Fireside Chat

artist statement:

Overall, this was my favorite project this year.  Not only to do, but to watch as well.  Our class is full of some talented and wonderful people. It was amazing to get to see everyone being so open and to learn things about these friends that I may never have guessed.  It was probably my favorite experience in the class.

Okay, now to my project explaining.

So my project was based on my deep belief that the world tries to take away our imagination as we grow up, but we must hold on to it.  When we are young children, it is okay for us to be ridiculous or silly yet the older we get the more that is repressed.  The main focus is to grow up.  If you don’t get a serious job, you can’t make serious money.  So the world tries to tell us to move past those childish dreams and plays and to grow up.

Unlike most of the reading, I did not want to share a true, personal story.  The stories, like the struggle of being half black and half white, were very deep and personal and held great meaning.  But I have learned I am pretty good at creating stories, and I felt that style went a bit better with my belief as well.

So this is what I was trying to show in my performance.  I had two actors who had no idea what was going on, to try and add to the imagination and improvisation I was trying to promote.  I pulled from one of my favorite books growing up, Where the Wild Things Are, but in a sort of reversed way.  This book takes a child’s room and turn it into a magic forest; I wanted to do the opposite.  I wanted to take a magical land and turn it into an office, to show how the world tries to tell you that what you are imagining is not real.  It is your inner child and not something that can help you in the real world. 

When I made this, I wanted my audience to hate the ending.  I wanted them to be so into the story, wanting the prince to win and excited for what was going to happen, and then crushed a little by showing how crappy of an ending it is to make the main character believe that fairy tales don’t exist.  I figured I might be able to make a better point by having my audience feel the same way I do rather than telling them what I thought.  To hear that the prince did not win because he was forced to grow up leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and hopefully it led them to think about the message.

Don’t grow up.  Keep your creativity.  Keep imagining.

Concerned Citizen

https://soundcloud.com/rissa6/cami-hansen-1-2

Artist Statement:

For our concerned citizen project we interviewed a young woman who co-founded an organization with her friend to help out people who suffer from mental illness. Cami, the woman we interviewed, is very aware of the inadequate structures or lack thereof needed to help those who are struggling. Her organization is created purely out of the goodness of her heart because she knows personally what it is like to be improperly treated as someone with a mental illness. She seeks through her work to encourage and support those who need it through advocacy. She wants society to be aware that people are still human beings, even when they are suffering internally with a mental issue. Her organization is about bringing about awareness to the truth of what mental illness is and in turn inspire those around her to be more patient, kind, and considerate towards those who are struggling. Cami is aware of the social and political injustices that occur in the lives of mentally suffering individuals. She states clearly that people have physical problems are allowed far more treatment and care than people with mental problems, when in fact the mental issues are more damaging and take longer to heal than the physical ones. That is why she wants to freely help those who cannot help themselves. Her work reminds me of summer camps that kids go to for medical reasons to learn that despite whatever disability or seeming disadvantage, they learn through activities, encouragement and help that they can be whole and do whatever they want to if the set their minds to it. If they believe in themselves and have others believe in them they can be truly successful and whole. As Arlene Goldbard said, “Rights are mere abstractions without the means to implement them.” This is something that Cami is very aware of and that is why she is so altruistic and helps those that she can. She has made herself the means by which people can rightly get treatment for their problems.

Protest Poster

Artist Statement

The social issue I chose for this project was the debate on anti-fur.  After some research, the main protests and idea that I found were taking the side of human choice, saying that we should chose to not wear fur.  The main posters I found were the popular ones featuring celebrities saying, “I’d rather go naked than wear fur”.  These were all focused on the idea that we, as humans, should stop this killing of animals and choose to not wear fur.  We should choose nudity over a fur coat.

For my project, then, I decided to look at this from another angle, that of the animal’s.  But I did not want to take the normal argument.  I almost wanted to add in some black humor- as if the animal was agreeing with the argument that some people have given.  This fox very sarcastically throwing in his point about this subject.

