Orange For Elements

Electronic Media and Culture Final

I enjoy painfully tedious, masochistic work; from this, my stop motion fascination was born.
This piece is the tale of an invisible girl that feels lost and alone in the world of the tangible.

Making Coffee

I had too much fun

Good Morning

My First Animation

The New Normal Review

The New Normal exhibition currently being displayed in the Fox building addresses the issue of privacy in contemporary society. I was really intrigued by this concept, but after seeing the show felt mildly unfilled. Most of the pieces very vaguely referenced this general theme. Also, at the time i attended the show, the majority of the films weren’t playing. I was underwhelmed by the lack of work that was actually on and functioning.
The piece that i most connected with was a small series of seemingly unrelated pieces. All of the works were created by Jill Magid. This piece, overall entitled “Lincoln Ocean Victor Eddy” 2006-2007, details the relationship between a police officer, Officer F, and the artist. Their relationship began when she asked him to search her on a New York subway; however, he had to decline because male officers are not allowed to search women. It included a small novella entitled “Live Ocean Victor Eddy;” a video playing on a television set, “125 Minutes Taken;” a large painting listing the “NYC police Radiotelephony Alphabet;” A bullet encased in a large plastic cube, “Our Contact;” A two part cropped photo of the artist wearing Officer F’s uniform shirt, “His Shirt, Cropped;” and lastly a photo of her “Holding His Gun.”
Many aspects of this piece have strong sexual undertones. The photograph of the artist in his shirt suggests an interaction between the two in which clothing was removed and replaced. It is reminiscent of the classic photo of the woman in a man’s shirt after a night of intimacy. The shirt clearly overwhelms her, making her seem dainty while making the unseen cop seem more masculine and large. The other photograph piece, “Holding His Gun” has blatant phallic symbolism. The gun is a classic symbol of male genitalia and her warm hands gently envelope his cold, steel gun. The title of the amalgamation of pieces “Lincoln Ocean Victor Eddy” spells out LOVE when translated through Radiotelephony. The relationship is vague and leads the viewers to speculate about what has occurred between the two.

Performance Piece 2

Transformation is simple.

Performance Piece 1

often, what needs to be said most is hidden behind a painted  façade.

Solitude and Company

click here to see my first film on vimeo.

Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones

Most traditional art is highly limited in the senses that it stimulates, generally sigh. However, Kianga Ford’s new exhibit, entitled “My Life In Fiction” envelopes the visitor in a cloud of sensory stimulation.  While some exhibits were highly visual, such as the film in which Ford and her family imitate  a different culture. I respects Ford’s comical response to always having her race mistaken. After having people constantly assume that Ford is Brazilian, Ford dresses up as a woman from Brazil with her family and films the interactions between them as they go through a normal Brazilian afternoon. While the piece was interesting and a visual splendor, i suspect that it was much more satisfying for the artist than for the viewers. I believe that Ford had much more fun creating the film and living out her fantasy of an ethnic flip than I actually did watching the film. It was a perfectly fine film, but for me it was just a fine film, nothing more.  

The piece that i truly enjoyed incorporated the use of many more senses. In this section of the exhibit the visitors were invited to lay down on giant, white, inflatable cushions. Out from the center of these makeshift beds sprouted headsets. Once I had laid down, shut my eyes and put on the headset, i felt transported. Each headset told a different story about different characters that live in different famous cities. In the background played music that accurately represented the city at hand. Kianga Ford’s  soft and airy voice aided the story in taking complete control of my mind and the music demolished and chance of other thoughts entering my head, i was fully engaged in this piece. I felt as though i could lie there forever, transported and mollified by the beautiful range of the narrator’s voice, quietly and passively wrapping my mind around these seemingly insignificant stories.

Saving The World One Poorly Outfitted Leg At A Time