Curator Exhibition Statement

Woman's Representation in Art Exhibitions

6:00-8:00 p.m. EST

December 5, 2018

Located at 109 ASI (Agricultural Science and Industries) Building, The Pennsylvania State University or online at http://cyberhouse.arted.psu.edu/322/exhibition.html 

Curator Statement:
When we consider famous works of art across the decades, many of the art pieces that come to mind are created by male artists. This mentality continues today as few works by female artists receive the same recognition in larger museums and their personal collections. This work aims to highlight these injustices through a combination of audio and data visualization.  


Find Cards:

Find a video that includes statistics. Does it surprise you? Why or why not?

Find a piece of video that makes you upset. What about the audio upsets you and why? 

Data Visualization

For my Data Visualization Project, I wanted to take a closer look at the actual amount of woman artists that are on display in high name art galleries and compare these numbers to the amount of men displaying in the same shows. To see for myself if woman are truly underrepresented in the world of art and if so, by how much. I drew my inspiration for this project from some key moments during the Overlap: Life Tapestries opening night panel where the artists, all of whom were female, touched upon these issues not only in the professional world, but in school classrooms as well.
The moments in question are:

"As an Educator for 18 years now, I find the rationale of female to male artists to be 10:1. It surprises me that nothing has changed over the 18 years I have been teaching. So many female artists are taking classes and are motivated, being creative and putting themselves out there and then what? The one male in the room is the one that continues and begins to make money. It's really sad what's going on right now..." - Shari Weschler Rubeck

Carrie Alter

Judy Gelles

Simeen Farhat

Alice Hope

Sascha Mallon

Michela Martello

Sui Park

Shari Weschler Rubeck

Martha Wilson

Linda Stein


Matthew Barney

"...Nuh-uh, if you're not having at least 40% women, not even, it's usually 20% and the higher you go it becomes more like 5-6%. The Museum of Modern Art, in their permanent collection, has I think 96% men, 4% women until picketing and marching and all kinds of stuff went on and it's now (shrugs) I don't know...10%, I don't even think it's 10%." - Linda Stein

As of 10/29/18:

• The Museum of Modern Art currently has 45 artists in its permanent collection with only 4 of them being female
• On The National Gallery of London's website, their webpage for what they call "30 Must See Paintings" houses art solely made by male artists

My WebQuest Idea

      An idea that I found interesting would be to have students create a figure that represents an emotion to them. The figures could have a wide range of expressions and even if there were multiples of the same emotion, student could very well express their views in dramatically different ways. The student's creation doesn't necessarily have to be just a human figure as well. They could depict actions showing an emotion or change the anatomy of the figure so as to encapsulate the true intent.

Introduction:
      To introduce the students to this idea, I would display some work done by other artists, like Marcy Milks, that deals with the changing of the human figure. There may also be a page were see other works of artists that deal with human expressions in the figure. I could also have students look at themselves in a mirror and make faces and/or poses of what they believe an emotion looks like.

Task:
      To create a figure that best encapsulates the student's ideas of what an emotion looks like and how it is best expressed.

Process:

• Students would decide upon or be assigned an emotion that they would focus on
• They would then draw some sketches of figural ideas for emotional expression
• Students would research body posture and facial features to refine their ideas
• Students would experiment with the 3D program to better understand what it offers
• They could also create a base figure within this program to branch off into their own works
• Using the program, students could also upload/scan their sketches to create a better representation of their emotion
• Students would fine tune their ideas within the program and decide upon a final piece that could be printed

Relating to my Teaching Philosophy:
      When it comes to my teaching philosophy, this project best represents my desire for students to express themselves. They are allowed to show others what they feel best sums up a particular human trait and are also then required to look inward for the inspiration for their works. They may pull their ideas from real experiences or from their imaginations, but in the end the student's works will become a piece that they can relate to and can look to as proof of their artistic expressions and creativity.

How this fits the criteria of a WebQuest:

• Requires students to be creative in thinking of how to express their emotion 
• Students make judgements of their own work as to how clear they are expressing that emotion
• Students must analyze what ways best express an emotion and what specific traits carry these effects

My Futuristic Teaching Philosophy

My Five Things I Want My Students To Learn: 

• Accessibility with a variety of mediums
• Open communication between themselves and others
• Use and understand visual culture
• To create without fearing about grades and expectations
• Self expression

My Landmarks:

• My high school art classroom:

     It was in this area of my high school where I felt I could relieve myself of the expectations and burdens that were being placed on me by others and myself. I could finally create what I wanted to create and had my horizons broaden as to what materials are able to do. It was here I made many new friends and gained an understanding of how deep the meanings can go in an art piece. I want my own classroom to have that same spark of creative freedom that mine offered me. That and a place where I as a teacher can create as freely as my own students would so the playing field could be leveled right before their eyes. To show that I myself am an artist just like them and can come to me for advice on what makes them their best.

