Gallery exhibit essay 2!

Patricia Tonner-Mintier

12-01-2021

WW-12: a health survey 

The collective concept of the twelfth Wonder Woman gallery exhibition focuses on the health industry effects on individual female artists' concepts of health, wellbeing, and identity through the lens of health and femininity. Many of the women used the gallery exhibition to express pain, frustration, and sense of cultural and gender identity ties with their own health experiences. 

Two personal explorations in this exhibition I was drawn to felt personal, perhaps because I saw my own health frustrations reflected in the issues depicted.  

One from Christine Da Cruz, depicted embroidered photos and an interactive light up depiction of her own ultrasound with depiction of a feminine figure with the words “femi” in the negative space. Da Cruz uses the Word “femi” in another piece in the collection, which ties to her play with gendered terms. The embroidered photos show her in a natural setting with colorful animals mimicking her pose layered on top. For De Cruz, it seems that her cultural and gender identity are largely inseparable, as she depicts her journey of healing and caregiving of her mother, tone with her choice in animal and the gender it holds linguistically. 

The second piece I felt more intimately towards was the ceramic works of Dorris Cacoilo. Professor Cacoilo’s work depicted a ceramic bust with textural glaze held up with wire loosely like a torso or a cage. Dangling from red yarn, were two thyroid gland ceramic sculptures. This is to depict her struggle with hypothyroidism, something i can relate to being diagnosed with hashimoto's disease, the precursor to hypothyroidism, when i was in high school. At the bottom of the sculpture underneath the thyroid glands, is a cactus. This is not the only work Cacoilo displayed of her ceramic works. She also created ceramic pieces to fit almost like jewelry on hands, throat, and other areas of her (or the interactive viewer) body, to show the physical restrictions of her health issues. 

My personal health experiences came to mind when I saw both of these works. Specifically my own sense of female identity that connects to my health. When I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease I became more aware that my issues with weight and struggles between insomnia and sleeping to excess, the fact that I was always tired, my hands would shake sometimes had one root cause. I thought laziness and insomnia were just normal teenage behaviors. But then some of the other possible symptoms came into my consciousness. I could potentially have fertility issues. Knowing I wanted to be a parent from a young age, the thought that I may struggle to get or carry a pregnancy to term was very upsetting. It made me see my own feminine identity differently. Although it shouldn’t have, the concept of fertility has been so intertwined with feminine identity that the thought devastated me. Let me remind you, I am still quite a few years away from trying to be a parent. Fast forward to last year, when I unexpectedly got pregnant. I had such mixed feelings being pregnant when I couldn't care for and didn't want to have a kid at 21. But at the same time I took it as a sign that maybe I wouldn't struggle with fertility. I don't regret it and think it was still the right decision, but a little voice wonders, ‘what if I do have fertility issues, and this pregnancy won't happen again At the right time? This is a hard thing to talk about because of the taboo around talking about personal experiences with abortion. I was raised religiously, (which didn’t stick long term) but I'm a huge advocate for the right to choose. I'm not afraid to address the topic head on because it's something I believe strongly and would fight for, but there is something about taking it to that personal level that feels so vulnerable. In my own selfie inspired by the exhibit, I incorporated my ultrasound, which was something I really felt drawn to in Da Cruz’s work. 

The exhibit shows women expressing the struggle of health under patriarchal medicine. Women, especially women of color, are less likely to be believed by health professionals and less likely to be treated for pain. Exploration of medicine for women's health is shockingly underdeveloped in our time. Because so many women experience being ignored, dismissed and misdiagnosed, we often turn to our own healing, or more realistically, trying to adjust to a life of pain and frustration. What a small sample of women to explore so many struggles. Although it's not technically good scientific process, I think that this small sample shows just how common women's issues in the medical community are. 

