Myths

Myths combine supernatural fantasies with human limitations. Mythology gives stories an edge that separates it from traditional narratives by creating larger than life concepts. In Kambui Olujimi’s Skywriters and Constellations exhibit, Olujimi begins his story by introducing the main character living in an orphanage to humanize the protagonist. When the strange figures come from the closet, they give him a taste of the world’s knowledge through candy. This surreal power and wisdom were transforming. One of my favorite lines that helped me understand the transition from a regular character to a supernatural figure was when the narrator says, “He packed some of his favorite things. A pair of jeans, a lake, and a lightning storm”. Olujimi combines the realistic, simple act of packing with the fantasy of literally taking all of his favorite things. His larger than life presence redefines his purpose in the film from a relatable character to a god.

Because Olujimi connects past, present and future issues, this story can be told for decades to come because of its relevancy. The most prominent example I see of this is when the narrator talks about the Moxy Hotel that has the never-ending graveyard that is home to the people killed by guns since their creation. The description of the graves, “Three in a hole, first come first serve,” was an effective way to combine the harsh reality of today with the whimsical grand scale of the property.

In contrast to Olujimi’s exhibit, Wendy Red Star’s work provides viewers a more refined interpretation of her identity through her pieces. Her native American heritage is the base for all of her inspiration. The sweat lodge in the middle of the exhibit is an excellent example of incorporating the traditional craft of making tents with the addition of multimedia elements inside. It is an interactive piece to bring viewers to a place where they may never get to wander, and native people call home. I think there is also something to say about having nature featured on the inside of the tent. It is embedded in Native American culture to respect the earth and care for the land because it is what gives us life. Having the landscapes of Indian land reflected on the inside of the tent I think solidifies the idea that the earth is our home and the sweat lodge is just a structure that can be replaced. Nothing can compare to the beauty and simple virtues of the land and wilderness.

After seeing both exhibits, I am inspired by both artists’ works and am ready to incorporate some of their techniques in my work. I want to create a video, and just like Olujimi, I want to use sounds to help form emotions rather than just images and short clips I put together into a montage. Because of Wendy Red Star’s exhibit, I now know that I want to use and feature many colors in my piece. Royal blues, vibrant reds, deep oranges, they are all colors that I love. Colors have a lot to do with emotion, and it is going to be interesting to see what colors I can incorporate in my piece to translate certain feelings based on the narrative.

Myths, Homes and Self Portraiture

   

Wendy Red Star’s A Scratch On the Earth, shows her idea of what home and identity are. The exhibition made me think about history of Native Americans in the United States and their plight to regain ownership of the lands stolen from them and how they are living now. I thought about how they operate space in history, culture and in their daily lives. The two series,The 1880 Crow Delegation, (2014) and Diplomats of the Crow Nation, 1873 Crow Delegation (2017) were my favorites both, formally and conceptually. The large black and white portraits with the pop of red writing which all had  significance. I find that many times in our society, Native Americans and their culture are spoken of in somewhat of a ‘mythical’ sense or in past tense, as if they aren’t around anymore. Seeing Red Star identify the cultural significance of the people in the portrait along with the details of their clothing and positions, provides a reality and understanding of her culture, to an outsider. In regards to ‘myth’ Red Star’s work she brings to life what many of us may not
see daily or could easily identify. It felt like being invited into her home.




Skywriters and Constellations from Kambui Olujimi’s Wayward North Project explores identity and space, literally, set in outer space. The parts of the story was taken out of Olujimi’s Wayward North and strung together  to create the film Skywriters. It was a bit fragmented in  Although, at some points the narration was a bit disjointed from the narrative and it made the storyline difficult to follow, it was still very visually intriguing to me. The ambition of the presentation of his ideas makes me want to learn even more about his work. The images in the Constellations exhibition felt as though they were stills or freeze frames of the Skywriters film. 

