Hemiplegia

Baroque, Two Colors, Machine Element

Teach yourself (backup plan)

I am still moving forward with my original "surprise plan", but in case I have major stage fright or it fails horribly, I did learn another skill in these past two weeks! I learned how to weed and mask as well as install vinyl lettering.

I was hired by a night club in Sodo called Aston Manor to install the phrase, "For every prohibition, you create an underground" over one of the bars as well as the year "1943" on one of the walls.

I didn't get photos of the weed and mask process which Tory Franklin taught me, but I did take photos of the install process.

There was a MAJOR problem that I only realized after I was practically done. The word "Underground" had been printed as "Ungerground". I made a decision to try and repair it by hand stenciling a new "d" from the "d" on the end of "underground" and I think it ended up turning out pretty well!

Dan Webb

Dan Webb, a Cornish alumni, carves highly realistic wooden sculptures. Webb starts from large pieces of wood and appears to have a clear idea of what it is that he is going to create before he begins to carve. Each sculpture is unpainted with the exception of two pieces which have a varnish over top of them giving them a shine while still showcasing the intricacies of the wood. Each piece seems to be addressing the dichotomy of time and fleeting moments that we all experience. Nostalgia also appears to run through some of his work. The first piece that is seen when entering his solo exhibit at the Bellevue Art Museum is a vintage school desk with gobs of gum (actual gum) stuck to underside of the desk. When viewing Webb's work it is impossible not to notice the supreme amount of detail and skill that is required to complete it. Webb explains that his inspiration comes from his personal life and his style of carving comes from traditional American wood carving (which is how he explained his use of chain carvings).

The piece that I was most drawn to was Sleeper which is carved, unpainted fir. It is encased in glass and on a pedestal. Its dimensions are 11x 28 x22 in. It is delicately carved to such detail that the only implication that it is not actually a pillow is the fact that it is clearly wood and it is among other sculptures of carved wood. If this piece were to be lying on a bed, I might believe that it was a pillow with a wood pattern pillowcase. When asked about his inspiration, he spoke of the moment just after his son got up from bed and the imprint of his head remained on the pillow for only a few brief moments before the pillow reshaped itself. He spoke of wanting to capture that moment and other similar fleeting moments. It’s as if he didn't think it was fair that moments like that didn't last longer. So, he decided to make that moment last forever through his art. What is also interesting about this piece is the fact that pillows are soft and lightweight by nature, and wood is the complete opposite as far as material. To transform wood in such a way as to capture the essence of a pillow by accurately shaping it to generate the illusion of weightlessness is a feat. Interestingly enough it is the only piece that I desperately wanted to touch out of all the pieces because everything about it defied what I know of the world and of wood and pillows. 

Pablo Helguera

Pablo Helguera's work is heavily time based, experimental and socially driven. In the first project that he describes, Vita Vel Regula (Rules of life), Helguera created a game that is to last nearly 100 years. He collected 50 participants who were of various ages younger than him (the purpose being that they would likely outlive him). The first 25 participants were people that were close to him in his personal life and the last 25 would be volunteers. Each participant would be given 16 envelopes labeled with specific opening dates and instructions with the first envelope to be opened on March 1st, 2013 and the last envelope to be opened on November 23rd, 2097. Also included among the envelopes is one that is to be opened in the inevitable event of his passing. Because of its lengthy duration, Helguera identifies this piece as his last work of art, even though he will be continuing to create work after the commencement of this game. 

Helguera makes it clear that even though he is in artist, he sees himself standing on the edges of it. More than any medium or “way of making art” he is deeply interested in people and relationships. He is interested in the narratives we create and contrasting world views. Through his work, Helguera not only wants to understand human connections and relationships and how/why they happen, but he also wants to make them happen on a deeper level. He is fascinated by the idea of a shared experience and how it connects people. He focuses on this idea and similar ones throughout most of his lecture.

It seems that his fascination with people and societal norms may stem from his background as an educator. He seems to have a clear understanding of how people learn and how they develop attachments and his work seems to be asking questions to people to see if he can reveal the same truths to them. A good example of this would be his project, The Seven Bridges of Konigsberg where he generated his own set of tarot cards. As somewhat of a social experiment, he would sit people down and given them their tarot reading with cards that he essentially made up. By telling these people that the card was significant to a particular part of their life, the people made an inevitable attachment to that image.

