so i havent made much progress on my profile of magdalena. I made initial contact and we are going to meet up some time next week, but I think that my lack of progress may have to do with my apprehension about her as a subject. I'm just not sure since the objective is to profile someone who does not have a real desire to put themselves out there, which clearly she does.
I tried to follow up with this gentleman named William White, who I met at a soup kitchen last year. He was playing an old piano outside of the main dining hall and he was really great. Some other students and I were going to meet up with him to record a CD of his music and sell it with the proceeds going to him. I think he would have been an amazing subject, but unfortunately, I called the number of his son named Phillip that he provided and it was out of service...maybe revisiting the soup kitchen might be a good strategy to find a subject that I really can get behind.
Spring break looms, time to get really serious about this.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
possible subjects...
so right now, i have two potential ideas for subjects...not sure if either of these will pan out, but this is where I'm going to start...
1) Magdelena Soul. I first came across Magdelena via a vlogging contest I participated in as past of Lu Fang's "Show Me Color" project at 111 Minna. The idea was to create a video portrait of one of the night's performers who were asked to "perform their race". Unlike the other participants who were primarily practicing artists, Magdelena comes from a very different background. She teaches hip hop classes at the YMCA and her spirit really amazes me. I made this video about her as part of the vlogging contest:
I'm mostly intrigued by her and her interest in African American culture. Growing up "wiggers" or white people who dressed "black" were a large contingent in my middle/high school and I always wondered what drew these people to black culture. Magdelena raises similar questions in me that I'd like to explore.
2) I'm working on a feature length narrative film, and one of our actresses's day job is as a performer in a troupe at Kaiser Permenente (an HMO) that goes around and performs in public schools on things like nutrition, pre-marital sex, etc. Through her I want to find the person/people who actually write the scripts to find out more about them.
We'll see where these leads lead!
1) Magdelena Soul. I first came across Magdelena via a vlogging contest I participated in as past of Lu Fang's "Show Me Color" project at 111 Minna. The idea was to create a video portrait of one of the night's performers who were asked to "perform their race". Unlike the other participants who were primarily practicing artists, Magdelena comes from a very different background. She teaches hip hop classes at the YMCA and her spirit really amazes me. I made this video about her as part of the vlogging contest:
I'm mostly intrigued by her and her interest in African American culture. Growing up "wiggers" or white people who dressed "black" were a large contingent in my middle/high school and I always wondered what drew these people to black culture. Magdelena raises similar questions in me that I'd like to explore.
2) I'm working on a feature length narrative film, and one of our actresses's day job is as a performer in a troupe at Kaiser Permenente (an HMO) that goes around and performs in public schools on things like nutrition, pre-marital sex, etc. Through her I want to find the person/people who actually write the scripts to find out more about them.
We'll see where these leads lead!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
some thoughts on art making, education, etc...
Spending a few days thinking about our lively class discussion has left me with a few unresolved questions...
1) Why do we as artists think that we are owed our piece of the pie? We spend our time critiquing capitalism, but then talk about how we can "get paid" for our art. As someone who has worked in corporate America previously, I find this sense of entitlement a bit off putting and for me personally, a bit off track...which leads into my second question...
2) Why do we as artists have the belief that art making is an all or nothing endeavor? We are either making art or not. We are a practicing artist or not. This binary attitude could only lead to an abandonment of art making by those of us who hold this belief. If our goal is to support ourselves solely through our art, then undoubtedly many of us will fail. If we take the attitude that our artmaking is simply one aspect of our larger life, then success becomes much more possible. If we believe that we can make art while making a living through other means (or supplementing our art income through other means) doesn't it make the possibility of making art so much more realistic post-graduation?
3) What is the function of the art school institution? Is it to equip us with the skills we need to make work in our medium(s) of choice? Is it to provide an environment where we can have the space to form our own artistic "tastes"? Is it to immerse us in an environment where we can collaborate with like minded peers? For me its all of these things I guess and hopefully many more things too...
I'm excited about the class and working with someone who has made work "outside of the system." I've spent the last year and half trying to figure out exactly what that means and I hope that after working with the class, I'll have a clearer idea of this when I'm through.
1) Why do we as artists think that we are owed our piece of the pie? We spend our time critiquing capitalism, but then talk about how we can "get paid" for our art. As someone who has worked in corporate America previously, I find this sense of entitlement a bit off putting and for me personally, a bit off track...which leads into my second question...
2) Why do we as artists have the belief that art making is an all or nothing endeavor? We are either making art or not. We are a practicing artist or not. This binary attitude could only lead to an abandonment of art making by those of us who hold this belief. If our goal is to support ourselves solely through our art, then undoubtedly many of us will fail. If we take the attitude that our artmaking is simply one aspect of our larger life, then success becomes much more possible. If we believe that we can make art while making a living through other means (or supplementing our art income through other means) doesn't it make the possibility of making art so much more realistic post-graduation?
3) What is the function of the art school institution? Is it to equip us with the skills we need to make work in our medium(s) of choice? Is it to provide an environment where we can have the space to form our own artistic "tastes"? Is it to immerse us in an environment where we can collaborate with like minded peers? For me its all of these things I guess and hopefully many more things too...
I'm excited about the class and working with someone who has made work "outside of the system." I've spent the last year and half trying to figure out exactly what that means and I hope that after working with the class, I'll have a clearer idea of this when I'm through.
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