Art of Self Invention Fall 2019: I Am Not My Hair- India.Arie

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

I Am Not My Hair- India.Arie

The subject of my midterm project is what it means to be a black natural girl. The content includes a vase with painted blocks on it. The painted blocks represent what each color symbolizes in my life. For example, there is a large orange block because the color represents my playful and youthful energy. There is a white part because of my innocent nature and the largest block is green due to my natural essence. Inside of the vase there is a curl defining cream, an edge toothbrush and a ponytail holder. Which in other words is my natural hair routine. Standing up in the neck of my vase there are incense and bobby pins. Incense has been a huge part of my life. My mom used to burn it every day and night and I never understood why. As I get older I find myself doing not just out of habit but out of cleansing the air. Cleansing my spirit and my soul. There is also an elephant on the side of my vase. An elephant is, what I believe, my spirit animal. They are prideful, tenacious, sensitive and they have a special attachment to their mothers. Lastly there is a puff on top of my vase closing in the hair products.
I created this after many talks with myself about what is

the biggest part of my life that defines me. It is my state of naturalness. For almost all of my life I have been natural hair wise and practice wise. I have ate for the most part completely organic my whole life. My family has always instilled the idea that you at your natural state is the best state. My natural hair has been my biggest challenge but also become my greatest attribute. I think this image tells viewers that I am proud of who I am and being natural (although) a hassle, can also be simple. The artist that influenced me are Lauryn Hill and India Arie. Although they are not painters or sculptures, in their music and poetry, I have gained the confidence and peace of mind that me being me, is the greatest gift I could give myself.
All in all, this project represents me because I am just a figure made up by a good soul and a big fro.

2 comments:

EstherOctober 29, 2019 at 9:54 AM
I think this was super creative and well put together. I can definitely identify with you on the subject of our hair becoming our identity. Great job!
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itsbrioneNovember 5, 2019 at 7:51 AM
I love how abstract this piece looks. You really grasped the idea of naturalness and it being in a glass container really gave it a funky feel.
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SELF-PORTRAIT FINAL PROJECT (Due 12/10)

Choosing any one or combination of processes that you have explored during the semester, create a self portrait. Connect your final self portrait project to one of the artists and the readings we learned in class since the midterm. Incorporate and be inspired by the the spectacle, media, advertising and technology in the exploration and presentation of self. Through an oral and visual presentation of your work, explain the following to the class:

• What is the subject and content of your project?

• Why did you make the choices that led to the composition?

• Explain the process and steps you went through and why you made those decisions.

• How would you categorize your work (ex. collage, sculpture mixed media, etc).

• What artists or works are appropriate to compare your work to and/or have influenced our work?

• What do you think this self portrait conveys to the audience?

• What are the differences between your first self-portrait (midterm) and this self-portrait (final)?

• What influenced these changes?

• How does the media and its images influence identity and self presentation?

• What is the spectacle? How does it function today?

• In what ways does your project address or exist in the spectacle?

Post on the blog: Give your project a title. You must document the project and post one or more well lit and edited image(s) of your project to the blog along with a written assignment answering the above questions. The writing portion should be 600+ words and explain your process, your inspirations and influences and must also reference the class readings. See the list of questions above. Incorporate at least 3 of the quotes you have been collecting from the readings each week in your written response. Be sure to cite the quotations and include those references at the bottom of your post.

Presentation in class: You must bring your project to class and present your final to the class in a 3minute presentation. You must be prepared, speak clearly and explain your project, using your written post as a guide. Push yourselves! Make something great!

(No class Tuesday 11/26* Thursday schedule)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Due Wednesday 12/3

(REVIEW) READINGS ONLINE:

1- From Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle (first published 1967) First Chapter

Choose 2 quotes and write a brief interpretation of the quotes

2-Recent Article in Hyperallergic Magazine:

https://hyperallergic.com/313435/an-illustrated-guide-to-guy-debords-the-society-of-the-spectacle/

2 quotes

Post 3 Montclair Art Museum response due 12/3

***IF YOU DID NOT ATTEND THE MUSEUM ON 11/15 YOU MUST VISIT THE EXHIBITION ON YOUR OWN and complete the writing assignment by 12/3.