I thoroughly enjoyed both Red Star and Olujimi’s installations and was very inspired by their artistic approach with the different mediums used. It makes me want to push my project even further. The connections between artists Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi and how it relates to my self portrait, is the examination of spaces. In many of Wendy Red Star’s collages she combines real life images with computer aided images. The traditional and non traditional mediums Olujimi uses is also something that I have used many times in my work and will be the same for this project. One could say that my self portrait project (formally and conceptually) is similar to a combination of both artists’  artistic approach to their projects. Red Star and Olujimi both use collage and a combination of art and technology in their artwork, which is exactly what I’m doing for my project as well. I will be doing a series of collages that will illustrate a narrative of my examinations of spaces, whether physical environments, space in it’s literal, geographical sense and time, how I fit into the world, the spaces I do or don’t take up, where and what space in time where my identity was formed, will bring forth a variety of  images that track parts of my identity story. 

Myths, Home and Self-Portraits

   ACM Colloquium: Exhibition Responses
   Jenna Arvelo


       Being initially greeted by Wendy Red Star’s exhibition was like walking into a shrine of remembrance. The exhibition itself was like a home in itself with a literal representation of a Crow sweat lodge in the center of the exhibition, sitting as a resting spot set aside from the rest of the exhibition. What I appreciated most was Red Star’s individual voice resonating through hand written messages and intricate details about her culture and her family and the nuances of tradition that make up this beautiful culture. The handwritten details captured Red Star’s own individual voice as both a person whom is part of this culture and as an individual separate from the collective tribe as she goes on to critique what specific culture customs may personally mean to her as an individual. What made this exhibition so provoking to me were the portraits of individual Crow members and the written descriptions of who they were and why they were remembered. These specific portraits stuck with me most because the artist was quite literally hand marking the significance of each member as both individuals and assets whom had relevance to their culture.

Wendy Red Star ‘Pleanty Coups’ 1880 Crow Peace Delegation

Wendy Red Star 1880 Crow Peace Delegation

    I had no prior knowledge of what the planetarium screening would be like since I was sort of a first timer for such an experience. The actual viewing was quite a bit to take in. The was a flooding of imagery and visuals and a voice that guided the narrative of the story being projected over my head. The visuals were vibrant and textured; clashing and collapsing into one another like a collage would. The actual narration of the story was difficult to keep up with between the disembodied voice and the distortion of the projected images.
      Yet  I couldn’t help but appreciate how attractive the images were; how within each figure or depiction, was an environment within it; like jelly fish, the ocean, the sky, or buildings. It influenced how these characters felt in viewing them. To be a figure with no race or an assumed age portrayed as this entity that projects the physical world around them as their form is such an interesting aspect that captured my attention and appealed to my humanity.
    From what I could follow from the narrative, there were several pivotal moments that felt very deliberately political that related to inner city life which was almost surreal being told as a story in the stars as something that feels present in such an ancient way of storytelling. The constellation aspect of it all is what really excited me the most about this exhibition; particularly the rewriting over stories already told in turn for something more modern in both the material and subject.

Myths, Home and Self Portraiture

Wendy Red Stars exhibition showcased themes of family ancestry, and historical identity. She portrays her ancestors in a positive light compared to how they are typically portrayed in this country.  She uses designs and cultures on a variety of mediums that stem from her own culture. Her devotion and allegiance to her culture is something that resonated within me, as someone who has had their peoples image dragged through the mud with ignorance, I always appreciate ones loyalty to their people’s roots. When she depicts the children in stuffed animals she reminds me of the bizarre mythology within my own culture. Most of the myths that originate from South America are supernatural and frightening. My final project may not be based on that aspect on my culture but will show appreciation and wisdom of ancient practices in which the mythology stems from, much like Wendy Red Stars exhibition.

Skywriters and constellations is a long-term exhibition by the artist Kambui Olujimi. It was a multi-media presentation of a science fiction genre in a dystopian world that was sensational and engulfing. At first impression of the presentation you hear a woman’s voice, her tone sounds like radio static and is monotone the entirety of the piece. Right away, the viewer is bombarded with a fast paced narrative and intoxicating images in silhouette figures merged with time and space iconography and constellations.

