurm’s work, and I thought it was interesting how he took mundane objects to transform people’s faces. The objects I chose to obscure my face were things that were unremarkable and nearby, but using them in this way was significant to me because of how I used them to do similar things during my childhood and I wanted to revisit the weird things I did. For the first image I was inspired to clamp a hair clip and a bobby pin on my face because I would frequently steal them to do this exact thing when I was little (I don’t know why). In the second image I stuck checkers pieces in a pattern on my face, which I used to hold up to obscure my eyes because it looked similar to the button-eyed villain from the film ‘Coraline’. In the third image my face is hidden behind tissue paper, and this idea came to me because there are several photos of me wearing or sometimes eating tissue paper during birthdays or holidays.

Week 7

For the audio assignment, I’m thinking of creating a piece that will be somewhat unsettling for the the listener. This is not because I want to be cruel to whoever listens to the audio, but because I like exploring what media makes us scared or uneasy. I recently learned about an audio trick that is often used in horror films to achieve this – the soundtracks and ambient background noise in horror films are often mixed with something called infrasound, which has such a low frequency that it is technically undetectable to the human ear but makes those who hear it uneasy.
I would like to figure out how to manipulate infrasound and add it to something such as music or mundane sounds. It would be interesting to see if listeners feel anxious when listening to the seemingly unremarkable audio or if they are unaffected

For my final audio piece, what I ended up doing was overlapping about six recordings of people coughing and adding some music with infrasound. I ended up using some music I found in an infrasound playlist on Youtube, but I was unable to locate the creator.
What I wanted to capture was the specific anxiety involved with living during a pandemic, when hearing coughing in public or in your own home can be anxiety inducing and make one seem suspicious. I chose the music (which is more subtle, you might not hear it until midway through the audio) because I thought it expressed the dizziness and alarm bell-like feeling of mounting anxiety.

I would recommend not listening to the audio when already anxious or irritable or if you’re just trying to relax, because I made it and even I really hate it.

Week 10

For the final assignment of this course, I would like to create a conceptual portrait that presents the physical space I take up. I am considering listing the cells, matter, or pieces that I am made up of in a way that is not a literal self portrait. I would like to find a way to depict what I am made up of, but this will obviously not be a simple diagram and I aim to present the biological components of being human in a way that is abstract and not instantly recognizable as being a human at all.

For the final assignment, I decided to create a portrait of myself by listing and illustrating various components that make up my body. I was predominantly inspired by the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres and how he presents the weight and presence of a person’s body in his work. Some of the things I included are not physical (heartbeats per minute) or not a part of the body at all (a piercing), but I thought they were important to include because they are a part of what makes up my body and appearance. The result is that I have illustrated my self-recorded statistics on my physical appearance, and although I include all the things listed, when isolated they make up something that is unrecognizable as a person.

^{WEEK 1}

Make A Kilometre

For this assignment I decided to do a simple task but with a little twist. Every day we waste so much time on stressing not doing anything, or gaming, or watching tiktok for hours. (not necessarily all these activities) So I took time walking down my neighbourhood for a kilometre and timed myself to see how long would it talk for me to walk a kilo. Turned out it only took me 14 minutes and 41 seconds to complete. We could do so much in almost 15 minutes. For instance, we could read a short chapter of the novel, prepare for dinner, make art, study, watch an educational documentary…etc. Since I’m not good at time managing and organize things, this could also be a simple practice to manage my time better too. Therefore, I took time and created a small painting in 15 minutes and recorded it.

Sol Lewitt: For All to See

Sol Lewitt has an unique way of thinking about art, he thinks he’s the composer of music. Ｗhen he talks about “the idea is the machine that makes the art”, he is talking about the subsequent artists would be able to reinterpret and re-execute his original work. Because his part was simply only the planning part, and rest of the artists in the team need to do is follow the instructions. As shown in the video, a group of artists (mostly students) are carefully following his instructions and illustration to recreate one of his works.

Yoko Ono reading from her Grapefruit book:

Where do you draw the boundaries around the artworks in this video? What are the artworks? What strategies and tools does Ono use to challenge the viewer? Do you like any of these concept-works? Discuss.

It was quite interesting watching Yoko Ono reading from her Grapefruit book. She has a very unique way of describing her artworks. The artworks mentioned in the video are mostly about simple tasks that people can do and treat them as art. I think there isn’t really any boundaries around the artworks in this video, because it is difficult to say what is art and what is not. Artists create art pieces to express their feelings and to send a message to the viewers which in this case Yoko Ono allows viewers to be a part of her artworks and allows them to participate as well. I do enjoy her exercises that she mentioned in the video such as her cleaning piece (sadness stones and happiness stones) and wish piece (write down a wish on a piece of paper and tie them around the wish tree, ask friends to do the same and cover the tree until it’s covered with wishes). I think these are good practices because they aren’t just simply “instructions”, but they are things that’ll deepening your thoughts and open your eyes more to see much different perspectives of art. 

Describe two works by Bruce Nauman (include images) where he frames every day actions (non-heroic, banal) as art. How are they “framed” as art, and what does the framing do to our understanding and experience of the actions?

WEEK 2

Marina Abramović

WEEK 3

• Lee Walton: Moving objects in ways against their normal placement.
  • Sitting: sitting silently and closely next to random people in the park 
• Jon Sasaki – Ladder Climb: Climbing up an unsupported ladder and proceed to multiple attempts.
  • Dead End: Driving a white van into a dead end of an alleyway and trying to turn around
• Lenka Clayton: A kid in red jumpsuit walking down the road and continuously looking back until the parent finally catches up 
• Yuula Benivolski: …? (no video provided)

WEEK 4

Week 1

Describe two works by Bruce Nauman (include images) where he frames every day actions (non-heroic, banal) as art. How are they “framed” as art, and what does the framing do to our understanding and experience of the actions?

One Hundred Live and Die 1984

This artwork is framed by the usage of four columns, creating a border, containing 100 words relating life and death with different actions, emotions, and colors. It can be interpreted as poetic and vulgar. The artist uses framing to bring light to different aspects of life that may be overlooked. Also by framing these words and using the fluorescent signs the artist could be making commentary on the popularization and exploitation of tragic or pleasant human experiences. A take on perspective dependent on a viewer’s perception.

Violent Incident 1986

Bruce Nauman frames his artwork, here in two ways, first by using the physical framework of the TV as well as the framing of each scene being filmed within the TV. The use of framing in this art work determines what the audience will see which may act as a constraint of some sort. The viewer can only see what the artist wants them to see, forcing them to cue in on a particular image and emotion.

Framing of his artworks sets a particular tone and controlled message, that being the validity and purpose of each artwork in their own unique ways. 

Where do you draw the boundaries around the artworks in this video? What are the artworks? What strategies and tools does Ono use to challenge the viewer? Do you like any of these concept-works? Discuss.

Drawing boundaries is problematic when dealing with conceptual art because how do we validate abstract art and determine what can or can’t be considered art. In respect to Onos’ artworks in this video, I would personally draw the boundaries on art that is possibly untransferable/personal, “watch the sunset, and feel the ground move.” This idea could be a starting point idea, but I would say it needs to be more explored and developed. Some artworks described in the video are performative, and others are “personal”/ experiential. Ono challenges the viewer by questioning boundaries of art, if there is a meaning to all art and should there be for it to be considered art. They are also challenging the viewer by making the art connected to a personal challenge. I enjoyed the concept- work where there is a numbered list of sadness and stones corresponding to the numbers of sorrows. I appreciated this concept as the stone’s beauty replaces the idea and correlation it had with sadness. Potentially, the viewer can create connections in their light and understand the importance of balance between negativity and positivity. 

How does Sol Lewitt express the notion that “the idea is the machine that makes the art” in his work? What does the artist’s actual hand have to do with the final work in a conceptual art context?

Sol Lewitt is an exciting artist as he challenges the meaning of what art and an artist is. Do the artist themselves and their hand need to be involved in the physical making of an artwork’s final form or make the idea more important? It is evident in Sol Lewitt that the process is more important than the final work. The notion that “the idea is the machine that makes the art” in his work is expressed by making the artwork’s map, blueprint and formula. By drawing out the recipe, so to speak, shape, colour (by abbreviation) and structure can form by the hands of others but initiated by his own hand. The concept of his art acts as the machine since it enables the production.  

I have represented a kilometre throughout text, more precisely by then length of a standard white sheet of paper.  1km = 100 000 cm, and a standard white paper is 28cm in length, therefore 1km thought text is 3571 pages as represented in the document “A Short Story”. Enjoy!

