Jean

to peel

Verb List:

To heal

To envy

To squeeze

Of realization

To stomp

To smoke

To organize

To panic

To crack

To sweat

To smear

To stop

To swear

To lay

To close

To care

To peel

To fence

To frolic

To ascend

To close:

To crack:

To squeeze:

After reading Roselee Goldberg's "Performance: A Hidden History", I have a better understanding of the significance of performance art in the art world and in society as a whole. Performance lies on the verge of many disciplines that help to encapsulate the history of performance while still being unique in its conceptualization. Theatre, film, music, dance, painting, and sculpting can be found within the scope of performance since it is to the discretion of the artist regarding mediums and media. Performance also surrounds the political climate at the time, using performance as a way to critique politics, protest, and reach a large number of viewers. As seen throughout World War 1 and 2, performance was significant for the public and later emerged as a medium itself. Performance is viewed as radical and disruptive in the eyes of critics and continues to challenge the determination of 'value' onto works of art. The environment performance art takes place in differs from that of a museum, especially considering the art showcased is made by those who are dead, revealing that disconnect between the viewer and artist that performance achieves. The reading dives into the history of performance and how it's been used throughout political and societal hardships, and how it manifests differently between futurists, constructivists, dadaists, and surrealists. One thing in the reading that stood out to me most was interpreting performance as animating the conceptual ideas in art that are usually translated through 2D art.

and they tell you, things will get better

Trigger warning: Needles

While reading "Projection: Vanishing and Becoming," it was interesting because I find myself also being influenced by my world art history class. I understood the beginning of art through those painted hands on cave walls in the Paleolithic era, but I never thought to perceive that as projection. These art works on caves are physical projections of the hand through the blowing of pigment. It is because of these hands that we can even fathom the beginning of art, and begin to understand the purpose of art. The reading points out that art has always been an attempt to cheat death or to outlive the physical deterioration of our bodies, to be memorialized in history. As a means to achieve this, projection is present throughout archeology and imbedded into our psychological functions. We project our emotions, project our bodies, project our conceivable reality, all to construct our conception of the world and the humans who inhabit it. The reading displays three senses of projection: mythical, archeological, and psychological. All three can manifest themselves in different ways whether it being through art, emotions, illusions, etc. It is intriguing to consider the projections that occurred throughout history, as seen through mythological stories or in the day-by-day experiences of those in the past. I think that we have to always be thinking or perceiving the world as a movie in order to ignite creation to reflect that conception.

The reading by Lea Collet displayed several works of video art that gave me a broader idea about the world of art through the means of digital or cinematic media. I do think that video is a cheap and easy way to create art, especially now due to our inescapable exposure to technology. I believe there is something video art can capture that 2D struggles to replicate. Capturing human emotion, the diversity of bodies and individuals, expressions, body language, and dialogue can be easily harbored by video art. In the case with Danielle Dean who captures the interpellation of thoughts, feelings, and social relations produced by power structures in society by using video art to deconstruct the news and politics in media. Dean is able to critique the inscription of gender, race, and class onto objects through her art. Something particularly amazing about video art is that the body can represent so much more because of its use in a performative way. Performance art is expressive and intimate, and if recorded through video, it can be solidified in history by spanning time and space. As technology continues to grow, we will at the same time see a continuous growth and evolution of video art.

This is a work of animation by vewn on YouTube and it has been one of my favorites for a long time. I love how they can capture a whole thought out story in 3 minutes, and the animation style is very unique.

This is the music video for the song It's All So Incredibly Loud by Glass Animals. I love how the song gradually gets louder while the visuals gradually lead up to the climax of him jumping into the pool.

This performance by Olivier de Sagazan asks the question "Who is behind our face?" He slathers on paint, clay, and other materials to morph his face into something that is quite morbid and terrifying.

This film includes all of the songs and music videos from Melanie Martinez's K-12 album. The music videos occur in between scenes of acting and plot developing. Melanie acts in it herself and directed it herself.

