Jocelynne Farfan

Studio Foundations: 4D

[sarahdworth]

THE ART OF DOING NOTHING

Performance art makes me uncomfortable.  I understand that creating discomfort is often part of the purpose of a performance art piece; the artist challenges the viewer to examine the source of their discomfort surrounding an idea or issue.  For me, the source of my discomfort is not necessarily with the issue being addressed.  Rather, it is with the performance itself.  I personally dislike being the center of attention and I dislike causing conflict for other people.  When watching (or even reading about) performance art, I tend to imagine myself in the place of the artist.  Just the idea of my being the center of attention while deliberately trying create conflict for the viewer is generates a lot of anxiety for me.

Needless to say, I approached this assignment warily.  While I could generate several different ideas, I really didn’t want to do anything.  Ultimately, I chose not to do anything at all other than simply confront my own aversion to being the center of attention.  I set up a camera so that I could see myself and sat for a full hour as the camera took a time-lapse video of me watching myself.  I did not enjoy it.  I fidgeted a lot and my expression was often somewhat pained.

I don’t think this exercise changed my discomfort regarding performance art.  Watching other people’s videos will likely be an uncomfortable experience for me.  However, I did appreciate taking the time to really understand what it is that I have never enjoyed about performance art.  Perhaps by understanding what I don’t enjoy will allow me to ultimately get past it and come to appreciate performance art more.

[jocelynnef]

Sarah, I totally understand how you felt when doing this project because I didn't want to feel uncomfortable either. I think it has to do with possibly being judged since the camera is on you. Thanks for being so open about this and sharing!

[bookitty100]

4d performance project Artist Statement 

I choose to do my own take on The Artist is Present

After watching the documentary I thought it was such a powerful piece I want to recreate and experience something similar using  animals in a natural but slightly surreal environment.

I wanted the piece to obviously have some humor to it, but still show some connection 

to the characters .

It definitely was fun and I loved the process of getting the whole thing together. 

Even though I work in film and commercials I still enjoy putting together all the moving parts of a project.. 

[jocelynnef]

I love this! The use of animal costumes is an interesting take on The Artist is Present. You even brought some of the characters to tears. I think by using animals instead of people, the performance felt surreal.

[christopherdownie]

Art Project 4: One Minute Performance: Self Portrait

[jocelynnef]

This is such an interesting take on an identity performance! I like how it’s your perception of what a face should look like, yet you can’t even see it.

[cterrel3-deactivated20221224]

Performance Art: Echo

photography, soundtrack

Artist Statement

[jocelynnef]

The music made this feel oddly uncomfortable like you’re stuck in a loop and can’t get out. It also reminds me of a countdown with each image getting closer to an end.

[seemooreart]

Art Project 4: One Minute Performance

Mind-Numbing Crap.

My performance represents the never-ending pursuit of numbing as stress relief. Life should not be so stressful that we need these vices, even the mundane ones such as adult coloring. I have a stack of the same coloring pages, and spent about 30 minutes coloring one sheet of paper. I sped up the video to fit within the ~1 performance time limit. The time could have been used to read textbooks or clean my house, but instead I blasted music, drank coffee and didn’t give a crap. If I was performing this for an audience without a time limit, I would color the whole stack of prints and crumple each one after completing it. Productivity is a human construct that has no real meaning.

[jocelynnef]

I love how you said that “Productivity is a human construct that has no real meaning.” It encapsulates your performance really well. Especially if you would have crumbled up the piece of paper like you mentioned if you were performing for an audience. Either way it was satisfying watching you fill up the coloring page.

[courtsartdream]

Project 4 Performance Art

In deciding what I really wanted to hone in on for this project I decided to draw a figure. Figure drawing is something I am fascinated with. Though I am not much good at it yet I want to continue to work on this practice until I make it perfect. As they say “practice makes perfect” and continuing to work on this will be great at expanding my art forms. I really wanted to focus on the specific shapes that make up the body in this figure. Thinking of the circles, ovals, rectangles, and oblong that piece together little details. Once those things are added then details and connections can be formed. As for the song I chose to add to the background, I wanted something that was peaceful, scenic yet exciting. That’s when I landed on this song by Christian Löffler named “Haul”. I feel like it adds a nice compliment to the figure and creates a beautiful background. 

