Mia's Art Space

I chose to wake up at exactly 6:11 AM today, and I left my comfortable bed in order to use the bathroom and to feed my two cats. I got myself some filtered water before returning to my room, a ceramic mug in hand. Small tubes of paint were brought out of a drawer and placed next to some paintbrushes sitting in more mugs, and even more cups were brought out for clean and dirty paint water. The rough tarp has seen much use through my family, and it experienced more use as I laid it on my ground carefully for my subject to lay on. I set up my phone carefully on the side, for instead of being a distraction in itself, it was going to be my guide for my reference images and to play some background noise. I wanted to focus on creating SOMETHING. I poured the paint out and color mixed the colors that I wanted to use. The paint held no smell as I blocked in rough shapes, but the texture was smooth like melted chocolate as I applied it onto my subject. The paint and the subject both become my world, my only focus, despite my body slightly groaning in protest at my posture or the way in which I hold my brush. I adjusted it here and there, I took some mindful sips of water to not forget to hydrate, but I did not leave my subject. I kept creating until my stomach growled for food, and I listened to the call and satisfied it with a peanut butter pretzel sandwich with whole grain bread. I returned to my subject, it had not been moved or touched. I resumed mixing paint and taking fast glances at my reference photos to make sure that I was being as accurate as I could. I borrowed my mom’s blow-dryer to make the paint dry faster, though it did not make me create any faster on the flipside. My inspiration sat idly by, watching the creation of something that is like it, yet is different from it with my personal flair added on. I finally decided to stop creating at 11:10, and I did my best to tidy up my space. I am not done with my creation, it still needs shading, it needs finer details to be added to it to make it look like a proper final product. I have created something, rather than nothing at all, today. 

Grab, point, lunge, stretch, glare, bend, wiggle, drag, step, twirl, blink, draw, throw, kick, punch, reach, chew, push, pull.

People in today’s standards of society are now seeing a whole new version of it in which whatever version they may come in, no matter the fine details of their gender, sexuality, religion, or race, is steadily being welcomed in and even seeing an educational standing in order to help newer generations themselves to begin to understand how diverse human beings are. However, even in art and performance, people of color struggled immensely with having their own voice and being able to even keep it. Coco Fusco, and her collaborator, Guillermo Gomez-Penia, decided to do a performance in which they would both be locked within a golden cage and be acting as undiscovered Amerindians called (made-up) Guatinauis, and they would act out average American tasks such as dancing and being on the computer, but, speak in a completely made-up language and have “zoo guards” around their cage. This performance was not done out of malice, rather, it was to actually bring forth the attention that the parading and fetishization of “primitive” non-white people was being seen as okay because of the distinct idea that “reforming” them and containing them is a good thing to happen to them. Even people of colors’ traditions, arts, artifacts and such were often seen as “strange happenings” that were to be eradicated into nothingness, or, be put on for show as entertainment for colonialists. Essentially, such “performances” were forced by colonialists when captured or enslaved people of color were under their strict control, and they would even be put in zoos or dioramas as if they were exotic animals. Fusco and Gomez-Penia, despite their genuine efforts, unfortunately fell under the category of being seen as not the ones in control of their own performance due to issues surrounding a documentary being done on it, and it just highlighted how those who think of them superior to them, racially or artistically, wanted to keep the dominant role in the interactions with them and their own art since it was nothing like a white artist’ work. Again, we are thankfully in an era in which the ethnographic displays of people of color are being condemned, however, there is still much to be done about properly educating non-artists about the intricacies of what it actually means to be someone willingly sharing their culture versus being forced to play their stereotypical role for the masses to “enjoy”. 

