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Found City of Atlantis

Cultural Event # 5: Armand Cerbone - Love, Sex, and Stigma in Same Sex Relationships

I am really glad I went to this lecture because it was the best one I have attended all semester.

The lecture started off talking about how there are two basic issues in any relationship, whether it is a heterosexual relationship or homosexual relationship. These issues are autonomy (the need to be your own person and an individual) and attachment (the feeling of being connected to somebody else). In a relationship you need both of these but it is a real challenge. He then talked about stigma and how stigma is an assault on the sense of who you are. He then discussed love and sex. He said love is about the "other" and being attached. Sex is more about "me" and not about the other. This all goes together in a relationship and as you get more intimate with somebody, you have to think about their needs and not just about your own.

He then started to discuss same-sex relationships. For same sex couples, it is hard to distinguish between normal conflict (conflicts any couple would have, such as heterosexual couples) and the conflicts caused by being a same-sex couple. They have to acheive intimacy without the support heterosexual couples get. He then discussed a situation that I think really opened my eyes. He talked about an example of how a gay man who works in an office goes to work everyday and listens to heterosexual coworkers talk about their relationships and their families, and sees how they have pictures of their significant others and families in their office. He then goes to his own office, where he has no pictures, and does not talk about his male significant other. This is because he doesn't know how others will react or if it is "safe" to talk about it. So for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week... he has to keep it pretty hidden. He talked about how if he got invited to a coworker's house for dinner, he wouldnt know if he is allowed to bring his significant other. Then, after all this every day, the man has to go home to his partner and try to switch gears and pretend that this relationship he has with his partner is the most important relationship in the world. He talked about how difficult this is for same-sex relationships because it isnt easy to have to deal with that all day and then come home and just flick a switch. This puts a lot of strain on same-sex relationships. I guess for me, I never really realized how hard it must be for same-sex relationships. I always knew that there are a lot of people that are not accepting of it, but the way Mr. Cerbone described it just made it seem so sad. And then when a kid stood up and asked a question about how to overcome it, it almost seemed hopeless. We live in a really intolerant culture.

Anyways, the moral to Mr. Cerbone's talk was that we have to appreciate and support same-sex relationships for the challenges they take on. Being in a relationship (heterosexual) is hard enough trying to balance love (attachment) and sex (autonomy), but throwing in stigma into the mix (which is the case for same-sex relationships) makes it so much more difficult.

Cultural Event # 4: David LaMotte

David Lamotte began his talk discussing "what is art" and "what is activism". He then began to discuss whether or not famous people should openly discuss politics. He thinks that people should speak out about everything and run the dialogue on political issues. Then he started talking about how everywhere you go there are television sets. He said in order for you to have a conversation you need to tune out the televisions. He said our society has become better ignorers instead of better listeners. As an artist, it is your job to listen, look, and percieve. He said that half of art is perceiving and the other hald is rendering. Then he started talking about debating issues with people. The best way to persuade somebody is to relate to the person and find a commonality. Art is a powerful way to bridge the gap between people with different ideas or views. He said he responds to music in two diferent ways: cerebrally and emotionally. He talked about how he can see a work of art and think "oh this is cool, but it doesnt move me". The purpose of art is to make our experiences immediate. He then returned to actvisim and said that it can be positive or negative. He then talked about his career. He is a singer and songwriter that plays accoustic guitar. He likes to write songs about everything. He said he writes about protests, but is not a protest singer. He writes funny songs, but is not a commedian. He writes love songs but isnt a love song writer. He writes christian songs, but is not a religious singer. He just does it all. He likes people that are different from him and have different beliefs and ideas. They intrigue him. He then showed us a video of this small non profit organization he started in Guatemala. He said we can change the world. Yay.

Site Map

Here is my site map! Yay.

Lost City of Atlantis Collage

This is my collage for my website about the Lost City of Atlantis:


Word Associations Include: Atlantis, Map of Atlantis, Treasure Chest, Mermaid, Dolphins, Sharks, Tropical Fish, Coral Reef, Plato, Scuba Diver, Lochness Monster, and Underwater City

Ideas for Website Project

Cage Diving with Great White Sharks
SeaWorld
National Zoo
American Airlines
Atlantis

My First Website

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History of the Internet/Oil Standard Homework

I don't understand how this project is considered art. Mandiberg describes himself as "I am an artist, web person and rogue economist who uses the Internet, Video and performance to explore subjectivity, labor, and commerce. My current work employs Firefox plug-ins and open API platforms to highlight the real environmental costs of a global economy." Assuming I do beleive it is art, he uses the internet as a medium to show people how much commodities cost in terms of their equivalent value in barrels of crude oil. This program according to Mandiberg, is supposed to be "a glimpse into the moment when oil will replace (or already replaced) gold as the standard by which we trade all other goods and currencies". It uses the internet to its best advantage because the internet can show these conversions instantly and easily. Anybody can access and use this program. This piece could not be made any other way because it would be impossible to label every item in the world by hand how much it costs in barrels of crude oil. The internet allows this conversion to be done instantly and in addition, allows it to be shared with the entire world... or at least those with access to the internet.

