Culminating Assignment: The Final Project

For my final task, I chose to take inspiration for an artist I had been introduced to earlier in the semester: Barbara Kruger. Her work is essentially taking all of the things that I love and aspire to in my own art, and making it even better. Her work is simple, mixed media, and most importantly, its political. And god knows I love to get political. (Typing those words put that Olivia Newton John song in my head. You know, the "let's get physical, physcial, I wanna get physical" one.) 

Anyway, back to the point; Kruger is essentially an infinitely talented, more famous version of myself, and so, of course, I wanted to take inspiration from her work and put my own spin on it. But before we go any further, I just wanna say that while I took inspiration from Kruger's work, these were no way intended to copy what she was doing. I deliberately made my work look different because I recognise the line between inspiration and copying.

For the project itself, I decided that I wanted to focus on more social justice type issues, instead of tackling the consumerism and capitalism Kruger normally does. I wanted to specifically focus on things like feminism, the #blacklivesmatter movement, as well as the persecution of people of colour and those within the LGBTQ+ community. So instead of focusing on household items or commercial products, I decided to focus on the people themselves and who they represented. This was the main reasoning behind me choosing to use portraits.

Like Kruger, I also used overlayed text, however, we both used it in very different ways. When looking at her work, her words are often philosophical and have a great deal of hidden meaning behind a short sentence. Meanwhile, I aimed for mine to feel more confrontational, more demanding, I wanted them to challenge the viewer, as though the people in these pictures were questioning them specifically, demanding them to know why they are treated differently than the rest of the world, why this happened to them, why no one cares. I wanted to make the viewer feel personally attacked, as though they were the wrongdoer because so often most of society stands by and does nothing. Also because I wanted the viewer to feel what these people feel each and every day; which is unsafe, insecure, targeted, misunderstood, at risk of violence.

Enought jibberjabber though, lets get to the pictures. The first three are my favourite of the bunch, though I do like how all of them turned out.

This one calls out rape culture, and the idea that the length of a girl's skirt
should dictate whether or not someone is allowed to take away her personhood.
Photo credit: Travis Matthews

This one is simialr to the first in that it challeneges a common phrase often said to or about rape survivors.
However, this one is a bit different because it is through the eyes of a child victim,
an innocent, that we see this phrase and the pain it causes.

This one is especially relevent as Aboriginal Day just past and more and more often
First Nations culture is being stolen by trendy white women that want to
 seem "exotic" when they go to Coachella.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Kantor/Teen Vougue

I also did several more, these ones discussing themes like police brutality against people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, and Islamophobia.

This picture specfically covers the transgender sector of the LGBTQ+ community,
and the complexity of gender. It asks the viewer how they define gender,
as well as whether gender needs to be defined at all.
Photo Credit: ANNIE VAN GEMERT

This was the picture that sparked this whole project, other than Kruger of course,
his name was Philando Castille and hes was shot while unarmed by a police officer
while he was in a car with his girlfriend and his daughter. Catsille's story is only one of countless many.
Photo Credit: Philando Castille

This picture discusses the fact that many in the West will attempt to claim they care about Muslim women and their supposed oppression, but will not lift a finger to help these same women when they are become refugees fleeing a dictatorship or war. Its meant to show the hypocrisy of these people.
Photo Credit: iStock

Overall, I'm very happy with how my project turned out. My only regrets and tings I would have done differently would be that, if I had had the time, experiemnt a bit more with the text, change it up a bit more and explore my different options. I would have also loved to try and use my own photography and created my own portraits insetad of having to use one's that I found on the internet. However, once again I liked the overall turnout and am very proud of them. 

Curiosity Journal #6: Making Progress on my Culminating

Hello! Since, the last time I wrote a blog post (approximately 3 hours ago, but shhh...) I have made some progress with my final project and worked out some of the kinks in my plan. So I have already stated that I'm going to be taking my inspiration from Barabra Kruger, taking her style and making it my own through my politics and my words, however, I have since settled and refined the words I'll use, as well as having chosen the pictures.

It was surprisingly difficult to find the types of images I wanted and that would set the kind of tone I'm going for, I had to search a lot to find some that worked. Originally I thought about doing all black and white like Kruger, but then I ruled it out. Partially due to the fact that I thought it would make our work to similar and partly because I just enjoyed the aesthetic more. Kruger's work focus on pictures of everyday items or famous people, the photos I chose are more like portraiture, in that they're more focused on the individual.

I haven't decided how many I'll do just yet, I'm going to try to do all nine that I've chosen and then see how they turn out. The one's I like the most will be the ones that I showcase on here.

The photos I've chosen are all of different people from different backgrounds, and each is going to represent a different injustice within society or something that is with the way society views the world and life.

I do have to actual, known people in my selection, each pertaining to an injustice they faced, however, the rest of my images are simply models or ordinary people in photogarphs that I found online. 

Here are some pictures of my progress and additional planning:

Curiosity Journal #5: Planning My Culminating

For this curiosity journal, I decided to focus on what I would be doing with my culminating project, and start playing around with ideas for what I wanted to do. Like my previous culminating projects, I knew I wanted it to be political. I find that when I focus on things that I'm passionate about, ie: politics and feminism, I tend to be more creative and more interested in creating. 