Drawing on the artwork you visited in the exhibition, Constructing American Identity, the information, materials and labels in the exhibition and referencing the readings from Berger, Finkelstein, Guy Debord and bell hooks, please complete the following:

- What does it mean to "construct" an identity?

- How are the issues of looking/gaze, patriarchy, power, race, class, identity, manners and the spectacle presented in the works you see?

-What is the spectacle and how does this play a role in identity?

- Choose five examples that stand out to you that connect to these themes. Identify the artworks (artist, title, date) and explain these pieces in some detail.

-Use these examples to relate to the class readings. Cite direct quotes from the readings in support of the connections you see.

- Please create a well organized explanation of the 5 works you chose in ~800-1000 words

-Take note of format issues with text and images and how the post appears once published.

- You must take pictures of the pieces in the exhibition as well as label text to help you in creating your written response.

-Include images (that you take!) of all 5 of your selected works.

-Include one SELFIE of yourself in the museum.

BEGIN PLANNING YOUR FINAL PROJECT - BRING IDEAS TO CLASS on 12/3

Bring in pieces and ideas in progress for your final self portrait collage. Read the description of the final assignment below. Using our trip to the Montclair Museum and the artists we have learned thus far as inspiration - dig deeper into the self image and issues of representation and identity. Remember to push yourself further this time in concept and in medium and style. You should use a different process than in the midterm to create your collage based work. Bring several ideas to class -written and sketched- and we will discuss these.

____________________________

+++ CLASS TRIP. We visited the exhibition Constructing American Identity at the Montclair Art Museum as a group on Friday 11/15 at 12pm. We will meet at the museum entrance (parking lot entrance) at 11:50am and enter the museum at 12pm. Please be on time! Entrance to the museum is $10 for students (if this is a barrier please speak with me and your admission will be covered). The visit to the gallery is mandatory. If you cannot visit with the class on 11/15 you must visit the exhibition on your own. The writing assignment about the exhibition is below. We will not have class on Tuesday 11/19 in exchange for the class trip on 11/15.

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

_________________________

Due Tuesday 11/12

Weekly Selfie: Create a selfie inspired by the work of Barbara Kruger using image and text. Bonus: use text from the Society of the Spectacle reading.

READINGS ONLINE:

1- From Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle (first published 1967) First Chapter (1977 translation) OR (2002 translation)

Choose 2 quotes and write a brief interpretation of the quotes

2-Recent Article in Hyperallergic Magazine:

https://hyperallergic.com/313435/an-illustrated-guide-to-guy-debords-the-society-of-the-spectacle/

2 quotes

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

Group 5 presents

__________________

Due Tuesday 11/6

READINGS: Finkelstein, Chapter 4+5 Advertising and Fashion pgs 148-216, John Berger Ch 7

Group 4 presents

Weekly selfie:

Using the work of either Kehinde Wiley or Wangechi Mutu as inspiration please create a selfie. Use the style of the artist to inspire the way you position yourself, the background, the colors etc. List 15 words that describe the artist you are inspired by and 15 words that describe you in the selfie you have created. Please Post your selfie as well as an image of the work of the artist.

___________________

Due Tuesday 10/29

READINGS: Finkelstein Chapter 3

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

Group 3 presents

______________________

Due Tuesday 10/22

MIDTERM PROJECTS and Presentations in class

Please bring completed projects to class as well as posting the project to the blog with a short writing assignment. See below for details.

Using processes including collage, assemblage, drawing and painting each student will compose a self portrait. Projects must be well thought out and produced. Please be prepared to spend time on these projects. They should reflect thoughtful planning, research and lots of time and energy in the production. Please be prepared to address the meaning behind your self portrait, any artists that have inspired you and why you have chosen the materials and the subject matter to represent yourself. In written form in a short post on the blog please describe your project, post a photograph of it and address the following questions:

• What is the subject of your image?

• What is the content of your image?

• Why did you make the choices that led to the composition?

• What do you think this image conveys to the viewers?

• What artists have influenced your self portrait?

• What techniques have you used to create your self portrait?

• Why and how does this project represent you?

