Reflect, Renew, Revision, Recycle, etc: Amar
This was one of the first talks of the semester. Amar came
to my Nature Writing class and then I went to her talk in Boyden Gallery, as
well. She was one of several environmental/community artists that spoke about
their work.
There were a couple of things that interested me about her
pieces: one was the part of her talk that encouraged artists to continue working,
even after hitting a wall, and the second was her work with highway cloverleaves.
She talked about the creative process, extensively,
explaining the etymology of the verb “to create” and discussing the natural
progression that a body of work will take. She gave examples from her own work,
moving from undergrad as a student through her creation while being a
professor. She talked about the need to always be producing something, to
explore new interests without fear, and to push forward, because in that push
to create, something will click.
Her work with highway cloverleaves is more concrete. Noticing
that there was a lot of water runoff on the highways, and that that water was
going to waste, she started thinking about creative ways to solve it. Her
solution was to create a fantastic garden for the inside of the clover leaf,
using plants that naturally filter water to create a spiraling design that both
helps the environment and looks pleasant from multiple perspectives.
Both of her points were of interest. The first applies
directly to my work now, but in a different way. I have lots of ideas, all the
time, and my biggest roadblock is actually getting something started. Her advice
to just go – without abandon – is great advice. The highway cloverleaves are
something really interesting. Doing a lot of driving myself, I have often tried
to think of ways to make the highways more interesting and engaging.
If I had to critique her presentation, I would give her a
very low score. Her slides were plain, her voice was a dull, and her presenting
was lacking overall. When she presented in the actual art talk, she failed to
impress me. However, in a classroom setting, she really engaged with students.
She was very soft spoken and connected well when she could ask the class a lot
of questions.
I thought that her ideas could have been presented in a more
persuasive manner, but overall I was impressed that she actually got government
money for an art project, no matter how restorative.
*** I went to the science colloquium on technology and cool gadgets as well
SMP Presentations
I went to the first Art SMP presentations. I had a chance to
view the photos and the book, but not Remina’s presentation. Laura’s work
focused on visual storytelling and writing a children’s book, Remina chose to
explore identity in a digital age, and the third girl (whose name I cannot
remember) created her own worlds to photograph. Out of the three, the
photographs were my favorite.
To be honest, I was a little disappointed in several of the
presenters. Much of the language they used to talk about their work was the
same words and phrases that we use in class, every day. As Art Majors, I knew
that they had to have heard it even more often than I did. It sounded like
regurgitation, particularly the piece about digital identity. The topic has
been explored, ad nauseum, for years. While I did not get to view the project,
from what she said, it seemed to reiterate everything that we already
understand about how tech impacts how we view ourselves and others.
What interested me the most were the photographs. The artist
constructed her own realities and then took pictures within the landscape to
appear as normal as possible… except they were created, and therefore, when
looking at them, they always seemed a little bit off. She took macro photos,
focusing on the details of each frame and capturing really beautiful tones and
hues. She barely edited the photos at all. This relates directly to my own
work, as I 1. Love macro, and 2. Find that most of the skill in photography is
what you do before you put it in the computer.
The only thing that I thought this artist could improve upon
was her presentation technique. I felt that she needed to be a little surer of
what she was saying and to expand her concepts a little more. She reiterated
some points rather often and in similar language. However, overall, I thought
she did a phenomenal job. She used her own work in her presentation, which helped
her bridge the gap between explanation of process and focus on higher concepts.
Rwanda and Art
Jane Blocker, an art historian, came to talk about her work
with art involving atrocity, particularly the genocide in Rwanda. She
referenced a number of works involving Rwanda and the art made in response. Her
talk delved into some veryyyy deep topics, such as the response process. When
we make art, are we responding to the atrocity? Or to the lack of human empathy
towards those involved in the atrocity?
There was one work in particular that drew my interest, but
overall, her talk related most specifically to my torture and genocide religion
class I am taking. In it we discuss language of perpetrators and victims, and
how each can come together to reach communal reconciliation. Art has
restorative properties, and I loved her mentioning of perspectives that we are
often offered in art.
I must admit that I was rather disappointed that she had
such a lackluster presentation and that she used the Hotel Rwanda screen shot
so often. I thought that it would be easy for her to give examples of others’
work, but at the same time understood her reluctance in doing that. She talked about
response to art, about how one’s response to a work is often of pity and from
the perspective of the perpetrator.
The one artist that she mentioned that I particularly
enjoyed was one who took photos of eyes and threw them in a large pile on the
floor. All of the unseeing eyes of those who looked but did not see, or act. Graphic
images of the brutality suffered by humans on the other side of the world grew
to mean much less, simply through a desensitization and objective distancing
that the photos did. They were taken with a privileged and untouched lens.
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