New Media Art Statement

My project revolves around the culture of Barbados and its open receptiveness to other cultures or lack thereof. My first piece depicts the very close mindedness of various persons that make up the Barbadian public, the very foundation of Barbadian culture. The piece is reminiscent of one of the most Symbolic icons of Barbados, the Chattel House. Is began as a structure that was to be made of card and was to be painted to resemble the patterns and color of the average chattel house. This chattel house was to contain figures which represent everyday people who imprisoned themselves inside the very element of their culture in order to prevent contamination from other cultures. As the piece advanced the idea remained the same but the design then stemmed into a much more stylized, minimalist and representational one which was then to be built with an outer shell of varnished ¼ inch plywood sheet which was just to have the symbolic shape of the chattel house, this represented the illusion of a well kept, inviting advancing culture. The inside of the structure on the other hand shows a very different side of culture, one which is decapitated, dirty and houses a wire cage with figures that represent everyday persons of Barbadian culture, those who consider themselves truly African or just Barbadian. These figures have gladly barricaded themselves inside the cage and have taken up residency there whilst blatantly ignoring the keys to freedom as they raise the younger generation to enjoy life inside the confines of their insecurities.

My second piece is somewhat the opposite of the first in the sense that it represents cultural cannibalism. The idea began as a piece reminiscent of a prison compound where the Barbadian flag would be at the center enclosed by barbwire and surrounded by many international flags with the only narrow entry ajar as the flag of United States of America is allowed unrivaled passage. The idea of this piece then stemmed into what would resemble a ball made from cable tie, half covered with flags with the Barbadian flag in the center, this idea soon turn to a funnel shaped net made of cable ties that hung loosely down the center which would again house the Barbadian flag with many other flags being bound to the top of the funnel and lead down into the center to Barbadian flag. My final idea for the piece was then to be a spider web made of various wires to represent technology and information sharing, with random world flags being fastened to the web with cable ties to simulate various food sources being trapped on the web with the U.S.A flag already having been cocooned and almost completely devoured by the spider which would be symbolized as the spider. This piece makes a statement to the necessary balance of survival and growth between the countries of the world where ones does not pick and choose what countries or cultures are relevant enough to be considered as carriers of information and learning tool but rather make the best of whatever source of information, culture and nutrients that may happen to be ensnared, because how can an entity truly know its self, survive and find its rightful place in the world if it does not know the entities that surround it.  

GoldSmith M.F.A

The video I watch yesterday was a look into a M.F.A program final year show, and quite honestly it left me a little dazed and lost as to what im doing right now in relation to my work. After viewing most of the video before the power outage i was left with many questions about my studies in art such as, 

What is Art?

What is conceptualization and how far can one go with this before it is considered ludicrous?

How far must one think outside of the box for one to be considered as Artists or for that matter have his or her's work classified as distinctive enough to get the grades that one believes is necessary to passed this basic training for the world of Art that we call the B.F.A?

Must one achieve some form of enlightenment and if so, at what level must one reach to be at the pinnacle or even close to that which is necessary to be deemed acceptable enough in order for one to be placed at the next level of study or even receive a worthwhile grade with out having some kind of mental chafing?

Is this level of enlightenment, if required, possible to reach in a normal study period whether it be B.F.A or M.F.A?

And some of the biggest and longest debated questions I've been asking my self more than often recently along with may fellow students is,

" When will more than just a hand full of tutors be honest about the questions we aspiring artist ask about or work instead of giving us BULLSHIT answers like " it really works " and then say its total shit to other tutors while giving us the shit grade? "

" Is the contradictory dialog between a student and a tutor a course that one must undertake in order to become a licensed tutor? " 

" Are we really here to learn or are we just here for the amusement of the persons who have been given the difficult task of grading us? " 

For some of us the answer to the final questions still linger in the wind and raise doubt. For me i like to go with the positive answer of " I sure as hell hope not " but only time will tell at this point, but for now i carry these questions with hope that they will be answered as i wait for the remaining 11 week count down.

Photography Assignment

This semester's Photography class's main project has proven to be a difficult one. Coming up with a subject matter of interest to document is becoming very stressful because of one reason or the other. Such as reasons being that someone else is doing something similar to what I have considered or me just flat out not having enough exposure to the elements needed to facilitate that area of interest because most things that interest me are not at arms reach or on this island for that matter.

