FINAL PROJECT Draft

 

Brian Vargas

Final Project

My final project is based on environmental conservation. This is a very important topic to discuss about because we humans are slowly damaging our environment. There are many environmental efforts across the world that are slowly trying to make a difference in the world. From across the world there those who are fighting to make a difference in this world and try and save it from further damage that we can creating. Many are trying to save animal species and others are trying t save the rainforests from companies and businesses that are trying to expand. I have chosen this topic because as a kid growing up, I was always interested in animals and was always trying to learn more about them. I think animals play a big part in our world and should be protected no matter what. A message for my audience would be to try and help other organizations and do your part to help protect our world and animals. The more people in the world that are exposed and learn about the environment conservations that are happening in the world the more likely those efforts can have a stronger impact on the world. Some efforts such as the Environmental Defense Fund is one of the best organizations. They are working to provide solutions under some broad categories such as climate change, oceans, wildlife, and habitats. This project helps fit into my professional aspirations and portfolio because I want to make a difference in what I do in my life and even though I am a computer science student, I believe in my life that I can make a difference in the tech world just like how there are people in the world who are making a difference in world by trying to save animals and habitats. An artist that influenced my own project was Andy Goldsworthy because he is an artist who creates artwork in forests and riverbeds using nothing but his own hands. He inspired my work because he can make artwork using nothing but his creativity and his hands. A couple of other artists that have inspired my work were Herman de Vries, Jospeh Beuys and Andrew Rogers. They drew some inspirations because these are people who have made a big impact to others because of their work. I also want to have a big impact to others because of my work. Some quotes from the class reading that connect to my project would be from the reading by John Berger it states “Any work of art “quoted” by publicity serves two purposes. Art is a sign affluence; it belongs to the good life;” This meant to me that any piece of artwork can lead to a good thing no matter what it is. Another quote that inspired my work was from Siegler it stated “Am I not a man…?” slogan, they changed the question to a statement, in the form of this striking, simple poster. The message? We are no longer asking you we are telling you.” This showed how such a simple art can have a huge impact on others. The simple poster in the reading even received national attention for months. Another quote from Siegler states “After seventeen-year old Jan Rose Kasmire approached them to talk, photographer Riboud snapped this photo, later saying “ I had a feeling the soldiers were more afraid of her than she was of the bayonets”.

Website: 

https://vargassbrian.wixsite.com/my-site-2

https://kapwi.ng/c/ORS92lGooC

 Pictures by artists: 

Work by Andy Goldsworthy entitled 'Procrastination'.

A sculpture from the 'Rhythms of Life' series by Andrew Rogers, in Ibiza (Spain).

Research:

Environmental Art: what it is, examples and artists - Iberdrola

35 Environmental Organizations and Nonprofits For a Sustainable Future (List and Ways You Can Get Involved) — GREEN DREAMER

Methods and Importance of Environmental Conservation - Conserve Energy Future (conserve-energy-future.com)

Best Environmental Conservation Programs (volunteerhq.org)

Environmental Conservation: Definition, Importance, UPSC - Leverage Edu

gallery exhibition

 

During the gallery visit , one of the works that stood out to me was works by Christine da Cruz who had an art piece called “ Feminine(o)” which was a hand stitched embroidery thread water color paper and another piece called “ feminino” which was a hand-stitched embroidery thread , hospital x ray  artist in her except says she was trying to reflect on healing , being vulnerable and being honest. She mentions that “caring for others often leaves little room to care for yourself” and I greatly agree with the artist as during the pandemic although my situation and hers may look very different they may also seem very similar in that the artist had to take care of her terminally ill parents and this often requires energy and self-sacrifice. I, during the pandemic had to also take care of my family as my parents both had covid-19 and as the eldest child, had to make sure that my parents were well taken care of and my siblings too who looked up to me. The artist in her Art includes animals and she mentions that the animals represent the path she is taking to find a deeper connection to her her spirit. Through this the artist suggests that it Is a good thing to take time and find help that connects you to your inner self.

Another artwork that stood out to me was “Emotion sorting cape “ by the artist Pollie Barden. The artist in her except mentions that her inspiration came from the fact that she was forced to confront her feelings in 2020 when the pandemic was at its best. The artist mentions that the cape was a tool for her to externally process her emotions and that the cape is a part of her emotional journey of becoming partners with her feelings. This artwork greatly stands out to me because I feel that sometimes people need to get in touch with their emotions and 2020 was a very difficult year and many people who had been used to maybe running away from their stressors were forced to confront those stressors as now everyone was cornered. I also feel that because our lives are so busy and most of the time people don’t even have enough time to process their emotions before another stressor hits, 2020 was a great way in which people had enough time to process their emotions as most of us were out of work and spent most of the time indoors. It was a great way to also find out new ways in which you can find motivation on your lowest time and maybe project your emotions to something else, something physical. I also think that 2020 gave people time to relax And spend time with family, on a regular day personally, I am at school and at work and in between many other things require my attention so barely do I even have enough time to sleep so taking time off in 2020 was a great way to realize that sometimes taking time off even reduces your stressors and is a great way to rejuvenate and might also improve your mood.