In “the interventionist” a discussion on how social issues are conveyed in art has changed came to mind during the gallery visit. “…The lack of these methods (symbolically charged) does not imply that such issues are less important now, but rather that the methods for communicating these issues have changed.” Now, I know this quote might seem like a stretch I. Context and I’m having a lot of trouble finding it in the readings themselves, but the concept of a new approach to how we address social issues is certainly relevant for the WW12 exhibit. One of the biggest things I noticed all the women’s art had in common (besides the topic of the exhibit of course,) was the amount of installations that were interactive. The rise in interactive art is so much more important than we may realize. The reach to larger audiences is bridged by the invitation to experience and play. It quite literally engages your brain more. Although the space of a piece definitely affects the way it is interpreted or interacted with, I think it’s safe to say this exhibit has interventionist implications. Anotherquote from the interventionists discusses the artists shift from the traditional protest of art. “most telling point of departure for this “off the radar” political art would be the increasing emphasis on the tactics of intervention. Instead of representing politics, many political artists of the 1990s employ the techniques of art to engage real life situations.”( pg. 97 the interventionists) I would argue that the context of space gives the viewer more mindset to truly and openly consume the art. In the case of the WW12 exhibit, the use of interaction and multiple engaging mediums works quite in the artist's (and the viewers)  favor to convey multiple concerns on health and feminine identity. 

Exhibit Essay 2

 What’s more important in our lives than having good health? Yet, something as simple as health remains a controversial topic throughout time. Many questions come to mind when one begins to approach the idea of well-being. What qualifies as a health matter? Emotional distress? Modification of bodies? What dictates health, besides an economic based industry? When it comes to it, health as a topic can be explored and debated in dozens of different ways. In the exhibit Wonder Women 12: A Health Survey, several facets of the broad topic of “health” gets explored in varying creative ways that makes one reflect on the topic at hand.  

Sharon Lee De La Cruz produces a short zine titled The Itchies. (fig. 1) With a bold illustration style that is reminiscent of a childhood cartoon, De La Cruz puts forth a memoir about her time abroad, and the issues she had facing an unknown allergy. With rashes and itchies plaguing her skin, the creator spent some time struggling with her physician to solve the issue. The zine broaches a common issue the health industry riddles itself with, the issue of stigma and bias that affecting patients’ diagnosis and treatment. This issue particularly affects minorities, especially people of color. De La Cruz’s personal story about how she had to struggle with getting her doctor to find the real root of the issue is something more common than it should be. In a different vein, Kimberly Drew wrote in her short book This is What I Know About Art, that “From a very young age, [she has] known “[her] lane.” While she may be discussing her role in the art world, the same can be said about the large percentages of people excluded or left behind in the health industry. When doctors insist they know more about your body than you do, as De La Cruz experienced, it is essentially the same as being told to stay in your lane. 

Additionally, in the zine, De La Cruz does something especially interesting in her work, using humor to help gain audience approval. In the Guerilla Girls book, Confessions of the Guerilla Girls, a passage says “[w]hen so many individual women artists are struggling for recognition, what is is it that has enabled the Guerilla Girls to establish, in less than a decade, the kind of notoriety…. The Girls’ particular combination of subversive theatrics and outrages flaunting of convention finds a ready audience. In an age of sound bytes, their one-liners fly like barbed arrows….” Much the same can be said about Sharon Lee De La Cruz, who uses humor and sarcasm in The Itchies to get her message across with the same biting activism. Spreads like the one pictured below help captivate the audience into relating to the character of the zine. (fig. 2) Like the Guerilla Girls, De La Cruz uses humor as a weapon to spread ideas across. 

Weirds in Sibley Park Map by Mary Jeys (fig. 3) is a watercolor painting depicting a map of colorful blobs, to put it simply. Mary Jeys describes the map as an illustration of her modulation between physical, mental, and emotional feelings throughout the pandemic. Varying colors work with and against one another on watercolor paper to help show the fluctuating states of being she describes. The image works particularly well in showing discombobulation felt during a worldwide pandemic. The shapes of the “blobs” used by Jeys looks vaguely reminiscent of a lumpy brain. With each color and individual form representing its own emotion or pain, the image comes together as a whole to show the free-for-all the past year and a half has felt like. On writing about photographs, Susan Sontag, in her book On Photography, writes “[t]o photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed.” Similarly, the way Jeys translating feelings of all kinds into simple shapes and colors, feels like the same kind of “appropriation” Sontag wrote about. Jeys’ painting has success in showing that one’s personal health is not one aspect-- just as each color is different, everything we have felt in the past year, from fatigue to migraines to burn-out, comes together under this colorful composition. It comes off as particularly effective in its simplicity. 

