G3 Packet 1
In the PriceChopper, I collided with a display of mussels on chipped ice. Clumped together on wave-washed rocks, they had moved slowly, attaching and detaching their byssal threads to attain a better life position. Now stacked and bound in red net bags, I am struck by the glossy blue-black shells, their beard remnants snapped shut on damp prismatic chambers. I look at them until I’m excused out of the way by someone wanting the tilapia. Heat will cook the mollusks open, revealing moist and edible considerations. Open shells caught in a shriek—before they hit the pan—must be discarded.
I scribbled the word “mussels” on my grocery list and tucked it back into my purse. Driving home from the store, I was thinking about seeing the mussels, and my art work; that art at its best is found, starting with the inside of a painting rather than it’s surface, the content of the poem rather than its figures of speech. Looking at my studio or my paintings, this doesn’t appear to make sense; I collect and am inspired by things with surface qualities. My poems are formed with similes, metaphors, textures of imagery. I admire and take pleasure in craftsmanship, rhythm and composition. But—for me—the craft can’t be an end in itself. I would not work so hard if it were only about the well-made object. The art is within the painting, the poem (whatever discipline) at the center, deeper down; it’s what the craft works on. When the “language” combines with the meaning to make us experience what we understand, we find the art.
“Finding” a poem or a painting is finding resonance; subterranean sources that power the subjects and ideas put into the artwork. My sources will be different from someone else’s: maybe it’s family, politics, gender, love and sexuality, fears and secrets. Whatever I am made of, I’ll need to dig it up and feed it to my work.
This is an experiment combining my poetry with painting. Most of the poem’s text is literally embedded in the painting- no pun intended (well, maybe); it’s stamped into the painted wood surfaces. Full text of the poem was displayed as the title in my current exhibit. I might need to let go of this literal-ness in the future for this experiment to succeed. Why? I’m not sure beyond a gut level response and convincing psychological self-analysis that I’m holding onto making the poem so obvious because I want my poetry read, instead of what the painting could become. I don’t want my paintings to “illustrate” the poem. If the text is now part of the painting, I am opposed to closing down other sensory experiences because of our immediate response to words. This is a difficult balance for me to find; I am probably banging some experienced viewers over the head in the meanwhile.
Exquisite Encounters Book Project
I spent 2 weeks researching for this project. I found many “altered book” sites with interesting images and techniques on the internet, however I was more interested in making conceptual art rather than a technique-driven pretty/ gritty craft project. Searching “book arts” returned valuable motivation. My favorites are: Women’s Studio Workshop, Minnesota Book Arts Center MCBA prize and Book Arts Web.
After ransacking my bookshelves for a suitable sacrifice, I realized I didn’t want to take that route. I make art not only with found materials, as a musty book would be, I also utilize mundane materials in alternative ways. The most intriguing books in my childhood (still are) were pop-ups. One of my favorite books, read to my daughter, was The Jolly Postman. This book has actual envelopes addressed to fairytale characters with letters you can take out and read! Yes, it is a federal crime to open Red Riding Hood’s mail but this book is oh so tactile and gratifyingly nosey! Memories of this book are with me and I dug it up for my project.
Paper bags are simple and utilitarian, often overlooked until you need to cover a textbook or make a hand puppet. By the way, the manufacturing process was invented by a woman. In the “greening” process, cooler bags and cloth shopping bags are overtaking paper. I still use them on occasion and found the lunch sized sacks scattered about my pantry. I wanted to have open pages in my book and hidden compartments.
The theme concept evolved from the everydayness of the brown paper bag and the seen/unseen of their structure: How power structures everyday life, how art participates in our abilities to make things change and move. We can and do shift power all the time. We are also shifted around ourselves by power in many forms. My book encounter is about investigating where power is located in your everyday life and how an art form can analyze this.
I typed the theme and the origin of the word “matrix” on recycled library catalog cards. Aside from its ubiquitous tie to the movie, we use matrix (like many words) in a variety of disciplines, often without knowledge of its origins. After my discovery, it then became a forceful underpinning for the concept.
The inside front cover was based on the Rorschach inkblot test. We are all familiar with the fun of inkblots; it’s the questions of subjectivity and assessment that are disturbing. Mine somehow and serendipitously can be seen as a musclebound figure with an aggressive display stance- breasts floating away… How about that for analysis?!
Inside the cover bag is the matrix card, a poem by Adrienne Rich and a fortune teller game we play as children. The poem should be obvious. The fortune teller is a game but also about luck, fate and power. As girls, many were designed to predict our romantic futures. The color black was chosen for it’s western symbolic references: solemn, grief, evil. Also elegance, authority, stability, wealth, reverence, respect and slimming. In many eastern cultures black symbolizes wisdom, harmony, and reflection. I plan to refine this element later, having come to better production ideas after my book was sent.
The 1st book I received was from Jennifer, her theme: How do we define use? Jen taped her pages closed in true Dada spirit of the project! My entries (seen in the Picasa album) are about emotional and concrete (ab)use. The response is meant to be experienced in the pages, no need to overstate with post-production details.
PRACTICUMI was present for the 3 cards from the restaurant’s music night and was able to facilitate. I only provided black sharpies, scissors and a glue stick, retrieved from my purse like Mary Poppins. Sheila dug through her handbag for materials and used lipstick for color. The other 2 cards were made by people sitting at a nearby table. Their interest evident, I invited them to make a card. They joined the project enthusiastically but shyly. As it turned out, a man I spoke to briefly that evening (but do not remember) expressed his interest in me to Sheila the following week. Art generates romance?
I brought cards (alone) to the bar where my paintings are exhibited, but nobody was interested. It appears to be more inviting when there is more than one person- a group effect.
The collage series were made at a family gathering to celebrate Jessi’s (my daughter) 21st birthday. With insights of family, there are personalized perceptions running through this pack of results! There were six adults and one 7 yr old. I don’t want to analyze the individual cards, too much backstory. There was surprise that I brought art materials and a project. And hesitation. Informed that this is a degree project, created emphasis for participation-it would be cold to say no at this point. Did I facilitate or manipulate? I’m okay with the ethics here.
Most every initial response includes insecurity about creativity and what to make. Here, I offered to suggest topics if they got stuck, but once the magazines/collage materials were out on the table, everyone found a start. Looking through old National Geographics is usually an adventure in itself. We worked at this for a good 2 hours! My sister-in-law, the most self-defining as non-creative/non-artistic, actually made very interesting cards. My brother wanted us to “read” the meaning of his card and see if we “got” his intentions. Their 7 yr old wouldn’t commit to his card- if his idea doesn’t turn out perfectly, he won’t do it. My Mom+Dad made cards with the same topic- not a surprise. Jessi’s first card expressed her current romantic state and the second was more playful and abstract.
I plan on moving onto the park and a farmer’s market in the next weeks. I may do some with a 4H group. I’ll be setting up a blog for these cards in the next 3 weeks so people can view their cards and the project as a whole.
Poetry
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