I wanted his argument to strike really hard.  Even though he is agreeing with what someone might argue, he’s actually using that to show how cruel this is.  These animals are killed only for their fur.  I am not anti hunting and I am not a vegetarian, but I do believe that animals should be treated with respect.  If you are going to kill one, then there should be more purpose than to use their coat as a vanity item.

The reading talks a lot about how what stories you read can influence what you create or do in your own life.  This is true in my protest poster as well. Most of the reasons behind wearing fur are vanity reasons influenced by society.  Because the fur coat has been so idolized as a sign of wealth and fame thanks to movies, books, and other forms of social media, the idea of owning one of these coats or other fur items is romanticized.  And the sad part is, there is no reason for it to be.  Yes, they are expensive, but is the price on the tag really worth the price of a living creature’s life? Or their mother’s?

Web Spinna

Artist Statement:

For my web spinna I wanted to explore the world of dreams in movies.  The first thing I thought of, of course, was the movie Inception.  This movie explores all the aspects of dreams and goes into them.  And this was what I wanted to explore.  In my opinion, movies are like giant dreams that you can watch over and over again.  The song starts off with the Century Fox introduction and add the old fashioned sound of a camera rolling film to bring the listener into a mind frame of cinema, then takes them into a dream sequence sound and starts to play off of that.

All fiction movies are created in the mind of someone at some point, whether they are based off of a book, an original idea, or something adapted.  Gong into a theater is like going into a sleep for two hours.  So my project explored the relation between cinema and the dreams that we have.

I threw in quotes form Inception that I think really added to the feel of the song, like asking the audience to come back to reality right as I start them into the main song of the dream, as well as the quote talking about how things seem so real in dreams, that it is only when we wake up that we realize it was only a dream.  If it wasn’t for the uncomfortable chairs and one giant screen, movies could be considered the same.  There are times when movies can suck us in so much that they play with our emotions, until we realize once more that it was just a movie, with fake actors and fake situations and nothing really happened.

This reminded me of a movie I watched recently called Certified Copy, in which you are not sure in the end if which lives the character’s were living.  At first, you are sure they are strangers, but then, They switch everything around.  Just like in a dream, you cannot tell what was the real story and what was an illusion.

Our reading talked about whether something is live, or if it is a sample.  They are talking about music, but I think this relates to dreams and movies just as well.  Is this a dream? Is it real? Or is it a movie, which is a fake sample of real life.

How do we decide what is real, what is dream and how to mix those two things?

Web Spinna

20th Century Fox
Camera Roll
Dream Sequence
Dream Quotes
Scapegoat

Medium Specificity

Artist Statement:

For my project, the medium of art I chose to focus on was clothing.  I like the idea of clothing being an art choice, because it is literally a choice you have to make every day.  And whether or not you are someone who chooses to follow fashion or someone who throws on a pair of jeans and an old graphic tee from middle school, you are still making an artistic choice every day (unless you are a nudist, but I will make them a free exception from this rule).  Even those who want to not follow fashion make a statement about themselves and their views by not following fashion.  That is what I wanted to focus on: clothing makes statements, no matter what you wear.
Our reading talked about a before and after picture of models, and it talked about to make the model beautiful.  Taking this in mind, I wanted to see what it would be like if there was only one shot to read a person.  Not a fixed up photo and not comparing one day to the next, but if you were to walk down a hallway and see someone for a few seconds one time, what would you think about them?  The first thing you are going to notice about a person is what they are wearing, because that is literally the first thing you see.  Before you talk to them, before you get to know them, and maybe before they even notice you.
For the actual project I took pictures of six different outfits all on the same model and in the same place but without his face in the picture.  Then I took these photos around to a bunch of different people and asked them to give each outfit a personality.  They had to say who they thought the person wearing each outfit would be without any hints other than the outfit itself.  The words I chose to attach to the pictures were the most common words used.
I was reminded of the movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox while doing this project, because that movie is so heavy on details for the characters.  Each outfit or accessory choice helps to say something about the characters. If they did not have such elaborate designs for each character, I am not sure each individual personality would have as much impact in the overall film.
It as interesting to see how even without a face or any movement or speaking people could very quickly and clearly come up with an idea of who this person might be.  It helped to prove my point that no matter how much or how little you try to show that you may not care about your choice in fashion, it is still a choice in fashion. And it is still a choice that shows things about who you appear to be.

