July 15 Rader pp. 51-60 (Chapter 2); Lampert pp. 86-109 (Chapters 9 & 10)
Great insights on posts. Daniel, sorry about the name thing. Don't know why I did that. As for project ideas--all great--even if you don't know. (I know I would be clueless at this point.) And remember, your project can be a work-in-progress. DO something that interests you--not just for the class. What are you really interested in doing?
Lynn, great idea. Even though the event happens after the class, show us your planning on the blog; give us histories and context; why you are doing it; why it's important to you; so we can check on the results--even if it's months away; a good idea is a good idea. Andrea, simply interviewing your Grandmother or photos--may be used at a later date--so you end up with historic and archival interviews and photos--a great start to something in the future. Melanie, following the graffiti artists on themes of abduction and abuse sounds intriguing. You can begin to lay all of that out and why you are interested on a blog. Daniel, radio broadcasting is a great idea. Love all of the ideas. Only do them if you are truly interested in them.
Andrea posted about reading the histories of common folk. In many ways it is so refreshing knowing that regular people stood up for many important issues and against abuses.
Chapter 9 Blurring the Boundaries Between Art and Life
ReplyDeleteInternational Workers of the World (IWW)-the Wobblies
Just a thought, Around 1913 in Milwaukee, WI there were over 75 daily newspapers publishing news in all sort soy languages. Today there is 1.
The IWW allowed for workers to control their own affairs. And there was autonomy. This reminds me of a friend who is graduate school in the early 1990s said wouldn't it be great to create a school with all of the friends we were meeting in grad school. Keep the schools the same, but insert friends who were good. My reply was to say first of all, we don't need principals. Let's have revolving co-leaders; regular teachers who for two years co-lead the school; and then two others take over. That seemed oddly radical to him and not satisfying. I taught elementary art of ten years and we had much better ideas than our principal. A principal is one way to lead. This article suggests that there are other ways; one including all people's voices and ideas--thus, the IWW.
Here's another project idea. In this chapter, they try to raise money by producing a play. Any play writes out there? When my sister visited me years ago, I wrote a play about the apparition of the Virgin MAry on the West side of Lubbock where I included all of my friends as actors. They read scripts. Their lines represented my relationships with them. It was mostly humorous. But the point is that writing a story or play or poetry is also a project option.
What surfaces for you in this chapter? What can we glean about collaborations from this chapter?
I read everything --love dashielle Hammett --so much of first view of the range wars and worker conflict were from the Continental Detective stories (not the Maltese Falcon). A lot of people died or were injured in these conflicts. There were railroad bombings and the LA times was bombed in 1911. It's hard to imagine this kind of violent trouble between workers and management but it's part of our history.
DeleteI am always surprised at violence
DeleteMy favorite part of this chapter is on page 93 when Steve Golin states, "so close were life and art that at times they became indistinguishable."
DeleteI love how the play became part of the city routine that at times, people confused the rehearsal for the actual strike. Stating that, I think the rehearsal did more than expected by not only delivering the message to its viewers, but still protesting the issues they are having throughout the process.
With Reed and Dodge leaving to Florence, it reminds us how important leading figures are to movements and uprisings, and how much they influence the masses. With all of the people and time it took to support the movement, that it ended so quickly because of the loss of funds and failure of leadership.
I had so many thoughts as I read this chapter.. How strikes are today compared to back then... How horrible it was that they didn't even break even or that their cause seemed to be lost after they all went back to work 3 weeks later... I wonder if the strikes back then if they had been more powerful or accomplished more if they would have lead the strikes of today to be even greater and make more of a stance then a 15 min news coverage and very little accomplished.
DeleteThis also made me think about performance art, and how we go to shows today to watch people perform or the flash mobs that happen so frequently these days in public places.. I also thought about installations and how not only the artist gets so much from putting these works up but that the audience becomes so involved walking around or through the piece. It really got me thinking how can I get the audience more involved in my artwork????
Chapter 9: Blurring the Boundaries between art and Life
DeleteI have never wrote a play, but if I did, this type of play sounds interesting. It reminds me of the performance art that breaks out and dances called flash mob. According to Flash Mob America " a flash mob is a spontaneous public performance, usually a dance, that appears seemingly out of nowhere with just one person, grows to hundreds of people, then quickly disappears. Flash Mob America strives to give them purpose which is to CREATE JOY THRU SURPRISE. People who participate in our flash mobs feel like they’ve gotten to be a part of something special". The difference between the Paterson Pageant and a flash mob is the pageant was to agitate the public into a place of acting and the flash mob wants to bring joy. There is also the difference in being associated with certain event. However, they both interact with the public and influence the people around them and they are both trying to get a message across.
DeleteI am also impressed with the age of the key people in this pageant. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was only " twenty-two years old at the time and already a veteran of labor struggles, having joined the IWW at age sixteen" ( Lampert, 90-91). She seems so young for all that she had accomplished. It seems that young adults today would not be so involved as easily in this situation. Especially even the author of the script, John Reed, is a young guy. I'm impressed with accomplishing something so meaningful at a young age. It seems if something like this happened today, the author would be more established or well known.
