Artist Multiples
Final Matchboxes
For my artist multiple I made matchboxes that were in conversation with female rage. As a young, female-presenting artist, and not simply an artist but a person, I have come in contact with adult babies too many times. Often, they are male. The frustration that women seem to carry with them and conceal behind apologies and higher roads is a feeling that I’m sure many can relate to, and it is one that is cyclical. This meaning, the fact that we constantly have to remain professional while these men attempt to remove our agency of their own accord, and then when we stand up for it they have a tantrum? ridiculous.
But, as I am told “this is just the way things are”. B U L L S H I T. These are only the way things are if we allow them to stay this way. I know so many strong and capable women. Women who are aware of their agency and own it. we. need. to. speak. out. we need to burn things down. we need to yell and scream and tell them what they’re doing is not okay. AND because we are trained from such a young age to sit still and pretty, we can do all of this, while remaining professional. Professionalism does not equate to being quiet or sitting still. Clearly.
My artist multiple of matchboxes are just a small drop in the puddle of the fight to “burn the patriarchy”. I believe in my generation. I believe we can make a change. and I believe that as artists, we have a unique perspective and advocacy on matters such as these.
Process photos
I tried a couple of different options for the “i dare you” at the bottom of the box. Originally I just had text, like I did on top, however, I didn’t feel like this was the most successful option. I then dried my ink out a little and printed full black with “i dare you” carved out. I allowed the ink to try a bit so that the bottom would resemble a sort of ashy burnt look.
I have to finish them a little with some kind of coating, because of the material of the matchbox itself the printmaking ink feels a little dry and as if it could be scratched off. I want the coating to be matte for the boxes though, so the burnt effect remains.
further thoughts in process
Sitting with my ideas and designs for a couple days I have decided to go with the pink matchbox and have the text “Ask me why I’m mad.” printed on the top with “i dare you.” printed small on the bottom of the box. I have decided to put the vertical graphic of the women on the inside of the matchbox, underneath all the matches, so only when you have used all the matches are you able to see the release of the woman screaming.
working through ideas
First I looked at colours for possible ideas
These were my favourite;
I liked the blue but it made me think of weddings and baby showers. The red was nice but I was worried about the aggressive on aggressive and having it be “too much” in a way. I wanted the text or graphic I chose to speak in conversation with the colour of the box, rather than fight for attention. I loved the green but just cause I loved the green, I didn’t think it would work very successfully for what my concept was. The pink was the winner.
I then went in and started toying with different text ideas I could print onto the box. I’ve decided to carve intaglio blocks to have slightly imperfect printing on the boxes and have them vulnerable and messy.
These were two of my original ideas;
Jumping off from these ideas, specifically the text “Ask me Why I’m mad” I came up with 4 more possible designs.
These first two were good but not “just right”
The next two are my preferred ones;
original brainstorming
My first thought was to work with matchbooks. Simply because I collect and enjoy matchbooks and it felt very true to myself as an artist to create this as my multiple. I toyed with the idea of working with a zine concept I’m working on right now for a future exhibition however, after discussion, matchbooks seemed to be the overwhelming yes, and also something I’ve wanted to create for a long time so it felt right.
I want to make matchbooks that are a little passive-aggressive, or aggressive-aggressive… I love the Michael Drebert poster we have in the classroom that playfully and vaguely discusses using all the available light to make a fire in Vancouver, hopefully, one that is big enough.
Book project PDF’s
Book project Processing
Layout Option 1
Pages would continue similarly
or
Layout Option 2
CONTINUED WITH MY PHOTOS and then
and such and so forth for each person and their rolls.
MY THOUGHTS ON LAYOUT
I think that the first layout is more successful and allows more freedom throughout the arrangement of all the photos. I also have a significantly larger amount of photos than the other contributors, simply just cause I pulled from more rolls and shoot more often. I think the separation would be jarring and wouldn’t flow as nicely. Especially after having pages upon pages of my photos and then just a couple pages each of theirs.
My question is then, should I credit line each photo with a name? To give credit where credit is due? Or will that muddy the layout and the names at the front are enough?
full page spread? just the cover? full page bleed?
Book project continued thoughts…
I feel strongly about the idea of using my “bad photos”. I’ve gone through handfuls of rolls looking for all my technically wrong photos and I feel like I’m lacking in content. I reached out to some friends who are not studio art students but shoot film every now and then to see if they’d be willing to participate.
The idea that all these different people are shooting film, not just photographers or photo-based artist like myself, plays conceptually into an overarching umbrella of how photo is viewed as an art form. Of course, this is not the main idea in my book, nor do I want it to be. But it definitely brings an interesting field of thought to the table, and one that many photographers are aware of in our day and age. In fact, one that photographers have been aware of in one way or another throughout all of history.