While Sharon Lee De La Cruz and Mary Jeys create two very different pieces concerning varying aspects of the word “health”, both artists have success in captivating the audience, relating to them, and showcasing their own personality and individuality in their pieces.  

fig. 1
The Itchies by Sharon Lee De La Cruz

fig. 2
The Itchies by Sharon Lee De La Cruz

fig. 3
Weirds in Sibley Park by Mary Jeys

fig. 4
Weekly Selfie by Miranda Barrington

Gallery Visit Essay 2

     

One day in the middle of October, I awoke from my nap to 5 missed calls from my father. He had informed me that he and mom had gone to the hospital, because she felt as though she may have been on the cusp of having a stroke or a heart attack. It felt as though my heart sank in my chest. Thankfully it was neither and was just a quite mundane diagnosis. The most recent show at NJCU, ‘A Health Survey’ deals with the relationships between individuals and the healthcare system specifically through the eyes of women. There are a multitude of diverse perspectives that cover many aspects of this broad concept.  Christine DaCruz’s collection of works in this show illustrates her mental journey of dealing with not only her own health but that of her parents. A lot of the work is pictures of Christine herself embodying the aspects of different animals that are embroidered onto the photograph. DaCruz uses the iconography of animals to empower herself, in reaction to the discovery of her mother’s terminal illness.

Society traditionally excluded the medium of embroidery from attaining fine art status. This was a way of relegating female associated work to the status of “busy work”. In contemporary art spaces, embroidery has taken new life. Art journalist, Angie Kordic explains further “Ever since the feminist revolution, embroidery has been developing new forms and language, involving many artists and media in the process. Although as a crafts form, it still struggles to break free from stereotypes and prejudice, it is managing to present itself as a re-born technique which now incorporates different ways of creations and tackles contemporary topics.”. DaCruz's use of embroidery in a feints context is used as a tool of self love. The embroidered aspects of the self portraits express different aspects of Christine’s journey of self acceptance. On her Instagram she explains the metaphorical significance of each animal. In her piece ‘Eel’ she explains “ The eel spirit really resonates with me this time because of their ability to adapt, remain elusive and the unlimited possibilities for their transformation as they navigate their landscape.” (Kordic, 2016).  

A piece that stuck out to me in particular was the uniquely stark ‘FEME-NINO”. In contrast to the other works displayed on the wall, there was a bold frailty that it proudly displayed. In comparison to her previous work that depicted bodies in a more classical style reminiscent of Maire Linwood, this is a jagged and raw representation of femininity. I recalled this passage from Kimberly Drew’s memoir ‘This Is What I Know About Art ‘, Drew recounts her time starting off as an assistant at a privately owned gallery “The Femme portraits were quite different from her earlier works, which were usually more representational. In each of these mosaic-like works, Thomas seemed to be pushing the limits of what her audience expected of her. Each canvas was a refusal of the way that she’d been known as an artist.” (Drew, 2016, p.47). 

What I find refreshing about Christine’s work is that she feels free to express a certain positivity that feels refreshing in this current day and age. Bell Hooks in her essay ‘Love as the Practice of Freedom’ espouses “His words echo Martin Luther King's declaration, "I have decided to love," which also emphasizes choice. King believed that love is "ultimately the only answer" to the problems facing this nation and the entire planet. I share that belief and the conviction that it is in choosing love, and beginning with love as the ethical foundation for politics, that we are best positioned to transform society in ways that enhance the collective good.” (Hooks, 2006, p.244). Dacruz’s hope in the face of the many hardships of the world hold a certain stoic beauty emblematic of the human condition. 

 

Drew, K. (2020, June 2). This is what I know about art. Penguin USA. 

Kordic, A. (2016, January 5). Embroidery art : More and more common in contemporary expression. Widewalls. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/embroidery-art. 

Hooks, B. (2006, May 12). "Love as the Practice of Freedom". In Outlaw culture: Resisting representations (p. 244). essay, Routledge. 

DaCruz, C  [@Christudo_Art], Photo of 'Eel', Instagram, Photographed by Christine DaCruz, 20 November. 2021, https://www.instagram.com/p/CWf8pYZrzri/

Short Essay 2

Christine DaCruz Series

Christine DaCruz Series

Stephanie Tichenor's Little Steph

    Our class met to see the WW12: A Health Survey exhibition at the Visual Arts building on campus. We got to see the amazing pieces done by amazing women who address the health issues that have been accumulated and boiled together after a year of dealing with the pandemic that left many people feeling all sorts of ways. This exhibition showcases the feelings that these artistic women have conveyed with their work that many people can relate to upon viewing them as we continue to try to get back to normal.

