STUDIO ASSIGNMENT 2 – RESEARCH, SIGN & SYSTEM SEMINAR

 

My research for this project consisted of steady sketching and analysis of personal experiences, like that in the notes above. I spend a lot of time alone, though surrounded by people, which relates directly back to Freud’s ideas about the conscious and unconscious. A lot of my thoughts are suppressed due to the fact that I have no where to put them; I have no one to feed them to, most of my friends are as busy as me. Sometimes it truthfully feels like I have no time to think. I explore this and a couple of other ideas without a filter in the notes I took.

http://www.jackshainman.com/files/5214/4010/0458/KM12.019-School-of-Beauty-sized-for-web.jpg

I drew a lot of inspiration from Kerry James Marshall. He is one of my favorite artists and his work, to me, evokes a lot of nostalgia and familiarity. I want my artwork to do the same, but also include the importance of Lacan’s dialogue about the mirror stage and the child recognizing themselves for the first time. I tried to make the pieces recall each other–to make them related, but also to have differentiating representations of myself in each image, the way a child might recognize him or herself before they realize what they actually look like. I tried to call upon ways I may have seen myself before; like in an object I find myself with often (like my coat which is featured in one of the pieces) or a birthmark or defect (what the dynamite stick has become since it is a tattoo I actually have on my body) and drew it into each piece.

My own artwork inspired me a lot too, as I started to feel really comfortable letting myself create how I want to instead of how I feel I should.

I’m in a Nude: History and Theory class and I definitely drew inspiration from that as well (which is apparent in the nude figures in my piece). I just found it extremely interesting how we studied barely any bodies of color and there are so many artworks focused on the nude black body as well as the white one.

I watch a lot of cartoons. These have a huge impact on my artwork, because the shows aren’t necessarily child safe but they look like children should be watching them. I wanted my work to look childlike while having a deeper, more mature message to back it.

I spend most of my time at work, so I obviously drew inspiration from there as well. I would say that everything in my store has a place; an architect creates the layout for each A.P.C. store in the company, and he took a lot of time on our store. He was patient and made sure that it would have a lasting impression on everyone who entered it. That’s how I wanted my artwork to be.

My Best friends had a baby recently, her name is A’maya. She’s so beautiful, and she’s constantly on camera. While thinking about the Mirror Stage, I thought of A’maya a lot because I wonder if she knows that these images of her are being viewed by thousands of people (her parents have a large social media following) or even if she cares. I wonder what it does for the baby’s mind to know that they are being filmed or photographed; I wonder how that consequently effects their outlook of the world. I thought of this during the conception of the final pieces.

Lastly, I always draw inspiration from the streets of New York since I am constantly walking. I love looking at all of the things around me and going home and creating an image based on what I had seen. This, I believe, is also apparent in the pieces.

The final products.

STUDIO ASSIGNMENT 2 – SEMINAR: SIGN & SYSTEM 2017

I thought it was so interesting how Freud discussed the conscious and the unconscious, and decided I wanted to explore this idea. When you are younger, you are living more in the unconscious because you are learning the ways of the world and the difference between right and wrong. As you grow older, you begin to live in the conscious by inheriting routine; wake up for school, go to practice after, go home and do homework – I feel like there is less and less time for the unconscious because you become so busy with everyday tasks. That is my take on the conscious and unconscious. I also wish to create a dialogue with this piece that speaks about the unconscious and conscious mind in relation to people who are seen as mentally unstable vs. completely able because this is somewhat like the adult/child comparison as well. The minds of those seen as crazy usually have a lot in common with the child’s mind, and function in extremely similar ways. I think it would be interesting to do more research about this topic and implement that knowledge into my second studio assignment.

ARTWORK RESPONSE 1 – SIGN & SYSTEM SEMINAR

ARTWORK RESPONSE 1

KARA WALKER @ SIKKEMA JENKINS & Co.

Upon arrival, one is greeted with a graffiti-esquie disclaimer outside of the gallery. It reads:

Sikkema Jenkins and Co. is Compelled to present
The most Astounding and Important Painting show of the fall Art Show viewing season!

