ica talk – rebecca walker Rebecca Walker, author and professor, hosted a discussion at the ICA on Wednesday about race, power, gender, and society. She is seen as a prominent member in third-wave feminism, even coining the term in 1992. Her talk was mostly about race though. She spoke of the incredible intellectual fatigue experienced by race activists. Her point was that it takes work to constantly fight the system of racial oppression and that can eat up those who have already given so much. Those who come from a position of entitlement (i.e., white people) do not necessarily need to invest so much work in order to make society better. She used the term "intellectual plantation" to describe this fatigue and advocated for black folks to place self-care above constant intellectual fight against a system black folks did not create. Walker herself uses Buddhist techniques to achieve that sense of peace. This doesn't mean race activists should give up, it just means they should consider their priorities.
She also placed emphasis on the need for the entitled to pick up the slack and do their own work. (White people do not need to engage in a constant intellectual battle in order to survive.) They can start by reading the work of black social theorists and then translate their thoughts into actions. This is the part that might be most relevant to me. I can never really connect to the narrative of a black person in America on a deep level; but I can work on having compassion for all people, educating myself, and taking necessary action to be the best ally possible in the fight. I don't intend to make race-based artwork. But in terms of being a better, more socially aware person, this lecture was very influential.
0 Comments
Pretty much same deal as last time. Same style as the red painting. Slightly bigger. It wasn't of anything or inspired by anything. It only became an astrological painting in the last 5 minutes when I added the white flecks. I'm fond of the final product because I think it has a lot of visual and physical quality. Visual quality is caused by layering and making bold color choices. Physical quality comes from texture.
In the next project, I think I should push texture and scale more. I also am toying with the idea of making abstract paintings based on everyday objects (see brick readymade/red painting combination). awareness. Julian Rosenfeldt is a Berlin-based conceptual artist that usually relies on elaborate multi-channel film productions and photographs. Many of his projects are environmentally, socially, or politically charged. Rosenfeldt studied architecture in Munich and Barcelona, receiving his MA in 1994. He began working with Piero Steinle, a university graduate, to create photos and videos shortly after graduation. One of his first acclaimed works is Detonation Deutschland (1996), which is a four-channel film instillation depicting the destruction of Nazi-era symbols and buildings, as well as post-war industrial buildings. With his photo series Munich -- The Unknown Cathedrals (1995), Steinle and Rosenfeldt shot wide 180-degree black and white photos of unknown, behind-the-scenes but stark urban places. Rosenfeldt's films and photographs were mostly exhibited in museums across Europe (including the Goethe Institut and the Royal Academy of Art in London) until the mid-2000s, when he broke into the international scene with works such a Asylum (2002), which depicts the plight of immigrants in Europe in an ironic tone, and The Trilogy of Failure (2004/2005), which depicts our "Sisyphean" and "vain entanglement with everyday rituals." Since 2009, Rosenfeldt has spent much of his time in the academic art world after winning a guest professorship at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and membership at the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste (Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts). In the 2010s Rosenfeldt's films continued to be exhibited around the world, including American Night (2009), which is an ironic play on the American Western, centrally addressing US immigration policy; Meine Heimat ist ein düsteres, wolkenverhangenes Land (My home is a dark and cloud-hung land) (2011), which looks at the role of the forest in German identity, history, and culture, as well as modern forestry practices in Europe; and Manifesto (2015), perhaps Rosenfeldt's most widely exhibited work, which depicts various artistic and philosophical movements of the twentieth century using highly visual or ironic imagery. Since 2011 Rosenfeldt has been professor for Digital and Time-based Media at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (Academy of the Visual Arts Munich). Julian Rosenfeldt's style has a few hallmarks. Many of his instillation are multi-channel to tell many stories within one story. Rosenfeldt rarely relies on spoken language in his films, instead letting the ambient noise sing and glorify the camerawork. He also fully embraces cliched or stereotypical symbols, but frames them with plenty of irony to question or challenge them. Some of his work relies on drone footage, for example the 2017 film The Land of Drought, which depicts a post-apocalyptic world landscape. His films are both narrative and documentary. personal comments I am a fan of Rosenfeldt's work. Manifesto is perhaps my favorite, because it's thinking about thought, conducting a meta-analysis on society, politics, aesthetics ... everything. Rosenfeldt's use of visual imagery with the personas/microcosms in each of the thirteen chapters is on point, rife with symbolism and irony. These films show you that these philosophical manifestos are not some obscure, erudite discussion. We live and fight these movements every day in small ways. Questioning who we are as people and nations is anyone's and everyone's game. I'm not that interested in film as a medium. In terms of content and style, the most significant thing from Rosenfeldt's work to mine is his ability to communicate his ideas, many of which are similar to mine, in way that makes a poignant experience for his audience.
|