Armory Square Playground Project

1. To Do List
· Create PowerPoint
1) What the project is: the need for it---Claire
2) History of Armory Square and description of playground--Caryn
3) Analysis of artist that inspired the work and the benefit to families--Mike
· Before Wednesday: go to Armory Square to look at actual site---Claire, Caryn, Mike
· Before Wednesday: map out the area where the playground will go--Claire, Caryn, Mike
· Before Wednesday: take pictures of the area—Claire, Caryn, Mike
· Before Wednesday: Conduct quick interview with people walking around Armory Square to get their opinion on if a playground were to be put in place--Mike
· Write 2-3 page project narrative: Claire, Caryn, Mike

Mike Lefko’s portion of the presentation: [PowerPoint slides showing Armory Square while I am talking]
Our idea to create a playground in Armory Square stems from the work of Maya Lin. [show slide of Lin’s ice skating rink]. Her work, “Eclipstic,” an ice skating rink in Grand Rapids, Michigan is a paradigm of what we want to accomplish with the Armory Square playground. The ice skating rink is in the center of the city, exactly like our park will be. The ice skating rink is a tribute to the history of the city of Grand Rapids, meant to evoke memories of when the rapids flowed near the city. Similarly, our playground will provide a tribute to the history of Armory Square in an enjoyable way by using elements past elements of Armory Square in the building of the playground. [Back to the slide of the playground] As Claire mentioned, the playground will be made so that it resembles Armory Square when the railroad ran right through the area, making the square a profitable business district.
Of course, since it is a playground, hopefully children will play on it. Because, children cannot take themselves to the playground, our goal is that families will bring their children to the park and spend more time with them. [Slide showing families] Armory Square today is an area targeted towards people around the age of 18 and up. [Slide of trendy Armory Square places] This neglects the children, therefore adults with kids are likely to leave their children at home, or be forced to drag them along and have nothing for the children to do. [Play interviews of people that I talked to at Armory Square] Therefore, our playground will bring families together and like a work of dialogical art, will enable conversations between parent and child. Similarly, since the playground is outside, children are getting out playing rather than sitting at home on the couch. [Slide of snow covering a playground] Like all playgrounds, nature dictates that for some of the year, the playground will be inaccessible. Nevertheless, when it is cold and snowing, people are less likely to spend a large amount of time at an outdoor venue like Armory Square. It cannot be used all year long but the benefits of children playing outside and being able to share quality time with their parents outweighs the fact that it can only be used for half of the year.

Claire Healey’s part
Amory Square is a very popular place full of shops, restaurants and people. But what was there before the shops and restaurants? Most of the people who go and shop around the Armory Square area probably do not know the history of the place. Also the people who do use the area are couples going to dinner, woman shopping, or business people passing through on their way to or from work, but no families. Our project would take care of these two problems, no families and no one knowing the history of the Armory Square. We feel that if people had a place to bring their kids to have fun while the family can go shopping together. Families together while having fun shopping and eating outside is a very good way to bond and become closer in a world full of video games and internet and all of the other technological advancements that have forced families apart. Also if people knew the history behind Armory Square they would have more of a connection with the place and may want to get there more often. Even if they do not feel the urge to go there more, they now know more about their hometown and where they spend a lot of their time.

Caryn Rothbort’s part
Playground:-designed to look like a train station-houses surrounding with company names-pull knobs with historical informationVisuals-plot in Armory that will be used for the project-stereotypical people in the areaThis history of Armory Square is an extensive and central part to the significance of the area and the members of the entire Syracuse community. Armory square began to thrive in the early 1820’s with the construction of the Erie Canal because of the close proximity but it really flourished starting in the 1830’s with the introduction of the railroads. Most of the major railroad companies passed through this area causing major corporations and industries to sprout up. This This allowed for a great deal of commercials business and a profitable enterprise for the Syracuse area. Hotels and various other attractions were built and being prosperous. But once railroads were removed Armory went on a steep incline of profit. But in the 1970’s businessmen and artists revived the downtown area. The area is still on the National Register of Historic Places. (Armory Square).Since the history of Armory Square is so important to the understanding and complete enjoyment of the area, it is our idea to incorporate this history into the creation of the playground. The playground itself will be modeled after a train station. It will have mock railroad tracks, a platform, and ticket booth. Also within the play area we will make plastic houses with the names of major corporations industries that influenced the area. In different parts of the playground there will be knobs that when they are pulled up, will reveal brief facts about the area of Armory Square. The playground will not only have the components of conventional playground but will also integrate the vital historical background of Armory Sqaure. The goal by doing this is to educate the children of Syracuse about their neighborhood while at the same time providing them with a more enjoyable experience in Armory Square.

