Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Artist Lectures

Lecture 1: Jennifer Schmidt
I was able to attend Jennifer Schmidt’s Lecture on January 28th, 2010. I was impressed with her success as an Artist. Schmidt had her MFA from Chicago and a BFA in Art History. A MFA professor in Boston and has many works in other cities such as New York and others in California. Schmidt has a variety of medium works in Print Media and Graphics. Schmidt’s Public installations and experimental suggestions are ones that I’ve found to be very interesting. For example: “B More-2003” A site-Specific installation of a screen-printed poster, posted all over a residence in Guilford Street in Baltimore, MD. It was sponsored by the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Art and Culture. This piece is relative to Graffiti street art and Art propaganda. It remind me of an Artist named Sheppard Fairey who is famous for his “OBEY” stickers and posters that were illegally posted all over urban areas specifically Downtown of big industrial cities getting recognition of the medium is the message and the conceptual part is the important part. The way these images make the public think and feel, similar to a lot of commercial advertisements.

Schmidt to me is a true artist in the meaning of first-hand experience. Schmidt has taken the initiative to confine herself in projects that produced pieces like “Readers Digest”, featuring thousands of magazine pages becoming digested through analog video. Images are animated. “Psychadellia”, which is comprised of 250 photos of pieces of fabric filmed into a segment. Another is “Letters in a Coma” a Grid based piece with an empathetic response to trauma. The child-like game Tic Tac Toe being played over and over while a loved one was in a Coma seems that Schmidt is able to still work in an art realm no matter what the situation is or personal grief. I think that takes a lot from a person to turn something sorrowful and create a wonderful piece out of it. Schmidt’s records of work in exhibitions have helped increase her ability as an artist and I can really respect that.



Lecture 2: Iraqi Memorial
This project to me personally is well put together and also inspirational. The concept of creating an online memorial incorporating other site specific installations with other artist proposals for a memorial is genius. Commemorating civilian deaths in Iraq gives life back to the deceased. War is never a good thing it can cause a long term of hardship and grief. The Mission of the Iraqi Memorial really gives the world an opportunity to unify together and create their own peace in their own environment. I feel this project really has fulfilled many of its goals especially recognizing the “role of artists in a time of war”. I can appreciate artists putting their time and talents toward a great cause. There were many works at the exhibition and some of them particularly stayed in my mind. Cat Soergel Marshall, "Light Trails", from Louisiana State University was one of the site specific installation pieces I thought was spectacular. Marshall ran long wires of lights along a trail that could be spotted from afar. I can see the symbolism in this piece particularly being a light in a dark world. Each bulb could represent an innocent life taken in tragedy.

Many line of artists such as: Patrick Lichty from Chicago, IL and his “Arbiter of Fate” taking the heaven and hell concept and put into a game with Uncle Sam pointing and at you the spectator/ citizen. Another piece that I found intriguing was by Linda Hesh with the title:
“Kiss Me/ Kill Me, I’m Iraqi”, a very bold statement to be printed on a T-shirt to attract public attention. This statement would actually catch my attention if I were to see it in public. The second part of the exhibition was the symposium. I appreciated Dr. Bernadette Buckley’s comments on her part of the project being projected via Skype. It was good to see that Buckley appreciated the whole concept of it and that the Iraqi Memorial continues to draw attention to this issue. I was especially glad to hear from Dr. David Simpson from UC Davis. Dr. Simpson said, “It’s the idea of a virtual memorial. 1 memorial out of five thousand plus memorial attempts would have been. It has to be built, but no one will build one here. There is no space, no breathing space for such a physical memorial, A Virtual one is necessary.” I have much respect for all the effort put into this project. It is an excellent source for peace.

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