Lecture # 4: Amy Stein

During Stein’s lecture she explained two of her most prominent series, Domesticated and Stranded.  While showing these series she explained her background and how it influenced her in creating these series.  As a photographer, Stein had almost no formal training, but her background in politics becomes evident in her photos which show American families and communities coping in hard economic times.  However, this is not the overwhelming factor in her imagery.  Her series Domesticated consists of staged images based on real stories about encounters that locals of Matamoras, PA, have had.  These staged scenes always involve taxidermied animals of some sort, and sometimes involve interactions between people and animals.  Stein stated that the purpose of this series is to examine the boundary between the built environment and the natural world, as well as the tension between humans and animals.  Given her intent, I think her series accomplishes its mission, because upon viewing the images I immediately feel a tension between the domesticated and the wild, even though I know the images are staged.  Her other series, Stranded is almost the opposite of Domesticated, in the sense that it is not staged, and doesn’t involve props of stuffed dead animals.  When working on this series Stein realized that she wanted to take portraits of stranded motorists, and that by doing this all over the country she would also be documenting the political and economic temperature of the time.  This series began right after Hurricane Katrina, and ended around the same time as the Bush Administration, and certainly shows people in a certain light that no doubt were affected by the times.  Over all I really enjoyed viewing Steins images, and the way in which she works.  Though both Domesticated and Stranded are two very different series, they both revolve around a central structured element – and it is partly this structure that makes them so successful.  

Lecture # 3: Paul Shambroom

I really enjoyed artist Paul Shambroom’s lecture on his different photo series.  During the lecture he showed a variety of work that he has done, and while they are all different from each other, they are all connected with their focus on power.  While many of his photographs take place in mundane settings, they are still quite enthralling because we are getting a glimpse into the secret world of corporations and weaponry that make America so powerful.  It is evident in all of Shambroom’s series that he has a fascination with power—and what it is that makes us so formidable as a nation.  Shambroom credit’s this obsession with power to the fact that he grew up during the cold war era, with the constant threat of death and nuclear warfare.   In all of his photographs, particularly the ones dealing with political issues of nuclear weapons and homeland security, Shambroom emphasizes his stance on maintaining a neutral political tone, and photographing the subject matter from a very straight-forward perspective.  While at first I thought that this conservative viewpoint began to look a little redundant, I later started to appreciate thae fact that Shambroom is taking these photographs and then offering them up to the viewer to put their own spin on them.  

Lecture # 2

The Dolls Live On: Eshu and Ibeji in Salvador Orisha Worship

I attended this lecture that was part of the symposium Yoruba Art: Continuity and Change.  The lecturer was John Mason, who is the director of Yoruba Theological Archministry.  In his lecture Mason explains growing up with these dolls while also explaining their background.  Mason grew up in Cuba with his mother and father who were both blind.  His mother made Eshu and Ibeji dolls, and because she could not see he occasionally had to help her with the finishing touches.  After explaining his background with these dolls, he discussed the process from which the dolls evolved.  To understand this process though he first had to explain how many women in Yoruba culture tend to have twins, but instead of viewing this as a miracle the women are shunned from society and their babies are discarded in the forest to die.  Often times the babies are put on the base of ‘sacred’ trees.  It is here that the process begins: the sacred tree, according to Mason, is the first doll.  From there the dolls can embody many different spirits.  Some of the dolls are seen wearing bands around their ankles. This is not just on dolls though, children and priests and priestess’s wear them too, to “keep them from flying away.”  Wearing these bands makes noise each time when the person walks, thus scaring away death. I found this lecture very interesting.  I have seen some of these dolls before but I didn’t know what they were supposed to represent, nor did I know anything about their background.  

Alix Pearlstein Lecture

Alix Pearlstein uses her background in sculpture and installation as well as dance and choreography to create performance based videos.  During the lecture she showed a range of her work, from videos dating from 2000 all the way up to 2008.  Although the themes and narratives of her performance videos vary greatly, they all speak to the immediacy of live performance, and the importance of gesture.  Pearlstein also mentioned how she tends to always shoot her videos in blank white studios, thereby removing any context from the work.  Instead, she relies on the gesture of the actors in the video to provide the context to the viewer.  After watching several of her videos, especially the ones that have multiple and simultaneous channels, I began to get a sense for the choreography and rhythm that were inherent in them.  The first video she showed was titled “Two Women” and had a cut out of a naked woman interacting with a real man.  The camera angle distorts the scale, so that at first glance the magazine cut out seems just as big as the person, and it is not until the end that the true size of the object is revealed.  I found this piece awkward and hard to relate to, although I could definitely see how it fits into performance based art.  The last videos she showed were more recent and both filmed with multiple channels, which I found to be more interesting.  The overall quality of the film seemed better, and with a larger ensemble of actors and a distinct wardrobe, I began to see the cinematic and theatrical overtones apparent in her work.  However, since these videos were meant to be seen as an installation, I think perhaps something got lost in translation, and that I could appreciate them more if I saw them as Pearlstein intended.

Lecture # 4 Media and the Election

I attended this seminar given by Bonnie Newman Davis, a professor at VCU in the Masscommunications department.  Seeing as the presidential election is just 6 days away, it was a very interesting and revelant topic to discuss.  Some of the key points Bonnie went over were:

-The fact that the media has been overwhelmingly supportive of Obama’s campaign.

-What is the media’s fascination with Sarah Palin?

-How effective were the debates?

-Has the large media coverage of Obama swayed voters?