Creative Brief for Armory Square Project

This project is in regards to using the creative channels of art to present a work that will be stationed in either Onondaga Lake or Armory Square in Syracuse, NY. The project will take the form of a playground. The location of Armory Square is ideal for the playground because it is a great site that draws many people, albeit from only a small niche of the population. By putting in a playground, the hope is to establish a family-friendly environment that can subsequently allow for more generations to experience Armory Square. The history of the site is that Armory Square was once the center of Syracuse. A thriving industrial and business district and its close proximity to the railroad enabled Armory Square to be the center of city life. The site is appropriate for the project because its deficiency is the lack of outdoor open space for families to congregate together, thus dissuading families to experience Armory Square together. The project is integration because it will utilize space that is already considered part of Armory Square and simply transform it into the playground.
The permission to work on the site will come from the owners of whatever piece of available land we desire to put the playground on. The piece will be a disruption because it is fundamentally different than anything else in Armory Square, where right now it is simply buildings and streets. Our project is similar to the work of Maya Lin. Her ice skating rink in Michigan is ultimately what our playground will attempt to replicate. Lin created a rink in the center of the city, as a place for recreation and to pay homage to the history of the town. The playground will do the same as it will be created with the image of Armory Square in mind. The goal of the project is for people to be able to experience Armory Square together as families. Success cannot be quantitatively measured for this project, but if children are playing and parents are proudly watching, then it could be called a success. Our target audience is families. We want the playground to serve as a stepping stone to the Armory Square experience. Parents bring their children to the playground, and then enjoy Armory Square together with the whole family.

