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28 October, 2011 08:19

28 October, 2011 08:18

28 October, 2011 08:18

Origins

The origins of the cosmic womb

1. The cosmic womb has always existed.
2. It is beautiful elegant, it is a universe with many planets that dance about but instead of as circles many are like islands of bizarre design that rotate on various axises
3. The cosmic womb is a place of growing, healing, discovery and magic
4. But it is balanced, not everything is about growing and healing etc. there are characters that concern themselves with control, death, destruction, greed and realities and reasons that conflict with the nature of the cosmic womb… and there are many characters, that have decided to call parts of the cosmic womb, other names. Such as the Munoe King’s Kingdom and the Czars Domain and the Paryon’s Realm and the The Emperor’s Lands. These are all places that are truly part of the cosmic womb, yet they have been claimed by those who create balance in this world.
5. The Tuplet’s live in the cosmic womb’s south eastern area, it is a land of talking animals, robots, cyborg animals and Kiok and Watson.
6. Kiok was the first human-like person to arrive, she was either birthed from a tree or dropped by a two headed bird. She taught the animals to speak, sing and ask for food from the trees.
7. The paryons came and it was a terrible time, they tried to colonize the cosmic womb and failed.
8. From the paryon’s injuries on Kiok, the tuplet’s sprung from her wounds.
9. The tuplets are infinite, they are a race built on the qualities of the heart, spirit, soul, spleen, and lungs. There are thousands of them.
10. The main ones you will meet in the cosmic womb are Lady K – the adventurer and of future endeavors , Kiok, 83 – the inventor, 36 – the feeler , 9 – the desiring, 6 – the child and blue girl – the echo of past harsh realities
11. Watson is a whole other matter. Watson doesn’t remember who she was before arriving in the cosmic womb, she was found in the water, and was saved by a large whale while, a boat of Cosmic womb animals tried to save her from a large trout. She arrived safely on the shores of the Dry Ocean of Asiscis
12. She collects many strange objects and papers from the dry oceans and collects them in her home, which was built by the Tuplets and Kiok. Her house is the official museum and historical holding place of all things from the cosmic womb and beyond.
13. Her job is to record the history of this place and to make paintings and drawings of this universe without the use of magic or any of the tuplet’s special powers.
14. In the dry ocean she often finds conflicting evidence of a past or two pasts, some which include people she seems to know, but is unsure as to why she knows them.
15. She documents their paintings in the traditional cosmic womb language, which is called “Ota”, but often she writes in her journals in English or Korean, two languages which arrived understanding. She had to learn to speak Ota, and isn’t very good at it.

Current Progress

Visiting the DeCordova

It will be an interesting adventure!

I am excited to see the work of Soo Sunny Park!

Let you know more soon!

17 October, 2011 23:31

17 October, 2011 23:31

16 October, 2011 23:48

16 October, 2011 23:47

The Theory of the Other and its Effects on Artists of Color

The Theory of the Other and its Effects on Artists of Color

By JooYoung Choi

Throughout history, the fine art world has been regulated and dominated by Western European culture. With the use of a social construct called “the other” white individuals and institutions have been able to influence which works of art and types of artists do or do not belong to the mainstream culture. By way of this social construct, the dominant center of the art world is granted a sense of authority to decide which artists, art works and art forms should be esteemed as “universal” embodiments of creative expression and which artists should be deemed as minor contributors, whose work is not essential to the grand time line of art history. The art world is not alone in its implementation of this social construct, the theory of “the other” operates within the larger world. For it is not uncommon for any dominant culture to determine a group identity through comparison with people of other nationalities, languages, religions, etc, although this practice could be seen as “natural” the concept of “the other” goes deeper. Often, this practice not only is an act of identifying differences, it is rooted in designating the dominant culture as superior to all others and their cultural practices as common place and normal. In turn, this results in the stereotyping and generalization of marginalized cultures, commonly labeling the other as less than superior and abnormal. For example, the ideology of Eurocentric normality and superiority has led to the tradition of teaching European art as a fundamental given within most art schools. The dominance of Western culture has allowed this history of its artists and art forms to be accepted as universal, common and foundational concepts of art history.

The ideologies put in place by artists, critics and art historians who supported and/or benefitted from the dominance of main stream culture have also contributed to the conflicts marginalized artists have confronted throughout the years. For the consequences of allowing biased judgments on art and artists to proliferate under the guise of truth, artists who have been determined to be members of “the other” are placed under the scrutiny of the Western European measurements of creative significance and value. Thus, it can be argued that the creative visions of artists of color cannot be fully appreciated unless the Western European structure of determining the value of artists and their art is understood to be a social construct and dismantled.