Melanie, I too was reminded of flash mobs like Flash Mob America and Improv Everywhere. I love the themes of this chapter: the relationship between life and performance, the scrambling of this relationship so that it is hard to tell where one begins and where one ends. I think that often this marriage of practical protest and performative art can be the most powerful forms of activism. When this blend is pulled off with a high level of skill, the message is gotten across in a more memorable way (at least for me). I also was reminded of the Yes Men, two activists who covertly infiltrate high profile platforms, posing as representatives for corporations/organizations they opposed, and expose certain injustices in very humorous ways. This technique is known as “culture jamming”. There are two documentaries about them, I suggest you guys check it out.
DeleteAlso, Melanie – I agree with you about the age of the key people involved. The accomplishments of all these people who I am not older than they were at the time is super impressive. It makes me think about what I was doing when I was 16 and 22… Nothing as courageous…
DeleteWould you then be able to say that all picketing or striking is a type of performance art? That was my thought throughout most of this chapter.
DeleteAlso, I noticed that the pagent that failed to raise money and marked the decline of the Paterson strike was designed and led by outsiders. If the IWW was so intent on having the rank and file make the decisions, whey did they infiltrate it with outsiders who put together a show that excluded most of the strikers?
Chapter 10 The Masses on Trial
ReplyDeleteIn wars, patriotisms are used to stifle dissents (p. 99). WWI was no exception. There have been similar Acts passed recently concerning the Gulf Wars. What did you think about dissent in WWI? The Masses Journal is contexualized and examined. "The Masses labeled the conflict as a "banker's war," a war that served the wealthy at the expense of working-class people, regardless of their nationality (p. 105). The Post Office claims that four cartoons are treasonous. The artists named are the artists you read about in your art history books. Your takes on the images? Any aspects of war reported in the chapter that you were unaware of?
I do remember the artists--what i find interesting is that even among the "radical". There were class issues-artists vs. the people who "work".
DeleteAlso, they are funny.
Delete"Physically Fit" strikes me pretty hard. It depicts an interesting message of the fact that they are preparing for the soldiers death before he even leaves for war. Its pretty depressing to think that that is a priority and what you have to prepare for. It reminds me when I worked at Ramstein Air Force base air terminal. Ramstein is the major base with the closest hospital to the Middle East. All the injured troops and departing soldiers leave from there. It became a norm to see injured soldiers return and coffins with the American flag over them come back.
DeleteI wonder what it would be like if the Espionage Act still existed today. There are constant protesters, articles, cartoons, and news stories out against the war, soldiers, and the president almost everywhere you go or when you turn on the TV. Just recently I saw an article of a note being left on a person's car who had a bumper sticker that read "I love my soldier," The note told her how she knew nothing about the war and what her soldier was really being used for.
I was not aware of any of this... What I don't get is how these are treasonous but the political cartoons of today aren't? All the slanderous ads when campaigning, all the political cartoons that are out there... How is that not treasonous but these are? Aren't they the same thing just somewhat different material?
DeleteChapter 10: Masses on Trail
DeleteI have been constantly surprised by the information about history I was unaware of. I am taken by the work done in The Masses. I think that it is awesome to have a whole magazine run by artist. However, when illustrating views about "controversial issues, including its support of free love and birth control" there is always going to be some sort of push back (Lampert , 102). I enjoy the fact it was a free magazine, available to everyone, poor to wealthy readers. If I were to produce art for a cause, I would want everyone to be able to see it and form their own opinions. The placement of the images in the magazine is definitely something to consider. It's neat that the artist ran everything to make decisions of where to put their work in the magazine and the size of the work. I can imagine them in a room discussing and maybe even arguing about their opinion of their image and how it is placed until they got an editor, Max Easterman. If photocopiers were not invented yet, how did they form the magazine ? The process of cutting and pasting is not so easy. I am curious about the process to make the magazine. Another thing I am curious about is about Newspapers or magazines today having hand drawn artwork instead of photos or advertisement would be interesting. I like the idea of that. However, I believe more time would be needed in producing the newspaper or magazine. Time is $. Everything now is make quicker.
Reading about the Espionage Act and the Post office accusation on an issue of The Masses made me curious to look up the art work mentioned being "treasonous". I wanted to see if I agreed with the people of the post office in their argument. Due to the images in the book are very small and it's is hard to see what is really going on. I searched up Art Young first. I found his reasoning interesting for what he illustrated. "Having Their Fling" in which four men, an editor, a capitalist, a politician, and a minister are depicted dancing in orgiastic bliss as Satan leads a band of war implements. Young stated he was simply illustrating General Sherman's well-known saying that 'war is hell.' It seemed appropriate to Young, then, to have Satan as the conductor". O’Neill, William L., ed. Echoes of Revolt: The Masses 1911-1917. Chicago: Dee, 1966. Print.