Essay 3

Michael Lefko
November 4, 2007
The Battle Relived

Humans are driven by conflict. Evolution dictated the human race as the dominant class on Earth because the violent nature of humanity enables it to survive. Today, people are fascinated by violence. The original love of war occurred due to the personification of it as the end result of an intense struggle. The reason sports are so popular is that the audience is enthralled by the conflict. The love of violence is an innate concept that all humans have. It is why many are drawn to movies with violence or ones that depict war. An entire way of life has even begun to appeal to the needs of the extreme consumers of violence. Combining history and violence, war reenactments have become a popular medium. Thousands take place each year, with participants dressing up as soldiers from both sides of a battle. They then proceed to stage the conflict. These reenactments are one of the best ways to recount the experiences of a particular event. Much research is undertaken to ensure an accurate representation. Because a reenactment utilizes many people in order for it to take place, it could be considered a work of dialogic art. Artist Jeremy Deller arrived at the same conclusion and his project, a reenactment of a strike in England, relies on the people to produce the artwork. Deller chose a reenactment of the strike because it enables a large number of people to partake in the creation of the work. Since the people are creating as well as participating in the artwork, the line between artist and a detached population is blurred. Rather, the community becomes involved and thus Deller’s work is the paradigm of works defined as new genre public art.
The term new genre public art is essentially defined as dialogic art that involves the community to actually create the piece. Similarly, the public art should elucidate a social injustice that has occurred in the community. Jeremy Deller’s piece is titled The Battle of Orgreave. The actual conflict occurred in 1984 between picketing miners and police. The struggle at Orgreave was part of a larger struggle between the coal mining industry and the British government. The head of the British government classified the miners as the enemy; “Margaret Thatcher’s classification of the strike as ‘mob violence’ and her branding of the miners as the ‘enemy within’ added a sense of menace to the dispute and acted as a way of ‘othering’ the miners from the majority of the country” (Correia, 95). Many that have analyzed the battle have come to the conclusion that all forces of the state were acting in conjunction to subdue the efforts of the strike; “‘Ms. Thatcher deployed the full resources of the state; the army, the police, the media, against the miners and made it into a civil war’” (Correia, 96). Deller’s interest in the project stemmed from the fact that the media had unjustly displayed coverage of the strike. Actual recounts of the events were mixed but there were allegations of police brutality from the miners; “A brutal display of police force and organization that signaled a role for the police that went beyond the maintenance of law and order” (Beech, 1). Deller was influenced by the battle and the notion that the police had violated the rights of the miners; “Thousands of men were chased up a field by mounted police. It seemed a civil war between the north and south of the country was taking place in all but name. The image of this pursuit up the hill stuck in my mind, and for years I have wanted to find out what exactly happened on that day with a view to reenacting or commemorating it in some way” (Deller, 146-147). Therefore, Deller began his project and extensively researched the battle and the events surrounding it so that he could present the true view of what occurred on that day.
A study compiled by the Broadcasting Research Unit found that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) presented the skirmish with a favorable light towards the police by using words and images that cast the miners in the role of violent aggressor; “While the BBC juxtaposed images of pickets assaulting policemen with words such as ‘battle’, ‘violence’, and ‘battlefield’…However, both channels presented footage of the mounted police cantering into the pickets as occurring after an escalation of picket violence” (Correia, 96). The controversial aspect of this is that eyewitness accounts of the conflict stated that the police charged the miners before any major escalation of violence on the part of the miners. With conflicting reports, Deller’s reason for the reenactment was to rectify the misconception of the miners as being in the wrong. In this sense, Deller’s art is new genre public art, because it attempts to restore the tarnished image of the miners.
Deller did the reenactment using many of the former miners as well as some former policemen that were in the actual conflict. By using actual persons involved in the conflict, Deller sought to illustrate the truth about the violence during the battle. The people that actually partook in the event further establishes the project as new genre public art. The miners and policemen were actually in the battle so they could help in the physical layout of the reenactment, as well as giving it more authenticity because they know where each individual event occurred. Thus, the active participation of the members makes them producers as well as consumers of the work.
Because the miners, the ones that were slighted during the media presentation of the strike, are actively involved in the making of the art, it is difficult to piece together who exactly is the intended audience of the piece. Nevertheless, Deller’s intent in creating the work was to present the view of the miners. Therefore the appeal is to the families of the miners and those that were slighted by the negative press generated against the strike; “By mentioning families and the print media and making references to the status of heavy industry and the conflict between political ideologies, Deller emphasized the breadth of the social and political issues in play” (Correia, 97). The impact of the miners’ strike affected not only the miners, but their families and the community. Pretty much all of mainstream society was against the workers, therefore it cost them their jobs. Because of this, some even lost their homes and in extreme situations, the stress of unemployment and homelessness forced families apart; “Many mining villages had to cope with the long-lasting effects of male unemployment, the dereliction of industrial buildings, a rise in petty crime, substance abuse and the collapse of community cohesion” (Correia, 100). Therefore, Deller undertook the project in order to present the miners in a better light, and to quash preconceived notions of the miners as lawless men. Similarly, since the reenactment is a work of dialogical art, and the essential part of dialogic art is to promote discussion, the audience can also be seen as the policemen and miners that were a part of the real conflict. Now that the miners and policemen were reunited in a stress free situation with no political agenda, they facilitating of conversation would have been easier to accomplish.
The actual reenactment took place in Orgreave, quite near the original rioting. Everything was kept in exact order of how it was in 1984, even down to the dress and speech of the people. During the fighting sequence the actors were told to engage in shoving and storming of the police lines. Deller said at times the reenactment even came close to turning to real violence due to the fact that former miners and policemen were participating in the reenactment (Correia, 100). Since the details of the reenactment were down to the last detail and veterans were used, it is easy to see how some emotions could have run high. Yet, it was in the best interests of the actors to get their feelings out of the way. In reality, a cathartic effect probably emerged, a cleansing of the built up negative feelings that the workers had towards the men on the other side of the shields. Within the setting of the reenactment, the situation that had caused such tension during the actual conflict was removed and the men would have been able to discuss their feelings to alleviate some of the bad memories from the original encounter. The positive effects that could occur can be seen in a similar example that occurred in Oakland, California. In a work titled Code 33 police and young people of color came together in order to try and increase understanding between the two, in a relationship that is often marked by violence and misunderstandings due to pre-existing stereotypes (Kester, 183). The project brought the two groups together in a series of extended conversations so that the police and youths might be more understanding of each other. In this sense Deller’s project has much of the same intentions as the work in California. Although the original intention of Deller was simply to re-create this historical event in order to present a fair side of the story, the end result became much more. By taking part in the reenactment and working side by side the mine workers and police officers were able to discuss and put to rest any lasting feelings of negativity that might have remained from the conflict.
The reenactment by Deller is above all a work of art. As a result, art is subject to criticism. Deller’s work is no exception. There have been critiques of Deller’s reenactment that point to the fact that his portrayal does not show the hardships other mine workers faced. Other criticism revolves around the fact that Deller puts too much emphasis on the side of the miners. Critics state that his work is too leftist and in fact does what the television networks did in terms of a slanted portrayal to one side, but on the side of the miners. Nevertheless, this criticism is unfounded. From the start, Deller stated that the purpose of his artwork was to portray the side of the miners. Similarly, it would not be a good piece of dialogical art if it did not challenge conventional opinion.
Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave is a work of dialogical and new genre public art because it relies on the community to not only participate in the artwork, but also to have a hand in shaping the production of the piece. The reenactment of the battle enabled the miners to have a voice in what happened to them on that day. Similarly, it facilitated conversation amongst the policemen and the men on strike that allowed for cathartic release of any remaining hostility. Yet, Deller’s piece had even farther reaching implications. Deller’s work opens up a Pandora’s Box of consequences regarding the media and the truth; “Orgreave raised questions over the reliability of images, over who has control over the presentation of historic events and over how the past is remembered” (Correia, 110). Therefore, a completely different discussion can be raised over government and their control of the media. Deller’s work as a whole takes on the role of promoting the common man and in the events surrounding the battle; his piece is often seen as a protest against the government. Regardless of interpretation, Jeremy Deller created an exemplary piece of dialogic art that enabled a community to come to terms with the strike and the members involved to finally get closure. A paradigm of new public art, The Battle of Orgreave enabled policemen and miners, once faced off against each other, to break down a barrier and stand side by side in unity.