Click to access A-Short-Story.pdf

Personal notes 1

Week 2

personal Notes

Week 3

Personal Notes

Week 4

Social Distancing Video 

Portrait 1 (strengthening bonds edition)

—

Monica 

—

“I work as a research assistant at the University of Guelph and so fortunately I was able to keep my job. I haven’t gone out at all this year and so my routine is quite repetitive and underwhelming at times. Also this year I realized who’s really important to me, that being said it’s those who check up on each other no matter what.”

—

Marta

—

“Personally it has been a very hard year. I was unemployed for the start of the pandemic which was challenging. My mental health has taken a hard hit this year as I constantly feel more and more isolated from the world. Although on a more positive note, I have never felt more supported or comfortable with my roommate Monica. We’re able to connect more on a personal level since were been quarantining together for months. This is a friendship, experience and bond i’ll never forget.” 

— 

Music/Sound Design by Brigitte Dajczer Hal’s Heart

The two people I observed were roommates out on a walk. After listening to both their perspectives on the pandemic and how it effect their relationship, it was interesting to think about how they were yet again spending more time bonding while on a walk together. One of the roommates was more fortunate in being able to stay employed while the other didn’t. Regardless of the situation they both understood and cared for each others issues. This portrait witnesses’ how the pandemic challenged peoples relationship some for the better and others for the worse. The social distancing videos brings out various perspectives that one may have never thought about before. It also allows people to find comfort in shared experiences/struggles. 

Turns out the format of the video i posted early is not supported by word press and so here a MP4 version which should be accessible!

(ABOVE IS THE YOUTUBE LINK TO ACESS VIDEO IF NEW FORMAT ALSO DOESN’T WORK)

Personal Notes

What other artists have explored the concept of the effects the pandemic has had on society. 

• Distancing Bench by Kimberly A Kelzer (also looking at the change of human interaction)
• Portraits of health care workers – Tim Okamura

How did art change during the pandemic

• does not permit performance art and the use of close /raw interaction 
• how we view art is different (more social media presence)

Things to think about when finding who i will be recording as well as the reasonings for it and pose.

Would be great if I could catch someone in the act of providing groceries. 

Want a natural yet posed video. Something/ a pose that is applicable to the strangers experience. Make the pose uncomfortable? Comfortable? 

How can a singular (solo) person different from a pair of people? 

Is there a different level of personalization? Selfishness? Perception of caring? 

Two strangers vs two people who know each other?

Strangers would be interesting to find but also the framing the artist uses may not be possible. Would be interesting to create a interactionles interaction. (is this safe?) 

Make the person pose in a particular way or allow them to pose themselves? 

Week 6

This was a great article to read as it brought attention to an issue that many of us have experiences but very rarely talk about. When wearing a mask some of our key expressions are hidden, and typically they are vital for social communication when conveying emotions. Recently I had gone to meet a friend and we both decided that it was necessary for us to wear masks due to current events. As we interacted our conversation seemed to be “normal”, I had noticed though that their eyes were drifting, almost like they weren’t present. But because I couldn’t see their mouths, it was almost as if I had no supporting evidence that something was wrong, and also I felt that if I said anything without the “proof” I could possibly offend them. It was only after we had parted that they told me something was bothering them. I felt guilty and was frustrated with the fact that maybe if I could have seen their entire face (especially the mouth) I would have been able to be there for my friend. Levinas explanation of faces and vulnerability truly stood out to me, since many times words can create a new truth but regarding the face, it usually is representative of one truth. Without my face I am distant, a stranger, someone who observes. I noticed that my personality has changed, I am less of an extrovert and feel inclined to be anti-social with strangers; whether it be for my safety or a learnt habit. A new way to face the world will be to express our emotions elsewhere, the use of hands when speaking or using much more descriptive language. Being faceless is an important lesson which draws away from vanity and reestablished bonds within ourselves (personality). 

Personal Notes

Additional Personal Notes

JANINE ANTONI photographs of her parents reminded me of Cindy Sherman (Untitled Film Still #21 1978). Both these artists use makeup and clothing to create alter characters. It is not only the makeup, and clothing that make a character but also it is how they are positioned, their mannerism and changing emotions. 

This was an interesting piece to look at after reading the article. I believe that it ties in the concept of perception very well, every person who described Maurizio Cattelan had clearly had different impressions of him. This makes me believe that not only is our face unique to each person, depending on our emotional state that day it may alter your spiritual perception, based on what people see. Is our emotional reflection more important than our physical appearance?  Oddly enough this work reminded me of Chuck Close as his perceptions of faces drastically change every time since he himself has the inability to recognise faces. 

