ART 182 Project log/ course archive for Elle Kilgore @clevergirl95 - Tumblr Blog

PROJECT #3 DOCUMENTATION & STATEMENT

‘SWEPT’ by Lindsey Garland, Naomi Likayi, Bree Goodwin & Elle Kilgore

Conception:

The idea started with the question of what made a public and private. We explored the question within various contexts including safespaces, Western conquest, stickering, and personal use. We knew we wanted to conceptualize taking a public space and claiming it as our own, but we weren’t exactly sure what we wanted to say, or how we wanted to say it.

Next step:

Originally, the idea was to create stickers of variant size (depending on the site), wherein we, the group, would claim our name and what was held at the site (i.e. “Lindsey’s Pond”) The idea was to question the validity of the, so to say, “steaking a flag in the dirt” method of claiming earth, which is very rooted in the motif of Western Manifest Destiny. We jokingly named the title that, based on a loose notion. When presenting it to class, the joke fell flat, and we’d hadn’t had a solid idea of what exactly we wanted to do.

Leading research:

We next started to look into the methods of ‘claiming’ public space without due process (that is, without state or government recognizing it as officially private land belonging to whom had ‘claimed it.’)

An article debriefed bootleg trail-blazing, mentioned there was a demand for certain trails to be made, and that it apparently became the duty of the people demanding it to create them.

Another article pondered:

“Consider private claims to the lands and resources owned and managed by the federal government. Once established, these claims-of which there are hundreds of thousands-seem, in many instances, to take on a life of their own.”

The article later went on to explore how a site can retain the durability of it’s claim in tandem with how the history of the site and the American legal system give a place its vibe or “character.”

Next, an article about a young man’s art project was found. The title of the project is #SetintheStreet and rudimentarily, the piece was of domestic settings set in the middle of a public space. This included a family’s dinner table on the side of a wall, a bathroom on the side of a brick wall and a cozy living room set up in front of the side of another heavily graffi’ed building.

This started to generate a more concrete methodology of how we were going to say something. We knew we wanted to plant it publicly... but the question still lingered on what subject matter we’d choose.

Using words came back as a theme when a blogpost detailing the use of typography and words in site-specific areas was found.

So, we were going to use words in public to send a message about something. It was time to decide what the message was going to comment on: the ‘sweeping’ of the homeless in Portland.

Founding research:

It started with a Willamette Weekly article chronicling two women pitching a tent in front of Charlie Hale’s house after he’d announced it legal to set up camp in the public arena (with certain stipulations, that is.) They specifically interviewed homeless persons of what they thought of the new policy, citing Right 2 Dream and The Springwater Corridor (two well-known homeless camps in PDX.)

There were also articles found discussing the repercussions of sweeping homeless camps, pleas for more humane measures and the implications of homeless seclusion.

Finding our purpose:

We knew what we wanted to talk about, and what we wanted to say, wasn’t so much specifically rooted in on one side or the other, but rather, a plea to begin the discussion in general.

Within Rose City Park’s neighborhood lies a site where a very concentrated homeless camp once was. The camp was there for a considerable amount of time, until it’d been swept, pretty much instantaneously. The feeling was eerie. A once populated area, neutralized and fenced, it begged the question “where did these people go?”

The invocation had to be rooted in a phrase. “Swept” seemed most appropriate. It evoked a story, to those in the community and those outside. It is profound in it’s simplicity. To have the rug “swept out from underneath you” or to “sweep something under the rug” falls heavily in line with the motifs of the disenfranchised homeless plight.

Reaction:

While erecting the piece, there were mixed reactions. From subtle drive-bys to peace signs, and genuinely concerned onlookers.

Final thoughts:

Lindsey:

Naomi:

Bree:

Elle:

Video on ‘Swept’ done by Lindsey Garland:

PROJECT STATEMENT AND REFLECTION:

PROJECT STATEMENT:

My work was based around the systems of adolescence, self identity, social media and journaling (through an electronic medium). I wrote a poem/song I had previously conducted when I was out of high school on old overexposed FujiFilm instant film. Originally, that was it. The two systems being a poem and photography.