Essay Outline

TOPIC SENTENCES
1. The reenactment occurs close to the location of the original conflict in order to enable the memory of the past conflict.

The artist's intentions are to inform the public about the police brutality on the workers.

The work is dialogic yet not into the sphere of public art. The location is extremely important in the re-creation of the battle in order to get across the messsage that the artist is attempting to portray.

THESIS
2. In the model of dialogic artists, Jeremy Deller's The Battle of Orgreave acts as an interactive piece for the community. The use of actual workers that participated in the original conflict helps the workers to openly talk about the past struggle.

Final Thesis: The re-enactment of The Battle of Orgreave elucidates the situation regarding the workers and policemen in hopes that an audience will become cognizant of the issue.

3. "The spatial logic of capitalism may have changed over the past century, but the underlying goal to extract the maximum amount of value out of the labor of the workers for the minimum possible expense"--Grant Kester

"As an artist I was interested in how far an idea could be taken, especially an idea that is on the face of it a contradiction in terms" --Jeremy Deller from Participation

"The artwork has been positioned within a narrative of the Miners' Strike that allows retrospective consideration of the political and social ramifications of the industrial action" ---Alice Correia

" Is it one of the most poignant spectacles that a contemporary artist has managed to produce or a triumph of naivety?" ---Dave Beech

Essay # 3: Topic

My topic will be Jeremy Deller's Battle of Orgreave.

Two questions:
1) Who is the intended audience?
2) Why did the veterans of the actual conflict feel the need to participate in the reenactment?

4 Sources:
1) Grant Kester, Conversation Pieces
2) Claire Bishop, Participation
3) Alice Correia, Interpreting Jeremy Deller's "The Battle of Orgreave" from Visual Culture in Britain
4) Dave Beech, Jeremy Deller: Orgreave, South Yorkshire from Art Monthly

Grennan and Sperandio

"According to Jacob, the move away from site specificity is a logical step toward a more intimate and meaningful relationship between the artist and his/her audience, a way of shrinking the distance between the traditionally separate poles of production and reception."

An artist making a piece of avant-garde or dialogic art had traditionally used a specific site to promote its message. This created conversation, but it was limited to the site. A prime example of this is the project House that is described in the Kester book. That project ignited conversation, yet the community was not even consulted. The work of Simon Grennan and Christopher Spernadio focuses more on the audience rather than any specific location. Their project in fact, actually utilized the audience in the production of the end result. Thus, the actual artwork was process-oriented. The process was to involve members of a candy-making union to produce a commerical product. By working with these people, the artists facilitated conversation and attempted to build a shared sense of community between all of the people. This creates a better relationship between the artist and the people, and in fact enables the people to become the artists.

