The first exhibit room was Wendy Red Stars A Scratch On The Earth, and when entering the room it was just, wow. There was a huge timeline wrapped around the wall of Red Stars life through a parade of pictures. Her, her family and friends every year from before she was a child to after she had her own at a yearly parade. A huge hut made of blankets was in the middle of the room and when crawling inside was a beautiful dome video of a desert through the day. There was a frame three by three individual photos of road signs that read "Crow Country" and "Entering Crow Indian Lands". The whole exhibit shows the Crow traditions in which she was raised and voices her own identity within each piece. Loudly she's speaking about the mythology of Crow and shining a truth about it. In old historical portraits of Native American couples, she outlines and circles each traditional outfit pieces and facts. Plus adding humorous captions giving the pieces personality. Through each piece it differently broadcasts how in every form that todays it's still a repeated cycle that hasn't changed. It's like a taint that white Americans have done to this beautiful and historical culture. Within her photography, sound, textile, and film she "highlights how boundaries between cultural, racial, social, and gender lines are reinforced in America, and how these lines blur across time and place" (Newark Museum).
Personally my favorite piece in her exhibit was the dancing shawls as soon as we entered. There were three hanging from the ceiling but the one I connected with the most was the white and rainbow shawl with old fashioned cars ironed on it. A combination of Elvis Presley and Native American. It was exactly American pop culture plastered onto Red Stars culture. Her viewing this as a child til today of the imageries and myth that has been shared about her and her people. It was disturbing to thing to think of how one could live through this view while growing up, but beautiful her mind had turned it all into powerful political art pieces.
 | |
|
The next art pieces were from Kambui Olujimi titled Skywriters & Constellations. One was in the museums dome theatre screening a short film and the other were 12 astrological lithographs. The lithographs correlated with the astrological sign of each month and the relation to the story. The unique short film illustrated different life events and personal histories of the city life and personal narrative from his book Wayward North. Through unclear chronological order, storytelling, and an empty handed ending, there was confusion throughout the film. However in the end it did have a huge message within, that it doesn't matter the time of when, myths are happening and he's making one up in his own narrative world. Made me curiously put my own whole world under the microscope.
 |
| Kambui Olujimi Skywriters & Constellations |
Both these artists are exploring the past, present, and future mythologies the world has created against their own identity and culture through their art. Each persons identity is personally stereotyped and made up over time historically. Every culture has a myth about themselves. Me, personally in my self-portrait project I hope to some overcome some myths in my video, if that's even possible. I want to shine a little light on what I believe and hope to maybe open some eyes in my art. That there's a lot of things that we "think" we think we know, but we actually don't, and that's a lesson for mostly my "culture" to learn. Video coming soon ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment