Stealing Countries with the Cunning Use of Flags

Assignment #10: Cover Page

2006-11-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

'Coretta Scott King and daughter Bernice at funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.'
in Ebony Magazine, 1968
Creater Unknown
photography

The original intent of this image is quite clear: to depict Coretta Scott King mourning her husband. It conveys quite strongly to the viewer the love which Coretta felt for her husband, a truely great man, and how bereft she felt at his untimely passing.
I appropriated this image by making Coretta Scott King the only clearly seen figure in the picture by utilizing the help of the magnetic select tool and different filters. I also put Coretta under a filter that made her pop out more. My intention was to isolate her further and make her the only subject of the picture, with the people in the background becoming more abstract shapes than people. I also created three though bubbles for Coretta Scott King to indicate she is thinking about food.
My intention in the mastication of this picture was to create a gut response in the viewers, which, judging by the reactions of my classmates, was well achieved. I wanted to depict something subversive to people, to create this reaction, so that I could clearly illustrate a deeper effect of the I-thought. Many reactions I got were that it was wrong to do this to that picture, that it was bad and somehow disrespectful. While I agree that it was disrespectful, I don't think that it was bad, persay. I assume that the reaction that it was bad was due to the fact that people thought I was detracting from the obvious pain and sorrow she felt but my question to them is: Can't you be hungry and sad at the same time?
I would posit that Coretta Scott King was probably hungry at the same time she was in emotional upheval because eating is a natural human urge. So what really is wrong with her thinking about a hamburger? At no point do I state that she is only thinking about the hamburger, that she isn't sad about her husband's death.
My hope, with this image, is to create the urge to question in every that sees it; question their own values and emotions.

Fatty Fashions by Shannon Lee

2006-10-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

i. What is the Fatty Fashions zine advocating for? What is it not advocating?

Fatty Fashions is advocating for women that do not fit the model's body standard to retain their own sense of fashion regardless of what society tells them. It does not advocating any set 'fashion' as defined by society or even a group of people or a designer. It advocates finding your own way.

ii. Sections

1. Preface, Personal Note, Mission Statement
2. Where To Find Plus Sizes
3. Oppinion: In/Out List and Experience
4. Outside Article
5. How-to Guide
6. Where to Find Plus Sizes Online
7. How-to Guide

iii. Which two sections are personal and subjective? Describe what makes them that way?

Sections 1 and 3 are personal and subjective; they rely on the author's experience in shops and in life for their content and her opinions. They both relate to the reader how the author felt in certain situations and why she came to the conclusions she did.

iv. Which two sections clearly show she has done her research? How does she cite her research?

Sections 2 and 6 most clearly demonstrate the author researched her topics. The information she hands us could only come from investigating the shops in question and doing a lot of 'smart consumer' stuff; comparing prices and asking about sizes available, etc. It would require her to physically go to some shops and ask questions.

v. Name two ways she has appropriated images. Do you think she has made them into her own work? Why or why not?

Throughout the zine the reader is bombarded by images of popular fashion; images of sunglasses or bags; different articles of fashionable clothing scrolling across the page as you read. She has made them her own by placing them next to a condemnation, of sorts, of the sort of world they are meant to be bought in, and more specifically bought by.

In-Class Presentation

2006-09-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

How did you come to define your research topic?

My research topic was very well picked by Lena and I didn't have to travel far to make it my own. My topic seemed a little broad to me, being simultaneously about liberation theory, feminism, and buddhist philosophy, so I followed my motivation and went deeper into the spiritual aspect of the topic rather than feminism or liberation. It was my reasoning that feminism and liberation are both encompassed by spiritual philosophy of the east and therefor was interested in seeking a purer form of these philosophies at the roots. It was narrowed even further by my current interest in a specific philosphy of enligtenment; self-inquiry.

Define the topic.

Self-inquiry is the specific practice of attaining true happiness by following one's thoughts as the path. Its goal is the same as other spiritual practices such as mediation or breathing in that it seeks to pacificy the endless cycles of suffering one achieves by living in what is perceived as reality. When compared with other practices it appears much more austere and simple in its teachings, making it (in my oppinon) very accecable to people who are not steeped in that culture as well.

Present at least three images.

Buddha
Coretta Scott King
The Invisible Thread
Ramana

Present a synopsis of your reading.

Who am I?

Chan Enlightenment Subjects

2006-09-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

'Painting of Various Chan Enlightenment Subjects'
by Yin Tuolo; 960 - 1279 C.E.
paper and ink
found on Artstor

Asian prints, even when they are not specifically depicting enlightened beings, are inextricably linked with the spiritual aspect of Asian religions. My great-grandfather was a Japanese print dealer in Austria before the second World War and re-established his business in Washington, DC when he moved with my Grandmother to escape the war. My grandmother has retained a wonderful knowledge and appreciate for such art and has passed a little of both on to me. Because the predominant religions in Eastern Asia were parallel and often intersecting with views of Enlightenment in Indian faiths I find much of the same frame of reference for the philosophies and artwork. Because these religions were predominant the artwork reflects these philosophies and ideals, a nice change from the frame through which much Western art was and is created.

Coretta Scott King

2006-09-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

'Coretta Scott King and daughter Bernice at funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.'
in Ebony Magazine, 1968
photography

This picture follows the theme of mortality and makes me think about the impermanence of life, how much can change in just a few seconds, and how strange it is that we view the world as stable as it is. What, in the end, did MLK Jr's life mean? What did he accomplish? What of his family? How did they live when he was life, how did they live when he was dead? And how did they dead? Happily? I hope so. I hope they were smart enough not to stop living while being alive just because the person they must have loved more than anyone else died.