A New Way to Hide My Face: Concealed by Transparency 

I wanted to explore/ challenge transparency. By layering transparent material I was able to give it a new quality and function which I thought was very powerful. It helped me vocalise through photographs that it does not matter what something is but rather what it can be, we have the power to change an outcome depending on the path we create. This was an interesting challenge because not only did I not know how many transparent layers I’d need to conceal myself but it was also a race against time since with each layer there was less air to breath. 

Make An Alternative Pandemic Mask: Biodegradable Fragility

Creating a mask using dried petals I hoped to challenge two ideas; fragility and environmental consciousness. It has come to my attention that masks are becoming the new “plastic bags”. People are polluting the streets and oceans with used masks. Now how do I create something beautiful with an ugly underlying truth. By changing the material of a mask into something biodegradable I have created a temporary appeal to a mask but yet it maintains consciousness of its ugly counterparts/original form (by shape). Using dried petals represents the fragility of our future and personal fears of witnessing someone “break” due the pandemic. 

Face As A Platform: Garden of Eden

I had decided to use my face as part of a living sculpture. I had tried to recreate the outside environment in my own home. When I look at the photograph I sense a feeling of belonging and peace, but then in contrast an overwhelming visual of suffocation by nature’s entanglements. As the dirt fell into my eyes they started to water, and as time passed not only did I start to feel menatly out of place but I had started to be physically uncomfortable. The smells of dirt and various evergreen/dried plants were also becoming overwhelming. The emotional process was quite surprising; initial paradise, to a suffocating chaos. 

Week 7

Jhon Cage: Overall feelings of confusion and making you question if sound is only auditory related. Key words: redefining. How to compose silence? Importance in the process of music. 4’33” (for orchestra and soloist) Sound value is from the actions. Visual is more important than audio; since we see and orchestra the components of the orchestra and the particular chosen musical instruments we are able to deduce that we should be hearing classical music, but rather we hear the sounds of a musical environment/actions. 4’33” (death metal) yet again we have the visual of a death metal band but no sounds, the short intro at the start of the video creates a feeling of anticipation. After doing some research as to why John Cage decided to compose silence it was interesting to find out that it was in response to the continuous noise post WWII. As a musician it almost felt like the value which music had held for him has now become the value of silence. Intentional silence and music had started to share value. His works remind me of Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Silent Sound. A conceptual artwork which also communicated in a unique way. Both of the artworks que into our psyche (find pattern without the pattern). 

Lee Walton: Absolutely loved the audio piece by Lee Walton, it would have been interesting for the artist to do a segment where they play the C note on pianos which have not been tuned for years! This would confuse the audience (especially those with a musical background) because they would visually see the C key being pushed but the sound would be much much different.  I wonder why he chose the piano. The video component was also a plus since you were able to see what kind of piano is being played and then can understand why it maybe sounds a particular way, or even find a pattern amongst visual and audio. I love the idea of using one object, and I think I may explore this in my own work. The use of repetition here was very impactful but also interesting, because even though the same note was repeated not only did it look but sound different. 

Yoko Ono’s screaming piece makes me question boundaries of art, are they boundaries, should there be? Would this piece have been considered a conceptual work without her fame/title/popularity? One aspect which I liked from the video is that it is sound which everyone is and at the same time is not familiar with. If every person in the room was to close their eyes and visual a story, they would be all different and based on personal experiences. Yokko Onos sound was continuously different and unpredictable, which is why I think she was able to maintain the audience’s attention.

Project Proposal 

I would like to explore the ideas of symbolism and variance. Bellow is my thought process and brainstorming for the audio piece. At times I like to focus around key questions, fears or personal relationships with a particular sound. 