When we do initially think about the concept of art, we often think about traditional sculptures and paintings, and that is something that had been started in the past when art itself was beginning to gain its actual popularity within daily life as a new form of enrichment or political agenda. However, funnily enough, art itself is much more broad than anyone could have considered it to be, and even people of the past had not realized that the confines of the canvas or paper were allowed to be broken. Many young dancers and artists began to recognize this, one of them being Merce Cunningham, a dancer who had his roots in dancing in its traditional and choreographed version. Then, he had met John Cage, a young musician who had begun to experiment with the idea of sound itself being music and nothing like the carefully crafted masterpieces that many had been used to at the time. In joint collaboration, the two introduced performance through sound and the human body being THE focal points, rather than just being something else to occupy the music that is being heard or something that needed to be painfully orchestrated, which lead to the idea of these performances being referred to as “happenings” since they were quite spontaneous and often made no initial sense. Several traditional painters, sculptors, and all kinds of dancers followed closely behind Cunningham and Cage thanks to their influential and early performances. The human body, from then on, has now become its own art form, whether it is in its barest nude form to represent rebirth to becoming the paint brush and being coated in paint, it is clear that the whole genre of “artistic performance” did have its humble and small beginnings, and there was often doubt about spontaneity being a true sign of creativity, but, it was able to beautifully flourish due to those dedicated dancers and artists alike. 

When it comes to understanding yourself, it is something that does sound easy in theory, but, in actuality, it is a lot more complex than just simply taking a look at ourselves and immediately seeing what is so different about ourselves compared to others. This is a struggle that many people do experience, yes, but, the particular way in which I am focusing on this struggle is through my journey of realizing that I am bisexual and a part of the LBGTQIA. My journey through discovering my bisexuality is one that I am very grateful that I have gone through, despite the dark times in which it was hard to understand what I even wanted sometimes. Being “closeted” can especially put on the pressure of wanting to appear as if nothing is going on, but inside of your heart and mind, you can feel turmoil and even denial about something that you have realized about yourself. There is the saying that you must learn to love yourself first before you can love someone else, and that was something that I focused on as my journey went on through the difficult times in my life. However, with enough growth and support, coming out becomes the most freeing and wonderful thing someone could ever experience, and it should not be something that should be easily ignored, bashed, or taken from someone. Especially if they are a fragile youth who is trying their damndest to make some sort of good out of a harsh world. 

I had chosen the song called “Season of the Witch”, which was created by Lana Del Rey, a very well known artist, for the 2019 movie titled “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”. To fit with the eerie yet lovely autumnal vibes of this song, I went with a simple forest and edited it to my liking, such as adding an orange hue to it and some “noise” overlayed over it to make it look as if it was shot on an old camcorder. Yet, as you the viewer listen to the song, you cannot help but feel as if there is a hidden danger...But you don’t get to see it once the song comes to a close. 

Projection has been seen in different forms throughout its existence, for many may assume for it to be an illusion or perversion of reality, a representation of one’s soul and self, a scientific explanation, and so on and so forth. This long reading does indeed cover the bases of those notions of projection, but it also does explain why these are accepted and how exactly projection is something that is still being explored to this day. Artistically, it has had more and more growth in the coming decades due to the improvement of technology, yet, when really broken down to its simple form of a projector and some blank screens, it is still fundamentally unchanged from when it was invented. However, the harmony of the screens to the projector itself is exactly what artists mainly look for, and some even take it to new, intriguing levels. An example of this is Chris Welsby who, in 1970 at the London Filmmakers’ Coop, had projected one of his own films, but not on a simple screen, but on some water instead. It was visually pleasing, and it showed how he, and many artists, could manipulate projections thanks to their simplicity. What is not so simple is the fact that projecting was often demonized and argued about, for could it really show what IS reality with little manipulation? Despite this, it still is a new kind of art medium that is being recognized, and it even can bring about positive change to its negative perception, such as making the harmony between a subject and an object be understood rather than the object trying to be a placeholder for a long gone subject. Overall, like other aspects of Art, projection is something that still will be reliant on how the artist themselves wishes to utilize it. 

Dodie - "Intertwined", a music video that uses the lack of motion of objects with the real flow of time, along with the only sounds being the music and vocals being overlayed the visuals.