It starts off with an orphan named Iku who runs an orphanage. One day he discovers strange creatures that give him special candy that hold the secrets of the world. He learns about the Mother of all Secrets, Tenil. In a very fast paced manner, we see an absence of home and family. Despite being warned not to pursue the Mother of all Secrets, he chooses to search for her thinking that he will be praised for it by society. After years of futile searching he is left mute and forgotten. The viewer can spot themes of loneliness and a thirst for acceptance.

 Kambui Olujimi’s presentation of his dystopian narrative is filled with bizarre mythology. He attempts to light himself on fire when Kia, a young runaway saves him. He ends up at the Moxy Hotel in a town called Dedden. The caretaker of the hotel is Nailah. Nialah soon reveals to Iku that she is triplet and along with her younger sister Kia, and older sister Yvonne, they are their own past, present, and future. Nailah creates memory machines that she launches in different towns until she gets found by the authorities and is forced to runway again and again. The machines vary in function and can file memories from someone’s mind to delete, share and store. There is an excerpt where Iku eventually finds a hippopotamus figure in his reflection named Lester who reveals that he is not an orphan and that his mother was kidnapped and taken captive in a drug lords compound. After searching for the mother to try and rescue her Lester finds her and realizes that she does not want be found. She refuses to leave with Lester and to meet Iku. Lester then tries and forces her to come with them and but then gets shot down by the guards. This can be interpreted as Lester being an extension of Iku’s mind. After learning that his mother had no interest in him, the part of his mind that Lester was, died. Later on Iku finds out that Nailah is actually one of many shape shifters who on to try and create social change. In the end, Iku dies as Nailah launches her last memory machine called The Lullaby. Olujimis addresses a suppressed identity of himself and the secondary characters. He is voided of a home for most of the narrative.

Myths, Home, and Self-Portraiture
     The exhibition that we saw in the Newark Museum by Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi address the themes of identity, personal narrative, and home in many ways. The way they showed them self, and their culture is very unique and different, it gave me a clear understanding of our self-portrait project, and how a self-portrait shouldn't be literal.
The works by Wendy Red Star were very straightforward yet very effective. Wendy showed her archive of information and history on her ancestor. The installation of the crow people was a very odd installation. The fact that she glued all of the cutouts of the  Native American culture and her ancestor really changed my expectation of a self-portrait. Wendy did not only glue the cutouts on the wall of the gallery space, but she also placed them in an order of a timeline, and she wrote right on the walls of the gallery. The timeline of the Crow through the years was humorous at some points. Looking at the timeline really gave me a huge interest in her culture, that it made me want to find more about it. The part that I enjoyed the most was sitting in the lodge. Sitting in the lodge created an atmosphere of the culture it almost felt like we went back in time. What made the lodge even more exciting was the graphics and the sky that was projected inside the lodge. I felt that almost everyone was very excited t sit inside the lodge especially that it was closed off to make you focus on the inside and not be distracted by all of the other work in the gallery.
Kambui

Olujim in his piece was very similar to Wendy’s lodge it captured all our attention by placing us in the story. He was able to capture the viewer's attention by placing them in a 360 view of the story in the planetarium. Although it was a very cool experience the way he presented and showed the story was very confusing for me to understand, and no matter how much I tried to follow along I would end up getting lost again. I like the form of abstract concepts, but I had a hard time keeping up with the show. It made more sense once I read the pieces on the wall that was located outside the planetarium.
Although I believe that culture mythical is very important to my self-portrait since its part of who I am today. I'm not sure if I will be adding any mythical attributes to my pieces since I'm taking on the challenge of designing myself into a 3d form and dividing it into many different materials. since I'm conveying that we are made out of many layers. It's what makes us who we are today.

Myths, Home and Self-Portraiture

     Visiting Wendy Red-Star’s exhibition at the Newark Museum was a very eye opening experience for me. Upon walking in, one can immediately feel the nurturing presence of “home” that she is trying to portray. We were surrounded by various pictures of her native heritage, something which I noticed carried a similar feel to how a typical home would have pictures on their wall. When someone hangs pictures on the wall, it is usually to give their home an identity in the sense that one is showcasing their family if it’s a family photo or give their home some sort of color and decoration to it so any potential guest could enjoy. Red-Star’s “family photos” showcase to us her culture and the pride she has. 

