Group Project Response

Although I tend to be more interested in how the brain determines our interactions and adapts to various aspects of society through psychology and neurology, I found research through sociological resources to be more appropriate.  Much of the time we spent together, it was to discuss the idea of “community” and discovery of each individual within the group.  Throughout the course of three weeks, we meet in various group patterns, such as two individuals for dinner or three that walked together.  Finally, the whole group met together for a lunch that was later repeated as a performance in class.     

To begin, the idea of “‘community’ is a good warm word frequently invoked by citizens, social workers, and politicians”.  This is something that humans desire to create a justification or even gratified experience toward the idea of belonging cooperatively to a society.  Customs and patterns of behaviors within a society not only serve as a ritual, but determine the social order.  Through the breakdown of these patterns, “‘society,’ [can become]… more ambivalent, invoking something elitist and exclusive.”  This leaves the “‘individual’ [to] often connote selfishness and bracketed with society” (Tuan).  Upon these different layers, I found applying them to our project can create various perspectives on how to understand what I saw as the collective underlying human condition through community, society, and the individual.

Community could serve on a national, even global platform, but for the organization within the group, it served as an educational system that determined our interaction as one unit.  Second, the society or culture built upon the materials for which we individualistically collaborated into one performance.  As individuals, we recognized different ritualistic patterns.  To serve as one community, the individuals were forced or willing subjected to perform in one instance.  These materials help to define the ritual of eating that was centered on the table or as it was in medieval times, the trestle table.            

The individual gives a light into what Tuan referred to as a view of “the existence of the world [held] within each character.”  Although society can build different meanings of the individuals as they individual is often seen as the break from the cooperative whole.  Complications can arise when society is to analyze to what extent the individual’s behavior breaks social order, whether it could be considered individualistic or deviant.  Overall, the project brings to question sociological ideas about our society that could be explored further.    

Tuan, Y.-F. (January 01, 2002). Community, Society, and the Individual. Geographical Review, 92, 3, 307-318.

AMHA: Crocs PetPeeve

This is a pretty straight forward installation. I line the sole of the crocs with pink bubblegum. The contrast of the Dark Blue crocs and the pink, I thought was most effective in showing my playful but true annoyance with crocs. The gum speaks to how crocs litter the boulder pathways with their artificial material and how they leave an irritating, sticky feeling to me.  

AMHA: Mask

The title says it all. Most of my personality is a mask and a false front. Having many thoughts, emotions and repressed feelings behind this mask, it allows me a false sense of belonging and acceptance in the world. It is made out of journal pages from my self-inquiry. Journaling is a tool for me to get beyond my mask self, and to look at the Divine as well as the evil that exist within myself. In seeing the truth about myself clearly and allowing others to see it as well, I feel is the only meaningful way to be. By creating cone shapes out my Journal pages I allow the viewer a portal into myself beyond my mask. They are allowed a glimpse beyond the imaginary front that I present to the world.

I was happy by the way it turned out, although I did not intend for it to be scary. But I later realized this scary repulsive image of my mask, is what believes to be protecting me from painful truths. I felt it was an accurate representation of defensive withdrawal, false superiority, intimidation and pride.

AMHA: Lightsteps

This installation speaks of a universal journey that everything takes towards realizing it’s true nature.  Being my first official installation work, there are many synchronicities with this new path I’m walking as an artist. I feel this symbolic representation of footsteps and candles leading down the cold concrete stairwell of the art building, is also easily relatable to other viewers. My intention with this installation was to inspire a remembrance in the viewer of their true nature. I hoped as students rushed by busily thinking of their next step, they would be confronted by deeper questions regarding their journeys. Where is it that we are going, and why? What is it that leads us to do what we do? For whom are we doing it? Is it for our selves, for money, for others, for recognition, or simply for the joy of it? Each must answer these questions for themselves and are free to interpret this installation from their own personal journeys. For me, it is a dedication to the holiest place inside all of those who have shared their wisdom and guided me on this lonely path.  It is dedicated to the imprints of light of others, that I take refuge in. It was especially inspired by an encounter with a beloved teacher, who has lit up my path towards love, light and my true nature. 

Besides not being able to light the candles inside the building, I thought this piece was a success. I would have liked to install a really long trail throughout the whole building or even outside. 

Farsi Lesson- By Jenna M. Montazeri

My husband's first language is Farsi. Mine is English. Although he is fluent in English and communication is never an issue, the idea of sharing something that is near and dear to his heart is always a desire. He comes from a culture that is so deeply rooted in poetry and beauty, and I long to go through that portal of language to understand his heritage more deeply. But, alas, language- any language- seems unattainable and distant. Sometimes the words just seems like sounds with no meaning attached. It is hard for me to remember. Hard for me to let it sink in. And I always end up at square one- usually the alphabet.

In this piece my husband and I sit down for a lesson in Farsi. We both face the individual cameras that are recording us so that it is easier for the audience to relate to each one of us on a seperate level. The frame is tight on our faces, and we interact with each other at times so that there is an established relationship while still feeling isolated in our own frames. With this piece I wanted to explore the playfulness, the excitement, the awkwardness of the sounds, the frustration and the duration of learning this language all at once. I am working on the edits on the piece to make it flow a little better. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Tracing Ireland (From Memory) Documentation

@#*$&^!=I'm mad you.

The voice program that I used was the best I could find with some intonation in it.  A Japanese friend had wanted to learn British English versus an American accent, so I had found this program to assist him in pronunciation.

For this project, I was inspired by my Internet friends to create this piece as many Japanese couples don't have children and only have each other to deal with.  There were severals times in particular that my friends would begin arguing while talking to me on Skype or MSN Messenger and try to outdo each other in embarrassing one another.  We saw this material as being appropriate for discussing relationships and married life in American culture.    

My collaborator was also interested in this topic as we had created several other works together in the past. She was interested in the viral aspect of the Internet in relation to "life on the net."  Socializing online becomes another life that is separate from our own.  Our interests and behaviors can adapt and change to virtual space.

While researching another performer, Michael Smith, I was interested to find that his concept was about individuals trapped within a media-saturated society.  At first, I related his idea to the Internet, but was a little surprise to find that he was talking about television.  After seeing the timespan for which he had began creating works, I realized that the Internet was not widely accessible to the public during those times.  I was inspired to see this connection between the influence of television and commercials to the power of the computer in our time.

Technology does tend to make things more difficult as our previous sessions had went more smoothly.  The delay and length of the piece both need to be shorten.  As I see, most performance artists who use deadpan humor, I think keeping the performance brief is key.  With shortening the piece and adding a structured outline and punchline for the piece, I think it would become a funny commentary.  Overall, I wasn't feeling very creative that week, so being able to break through and work with this performance was very inspiring.