The thing about internet art is that it will be forever changing and evolving due to the continuous advancing of technology. From "Web Work: A History of Internet Art", it discussed the term 'net.art' as an accident more than a direct coinage of the vast ways art can manifest itself online. "Agents of Change: The internet. Net Art and How the World Wide Web has Created a New Medium" talks about that very concept regarding the definition or parameters of net.art, highlighting the difficulty of defining because the spectrum of the internet is so wide. I like how this article listed six features of net.art as identified by Baumgartel: connectivity, global reach, multimediality, immateriality, interactivity, and equality. I think these features describe net.art in a way that encapsulates the complexity of the internet and the controversies on what is considered art. In "The Digital Canvas: The Odd and Fascinating History of Internet Art", adds on to this because net.art is unbounded by galleries, museums, and exhibitions, meaning that everyone who has access to the internet has access to net.art.

I also think that internet art has different expectations compared to other forms of art making like traditional painting or drawing. Things on the internet can be trashy and can be 'low quality' simply because it is on the internet. GIFs do not have to be the best quality because the message can still be communicated. In "How GIF Trash Became Internet Culture Glue", it emphasizes this because GIFs and GIF culture does not exist within a limited single space, but rather communicate and evolve with technology and media. For instance, in "A Brief History of Animated GIF Art, Part One", GIFs are not always made with artistic intent and platforms like MySpace in 2003 harbored GIFs that exchanged messages, relatability, politics, and memes. All of these articles attempt to fathom and define internet art and GIFs, and learning about the history of these things is necessary when understanding the future of them. I use GIFs in text messages to capture everything I am trying to communicate, and it was interesting to learn about the artistic implications and applications of GIFs.

This GIF is simply hilarious. It is funny taking an icon like Walter White, who has nothing to do really with trans rights, and connecting it to exactly that.

I reference Drag Race memes and quotes all of the time. It has incorporated itself in my every day vocabulary.

I love GIFs that capture amazing moments in animes and shows. Just one clip of this anime entices people to watch the whole thing.

This GIF is from the youtube series DHMIS (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared) and it is a take on media targeted towards children and how it can be corrupted. I do this dance move all the time.

I like the idea of taking a still painting that has so much nuance regarding the meaning, and giving it more emotion, character, and personality through animation.

I appreciate and take part of the art form of makeup, and I love how this GIF captures the transformation and expression that makeup creates.

The beauty, grace, and pure artistry of a cat eating corn.

One of my favorite things is Kermit memes, especially the low quality ones that make it significantly more funny.

Any internet art interpretations of Gorillaz is very interesting and cool because Gorillaz is an animated internet based band.

This article by Hito Steryl discusses the poor image, which can be understood as images ranked and valued according to its resolution based on standards of image quality in society. Film, images, and lens-based media have been obscured by neoliberal restructuring, capitalism, commercialism, and materialization. The article also highlights the circulation of poor images online, which creates social networks that have shared histories, beliefs, and understandings. The main point of the article is to understand the position poor images hold in relation to industries, social structures, and the art world. It points out how poor images call out conformism and exploitation while exposing the importance of focus or resolution in films or photography. This article shows how life is reflected through the discarding of poor images, and if at all images should be given value through societal expectations of quality.

From this reading, I gathered the complexity of what happens when images or art enters the public domain. I never grasped the meaning behind discarded or poor images even in regards to my own art. I see how we live in a world that values quality, which creates pressure to conform and publicize work that is considered to be high resolution/quality. This will help me in my art process to value every photo and every step of the process, and to not discard something that is deemed 'not to standard' because it still is art that I created that can represent several aspects of myself. I think the whole article was interesting, especially since it critiques an element of art that is not usually discussed. I want to know more about the influence of gender expectations, the nation state, and other structural factors of society on the imposed value on images. I wonder if there can even be a way to publicize art without it being assimilated into controlling factors of society that uphold conformity and capitalism?

This is Chris Marker's virtual home on Second Life. I like this image because it looks like something created for a video game, and how it critiques the privatization of art through its widespread availability. I can see how expectations of quality deem this image poor because of low resolution or it being out of focus, but I think that in of itself critiques this system of ranking images. I like the setting that is created, along with the details that appear to just be thrown together.

This is jpeg rl104 by Thomas Ruff. This is a prime example of valuing images based on resolution and focus. The article discusses the way poor images are spread quickly and compressed, and this image shows the dematerialization of art and critiques the fetish value of visibility and high resolution. If this image was higher in quality it would probably be rewarded for capturing an impactful moment, but since it is not in focus it is not given the same treatment.