You will present your piece in front of the class in a 3 minute presentation using your post on the blog and your project and we will have a group critique and discussion addressing the questions above.

Good luck!

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

Group 3 presents on 10/29

______________________

Due Tuesday 10/15

IMPORTANT++++Class will meet at the exhibition Feast & Famine in the main Paul Robeson Gallery at Express Newark in the Hahne & Co. Building at 50 Halsey Street, 3rd floor. Please arrive by 2:30!!

Post 2 must be posted by 11:59pm 10/8

WEEKLY SELFIE: Using the class readings, the documentary we saw in class and the drawing exercise we did in class, create a digital selfie that explores your self identity inspired by the work of Jean Michel Basquiat.

Documentary: The Radiant Child https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjm1pijMKp4

No Readings Due -- Work 0n your MIDTERM projects!!

Bring your projects in progress for your midterm self portrait collage. Read the description of the midterm assignment on the syllabus. Look at examples of artist portraiture and collage in our texts, online and in other books for inspiration. Dig around, look explore self portraiture and collage. Connect your ideas to the class readings. How can you push your ideas into a fine art and art historical space. Find quotes and artwork that informs and connects to your self portrait ideas.

Explore lots of artwork!! You can begin with this list: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3318/top-10-collage-artists-hannah-hoch-to-man-ray

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

____________________

Due Tuesday 10/8

READINGS: John Berger, Chapters 2+3

2 quotes for chapter 3

On Blackboard under Course Documents: bell hooks Understanding Patriarchy and The Oppositional Gaze

2 quotes for each essay

Post 2 Due

Compare the work of Ana Mendieta and Andy Warhol. What are some prevalent themes in each of their work. What influence may their biographies have on their works? How did their lived experience and their self identities influence the way they made art, the subjects of their work and their own presence in their works (self portraits)? Did these artists become synonymous with their work? How did fame play a role in their work and their lives? How did each of the artists use materials and technique to address some of these themes? How were the materials and techniques themselves important to the subjects they depicted?

Did these artists invent themselves or their public selves through the presentation of these works? Use Berger, Finkelstein and any other additional sources to help you answer these questions. You must cite at least 4 references (quotes) from your class readings in your essay.

~800 words. Please use proper citation style and put a 'works cited' at the bottom of your post listing our two class texts as well as any other sources you cite from. Include at least 4 images/examples of the artists work.

MIDTERM project ideas and sketches. Bring in ideas in progress for your midterm self portrait collage. Read the description of the midterm assignment on the syllabus. Look at examples of artist portraiture and collage in our texts, online and in other books for inspiration. Dig around, look explore self portraiture and collage. You can begin with this list:http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3318/top-10-collage-artists-hannah-hoch-to-man-ray

Weekly Selfie: Create a selfie that works out some of the ideas of your midterm project. Use a digital selfie to illustrate the direction you have chosen to take your midterm. Think of this as a sketch or adjacent project to your midterm self portrait that gives some idea of your midterm portrait.

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

___________________

Due Tuesday 10/1

Group 1 Presents

Weekly Selfie: Write down 15 words that describe the work of Ana Mendieta. Use your list of 15 words about Mendieta's work as a beginning to explore these ideas in more depth. In response to the short videos we watched about Ana Mendieta, create a digital selfie exploring themes of gaze, body, nature and homeland. Look at her work online and use your list of words about her work to help design your selfie.

READINGS: John Berger, Chapters 4+5

2 quotes for each chapter

Joanne Finkelstein, Chapter 2 Manners

MIDTERM project ideas and sketches. Bring in ideas in progress for your midterm self portrait collage. Read the description of the midterm assignment on the syllabus. Look at examples of artist portraiture and collage in our texts, online and in other books for inspiration. Dig around, look explore self portraiture and collage. You can begin with this list: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3318/top-10-collage-artists-hannah-hoch-to-man-ray

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

___________________

Due Tuesday 9/24

READINGS:

Joanne Finkelstein, Chapter 1 pgs 42-72

John Berger Ways of Seeing Ch 1

(two quotes for each)

Weekly Selfie Autobiography, Nature and Place

Using the work and biography of Frida Kahlo as inspiration please create a selfie that is autobiographical and inspired by the style of the paintings of Frida Kahlo referencing nature, the body, identity and home (place, nation, geography and culture).

