OUTSIDE EVENTS: SF CAMERAWORK

CURRENT EXHIBITION

JAIMIE WARREN 
APRIL 30 — JUNE 21, 2014
OPENING RECEPTION:
Thursday, MAY 1, 5:30— 7:30 pm

Prior to attending this opening reception, I refrained from doing research on the artists in order to be more aware of my reactions to her work. Once I arrived I was informed that the artist was behind me. She was in a costume as the wife in Dog the Bounty Hunter. 

It was then that I realized that this would be an interesting show. 

Her work was composed of portraits, scenes, and some videos. All of which contained a performative and production aspect to them. 

For example, the photographs attributed costumes and the playfulness of taking on a character for the camera a la Cindy Sherman, with a refined diy look. 

The playfulness in the work had a nostalgia reminiscent to  popular childhood shows I grew up with, like :

All that, the pee wee show, Mr. Rogers, and even the Amanda show which all had a sketch comedy or collaborative element. 

Overall, this show left me feeling very inspired and empowered to play and have fun. I think that sometimes with school, I get caught up on getting things to be perfect or with getting a good grade that I forget to have fun with my work.

ART EVENT OUTSIDE OF CLASS: Incline gallery

I went to this show in part to check out a new gallery but also to show some support to my fellow classmate, Mariah!





Her installations were really attractive and caught many people taking photos next to it.

One of my other favorite installations was this one:



It had a photograph with bullets installed in front of it to create the illusion that the shots were moving towards you. Really awesome, I just wish I knew who did this one.

The gallery itself is sort of small yet intimate in the way that you feel welcomed to take your time with the work. The fact that the space is located on an incline makes me wonder if installing is usually a challange, but i'm sure they have it all under control.

ART OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM: YBCA - Public intimacy

I was very interested in attending the YBCA to check out the Public intimacy show, which was supposed to disrupt the expected images of South Africa and explore the poetics and politics of the everyday. 

Now, I'm a big fan of photography but what really reeled me in was the broad range of media, including video, performance, and PUBLICATIONS!!! 

 

Some made in the last five years, some with a zine/underground like appearance, some that looked very clean/sophisticated and many on view for the first time on the West Coast. 
I believe they were by Chimurenga, an editorial collective working at the intersection of pan-African culture, art, and politics. The collective produces publications, events, and installations. It was founded in 2002 by Ntone Edjabe, and since then the collective has created the Chimurenga Library, an online archiving project that profiles independent pan-African paper periodicals from around the world. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?

CHECK THEM OUT!
There was also painting and sculpture of course, which I would also highly recommend. 

BRITNEY TOUR UPDATE

WOMEN AND TECHNOLOGY

I found a great resource for more information on female working artists in the field of technology!

CHECK IT OUT!!

Britney Spears (Drive me crazy) tour research

Britney Jean Spears was born in McComb (Mississippi) and raised in rural Louisiana (Kentwood) to Jamie Spears and Lynne Spears. As a child, Britney attended dance classes, and she was great at gymnastics, winning many competitions and the like. But, most of all, Britney loved to sing. At age 8, Britney tried out for The All New Mickey Mouse Club, but was turned down due to her young age. This directed her to an off-Broadway show, "Ruthless", for a 2-year run as the title character. At age 11, she again tried for The All New Mickey Mouse Club and, this time, made it as a mouseketeer alongside many stars of today (Justin Timberlake and J.C. Chasez of *NSYNC and Ryan Gosling). Her big break, however, came when she was signed as a Jive Recording Artist in the late 90s. With the release of her debut album, "...Baby One More Time" in early 1999, Britney became an international success, selling 13 million copies of "Baby" and 9 million (as of July 2001) of her sophomore album, "Oops!...I Did It Again", released in May of 2000.
 Read more and see full bio

Reading: An interview with Dean MaCannell

This interview reminded me of the Disney town Celebration.

another thing 

Artists working with tourism: Michael Hughes

Artists using tourism: Pierre Huyghe

The Third Memory (1999)

Real-life "Dog Day Afternoon" bank robber John Wojtowicz re-enacts the crime which made him famous. Fact, fiction, and memory collide and merge as the re-enactment scenes, scenes from the Hollywood movie, and television news footage of the original robbery are interwoven.