This work fits into the history of the internet that Sterling describes because he discusses how the internet is a way for people to share and discuss whatever they want with no censors, and how it can reach people all over the world. Mandiberg is obviously trying to make a statement about our dependency on crude oil. The internet allows him to make this statement and share it globally.

Features of this "artwork" that reflect the time in which it was made is the entire concept. He is converting prices to the costs of barrels of crude oil in a time where we are dependent on oil. Today, we know that oil may not be around much longer and we need to come up with alternatives but we still depend on oil greatly. Oil is very controversial today in terms of where we get it from, its effect on the environment, and its constantly inflating price. Other features that reflect the time in which this peice was made is how advanced the program is. 20 years ago, he would not have been able to make this peice, but since we are so technologically advanced, he was able to do it.

Cultural Event # 3: Andrew Kieper

The first thing Andrew Kieper showed us was his work. His piece was interesting. The thing is that it was different every time you play it. He had loops that were unsynced, causing them to be different every time you play it, which means each time is a different experience. The peice was supposed to create a sense of atmosphere and space. He used different audio techniques to create space. He created different textures on the video that were meant to be ambiguous. He used a curtain, natural textures like tree bark and plants, and had a random blue square that periodically would appear in the middle. He said he was trying to defy the viewer's expectations of a narrative. It was interesting but got boring after a few minutes because it felt like you were just watching the same thing over and over.

He then talked with us about three different artists. The first artist was Nam Junpike. He said he was the first artist to use a camcorder. He is most famous for instillations that use televisions such as models that look like robots. The second artis he discussed was Bill Viola. He is one of the most famous video artists. This guy is interested in birth and death and elemental things. His projects work on hude screens in dark rooms. He liked to slow things down or speed things up and use a lot of imagery. The third artist he discussed was Matthew Barney. Apparently he is controversial because he has a lot of money to spend on his videos and art he makes. We watched Cremaster 3 and I could not beleive that this guy is actually a well known artist. It seemed like a joke to me. He was prancing around in a pink kilt, fighting with a half naked tiger woman, while a man melted vaseline and chucked it into a corner. It was just bizarre to me and I didn't get it at all.

I liked Andrew, he was nice. He showed us around the 3rd floor of the library. I feel like he is underappreciated... hiding up there.

Cultural Event # 2: Flawed Art - Mark Cooley

I just realized I never posted about a couple of the artist talks I have been to - so I figured I should do that now!

Mark Cooley is a new media artist. His work tends to involve US government foriegn policies, especially military interventions. One peice he showed us was called American Dreams. This peice was 62 packages that mocked department store toy packages. He installed them on 8 sections of 2'x4' pegboard. He had two rows of these packages. The first row of packages had images that were taken from popular culture. In addition, they had Countries and dates of where we have had military interventions. Inside the packaging, he had toys and games that represented the military such as toy guns. The second row of packages featured images taken from recruitment packages. On these there is a "made in SOME COUNTRY" and in the package, there is a product that was made in that country. On the back of these packages, there were scans of stock market reports and flesh with a word and things related to commerce.

Another peice he showed us was called Bad Dreams. This peice was about the insulated realm you enter when you go into a gallery. This peice had an oxygen tent that suspended over a pedestal with Jansens History of Art Textbook on top. In front of the pedestal, there was a desk facing it with a binder on top of the desk.

Another peice he showed us was called Enduring Freedom V.1. For this peice, he had two televisions on top of two pedistals facing back to back. The 2 pedistals were supposed to represent the twin towers. The TVs were supposed to represent how media and news comes from TV. One television was playing a video tape of documenturies that gave an overview of foreign policy since WWII. In front of this TV, there was a pile of dirt that the person watching the TV would be standing in. There was sureveilance camera that wwas directed at whoever was standing in the dirt. The second television was connected to the camera, which had a target on it. The target would be on the person standing in the dirt. In front of this pedestal, there was a mat that says "United We Stand".

I thought his lecture was okay. It got kind of boring after a while. While his ideas were good, I feel like the way artists and other people keep making political statements about our current government and war is becoming a little cliche.