Currently Untitled

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Once while I was at work, an older woman walked through the door, looked directly into my eyes and told me that I was Native American. She then informed me that she was a past-life reader. I have no Native American descent, however this anomaly seemed to work its way into my subconscious. I was recently reading about how some have observed the Native American culture's tendency to addiction (alcoholism to be specific.) It is believed that this is a generational or traditional progression of European settlers who introduced these tribes to strong spirits as a possible means of sinister advantage to negotiation. These settlers also modeled a lifestyle of alcohol abuse which the Natives seemed to emulate.

I wouldn't consider this piece a full-blown self portrait, but maybe a perceptive portrait?

Reading Summary and Response

Summary:

Successful art relies upon an individual standard of excellence. Validation is internal. The text explores professional and genuine art. The three major sections of the text discuss politics, kinship, and craft.

Jeff Koons marketed himself as a public figure. Koons puts off the persona of acting like an artist rather than an audacious figure. He seems to be interested in identity politics through materialism and sexuality.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist. He is described as rude and is very critical of China and academia. This seems to be born out of his extreme value for human rights and love to shock.

Koons’ studio life is based around community as he says he does not want to be placed in a room all day. However his studio is quiet and industrious. Koons produces shows, not just art. He again talks about his fascination with persona.

Weiwei is considered much more raw in his personality. This seems to be as result of his negative association and experience with government. He describes a piece in which he made 100 million ceramic sunflower seeds, and he describes his father who was a poet. Ai explains that even though he saw his father endure so much hardship for being an artist, he still felt like he must follow in his footsteps to capture the same genuine sense he saw in his father.

Response:

I am always interested to hear the philosophy and motivation of other artists as it shapes the way I view my own art practice. I think the closing paragraph of this text was the most enlightening for me, when Ai Weiwei expresses love for art because of its genuine nature. I think this furthers my developing opinion that art can be nothing if it is not genuine.

Currently Untitled: Start of Subset 3

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Critique on meaning.

Best Buds: conclusion to subset 2

The closest I ever came to physical death was via pine. That was almost 2 years ago today.

Manifesto

I had written this manifesto a while back when I was undergoing a very significant transitional phase in my art-making process. I think this manifesto really helped me identify why this phase was a positive transition to move forward with and what fundamental ideas cause me to make art.

Untitled 9

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This piece is a response to more self analysis. Very much reflective of the psychological state triggered by recent events. 

Sobriety Shit Space

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Finished Piece

Hurricane Mathew recently struck Haiti and then rode from the eastern coast of Florida up to North Carolina. Living in coastal Saint Augustine, Florida, I was forced to evacuate. In this week, my typical routine was disrupted and it forced me into an investigative headspace that made me realize that this routine was subconsciously becoming a device. In a lot of ways this routine was helping me block a lot of shit looming that would not be comfortable for me to address with myself.

After returning to see the catastrophe that Matthew caused it seems as though the air had changed. Many that I know, including one of my closest friends, had lost possessions, living space, and routine. This forced me even further into this analytical space. I came to new understandings. Many of these were bleak, negative but very present realizations about myself and the world I live in. 

I think many of my thoughts from this past week have influenced the process in which I work as well as the subject matter and thoughts behind my most recent subseries. 

Currently Untitled 8

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Next piece in the large series, first piece of subseries 2. I feel that once again this piece is a response to shortcomings I have experienced through other pieces. This piece is also a response to some insecurities I have had surrounding my art and my life.

Ubiquity is a synonym for omnipresence, the property of being present everywhere.

Reading Response 6: Manifestos

The Dada manifesto takes an interesting approach to stating intent. The manifesto seems to revel in its ambiguity, which I would say opens the text up for more reader interpretation and meaning association. The author does make a few points clear. Some of these ideas include the human love of novelty, the death of beauty, anti-objectivism, divorce from logic, spontaneity, and disgust.

The Gutai manifesto states that the movement is based in abstract painting, but it later evolved to more performative work. One of the main goals of the Gutai group was to push art making beyond conventional media. In this manifesto, it is pointed out that all “traditional” art media is arbitrarily glorified thus making it hollow, meaningless, and submissive to authoritative ideals.

The Maintenance Art Manifesto is comprised of a list of thoughts or ideas. This manifesto critiques culture through terms of Avant-garde art and feminism.

Response:

I enjoyed reading these manifestos. When I once wrote a manifesto I looked investigatively into both the Dada and Gutai manifestos. The Maintenance Art Manifesto was very interesting to read because it takes on a slightly different format. I do appreciate the ambiguity of all of these documents as I feel it allows the reader to personally contemplate what the intent of the writer may have been.

Piece 7 Work in Progress

8 hours of straight-through progress leading up to hurricane matthew clusterfuck. 2 x 3 feet.

"Finished" piece, I have decided this will probably not be included in the final series.