            Out of all the pieces of art that were displayed in the exhibition, there were two pieces that stood out to me. The two artworks are Little Steph by Stephanie Tichenor, and the Christine DaCruz series. Little Steph stood out to me due to it being an interactive fiber sculpture. She made this sculpture to showcase what she was feeling internally from her pain due to her medical procedures. It was a way for her to separate her pain from her body and pinpoint the pain she’s been feeling. Little Steph allows people to express the pain in their own body without using words. I think this is a very cute and creative method to literally show how a person is feeling internally. The second piece of art that stood out to me was the series of photos made by Christine DaCruz. The series of photos displayed are meant to show her self-reflection journey towards healing, vulnerability, and being completely honest. She mentions how her display is meant to focus on her identity in different ways: as a woman, daughter, and caregiver. In her photos you can see animals embroidered into the photo. The animals are meant to represent the path that she is on, deepening her personal connection to her own spirit. She mentions that for her, the animal-human connection has been very healing for her. She uses her photos to highlight her reconnection to her own story and experiences that helped shape her into the person she is today. It shows that she now understands the life lessons that were related to different moments in her life that associated with struggle, compassion, and vulnerability. She shows that throughout her journey of self-reflection, achieved the ability of restoring balance to her body and spirit and to truly feel peace with oneself.

            Both of these works, along with the rest of the artwork in the gallery, discusses the health of oneself. With the pandemic that continues to impact us today, and going through quarantine and isolation for months, multiple people have come out explaining how this portion of the pandemic really effected their mental health but also granted people the opportunity to grow from the situation. I do think that these works are activist as a person can look at their work and feel that overall health and mental health needs to be taken more seriously and addressed more often rather than pushed to the side. With Stephanie Tichenor’s Little Steph, she uses her fiber showcase to explain to her doctors how her body feels without words due to her inability to do so. She goes through chronic pain and struggles to get her doctor to understand how she is feeling internally. By reading this and seeing how she has to use her sculpture in order to get her pain across to her doctor, it can start a conversation surrounding healthcare especially towards women. Christine DaCruz’s work is also activist. She highlights her journey of self-reflection and self-healing. In her art she had animals embroidered to connect them to her spirit. It can inspire others to take their own journey of self-healing and making their own health a priority after the crazy year that has passed.

            In Kimberly Drew’s This is What I Know About Art she says, “I was depressed, burned-out, and I felt like I was failing in every direction.” (page 12). This quote shows the impact of mental health on a person, especially one so young, that can carry on into adult years. She used her art to help make herself feel better and heal herself as well as others with her work. She also goes on to say, “The more art I saw, the more I wanted to share it with others.” (page 33). I feel like this quote gives a good perspective on viewers of exhibits who see art that truly inspires them to share and possibly create a work of art with the same message. A final quote that was used in the book is “Instead of leading with rage, she helped me understand this difficult crossroads. By the end of the meeting, she asked me to think deeply about what I wanted to say, and, more importantly, how I wanted it to be interpreted. It was not enough to be angry.” (page 43). This quote reminded me of the artists work in this exhibition and how they thought carefully about how to showcase their work. They let their feelings and emotions go onto their art but they thought carefully on how they wanted to portray their stories.

Short Essay 2

 Brian Vargas

Short Essay 2

Walking around the art gallery was interesting because there were many different pieces of art. Each piece of art had an interesting story to tell. The artists each had a story about what they created and what inspired them to create it. One of the most interesting pieces of arts for me was The Itchies because it described the artist’s health problems and how she chose to express it by having a book and having some illustrations. She had illustration’s that showcased how she felt and looked she also had a description. She drew herself and a sort of black thing covering her body symbolizing the rash she would always get. The message I got from this art was that your health issues should not be something you should be embarrassed about. This is a message that everyone in the world if they have a health problem that they are embarrassed about that they shouldn’t be embarrassed about. Health issues are something that should be addressed no matter how big or small. This can help save your life and the lives of others. 