As I asked myself what ways I could engage the audience more, I considered playing the original song, but it didn’t feel enough for me. I asked myself what led to the song, and came to the conclusion that it was my inability to cope with the fact that what I thought was a dense, saturated reality was simply the thoughtful thinking my parents warned me about in high school. (ie ”Your friendships in high school won’t last forever” “don’t trust anyone to be there for you”) I originally thought to choose what I would deem to be the quintessential photo from my old self, to compare to my self that exists today. Still, that didn’t seem to quite push it far enough for me.

I took a screen capture of myself scrolling through my old tagged/me photos. To get through all of them, it’d take about 30 minutes, so I decided to cut the video down to a digestible size. I ended it on a snapshot of my failed Kinsey test to both imply my arbitrary sexuality, as well as to propose the idea that I either lied on the test about myself, or, am an unusual person.

I wanted to push it one step further. I wanted some cadence to set the tone. When typing out an independent piece, I decided it would be interesting to write commentary as the video went on to indict the work as a performance piece. I’d start by simply trying to type the song out, then, as the conversation progressed, I’d make subtle hints to what I was trying to get at.

REFLECTION:

To be honest in my reflection, I consider this work yet another failure. Not only due to the distracting nature of the photos I’d taped to the projector, but also because of my lack of a core message. There was no moral to what I was showing. I was simply showcasing something I feel that’s haunted my core self since I graduated three years ago. I wanted to share my sorrow, my guilt, my loneliness, not so much to illicit a response that would allow gratuitous attention, but simply to share. I wanted to, in a short amount of time, tell a story about a girl who doesn’t know who she is anymore. A girl who doesn’t know what to say. A girl who doesn’t like looking at herself, not because of vanity but out of shame. I guess if I had to chose a message for the piece, I’d be “fake it till you make it,” because in my experience, most everything fades away.

I ended up overloading the audience into a jumbled, poorly constructed mess. It seems my poor performance reflected my pathetic status.

#project 2 #systems and simulation #project statment #reflection

#concept

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION [THE PROJECT] Part 2 “OPEN WHEN YOU ARE READY” by Elle Kilgore

Pictures of the final result of my art piece.

#art #mixed media #cryptic #appropriation project #sylvia plath #daddy

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION [THE PROJECT] Part 1 “OPEN WHEN YOU ARE READY” by Elle Kilgore

Pictures of the final result of my art piece.

#art #appropriation project #sylvia plath #mixed media

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION [PROJECT STATEMENT]

I started with the poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath. I’d known the poem since high school and always wanted to explore a way I could use her powerful voice to influence mine.

I searched for a re-reading of her work and also an image that appropriated her verse in some way. The reading was from a YouTube video called “CLASSIC SLAM 2012 “DADDY” BY SYLVIA PLATH”. The reading was done by Alyssa Paul, and after (in my opinion) butchering the original poem, responded to it with her own free verse. I was more interested in the response and how she felt about her own father.

I then found what looked to be out a comic (but was really just a single illustration) that depicted Plath and her husband Ted Hughes, with speech bubbles quoting each of their works. The pairing of the quotes led to a separate inference about their marriage. I was not as interested in that, but rather, the transcendence of verse into the physical realm.

I then went through Google Scholar and simply typed in her name. I found the articles “The Boot in the Face': The Problem of the Holocaust in the Poetry of Sylvia Plath,” written by Al Strangeways. The article referenced the controversial Holocaust metaphor within Plath’s work. I decided because of its stand, I would not appropriate that paramount trope in Plath’s more famous works, rather, focus on a personal response regarding my own father. (For I’ve related to her loss within my own fears.) The second article I read simply went into how Anne Sexton, a contemporary of Plath, influenced the actual form of the poem.

By then I knew I wanted to paraphrase

“Every woman adores a Fascist, The boot in the face, the brute Brute heart of a brute like you.”

