May 6, 2019
seen from Iraq
seen from China
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Maldives
seen from United States
seen from Venezuela
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Bangladesh
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Russia
seen from Canada
seen from China
seen from Canada
seen from Canada
seen from United Kingdom
Directions for my Nature Walk Discovery
Final Destination for my Nature Walk Discovery
Rebecca Belmore’s KWE project is very widespread in terms of content. I had some trouble understanding the project as a whole because I felt that each piece was so different from the next, but as I continued to read and study the pictures I started to pick up on themes. The first theme that I noticed from a strictly visual standpoint was the fact that nobody was looking at the camera in any of the pictures. I think this strategy forced me as the viewer to really study and understanding the surroundings and objects in the picture beyond the individual. I interpreted this strategy as a way to convey in the photographs that the issues being brought to our attention are bigger than one person. For example, in the picture Belmore is in wearing a safety jacket with a large neon colored X on her back she is attempting to shed light on multiple issues simultaneously. She is trying to connect with the manual laborers with her outfit, while attempting to be artsy by standing on a phone box, and she is referencing the link between capitalism and colonization/the exploitation of land and labor by putting the X on her back. It seems like a fairly simplistic photo, but behind her simple photos she integrates lots of complexities.
I also appreciate how she uses distilled images to emphasize that you can adapt constraints and create beauty out of pain. Her images signify struggle and discomfort, but the descriptions that go with them take an optimistic approach to the situation at hand. In the image of a woman bent in half, bound by red cloth she looks content or relaxed in an odd way. The description explains how it is a response to the Iraq War in struggling against overwhelming powers. Aside from the underlying message, Belmore is able to turn the conflict and struggle into an eye-catching piece of art. She takes the victim from the situation and tries to inject resurgence and optimism into the photograph. All in all, I am fascinated by how she titled her project around the term respect and developed negative stories into positive artwork.
In Adrian Piper's Funk Lessons I was intrigued by his explanation about why the white culture did not have experience with black funk music and dance. The role of social dance in white culture (viewed in terms of achievement or spectator-oriented), was very different from social dance in black culture (self-transcendence and social union) which prevents the the white culture from adopting black funk music. In response, Piper offered lessons as a way to empower all groups to adopt the dance/music style. In groups and social settings, he would play funk music and then use the puzzled faces of the other members as a gateway into discussion about the social context of the music and the significance of it. It was a strategy to to engage and inform people about the cultural and political dimensions of the black cultures identity.