#recontextualizing

[4/30/23]

This is a poem for the seeds,

Scattered and flying and falling.

I'm not sure I believe in fated meetings.

The hand that threw you high 

Might be divine or it might be my own;

But oh, my pleasure at the roots you've grown.

I cannot see into the heart of things,

And I know as the old tale goes

(Although in rather different context):

Sometimes the soil may be too shallow

For a friendship to take deep root.

It must shoot up and flair with flowers,

And quickly wither once we pass each other's spheres.

Some seeds though they may long to bond with soil

Are still found by the birds of cruel chance,

Or strangled out by thorns when they have once begun to grow.

But sometimes -

Glad and hopeful times -

They last the years, and we can spring up

Together, watch each other change and bloom,

And reap one another's harvest of extraordinary dreams.

Dear ones, whether in my old walled garden

Or growing somewhere free and wild:

May we be fierce and sturdy together

As dandelions against the dark.

------

I have just received some images from the exhibition called “Recontextualizing the Found Object" at the Martha Gault Art Gallery, Slippery Rock University in PA. It is so wonderful to see the installation images with other artists’ work. I was pleased to have been a part of the show. Sean Macmillan who was the Juror and the director of the exhibition, wrote “The show was a profound success. We have received great feedback and had a tremendously high turnout." Also he will be able to compile the catalog of the show. That is awesome news! I will be looking forward to having the catalog with all the great pieces. Here are some overview pictures of the installation space.

If you look closely, you can see my art work in the center of the image below. It is inside the vitrine next to the brownish piece. It’s so small. Here is the bigger version.

Here is the participating the artists for the show. 

Emily Watson, Columbus, OH                

Rob Jackson, Athens, GA            

Yong Joo Kim, Providence, RI

Amelia Toelke, Madison, WI               

Tara Philips, Toronto, Canada      

Lisa Johnson, Bloomington, IN

Wesley Harvey, San Antonio, TX           

Ray Ogar, Little Rock AR           

Ronald Gonzalez, Johnson City, NY

Melissa Cameron, Victoria, Australia     

Barbara Knuth, Seattle, WA         

John Whitfill, Lubbock, TX

Renee Zettle-Sterling, Cooperville, MI   

Robly Glover, Lubbock, TX          

Nicole Burns, Lindenwood, NJ

Laura Wood, Greenville, NC               

Chader McDonah, Tempe, AZ          

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/weekinreview/28kennedy.html?_r=0

Is there a difference between re-conceptualizing well-known cultural artifacts and ambiguous appropriation?  Is the later too vague and inconspicuous?  Dishonest?

This conflict remains not far from my mind when using appropriation methods in my own work.  This NY Times article maintains that it is certainly on the mind of many others when Warhol's soup cans are accepted and Helene Hegemann's book is rejected.

Hegemann's book borrows from many other literary artists and writers, including famous individuals as well as bloggers.  Those who were appropriated didn't seem to mind but others are worried this is the beginning of a slippery slope.

With all the information now readily available to anyone surely supports this sort of thing will only increase so maybe it's time to accept it and appreciate it as it won't be going away anytime soon.  From my perspective, the possibility of expanding copyright laws could only harm artists who aim to critique.