[jocelynnef]

I think your idea was so fun! Figure drawing can be quite difficult to get the hang of because of proportions and perspective. Also, the song choice fits the overall vibe! Good work!

[huggbugg]

A Face in a Stitch: Performance Video

https://youtu.be/qrUe7NTuo8Q

My camera decided to crash on me and so I had to use my phone which had a broken speaker so the sound was REALLY bad. Doing a performance video with this angle was somewhat in my comfort zone; I don’t like being in the front of the camera and I found an old embroidery project so I decided to “perform” that. The final piece has an antique jewelry chain dangling from her ear. Luckily, the jewelry piece is able to move freely off of the hoop to provide the piece a more 3D effect.

[jocelynnef]

I’ve always wanted to try embroidery! I wonder how long it took you to do, since it seems like tedious work. Also, the angle you chose is interesting because it seems like we’re sitting next to you as you work.

[lil-lilyana]

Project 4 Failure

[jocelynnef]

I like how you mentioned in your artist statement how each clip was just supposed to be about being dumb and having fun. I think you did a good job and I enjoyed watching each snippet of your video.

[jocelynnef]

Project 4: One Minute Performance

*I recommend watching this with headphones, so you can hear the white noise, as well.

Forced to Look

Everyone has heard the phrase, “Eyes are the window to the soul.” Therefore in this piece, I wanted the focus of the performance to be on the eyes as if we were staring at each other for one minute straight. Staring often makes one uncomfortable like you’re being judged in some way or another. However, looking into someone’s eyes can tell you a lot about them like the quote above mentions.

The performance itself was uncomfortable for me, but I wanted to try to do something I’ve never done before and that would be interesting. Either way, both artist and viewer participant in the performance and face discomfort through the continuous staring.

[jocelynnef]

Technical Exercise 4

To Tear, To Mix, To Mend

To Blink, To Walk, To Tap, To Dance, To Cry, To Yell, To Sneeze, To Play, To Shout, To Speak, To Wait, To Run, To Snap, To Jump, To Clap, To Care, To Smile, To Shake, To Sing, To Lick

[jocelynnef]

Reading Response 4

Performance: A Hidden History by Roselee Goldberg

After reading “Performance: A Hidden History” by Roselee Goldberg, one can come to a better understanding of what performance art entails within the scope of the art world. Goldberg mentions how performance art is a multifaceted art form borrowing from different media types. While doing so, those who engage in performance art create a new type of relationship between artist and viewer. Live art allows the audience to participate in ways they could not do before. Also, Goldberg mentions how performance is at the forefront of many art movements, such as Futurism, Dadaism, and Surrealism, while now becoming its own individual medium. I enjoy how Goldgerg speaks about performance art as “primarily a matter of ideas and actions.” Performance art goes against the boundaries of what constitutes art and allows the artist to demonstrate their ideas in so many different, unique ways.

The Other History of Intercultural Performance by Coco Fusco

After reading “The Other History of Intercultural Performance” by Coco Fusco, it was interesting to see the thought process for their performance, The Couple in the Cage: Two Undiscovered Amerindians Visit the West. Fusco discusses the West’s “global cultural consumerism” and how they view the Other as primitive and exotic. She displays this in a performance with Guillermo Gomez-Penia, about two indigenous individuals locked up in a cage participating in different tasks relating to the fictitious culture they created. The idea of the Exhibitionary Order comes into play and involves putting the ‘Other’ on display for the consumerism of the Western gaze. It is not surprising that this idea of capitalizing on the ‘Other’ in performance art occurred within many art movements, such as Dadaism. Coco Fusco and Guillermo Gomez-Penia’s performance in the cage highlighted numerous issues within the the display of the ‘Other’ and ultimately makes the audience uncomfortable with the reality of it all.

[julia-rocha]

【ｆｏｒｅｖｅｒ　ｒａｉｎ】

[jocelynnef]

I think this is my favorite Supercut out of the bunch! I think that rain can be very therapeutic, especially the sound of rain, and I think you captured this feeling very well. The clips you chose made it feel like a first person view, as if I was actually walking in the rain in Seoul, South Korea.

[radioactivepaperclipsinthevoid]

Supercut: Hero

[jocelynnef]

I love this! The choice of song and clips go together perfectly.