Photography and Video

The authors of the article take a staunch stance against video documentaries. In setting up their point, the authors give the example of photography. They state that photos preserve the past. This contrasts the views of Sontag, who believes that photography presents a false reality. Instead, these authors believe that documentaries are the falsifiers of reality. In order to make an appealing product, filmakers manipulate the elements to present a specific view, whereas pictures, in these authors' opinions, show a true image of what is being presented.

http://www.geocities.com/craigsbookclub/birthnation.jpg

Onondaga Lake Paper Revision

Michael Lefko
October 5, 2007

Superfund-amental Problem

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” These words spoken by the great scientist Isaac Newton virtually state that every act has an inevitable byproduct that is fundamentally different from the desired result. In the age of technology, where innovations occur daily and technological advancement is a natural part of daily life, it must be remembered that as a result of new technology, other aspects of society get neglected. Thus, factories and mines that sprung up as part of modern growth and advancement come at the cost of polluting the surrounding environment. Factories spring up along rivers and bodies of water due to their ease of access for boats, and yet also due to the fact that factories emit a lot of unnecessary chemical waste in the creation of their desired products. This waste is subsequently dumped into the rivers and lakes so it theoretically will not harm anyone. Yet, these bodies of water have become severe biohazards. The marine life cannot survive and people cannot use the body of water for recreational activities. To deal with this ecological crisis, a federal program called Superfund was established to clean up polluted sites (Knickerbocker). The Superfund has been steadily decreasing in its effectiveness due to inadequate wording of the law and poor implementation. If Superfund is to be effective as a government action, complete rewording and implementation of the law is necessary.
The primary deficiency is quite clearly dictated; “The law calls for ‘joint and several liability,’ meaning that any party that ever touched the waste-no matter how remote the involvement-can be held liable for the full cost of remediation” (Knickerbocker). Therefore, the EPA, the people in charge of regulating Superfund, usually try and find the biggest, richest corporation to pay the cost. Yet, this corporation uses the loophole in the law to find another party that used the land, even if the party never polluted, and sue them for the cost. Most of the Superfund money does not even go straight to rehabilitating the polluted environment. Instead, most of the money goes to settling legally who has to pay (Knickerbocker). This situation is currently being played out in regards to Onondaga Lake. The company currently being held responsible, Honeywell International had nothing to do with the pollution of the lake; “Honeywell is responsible for the cleanup because in 1999 it merged with Allied Chemical, which owned a plant that the state says dumped the toxins in the years before the plant closed in 1988” (Urbina). Honeywell International did not acquire Allied Chemical until 11 years after the dumping. Yet, they are still responsible for the nearly $450 million dollar cost that will go into cleaning the lake. The nature of the Superfund law goes after the biggest company. In this case, the Allied Chemical plant is closed. Yet, the EPA did not want to treat it as an orphan site, where no company could pay. This leaves Honeywell to foot the bill. For this reason, large companies are reluctant to pay the damage and spend time finding any other party to pay.
It is much easier to find blame, when there is clearly one party at fault. Therefore, new wording of the law should dictate that if the actual company that did the largest amount of polluting is still around then they must pay. While this would establish more orphan sites, the Superfund would also have more money: the money that would not have to be spent on legal fees to track down which polluter has to pay. Similarly, the existing companies such as Honeywell International might actually offer to pay. It would look good for public relations, and they might feel, as part of a community they need to do their part. The current law harms future development because companies do not want to be held responsible for atrocities they did not commit, and be sued solely on the basis that they are the current landowners (Knickerbocker). As a result of much legal wrangling the Superfund has virtually run dry.
Since its inception in 1980 the Superfund has paid for cleanup at polluted sites with costs totaling $1 billion yearly (Knickerbocker). The cleanup goes on, yet without government funding, higher costs are incurred by individuals. Much of the government money could have been used more effectively, yet it does not always go right to its allotted purpose; “Instead, funds have been spent studying and characterizing sites. “Moreover, cleanups that have been completed often provide a level of protection well beyond the risk that is posed” (Meyers and Ferguson). The original intent of Superfund was to clean up virtually every polluted area. Many of these did not need the extensive overhaul that occurred. The law does not distinguish the amount of money and time given to big projects compared to relatively easy places to decontaminate. The wide range of sites that Superfund attempts to restore has stretched itself too thin. Instead, it is proposed that all the highly contaminated sites be located and work to immediately salvage theses ones in order to contain an immediate threaten to human health and the surrounding environment (Meyers and Ferguson).
Even if a site is determined to be hazardous, and even if the polluter is made to pay, progress is often slow. The nature of Superfund is as a subordinate to all federal and state environmental laws (Meyers and Ferguson). Thus the laundry list of environmental laws must be adhered to, only allowing specific things that can or cannot be done to cleanup a polluted site. If attempts are made to pass a new Superfund law that will be effective in cleanups, it must be worded so that the Superfund is superior to other environmental standards; a concept that interestingly enough is not the case already, even though the Environmental Protection Agency is the enforcer of Superfund. While progress is often slow, it is not as if Superfund is completely ineffective. In the case of Onondaga Lake, the Superfund program can be considered a success.
In 1989, New York State sued Allied Chemical for pollution of Onondaga Lake. The long legal battles that have been a staple of Superfund were again evident. Finally, a plan was proposed in 2004 and later adopted in 2006 that Honeywell International, who merged with Allied Chemical, would be responsible for cleaning up the lake (“New York State”). The decontamination plan is extensive, and will restore Onondaga Lake to a usable facility; “A plan that includes dredging sediment from the lake’s bottom, capping an estimated 579 acres of the lake’s bottom, treating water generated during the dredging process to prevent pollution from returning” (“New York State”). An extensive project such as this will not generate results overnight. In the near future, Onondaga Lake might still be extremely polluted. Yet, once the water is cycled through the treatment plant, and the bottom is capped to prevent to water in the bottom of the lake from rising into the water, the pollution will be safely contained.
The Superfund law is largely ineffective. The act of finding a company to clean up Onondaga Lake could be called a success, yet this success has taken nearly twenty years since the initial action was pursued. Like any government directed initiative, Superfund has its advocates and detractors; “‘Monitoring will have to go on indefinitely. Replacement {of the cap and barrier wall} will have to be considered in the future because nothing lasts forever…It’s not clear that any local business would want to build on top of a toxic landfill” (Park). When Superfund can initiate a cleanup of a polluted area, it creates a positive change for the surrounding economy. Nevertheless, more often than not, Superfund has been the source of negative publicity. With billions in funding, barely any sites have been restored. As with the sites that have been completed, even that status comes under controversy. By rewording and enacting more stringent implementation of the law perhaps this struggling system can streamline into an efficient and cost saving venture that properly restores ecological order.