Textual Poaching

Hi, my name is Rissa, and I am short.

Artist Statement:

I am short. I am not so short that I don’t fit in normally in a crowd, but I am pretty short.  You would not believe the multitude of short jokes I receive, even on a daily basis.  Over the years, I have learned to start to accept my height (after all, it’s not really going to change, right?) but there is one thing that has always bugged me: being short means I am thought of as young and a lot less mature.  Because I am short many people assume I am younger than I am.  And this also gives me less credit, for some reason, in the sensibleness aspect.  This doesn’t just stand for me either. When someone stands up, do we measure them by their size?

In “How Texts Become Real”, Jenkins talks about how certain images and objects can become icons in our world for things bigger than they originally intended to be.  Our idea of height relating to is a universal thing.  And for good reason, you grow up when you grow up.  But at what height are we considered grown? Or an adult? Or mature?

I chose to base my project off of the well-known signs from theme parks across America: the “you must be this tall to ride the ride” signs.  While these signs are put in place to keep people safe, they also send a message that people being to take in subconsciously all their lives.  They remember back when they were too “young” to ride the ride, not to “short”.  Seeing images of young children trying to measure up but failing leads us to make this connection that certain heights equally certain ages, and in turn means that person obviously has more experience, knowledge, and maturity.  It is as if those pencil measurements we make on the wall as we grow up don’t have numbers for height and age, but rather for height and development.

3’2”- knows their math; still needs lunch packed for them.

5’3”- can drive by themselves; deserves some responsibility.

6’0”-fully grown; give respectable attention.

The Manifesto

Good art makes uses illusion to present the familiar in a new way.

It takes what you think you know and turns it on it’s side.  
The whole purpose behind this kind of art is to make us tap into our creativity which allows us to invent and create new things.  When we see such common processes in a new light, it helps us to view our whole world at a different angle.  This helps us make unobvious connections that we may not have seen before.
Art that presents the everyday in a new light takes us into new ways of thinking.  It makes us see everything we know (or think we know) in new angles.  It can be created with all types of mediums, as long as it makes us rethink our views of the world.
The main goal of good art is to take what we see as familiar and flip it, mix it, and recreate it.


The story:

Rachel walked down the street of her neighborhood, concealing a package of Girl Scout cookies for her grandma under her sweatshirt.  It was dangerous to be walking around that area with any possession someone might deem worth taking, and Girl Scout cookies are definitely on that list.

            Rachel tried to block out the constant wail of sirens and sad people, sounds that eventually morphed into one strange entity.  Sometimes Rachel wanted to stop and look at the more curious graffiti amongst the sea of it, but she’d been taught not to linger too long anywhere in Pinewood Acres. 

            The sun began to set on the horizon as Rachel finally came to the winding road at the end of the block.  If she could just make it to the end of the road where her grandma lived before dark, she would be okay.  She picked up her pace just to be sure. 

            Rachel had reached the halfway point and everything was going smoothly.  Suddenly the next few streetlights ahead of her went out with a few bangs and flashes of sparks.  Rachel jumped, but quickly collected herself.  She could see the light pass the shadows, and decided to keep moving as quickly as she could.

            After a moment or two, someone spoke to Rachel out of the darkness, “Ya’ know… you shouldn’t be walking around here in the dark at this hour.”

Rachel frantically looked, expecting to see a scary man, but the voice belonged to a calm and normal looking guy, no older than 17.  His face was charming somehow, and Rachel was no longer afraid.  Abandoning her cautious attitude she replied, “You’re probably right. I’m trying to get to my grandma’s house in Paradise Grove.  I know this road will take me to it eventually but is there a faster way?  What with it getting late and all, I’d like to get there as quick as I can.”