-IMDB

In other words, this piece takes you through a tour of the real story behind the film Dog Day afternoon, which is about the actual 1972 event. 

Artists using tourism: MARTIN PARR

He definitely captures the tourist bubble in his images. It also allows us to contemplate our ideas of everyday image-making and how we partake in the creation of our own identity through images of travel. 

Tour Idea: Celebrity rehab center

Very often one hears of celebrities going to rehab, that it almost seems like a right of passage for them. 

So why not embark on a tour where everyday civilians may also partake in this right of passage.  The event may often be glamorized as well, separating us from the actual function of a rehab center. 

38 celebrities that have gone to rehab.

Dream rehab destinations

Tour idea: Celebrities gone wild tour

Im very interested in exploring the image of celebrity and the type of media coverage it calls for. I also want to explore this fascination with celebrity culture, and how even if someone is disinterested in the topic they still find themselves with some knowledge of these celebrities (wether it be name, a specific film/song/ or even recognizing their image). At the same time I'm very interested in the idea of celebrity breakdown and how they are constantly replayed on tv, internet, and magazines. How we can devote so much attention to a life very much apart from our own is very intriguing to me. 

So with the celebrity breakdown tour, visitors will revisit the sites where several celebrities experienced temporary moments of "insanity" or were caught acting "crazy" and had that period of time labeled as a breakdown/meltdown period. 

I would definitely love for visitors to tour these specific sites: 

MTV's Total Request Live (TRL) where Mariah Carey showed up unexpectedly with an oversized tee shirt and an ice cream cart, days before she checked herself in for exhaustion. 

And of course, the location where Britney Spears shaved her head.

As well as where this happened: 

This image of Britney would also make a great monument!

or how about a tote souvenir with your favorite crazy celeb on it? 

Shaved head Britney?

Other celebrity gone crazy locations toured include:

Oprah's couch with Tom Cruise

Court with Amanda Bynes 

Whitney Houston (RIP) everywhere

It will also be interesting to see the ties between this tour and "The society of the spectacle"

Tourist destination idea: Celebrity Jailhouse tour

This tour will take place at a hypothetical jail where many celebrities have all resided.

It will also tour the gallery that houses a collection of celebrity mugshots.

AUGMENTED BODY

After                                            Before

AUGMENTED BODY: IN PROGRESS

For this project I will take on attributes found in these five women.  

Indeterminacy: partner switcharoo

First, I made sure I had the supplies Brando required in his instructions.

For this part of the project I was instructed to follow Brando's chance instructions.  

[Brando's blog]

The instructions led me to the two images above, which I was asked to observe closely for 30 seconds. 

Then I had to record my observations for each image. 

The next step was to put on a blindfold and draw the similarities of both images observed. Then use one or two of the colors seen in the images to color in my drawing.  

Voila! That's the finished product.   

Augmented body : Ideas

For this photoshop project we were instructed to augment our bodies in some way or form.


1) I could add several popular Cholo (mexican gangster) tattoos to my body and modify my eyebrows to resemble a chola.
Growing up in southern california I became aware of the Cholo (mexican gang member) subculture. It was one that my parents restricted us from and school frowned upon. Now, I never wanted to be a Chola, but it always fascinated me how they chose a very specific way of dressing, makeup, heavily identified with their latin culture, and many donned religious memorabilia/tattoos. Also, with this heavy latino identity they still seemed to need to be part of a subgroup of people who dressed, talked, listened to the same music and carried themselves in a defensive manner as a group.

Chola from the film Mi Vida Loca

I remember many took different names, a sort of moniker for their subculture persona. Above you see an example of a girl with her Chola name tattooed on her fists. 

I've also noticed many celebrities borrowing the Cholo aesthetic/clothing/language/attitude for performances, music videos, or just as a style choice. This has made it easier for the Cholo aesthetic, as a whole and in small doses,  to be adopted and recognized by mainstream popular culture.