When reading this comic, I was very interested in how copyright has evolved. The comic discussed how formerly copyright was extremely strict and there was no access to “fair use” materials, making a lot of creative work impossible to make at a low price. I never knew how much copyright evolved and how much it was a struggle in the past to work through it. It’s difficult to justify copyright if the strong guidelines were unfair as they were protecting the original creators, but it casts a limit on what a person can or cannot make. The notion of making a profit on others’ work struck with me, as it continues the discussion on whose art is it? I enjoyed how this was in comic form, I thought it was more powerful as it included actual fair use examples in real-time. It also made an important, but dense reading more enjoyable.
Author: Grace Cornell
I currently have two ideas (options) for the Library’s final project.
- The first option I am interested in doing is adding to the study room windows, different styles of art and/or famous works. As most of art classes are taken down the hill, the majority of students aren’t exposed to art. I want to add transparent designs onto the window, to add color to the study room, as well as provide some information on the work itself.
- Another interest of mine would be sculptural work, I was thinking of constructing a bed from books, and placing it near the windows of the first floor, and complete it with a pillow and blanket.
For my performance art, I have decided to print out business cards, and pass them around campus. The business cards will have statistics of student debt, from Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, and national. I am hoping that this will increase conversations about the rising student debt crisis. I designed cards with bright colors to accumulate people’s attention.
According to tate.org, “a site-specific work of art is designed for a specific location, if removed from that location it loses all or a substantial part of its meaning”. Site-specific work integrates itself into its surroundings becoming a part of the location. It is created with this location as a part of the work to be exhibited rather than other works that can be displayed almost everywhere. It includes the environment into the work. Usually, site-specific work is related to environmental work, artists tend to utilize the environment into their work. An example of this would be Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson, which is Built on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake in Utah made up of mud, salt crystals, and basalt rocks. The work forms a 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise coil jutting from the shore of the lake.
The work created for a site-specific location cannot be moved or altered, as it loses its original meaning. Another example of a site-specific work would be Christo and Jeanne Claude’s The Gates. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl “gates” along 23 miles of pathways in Central Park in New York City. These bright orange arches with fabric hung throughout New York City’s central park for about a month and were taken down shortly after. Christo and Jeanne Claude were responsible for a lot of site-specific artworks including the Wrapped Reichstag and the surrounded islands. Site-specific works don’t necessarily have to be outdoors, but they need to be a signific part of its environment.
Who Can Represent Black Pain? Hannah Black’s Letter to the Whitney Biennial
Moisey presents this article as not just a debate on whether or not Dana Schutz, artist of Open Casket, should have removed her work from the Whitney, he also presents the question if white artists should make money and sell work based on the suffering of black people. Moisey relates back to historically famous works based on sufferings. He cites another abstract, J.M.W. Turner’s Slave Ship of 1840. Moisey relates the two works based on their positions. Open Casket was created with the vision of Emmett Till’s mother in mind, trying to capture her emotional pain of not recognizing her son in his casket, vs Slave Ship, which captures the historical event of when a captain ordered 133 slaves to be thrown overboard so that insurance payments could be collected. This historical event was captured in a different light with bright abstract colors, capturing the horrendous event.
Moisey states, “Slave Ship doesn’t tell us what it is like to be black, it tells us what it looks like to be black. White empathy can be extremely valuable when it takes art just that far, for when it’s done right, it can make white viewers wonder what looking like that would be like.”. Using this as his argument he states that Black’s letter of the prohibition on white artists showing the public what black suffering looks like isn’t proper, but a prohibition on white artists trying to show what pain is like is more appropriate. Moisey argues that white artists should not profit off of black people’s sufferings. They do not know the trauma and pain they have dealt with, and it shouldn’t be used as a benefit for themselves. The ability to make money off of someone else’s pain has been a deeply historic problem, and Open Casket continues to play a part of it.
1. I used ARTstor, through the library webpage. I then went through the digital art gallery. I used the search term “chair art”.
2. I knew I wanted to focus on sculpture rather than photography or collage, so I just toggled on the search options and clicked “sculpture.”
3. Not only do we have publications and prints available for works, but the website also has a large selection of websites for research.
4. I could have found a better way, but I just searched chairs, and if i found a work I liked, I clicked on the artist to see if they had other works or similar pieces to the one I found.
5. The results aren’t always accurate, and they aren’t verified. Using a verified source has better quality images and information.
6. I looked at their biography and past works as research into their practice. I was able to get a lot of information through their backgrounds and what they say their focus of the work is.
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