With this project, in particular, I had wanted to draw from the work of an artist I had recently been introduced to by Mrs Rose, by the name of Barbara Kruger. I had first become aware of Kruger's work when Mrs Rose was helping another student with screening something (don't know if that's the right term) onto the back of a paint smock. It reminded her of Kruger's work, which she then encouraged me to take a look at. 

Which I did. And I loved it.

Kruger has a political, but simple mixed media style that really calls to what I enjoy doing, so I decided to take inspiration from her work and transform it into my own. I decided to create a series using already existing portraits, and add to them using a similar political message.

While Kruger mainly focused on capitalism, consumerism, and gender politics, I want to focus more on social movements and cultural attitudes, mainly towards lgbtq+ people, people of colour, and women. 

I want to highlight the injustices minority groups face, including sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia. I plan to showcase these things within my project with quotes, sayings and statements that speak to the situation that these groups go through. While Kruger played a role in choosing what medium I decided to use, I knew I wanted to do something intensely political, especially around minority groups, since I saw that disturbing video a few days ago of Philando Castille and his murder by police. 

I drew up some preliminary ideas and thoughts while I was still brainstorming, here's

what I wrote down in my curiosity journal:

Art History: Time Magazine's Latest Cover

The thing that I love about art so much (despite the fact that I myself am not that artistically inclined) is that art almost always has a message. Well, good art does, at least. And so often, that message is philosophical in nature, which gives life to my soul as my favourite thing in the world is to overanalyze everything. However, even more often they are political, which is even better. If there's one thing I live to do, it's argue about politics.

Recently the latest President of the United States, Donald Trump, has attracted a lot of attention due to his supposed ties to Russia and accusations that he has collaborated with and given classified information to them. During the media storm that followed this revelation, during all of the endless talking about whats happening, whats going to happen, and what has happened in the past, Time magazine decided to go simple and release their first cover in decades that doesn't have a single word on it. It looks like this, in case you were wondering:

Effective, right?

I could go on and on, making endless jokes about vodka and weird fur hats, but I'm just gonna get to the part of this assignment that I get actual marks for.

Initial Reaction:

I think it's stating the obvious when I say that when you first look at this cover, you're stricken with a million thoughts at once, but that no matter what you're thinking, you can't deny the cover's effectiveness in getting a reaction. It conveys what you need to know without nearly any context, all you need is a basic knowledge of what traditional Russian buildings look like, and that the President lives in the White House. It sends a message with absolutely no words at all, which while not rare for artworks, is rare for magazine covers.

Analysis & Interpretation:

There's a lot going on in this piece, but I think that the main elements and principles used, and certainly the most effective, are both colour and movement. The artist uses a deep red to represent the creeping influence of Russia and invites the reader to make connections between the colour and the nation's former affiliations with Communism. It's a stark difference between the white of the White House, and the red of Russia's influence, which makes me think of the differences between the countries and their styles of governing. It invokes ideas about how different the nations are, and what exactly we'd be getting into if Russia's power over the Trump administration grows. 

The movement of the red is also used very well, with it creeping across the White House slowly, symbolizing the slow, quiet takeover of Russia and its acquisition of power. I also like how the red moves not in lines, but in square shapes, making me think of pixels and how Russia has used the internet and new media organizations to its advantage during the election and in the later months. I also thought that the movement of the red from right to left was significant, with books, videos, and almost all media starting on the left and moving forward towards the right. I think that this movement of the red from right to left symbolises a going back of sorts, as though with this new Russian influence, we are going to be sent back and undo progress that we have made.

Consideration of Cultural Context:

You would think that it would be easier to consider the cultural context of an artwork that's so recent, seeing as I've been around to see everything that's happening and won't be able to leave anything out. But in a way its the exact opposite. Because I'm in the time when this artwork was created, I know everything that's going on at the moment and am unable to separate what will be relevant in the long run, and what's going to be forgotten in the next few months. What I can say is this: It's 2017, Trump is president, the American people (and the world) are disillusioned with the current political system, one of the most influential nations in the world just elected baffoon, and said baffoon has now been accused of giving an enemy government secret, classified information that could have endangered American lives. Oh, and the Russians also helped him get elected. So there's that.

Expression of Aesthetic Judgement:

Unlike the work of Warhol and Pollock, I can truly say that everything in this piece works for me. It stimulates me intellectually, while still also being very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I enjoy the colours and the sharp image, as well as the message that it conveys. Do I think that this artwork did what it set out to do? Do I think it was sucessfull? Yes, yes I do. I think it strikes a perfect balance between philosphical, political, and plain beautiful.

Art History: Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych

For my latest assignment, I decided to change it up and choose a different artist and a different period in art history; specifically, I chose to study and analyse the art piece Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol. I chose this particular piece because of my absolute obsession with Marilyn Monroe (I could literally write a book about her) and also because of the ideas and thoughts I had from looking at the painting for the first time, with absolutely no context of what the artist was trying to do. 

I liked that the artwork sparked thoughts immediately, unlike some of the previous work I've studied; I liked that I was immediately drawing conclusions and thinking about its meaning. It felt a lot of more stimulating than when I looked at the Dada movement or Pollock's work.

