COFFEEHOUSE

So it turns out, the Fibers lovelies are multi-talented --- Here's some pictures from Friday's Coffeehouse:

CAT-A-PUS

Lola and I are collaborating to make...
DUN
DUN
DUN
CAT-A-PUS
A MAJESTIC HYBRID OF CAT AND OCTOPUS
these pictures are Jennifer Strunge's AMAZING cotton monsters. This specific monsters is named Pentapod (just in case you were wondering), because he only has 5 tentacles. Cat-a-pus, on the other hand, has tenta-paws, which are tentacles with paws at the end. Cat-a-pus is going to be quite large, like HUGE.

okay, the end.
for now...
=^.^=

(by the way this is Jes AND Lola because Lola never got invited...haha)

personal inspiration

These are all pictures of Magdalena Abakanowicz's work. She is the brilliant mastermind behind the piece that was in The Hishorn Museum called Four On a Bench. Awesome piece! Anyways, I found these pictures and I just wanted to share them. Personally, I feel very inspired by Magdalena Abakanowicz's work just because of the use of materials and the magnitude at which she works and her ideas about what art's pupose is. She says that"art needs somebody to listen to its message, somebody to desire it, somebody to drink it, to use it like wine - otherwise it makes no sense." After talking with Valeska and doing some research on my own, I found out that Abakanowicz deals with mostly perishable materials. (Her figure sculptures are done with burlap and resin) I think that that is the part that really gets me about her work just because it puts an entirely new motivation behind her artwork. She is not looking for her artwork to be in museums for years and years. (Though some of her installations that are steel will be.) That idea is so striking because most of the time I feel like my work is so precious because of the time I have put into it and the energy it took to make it happen. It is not like I am saying I shouldn't do that, I am just saying I shouldn't take myself so seriously. After seeing her piece in the Strange Bodies exhibit, my drive is different. In the first TARC slide show, Heather talked about how her experience became her piece. That has stuck with me. And I was reminded of her presentation as I researched Abakanowicz. I am going to experiment, create, and enjoy the process of my work. I think that the work I create will have a much bigger impact on my growth as an artist and hopefully the people who see it once I stop trying so hard to create something so awesome and great that people have never seen before. I am becoming more focused on the process and how that contributes to my growth as an artist. That forces me to trust the people who will see my work more. Each person's perspective changes the piece and makes it richer. I am just going to see what happens:)

Sources of Inspiration

In addition to all the images, artists, and ways of working we discussed over the last few weeks, you might find inspiration here:

Performance and Installation artist Melissa Webb

The over the top visions of Royal de Luxe 

Also, for your trip to New York City, visit The Sartorialist's blog, to see one observer's reflections on - and images of - the waypeople communicate through dress. 

Jars of dye

This reminded me of our first dyeing experience today :) It was lots of fun and we are all different colors! Brilliant!

Units: The Musical on the Road in our Nation's Capitol!

The Fashioning Culture class headed to DC today to make a pilgrimage to a number of exhibits. We celebrated the glorious weather, looked left and right before crossing the large boulevards to see the grand vistas - the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument, and enjoy the natural wonders of the Enid Haput Garden. The Hirshorn's Strange Bodies show of figurative modern and contemporary works was one of our stops, as was the Mami Wata Exhibit at the museum of African Art, filled with sculptural, ceremonial and contemporary works inspired by the image and beliefs surrounding the water goddess in cultures of the African diaspora. Then, a trek to the Museum of American Art to visit the Jean Shin show: Common Threads! And with all that walking, good thing we stopped for some food and conversation at Teaism, appreciating the benefits of a thoughtfully designed bistro with koi pond and adobe colored walls. What a super day!

The Grand Finale!

Rites of passage and coming of age rituals are common throughout the world. Often, a ceremonial object or garment is a central part of the event. Drawing on your vast array of skills, your own experience as a teenager, and your fertile imagination, invent and construct a ceremonial object or costume element that marks your own transformation, or rite of passage from high school student to artist in the world. You may work individually or in collaboration with others.

Sources of inspiration (a list for your to add on to…) and Strategies:
Ceremonial garments and forms: the cloak or mantle, the sash or stole, headdresses, masks…
Structural or sculptural objects, gateways, staffs…
Exaggeration or emphasis (through accumulation, color/contrast, scale etc.)
Masquerade and transformation
Performance and performative installation
Melissa Webb, Pat Olezsko, Nick Cave, Leigh Bowery, Julie Taymor, Joseph Beuys, Jeanine Oleson…

Option 2:
You have started a couple of projects in this class and experimented with new techniques. An idea for a costume, performance, installation or sculpture may have been sparked in the process. Develop your idea further by continuing with one of these projects.

Proposals due: Tuesday afternoon, July 14
Proposals should include sketches and/or collaged images, sources of inspiration, writing and materials samples, if possible.

Final Presentation: Wednesday morning, July 22