Through this paper, we shall explore how the theory of “the other” affects both the center and the periphery within the art world, below is a bulleted list of what this essay will focus on:

• How the misinformation/stereotyping of the other helps the dominant culture within the art world establish a western European sense of cultural superiority and gives license to those in the center the authority to judge art made my those in the margins.

• The power of omitting the artistic and philosophical contributions of marginalized peoples and how these omissions contribute to maintaining the magical connection between white, upper class, heterosexual males and artistic genius.

• How the “genius” of artists of color is rarely credited solely to the actual artist, and is instead attributed to the systemic oppression (which is a by product of the dominant cultural institutional practices) that
may or may not have been the primary impetus for the work.

As mentioned earlier, misinformation and stereotypes are two forms of truth that hinder the ability for people within the art world to understand the work of marginalized artists. As mentioned earlier, the history departments of most art colleges and universities also perpetuate the concept of the Other through a disproportionate emphasis on European art history. This ensures that artists leave school well educated on the history of Western art. Currently, many art schools still require students to take courses in western art history to graduate. After the completion of their required classes students are permitted to freely choose other art history classes based on their personal interests. This decision speaks on an institutional level to students: European art is fundamental, but all other art histories are merely optional accessories. Additionally, many schools only offer Western focused critical theory, which leaves art students to question whether other cultures even have critical theory. This misinformation becomes an issue as artists who graduate from school, without any non-Western art education, and then engage with artists who come from diverse background and create work that is focused on non-western standards of art making. This results in artists who unknowingly maintain the status quo, by reinforcing the European canon of how one should judge and understand art.

For artists of color, the consequences of misinformation and lack of non-white art education affects their ability to receive constructive feedback during their time in school. For they must battle the blurring scrim of racial generalizations and cultural misinformation. Throughout history artists of color have had to consider how the construct of the Other will affect their works ability to be authentically expressed. This means that the work of artists of color may at times be generalized in simplistic terms due to their racial/ethnic identity. This can lead to the art of people of Asian descent to be pigeon holed as exotic and fantastical, indigenous works to be labeled as primitive, spontaneous craft and work focused on Black culture to be perceived as too racially exclusive. Since the dominant culture displays their standards of judging art as truth, critics within the art world find themselves with great license to judge work of artists of color. In the example of two white American critics who reviewed the work of Alison Saar (a prominent visual art who works on sculpture/installation art, who is of African-American descent), not only was her work reviewed but whether her personal experiences would deem the work authentic “… [she is] giving us a nostalgic look at something she has experienced only second hand…”- Donald Kuspit and from another critic, her work was judged to be not the right type of Black, “… [her work] absorbed too much of the image of black culture perceived by white culture so that her recreated imagery does not always directly reflect the black experience.” Reviews of artists of color often will mix their personal identity with a description of their work, creating an equation of sorts that result in using the dominant cultures standards to rate the artists’ authenticity.

The value system that gauges the authenticity and worth of work made by artists of color also is used on those who are member of the dominant culture. It is used to influence viewers to regard Euro-American artists as pioneers of the fine art establishment. They and their work are often presented to us in museums and galleries as the quintessential members of art history. Thus, these assumptions further indoctrinate viewers to regard the Western world as a culture of discovery and creators of civilized society. This results in a deeply ingrained view of the Other as inconsequential and minor contributors to the progress and development of the visual arts. By perpetuating the assumption that the west has always been the driving force towards progress, theory and the creation of art, it allows Western European culture to main its stronghold within the art world.

Through the production or omission of historical knowledge, by way of required and non-required courses in art history and the avoidance of teaching non-western critical art theory, the dominant culture is able to maintain its comfortable sense of normality and superiority. With regards to the production of knowledge, it must be noted that the power of art historians as gate keepers of knowledge are key players in deciding what aspects of art history are important and valuable. What they document and validate as truth, often times becomes a part of the institutional history that influences the present choices of the art world today.