Initial Reaction:

My initial reaction to this work was one of interest. I was immediately drawn in and intellectually stimulated, wanting to postulate and theorize as to why Warhol had chosen to create this piece, what it was about, what it meant, etc. I was very interested in the recreation of the image multiple times and was fascinated by the way the image seems to degrade and change as the eye moves from left to right. It immediately sparked thought and analysis in my mind (though whether or not that analysis is right or not is a different story). However, in almost an exact flip from how I felt with Pollock's painting, on a simple aesthetic level, I don't really like it. I can understand why it was done, and why Warhol chose to do what he did; however, when I look at the piece from only an aesthetic level, I don't enjoy it.

Analysis:

I found Warhol's painting to be incredibly interesting, and ripe with the potential for analysis. Warhol uses a number of elements and principles within this piece, but without a doubt, the two that are used the most are colour and pattern, as well as quite a bit of emphasis. Warhol uses bright, neon, colours in half of the work, putting emphasis on the message of fakeness and saturation of consumer culture. The bright colours highlight the flatness of Monroe's face, showing the lack of life and flatness of an icon that Hollywood and America has worshipped for decades. He also uses pattern, specifically the repetition of Marlyn Monroe's face as a way to show the carbon copies that consumerism and capitalism often feeds the general public.

Interpretation:

Like I touched briefly on in the analysis, I think that with this painting, Warhol was attempting to comment on consumerism, capitalism, and the worship of pop culture and its figures. The artworks name is a direct reference to Diptych with the Virgin and Child Enthroned and the Crucifixion, a Christian painting created in the 13th century. Warhol goes through great pains to connect the religious devotion to a deity, with current consumerism and our worship of pop culture. However, everything else about the painting, the colours, the flatness, the repetition, all draw away from the fullness and completion that religion is supposed to bring you, and instead force the viewer to focus on the flatness of the image, the lack of depth within Marilyn Monroe's face, and consider the fact that this image was mass produced for consumption; that unlike with religion, the viewer does not have an emotional connection with the image.

Consideration of Cultural Context:

Context is incredibly important in art, there is never going to be an artist that tells you differently. With Warhol's work though, a bit of digging is needed to understand exactly when and why this work was created. It was made in 1962, in the height of capitalism and the golden age of film, which, when viewing the works subject matter, is difficult to argue has not had an influence on the painting. Actors and actresses were very highly controlled by studios back then and information about them was limited to what the studio gave the public. It seems that Warhol wanted to comment on the fact that despite the adoration and love showed Marilyn, no one really knew her, she was a product that was marketed to the masses.

Expression of Aesthetic Judgement:

I literally say it every. single. blog. post. but I don't believe that one person can define what art is. It's just not possible. So the way I reconcile this part of the assignment with that belief is that I tell myself that it's just if it worked for me, specifically, and not anyone else. So, for me personally, this piece of work was both successful and unsuccessful, depending on how you look at it. If you are only going on my aesthetic appreciation of the artwork and how it looked, then the answer is not really. The work itself appears garish and I don't really enjoy the bright colours contrasted with the darkness. However, when you take into account the context of the artwork and the meaning behind it, then yes, I do think it's successful. I think that everything I don't like aesthetically about the piece is what makes it and its message so impactful. Interestingly, I had the exact opposite reaction to this work as I did with Pollock's. While I aesthetically enjoyed Autumn Rythymn, I couldn't find meaning in it; with this artwork, I had the opposite experience.

Curiosity Journal #4: Book "Defacing"

Seeing as deviated from the routine with the last curiosity journal and focused on something a little different, I thought we would continue that theme today and talk about book defacing. Not in the traditional sense of someone disagreeing with a book and deciding that its okay to burn or rip it, but something else. Book defacing is the kind of sarcastic name for what is really book decorating.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love books with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. I average about ten books read a month and as of the 4th of May, I have read exactly eighty two books since the beginning of 2017. Normally I read about one hundred books a year; this year, according to statistics, I'm set to double that. (So long as university doesn't get in the way, which we all know it will.) I love recommending new books to people. I love talking about my favourite books. Reading is my crack.

So when I found a whole online reading community, made up mostly of kids my age, all talking about the same kind of books I loved while still introducing me to new ones, I knew I had found my people. 

Across every social media platform they were there: making book reviews on Youtube, recommending books on Twitter, and posting pics of books on Instagram. And while there is no doubt in my mind that this community is one of the most open, welcoming, kind, and free of drama spaces that exists on the internet, there was a certain... worshipping of aesthetic. I know, its ironic that my last post was literally all about aesthetics and now I'm about to drag them, but I do think there is a difference. 

Within the community, hardcovers were more prized than paperbacks, bookish swag and merch was sold, and there was this kind of unspoken idea that your books had to look perfect. No one wrote in their books, no one dog-eared pages. It bugged me. And that's were book defacing comes in.

Some people within the bookish community, got tired of keeping their books perfect and decided to show that a book doesn't have to be in store bought condition to be beautiful. They decided to show that "defacing" could be just as beautiful as a brand new book; and that owning a defacing book meant that it was one of a kind, uniquely yours. And boy, did they ever.

I like the idea of making a book uniquely yours, of having the ultimate collectors edition of something, and of incorporating your art into something you already love. I also like that book "defacing" has opened more people up within the community to marking up their books and seeing the beauty in imperfection and difference. 

