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Created January 6, 2020
Community? Engagements? Arts? Well, for starters this is a class taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY by professors Kremena Todorova and Kurt Gohde. The goal of this class is to form a relationship with the community by engaging in artistic projects with the community. The outcome of this will manifest itself in many ways, some recognizable and others not so much.
CETA 2020: Our first 2 emojis (of hundreds)
Created January 6, 2020
Individual Tasks
Collect addresses, make & write thank-you cards, design pronoun buttons--Anna Davis
Blog Manager--Paige Wessling
Recorder/archivist for This I Believe essays--Sarah Metcalfe
Social Media--Lydia Baggett & Garrett LeVan
Photographic Inventory (3 people)--Yousef Alsdudi, Sarah Bennett, & Faith Boles
Space, raw material, & tool inventory manager AND order enforcer--Emily Neat
Quality Control & Class Ethicist--Alex Toney
Software Design Team (3 people)--Shelby Barker, Emily Cecil, & Abby Pearson
Fabrication Team (3 people)--Brooklyn Greer, Will Hemingway, & Marissa Price
Finishing Team (4 people)--Nannie Baze, Emon Daneshmand, Ally Frederick, & Madison Phillips
Additional photographic documentation--Kremena and Kurt
Working with production design at Kre8Now Makerspace--Kurt and Kremena
Publicity for the class--Kremena and Kurt
Securing materials needed--Kurt and Kremena
Articles of Interest (optional)
Blog Archive
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2020
(23)
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January
(8)
- This I Believe #3-- 02/03/20
- This I Believe Essay #2- 1/27/20
- Wednesday, 01/22- Resilience 101 exhibition
- Questions and Comments for Wednesday, 01/22, assig...
- Class notes 01/15/2020-- Felice Salmon
- Questions & Comments for our conversation with Fel...
- Questions & Comments for our conversation with Aus...
- This I Believe essay #1---CETA 2020 begins!
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January
(8)
The piece I found most compelling was the gerrymandered alphabet. It took me a moment to see the letters at first, but it clicked once I noticed the V shape of one district. Gerrymandering has always been an interesting thing for me when it comes to politics, as it seems so easy to spot and call out, yet it seems to constantly slip under the radar. When looking at some of them, like the V or the A, it seemed ridiculous that a district could be drawn that way without someone stepping in and questioning the logic of the division. Even my boyfriend, who is an absolute stranger to art and political activism through art, was captivated by the piece, and he spent about an hour at home trying to look into the districts presented to see if he could figure out why or how they were drawn the way they were.
ReplyDeleteOne of the pieces that struck me the most in Resilience 101 was the piece that consists of alternating signs that say Private Property - no trespassing - don't apologize for the skin you're in, Caution - we're too big to fit in their small minds, etc. When I was looking at these signs, I expected each of them to be different, but as I looked at the wall, I realized they repeat the same signs over and over. I think this repetition is interesting and it hints at how often we hear stories of police brutality, as well as how, in the aftermath, we hear that officers suspected of using excessive force aren't going to face any consequences of their actions.
ReplyDeleteThe piece that stuck out the most to me from the Resilience 101 exhibit was the one with signs that all pointed to creating community and equity. I didn't catch the name of it but it had signs that said things like "End racism", "Families belong together", "No human being is illegal", and "Celebrate diversity". I loved seeing all of those signs put together with their bright colors. The common denominator of all the signs was inclusion, wanting people to be able to access things that are their rights and to be treated fairly.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me most suddenly was the controversial nature of the show. So many of the topics spark passions in people and walk the line of political affiliations. This makes me uncomfortable. I find myself an indecisive skeptic in these issues because of how passions fly and logic is often masked. The piece I enjoyed the most was the arrangement of "Caution" "Notice" "Warning" "Private Property" and "Neighborhood Crime Watch" signs. I feel a lot of the messages on these signs were positive rather than dividing, and the juxtaposition of the message of exclusion which these types of signs normally convey with the inclusivity and empowerment of the wordings is very thought-provoking. I identify with the body and thought-positive messages a great deal and appreciate them. I would hang the "Notice: I dream bigger than anything I can see in front of me" in my bedroom next to my foot painting.
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ReplyDeleteThe piece I found most compelling in this exhibit, Resilience 101, was the “Thoughts and Prayers” piece made of empty bullet casings. It shows the emptiness of these words after damage has been done. Our leaders always say this phrase to try and calm the people devastated by gun violence to seem understanding. Our leaders try and show sympathy in the moment when someone has lost a loved one to gun violence, however they have not made any effort to try and stop what’s happening.
I also thought this was the most compelling piece in the exhibit! I agree i really showed the emptiness of "thoughts and prayers" after the damage is already done.
DeleteThe Resilience 101 piece I found most compelling is the collection of maps of electoral constituencies that are the result of gerrymandering. Knowing that gerrymandering exists and wishing it did not is one thing. Seeing an entire collection of gerrymandered districts—which, apparently, are so abundant, one could find a district in the shape of any of the letters in our alphabet—can produce a visceral reaction of disappointment, shame, disgust. Such is the power of art: it transforms a mild lack of agreement into a strong impulse to change the world for the better.
ReplyDeleteThe piece I had found most compelling is the Mitch McConnell posters. Luckily with my work study job in the gallery I spent quite a bit of time with the pieces of art. These posters were one of the pieces I helped hang in the show. I remember when I first saw them I was surprised at the choice of words used to describe policies and beliefs of McConnell. Sometimes artists and other creators do not want to call out specific politicians or leaders for fear of retaliation. It was bold and inspiring to see an artist make powerful statements against a well known career politician. The whole show itself is a strong reminder of the injustices we should fight against every day.
