Bad Thoughts and Bad Luck

[ecc-poetry]

Revenge

Since you mention it, I think I will start that race war. I could’ve swung either way? But now I’m definitely spending the next 4 years converting your daughters to lesbianism; I’m gonna eat all your guns. Swallow them lock stock and barrel and spit bullet casings onto the dinner table; I’ll give birth to an army of mixed-race babies. With fathers from every continent and genders to outnumber the stars, my legion of multiracial babies will be intersectional as fuck and your swastikas will not be enough to save you, because real talk, you didn’t stop the future from coming. You just delayed our coronation. We have the same deviant haircuts we had yesterday; we are still getting gay-married like nobody’s business because it’s still nobody’s business; there’s a Muslim kid in Kansas who has already written the schematic for the robot that will steal your job in manufacturing, and that robot? Will also be gay, so get used to it: we didn’t manifest the mountain by speaking its name, the buildings here are not on your side just because you make them spray-painted accomplices. These walls do not have genders and they all think you suck. Even the earth found common cause with us the way you trample us both, oh yeah: there will be signs, and rainbow-colored drum circles, and folks arguing ideology until even I want to punch them but I won’t, because they’re my family, in that blood-of-the-covenant sense. If you’ve never loved someone like that you cannot outwaltz us, we have all the good dancers anyway. I’ll confess I don’t know if I’m alive right now; I haven’t heard my heart beat in days, I keep holding my breath for the moment the plane goes down and I have to save enough oxygen to get my friends through. But I finally found the argument against suicide and it’s us. We’re the effigies that haunt America’s nights harder the longer they spend burning us, we are scaring the shit out of people by spreading, by refusing to die: what are we but a fire? We know everything we do is so the kids after us will be able to follow something towards safety; what can I call us but lighthouse, of course I’m terrified. Of course I’m a shroud. And of course it’s not fair but rest assured, anxious America, you brought your fists to a glitter fight. This is a taco truck rally and all you have is cole slaw. You cannot deport our minds; we won’t hold funerals for our potential. We have always been what makes America great.

-e.c.c.

[morghanelizabeth-deactivated201]

Project 5: Word on the Street

This was the hardest project for me. I wanted to do something fun, but I struggled to come up with a concept. In the end I decided to address movement. I live near a school and see kids walking every day, and I love how their movement is so non-linear. They are exploring and not always focused on the most efficient way from Point A to Point B like adults. So I created some signs encouraging adults to move more like children and hung them on Santa Fe for First Friday. Many people commented on the signs and read them aloud as they passed, but I didn’t see anyone actually respond physically as I had hoped. Maybe I should have waited until after dark when people had enjoyed some free wine at the galleries! One person took some photos of the signs, but I wasn’t able to capture it. As an experiment, I want to post these at a park, because I feel certain that kids would respond differently than adults.

This project was frustrating at first, but ended up being fun. I have never considered doing any kind of street art before, but I discovered that it was really enjoyable.

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

I love this! And what a great idea to do it on First Friday when people are looking to appreciate and interact with art. I do think it would be a cute idea in a kid friendly area.

[lachulamula]

Project 5 Word on the Street “Gentrification is coming”

I wanted to make a statement on a current topic surrounding the Denver area. Denver area has been growing very rapidly the last couple of years. I wanted to use rhyming poetry to give make the idea of gentrification simple to understand. gentrification has been moving a people from their neighbourhoods, rents are unaffordable. I placed the poster on an existing banner in Aurora, a banner that promises a “New Aurora” while displacing old neighbourhoods and old homes to replace them with new unaffordable ones. 

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

This is really cool and such a poignant statement in that particular area. I remember watching them tear down the apartment building where my mom, sister, and grandmother all lived to build high end condos. That part of the city is all gone and so are the people.

[mmilonas-blog1]

Artist on the streets Project 5

I decided to make a statement wherever I went and to move with the public sphere. I am tired of seeing people follow and not be themselves. This is where I thought my poetry might make an impact. When stuck in traffic they eye tends to scan from the cars around you to the interior of ones own vehicle. So why not try to create some sort of self awareness for those around me. I wanted to make people make a conscious decision as they head to where ever they go. I will be me. To many fakers and followers and not enough leaders, and when I say leaders I mean leaders of oneself. People get trapped in other peoples webs and they need to still be in their web.

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

This is a really interesting take on the project and on poetry in public. We use our cars to proclaim our favorite sports team or our child’s achievements but it’s a really cool idea to do art/poetry on it.