Narrative Summary: Superfund

For every natural progression, there is always inevitable negative factors that occur as a byproduct of the result. The technological advancements such as factories and mines that are used to further modern society's advancement comes at the cost of polluting the surrounding ecological systems.

A federal program called Superfund has paid for the cleanup of many of these toxic sites. Yet, the fund is bankrupt and the number of sites that have been cleaned up has constantly declined for the last three years.

Superfund began in 1980 as a result of a protest in western New York. The existing problem with Onondaga Lake illustrates that much still needs to be done with New York, not to mention the other 1000 plus sites around the United States.

The original idea of Superfund was to make the polluter pay. There are a number of things that are intrinsically wrong with that philosophy. The wording of the law calls for "joint and several liability" meaning that any party to have an affiliation with the site can be sued to made pay, which is exactly what is happening. Superfund targets the chief polluter, ususally a big deep-pocketed corporation. Then, the deep pockets of the corporation enable it to track down any other companies that had been on the site. The major corporation then sues the little company causing a logjam in court, and no one paying for cleanup of a site.

The law needs to be overhauled, and be more specific in its methodology of prosecuting firms that contributed to the waste. It is a tricky problem because it would have to be passed by Congress. Not only would this take forever, but the corporate interests that dictate congressional policy would most likely not even pass a new Superfund bill.

ARTICLE ABOUT THE ATTEMPTED CLEAN-UP OF ONONDAGA LAKE
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e9e8f8b7ba40311064945bf172b3e60ebd84554dc1bc66d8e64e614108bcac054&fmt=H

Saco and Venzetti

I attended a conference titled American Phobia: Collecting in the History of Fear. The purpose of the speech was to promote an exhibit opening in the library. The speaker, Sean Quimby talked about the concept of fear in America. He traced the evolution of fear throughout the course of American history. The interesting part of the speech was when he discussed how as a librarian, he collects works that chronicle fear. Through his act of obtaining a collection of works on the subject he formulated a thesis on a definition of fear.