I've seen people draw their favourite characters within the book, annotated the pages with calligraphy and notes, create beautiful designs on the end pages, and even include lyrics to songs that they thought fit the story. Its really just another form of fan art and I love it. I really want to try this out for myself, but I'm still debating over which book I should choose. Normally people read them while they're decorating, that way they aren't just decorating the outside, but the inside as well. I have a few books in mind, but I still have to narrow it down a bit. I'll make a new post on the topic once I've decided and started making my own.

Curiosity Journal #3: Tumblr Edits

This week I'm taking a break from the zine stuff, cause I want to talk about something new I've been curious about: Tumblr edits.

Tumblr edits are when you take a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated pictures to create a kind of collage of images that, when put together, give the viewer a small glimpse into the story they are trying to tell. Tumblr edits are usually based around a story or character, whether from a tv show, a book, or anything else, and essentially tries to show the viewer the feel or tone of that story or character. It's trying to summarize and represent a story with only pictures.

I'm not entirely sure if this "counts" as art, and whether or not I'd be allowed to do it for class, but this is technically a curiosity journal and this is something I'm curious about, so buckle up folks, cause I'm going to talk about this anyway.

The whole idea around Tumblr edits has to do with *aesthetic*. Finding the perfect pictures, that go together perfectly, arranged in the perfect order, to create the perfect image. I like the idea around Tumblr edits for a lot of reasons, but partly because images are usually only seen as powerful when they're on their own; but with edits its the exact opposite. With edits, the overall final product, of multiple images together, is what carries the impact. I'm also a fan of the idea of being able to potentially summarize and capture an entire mood or story or character with only images. The idea of someone being able to infer what a story is about, albeit vaguely, really appeals to me.

Plus, I just like the way they tend to look, alright? I'm kinda shallow, sue me.

This originally came about because a girl I follow on Twitter created a series of edits for her friends, each showing what she thought their aesthetic looked like. I really liked the idea, so I did a little bit of research and started doing them for my friends; basing their edits on the colours I thought represented them, their personalities, as well as their hobbies, interests, and passions.

Here's the one I made for my friend Ebba. I included her passions:
her family and indigenous rights. As well as some things I know she loves:
like graphic novels, pink, the beach, and being kind.

I'm not the best at them yet, I've definitely still have a way to go, but I'm still really happy with how it came out. I've learned quite a bit while exploring, and now I've expanded into doing character and story mood boards on Pinterest. I'm currently working on one for a novel idea I have, which I will eventually make into multiple edits (as well as, you know, an actual novel).

This whole aesthetic thing, whether in an edit or a Pinterest board, really does help you envision a narrative or a story; hell, I'm basically plotting my book through the pics I find on Pinterest. Here is my novel board if you're interested:

Anyway, this is something that I was curious about and wanted to explore, which seems to be the whole point of these curiousity journals, so... yeah. I was interested. I wanted to learn more. I did. Now I've got a new hobby and an idea for a future New York Times bestseller. I'll probably do an update to this in the future, showing what kind of aesthetics I've made, how I've progressed, and the things I've learned. But until then, see ya.

(Kinda) Art History: Lana Newstrom and "Invisible Art"

Imagine you're in an art gallery. It's the weekend, you've gotten out of the house, out on a day of fun and experiencing the local culture. You're excited. You've heard so much about this new, breakout artist that everyone's up in arms about and now you desperately want to see their exhibit. 

You've always loved controversy, especially in the art world. Always challenging what art means, how it can be made. You think you're an innovator, open-minded, that you can be accepting of odd or unconventional forms of art. You think Duchamp's work with readymades was revolutionary, and that art should be for everyone.

 And then you walk into the exhibit, the artist's name, Lana Newstrom, plastered on the wall, look around and think, much like I did when I first "saw" her work, 'What the f---?'

This young lady looks about confused as I do when I tried
to "look" at some of Lana's work.

I'm now too tired to continue on with this example so we're just gonna move on. In the fall of 2014, Lana Newsroom burst onto the art scene and started selling her "pieces" for up to $30,000 each. This in itself is kinda odd, most artists don't find such commercial success so early in their careers, but what made Lana's success worthy of what seemed like thousands upon thousands of controversial think pieces and articles filled with condemnation, was that her work is invisible. 

More than that actually, seeing as invisible implies that it exists and it just can't be seen. Lana's art only exists in her own mind. She says that she creates an idea of what she wants to make, thinks about the materials she would use, thinks about the process of creating it, and then.... doesn't.

Listen, I know that throughout this semester and last, I constantly repeated the whole 'no one can define art because the human race isn't a monolith", I mean at this point its practically my brand, but this is where I draw the line (ha, art puns). I'm about to become my own worst enemy but friends, this isn't art. Apparently, I do have a limit on what art is, cause this it.

However, unlike most people dismissing Lana, and any other art they don't like, I actually have reasons. I remember at the beginning of the year, Mrs Rose sat us down in a circle and had us go around answering some basic questions. One of those questions was: how do you define what is and isn't art? Most of us had no idea how to define it, what was allowed to be considered art or not, but something Mrs Rose said stuck with me, and I think it's become my kinda guiding principle in defining what art is.