• Use of Repetition (I like the idea of repetition, because if I were to use an object with the same function the emphasis will be placed differently each time on its unique characteristic even though they all share that same characteristic) (to find uniquality in uniformity) 
• Use of symbolism
• Mimicking natural sounds in an unnatural environment (water movement)
• Sounds of different model cars that pass by on the street (interesting to see how the sounds may progress during the day, I could stand near a busy street for a minute per hour of the day) < potentially there will be the use of silence in this audio piece similarly to John Cage in which the environment holds the power
• Sounds of different birds in my surrounding (a fear) (I have always found birds to be very peaceful, but there’s also a fine line between peaceful and chaotic, birds tend to have a natural progression of repetitive sounds, how would this should if I was to start with singular bird noises and gradually layer them up until It was overwhelming: reminds me of when you give a bird food with a smile on your face and then all of a sudden you feel trapped and attacked< does this feeling comfrom the auditory sensation of over stimulation on both parts???)
• Sounds of glasses (use of repetition and the creation of a beautiful sound by one action which ultimately produces variance in the pitch that is produced) (personal relevance, the sound emitted from sounds reminds me of family gathering and so to me it is almost as if each sound is representative of one person, also depending on the sound produced can be representative of socioeconomic status how so? Crystal and thin glass which is more expensive would produce a longer/sharp/clear sound rather than a cheaper glass material that would probably sound more blunt ) (to include video or to have it be only sound) (why this material/object?) (Lee Walton inspiration)
• Record/to mimic conversation as those around me speak (I have always loved to mimic accents and oddly enough staring at people to ensure not only the sound but emotion and attitude fit, I think it would be interesting to repeat conversations which I hear around me and jump from conversation to conversation). 

Week 8 and 9 Audio Piece

Each sound had 2.1 seconds of its own time, this was in oder to show the variance of unique characteristic and how some sounds could and wouldn’t last the full 2.1 seconds depending on the material. The use of repetition was to create variability but was also reflective of a person, the glasses which made a more so “beautiful” sound could be thought to be as mature or parental figures, and the dull sounds could ultimately be characterized as a child’s glass. It was important for me to layer the sounds at the end in a natural yet unnatural way as I wanted it to be representative of this idea community / coming together. It can be interpreted as a celebration or simply a group of people coming together, depending on ones personal experience. I also wanted to bring attention to how one material that shares a function can have so much variety and be considered unique regardless of this very function due to it’s personal characteristic in auditory effects.

Week 10 & 11 Conceptual Portrait + Personal Notes

Personal Notes

On Kawara, 

• The artist examines and plays with time, the effects of chronology on human compulsiveness 
• Reminds me of a militarian routine 
• The idea of postcards was so beautiful yet so simple at its core. It is by the sheer volume and the process of collection which made the posts cards so impactful. There had become a story, and each one was unique yet related in one way or another (there was always a statement, and it was always addressed to a person) The viewer is able to focus as well as be overwhelmed by the abundance of detail. 
• “Today” series, 1966-2013, it is interesting to think how every date can have a different story depending on the viewer. One date may hold no value to one person but for the new viewer it may bring overwhelming feelings depending on the relationship/experience/memories the audience has with the date. Why is time important? The power an artist holds is the ability to redefine any concept, even the notion of time. 
• Is his art a form of self reflection? Meditation? Discipline? 
• A sign of continuously life, the importance of everyday no matter if it was a productive, happy or emotionally staining, as long as you have the ability to move forward the process of art continuous

John Baldessari

• The use of repetition, to elicit feelings of frustration? Order? Confusion? Stability?
• “I will not make boring art”, challenging the meaning of what is/ can be considered as art (similar to Duchamp) 
• A new form of making art, The choice of words being so blunt and direct personally made me think about the role of an artist and if there is any one role which we hold 
•  Another artwork of his that stood out to me was “What is a painting” 1986, yet again there was an emphasis on the power of works and how a conceptual idea acts as art. Also in this artwork it was not he himself who painted on the words which brought up another very interesting idea in the process of art creation; is the artist’s “hand” as important as the artist idea, and should one hold more “value” than the other

Adrian Piper

• The engagement of social critique and conceptual statements 
• The limits of self and viewer
• “ transformed herself into an odd or repulsive person and went out in public in” I think that this idea is centered around social norms, pushing the boundaries of perception
• The artists hold a powerful energy as the directness behind her art allows the work to stand out, she is able to go beyond social constructions and in turn allow the viewer to think about the role they play in society
• the figure is also used as a tool (importance of gestures)

Conceptual Portrait:

Formula: make the unconventional unconventional. I have decided to create a series of photographs in which I document myself using an object and giving it a new alternative/unconventional function and meaning. The idea I was exploring is necessity. Is there a need for so many materialistic items or is because of our privilege we are able to chose a function rather than create a function. Refrensing Adrian Piper by making commentary on social norms which ultimately can have negative implications (the idea of over consumption, pollution, the lost connection between person, function and action)