Book Project initial thoughts and ideas
Automatically I was interested in doing some kind of photo book. I was swayed by the large collection of photos and textbooks I have that tell a narrative story connecting the two.
I want to use my own photos, likely film, as that’s what I prefer to shoot and shoot more often.
Looking through my rolls and negatives I want to use the photos that would generally be discarded or brushed off. I’m not sure if I want text alongside it still. I toyed with the idea of lists, as that’s another interest of mine, but after speaking with Diane we agreed it would be too separate from one another, and would be like an amalgamation of two books in one, which is muddy and not the goal.
TORONTO TRIP – October 21st
The trip to Toronto was so nice! I loved MOCA a lot. From the concrete permanent installation on the first floor, to the contemporary sculpture and photo above it was a beautiful experience overall. I always enjoy seeing contemporary art, especially because of the different ways to install and hang that are not standardized museum technique. It’s very reassuring as a young artist to see different ways to exhibit work and I find contemporary establishments are always where I’m able to see this, especially if the exhibition is not strictly photography, as photography is always hung differently than a painting would be.
I thoroughly enjoyed Liz Magor’s work. The way that she used sculpture and sculptural techniques was very thought-provoking and the inherent “strangeness” of the works itself made it incredibly interesting visually and conceptually. (Also, I want one of those flashlight-holding monkeys as a desk light)
Dancing in the Light was also a beautiful exhibition to walk through, and I loved seeing the curatorial work of the show. Having over 40 artists in it the portraiture exhibition was vast and as a student who’s been enrolled in many museum studies courses, curatorial styles are always of interest. The collection of books was an incredible installment in the exhibition, creating a conceptual and participatory element to the exhibition which is an evergrowing and important idea in museum and gallery culture.
The video project her name shown at TPW was a beautiful moving piece. The set up of couches, bean bags was so smart for what the film was and what it spoke about. The couches are “grandpa style” for “familial and physical comfort” as stated in the artist’s statement. The room where the film was shown is also painted yellow to enhance the feeling of ceremonial living, as this colour is often used in ceremonies. After watching the film I researched the artist duo and their words behind the exhibition and in doing so read about the adjacent room to the film room, where they created a smudging room we did not explore greatly, cause of time. This room is painted blue to feel reminiscent of Saddle Lake. Each decision was made so purposefully, and this is incredibly admirable in an artist and so nice to see so clearly in exhibition spaces and artist statements.
Kensington Market is always a space full of art and joy. It’s also a dangerous place for my wallet, but I never regret it.
Video Project
afterthoughts
In the future, I think I would personally remove the zoom-ins. Though I agree that it allows the viewer to see the more intimate moments I think it’d be more successful if they were able to find those on their own. I also think if we shot in a higher resolution this would be more successful as well, rather than having the grainy effect showing low-resolution quality.
In our piece cows, the boys followed our instruction “be a cow” and explored this idea physically and mentally for a 10-minute period. It was raw and touching and I think Jillian said it best when she wrote ” Small differences occurred; some would moo at one another, others laid in the grass alone. Cumulatively, however, each male became a cow, a female, not a horned bull. In a sense we have allowed for the male participants to use their bodies in a transformative manner. In this state, they seemed to convene in a deeply honest manner that veers away from the hyper-masculine social codes young men seem to adhere to.”
FILMING – October 5th
The filming went so well. We set up two mics. One in a tree out of the frame and one on the ground behind another tree on the opposite side. If we were to do this again I think we’d be more deliberate with how we began the recording, ensuring we started them all at the same time so that editing went smoother. The filming itself was good. We took the boys to a field and introduced them to the idea loosely, without telling them any conceptual meaning behind it. We had the camera set up already so they just had to begin. We shot a straight video for 10 minutes and cut it down in post. I like the idea of a long-shot video of this.
It was also just really nice to watch the boys explore this activity. It was really beautiful in a way I don’t think any of us expected.
Process Part 2
We’ve been back and forth with this idea. Even at one point toying with the idea of changing it altogether. However, we wanted to create a piece that we not only feel passionately about but also enjoy.
After a meeting on October 2nd, we came to a solid conclusion on what exactly we wanted and even how we would expand our idea if given the opportunity in the future and we’ve come up with a conceptual analysis that we thoroughly enjoy and are excited about.
Through additional research, we came across the master’s thesis of Florence Fitzgerald-Allsopp entitled Becoming-with-Animal: Cultivating a Feminist Understanding of Human-Animal Transformation in Contemporary Performance Art, which provided us with very helpful information relevant to our conceptual foundation of the piece as well as inspiration from other art mentioned throughout the thesis.