She said that, for the most part, it's impossible to define art. That you can't dictate what will affect every person ever. But that for her, one of the only things that can make her feel like something isn't art is when it feels like the artist is trying to take advantage of its viewers. When she feels like there's some kind of manipulation or lie done/told to the viewer. And that's what this feels like. It feels like Lana knew that her normal work wasn't being recognized, so she decided to do something so outrageous and new that they'd have to buy it. It feels like a lie like she's taking advantage of her audience.

And that, apparently is where I stop calling something art.

P.S. So, after doing a bit more research into Lana and her "art", I learned that she's actually a hoax. The original reporting on Lana was done on a podcast, where you wouldn't be able to see Lana, her fake art, her gallery, etc. CBC radio decided to just play a little prank on the art community. So essentially.... I did all this work, and had a rather extreme personal crisis of my own judgement, for nothing. Huh. *flips desk and storms off*

#DoodleADay Experiment

#DoodleADay was an experiment that was created by Royan Lee, that challenged everyone to create something, even if it was a tiny little doodle, every day throughout the month of March. Earlier in the month, Mrs Rose introduced this project to us and challenged us to go through the prompts for each of the days, see if one stood out to us, and then doodle it. I thought this whole challenge was really great, as I like the idea that creating something every day expands your creativity, instead of depleting it.

As I was going through Royan Lee's Instagram, looking for prompts, I found two that really struck me: pick a song and doodle to it without stopping until it's done and doodle a representation of love without using hearts or the colour red. I decided to combine these two challenges, and doodled a picture of hands holding while listening to the song 'Sick of Losing Soulmates' by dodie.

(I was going to put a picture of the doodle here, but it's currently lost in the vortex of mess that is my bedroom so you're just gonna have to use your  *i m a g i n a t i o n* )

I really liked the prompt of representing love, there were probably a lot of different ways I could have gone with it, but I decided to draw hand holding because I liked the significance of it. I feel like too often in our hypersexualized society, love and intimacy has to be shown as sex or extreme physical contact (that kinda sounds like a sports term, but whatever). And I kinda resent that. For a lot of different reasons, but mostly because it means that something as simple as hand holding isn't seen as a "real" expression of intimacy. Which is stupid and untrue, but seeing as my last three posts way to long as it is, we don't need to get into my feelings on that.

Anyway, I thought the challenge and the idea behind it were really cool, and I enjoyed the experience. I might try it again eventually.

Curiosity Journal #2: Zine Planning

Okay, fair warning this post is gonna be hella rant-y and angry and it might take a little while to get to the actual art part so just hang in there. If you really want to, you can skip down to where the next section of bolded text is to get to the actual art discussion.

So in my last curiosity journal, I asked how I could translate what I'm passionate about into art. It's important for me to care deeply about what I'm making, otherwise I won't do it and will most likely forget about it. One of the many benefits of having the attention span of a goldfish.

While I was writing that journal entry, I mentioned zines as a potential way for me to translate my love of social issues into art. In fact, at the end of that entry, I mentioned that I was already following through with that idea and that I was making a zine about a topic very close to me: body confidence and self-acceptance.

It's something that I have personally struggled with and have wanted to talk about for quite a while now, so I thought why not take advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself. Body confidence is always something I've always had problems with, ever since about Grade 2. I don't think I'm alone in saying that television and magazines didn't exactly help with said problems. In the last few years, however, I've not only accepted the way I am, but I happen to think that I look pretty damn fabulous.

I mean, just look at me. Stunning, amirite?

Now, I'm fat. I already know that I'm fat. And I'm not just saying that because I saw some magazine with a skinny model on it, compared it to myself and thought 'oh wow, in comparison to what these magazines are saying is beautiful, I'm fat'. Because no. When I say I'm fat I mean I am actively aware of the fact that I weigh quite a bit more than what a BMI calculator says I should weigh. Don't worry, I don't have bad self-esteem. (I think I'm pretty great. I'm the bomb dot com. In fact, I might have too much self-esteem.)

So yeah, I don't have bad self-esteem; I just the have the radical notion that just because I'm fat doesn't mean that people should be able to erase my humanity and treat me differently because of it. Cause that's what a lot of people do to fat people. Especially fat girls. Especially on the internet. They bully and harass us with the excuse that they're doing it because they care about our health. Which is a bunch of B.S because:

1) No one has that much "concern" over the health of another person on the internet that they don't even know. And
2) If this was really about health, they wouldn't be such hypocrites. When a skinny girl on Tumblr posts a pic of her eating a whole pizza, it's funny and cute and relatable. But when I do it, I'm disgusting and what's wrong with the world. The folks who are telling me about my terrible eating habits are also the ones who picked up Taco Bell or McDonald's on their way home from their kid's soccer practice not once, but twice this week. You think I don't see you? Careful hon, you're hypocrisy is showing. And
3) When companies like Nike come out with plus size exercise wear, these same people that were just yelling at to me get off the couch and go for a run then dogpile on this company for promoting an "unhealthy lifestyle". Tell me, how exactly am I supposed to become healthy and exercise more if I don't have any clothes to exercise in? Quite the riddle, I know. I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't.

If you're still here, thank you for sitting through a rant of such magnitude. I promise I'll get to the art stuff now.

