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4d performance project Artist Statement 

I choose to do my own take on The Artist is Present

After watching the documentary I thought it was such a powerful piece I want to recreate and experience something similar using  animals in a natural but slightly surreal environment.

I wanted the piece to obviously have some humor to it, but still show some connection 

to the characters .

It definitely was fun and I loved the process of getting the whole thing together. 

To Chop

To box

To lick

To scream

To roar

To eat

To talk

To pet

To scribble

To draw

To plant

To water

To sit

To age

To pile

To dance

To spin

To claw

To burn

To fan

To paint

To meow

To draw

Sadly I remember when that performance was happening and I didn’t go.

I think her upbringing had a lot to do with her not giving into the discomfort or pain for fear of failure, never wanting to disappoint. One of my favorite statements in the film is when they talk about the differences of theater and performing. "To be a performance artist, you have to hate theatre,"

That had never occurred to me but I now believe it.

There was also a connection I felt to one one of my other favorite still living artist/filmmaker/performer, Alejandro Jodorowsky. His belief and performance/practices of Psychomagic may have been a an influence. I am surprised that I just realized the similarities between these two since I have been a follower of AJ for years.

There is so much in this documentary, and it really made me think about what it is to become an artist and how you have to package/commodify yourself in order to be successful.

Roselee Goldburg- Hidden performance essay gave a good incite to the history of performance art, “ performance is the expression of artists who wish to challenge the viewers perception of art and the limits of those perceptions” it a great thing to remember and help to define what is performance art.

- Many things to digest

- Italian futurists

- The constructivists

- The dadaists

- The surrealists

After reading this I feel as thought performance art is also open to more of the mass and every level of social status. It’s something that can’t ,in the traditional sense be purchased since its a live event. And I love that every performance is different.

The Coco Fusco essay to say the least was a fascinating and at the same time deeply disturbing to me. Humans are are cruel and disgusting then and that continues to today, what Russia is doing to people in Ukraine, Black Lives Matter, the drug violence in Mexico and I can go and on. It is heart breaking to me every day, has society learned nothing?

It was also shocking to think that the performance the two artist put on at the Whitney was considered real. I did find it intriguing that museum staff was trouble by the Japanese tourist and the impression they might take home with them.

***The Loop***

Working on this project  gave me a new appreciation for the Gif, to me it catches a few seconds in time and plays it over and over.I want to create the gifs from the work I do as a production designer. All the gifs are from commercials I have worked on over the  last two years. They are moments I found entertaining out of a 30 sec or 60sec spot. It was fun to revisit the work, there is always so much to do,

Reading and Response 2 F4

Really interesting about the history of GIFS. Never really thought that much about them and how they came about. The real dancing girl - who knew.

The art collectives inspired by GIFs and now mostly disabled would be be great source to revisit and see what influences came from them. 

Enjoyed being exposed to Toyin Odutola and how she expresses herself through her work. She had a lot to say and was inspiring with her ideas.

I also had no idea people bought and sold GIFS. The 2011 Armory show video showed there was a lot to figure out about the handling of the GIF but obit has advanced. 

Foundations 4 Art Project 1 -selections

Postmodern collage

I decided to go with cut and paste technique, I have a collection of magazines and felt more comfortable with this process.

 Over the the last year, there has been a fair amount of people who I have been close to pass away. 

Some were expected but a few were not, and it has made me really think about how long we live and how quickly time goes by. 

I was trying to show time by the images of a child in the first panel basked in a ray of light and vines lifting the child image up reaching for guidance thru a female figure. In panel two the bird represents the figure and traveling through life, experiencing the world and what it has to offer. The NYC scape represents the loss of a close friend who died of cancer from being exposed to the World Trade fumes when it fell, but it also represent my own youth living in the city and experiencing all a big city had to offer. 

The vase of wilted and fresh flowers shows the signs of aging,  and then to panel 3 where an open hand nature and stars represent death. 

The use of the flower curtains on each end was supposed to represent a  theaterstage type setting, but I think I should have extended the curtains to the top of the panel and maybe shown a bit more of them. 

I was also wanted to use a floral type image through out the project to tie it all together and  represent some type of repetition.