9.12.2011

subversion of everyday situations for extraordinary experiences

i ran across this "situation" in my alley.


to some it seems like a pile of trash. for me, i stopped and pondered b/c it seemed strangely composed and like something if you tried to put it together it would never be as beautiful. immediately i started thinking of ways to use this moment...these objects...this place. as a site. i imagined the spaces and structure of the mattress serving as a framework for a speaker box/projector of things and people that happen there. besides a place of rest, the most immediate activity and purpose i think of is of sex, but so many other intimate domestic moments there and now discarded. what happens if i fabricate a memory and then project it at night for all to see and remember. i will try to collage something and post what i was imagining.

guerilla girls do hull house

last week, i made it out to see the guerilla girls give a lecture in honor of the birthday of Jane Adams.


seeing them in person i was definitely inspired by the interventionist concepts and ideas that they represent but also i got into a provocative discussion afterward with some other audience members that raised some critical questions about them and their work as well. a lot of the work seemed dated and i wondered what they are currently working on or how to tackle current issues, whether their media change or stay the same as a calling card of sorts and lastly how they are ensuring/continuing the legacy of the guerilla girls. being anonymous, it seems like such a tremendous opportunity to create a whole new masked crop of guerilla girls to continue the work. i don't think any of these questions were answered but it definitely gave me some things to chew on where medium/style etc. are concerned, as they definitely have a "calling card" style of sorts...which is especially interesting in this whole robin-hood of the art world concept. this is a conversation has come up for me a couple times, from the residency to a conversation that i recently had with my new mentor. e.g. how important is style in communicating your message and how do you manipulate/subvert existing popular culture/styles to mobilize people around an issue area? and is using popular culture iconography from the 80's effective today? not so much i don't think but all really interesting questions to adapt to 2011.