Anyway, so I wanted to create a zine that would be the exact opposite of what fat girls experience online. I wanted it to be full of positivity and happiness and rainbows. I planned the majority of the zine over a two-day period during March Break, and I've been periodically working on the actual zine since then. It's a lot different from the first one I made, partially because it's a lot better produced and also because it doesn't have the same gritty, punk kinda thing that the other one had going on. This ones gonna have a lot more pastel colours and general cuteness than the last. It's going to be all uplifting messages, positive looks at bodies, and adorableness.

Here's just an overview of all the planning I've done so far.

While it will be larger than the four page zine I did last year, it will still be small, confined only to around eight pages. I've plotted everything out and now it's just a matter of making the thing. This zine will be a little more text heavy than the other, but I do plan to try to balance it out a bit. I've already got a title, which I mentioned in my last curiosity journal post, "Thique". I would go into the symbolism behind the title and my decision to use it but this post is already wayyyyy to long and we've both probably got other stuff to do, so I'll leave you with some pics of my plans and such:

Here are my really rough drafts.
This was mostly from the stage that I was just writing down all my ideas.

And here's a rough plan of what each panel/page is going to look like.
Though they are subject to a little bit of change.

Art History: Dadaism

A few days ago, Mrs Rose showed us a video about a type of art called 'Dada'. I was informed by the delightful hosts of the podcast that it got its name because of what it represented. Dada is a nonsense word, it doesn't really mean anything, kinda like the art it represents.

Dada was formed during, and was kind of based around, World War I. See, Dada was developed and began to rise in popularity; mainly in Europe, which, at the time, was in an understandably uncomfortable place. You know, seeing as there was an Austrian archduke missing a considerable chunk of his head and countries were starting to dust off those handy-dandy treaties and alliances that had been formed decades ago. 

The artists who eventually created the art movement known as Dada were all pacifists, who didn't believe in war and didn't want to see their countries ripped apart. So they protested in really the only way they knew how. 

They protested through their art. They created while the rest of the world revelled in destruction.

And they didn't just stop at simply creating, oh no. Their stance wasn't just War = Bad, they deconstructed the reasonings behind the war and what they thought caused it, and then actively rejected it and did the opposite. Unsurprisingly, as most hippie/peace-loving types do, they blamed capitalism.

(No sarcasm intended, I just don't believe that money is the root of all evil. That's a title that's reserved for those who use the word 'yolo' unironically and people who think it's okay to talk in the theatre.)

Dadaists (is that even a word?) essentially formulated the idea that the war was started because of a mix of capitalist ideals, nationalist and colonist self-interest, and conformity to widely held beliefs. They protested these things by creating a form of art that was the exact opposite of these values that they could not stand; they created something that was chaotic, that rejected logic and embraced irrationality. And more than anything else, they created a form of art that the rich, snobby, bourgeois that they thought had caused the war would hate. They threw away anything they knew about traditional art and aesthetics and instead tried to create art that would offend, to shock. They actively tried to elicit the response: 'this isn't art.'

And too many still, it isn't. They look at the work of Marcel Duchamp, at his "ready mades" and "anti-art" (just everyday objects, sometimes combined together) and scoff.

One of Duchamp's many ready mades.
 "Prelude to a Broken Arm"

However, defender of (almost) all forms of art that I am, I would argue that what Duchamp and so many others that participated in Dadaism did is art. Sure, it's a different kind of art, but its still art. And more than art, the whole movement almost feels like a challenge. It feels like a bunch of pent-up artists, tired of conformity, and tired of capitalism tired of a snobbish elite hogging art to themselves,  who stood up and said that art is for everyone. That art doesn't have to perfect and beautiful. That art can be chaotic, ugly, and not make a lot of sense and that that's okay.

 I have a special place in my heart for those who question and challenge the status quo, it's part of my activist nature. And despite whatever I might feel towards Dadaism, whether it was good or effective, I can't not appreciate that it looked at the art world at the time and said: 'this isn't for everyone. This is for the rich and the snobby. And we're gonna change that.'

Art History: Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm

For my first art history assignment, where we focus on critical analysis, I chose to analyze a painting from Jackson Pollock; mostly because I chose to write about Abstract Expressionism, and when I was looking through the movement his name was the only one I recognized. 

Boy, do I regret that decision. How the hell are you supposed to analyze squiggles? 

It's not that I don't appreciate what he did; just because it doesn't move me doesn't mean that it's worthless, or that it's not art, but come on. Unless you really dig for context, it's hard to just figure out of the top of your head what the meaning behind his paintings is.

Once I had narrowed down the artist I wanted to focus on, I had to pick a painting. I chose one called Number 30, otherwise known as Autumn Rhythm; mostly because I was drawn to the colours and title.

Initial Reaction: 

My first impression of this work was that I was going to have a hell of a time writing this blog post, given how Jackson Pollock chooses to create. Just looking at the painting, not analyzing, I can say that I both enjoy and dislike the painting on an aesthetic level. I love the colours he used, and I think that they came together a really nice way. However, my eyes can also have a bit of a hard time processing the chaos of the drips and they tend to go blurry and unfocused after a while. The painting doesn't really bring much to mind, except that I'm kind of confused as to what it all means (which I get is the point of this whole thing but still, Pollock couldn't have made it a little more easy for me?). I understand this can maybe move some people and invoke emotion in them, and while I'm not going to say that they don't have a right to feel that way, I just didn't get the same experience as they did. I didn't feel anything except puzzlement and aesthetic appreciation.