In a way, all the artwork during the gallery exhibition was amazing and greatly spoke out to, me personally especially since most of it was focused on health and mental awareness. This was greatly welcome since most of us had an almost the same experience where the country was locked down and many people had to spend time indoors. For some it was a bad experience since now they had no opportunity to escape from their stressors and had to learn to live and survive with them. For others it was a challenging time where everything was crumbling, and they had to find ways in which to survive. For others it was a great way to take a break from work and school and everyday stressors and for once take time for themselves and explore their interest and even be creative. Some even had a chance to heal themselves emotionally and instead of escaping through everyday chores, they had to face their demons. So in a way although they year was challenging, it was a great time for many to do what they had never had time to do before and even improve on their mental health and the different artist works that were in the gallery in some way support this idea and each artist even gives their own perspective on the year and how they had to come up with ways to cope.

Short Essay- Crystal S. Serrano

    I was drawn to many of the works from the gallery. Many of them drew me in for many reasons looks, size, media, or just wanting to understand more... but the ones that I interacted/liked the most would have to be the works of Stephanie Tichenor with the piece, “Little Steph” and Kristy Lopez’s “Gratitude Gifts: Rescue, Abundance, Sorry, Adventure, Bloom, Lover’s Soup, Support, Middle, Roots, Only, Leo”. 

    Growing up, only knowing how to speak Spanish, I was placed into a space where I was surrounded by fluent English speakers. That was scary and I never knew how to communicate and because of that language barrier I didn’t really speak… it got so bad up until the point where I just didn’t speak at all. If I needed anything I’d ask my Spanish speaking friend to translate for me for as long as I could remember. Now that I’m older, and can speak for myself, you would think I know how to communicate better knowing English… boy, are you wrong. Because of that sob story, I have a part of my brain that says people don’t understand you… and it gets to me. I only come off confident in what I say when I type… but that’s just because I can reread and redo the message multiple times, once I speak out loud I studder, and it doesn’t make since to others especially doctors or anyone with authority. I am getting better but it still a problem explaining myself more specifically how to explain myself to doctors or nurses because they can’t feel what I’m feeling so showing them wherever the problem area is, is the best way to for me to explain to them the situation. 

    Because of all this, Stephanie Tichenor with the piece, “Little Steph” was the first piece I connected with. Me being a very hands-on type of person, this is just a no brainer as to why I chose it. This piece is basically a fiber sculpture in the form of a doll. Along side the doll, there is a box full of little symbols as well as a chart that tells you what each symbol means. The purpose of this sculpture is to allow someone to place the symbols on the doll to show where and how much of the pain is in that area. And as said, if you’re showing where it hurts and they understand you won’t have to explain more. Overall, the sculpture is hands on, and I love that, if this is a prototype, I feel like it will do great especially for little kids when they get shy. 10/10

    The other piece I would like to mention is the piece by Kristy Lopez’s “Gratitude Gifts: Rescue, Abundance, Sorry, Adventure, Bloom, Lover’s Soup, Support, Middle, Roots, Only, Leo”.  This piece was so beautiful and so personal, and I love how they hand wrote notes to each person they made a piece for. I didn’t get a chance to read them all, but I remember in class the professor mentioning she even dedicated one to a stranger being nice to her. Keep everyone close and be thankful for anyone one that does stuff for you. <3 My selfie is my pain areas using the symbols from Stephanie’s piece.

"Kristy's piece"

"Little Steph"

SHORT ESSAY MODIFIED ASSIGNMENT

 ADRIEL TORRES

SHORT ESSAY MODIFIED ASSIGNMENT

         Art is a form of expression that releases our inner thigh and channels creativity through our innermost deepest feelings. One of these art pieces can be found in Jersey City’s waterfront. It's called “Water Soul” and it was created by the pristine culture Jaume Plensa. It features a white sculpture of a white silhouette female holding a finger to her mouth as in hushing herself. According to CBS New York (2021), Jaume created the sculpture with the purpose to invite people to be silent and listen to their own thoughts. This brings awareness to people's mental health because we live in a world where we have so much going on in life ranging from social media to daily problems. Jaume wants us to take a moment to relax and reflect on our thoughts to better ourselves. Therefore he seeks to improve our mental health through ‘Water Soul”  by self reflection and looking deep into ourselves. The sculpture looks to inspire and motivate all those who see and seek it. 