Who am I? : Publication

2006-09-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

"Who am I?" is an article online that I read by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. The questions were asked by Sri M. Sivaprakasam Pillai about 1902, who was traveling in India on business and made a trip to the Virupaksha Cave on Arunachala Hill to meet with the master. Bhagavan was not talking aloud at this time, not due to a vow of silence but merely because he was not inclined to, he at first attempted to gesture out the answers and because that could not be understood he wrote his answers to the questions down. The answers have to do with his teachings of self-inquiry and the nature of the mind, the self, and other spiritual processes. What struck me the most when reading the interview was how accessible and simple self-inquiry is compared to many other spiritual practices of the time. Bhagavan teaches that all spiritual practices and books agree that in order to gain release one must render the mind 'quiescent.' This is the core of self-inquiry, which foregoes all the other processes (breathing, meditation) as extracurricular, if you will, to the exercise of the mind to find the root or well-spring of self.

I found this website first by searching on wikipedia for Gangaji. On her site was a link to her teacher, Ramana, also on wikipedia. At the bottom of his article, underneath the 'external links' category, there was the link to his official website. One there I clicked on Publications, which led me to this interview.

The Invisible Thread

2006-09-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Invisible Thread Exhibit
Untitled by Marina Abromivic; 1994
metal brackets, wood boxes, lucite plaques
found in The Invisible Thread: Buddhist Spirit in Contemporary Art copyright 2004 Snug Harbor Cultural Center

Depicted above is an installation piece by artist Marina Abromivic. As shown one stands with their body against the boxes. I particularly liked this idea because it is creating a very personal relationship between you and the art which is hard or impossible to define. It reminds me of the essay topic for the English placement in August and the excerpt that we responded to in our essays. This excerpt was commenting on the purpose of art as a end to reawaken life; in the moments when you are still trying to figure out what something is and how it was made you are truly seeing the object. And as soon as you think you know what it is it becomes a concept in your mind; you write off some of what makes it so alive by placing it in a box. My response to this excerpt was that, while very insightful, it was ultimately detrimental to the power that resides in us all. Because the author (whose name now escapes me; I'll come back and edit if I remember) was so dependent on art, which is something external from oneself, to create this outlook for him, he was undermining the fact that he could create it within himself.

Death of the Historical Buddha

2006-09-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Death of the Historical Buddha
by Japanese; Kamakura period (1185-1333)
hanging scroll with ink, gold, and mineral pigments on silk
Found on Artstor

This image is of the 'Historical Buddha,' or Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism during his final moments of mortality. There are animals and human followers gathering around him and holding space for his passage. I thought this image would hold some meaning and charge in regard to my research topic because of the nature of the event depicted. Death is can be a very profound topic and my search for images was fueld by the desire to see moments in a human life when the choice to be present has a greater direct visible impact on the world around oneself.

The Vessel: The Exploration of Structures for Liberation and a Feminist Body Politic

2006-09-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

My research topic is a conglomoration of liberation theory and philosophy. This research topic might as well be a theme for my entire life so it's a little pointless to say why I'm interested, I believe. I am extremely intrested, at this point in my life, in the philosophic and spiritual levels of self-inquiry. Self-inquiry has deep roots in eastern spiritual practices and was the core teachings of a Hindu mystic by the name of Ramana Maharshi. However the popularity of this method or process is only a small percent compared to more popular religions and sects of meditation practice and paths to enlightenment.

My favorite spiritual teacher, Gangaji, is an American-born woman who speaks in depth about freedom from suffering and the open-hearted experience at her sapsangs. I am telling you this in order to provide more of a context for what I mean when I speak of liberation and freedom. I am speaking about the freedom from the drive of your desires, from your suffering. I think this concept of freedom is something that is lost on many westerners who are initially taught that their happiness and affluence are the most worthy things they can hope to achieve in life. The alternative view of which I am speaking does not view happiness as great than sadness or other less desirable emotions. In fact, happiness and anger and hate and whatever other uncomfortable emotions you can imagine are all placed on a different sort of scale where, in the end, they all measure out to the same thing: emotions. The value and weight in this worldview is placed on the truth of the moment and the doorway this can provide you into yourself.

Anyway, this is confusing for me to try and write about clearly but perhaps more research and meditation on the subject will help me achieve a little more clarity. If anyone reading this is interested in listening to a little Gangaji (or has never had the experience of listening to a sage or enlightened being or spiritual teacher or whoever you want to call them speak) I'd be glad to burn you a CD with a few of my favorite tracks of hers on it. It's really quite interesting.

Driving Your Own Studies and the Benifits of Research

2006-09-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

In college the student is expect to delve much farther and deeper into knowledge and its anaylsis. Because such revered topics are often studied and the student is surrounded by so many authoritative voices, research is a necessity to bring the student to the level at which they can even begin to learn.
There is also a less rigid purpose for such studies: inspiration. Especially in art school when the student is pushed to extremes of output the marrow or passion for art can often dim or tarnish. Becoming interested in new things can reawaken the student to their dormant inspirations and can aid in a lull of energy in the creative process.

Assignment #1: Del.icio.us

2006-09-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

The two links I found through other user's del.icio.us sites that most intruiged me were Wikimapia and Tez Humphrey's personal artist's site. These sites both appeal to me for different reasons; wikimapia is a site I would put under the catagorization 'online revolution' while Tez Humphreys is eye-candy. Wikimapia is totally changing the *FREE* available knowledge on the internet as well as being keenly functional - if the end is to give the power back to the people, so to speak. Tez Humphrey's site has beautiful examples of the work he does and as a fellow artist I keenly enjoy both his images and the integrity the site design itself reveals. His site design obviously values making his art look good as well as professional, which makes it a great example of what I would like to eventually do for myself - once I have a strong enough portfolio.