Although hundreds of years have gone by, the efforts of Vasari, a pinnacle member in the formation of the canon in how students study art today continues to be a strong influence in the perpetuation of Western dominance within the realm of visual arts. Vasari documented the works of many European artists, creating a hierarchy of importance based on his own national and classical bias. Through his writing, he created a structure that popularized a new reality based on the idea of the artistic genius. His work focused on the power certain artists embodied and their ability to arouse great wonder in their viewers. He focused on the biographies of these artists, he did this to individualize each artist as a man who reflects the dominant culture but also a genius who invites a sense of creative mystique. The artists he discussed were all white, upper class males. His writing has influenced many art historians, it has also influenced the format of many art history text books, including the age old Janson’s art history text book. Still today we can see the after effects of his work, for it is all too common for white, male artists to be successfully marketed as the common man, the rugged individual, the male genius. On the other hand, this makes the lack of license for individuality for artists of color more understandable. In Saar’s case, she was not expected to make work that embodied her personal biography but was expected to create work that embodied the authentic black experience.

In response to the issues faced by artists of color, some artists have used the museum and the gallery as a stage to expose and dismantle racist ideologies. Although these artists should be recognized for their achievements, the line between deconstructing racist ideologies and personal self expression are usually not distinct concepts that can be separated from one another. In an article reviewing the ways in which Black female artists have chosen to use the female Black nude, it was noted by social historian Sander Gilaman: It could be said… that the political issues involved in the representation of the female body by Black women artists are even more complex than those faced by white women. Hence, the line between the personal and the political is often blurred. Furthermore, for some artists of color, there may even be pressure within their own communities to create work that takes a stance on politics, racial issues, etc. For Frank Cho a popular comic book artist, he has often expressed his opinion on drawing only white women; many readers of Korean descent have become disappointed in his choice to avoid drawing Korean women. For Frank Cho, it may be a clear cut way to avoid the racial/political entanglement he has seen other artists endure or it may merely be his personal interest in the white figure that has caused him to avoid drawing Asian characters. The push for artists of color to create work that reflects their ethnic or racial identity does not come solely from their peers, it is also an issue of the work is received and reviewed by others. For instance, the work of visual artist Lynne Yamamoto, her art piece titled “Submission for Chiyo” explores the life and suicide of her grandmother. Although this artist may or may not have had a personal interest in using her art piece as a soap box for immigrant/racial identity, one article framed her work as a stage for political discourse, and described the piece as representing the life of immigrant women from Japan during WWII. This seems unfounded, but typical; the norms of how we react and comment on “the other” often uses the personal inspirations as a starting point and pushes outward to the poltical.

Regardless of what artists of color create, if there is any sign of otherness within the work, it may invite the viewers and critics to return back to the age old idea of the minority becoming a teacher or noble torch bearer of truth. For it seems that dominant culture in the West places the responsibility of the oppressed to teach the oppressor their mistakes. This concept is seen again and again in literature and other forms of media. As long as artists of color are expected to fluctuate in between political activist and artist, the qualities that allowed Vasari’s artistic genius to exist, will not be easily attainable for artists of color. So, if the genius of the art does not reside within the artist, where does it hide? Just as the spirituals of the slaves have been said to be mused by the hardships of slavery, instead of being credited to their musical talents, it could be hypothesized that, in turn, artists of color may not receive sole credit for art work that is perceived as a response to systemic oppression or racial issues. Just as spirituals are often credited as a reaction to hardship, artists of color could be seen as mere responders to systemic oppresion, thus, due to the fact that the impetus of the work was not of the artists own creation but merely a reaction or response to the work of the dominant culture.

In conclusion, the challenges the other faces will always be difficult, for that is the way the construct of the Other was designed. Until the mythical norm and superiority of white culture and the Other is denounced as a universal truth, it will not be possible for artists of color (and other marginalized artists) to have the creative visions of their work be fully actualized by the artist and the audience. It is not a matter of ignoring the differences between various cultural groups, more so, it is the ability for society to see the differences between various communities with a level of attention that allows the masses to understand the distinct differences that distinguish us from one another, instead of relying on stereotypes and misinformation.

Further Progress on the Installation

Thanks to the storm I was able to gather many wonderful branches which I have added to the installation.

Work from the Summer

After the residency, I took it a little easy and relaxed my focus on larger compositions and worked on my skills. I focused on rendering texture and portraits with acrylic and oil.

Installation Progress

Installation Progress, a set on Flickr.

This semester I have decided to create an installation, it appears to be four walls of a gallery, but actually, holds within it a scale model installation of C.S. Watson’s home. C.S. Watson is one of the main characters from my narrative paintings. Through this installation, the viewer will be able to explore the belongings of Watson and better understand what this explorer has found in the Cosmic Womb. To view more images of the space, click on any of the small gallery buttons to view my flickr account progress.

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