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

For the project I wanted to create some location specific gothic inspired phrases. Inspired by southern gothic, location gothic takes a sometimes creepy, sometimes supernatural look at the myths, locations, and highlights of a city. I focused on the the mountains and our ever changing weather patterns.

 For my three poems I used a variety of sources. My first poem is Revenge by @ecc-poetry. This poem became massively popular after the 2016 elections. As our democracy takes hit after hit and 45 tells lie after lie, the poem remains strong and important. I choose to use the last stanza of the poem which ends on a inspiring note. For my next piece of poetry I used what didn't you do to bury me / but you forgot that I was a seed” which has become a popular Chicanx statement “They tried to bury me but they didn’t know I was a seed.” I only recently realized the original author was Dinos Christianopoulos, a Greek man writing about the difficulties of being gay. I think the fact that the lines have become so popular with another minority shows the power and resonance of the words; however, it's also important that we do not erase the original author as we risk burying his own struggle. Read more on the quote here. For my third poem I used Emma Lazarus's poem "The New Colossus" which contains the famous lines inscribed on the Statue of Liberty "Give me your tired, your poor-". Lazarus was a Jewish New Yorker who advocated for the immigrants. As a Jewish woman, I was so inspired to learn that one of America’s most famous lines was written by a Jewish woman. 

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

Reading Response # 5

I really enjoyed the reading with Jenny Holzer. I liked how she explores the power of words in her works and openly admits her own insecurity about being an artist. When Holzer admits that making art can be lonely or that she was glad to get away from grad school because she was a bad painter, it makes all artists breathe a sigh of relief and solidarity. From a personal point of view, I understand the long history and current practice of using helper artists to complete pieces but I can’t help but bristle at the idea. I grew up with a very DIY father whose ethos were formed from the punk movement. I try to physically make as much of my art as possible. Having worked in museums and galleries, I know how often nameless assistants are the ones spending hours of times installing a piece that an artists only comes in for the last moment. I’m not into and would like to have heard more from Holzer about how she compensates these helpers of hers. Also having worked at the Smithsonian, there are no dusty corers in which art work is housed.

I absolutely love Robert Montgomery’s piece for the Dior men pop up. I’m in love with led light art. I love that the piece can run off of solar power. The fact that one of his poems was used as a tattoo was very interesting. I have a tattoo that I want to get from an internet artist. Her pieces are very popular for tattoos: she just asks that people donate something to her paypal or buy something off of her Amazon wishlist. As more art is shared via the internet, we do have to consider how we compensate artists for their creations. On the other hand, once we release art onto the internet, we don’t really have control over it anymore. Actually as soon as we release it to the public, we don’t have much say in how it is transformed: the internet has just accelerated the process. How Montgomery talks about Berlin makes me want to move there.

[jay323mm-blog]

The artist is present-project 4

I had a hard time figuring out what I was going to do for this one but I eventually decided to go with this clip of myself balancing on a railroad track. I live in a small town with two railroad tracks running through it, so it was a reflection of where I am from in a way. I have always been fascinated by the way giant, heavy trains can travel such long distances and so fast while staying on two narrow strips of metal.  The act of walking along and balancing on a railroad track is a playful thing I used to do as a kid and I forgot how hard it actually is. Anyone who has ever walked along a railroad track has surely tried this as well and in that regard it is something that the viewers can connect with. The terms play, risk, and failure in the theme category on the project description are evident in this project as it is a playful act, and there is also risk of losing balance and falling off of the track which would result in failure. I chose the banjo music because it seemed upbeat and playful. 

           Balance is an important aspect of life as there will always be highs and lows. We strive for balance between our professional and personal lives and maintaining that balance is an important part of happiness. Overall I wanted to do something simple for this project and I chose to do this because it brought me back to my childhood, and it showed balance, which is something I am constantly striving for.  

[skylairhilton-blog]

I feel that you really nailed the concept of play, failure, and risk. This clip is simple in the best way. I’m glad chose to start from a distance.

[foundations4drew-blog]

Definitely was a great concept. Trying things again from when you were a kid can definitely be and obstacle and it was simply well put.

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

There’s always that element of danger with a train track, even when there’s no train in sight. Really nice composition too.

[michaelmaca11-blog]

Destroy your art

4D project performance art. Destroying your art is sometimes a necessity in order to move on...

DESTROY YOUR ARTttttttt

[livinglifeisanart]

Oh the feels! One second I was encouraging the destruction and the next I wanted to check out your artwork more, but it was too late haha. I think, destroying our own work makes way for even better work to materialize : )

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

A very relatable video. Even at the beginning when the first part accidentally broke it worked so well with the video’s message.