Again, sticking to the notion I did not want to include the Holocaust metaphor, I opted out of the first part (although would get back to it subtly). In the previous term, I’d carved out letters onto glass and painted over it. I wanted to refine this way of making, as I’d enjoyed it very much and decided to use the plexiglass/ plastic sheets I’d stolen from my work. (heh)

After deciding that I dug deeper into the two things Plath is most known for:

a dead father trope

and “whiny” teen girl poetry. (That is this notion that only angsty high school girls love Sylvia Plath and to like her is to be stuck an adolescent literary knowledge set.)

So I read a passage from Tanis MacDonald’s book “The Daughter’s Way: Canadian Women’s Paternal Elegies” which mainly discussed the use of a dead paternal figure to hone in various female artists’ tropes.

The game changer was when I went into research confessional poetry and found “ The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'n' Roll” by Simon Reynolds, Joy Press. In a short passage, it described the origins of “confessional poetry” as when clergymen would pour out their hearts into journals, as to rid the spirit of those weighty thoughts. It then went into the general conception that confessional female poets get a bad rep for being too emotional. It was with this I would include my father into the equation.

I made the slides with plastic, black paint, and masking tape. (Used the tape to cut out letters, stamp them on, paint over them and then remove the tape to make the words transparent.) I then painted the back of where the letters were located to create a glossy effect on the letters (making it so from one angle you could not see the letters, you’d have to interact with it to see them.)

I then drank a few beers until I was buzzed (heaven knows I would not be able to talk about this sober) and pulled out my typewriter and wrote a very stream of consciousness piece discussing my father. I did not like my first draft so much, so I tried it again, keeping in mind a few things I’d said before and liked the second draft much more.

[A PIECE OF WRITING CAN ALWAYS BE IMPROVED, EVEN IF IT IS STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS].

I glued the passages on the back of the first two sheets to 1. integrate them but also 2. hide the paint on the back that made the glossy effect. On the final sheet, I painted the whole back side and taped a photo of my father and I.

The purpose of the passages was to highlight the ambivalent nature of my relationship with my father. I describe him both as a soft, loving father and a man who is not exactly literate and “sometimes a brute”. The photo was a means to make the participant (because this is an interactive piece) question what exactly I felt about my father.

I didn’t want to make it all about me, though, I wanted another level of intimacy, vulnerability (on my part and the participant’s) and interaction. While trying to formulate ideas on how to make people more ready to interact, I came across the idea of imitating a scrapbook. I used a piece of cardboard left over from my Ikea furniture that folded into three parts and worked perfect as a “book” to contain these pieces. (A collage of sorts on the inside of the folded panels.) I knew I’d write “tell me something about your father” as a statement vague enough to lean people nor the glorifying or demonizing route. (Vulnerability in this instance, to me, is defined as the participant simply willing to write something. Content (ie “fuck you” vs “he’s really good at golf”) was not important.)

“Open when you are ready” is what I came up with to engage the participant. I included a Sharpie, and left it be. The “when you are ready” is more of a reference to my journey in preparing myself for these feelings about my father, but also a precursor to the participant that the piece is not what it seems to be from the outside.

A hidden easter egg within the piece is the words “he is not a brute” carved into the middle panel of the cardboard folding piece. I used the materials that I did because they were easily accessible and easy to write on (in comparison to the plastic panels)

My modern day artists/influences included Jenny Holtzer’s transcendence of words into a physical form, the vulnerability and confessionalist tone of “My Bed” by Tracey Emin and Candy Chang’s interactive “Confessions” piece.

Quick note: I realize a lot could be contributed to hindsight, but these, within the time of conception are sequential and are the exact series of events to unfold. I did not bullshit any of this. This piece was very thought out, but unfortunately, the actual “performance” of it fell flat. Although most of the critique discussion was on point, the participants only acted once they were told to. I do not feel like my intention was transcended and consider this piece to be a flop.

#appropriation project #done

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION [WRAP UP]

FINAL PIECE:

A mixed media work of the phrase “the brute heart of a brute like you” (taken from Plath’s poem) with pages of a typewritten stream of consciousness writing in reference to a journal entry I wrote long ago about how I felt like my father had wanted me to be born a boy, and my fears in regards to losing him this is my “cleansing” or “pouring out” of my soul, a confession to say the least.