Digital art and video related performances was a very specific, almost niche area of Art in the past, up until more and more artists who were able to get installations into exhibitions and such were able to share with the public and fellow artist, how the Internet can not only just be a place for information or mindless entertainment, but, a good breeding ground for art that can have less constrictions and also be perfectly manipulated to whatever the artist themselves desire. This article in particular does take a deep dive into giving a large variety of examples of different artists and how each of them took advantage of technology in order to elevate their ideas or issues that they wanted to be recognized by the common viewer. Relying on technology did not mean that most of the artists had wanted the focus to BE on it, but rather, some used it as a very helpful catalog of their performances, such as how Paul Maheke used a camera to film himself because he wanted the focus to be on the identity of the human body and the memories that one creates with it. On the other hand, you have artists like Cecil B. Evans who directly made technology and its interaction with itself and us as humans the target focus, which was showcased in her installation called “Sprung a Leak (2017)” that involved two humanoid robots, a robotic dog, chorus, and fountain that were all connected to one another and played out like a human play with different acts and a story being shared through a period of time. Clearly, as technology evolves, more and more advanced and exciting techniques will be discovered, but it truly still is up to the artist themselves on how EXACTLY they want to go about creating the art, and how they will use any or all media in order to achieve this. Thanks to the Internet covering a good broad range of genres and such, there's little room for creative limitations when it comes to digital and media works.

Jack Stauber is a more indie artist who not only does specialize in drawing, his works are notably mixed media, for he also uses claymation, props, LOTS of editing and manipulation of graphics, and creates his own music. This goes exceptionally well with his preference of doing surrealism with some slight humor, though, he also has been known and seen to lean into dark humor and topics as well without going into outright gore. I specifically chose to focus on his Adult Swim mini film called “OPAL”, for it not only shows how he uses mixed media and his own music to draw you in, but, it also showcases how he wants to delve deeper into darker, more depressing topics. For the film, you watch a young girl named “Claire” as she goes through a house and has terrifying encounters with the residents in it, all of whom are trying to get her for doing “something” wrong. In my GIFS, I did my best to select the moments that helped convey this story, such as showing the beginning, Claire’s initial distress, and the house that she eventually ends up inside. After that, I showed each person she encountered, such as the blind old man, the narcissistic mirror man, and the alcoholic woman, and with them, a GIF that shows a bit of their songs. Finally, to end it off, I decided to go with one of the last few shots of Claire as she cowers from these people, showing her vulnerability as a child. I highly encourage that you go to watch the actual mini film itself, for it shows you the exact reason why it is called “OPAL”, and why these people are targeting a child. 

GIFS are often seen as nothing quite important, most started out quite gaudy and odd looking when the means to make them had been realized, and many were fearful of the ownership that companies would try to put onto them despite the Internet allowing all to access them however and whenever they wish to freely. Despite these initial fears and lack of understanding, GIFS have actually proven themselves to be more complex than many initially had assumed. Artists alike are beginning to welcome in digital art and the crafts that come with it, which includes GIFS themselves, and are also showing the viewers how art is still something that can be created by hand through, as an example, a personally made GIF, or, through taking an existing GIF and completely turning it into something more than what it had used to be. Of course, that is not to say that every single GIF must have a deeper meaning, a silly image can remain as a silly image, but, it is to be said that the utilization of more bite-sized animations have allowed for even more artists to experiment within the digital world, as well as becoming more connected with other artists and people who can see the potential of GIFS as actual subjects for their artistic intentions.

10. To end this list off, another funny GIF as a reminder that sometimes, I do not want to be serious, and I love indulging in things that are humorous or even "stupid".

The term “disappearing” itself obviously means for something to be gone, one way or another, and it is not dictated by if those ways are positive or negative, or even wanted in the first place. People often then get greedy when faced with this, and I am not saying that I am an exception, but, I do view something outside or inside myself “disappearing” to be natural. Yes, I would love to stay as a naive kid for just a bit longer, yes, I would love to have beloved pets and family members returned to me, however, I have learned that having an unhealthy attachment can do much more harm than good. So, instead of wistfully wishing for certain things back, I fondly remember them in their entirety as best as I can, along with slightly comparing with what is there now in its place, physically and mentally. Besides, it is fun to see how I have grown and be in awe at the progress that I have gone through.. Plus, I am passionate about 2D art for a reason, so, why not also add that along with my photos to make my thoughts even more apparent?