[supergoodpeople-blog]

Performance Art Project

I chose to destroy fruit for my performance piece. All the weapons I used were my own. The katana sliced through everything like butter. The throwing knives and bow and arrow slid through the fruit’s skin with no resistance. The aspect of this performance that I knew would receive criticism is the amount of food waste that was produced. I think this brings up a commentary about how readily available food is in america and how quick we are to throw away a half eaten sandwich or how we forget about food in refrigerators for so long that it spoils. I garden vegetables during the summer and do my best to add to a sustainable way of living… by the way all the fruit I demolished was placed in my compost pile. :)

[morghanelizabeth-deactivated201]

I like that you addressed the problem with food waste in your statement. The way you filmed this was really interesting. The shovel coming down on the tomato after all the sharp objects was surprising and gratifying!

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

It’s a real life version of Fruit Ninja. The act looks very cathartic. And thank you for talking about the food waste and for compositing the items. One day it will be spring in Colorado and that will make excellent fertilizer in the garden.

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

I was not excited to be in front of the camera. I don't like taking selfies much less performing. To that end I decided to make a video that was me searching for the perfect selfie angle. I love selfies. I think it’s a natural evolution from self portraits and portraiture that was once only available to the elite. I just don’t like myself in selfies. I’m too self conscious to feel comfortable. The video shows me being present and attempting to find a flattering angle. It’s more than just picking up the phone and turning on the camera. The same techniques you need in portraiture (lighting, composition, color etc) needs to be considered when snapping the photo. As often happens for me though, I ended up not deciding I didn’t like any of the possible photos and didn’t snap a photo. 

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

To walk 

To breathe

To color

To write

To process

To demand

To grow

To persuade

To learn

To watch

To dig

To communicate

To bond

To destroy

To trash 

To surrender 

To eviscerate

To hoard

To boldly go

To evaluate  

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

Reading Response #4

Coming from a sociology background, when I think of performance, I think of things like gender performance and social performance. Looking at the history of performance art, you can see how the ideas of identity performance were taken from stage and art. It was really fascinating to read the history of the genre and how it was involved in so many 20th century movements. The clubs and cabarets sound like exciting places to see the latest ideas and talk with other artists. 

Marina Abramovic is a very interesting contemporary artist. I remember hearing of her exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Although her performance and the film was fascinating, I think her display of performance art is part of the reason people find it difficult to connect to performance art. Abramovic is charismatic and I could see why some people burst into tears at being forced into such dramatic eye contact with her. I also really enjoyed how they highlighted the patience and professionalism of the security guards. Working at a museum, the security guards and building services workers are underrated heroes of the art world.

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

When I saw that the theme was Vanishing and Becoming, I immediately thought of magic and magicians. Which was probably due to seeing magician Adam Trent perform earlier this month. Seeing his performance really made me think about the illusion of vanishing and then rebecoming, as making someone vanish isn't the trick, it's bringing them back that's magic. I used After Effects as I like the controls better. 

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

Song: Mama’s Broken Heart - Miranda Lambert

Video: Desolation Row - My Chemical Romance

For this project I wanted to mix musical genres. Plus, I’ve always really wanted Gerard Way to cover this song.

[christophersawyer4d-blog]

This turned out really good! I think the 2 go well together. Although at first, it was weird hearing that voice come out of Gerard Way haha

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

Thanks! I so want to see Gerard cover this song. He would be so overdramatic and sassy and it would be my favorite. 

[morghanelizabeth-deactivated201]

I always think of Arya when I hear this song, so I compiled some clips of her from GOT Season 1. 

4D Exercise #3

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

This is such a great fanvid! The music works so well for her character and the clips you picked worked great.

[christophersawyer4d-blog]

The song is Beat of Your Heart by Summer Heart and the video is from the Ghibli movie Ponyo. I edited the color and feel a bit.

[ashleylafrenchy]

I loved this one

[badthoughtsandbadluck-blog]

This is so cute. The tempo of the music matches really well with the audio.

[waarrows]

“We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste!” ― André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name

I decided to make a music video for Beach House’s Space Song off of (one of the best albums of all time) Depression Cherry. I used clips from the recent movie Call Me By Your Name. This movie really stuck with me when I saw it in theaters– the final scene in particular where Elio is crying in front of the fireplace. Dictatorially, this movie is beyond anything I’d ever seen before.