But on a positive note i have completed one of the requirement for another course that I am currently taking which is the New Media course. That requirement was that i read a short story written by bell hooks entittled  " A Place Where The Soul can Rest " which was an insiteful first hand look into the way it was in the South of America in the early and mid 1900's. Filled with intense imagery of a place which was ruled by racial and social prejudice, a time where a black person was seen as less that a dog or any form of animal, where blacks fought for the right to basic necessities such as a porch where they can sit outside of their own homes. for me personaly i can believe that people where so small minded as to act that way taward ech other because of something as trivial as where you live, what you posses, or what complexion a person may be and for me the most surprising thing about it is that some people still have this primitive perception of other human beings 

Spieghtstown Project Finalised

This image is also one of many just like it that have been composed base of multiple images of Bridgetown in order to give the viewer a sense of what the buildings of Bridgetown look like and how developed and modernized on it's various levels.

This image is one of many that i have composed, which is made up of various buildings and structures located in the Speightstown area which i spliced horizontally on as many as three levels in order to give a scense of optical illusion and also for the viewer to be forced to see Speightstown on many levels allowing the viewer to see what Speightstown was like in its early development up until now. The buildings of Speightstown all depict a place where most buildings still remain in their almost original state which where mainly seen as warehouses which included living accommodation which would be located on the top floor of the warehouse, but with passing time some buildings when though various changes such as being turned into stores, but the architecture of the buildings continues to remain in an undeveloped or unchanged format of storage area whether it be store or other wise at the base and living quarters at the top.  

This image again is composed of spliced images of Speightstown, but this image like others like it depict the narrow street that is Speightstown, which no longer is being seen on many different levels but in one undeveloped fixed view of perspective.  

Spieghtstown Project

My project will be based on the Architecture of Spieghtstown's building and how they differ from that of Bridgetown's Architecture and design. The project will consist of a series of photographs composed together to create a series of buildings form both locations which shows the clear differences between the two towns on various levels.

Artist Talk with Sheena Rose

The artist talk with Sheena was very informative in terms of the entire process in which she had to go though in order to be accepted into the program based in South Africa. The various artists had many different works of art, styles and views to offer, especially that guy who was trying to create the art movement of  Aganza. After seeing that presentation it really opens up me eyes and hopefully the eyes of all who were there to the ridiculous, stereotypical judgments of the world we live in which leads one to believe that Africa is just one place with one capital and one town surrounded by uneducated savages living in mud huts buried in the tallest thickest grass you can find under the watch of lions ready to kill the "natives". I can't help but wonder what the other areas of Africa have to offer in terms of culture and artistic talent after seeing Sheena's presentation.

Tim Hawkinson: Art 21 Biography

Tim Hawkinson was born in San Francisco, California in 1960. A graduate of San Jose State University, he later earned his MFA at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1989. Hawkinson is renowned for creating complex sculptural systems through surprisingly simple means. His installation “Überorgan”—a stadium-size, fully automated bagpipe—was pieced together from bits of electrical hardware and several miles of inflated plastic sheeting. Hawkinson’s fascination with music and notation can also be seen in “Pentecost,” a work in which the artist tuned cardboard tubes and assembled them in the shape of a giant tree. On this tree the artist placed twelve life-size robotic replicas of himself, and programmed them to beat out religious hymns at humorously irregular intervals. The source of inspiration for many of Hawkinson’s pieces has been the re-imagining of his own body and what it means to make a self-portrait of this new or fictionalized body. In 1997 the artist created an exacting, two-inch tall skeleton of a bird from his own fingernail parings, and later made a feather and egg from his own hair. Believable even at a close distance, these works reveal Hawkinson’s attention to detail as well as his obsession with life, death, and the passage of time. Hawkinson has participated in numerous exhibitions in the United States and abroad, including the Venice Biennale (1999), the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, (2000), the Power Plant in Toronto, Canada (2000), the Whitney Biennial (2002), and the 2003 Corcoran Biennial in Washington, D.C. Tim Hawkinson resides in Los Angeles with his wife.