Analysis:

Analyzing a painting like this is incredibly difficult, I would go so far as to say that analyzing a Pollock work specifically is incredibly difficult when just looking at the painting alone. So for this analysis, I'm going to pull more from the author and what he said about his art, more than I do the actual painting. Pollock sometimes used his paintings to show entrapment of a mind within its body, the chaos of consciousness stuck within the confines of the canvas (which is fitting for someone who struggled with alcoholism, and, some scholars hypothesise, bipolar disorder), and others times he seemed to be trying to portray the chaos and force of life or nature itself; which, for a painting called Autumn Rhythm, I believe in this case to be the more likely of the two.

Interpretation:

Like I said earlier in my analysis, I think that with his painting, Pollock was trying to comment, or maybe display, what can sometimes be the complete disorder of nature. Instead of seeing nature as calm and tranquil, Pollock saw the world as something chaotic and disorganized but still considered it beautiful, not in spite or its disorder but because of it. I think the way Pollock decided to create this painting also says a lot about what he was trying to convey; he started the painting with a linear framework of black lines, and slowly built his way towards other colours and drips. It's a perfect mixture between control and chance, something that Pollock seemed to appreciate, especially within a painting like this.

Consideration of Cultural Context:

When it comes to art, context is everything; without it, art can be meaningless, just something pretty or weird to look at. Context is incredibly important, however, when it comes to Pollock's work because of its the only real way we can infer anything about his paintings and their meaning. Pollock grew up in the American West, in an unsettled and tough environment, which shaped his character and personality greatly. As a child, Pollock moved around a bit and was later expelled from two different high schools. It's safe to say that his early life was surrounded by chaos and constant change. He was an alcoholic and sought treatment for his addiction by visiting a Jungian psychologist, who later told him to paint his feelings. I think that Pollock's unsettled early life has shaped a lot of his worldview and that it can definitely be seen through his fondness for upheaval within his work.

Expression of Aesthetic Judgement:

I've said it once, I'll say it a million times: I really don't like making judgements on whether something is art or not. I shouldn't get to decide if a piece has value just based on whether or not it moved me specifically. Because I'm not a monolith for the entire human race. I can't say definitively that this will never affect or move another person. But seeing as this is an assignment that should have been done a month ago, we don't really have time to get into the philosophical question of what is and isn't art; so I'll just say that while this might work for some people, it doesn't for me. I look at Pollock's work and I just see squiggles, drops of paint on a canvas, which, in the long run, mean nothing to me. I don't like how much I had to dig into Pollock's past to even partially understand what he was trying to do. I think that a painting should be able to stand on its own, at least a little bit, and shouldn't rely so heavily on someone knowing the context of the artist's life or what he was trying to do; and so for that reason, I saw that no, this painting is not successful.

Curiosity Journal #1: How Can I Translate My Passions Into Art?

For my first curiosity journal, I asked the question: How can I translate my passion into art? This is a topic that means a lot to me, because I believe that I do my best work in any subject when I care about what I'm working on. My passion for the subject, and translating that subject into a different medium, helps me keep on track and motivated to keep working.

So I got a pen and my sketchbook and started writing out the things that I loved, things that I'm passionate about. It was a bit more difficult than expected, as I've come to realise that no one can really summarise who they are in the same amount of characters as a tweet. Bullet lists don't really allow for much complexity, but it worked well enough for the assignment, so it's what I went with. After that, I made a list of ideas on different mediums I could use to express these passions, but what method worked best for each thing I cared about.

I then expanded on those ideas farther down on the page. I made quick, easy notes on what each idea was, why I wanted to try it, and what I thought it would be good for; sometimes I even mention certain ideas or topics I would want to cover in each art form. These notes are just short little comments just to get the ball rolling, I'd like to expand them further in later journal entries.

I'm already working on my first project, which was based off one the ideas I wrote about in this entry; I decided to create a zine, as I'm more familiar with the medium and have worked with it before. It's going to be about body confidence and self-love, and I'm really excited about it. I've decided to call it "Thique".

Pottery, Tea Time, and a New Grade

The semester has ended but I'm still in art class, now as a Grade Twelve instead of a Grade Eleven. 

(Whoo! So much fun! So much to do! University applications! Scholarship essays! Being treated as an adult even though, until about a few months ago, everyone told me I was trying to grow up too fast! Whoooo, so much fun!*)

*Please note the obvious sarcasm. It sucks. It really sucks.

Anyway... let's push that emotional and stressful mess to the side and focus on something a lot more peaceful, a lot more calming: pottery. 

Hahahaha, no.

Whoever labeled pottery as relaxing must have been smoking a lot of grass, 'cause this stuff was hard. And frustrating. And insanity inducing. It was especially hard for someone with hands the size of a small child.

For our first assignment, we had to make two mugs, with the only requirement being that they had to be able to hold liquid. Which mine did manage to do. Barely. We used two different methods of creation, one for each of the mugs. I used the handmade method with my first mug, which I enjoyed a lot more than the potter's wheel; even though I had to remake my mug several times.

When it came to the potter's wheel, I simply wasn't a fan. Part of it was just preference, but part of it was the fact that my body is literally not built to use the wheel. My hands are really small, which kept me from making a larger mug. I don't have strong forearm's so my hands wobbled a lot. And my legs were too short to support my arms to keep the clay steady; I literally had my leg propped up on my chair just to be able to hold up my arms.

