Take notes on each of the artists. Jot down things that compel you. Moments and phrases that stand out to you. While watching, think about your own art practice. What is it that you already love to make? What do you wish you could do with more confidence? What processes scare you? How do you set about starting your own work? What inspires you? What does your art say to an audience? Watch carefully and with attention and think about your own work.
I love to make art about things I find interesting. When I make a piece, I do not usually think about what I am trying to represent or portray, unless it is for a client. When it comes to my art, I wish I was more confident talking about it and being able to find what I was trying to represent at the time of making. It is possible I do not usually think of what I am making while I am doing it, because I am scared to set an expectation for myself that I might not accomplish. To start my work, I usually just feel productive and want to create. People who are confident in their art and know what they are doing and why they are doing it inspires me. I think my art does not directly say anything to my audience. I think I mostly leave everything up to interpretation.
After watching at least 5 of the videos and taking notes/sketching/reflecting, answer the following questions in a short response.
1-Who are the 5+ artists you chose?
The artist’s Art21 videos I chose to watch were Guadalupe Maravilla, Michael Rakowitz, Sarah Sze, Joan Jonas, Jordan Casteel, and Zanele Muholi. I chose these artists, because they make things based on concepts I am interested in such as individuality, complex emotions, identity, and consciousness. Each artist chosen, documents their own versions of these ideas and each creates something different. It is always interesting to see different perspectives on similar topics, and I feel that these artists do great jobs at depicting different stories.
2-What were 5+ themes the artists addressed about making work?
Each artist I chose had their own personal views and experiences while making art. Every artist's work meant something special to them which is what made their art so meaningful. Some common themes I found amongst the individual artists were the importance of connection, responsibility, healing, identity and activism. Maraville’s work highlights the concepts of these themes by making artwork about trauma and healing. This idea of healing from traumatic experiences through his art connects other people who have shared similar experiences. It essentially can create the effect of a wide ranged healing process when experiencing Maraville’s work, because the more broad of an audience he reaches, the more people will connect. Rakowitz has similar meaning to Maraville’s art, because Rakowitz focuses on history and the impact of war, while Maraville focuses on the trauma of living through war. Rakowitz takes more responsibility with his work, because he aims to tell historical tales of trauma in a true way. Sze’s work embodies the idea of consciousness. She makes works focused around everyday life and emphasizes the importance of living in the moment. While this ideal can also be seen as identity because of its specificity to one person, Joan’s chooses to embrace all aspects of identity by using her own body as a means of art. This brings a connection to the artist and viewer by using herself as the means of communication. Casteel follows this aspect of connection by creating portraits of underrepresented individuals. Muholi embodies many of the themes with his photographs on Black LGBTQ+ individuals. He takes responsibility in representing their struggles, is an activist for their rights, portrays the trauma they go through as well as their healing, connects with the community, and embraces their identity.
3-What were 5+ challenges the artists faced in making their work?
Every artist had their own challenges while making their art, because they have such different perspectives and stories not one challenge was the same. Maraville found it challenging to interpret the trauma he went through in a productive way, because he wanted to represent this negative experience while also creating a healing space. Rakowitz struggled with his recreation of looted artifacts, because he wanted to be truly representative of what he was referencing. Sze struggled to create accessible and accurate representations in such large scale pieces. Joans finds it challenging to continuously experiment with conventional art practices. Casteel battles with the concept of audience and self interpretation of her works. Muholi finds it challenging to create a work that is both true to the story and also allows artistic interpretation. Every artist struggles with their own obstacles, but it’s how they overcome them and keep pushing boundaries that makes their work truly inspiring.
4-What were 5+ inspirations you drew from the artists?
Listening to all of these artist stories and understanding why they do what they do leaves me with a lot of inspiration. These artists have allowed me to reflect on who I am and want to be as an artist myself. With everything the artists said, I realized that identity, experience, representation, healing, consciousness and responsibility are key aspects to making meaningful art. Before, I never really put thought into the meaning behind my art. I also have not thought about why I want to produce my works and what drives me to create more. First, I was inspired to reflect on who I am as a person and an artist. Then, I was inspired to think of troubling experiences and find ways to make them into tangible vessels for healing. Next, being able to look at the community I relate to and try to represent them in my art inspired me. Then, I was inspired to take risks in the name of experimentation. Lastly, I was inspired to stay in the present and take in the world around me in order to fully commit myself to my work and practice.
5-What were 5+ things you would like to incorporate into your own work after watching these videos?
While watching these artists talk about their work, I found some elements of their work to be interesting. It made me think of how I could expand on my work instead of only doing one medium. In my future works, I would like to incorporate more elements of myself and my experiences through more of the senses such as hearing. I would also like to add more physical pieces to my portfolio such as ceramics. Playing with wildly contrasting sizes could also be a fun thing to add to my work. I would like to also use more portraits of individuals to create pieces that represent others' experiences. It would be interesting to incorporate installation pieces that are in high traffic areas to generate more of an audience. I would also like to include experimental practices of conventional art into my work. Listening and understanding other artists enables other artists like myself to create something new and find their place in the art world. This is why listening to others perspectives in any aspect can be insightful to your work.
No comments:
Post a Comment