RELATED ART(ISTS):

“My Bed” / Tracey Emin - a work of art that stands still and allows you to see it for what it is, a true confession to everything the artist did in her bed

“Truisms” / Jenny Holzer - incorporated text-as-art, used LED lights to “construct” the words to manifest them physically

“Confessions” / Candy Chang - had people anonymously write confessions on a wood board that would be hung up for all to see

#appropriation project #final piece #related art #related artists

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION

ARTICLE #3 & #4 (EXCERPTS FROM BOOKS)

The Daughter’s Way: Canadian Women’s Paternal Elegies by Tanis MacDonald

Examines works by women (who especially have used the loss of a father as “a literary and political warshed” (I felt like the description of the book phrased it really well.)

The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion, and Rock 'n' Roll by Simon Reynolds, Joy Press

Book about the “rebellion” of females throughout modern history, specifically in regards to rock n’ roll, but in one section mentions a very quick history of journaling, how clergy men used it to “keep pure” or whatever, and how many view the confessional’s poetry (specifically from females) to be “too intense.”

#appropriation project #article 3 #article 4 #tanis macdonald #simon reynolds #joy press

#concept #appropriation project

Heather Cam argues that Plath's "Daddy" was inspired by Anne sexton’s “My Friend, My Friend”

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION

ARTICLE #2

#appropriation project #article 2 #Sylvia Plath #Anne Sexton #Heather Cam

In the following essay, Strangeways examines Plath's references to the Holocaust in light of her preoccupation with personal history and myth, female victimization, and the specter of nuclear war. Strangeways concludes that Plath does not simply reduce the atrocity of the Holocaust to metaphor, but draws attention to the ambiguous and potentially dangerous interrelationship between "myth, history, and poetry in the post-Holocaust world."

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION

ARTICLE #1

#appropriation project #Sylvia Plath #Article 1 #Al Strangeways

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION

REPRODUCTION #2: CLASSIC SLAM 2012 “DADDY” BY SYLVIA PLATH; read by and responded to by Alyssa Paul

To preface this……… I really hate hearing other people read (specifically Plath's) work. She has a very specific tone when she (Sylvia Plath) reads it (TRANSATLANTIC ACCENT Y’ALL) SO… I did listen to it, but only once because I am very protective and this gal is trying to turn Plath’s work into a slam poem when it is meant to be read in a certain cadence and tone.

I do appreciate the reading,

(I am simply a romantic and pretentious, protective girl.)

She (Paul) did a response in which she dedicated to her “mommy”; questioned the idea of what a true father as a parent figure is, did not use so much reference to him as a fascist Nazi, as is paramount in Plath’s poem, but rather a drunken deadbeat.

#appropriation project #reproduction 2 #Sylvia Plath #Alyssa Paul

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION

REPRODUCTION #1: “Fragments of Poems”

From a post on a Polish blog called kobietywsztuce (on Blogspot). (Could not find their name). Blog is dedicated to commentary on female artists with multiple essays on various topics. In this instance, the blog post was titled “Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.”

This illustration depicts quotes from each of the poet’s own work in relation to their own relationship with one another as husband and wife.

#appropriation project #reproduction 1 #Sylvia Plath #Ted Hughes

PROJECT ONE: AUTHORSHIP & APPROPRIATION

ORIGINAL PIECE: “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath

“Daddy is a poem written by American poet Sylvia Plath. It was written on October 12, 1962, shortly before her death, and published posthumously in Ariel in 1965.[1]The poem's implications and thematic concerns have been discussed academically, with many differing conclusions.[2] The relative popularity of ‘Daddy’ can be attributed to Plath's vivid use of imagery and controversial use of the Holocaust as a metaphor.[2] Critics have also viewed "Daddy" as a response to Plath's complex relationship with her father, Otto Plath, who died shortly after her eighth birthday as a result of undiagnosed diabetes.[3][4] “

QUOTED DIRECTLY FROM (Wikipedia)

#appropriation project #original #Sylvia Plath

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ART 182 Project log/ course archive for Elle Kilgore