The project reminded of a quote I read in the book, Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hooks it states, “Instead of wondering why men resist for a freer and healthier life, I began to wonder why men refrain from engaging in their own struggle.” This reminds of most people in life resist living a better life by not going to the doctors and having their health problems addressed. Us men are known for this because will believe we need to “tough” it out and things will magically get better over time. Also, it not just men there are also women who do not like to address their health issues and they also believe that should “tough” it out and not go to a medical professional. Many may feel embarrassed of their health problems and do not feel comfortable about sharing their health problems. I read an article titled Doctor’s Don’t Like Fat People it stated “Sadly, anti-fat attitudes do not disappear upon medical school graduation. Research has shown that physicians exhibit both strong implicit and explicit anti-fat bias on Weight Implicit Association tests; that physicians are less likely to build emotional rapport with overweight and obese patients; that physicians’ level of respect for patients actually goes down as patient weight goes up; that patient size negatively impacts the amount of time a physician spends with a patient; and that even health professionals who specialize in obesity exhibit high levels of anti-fat bias, including endorsement of stereotypes that fat people are “lazy,” “stupid” and “worthless.” The numbers are disturbing, but not surprising.” This can be a reason as to why some people don’t want to visit doctors and talk about their health problems. 

People who are obese can refuse to visit the doctors because there are some doctors who judge them because of their weight and instead of trying to help them and guide them to make healthy decisions. Another piece of art that stood out to me and found interesting was the clay pieces made by Kristy Lopez. What I found interesting was how each of the clay pieces represented a different person in her life that was a major influence on her. People and the experiences are a big part of a one’s life as they can help influences decisions people make in life. In the story This is What I Know About Art by Kimberely Drew it states “On top of my heartbreak, my grandfather passed away my first my first year of college, and while we were never close, his death had a tremendous impact on my financial aid package. My immediate family did not inherit any money, but the federal government thought otherwise.” Even if you don’t know someone or know them, they can still make an impact on you regardless. People can still be impacted by people. Like in the reading Kimberely Drew was impacted by her grandfather passing away even though she was not very close to him, him passing away affected her ability to pay for school. 

Another quote that connects to Kristy Lopez’s work by Kimberley Drew is “My father’s two sisters instilled a love of fine art in me, and during family gatherings, visiting a museum would usually be on the itinerary. My mother’s brother Dj’d in 1970’s and 1980’s, and my godmother went to the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Art and self-expression were essential pillars in my childhood.” This was also an influence in Drew’s life and how she was always in artistic family. 

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Short Essay 2 Gallery Visit

        When walking around the art gallery, there were many beautiful art pieces that touched the audience in many ways and made me stop and think about it. Two artist works have stood out to me than the rest which are: Avani Palkhiwala’s “A Mandala of This Confounding & Extraordinary Body” and Kristy Lopez’s “Gratitude Gifts: Rescue, Abundance, Sorry, Adventure, Bloom, Lover’s Soup, Support, Middle, Roots, Only, Leo”. Both these pieces show mental health awareness along with specific a female’s health. This exhibition was one of my favorite ones yet.

        Avani’s piece stood out to me because the material she used, which were mirror pieces, allowed us to look down and see our own reflection through her mandala design. When taking a deeper look within the design, you can see objects like the sun, baby bottle, dumbbells, and pregnancy tests for example. The message that I interpreted from it was to not judge a women’s body, life and/or health since there are a lot that is expected from them. Some reasons on why I think this is from the pregnancy test and baby bottles, due to women being expected to have a family with kids and be a stay-at-home mom. Then the dumbbells come into play due to society expecting women to have a specific type of body figure along with losing the baby weight if they have any. Also, when looking down at the mandala, you can see your own reflection through it, so it makes you look at yourself and start to think. In the book, Understanding Patriarchy by Bell Hooks it states, “I announced my desire to play and was told by my brother that “girls did not play with marbles”, that it was a boy’s game” (20). This quote shows how women need to be looked at deeper than just their looks and being baby makers. Another quote from Understanding Patriarchy, “Like many visionary radical feminists I challenged the misguided notion, put forward by women who were simply fed up with male exploitation and oppression, that men were “the enemy.” (25). This art raises questions and awareness on the stigma of how women’s lives should be and to take a deeper look at yourself.

        The artwork by Kristy Lopez, I absolutely loved it. She made multiple different clay pieces that represented someone in her life like her parents, lover, grandparents and therapist which has had a major influence in her life along with thank you cards that specified the impact. These people in our lives, we tend to take them for granted and sometimes we don’t know how to say thank you to them for the help they gave us. In the book, This Is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew it states, “I was depressed, burned-out, and I felt like I was failing in every direction” (12). This quote describes how outside sources like school for example, can affect our mental health and makes us feel like we are spiraling downhill constantly and there is no stopping. The message that is conveyed is to appreciate everyone in your life either good or bad and to check in on others from time to time. When looking at her artwork, questions arose about mental health awareness like why is there discrimination about it when its sadly something that isn’t going away anytime soon so it’s best to understand it. This work is activist since it’s bringing up a topic that so many people tend to avoid and are uneducated in, that looking at this art makes them want to learn more.