Bonnie brought guest lecturer’s from Jim Webb’s political team, as well as a journalist from the Times Dispatch, to ask them their opinions.  By the end of the lecture, it was pretty clear that the reason Obama and Palin have been getting way more political coverage than any other president or vice-president candidates is because they are young, fresh, and a break in the trend of past politics.  Also discussed was the issue of sex and politics.  Many media sources play up the fact that Palin is female, and label any disputes or arguments against her as ‘misogynistic’ or ‘anti-feminist.’  I disagree with this.  When Palin agreed to run for VP, she put her self in the public eye, and therefore subjected herself to criticism.  Also, Palin tends to favor playing the gender card herself: she constantly makes references to hockey moms, lipstick, high heels, and totes her kids around with as she campaigns, as if they were props.  While my bias is quite clear, Bonnie tried to keep her opinions out of the discussions, which made for a  fair and in-depth analization of the media’s coverage of this presidential election.  

Lecture # 3: Obama Rally

I attended the Barack Obama presidential rally at the Richmond Colesium.  It was really incredible to see 13,000 people waiting in line to hear Obama speak.  When Obama finally came onto the stage, he spoke about the liklihood of becoming the next president of the United States.  While he seemed confident that he will win, he didn’t forget to remind the audience that it would be a constant struggle, both now and after he gets elected.  He was referring to the economic crisis, and was smart in pointing out that there is no quick fix, and it will take several years and sacrifice on everyone’s behalf in order to restore balance to the economy.  Obama then went on to discuss the negative-anything-goes politics that are occuring in the form of automated telephone calls and mailings.  While realizing that these are part of any campaign, he addressed the issue that Americans should not be focusing on cut-throat propaganda, but what each candidate is promising to deliver.  He then proceeded to go over the key points of his campaign: healthcare, the war in Iraq, renewable sources of energy, and his tax plan.  I am really glad I was able to attend the rally; it was amazing to see Obama in person, and to see all of his supporters in the Richmond area gather together in one place.  As the election approaches, the possibility of Virginia being a blue state and playing a critical role continues to loom – I am glad I got to witness a piece of history right here in Richmond.  

Lecture on the conflict between Russia & Georgia

I attended a lecture on the conflict in Georgia, hosted by International Students for Social Equality (ISSE).  Jeff Lassahn, who is the president of the VCU chapter, spoke about the Russia -Georgia conflict, and how the conflict functions as part of a capitalist world.  Jeff began the lecture stating how the conflict began – a Georgian invasion of South Ossetia (population 70,000) , which many believe to have been planned in close collaberation with Washington.  After Russia devastated the Georgian army, they withdrew from Georgia into “breakaway provinces” which had received official Russian recognition of their own independence.  Jeff’s lecture then goes on to analyze the media’s coverage of the conflict, which he believes to be completely one-sided.  He also mentions the political hipocrisy of the conflict, with President Bush staing “Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state. . .  such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century” and Senator John McCain stating “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.”  It is quite obvious however, that we do.

            Jeff then goes on to analyze the U.S.’s anti-Russian stance.  Unable to comprehend why the president of Georgia would invoke the wrath of Russia, Jeff states that it is because the United Staes, who has revamped the Georgian army with U.S. equipment and technology, is “deliberately seeking a major escalation of tensions between Russia and the West.”  Jeff mentions the danger of escalating tensions with Russia, drawing parallels to the start of WWII in 1939, and quotes Leon Trotsky’s view on capitalist economy, which “means a ceaseless struggle for new and ever new fields of capitalist exploitation, which must be obtained from one and the same source, the earth.  The economic rivalry under the banner of militarism is accompanied by robbery and destruction which violate the elementary principles of human economy.”  Jeff ends his lecture mentioning the Marxist movement, stating that “the alternative of socialism needs to be critically studied and considered.” 

            While I enjoyed Jeff’s lecture, I have to say that it was definitely very one-sided.  Initially I decided to go to the lecture because I had not been following the Russian/Georgian conflict very closely, and wanted to learn the basics causes surrounding the conflict, as well as the current issues at hand.  While Jeff’s lecture certainly answered some of my questions, I walked away feeling as if I still had alot more reading to do to fully grasp all sides of the conflict. 

            

Candice Breitz Lecture

Candice Breitz’s video installations speak to a range of viewers on many different levels.  Using pop culture to both question and relate to the world we interact in, her work has an air of familiarity, yet the message it conveys sometimes does not.  Using pop culture: songs, icons, celebrities, and films, Breitz attempts to speak in a language that is “shared with all urban dwellers.”  Stating that she is interested in the strange relationship between powerful public characters and an audience with no public voice, it is clear where her attraction to speak in terms of popular culture stems from. 

Breitz’s Love Song series, which reduces classics by artists such as Olivia Newton John and Whitney Houston to mere loops repeating all the “I, me, mys” and “Yous” shows her attempt to strip down the superfluous elements of the songs to what really matters: the ability to project yourself into them.  Breitz’s Mother and Father series also deal with a projection of sorts, but in a different manner.  The Mother and Father series are Breitz’s experiment at how far she can take found footage.  Cutting many different yet unorthodox mother and father characters from well known Hollywood films, Breitz shows the audience how the mainstream media is opposed to the traditional family structure, and questions Hollywood’s job as the “new parents” who are raising us.  While Brietz’s work varies from compiling found footage to prove a point, or cutting and editing it to create a new one, it always manages to raise interesting questions about the world we interact in.