This is another piece by Chris Marker that caught my attention. I love how visually stunning this piece is and how it achieves capturing a different reality. Again, this feels very similar to video game art and rendering, and I feel like art from video games gets undermined or underrepresented in the art world.

The chapter "Time and Motion" by Terry Barrett defines, describes, and deconstructs the way time and motion are applied in art. Time is incorporated in several aspects of art, being actual or implied time, the time it takes for the viewer to see and comprehend art, and the time frame in which the piece is to exist. The application of motion in art can range from actual motion seen through performance art to implied motion via gestural lines in a two-dimensional piece, and movement can also imply the way the viewer's eye moves throughout the piece. The chapter analyzes artworks to show the multiplicity of meanings and emotions that are impacted due to the artistic choices made regarding time and motion. Films utilize time and chronology to construct a narrative and photographs can capture a moment in time while also implying motion. There are many other ways time and motion are used in art, and it makes me think that the main focus of the chapter is to emphasize time and motion as essential factors in art, and that the meaning of an artwork can change due to how time and motion are applied.

I roughly knew about recorded time and motion prior to this chapter, but I did not know how it can be manipulated in a way that impacts the meaning or the way it is perceived. For example, blurring images to create an illusion of motion, slowing down or speeding up certain elements of videos, or overall editing post production. This takeaway from the chapter helped me understand a deeper connection between time, motion, and art. I know now the ways I can manipulate time and motion in my art to convey specific meanings and achieve greater impacts. One thing I found interesting but couldn't visualize is the storyboarding of films, animations, narrative, etc. Storyboarding is a sequence of images representing the shots for a scene. So is storyboarding like a sketch book for films?

This piece is "Ice Pyramids in the Arctic Circle" by Andy Goldsworthy and the way it was described in the chapter was very impactful. The captured moment suggests that these pyramids are fragile, and over the duration of the piece the sculpture cannot be seen in its original form due to it melting or changing with the environment. The stronger forces of nature created the existence of this piece and determined the end, which reflects life. I like how the duration of the piece depended on nature and external changes throughout time, it makes the piece feel established yet temporary.

This piece, "Untitled 1998" by Gregory Crewdson is a fabrication of reality through sets, props, and lighting. The photographs mimics real time through the construction of the image and the manipulation of time and movement. I did not realize how much we trust photographs to be factual and that photographs produce realism, even though they can be manipulated as well. It was described that this form of photography questions our trust in the credibility of photographs, which is very interesting to consider.

"Arch of Hysteria" by Louise Bourgeois implies motion through the pose of the sculpture, and the naked male figure in this pose represents extreme distress and sexual vulnerability. It exposes the normalization of women's bodies being used to portray distress, hysteria, and sexual vulnerability by challenging the upheld image of men in society. This piece critiques gender in a way that is visually effective and to destabilize the viewer's notions of gender.

I believe there is a significant relationship between art and activism. The film "Ai Weiwei Never Sorry" highlighted moments of Ai Weiwei's art activism through his documentaries, photographs, performances, exhibits, and social media presence. It showcased the importance of communication in all forms of media and the power of exposure. Ai Weiwei challenged the secrecy and facade of Chinese authorities by exposing corruption, injustice, and violence through documenting his and other's experiences with these institutions. The film told Ai Weiwei's story up until 2011, it gave insight on his projects like the sunflower seeds, releasing and re-releasing the names of the student victims from the earthquake, and the performance video "Fuck you, motherland." It also showed the risk and weight of Ai Weiwei's work through his detaining by Beijing government officials. This film stressed that if it needs to be said, it should be. What I learned about the international art world from this film is that art can transcend borders and act as a global form of communication. Art is tied to historical understandings and politics, and internationally art is a way to communicate experiences, injustices, and the truth. My belief is that art has always and will continue to be something that challenges oppressive institutions while constructing the progression of society. Similar to how Ai Weiwei's art was for the betterment of his country and the people in it, for progress not an apology. Ai Weiwei is able to communicate this with several forms of media that can be consumed by all. 3D sculptures made of wood, backpacks, or ceramics, short films and documentaries, photography and photos posted to Twitter, and through live performance art. This film showed me the power and potential of 4D art, and I take inspiration from Ai Weiwei in respect to my connection of art and gender, women, and sexuality studies.