       

Her Four Seasons piece was something that I really enjoyed from my visit. I liked it so much because it showcases the four seasons as her Crow Indian people lived it and saw it. I thought this was important because in the aperture.org article, the author mentions how whites have only documented and portrayed Native Americans the way whites wanted to see and remember them. Red-Star’s goal is to reshape and redefine the narrative of Native Americans through the eyes of Native Americans themselves, and I think her piece at the exhibit titled Let Them Have Their Peace really embellishes that goal because she turned photographs of Native Americans taken by a white photographer into anonymous silhouettes. 

       Kambui Olujimi’s planetarium show was a bit more of a challenge to focus on at the museum, but after further thinking and analyzation, I was able to understand his motives behind his experimental piece. He utilized old roman mythology as well as the mythologies of the skies such as constellations and associated it with his own accounts. He is investigating ones personality and grasping the adventure of self-revelation. Although the seats were uncomfortable I think it was important that this was shown in a planetarium because Olujimi’s piece compares so much to astrology and the stars in space. A lot of us were left wondering what we saw when we concluded his video, but that compares so much to astrology because there is still a lot unknown about space but we are always wondering what the unknown is.

     In comparison to what I saw at the Newark Museum, my self-portrait project deals with me still wondering what my identity is. My mother’s family is of Mayan decent and I have always wanted to showcase that part of my life but I struggle with it because I don’t know whether my intentions for showing them are good or not. I want to because Mayan culture and mythology is a very cool concept to me and I find it fun that I have ties to it. But I also feel conflicted showcasing that side of me because my knowledge of Mayan mythology is poor, and I feel like I am also only doing it because its artistic and helps me fit in. 

Myths, Homes, and Self-Portraiture

The works of Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi address the themes of identity, home, personal narrative, and mythology in different ways. Their difference in approach also includes a variety of how they touch upon these topics, with the most obvious being their mediums. In the case of Kambui Olujimi, he utilizes video and projection in order to speak on identity, home, personal narrative through the idea of mythology itself. His work is a reflection of folklore, told in a non-linear format like an ancient Greek epic, only with a modern twist. Wendy Red Star however, approaches these themes through a collection of material mediums, ranging from photographs, drawings, maps and textiles. However, she also touches upon the idea of mythology within her own culture, and creates an epic of her own making.

In terms of narrative, Wendy Red Star’s work was about Native American heritage and identity. A few of the pieces in her exhibit that stood out were the archive photographs of Native Americans, with writings drawn over them to highlight the various parts of their dress and their historical, cultural, and mythological representations. Another piece is the stuffed animals that she created, based on the drawings of some of the tribe children. At first glance, these stuffed animals appear to be regular animal figures, however, when you take a closer look at the drawings that the children made, there is a mythological aesthetic in the form of cave drawings that give you a deeper story which Wendy Red Star brought to life. Other pieces that stood out were her “Four Seasons” photographs, which spoke directly to Native American identity and culture, represented in terms of how she is dressed and her surroundings. The maps that she created also speak directly on identity and culture of her tribe, as she uses archive photos and traditional garb to show the positioning of her tribe across an early map of the United States. Each of her pieces speak directly to a personal narrative, as Wendy Red Star herself is a Crow tribe member, and presents that identity and culture in her pieces.

Kambui Olujimi’s work takes a more non-traditional approach in contrast to Wendy  Red Star. He presents a more mythic approach to his narrative, and it is unclear whether there is something personal wrapped within the story. However, the characters presented in his short film are expanded upon more in a novella that he personally wrote. He touches upon the idea of home and identity in a different way as well, putting his characters on a non-linear journey that thrusts them into various directions as they try to succeed in finding their sense of belonging in this world that Olujimi has created. It is hard to truly discern the meaning behind his story however, as the non-linear storytelling is very jarring when being experienced.

Myths, Home and Self-Portraiture

           The works of Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi that we had the chance to see at the Newark Museum gave an interesting view on the topics we have been studying in class. Their unique perspectives of themselves and their culture served to give a better sense of what self-portraiture and how far an artist can push the limits of possibility in order to express themselves. I was especially effected by Olujimi’s work.