        In my selfie, I wanted to make a collage of all the people that has had an impact on my life and made me who I am today. These people include my parents, sister and her boyfriend, cousins, and friends. Mental health is no joke since an illness like depression can drive people to suicide which is never the answer to anything. My parents dedicated their life to give me and my sister whatever we want (with good reason) and has shaped us to be these amazing grown women. My sister who is my best friend has always been there for me no matter what and helps try to understand my mental health and what I am going through. My sister’s boyfriend is the big brother that I always wanted and wouldn’t trade him for the world. Friends helped make me in a better mood and just live life instead of in my head like the usual. Lastly, Mindy the cat has been my emotional support cat and honestly helps me start the day when she can tell that I’m not okay. There are so many other people who have helped me shape who I am today, and words can’t describe how thankful I am. My mental health makes me think that I am alone and that everyone hates me but these people that I am surrounded by give me strength to get better.

Images from WW12: A Health Survey Gallery Visit

Intervention 3 Performance/Protest

        Growing up, females were told that they can only do certain things in life and leave the males to do the rest. One of those things were females being told that video games were only specifically for males. Over the years, more females are getting involved within the community and the males do not agree. When playing online games like Call of Duty for example, when males find out that they were playing against or with a female then they will not hesitate to trash talk them due to their misogynistic mind. But also, it is very rarely when you meet men that do not care about gender and actually support and hype the females up. This issue is important due to men being taught that they are better than females along with females growing up being told that they can’t do what males do. The female gamers who raise awareness to this issue inspires little girls growing up, that they can do whatever they put their mind and no matter who says otherwise whether it’s the same gender or the opposite, etc.

        Another issue is that females are sexualized in the video game and/or play a minor part within the story. Most games were designed for the male audience and gaze like Grand Theft Auto 5 for example which had a female dressed in a bikini on the cover. Female streamers/game developers had become more vocal about their experience within the gaming community along with their opinions on certain games. Brianna Wu became a target when she spoke publicly about the gaming industry and how sexist it is. She constantly received threats of rape, death and more along with her family members. Her fighting for women to be viewed in a different light in these video games had caused her mental health to be ruined since others will not change their ways. In the Interventionists book it states, “We watch as the defense of a community garden is turned into an Off-Broadway hit and join with the Reverend as he preaches love and peace to the crowds that gathered spontaneously in Union Square after the attacks of September 11” (60). Reverend Billy was extremely vocal about consumerism and religion that he didn’t hold back when talking to others about it, but the difference is despite other people not agreeing with him, he didn’t receive threats like Brianna did.

Link for video: https://youtu.be/XpiXwU0Kzno

Intervention 3: Performance/Protest

 

            I chose to focus on the topic of mental health for my project. Especially with the pandemic that hit us so badly, I’m glad a light was shined on the topic and more discussions were happening about its importance. However, I feel the talk for it has died down a bit and it continues to be a serious issue among many. For my project I held I sign asking people what their stresses were and left a pen and notes for them to write down their stresses. Some people who walked up to me asked questions about the purpose of my project and were glad to see what I was doing to raise awareness to this serious issue. Raising awareness and advocating for something can truly inspire people to follow along in the footsteps of others. When someone sees an act of protest by bringing awareness to a topic, it’s as if something clicks in ones mind that says “if they can do it, why can’t I?”. A new protest of an inspired person can cause great change.

 One quote in the reading of The Interventionists states, “Some collaborative projects are born out of discussions; in other cases people take the discussions as a starting point for their individual pursuits.”. Another quote from the book says, “In addition to artist presentations, political discussions, organized happenings, lunches, walks, parties, screenings, and the like, participants regularly share and discuss readings with one another, opening the space for what Joseph Beuys referred to as an “ongoing conference”.”. Both of the quotes perfectly showcase how different forms of protest are able to spark conversation and inspiration to many. A simple discussion about a certain topic is enough for someone to start their own conversation and create whatever they want to get their message across. Such forms of activism like performances can help raise awareness by showing how going out to march at a protest isn’t the only way to bring attention to certain topics. A person can use their interests to bring change such as dance for a performance. 