ReplyDeleteThe piece that has stuck with me the most from the Resilience 101 exhibition was the ceramic plate of a man holding a sign that reads “The system was never broken -- It was built this way”. This piece struck me because of its delicate beauty, but also its blunt message. I have heard this quote before, and it always strikes me in an indescribable way. I feel as though there’s always talk of a “broken” system, but rarely of the people who designed it to be broken for certain demographics and not for others. The institutional injustices many of our peers face are the result of a deliberate, malicious system intended to uphold certain power dynamics, and this piece reminds us of that in an exquisite way.
ReplyDeleteThe piece I found most interesting was not actually in the show, it couldn't be. Instead a casting of the work was in the show (I have used "casting" here as it is used when speaking of "cicada castings," which are the empty shell left behind once the cicada has shed its skin).
ReplyDeleteThe title of the work is "Don't apologize for the skin you're in. Do you hear me, do you feel me: We gon' be alright. We're too big to fit in their small minds. I dream bigger than anything in front of me. Anything is possible. You're black, gifted and young." The way this is included in the exhibition is as screenprinted signage, multiple copies of 5 different signs.
In their "living" form, these signs were placed in vacant lots and empty spaces around the city, in the kinds of spaces where the signs they resemble are usually found.
What I most liked about this work is that the signage is so ubiquitous in our world that it becomes invisible and we don't even read the words. PSA changed the words and hung the signs where their non-changed-word-equivalents are usually found. I would guess that most people who saw them never noticed. But the people who did see and read the PSA versions of these signs were surely given a revelatory experience--provided by an artist (Anissa R Lewis) who did not claim the gift by putting their name alongside it in the parking lot.
In the gallery, it is a different story. Anissa is identified in the title statement on the wall. The signs are identified as things made by an artist and by virtue of being in the gallery, they are identified as art.
Sometimes I find cicada castings more interesting than the cicadas they came from. Sometimes I would rather see the cicada.
Oh I wish I could have seen this so much
ReplyDeleteMy favorite piece was the City Strong Posters. It was immediately recognizable as commentary on mass shootings, but I saw so many city names that I had never heard of having a mass shooting. Then i read the description: “(For when your city has a mass shooting)”. It made me feel great anxiety anticipating the inevitable, which is what it truly is. Laws are not changing, the political landscape moves ever so slowly. It made me want to become active in anti-weapon activism (though I don’t know where to start).
ReplyDeleteMy favorite piece from the Resilience 101 was the “Thoughts and Prayers” piece that was created from empty bullet casings. It shows the emptiness that people are left with from gun violence and other forms of violence around the world. You hear the statement “Thoughts and prayers” often when somebody is sympathizing with somebody that has experienced something traumatic. Attaching the statement “thoughts and prayers” with the empty bullet casings really stood out to me especially with all of the controversy about guns and violence going on today.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the most compelling piece was the "Caution: Suitable" by Casey Gries. This piece explains all of the problems with the world, but also gives knowledge and explnations to the audience. For example, abortion is a debate in our society and this art piece explains that we should not stop abortions because that will increase foster homes, poverty and maternal death. Another part of this piece I liked is the health care page. It explains that America should lift tthe burden of prices of health care for those struggling with addiction and mental health issues. I especially liked this one because people constantly dehumanize people with mental health issues, but it is almost a paradox in a way because of how expensive it is to get help. This art work is amazing because it us knowledgeable, and personable to all types of people and their experiences. Loved this!
ReplyDeleteI walked into the Morlan Gallery not knowing what to expect. I was shocked, but that initial shock factor is the purpose of the art - to make you rethink. The piece that stood the most out to me was the Thoughts and Prayers piece made from empty bullets. It really moved me with the intensity of the piece. The empty shells are like empty thoughts and prayers, because nothing has been done to change anything. Thoughts and Prayers are not synonymous with gun control or change. It's message was very compelling.
ReplyDeleteIn the Morlan Gallery, there was a lot of pieces that stuck out to me, but the one that stuck out to me most was Stand Up, Organize! by Terrence Hammonds. Specifically, one ceramic plate that had a young woman holding a sign that read "You'll die of old age, I'll die of climate change." I think I loved this so much because it is the truth unless we can change how we live. My generation has been raised by people who look down on us and tell us the world is falling apart because of us. However, how can we be the cause of climate change if we are barely in our 20s? I think this small ceramic plate makes a huge statement. Unless every generation works together to make the world better, my generation is not going to live to see old age. It is a very compelling piece and I love that it takes a stand that so many people choose to ignore.
ReplyDeleteWhen I visited the Morlan Gallery, I went by myself and there were only a couple of other people present as I looked around at the art work. Since I was alone, I was able to really take in the various pieces on display, and while they were all great, the one that stuck out to me the most was the art on the ceramic plates. One plate pictured a girl holding a sign that said "You'll die of old age, and I'll die from climate change." This image stuck out to me, and the phrase has stayed in my mind since the night I visited the gallery. When discussing climate change, it can be hard to explain the seriousness of the issue to older generations. I have mentioned climate change to my grandparents, and they do not seem very concerned. However, future generations will suffer greatly from climate change, and even if it doesn't affect the generation of my grandparents or parents, I know that my children and grandchildren will face the consequences of climate change.
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