The various works in the library's collection yielded different explanations of the concept of fear. Quimby theorized that specific trends in fear are prevalent throughout American history. The fantasy of invasion, and the gradual emergence of a therapeutic culture are the persistent trends in fear. It is ironic that both of these trends can be seen as a result of our imperialistic growth and our advanced technology. The imperialistic desires of Americans, to constantly expand and invade other countries has perversely influenced our way of thinking. Now, Americans constantly fear that others will invade our borders. The other issue is kinf of ironic. Parents are getting increasingly more worried about their kids, therefore to ease all of the pressures of of the children, the parents have resorted, in a sense, drugging their children. Thus, we have a generation of children that as they grow up become increasingly paranoid about many things in the world. The rest of the presentation was not that useful. Quimby just summarized all of the works he had collected. Nevertheless, it is an interesting hobby to collect works about fear. This will have to be an ongoing project because as the world continues to evolve, so too will our concept of fear.

Blog #2: Binh Danh

The exhibit by Binh Danh serves as a testimony to all of the lives lost during the Vietnam War. The work of art can be considered avant-garde because it challenged people's perceptions of wartime events. In our current time of war, it is important to realize that the masses of soldiers being sent abroad are not simply faceless anomalies doing something in a far away country that is of no concern to us. Danh's portraits portray the individual faces lost in war. Although many of these portraits are close-ups, in none of them are any of the faces completely distinguishable. This importance reveals that while photography can preserve an image, it will never duplicate exactly the reality. These men were brothers, fathers, and husbands, and seeing the faces triggers empathy in people. Danh's exhibit can be considered a ready-made. The men's faces were taken from a magazine where a week's casualities were photographed yearbook-style. Henceforth, Danh's creative reproduction putting faces admist leaves and grasses add a sense of poignancy that has enabled the exhibit to become renowned. Danh creates the photographs in his own image with the leaves and grasses to symbolize the jungles of Vietnam that still to this day can evoke painful memories. With our current war in many ways offering an eerie parallel to Vietnam, Danh's exhibit takes on added relevance as once again many soldiers are dying fighting a war that has polarized the American public.

In the early pages of Sontag's article she states that a photograph is not dependent on the image-maker (352). Yet, there are flaws in this statement. The image-maker or photographer can manipulate the camera to allow for changes in scenery, or how an event is perceived. Similarly, Danh is an image maker because he took photographs and changed the setting in order to evoke emotional response. Perhaps the original photos were actually in focus. Yet, Danh creates a scene that was not innate from the natural photo. Danh's exhibit does not seem to have much in common with the views laid down by Sontag on photography. Her article seems to be an overview of photography with critical overtones about the effects of photos on the world. Danh's exhibit is not based on photography. The signature element is the background of leaves and grass. This makes the work unique, while also serving as a powerful reminder to the myriad of lives lost during the war.

Sept. 3 Blog

There are many meanings to the word art, yet to me art can be defined as anything shaped my human hands in order to represent something. A memorable experience I have had with a piece of art was in Chicago where I saw Andy Warhol's famous tomato soup can. I spent about 10 minutes staring at this piece. I found it memorable because it astonished me that this simplistic representation of an everyday item was deemed so famous. This is memorable because it was at this instant that I realized that I did not understand anything about art. It was distinguished from other art works because it is so simple and understated, and supposedly made a statement about American life. When I saw this piece I felt confused because I didnt understand all the fuss about the painting. After careful reflection I believe the artist's intention was to illustrate the 1950's, the era of conformity with his tomato soup can. I dont know why, because I am not good at analyzing art, but it seems to be stating that this tomato soup can has become an irreplaceable part of American life. I do think the artist was successful in capturing this intent because it has become one of the most famous paintings in American history.





The essay about art by de Duve was an interesting piece of writing. I realize it is just a small part of a much larger book, yet it was still kind of difficult to understand. For the most part it seemed to be about what the definition of art truly is. After careful reading, and a lot of thinking, it seems that my definition of art nearly parallels the one laid down by de Duve. In reality, everything is art, or everything has the potential to become art. My thoughts about art is that any artistic expression makes something art. When the artist sculptes or creates something in their own image then it is art. The one piece of art that was repeatedly mentioned in de Duve's essay was "The Fountain". This "readymade" as they are called, revolutionized the art world because it was simply a urinal that the artist chose to put their name on. Yet, this is the essence of art. One person sees a urinal, others see the linear patterns and the formation of the urinal: not seeing it as a urinal but rather intricate sculpture. Henceforth, everything is art, it just might not be created yet.