 Another majestic piece of art that can be found in Jersey city is the “Katyn Memorial”. This bronze sculpture was made by the pristine polish artist “Andrzej Pitynski”. It can be  found in downtown Jersey City, 107 Christopher Columbus Dr, Jersey City, NJ 07302. This sculpture is for all to see and depicts a soldier getting stabbed by a rifle with a bayonet. Pitynski wanted to depict the Katyn massacre and its cruelty. According to Jewish Virtual Library Mitchell Bard (2021) states the massacre occurred in April 1940 in Katyn Poland. Thousands of captured Poles were gruesomely executed by Soviet Union soldiers by orders of Stalin (Bard, 2021). This sculpture has socially impacted the community by its bold display of cruelty shown by the facial expression and the posture of the soldier getting stabbed. It shows identity because it depicts the tragic death of the Katyn soldier and identifies them as heroes in a sort of manner. The sculpture is there to celebrate their memory and honor their bravery.

Another fascinating work of art is Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream” 1893. It shows a variety of very bold and dark colors that blend well with each other to pop out and emphasize the individual in the center of the painting. The individual appears to be walking on a bridge when he pops out a scream and places both of his hands on each cheek to display he is overwhelmed by emotions. The painting seeks to display the feeling of fear to its audience and portrays a powerful message. Some describe it as being painted by a mad mad man and the display of such powerful energy through the painting. 

These same emotions relate to our mental health and can be related to Plensa’s “Water Soul”. Although the scream displays the individual letting out his emotions through screaming and being loud at the end of the day, that is one way to relieve stress and anxiety. While on the other hand we have Plensa that instructs us to be silent and listen to our inner thoughts in a sort of meditation and self reflection. Either way, that's another way to relieve stress and anxiety. Although very different messages they both have the central theme of letting emotions out and bettering our mental health. 

All these majestic pieces of art have to do with health because they all aid in mental health. “Water Soul”invites us to self reflect, “The Scream '' invites us to let out emotions and last but not least “The Katyn Massacre” iads us with identity by honoring the past because that's what defines our future. The pandemic definitely has played a big part in these elements because during lockdown most of our lives changed. We were restricted to be in our homes and our options were limited. Most of us felt trapped because we couldn’t enjoy the daily activities such as going to the gym or a jog. This drastically lowered our mental health. These works of art help us relieve these emotions and aid us metally individually to relieve our stress.

CBS New York 2021; New Sculpture in Jersey City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vh3CJgum-0

Bard Mitchell; 2021; Jewish Virtual Library; The Katyn Massacre

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-katyn-massacre-april-1940

Intervention 3

 Adriel Torres

ART activism

Prof. Doris Cacolio

Intervention 3/ Protest 

Ever since the dawn of time there have been many injustices, as times have changed these injustices have been made easier to expose. As a consequence of the injustices there are protests in retaliation. One of these are the current policies on coronavirus vaccination. Our government is strict on enforcing that everyone gets vaccinated. They claim that they want us to be safe and live in a virus free environment. The truth is that the vaccine was developed in such a hurry it raised suspicions. It takes numerous years for medicines and vaccines to be tried on and approved. 

As one of the Guerrilla Girls stated in the PBS interview they wanted to “eliminate the thought that whatever they see in galleries and museums are the best, which we know so many artists were not getting anywhere”. I agree with the aspect that we have to protest to be heard and create awareness of issues. In their case it was exposing more talented artists.

Similarly the vaccine could have deadly side effects that would be shown down the line or damaging effects would not be seen immediately. Yet they released the vaccines in less than a year. As Americans we have rights, it is our right to look out for our own health and take the choice whether we want the vaccine or not. They can't force us to get it, we have the decision. The main reason they want the population to get vaccinated is so that we can return to our normal lives again. Since everything closed due to the pandemic many businesses went broke, many employees were laid off and the government lost lots of money. They want to return to their profitable lifestyle at our own health expense. We have to protest and reserve our right of choice!

Short Essay: Gallery Visit Paige Bishop

I chose the artwork Fibroids, 2021 created by Agnieszka Wszolkowksa. I chose this piece because it really caught my eye with the bold, red circles that represent the tumors that women develop in our fibroids. It is common for women to develop these tumors yet we are told to stay quiet about it. 

    What I got from this piece was that women suffer from a lot of problems and men do not understand what we really go through. Women suffer emotional turmoil often because the health care system, which does not often take us seriously about what may be wrong with our bodies. We know it better than you. Furthermore, in this piece, we can see the order in which the tumors come about. First, they develop, linger a bit inside us, before being removed but they always come back. It shows that our healthcare system could do better for us and find a way to help permanently get rid of these tumors. 