[cterrel3-deactivated20221224]

SMILE

project 3: one minute supercut

2022

*potential trigger warning*: may feel uncomfortable if you’ve been subjected to narcissistic behavior and abuse

artist’s statement

music by max ablitzer

[jocelynnef]

I have never seen American Psycho before, but I think you did a great job depicting Patrick Bateman and his personality! The music paired with a smiling and charming Cristian Bale really added to the feeling of discomfort like something is wrong but you don’t know why yet.

[tobeaschwa]

Project 3: We are the Doctor

Doctor who is a show that has been running since 1963 (with a short intermission). It has touched many peoples lives over that long time period, and continues to do so. It was an integral part of my childhood and many others. It teaches lesson, morality, emotional maturity and development, how to be silly, how to be serious, and how to be brave. This all sounds a little dramatic but there are many parts of who I am today and my worldview that I can attribute to this show and its presence during my formative years. Not only is this show a great love of mine, but media itself is so important and plays a big role in children’s development, and the subject matter and lessons continue to be revered by people well into their adult hood.

[jocelynnef]

I love how you included all the variations of the Doctors saying, “I am the Doctor.” I have only seen a few episodes of Doctor Who when David Tennant played the Doctor and seeing all the different clips you chose made me feel nostalgic for a show I’ve never seen before.

[courtsartdream]

Project 3: One Minute Supercut- Nurtured Nature

In considering what I wanted to do for this project, I seemed to be super drawn to adding the imagery of flowers into this in some way. I didn’t know exactly how I wanted to depict them or what message I wanted to send so I did some research on some key words, flowers, life, nature. After doing this my ideas expanded, and I remembered a song that is dear to my heart for many reasons that I wanted to depict in this project as well. This song from Porter Robinson named Lifespan shares an instrumental of the waves of life in excitement and somber. This beautiful soundtrack makes a perfect background for the floral display of this project. Displaying the life and beauty of flowers and their birth was the goal. So, the final product of this piece shares a compilation of flowers growth and existence focusing on the beauty of each specific flower. The name of this project is derived partly from the song as it is in an album called Nurture by Porter Robinson, additionally the “nature” part being self-explanatory pointing toward flowers.

[jocelynnef]

I found your Supercut to be very relaxing, and I enjoyed your theme of flowers. I think the song choice really enhanced the final video, especially the second half where the music picks up.

[huggbugg]

https://youtu.be/m2cKA4zIY8g

Trigger warnings: suffocation, stalking, enclosed spaces, wildfires, snakes, and spiders

I decided to look up the top ten fears people have, as well as base some of these clips off of my own fears and my friends fears. At first I was originally planning to have creepy music with it or some white noise, but after watching the video with the original clips sounds I preferred it without the music. Having sound at the beginning and then kind of abruptly going silent made it more jarring, especially when it came to the clips where you’d expect sound. I also liked the title at the end, because again it was more surreal and jarring that way. I definitely don’t recommend watching if you have some of these fears, I’m not trying to cause anxiety or panic attacks or anything, just wanted to provide a goosebump kind of feeling. I’ve always been fascinated with what goes bump in the night and fear and I have a very peculiar relationship; I definitely think people don’t realize that adrenaline junkies like me can still have fears too.

Credit to the original videos creators (not in any particular order):

Fear of Snakes: https://www.pexels.com/video/snake-crawling-on-a-ceramic-head-bust-8458572/

Fear of spiders: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-spider-building-a-web-5645597/

Fear of disease/sickness: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-young-cancer-patient-in-the-hospital-6011520/

Claustrophobia: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-woman-trapped-inside-a-cardboard-box-8458598/

Fear of suffocation: https://www.pexels.com/video/man-covered-with-plastic-6894132/

Fear of being stalked/followed: https://www.pexels.com/video/man-walking-in-the-dark-5582584/

Driving phobia: https://www.pexels.com/video/roadtrip-at-night-856148/

Fear of fire: https://www.pexels.com/video/wildfire-on-the-mountain-7543653/

Fear of isolation/plane crash: https://www.pexels.com/video/birds-eye-view-of-crashing-waves-on-the-rock-8438341/

[jocelynnef]

I like how you used a variety of transitions and overlays to create this jarring and unsettling feeling. I also think by taking away the sound it made it feel a bit empty as if you were alone with these fears.