It does seem a bit to much including the devil in his works. Having done further searching, I find that a lot of his political cartoons included religious images and he liked to illustrate the battle of religion. Therefore, I agree that there is a valid reason for them to be concerned, but I am not sure about to the point of jail time. What about the freedom of speech to state an opinion. The next artwork I want to mention is Physically Fit by Henry Glintenkamp . Looking at his drawing, the viewer can perceive the image in different ways. " Physically Fit, depicts a skeleton measuring a young soldier for his coffin size before the soldier goes off to the war" (Lampert, 106). I did not get the coffin from war from looking at the image. Faintly in the background, I discovered the coffins, but still do not get the idea that it's from war looking at the image. It would depend on the words around the artwork.
Something that struck me was that these political cartoons are not all that different form today's political cartoons. Oh, the people who would go to jail today for voicing an opinion!
DeleteI like the one "At Last a Perfect Soldier!" I tend to think that "perfect soldiers" are kind of mindless, even today. Isn't brainwashing part of boot camp?
Rader pp. 51-60
ReplyDeleteSmith is wanting to engage her audience. Rader writes that Native life is connected to the land, government oppression and myths. So, based on the image on page 52 Paper Dolls…, have you ever noticed toys in stores that are about Native Americans? ToysRUs? Target? What do you see? (That could also be a semester project--looking at contemporary toy representations of Natives and what is out there.) Google "Smile for Racism by Edgar Heap of Birds. It gives you an idea of the politics of images.
What do you think of Smith's US maps? Did you notice the names missing on the top image on p. 54? Native reservations are everywhere. How many can you name that are in Texas? As we begin this chapter, we are learning more about Smith's ideation, progression and political awareness. Essential for her imagery.
I loved reading this part of the chapter especially because I love her work and what it represents! I didn't notice the names of states missing until I read about it, but it makes me look more deeply at her work. As far as cultures being represented in toys I don't think there are enough, just thinking about Barbie as an example I think they have tried to incorporate a few cultures but only really in clothing and not as much in the actual Barbie. There are a few different skin tones but the actual Barbie is still the same. It doesn't represent the body type or facial features of the different cultures which is not a true interpretation of the different cultures. Why do toy makers make everything to be "white" based? Maybe this is something that needs to be brought up and made more aware of!
DeleteWow, I absolutely love Smith's map. I looked at the images prior to reading the text and immediately connected Jasper Johns. I noticed certain names of states missing and wondered what the color variation was for each state.
DeleteI love the message the second map sends although the words and the states are almost indistinguishable. The drip process at first seems to be too much for obscuring the image, but then you realize the intent of the artist and realize that the white settlement was also, too much and overbearing, that it suites the map well.
I don’t think I’ve been in a toy store or down a toy aisle of a store in years. I do distinctly remember having a “Cowboys and Indians” toy set growing up. The little figures were basically like those generic little green army men figures, but the cowboys were all blue and the Indians were all red. I remember playing with this set all the time with my brother and the Indians were always the bad guys. Then, we were just playing by the rules taught to us by the cowboys and Indians in the movies. Now I am not so comfortable with young boys playing with something like this.
DeleteGrowing up in Houston, I am really only familiar with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe reservation. I must admit I am only familiar with it because of the casino news/advertisements growing up. Somewhere in my teens, they opened some sort of casino but I think the state government shut it down pretty quickly. Western Louisiana’s “Grand Casino Coushatta” ads are ubiquitous in East Texas, though. I’ve always felt like Texas Indian reservations are less known or talked about than those in New Mexico or Oklahoma…
DeleteWhen reading about Jaune Smith's artwork, I wanted to see them in color. From what I have read through this book, it seems like they should of made this whole book in color. http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=73858 has the image in color. After seeing her paintings in the colors, I have to say, I like them that much more. I like her color choices. The colors that she chose seem more like "Indian colors". It seems like anything "Indian" are associated with these colors from toys, jewelry, clothes, and even artwork.
DeleteThanks for the link, Melanie. I am also surprised a book dedicated to the arts throughout history doesn't have the full effect of the image in color for us to view!
DeleteThose paper dolls with the small pox overlay! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It's accurate but so cynical!
DeleteI must admit that the activism of modern Native Americans is not something I have given a lot of thought to. Coming from Indiana, there aren't many Native Americans, and there are no reservations. So aside from the whitewashed history we got in school, it wasn't something I encountered on a regular basis.
I really like Smith's work in that it includes maps. Maps have always fascinated me. I like that she uses the same format for several different topics (Native names, Reservations, etc.) because it allows one to focus on the words.
I found it interesting that smith's map work (what we see in the book) began in 1992--the 500 anniversary of contact. I remember Columbus being celebrated in museums in a variety of ways but....I don't remember seeing these maps or anything like it.
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