In the final project that Helguera described, he gave a brief description of the story that inspired it which is called Wakefield by Nathanial Hawthorne. In this project he explored the idea of seeing the world without ourselves in it. He was inspired to create this piece because of the feeling of loss as an artist when he had a child. He assumed that he would not be an artist anymore and that he would be a father instead. By creating this piece, with his daughter in his arms, he explored his own beliefs about the world and its social constructs. He wanted to think about what decisions we make or don’t make in order to stay within the art world or outside of it.

Helguera is a rather unconventional artist and in my opinion, what I would call a hipster artist. I imagine that he wouldn’t like to identify himself as an artist, just a man who is doing what he is called to do. In many ways I don’t think he could be argued with as his work doesn’t fall within the realm that most people identify as art.

Side Effects Documentation

Side Effects

Rachael Larkin and Leah Merriam

Do the images we see around us play a role in how we see ourselves? Are toxic images inescapable or do we have the power to control how these images effect us? In western culture we are bombarded with the concept of perfection and the idea that it is attainable with hard work and sacrifice. The impossibility of perfection has flooded our subconscious and is destroying our perception of self. The line between reality and constructed reality is blurring, but we can be vigilant in preserving our minds by ingesting material that utilizes areas of the brain that require more of us. It is not until we take a step back and look in the mirror that we realize how distorted things have and will continue to become without moderation and awareness.

Independent Project: research and writing

“The word "tabloid" itself has several definitions. In 1884 it was trademarked as a name for compressed drugs. The connotation of "tabloid" was soon applied to other small items and to the "compressed" journalism that condensed stories into a simplified, easily-absorbed format.These papers were commonly identified with boisterous, brief news content, an abundance of pictures, some fiction, and often they blatantly appealed to the human interest in crime, sex, and disaster. One definition of tabloid from Webster's College Dictionary describes it as luridly or vulgarly sensational. Tabloid journalism employs sensationalism as a device to capture readers' attention. Sensationalism is the use of material intended to produce a startling or scandalous effect, especially one pertaining to the senses.”

What are the things that we ingest that truly make us who we are? How can we take control of our minds and what we become? How in control are we? Are these messages inescapable while living an average life? Or will those who want avoid these messages have to go into hiding?

How much of what we read becomes a part of us? In our culture we are bombarded with images of imaginary beauty. We are told that we aren’t good enough unless we have whatever it is that is being sold. The idea of perfection has flooded our subconscious and is destroying our perception of reality.

As the highly trainable species that we are, we should remember that the images and ideas that we see have a profound effect on who we become. We learn with our senses and as we walk through this world, we begin to believe the things we see; because we are believing them more than we are even able to admit.

As the line between reality and constructed reality blur, we should be vigilant in preserving our minds. It is not until we take a step back and look in the mirror that we realize how distorted things have and will become.

With incredible privilege comes an incredible responsibility. We live in a culture whose habits revolve around waste and indulgence. As we pollute our world, the media is polluting each and every one of our minds.

We can fight back by feeding our minds with knowledge, education and information that requires our attention and the depths of our brain that cannot be developed without the concentration required to learn new things and grow.

When we neglect our minds, we allow our brains to deteriorate. When we buy into the ideology being sold by the media, we are contributing the never ending cycle of self deprecation, envy, objectification and violence. Tabloids and beauty magazines in particular, infect us and stunt our emotional and spiritual growth; throwing us into a robotic cycle of being concerned with people we will never meet and ideal body types that are created on a computer screen. Set fire to these ideas.

What does success look like?

-The stacks translate as human figures because of their height and the fact that they are placed in the front of a mirror the same ways that we all are every day.

-The contrast between the two stacks is clear and powerful
-The mirrors emphasize the contrast because they are back to back

-The ultimate goal is to make the viewer consider the images they ingest and how they affect their self-image and how they see the world. Many people are numb to how these things affect them and by seeing these stacks in such a contrasted way, they will have no choice but to consider which side they fall on and why.