(Sorry for the picture quality, my sister took these >.<)

                       

Intervention 3 - Paige Bishop

 

Many people who are from the LGBTQ+ community are often cornered due to how they identify sexually or by their gender. This being said, we should not be defined by this term. It does not define us as human beings to be attracted to another human being. We are human!

As a member of the community myself, I identify as female but my sexuality is pansexual, meaning I could care less for your gender but I care for who you are as a person. Am I attracted to you via your personality? That is the real question, yet when people find out about my sexuality, I am viewed completely differently and many change their attitudes towards me. It is honestly upsetting and makes me doubt myself as a human being, making me self-conscious and not wanting to trust others with this information. 

My inspiration to do this silent protest was Adrian Piper, given to me by the professor. After looking up many of her images, I decided for my protest to hold my sign up but cover my mouth with it as a sign that my voice has not been reached but maybe you will take the time to read instead. 

A quote that stuck out to be by Adrian Piper was, "One reason for making and exhibiting a work is to induce a reaction or change in the viewer...In this sense, the work as such is nonexistent except when it functions as a medium of change between the artist and viewer." 

I strongly agree with the quote because, as artists, we are the people that get the visual images out there, may it be prints, photography, or paintings/drawings. We are the people who make a difference in the world of news. When the news people broadcast the world events, like COVID, for instance, it was just words and hearsay. The artists are the ones who were making the signs and other things to tell you to mask up, wash your hands, and the effects COVID can bring. For the Holocaust, for example, if it wasn't for the writings or the drawings that prisoners made during their stay in the camps, we would have never known about the horrors on the inside, the disgusting things that the Nazis were doing to the innocent people. 

College athletes should be getting paid.

video

 I personally believe that college students should be getting paid for not only their time but also their dedication to the sport. If you consider the life of a college student, you can see how difficult, stressful and depressing it can get. College students also need money to keep their lifestyle. Many college students coming from low income neighborhoods are broke and their families cannot be able to support them what happens then is that those college students look for work not only to support their lifestyle but to also support their families and this results in a great loss of talent in the transition between high school and college as many great performing high school athletes either  do not have the grades to get them to college or they do not wish to dedicate their time to something that does not pay them at all and is not guaranteed to start paying them anytime soon. 

Many college sports take hours to practice and play. Paying college students for those hours would ensure that those college athletes do not feel like they are wasting their time and will not only encourage the athletes to play but it will also serve as a motivation to do better in those sports.

Personally I gave up sports after high school as soon as I started working. I used to play soccer, track and field and tennis and I was D1 material for soccer and track but I was trash in tennis but hey at least I tried.

 

Yusraa bint Yusuf Ismail

Pr. Cacoila

Art Activists

Intervention 3 Performance/Protest

                                                   Human Impact on Greenhouse Effect

            The greenhouse effect also known as global warming is a vast economic, social, political, and of course global issue that has quite frankly been around since some time in the 1800s but has recently been brought into the public’s awareness and many forms of media. It is a great thing that global warming has been brought to the public’s attention because it has resulted in more laws and restrictions, but global warming has been on the rise for a long time now. Global warming effects many aspects of daily life including extreme weather, flooding, and health decay. This topic is highly important because it not only affects a singular being, but the world and all that it consists of.

            Humans are mainly the cause of global presently. Carbon dioxide emission from transportation vehicles, methane emission from the decomposition of waste in landfills, nitrous oxide emission produced from soil cultivation practices, and more. The emission of these gases leads to the greenhouse effect, which is when the Earth’s atmosphere, filled with greenhouse gases, traps the Sun’s heat, and heats the Earth. Some scientists believe that 100% of global warming is due to humans, and I wouldn’t completely disagree with them. We must eat, travel, produce energy to power homes and workplaces, etc. daily to live and function on Earth. The problem does not lay there, but it lays in the ways and processes used to complete these actions.

            I enjoy all things related to science whether it be positive or sometimes unfortunately negative. What’s beneficial about the negative is that we can learn from it and how to get better from it. One way is to read about it. Another way is to inform others about it and one can do that by protesting. Protesting can get others involved and informed about issues that need resolve. “The streets have long represented the public sphere: a space where all citizens can participate democratically and freely.” Protesting also creates representation. When people are well informed and involved in something, they feel as though they can represent it. Representation has been shown in many ways including community events, joining clubs/groups and some not always favorable ways which can be graffiti and other forms of public art. “The urban environment has also been home to a variety of tactics of representation such as graffiti, wheat paste posters, stickers, and stencils.” Writing about this topic gives me a sense of involvement and now I can inform others and maybe get them involved in the matter too.