I do not believe this is an act of activism. Why? It really isn't drawing attention to anything in particular. Without the description of this piece, I would not have been able to figure out what the red bits were. 

I also chose the piece created by Christine DaCruz. As stated by DaCruz, "This series is a reflection on healing, being vulnerable, and being honest." This is a strong statement to me. Nobody wants to be vulnerable about themselves, in front of others. She opened up about her emergency surgery and taking care of her mother in another country. I like black and white pictures with embroidery because the colors pop out and showcase the healing process she is going through. I believe this is activism because it showcases that the healing process of anything is hard and slow and there could be dark days along the way. 

Exhibit Essay 2 - Kevin Wadleigh

  After exploring the art exhibit Wonder Women 12: A Health Survey, I saw many works of art that struck me as interesting. I could have chosen more pieces of art for this assignment, but unfortunately, I was limited to only 2. Despite this setback, I was able to select just 2. These two works of art are Pain Atlas in Motion by Stephanie Tichenor and The Itchies by Sharon Lee De La Cruz. Both works of art are magnificent in their own special way. They both talk about health care in their own way. I personally believe these projects to be some of the best projects from the entire exhibit.

        The art piece Pain Atlas in Motion by Stephanie Tichenor is meant to showcase the gap of knowledge between common citizens and healthcare providers. The project itself is quite simple. It is just a doll, made out of some sort of material, named “Little Steph”. The project allows for people to touch the doll and attach various shapes to the doll. There is a description for what each shape means and it goes as follows: blue water droplets for tingling or numbing, purple crystals for “crystal chards”, yellow swirls for radiating, pinkish dotted lines for penetrating or deep, brownish arrows for piercing, a red spiked line for burning or hot, orange “x”s for gnawing, green “*” for throbbing, blue triangles for agony, orange crowns for torturing,  grey dots for aching, sore, or dull, yellow shapes similar to swiss cheese for a cluster of pricks, cyan ovals for tight or squeezing, blues vertical lines for miserable, green vertical zigzags for lightning bolt, flashing, or shooting, yellow shapes similar to the number 3 for cramping, and greenish zigzags for tiring, exhausting, or continuous. According to the plaque for this piece of art, it “gives voice to the ever changing sensations, pains, and weirdness that is fibromyalgia and chronic pain.” For those unaware, fibromyalgia is a “disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory, and mood issues, according to mayoclinic.org”. This disorder is very common with a reported 3 million annual cases in the United States. This work of art conveys to the audience the fact that there is a massive gap of knowledge between ordinary people and healthcare providers. Medical professionals usually use Latin words for medical terminology. For example, medical professionals will use the term “anaphylactic shock” to describe a severe allergic reaction, instead of just calling it a “severe allergic reaction”. The purpose of this work of art was to provide a simpler form of describing the chronic pains someone with the disorder would experience to a healthcare provider. The creator of this work of art, Stephanie Tichenor, in the plaque, says that “As a patient I have always disliked and felt disconnected from clinical pain charts. That too needed a redesign and became a self portrait.” I believe that this piece of art works well to describe the fact that a “gap of knowledge” between common citizens and medical professionals exists.

The art piece The Itchies by Sharon Lee De La Cruz is meant to show a person’s journey to get medication from a discriminatory healthcare system. The art piece is quite simple, just a comic and a prescription for the “itchies”, though what is in the comic is anything but simple. In the comic, the protagonist faces an unknown allergy, with rashes and “itchies” covering her skin. The protagonist then struggles with her physician to resolve this allergic reaction. According to the plaque for this project, the work of art “uses humor and horror to reflect on the time I gave myself heavy metal poisoning and the journey that ensued trying to heal myself.” The book Confessions of The Guerilla Girls has a quote that can work for this project. The quote “In an age of sound bytes, their one-liners fly like barbed arrows…” comes to mind. The Guerilla Girls find an audience through the usage of humor to state their opinions against sexism and racism. The prescription for the “itchies” also has pink splatters on the paper itself. Whether or not this was intentional is unknown.

        These works of art paint a picture about the healthcare system in the United States. Many people struggle to get proper healthcare. These people, usually minorities, face discrimination in this medical environment, especially people of color. These people face stigmas and bias that would affect the patients’ diagnosis and treatment. These doctors usually have a sort of ego to them, insisting that they know more about the body than the patient does. This sort of elitism is dangerous in such an environment, where one slip-up is the difference between life and death. They use these Latin terms when simpler words would work just fine. I personally believe that the gallery works in showing this struggle.