            First looking at the work of Wendy Red Star, I believe her pieces were mostly straightforward. She kept an archive of information and history on her ancestors and the Crow people overall. This allowed her to present this information in her own way, such as the portraits of various figures of the Crow with writing and drawings over their images giving additional perspective into them. The timeline following the Crow through the years was humorous at a few points. The “zoo softies” based on the drawings of Crow children were of particular interest to me. Mostly due to my interest in stuffed toys overall, but they provided interesting insight into that side of her culture. There were also the four pictures of Red Star in the four seasons, which I believe was not only for self-expression but also shows the connection to nature that her people have.

            The works of Kambui Olujimi were a bit more difficult for me to understand. They were not as straightforward as Wendy Red Star’s and involved a lot more mythological concepts and metaphor. It did get me to think more though. The stories that he created using the imagery and concepts we saw in the planetarium show were amazingly creative, if not a bit baffling. I am a fan of abstract concepts, especially those in expressionists cinema, but I had a hard time keeping up with the show. It made more sense once I read the pieces that were outside the planetarium, along the walls.

            Mythology from your own culture can serve as a way to communicate that part of yourself in your art. While that makes sense to me, I do not think I’d be interested in using my own culture as a significant part of my own self-portrait as I do not identify much with it. I do very much want to use symbolism and metaphor in my piece, but I do not see my own culture as having part of that. Individuality and the merging of different ideals and culture are concepts I identify with, so as such they will be represented in my self-portrait, as opposed to having a focus on my own cultural heritage.

            The striking imagery of Olujimi’s work is definitely inspiring to me, and I believe will have an influence on my self-portrait. It will be through different means, but the idea of it being a visual piece (in this case, video) is similar. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the work of Wendy Red Star, at least when pertaining to my project.

Myths, home and self-portrait assignment

After visiting the Newark Museum and looking through the "Wendy Red Star and Kambui Olujimi" exhibition, I have found that these pieces were extraordinaire! I was able to grasp the history and culture of these paintings. Firstly, myth is a folklore genre consisting of narrative The first painting that will be presented caught my eye from its bright colors. At first, it looked like an illusion but looking more into it, it reveals the theme and culture behind it. As seen, it was a piece with family portraits with their faces unraveled with sadness. From the description, it was said that these three were each other's prom dates which explain the upsetting faces. Pushing that aside, the next one is very similar to the first one but it speaks out more. Now, this shows the theme and culture more clearly as seen in the photos. This connects to identity, culture, and mythology because reveals a story of their culture and the rainbow arrows that go in a circle might represent as a timeline. The clothing of each character reveals the culture and it is clear to say it the piece is a precious object in the Indian communities.  In the description, it says, "For Red Star these works are in part a response to an ongoing crisis of authenticity that she has often faced as a native person, and the pressure from outsiders to demonstrate her authenticity." These paintings were called, "Family Portraits - Two Prom Dates 2011" and Family Portrait - Walla, Marlon, Doonie, 2011". This next piece is called, "Four Seasons". It has four different pieces that joined together to make one piece. This shows the taste of mythology and culture since it stories between the four seasons. The environment between each is really distinguishable and easily seen. It carries a message from each and the animal placement is perfectly aligned with the main character. Not just the environment and the animals, the position and posture from the main character reveals a lot about the piece. It shows the culture of how she was is a Native Indian from the way she is sitting in between each season. These pieces explain the nature between the land and the human soul. Although I did not take pictures of the tipis, but it was nice to see and feel how it is to be in one. The projector that was portraying pictures amongst the walls was really emerging and felt like I was in the moment in the time era.

On the other hand, the Kambui Oluijmi works are quite similar to Red Star's when it comes to telling a story. The film that we had to watch (I forgot the title of the film) was pretty outstanding. Although it was pretty confusing it was a fun experience. There could have many ways to interpret it because it was really open-ended. It was hard to keep up with the narration and the animation on the screen because they were explaining two different stories. One of my theories is that the guy was taking a crystal rock and could be inferred as drugs which would explain the trippy animation and confusing narration. In the end, I had enjoyed my visit to the Newark Musuem and I would gladly go again if I had too.