            “Yes, I do,” said the boy as he took a step forward. The wail of sirens suddenly got louder and the boy hesitated.  He then spoke, “There’s a trail off the road here that goes through the park and eventually hooks back up with the road right before Paradise.  It’s faster ‘cuz it’s a straight shot.”

            “Thank-you!” said Rachel, and she gave the boy her most dazzling smile.

            “No problem,” he said, “see ya’ ‘round.”

Rachel took the shortcut and made the rest of her journey without any other delays or distractions.  When she got to her grandma’s the house was dark.  Rachel knocked on the front door and it fell open.  She moved inside slowly.  “Grandma?” she called, “Grandma, are you here?”

            Suddenly Rachel felt one hand cover her mouth, while another grabbed her hair.  She struggled to get away, knocking over pots, pans and picture frames.  The hand was removed from her mouth for a moment, and she was able to let out a short scream before it was stifled and she was forced to the ground.  It was then that she saw her attacker to be the boy from the street.  “Shh,” he said.

            Rachel looked past the boy to see her grandmother’s bedroom door open.  Behind it, lay her grandmother on the floor unmoving.  Rachel began to let out stifled sobs.  The next thing she heard was a bang so loud, her ears rang.  She looked up to see a man in a blue uniform standing in the doorway with his gun raised.

            “Ma’am are you alright?” said the officer. 

“Yes, but my grandma...”

Rachel looked to see her grandmother rising from the ground.

“I think she’s okay,” said the officer after tending to Rachel’s grandma. “How’d this guy know to come here? Do you know him?”

“No, but I accidentally told him.”

“Jeez kid…” said the officer, “Didn’t you ever read Little Red Riding Hood?”

the picture:

the artist statement:

            Good art makes us think. That is the purpose of all of our classmate’s manifestos.  But in our specific manifesto, we tried to show how good art should make you think of what you think you know in a different way.  Our goal was to start a movement that has people flipping what they think they know.  We want art to be challenging and creative.  We want it to inspire.  We want it to twist your thoughts.

Our Manifesto’s main objective is to take something most would consider ordinary or commonplace, and to see it in a new light by flipping it on its side.  One of the ways we thought of to do this would be in a story in which your expectations are upset.  I tried to do this with my Little Red Riding Hood story. Whether or not I succeeded is up for debate since it probably wasn’t hard to see what the story was early on.  Nonetheless, the story adheres to the criteria laid out in the manifesto.  Little Red Riding Hood is a story we all know, and for a time, this story is unrecognizable (or at least it was supposed to be) though it is completely based on Red Riding Hood, and follows the same plot line nearly identically.  This could be done in a number of ways through story.  For instance, The Matrix, takes a look at what everyday life might really be. 

Kind of like the piece by DJ flood, while trying to define what we were trying to create, we had to search for other artworks that match our movement.  The interesting thing is that the art we found through research defined our manifesto as much as our manifesto defined the pieces we created.

There were a few ideas I bounced around in my head before settling in on the person dunking a basketball. I considered turning a person leaning back on his/her chair against a wall so that it looked like the person was on the wall and leaning against the ground.  I also thought back often to a piece I was shown in the drawing class I took last semester where a person photo shopped the metal base of a light bulb underneath a hand that was making the shape of the “light bulb” that wasn’t actually there.

The mind is a tricky thing.  Much like the light bulb example mentioned above, my drawing is an illusion.  Not only did I change the way we normally see someone hanging on a rim in preparation to dunk a basketball, but I was also quite particular in the style I used to create the piece.  In the real world, very few things have an actual outline.  Really we see texture, shape, depth and contrast and from there we create assumed lines in our brain.  My piece was based off of contour line drawings where thicker lines suggest minimal shadow.  I did the background using only line, again because of the illusion line drawings are.  I can make things look rather realistic and create textures and portray depth, but in this piece, there is a deliberate lack of such things and yet we accept an image, flat though it may be.