Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Chance Powers, Student Work
This response to David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous (page 137-153) is relating to the section on page 137, "Or, more specifically, how did civilized humankind lose all sense of reciprocity and relationship with the animate natural world, that rapport that so influences (and limits) the activities of most indigenous, tribal peoples?"
When I read this section, immediately I thought of the DAPL issue. From day one, it seems white people have been screwing over natives. As said in Disney's Pocahontas, "These white people are dangerous."
For this response, I took one of my photos from when I was in Portugal of Padrao dos Descobrimentos as it was a monument in celebration and commemoration of discovering and claiming that land.
The monument is a huge symbol for claiming land, which means whoever is there is forced to accept the rule or be pushed out, punished, jailed, killed, all that fun stuff.
The DAPL is punishing natives for no reason by threatening their water supply, essentially pushing them out of the very little land we "allowed" them to have, desecrating their graves and land in the process.
I layered photos to create this piece. There is a filter layer on top of that cracked, dry land, free of water and life. The picture over that is of the protests going on because of DAPL (credits to Kevin Scott Cuevas of the Odyssey and Jeremiah Jones of Countercurrent News).
I wanted to overshadow the vision of victory with the real costs of these conquers.
Lauren Gonzalez, Student Work
Title: Hebrew
Materials: Wood
Dimensions: 13" x 5"
Spell Reading #4 The Flesh of Language, pp. 73 - 91
On page 77, the last sentence of the first paragraph
"Language, in this view, is rather like a code; it is a way of representing actual things and events in the perceived world"
Artist Statement: This entire chapter really focused on language and it's origins. This specific sentence made me think of language as a literal code. It also makes me think of language as a bunch of signs arranged in random sequence. I decided to literally translate the original sentence into hebrew, and burn the words into a piece of wood. I chose hebrew because the language is foreign to me and I see it a a type of "code.
Lauren Gonzalez, Student Work
Title: Experimentation
Materials: Compact makecup container, and rabbit fur
Spell #3 Philosophy on the way to Ecology, Part II, pp. 44 - 72
Found on page 48, the bottom of the first paragraph
"Since humans alone are a mixture of extended matter and thinking mind, we alone are able to feel and to experience our body's mechanical sensations. Meanwhile, all other organisms, consisting solely of extended matter, are in truth nothing more than automatons, incapable of actual experience unable to feel pleasure or suffer pain. Hence, we humans need have no scruples about manipulating, exploiting or experimenting upon other animals in any manner we see fit"
Artist Statement: The text above shows humans as having no empathy or compassion towards animals, especially the last sentence. It literally states that we as humans do not need scruples when exploiting or experimenting on animals in any manner we see fit. I wanted to create something that dealt with animal testing, because it is a practice that directly deals with experimentation and exploitation. Rabbits are one of the most commonly tested on animals, especially when it comes to cosmetics. I decided to place real rabbit fur in a blush compact case. I bought the rabbit fur from hobby lobby and cut a piece out to replace the blush. This is a literal consequence of using makeup that has been tested on animals, thousands of animals die and people still buy the products.
Jake Carlson, Student Work
Artificial Roses
Three foot tall sculpture placed in ground at Palm Garden on Flagler Campus.
Jake Carlson, Student Work
Petroleum
Projection of video piece on top of aquarium, milk bottle, and mixed media panels.
Jake Carlson, Student Work
Video Link:
https://youtu.be/fpzPfM8C0b0https://youtu.be/fpzPfM8C0b0
N.O.W.
This performance questions the identity of figures made into statues, while paying a respect to them in a way to create meaning. Across the country we see statues of typically the upper class bureaucrat, standing on land that was once utilized by Native American tribes. It is site specific in the sense that it took place at the statute of Pedro Melendez in St. Augustine, however it uses this site to steer the viewer of questioning the identity of statutes around them. The idea of brushing off the shoes of this statute enhances the power that this figure had and continues to evoke. History books recite a narrative that sites such as Mount Rushmore are iconic landmarks in America, however they are carved into sacred land once belonged to native tribes. As a student in 2017, this performance illustrates the idea of contemporary power. The power of institutions, wealth and corporations. The power of establishing identity only for the profit of one’s self. Earning respect in our current landscape is based off of a value system that has been corrupted. Statues are permanent, worshipped symbols of power. Who was powerful, who gained respect, and who established their power. This performance questions the burdened respect that statues demand.
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