Collectors of Fine Art will Flock to see the latest Kara Walker offerings, and what is she offering but the Finest Selection of artworks by an African-American Living Woman Artist this side of the Mississippi. Modest collectors will find her prices reasonable, those of a heartier disposition will recognize Bargains! Scholars will study and debate the Historical Value and Intellectual Merits of Miss Walker’s Diversionary Tactics. Art Historians will wonder whether the work represents a Departure or a Continuum. Students of Color will eye her work suspiciously and exercise their free right to Culturally Annihilate her on social media. Parents will cover the eyes of innocent children. School Teachers will reexamine their art history curricula. Prestigious Academic Societies will withdraw their support, former husbands and former lovers will recoil in abject terror. Critics will shake their heads in bemused silence. Gallery Directors will wring their hands at the sight of throngs of the gallery-curious flooding the pavement outside. The Final President of the United States will visibly wince. Empires will fall, although which ones, only time will tell.

Once inside, the minimal gallery walls have been transformed to a political and racial sketchbook, depicting the dreams and nightmares reflective of history belonging to a black woman. It is for this exact reason that this exhibition especially resonated with me; I could see myself, my family, and my reality throughout the spans of white, black and beige papers Walker chose to showcase. One mesmerizing black image dawns a message between the sporadic strokes of sable paint, that reads “YOU HATE ALL BLACK PEOPLE AS MUCH AS YOU HATE YOURSELF.” The POTUS appears in some of the pieces as well, along with what seems to be a number of other politicians. The paintings interested me because I felt I bore the same emotion as they were created in.

One grey piece in particular depicted a number of black women (and some black men) committing what seems to be the lynching of various white men. The obvious irony of the scene, paved with the blatant anger transcribed by the sketchy nature of the painting are what initially drew my eye into it. Once you begin to delve deeper into the image, you recognize the bodies of voluptuous black women wielding weapons and battling white men. One pale body sporting a

corset and extravagant 18th century costume is rendered puncturing the chest of a dark, nude, curvy body; something that signals to me the death of confidence in natural African beauty upon the arrival of eurocentric standards. Most of the black bodies drawn in the piece are naked or wearing solely underwear like panties and a bra, which further resolves the animalistic nature of the race-fueled war scene. Babies with dolls and torture tools are amongst other objects in this contradictory interpretation of America’s history.

ROLAND BARTHES – DEATH OF THE AUTHOR SS SEMINAR

STUDIO ASSIGNMENT 1 – SIGN & SYSTEM

Recently, a lot of what I perceive to be signs have presented themselves to me in very palpable means. Just the other day, a number of signs were proffered in close proximities of time to each other. Here is a list recounting the occurrences:

— woke up on time

— got to class early

— ate healthy breakfast and lunch

— responsibly decided to do laundry

— facetimed with my best friend (who is in Colorado)

— found $10 on my way to the Laundromat

— met an Art Director at the Laundromat

— was offered her information, a tour of her agency and possible internship

— got free meal from my favorite Thai restaurant upon my arrival home

So it was honestly just an amazing day. Throughout the duration of those final hours before I went to sleep, I couldn’t help but think why is someone out there blessing me this much? I mean I know I deserve it but…I didn’t know the Universe agreed with me. I’m going to create a piece that incorporates this emotion through visual images; a piece that conveys these signs and their meanings to me. I dig the idea of a painting being merely a reference to a certain space in time (reality), while photography is a record of it (Sontag). I will draw symbols of each occurrence from that day and these will become the signs, additionally implementing color blocking, overlapping collage and possibly photography to accompany them. This will allow the viewer to interpret each symbol on their own terms (create their own reality about the image) while having a reference to my actual reality (the photographs i may incorporate); this, I believe, will ultimately allow for an interesting dialogue to ensue in the mind of the observer. Not so long ago, someone told me that in their opinion, art that has the ability to convey an emotion so strongly without explicitly expressing it is captivating, so you could say I drew inspiration from that conversation as well. Among the numerous media involved, I may also integrate paint.