Myths, Home and Self-Portraiture

The exhibit in Newark Museum provided us with an immersive experience into the Native American culture. I found it beautiful and even mesmerizing due to all artifacts provided. The part that I enjoyed the most was the lodge that created an atmosphere of this culture, and I was able to experience it fully due to the graphics provided inside. The way that this lodge closed me off from the rest of the exhibit, made me focus on the environment, immersed me in that culture. It also made me think about the difference between homes and the definition of homes in different cultures. Another piece that made an impact on me were labeled portraits that pointed out to specific parts of the clothes and cultural pieces, and the meaning of them. This made me really look at the details of their garments and think how they played a big role in sculpturing their identity. This also connects to an idea of a myth that speaks to the “stories that play a fundamental role in a society”. Through the symbols portrayed and clothes, textures, textiles and even the lodge, exhibit shows the myths that were believed in the tribes. 

Kambui Olujim in his piece, similarly to the Wendy Red Star’ lodge immersed the viewer fully in the environment of myths and culture. The environment captivated everyone’s attention with a 360 view of the motion piece in a planetarium. I found it very interesting how the idea of myths of stars and wide open space and astrology’s influences society. It makes a connection between people thinking about global in a sense of the universe and global in a sense of global issues and current events that it connects to. The whole experience was confusing because of the combination between the audio and the visuals, which didn’t always make sense, but made the viewer think more and try to connect some of the visuals to their own lives and culture. 

This exhibit made me think about connections to my culture and how it plays a role in composing my identity. I think in my self-portrait, I want to include some parts that speak to my cultural identity, some Russian traditions that play a role in my life. Additionally, the labeled portraits inspired me, and I think of decomposing and pointing out to specific parts that create my identity. For example, point out to my short hair and speak to what it means to me and how society views women and girls with short hair. I will also point out and label my mouth and talk about the role of a personal voice and the power that it holds in society. Olujim’s piece inspired me to use layers and different overlays and textures in my piece. I would like to add this to all of the parts of my self-portrait in a sense creating layered collage which speaks to the multiple layers that we hold as individuals. 

Myths, Homes, & Self-Portraits

I had the pleasure of visiting the Newark Museum and seeing the works of Wendy
Red Star and Kambui Olujimi. Sadly I had to make my visit to the museum
separate from the class due to previously schedule travel plans. Being the part
from the class however did not take anything away from the experience. Wendy
and Kambui both used imagery to tell their own narratives.


I fell in love with Wendy Red Star’s exhibit. Wendy creates a huge timeline

that goes around almost the entire second floor. Her exhibit focuses mainly on
home roots, andhow they reflect upon her individual identity. She included
many pictures from her childhood. Next to these pictures she included several
handwritten notes. Most notable to me was a poem entitled “I Am Poem.”
This poem spoke about what i means to be a crow Indian. She describes life in
her culture through her own perspective.

I also really enjoyed the hud homes section of the exhibit. In this section Wendy
shoes various different depictions of what a home may be. She used the words

“My home is where my tipi sits” as she showcases different homes, signs, and

automobiles.  

In my opinion Kambui Olujimi’s exhibit was a little harder to digest. Olumjimi

used short film and lithographs to convey his message. In his short film he depicts

the  narrative being told in his book Wayward North. The film seemed a bit vague

but was still still rather interesting.

I think that both exhibits have similarities. It seem like they both reflect upon

mythology through folktale. Wendy Star reflects on native americans from the Crow

region. Olujimi exhibits more contemporary aspects, he expounds upon life in

Brooklyn, New York. Both pieces were surrounded around individuality. Both

exhibits showcased self portraiture, myth, and their own representations of home.

Every culture has their own myths and their own perspective on what home is. In

my culture home is where you’re family is, and your mother is the most beautiful

thing. I am of Dominican descent, but Latinos a sa whole generally have a similar

outlook on life. We are extremely family oriented.