*Add to the post of your selfie the 15+ words you wrote down about Frida and add 15+ words that you would use to describe your selfie (they can be repeated).

Biography of Frida Kahlo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROAH9LQecyc

additional documentary to watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpJDLApWG9Q&t=174s

Frida with Salma Hayek

*on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu

interview with Salma Hayek about the film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1R0T5MOR2s&t=18s

MIDTERM project ideas and sketches. Bring in ideas in progress for your midterm self portrait collage. Read the description of the midterm assignment on the syllabus. Look at examples of artist portraiture and collage in our texts, online and in other books for inspiration. Dig around, look explore self portraiture and collage. You can begin with this list: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/3318/top-10-collage-artists-hannah-hoch-to-man-ray

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

___________________

Due Tuesday 9/17

READINGS:
Finkelstein, Introduction pgs 1-36
2 Quotes

Weekly Selfie - Manufactured reality
Create a selfie inspired by the Susan Sontag reading On Photography. Choose a quote from the reading and include it in your post with your selfie and a brief description of your interpretation of the quote. 1 paragraph.
http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/books/onPhotographyExerpt.shtml

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

_____________________

Due Tuesday 9/10

GET THE BOOKS!!

The Art of Self Invention by Joanne Finkelstein, I.B. Tauris, London: 2007

Ways of Seeing by John Berger, British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books: New York 1990

Post 1/Weekly selfie in response to the readings

Create a quick digital selfie/self portrait that is informed or inspired by the ideas you read in the reading linked below and by the work of the artists Cindy Sherman and Mickalene Thomas. Use the ideas from the readings and the work you saw in the documentary and videos about the artists and their process in creating these self portraits to help you design and create a selfie. Please write a short post on the blog of 3-5 paragraphs describing your self portrait, the work of the artist(s) that influenced or inspired the self- portrait and connect and quote from the readings and videos to help your description. You must include your selfie in the post, at least one image of the artist's work and you must include one link to an external resource (readings that we did online) or another example that helps describe your self-portrait.

READINGS ONLINE:

Susan Sontag excerpt from On Photography

http://www.susansontag.com/SusanSontag/books/onPhotographyExerpt.shtml

2 QUOTES

About the artists:

Mickalene Thomas - I Can't See You Without Me

https://www.wexarts.org/exhibitions/mickalene-thomas-i-cant-see-you-without-me

2 QUOTES

Mickalene Thomas -Photographed, Collaged and Painted Muses

https://hyperallergic.com/278045/the-photographed-collaged-and-painted-muses-of-mickalene-thomas/

2 QUOTES

The Cindy Sherman Effect

http://www.artnews.com/2012/02/14/the-cindy-sherman-effect/

2 QUOTES

Galleries of Work:

Mickalene Thomas

https://www.mickalenethomas.com/

Intro to Cindy Sherman MoMA http://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1154?locale=en

Image Gallery and the marketplace: https://www.artsy.net/artist/cindy-sherman

WATCH:

Cindy Sherman, Nobody is Here But Me, 1994

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

Mickalene Thomas: Interview with Institute of Contemporary Art ICA Teens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3E1niqEVlQ&t=364s

Mickalene Thomas: Studio visit Bloudin ARTINFO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2tJKAfyVhs

Mickalene Thomas: Portrait of Mnonja: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm3XvKd_KPs

Mickalene Thomas: SAM Dejuneur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZnKgAqh_k

Two tweets with the hashtag #ACMartofself

______________________

Link to the Syllabus

Link to Videos Shown in Class

Link to our twitter hashtag: #ACMartofself

Discussion guidelines

The course material and discussions can often be provocative and challenging. We must therefore be careful to be respectful of each other and of our viewpoints. There will be no tolerance of hatred, bigotry, or disrespect.

We must come to class prepared and ready to discuss the readings. Please keep discussions focused on the readings and class materials and keep examples relevant and appropriate. If you have not done the readings you are not to participate in the discussion.