Intervention 3- The Shell Game

 The issue I felt compelled to capture in my third intervention was this interesting scandal regarding TurboTax hiding it’s free tax filing program from internet search engines. Unlike the vast majority of other first world countries, the United States does not offer a simple way to file taxes due to lobbying from tax preparation companies. Since money runs our politics we are forced to use unnecessary tax prep websites. Most of these websites have to be paid for in order to use these services. Although congress has made it so that these companies have to offer a free service to lower income Americans, TurboTax has gone out of it’s way to make access to the free service as hard as possible. “The code in question, which can be found in a file called robots.txt or in an HTML tag, has to be actively added to a site, as Intuit has done. It is typically used on pages that designers want to hide from the open internet, such as those that are for internal use only. Without that code, Google and other search engines default to adding a site to their search results.” writes Justin Elliot, a reporter for ProPublica about the TurboTax scandal. These tactics of making people jump through hoops to get basic and necessary services is excruciatingly important to cover due to the fact that these establishments want to deliberately keep these things out of focus. In a Medium article written by human rights activist Svelta Baeva, she interviews an anonymous member that goes under the pseudonym Frida Kahlo. “It was about twisting an issue around, presenting it as maybe a riddle or a conundrum or some unanswered question. And then hitting back with some statistics that would change someone’s mind.” answered Kahlo explaining the power that creative activism can have to highlight systemic issues.

    In my Intervention I wanted to go into a much more lighthearted direction. I was enamoured by The Yes Men’s tactics of pranks to convey an important message. I wanted to bait and switch random people in the student building by making a shell game in which whoever guessed the right cup would be able to win 5 dollars. The switch is that they have to file an immense amount of paperwork and do challenges in order to win the money. The engagement also serves as performance for onlookers that take interest, not too dissimilar to the The Surveillance Camera Players.  “The SCP manifests this opposition by performing specially adapted plays directly in front of these cameras. They use their visibility – through public appearances, interviews with the media, and the website – to explode the myth that only those who are “guilty of something” are opposed to being surveilled by unknown eyes. (Thompson, Shollete 58)”.   

   

Elliott, J. (2019, April 26). Turbotax deliberately hid its free file page from search engines. ProPublica. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www.propublica.org/article/turbotax-deliberately-hides-its-free-file-page-from-search-engines. 

Baeva, S. (2018, February 22). Guerrilla girls on the art of creative complaining. Medium. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://medium.com/@svetla.baeva/guerrilla-girls-on-the-art-of-creative-complaining-3279fbe22838. 

Thompson, N. (2004). The interventionists: Users' manual for the creative disruption of Everyday Life. MIT. 

Intervention 3 - Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin Covid-19 PSA

 

Intervention 3

    For my third intervention, I decided to take a marketable route that, if polished, could be something we even see on TV. I was unsure of what liberties I could take, but I ended up doing a public service announcement where Spider-Man informs his nemesis, the Green Goblin, that just because he is strong, that doesn't mean he's immune to COVID-19. It is a little corny, but I feel like it calls back to 80s anti-drug advertisements and specials that would feature popular culture of the time.

I voiced and drew everything in the ad, opting for a simple comic book format that allowed me to switch from one panel to the next with ease. There isn't much movement because it is a talk between two people rather than a battle. The issue I chose is important because it's far too relevant with anti-mask and anti-vaccine sentiments being spread despite how far we've come during the pandemic.

In the Interventionists book, artist Tana Hargest says, on the topic of her work, that “The main reason for using these techniques is that they put people at ease. Rather than telling people exactly what I think, the art experience becomes a platform for a dialogue, even if it’s solely an internal dialogue.”(89)  This was the way I looked at my PSA, because while it doesn't fully share how I feel, it allows for a familiar face/property to lead the dialogue on the vaccine topic.

In fact, a few of the interventionist helped me adapt and look towards their work as inspiration. Krzysztof Wodiczko, who looked to video projections to provide an outlook on protest, "coined the term, “Interrogative Design” to describe his works which both address social issues as well as provide a band-aid to them. Like a band-aid, the works both temporarily help a wound as well as bring attention to it." (17). I acknowledge those who do not want to take the vaccine, while bringing attention to the fact that they should.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Y1hgHWzeU

To make the video a public display, I ended up making a new channel and posting it there, along with tags that would help people find it.