The idea of having men come in and act as cows is encouraging the males involved to play with the unknown territory of the animal they don’t know well, as well as the female gender. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, cow is a term for female cattle. It evokes a certain image in a person’s mind.
If I say cow you’re likely picturing a black and white spotted cattle, likely with an utter, likely with no horns. Maybe in a pasture, possibly grazing.
If I say cattle you’re probably picturing the same thing but multiplied, possibly adding a male in there as well.
However, if I say bull I’d take a shot in the dark and say the image that comes to mind is a brown cattle, with horns, maybe a ring in its nose.
These key terms are important to our process. Giving the subjects the word cow as the basis of their improvisational performance inherently gives them the image of a female cattle and so urges them to act as such, without us having to provide this additional information for them.
We aim to represent this vulnerable state of exploring the unknown, in both animal and gender, with our male volunteers. We want to react to the idea of historically gendered animalistic tropes and view this through transformative performance.
It will be interesting to see how the men react to this with such little prompting. I’m sure some will be embarrassed and others fully embracing of the performance. It may be helpful for some to have others around acting as cows too, and for others possibly harmful (in a sense of self-conscious ideas). They will be in a safe and guarded space, away from pedestrians and on lookers, but the lens of the camera is also an eye on them which some of them, I’m sure, will be very aware of.
Source : Fitzgerald-Allsopp, Florence. (2019). Becoming-with-Animal: Cultivating a Feminist Understanding of Human-Animal Transformation in Contemporary Performance Art. 10.13140/RG.2.2.31102.43840. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334165173_Becoming-with-Animal_Cultivating_a_Feminist_Understanding_of_Human-Animal_Transformation_in_Contemporary_Performance_Art
Process Part 1
To begin our process we contacted men that we know and asked them to take part in a performance art video project. We did not always share what we were making, leaving the actual improvisation up to the men at the time of filming, to create a more genuine experience.
We made and hung posters throughout campus; In Zavitz, the Bullring, Alexander Hall, and at the Gym. We also posted them through our social media to get intrigue from people online.
TUESDAY
I was not present for this mid-way critique, as I got Covid. However, I got very disappointing news from my group members while I was laying at home praying the vid away.
From what I was told, our idea did not go over well and there was lots of negative energy thrown at it, including from people who had previously been excited about our idea.
I am disappointed I had to miss this crit, as I wish I had been there to defend our idea with Jillian and Zoe.
We will do further research on the behaviour of cows however I disagree that we should have the men do the same. Part of the idea behind the project is the subtle social commentary on the role reversal of having men act as cows when “cow” is a term used in direct connection with a woman. Because of this role reversal, men should not know the immediate ins and outs of what it is to be a cow. We are acquiring male-identifying cis men. They have no experience with the idea of what it is to be a woman. As I stated previously in the early stages of conceptualizing this piece “men may be pigs but women are cows”. This unknowing improvisation based on assumed life and behaviour is an important aspect of the project.
Idea and Conceptual Ties
Last week when talking with Megan, myself, Jillian and Zoe (ZoZo) formed a loose idea of what we wanted to do for our video art. When talking it over with Megan she was very excited to see our final project and urged us to explore the idea further.
The idea of our video is to herd together a collection of men, bring them to a field, and ask them to improvise as cows.
Not only is this idea comedic but it also speaks to many larger themes and ideas seen in the world.
Cattle are something that, especially in Guelph, we see fairly often. Everyone has memories of road trips, small or far, where they see cows out the window and for some reason point and say “Cows!”.
Cattle are in the farming industry in more ways than one but are also well-loved as farm animals of less industrial scales.
They have many personality attributes that are similar to humans. They are socially complex; they can make friends, hold grudges, mourn, cry,. They show signs of advanced cognitive abilities, figuring out problems and enjoying the results of completion when they do.
This connection of cattle to the human experience creates play in our video, past that of the up-front humour that we will see with men acting as cattle.
Another playful anecdote of the video is the social commentary on how the term “cow” is used as a negative connotation to a woman, as many things are. Men may be pigs but women are cows. Using males to create a scene of “cows” in a pasture brings in a role reversal without outwardly attacking the entire male population.
If we had the men act as pigs the project would be much more surface-level.
Overall, the act of bringing in people to improvise as animals ties human nature to the animalistic tendencies that we have within. Cows are not the most aggressive animals, in fact, people are much more aggressive overall, however, it still connects human nature and animal nature together.
This video project will not only introduce generalized humour, but also force people to think about animalistic tendencies of human nature and cruelty, the human experience and subtle social commentary.
Meeting with Megan Arnold this week was very beneficial. It was nice to get to talk to an artist who is so young and open to ideas.
I was also a fan of a lot of Megan’s work that she shared with us.