The mug I made on the wheel didn't turn out that well, either; though I know that's not the point. We're here to learn about what we like, what we're good and bad at, learn from our mistakes, etc. But it still frustrated me that I couldn't get the mug to quality and shape that I wanted it.

Looking back, I don't think pottery is something I'm going to return to, but I did learn a lot while doing this assignment, and that I'm grateful for. If nothing else, it helped me build an appreciation for those who create ceramics and pottery as a hobby, or even a living, because it's definitely not nearly as easy as I thought it would be.

One of the two terrible mugs I made.
When I showed my mum this she said, "I don't think that can hold water."
So encouraging, my mum.

My Failed Punk Rock Band Name (otherwise known as my culminating assignment)

For my culminating assignment, I really wanted to focus on a topic that drove me to create and that I was very passionate about. Obviously, being the strident feminist and proud "nasty woman" that I am, I chose to focus my culminating on discovering and exposing violence against women. (If you look back on my other projects, you will see that feminist issues in my art are kind of a running theme.)

What I really wanted to do was creating something short and impactful, I didn't want it to be to bogged down with words; I wanted the facts to speak for themselves. Because I'm not really that good of a painter or drawer, I immediately ruled out either of those types of artwork. While they did provide the quick, almost silent punch I was looking for, I wasn't confident in my ability to properly portray the serious issue of violence against women. Plus, I wanted to focus on several different aspects of violence against women and their simply wasn't enough time to create several decent paintings.

So, instead, I decided to go for zines. Zines are the perfect medium for a project like this, they're short, but able to pack a large punch; and give me the ability to tackle a different topic on each page. I'm a huge fan of mixed media (its one of my favourite art forms) and zines themselves are almost always used to discuss social and political issues, so I thought that this would be a perfect fit. Plus, I had already really liked the punk rock/ grunge look of zines, and I had already become fascinated with them after completing one for my #Canada150 project.

For the zine itself, I narrowed it down to four, full size pages, each covering a different topic. Because I am an intersectional feminist, and believe that different types of women can often face different types of issues, I wanted to include as many as possible. The four topics I decided on were: the missing and murdered indigenous women, online harassment and threats against women, the epidemic of murdered trans women throughout the world, as well as the release and protection of proven rapists.

Like I said earlier, the pages are pretty sparse, but that's the way I wanted them to be. I wanted nothing but the bare facts and most important information within the zine, because I think the facts and evidence send a larger impact then I ever could.

This page consisted of cutouts of threats that were sent on Twitter to women who dared to speak their mind, open their mouth, or, God forbid, have an opinion. *shudders* Oh the horror! (These are the tame ones by the way, there were a lot more that were even worse.)

This one looks a lot better in person, I promise. Out of all of the pages, its really the most mixed media, and next time I really want to improve on that. I chose the pink lettering and the calligraphy to offset the message and exactly what this man has done. If you don't know, this is Brock Turner, and he is essentially a human trashcan. 

This page consisted of the faces of just a handful of the missing and murdered indigenous girls within Canada. It broke my heart when I saw just how many had gone missing. I could have had a hundred pages, and it still wouldn't fit all their faces.

This page is more of a memorial than anything else. When I was reading through all of these women's names, I realized just how dangerous it is for transgender women out in the world. No news outlet ever covers their deaths, so I wanted their names to be here. So that they could be remembered.

Near the beginning of the assignment, I was really dead set on what I wanted to call the zine. But Mrs. Rose said it was inappropriate, which while a fair point, I just want to ask how come the President of the United States is allowed to say it, without any consequences, but I'm not? *please note my sarcasm and irony, I'm being satirical, please don't fail me* (If you hadn't guessed by now, I wanted to call it "Grab Her By The...... well... you know.) But, I actually turned out to be a blessing because that is now surely going to be the name of my future punk rock feminist band, so I guess it all works out in the end. Instead, I decided to call it "Grab Back". 

Yes, there is the obvious connection there, however, for the most part is has to do with the zine itself and not the troll the States just voted in as President. Instead, it has to do with women standing up for themselves, grabbing back the power that has been taken from them for centuries. To demand equal treatment and pay. To demand the right to make decisions about their own bodies. To demand that their attackers are held accountable. To reach and grab for equality, no matter how far, or how unreachable it seems.

#Canada150 Thumbnail Sketches

I wasn't able to complete my original idea for my #Canada150 project, due to complications with the video and photo sources I was going to use. So instead, I decided that I was going to make a zine and showcase the same, general idea that I had for my first version of the project, but with a bit of a twist. I was still going to highlight the flaws and mistakes that our country has made, but I was also going to show current issues, as well reflect what Canada looks like today: diverse, multicultural, and different.

My plan is to have every page be a reflection of an issue within Canada; whether that be a past issue or one that we're facing now. Some of the pages are going to be devoted to discussing residential schools and other native issues, while another will be focused on the LGBTQ+ community, and yet another on #BlackLivesMatter.

While I didn't do thumbnail sketches, because I wasn't creating a drawing or painting, I did do some planning. I tried to plan out the issues I was going to showcase and the layout of the zine itself.