As some of you know, I am not a fan of creating video art. In fact, the only reason I agreed to take this class was because I made sure there was less video art than the previous semester’s experimental studio. I seem to have been tricked a little bit, as here we are…making video art, but nonetheless.
One of my issues when it comes to making video art myself, past the fact that it is simply not what I enjoy creating, is the fact that with my art I hold it to a specific ideal of aesthetic. With my main focus being photography I am able to control all the elements going into it, and even if it’s an abject photo I can create a world in which that abjectness is the ideal. I enjoy video from a cinematographic lens.
I have a large interest in film but that is not what we’re aiming for in this course and though art is subjective, in school it often feels as though we are curving our practice to please each professor and their created ideals.
My favourite piece of Megan’s that she shared with us was “A Deal with Dog”. Part of my enjoyment of this piece was definitely derived from the fact that it was visually pleasing to my own eye. The blowing grass, the arching hills, the complimenting colours of the outdoors.
The piece itself had a touch of this cinematographic feel to it while it practiced Megan’s art techniques of comedy and cringe.
Environmental Art & Artist Research
Katie Patterson
I have become enamored with Katie Patterson’s work.
Future Library is a project that I am excited to share with my children and sad that I won’t get to experience it when the books are printed. I hope one day I can attend a ceremony for the handing over of a manuscript
The vastness of Patterson’s projects is what really gets to me. Not only Future Library most of her pieces.
One of my favourite pieces she has is To Burn, Forest, Fire. In this piece, she created sticks in incense to represent the first and the last forests on earth. As quoted on her website she said “Humans have used incense for thousands of years, mostly as a bridge to what dwells beyond the everyday, through prayer, oblation, and ritual. To Burn, Forest, Fire places that experience into the context of deep time and the living Earth community.”
Patterson created these two sticks of incense and then furthered the piece even more by taking them to a “variety places across Helsinki, and beyond” to burn them in almost a subtle performative way.
The immense research and time spent on this piece is eye-opening to me. The scientific nature of art that Patterson creates is a conversation that I don’t often experience in my own practice and it is one that I admire greatly.
On her website, she includes graphics of each forest with descriptions of the scent.
Another piece I simply adore is -there lay the Days between- in which Patterson created a tickerboard that displays the number of days the sun has risen since the earth was formed. Each sunrise the number changes.
Patterson’s works go beyond the concepts of space and time while closing the gap between the viewers and the cosmos. She shrinks the vastness of the universe in a minimalistic aesthetic to create a comfortable view of eternity.
Sources ;
Nina Katchadourian Book Stacks
When we spoke of Katchadourian’s book stacks in class I had some immediate ideas with my own library. Because of this, I chose not to use my own books. I went to my partner’s house, whose library is overflowing, and got to peruse the shelves to look for titles that stood out to me. I compiled a list of those titles and pulled some books to get started.
I think it was beneficial for me to use books I was not familiar with. Not only did it open up possibilities visually, but it also allowed me to play with titles I may not have encountered otherwise, and not be hindered by the bias of the narrative between its pages.
I chose to photograph them on a black background because I love how some of Nina’s photos are so stark. I used just natural light and a black drop cloth and tampered with the exposure as much as my phone would let me. Some are too dark for my preference but I tried to use it as another aspect to the story the spines were telling. I also tried to play with the frames of the photo and created compositions I believed fit the narrations.
For one specific stack – “We so seldom look on love/run towards the danger/together” – The colours on the spine of the bottom book were too dark with not enough contrast so I ended up shining a light on the word together to brighten it in the photo. This created an illuminative effect on the word but not the author and I think it successfully highlights the story being told in such little words just that much more.
In the stack with the most books I wanted a space between two books, to act as a breath or a comma of sorts. Originally I used thin white spined books but wasn’t content with the aesthetic of the image so eventually I found a thick hard cover book and turned it around so all you could see was the pages. This worked well.
The stack – “Other people/as they see us/side glances/the unsettlers” – Is my least favourite final photo. Not because of the spine choices, but rather the creases in the worn-out book “as they see us” and how it becomes almost difficult to read. I’m sure I could attribute this to some purposeful and conceptual meaning, but it was difficult to shoot and annoying to settle. Nonetheless, it was an interesting and meaningful stack.
FINAL IMAGES
I’d be interested to work with books again in the future. One thing that interests me greatly is the documenting of the “destruction” of books over time. I am someone who prefers a soft cover to a hard one because I like it when my books are noticeably read. I dog ear my pages and don’t mind a tear and sometimes, if it’s the best option, I’ll fold the book up a little and shove it in my back pocket. Some readers think this is pure blasphemy, so, I think documenting these rips and tears and dog ears and creases could be an interesting concept to look into for future art.