• A pencil:

     This piece represents my high school art teacher Mr. McFalls. He was the one who really helped me consider making art as a career and even pointed me towards Art Education when I didn't want to become a full time artist but still wanted to do something with art. He was a man who kept up with technology and would try to help as much as possible so that his students would flourish on their own. He also kept the lessons simple and direct so that everyone could learn the fundamental of art and gave everyone a chance to explore mediums through open ended assignments. Mr. McFalls is what I aspire to be like as an art teacher. One who gives freedom in creating to his students while also trying his hardest to make sure everyone gets something out of his class.

• A iron lion's head:

     The piece itself is in reference to a metal lion sign that both me and Mr. McFalls painted over the course of several days. During this time, it was just the both of us in the classroom and we often sat in comfortable silence but would occasionally have witty banter about whatever peaked our interest. I even opened up about some insecurities I was struggling with at the time and he gave me a shoulder to lean and cry on. It was this time of comradery and peace that I would like to have with my students. I may never know what goes on outside of the school's walls but I would like to create that sense of comfort that Mr. McFalls gave to me. To allow my students to be themselves and speak out about what they feel or express those feelings through what they create.

My Animation: https://youtu.be/-4Tis9eqpQc

My Rationale for My Interface Idea Based Off of My Teaching Beliefs: 
     When it comes to technology in any era, students will need a sense of freedom to create their own ideas without constantly being told that it wouldn't be possible. To fail and retry constantly to learn from their mistakes and grow. Art isn't in a bubble anymore so having an ear and eye open to what happens in the world can offer many creative outlets for students. People give each other ideas and critiques all the time so allowing student to critique themselves and their peers would create new avenues and concepts that may have not been envision before. Art today is still about self expression no matter how we do that so giving kids an outlet for their ideas and passions can be a great motivator for themselves and give them physical proof of their hard work.

My Future Classroom

           In my future classroom, the materials are vast and the opportunities are plenty. They are arranged in drawers alphabetically and have open lids so as to give everyone easy access to them. The tables are the arranged in a quasi-circular fashion with chairs both tall and small so as to accommodate all heights. They would be arranged like this so that my students could talk openly and have easy access to see each others works. The tables themselves also function as tablets with their individual pens and settings so as to be tailor fit for digital artworks. Kind of like the giant Wacom tablets for sale but squared in both dimensions so as to allow the full range of arm motions.
            The floors themselves are a standard stone/granite material still found in most schools but the ceiling would be a different story! On the ceiling, there are panels that show what the outside looks like through a wireless connection with cameras that record real time footage. If they wouldn't be operational at the time, then the ceiling could display stock videos of other areas so the students could also draw under the stars and under the sea. Walls would fall in between the floor and ceiling (literally) in that they would still be constructed of stone and have boards attached to them, but there would also be digital displays and TVs in certain areas. On the screen, there would be a recurring showing of pictures showing the fundamentals of any particular medium on would also display the assignments as they came and went.
           Along with this, I would have the displays showing current events in world with an emphasis on artistic events. Art today isn't really made in a bubble so allowing the students to express their views on recent matters would also allow them to think more critically about their own worldviews. Plus new ideas could spring up from something found in the media so giving the students that chance to fully think for themselves can open its own doors.

Exhibition Paper

Title: Digital Canvases for Emotional Contemplation

Main Concept: Artworks today often evoke emotions founded through personal experiences and observations. This encounter is meant to highlight these emotions as a means for discussion.

Materials Needed: Electronic devices with an online connection

Age Group: Available to all who have Internet access

Process:

Observers will walk around the exhibition and then observe the three selected artworks listed below for a self-selected period of time:

·       Carrie Alter’s That Night on Bald Mountain

·       Michela Martello’s Victim

·       Linda Stein’s Knight at Ease 652

After finishing their observations, viewers will follow a link to a website where they can express their feelings about the work.

Consider an emotion that you feel when observing these works.

How does that feeling differ between the 3 works?

Carrie Alter: https://tinyurl.com/yaut8osa

Michela Martello: https://tinyurl.com/y7m5rgeg

Linda Stein: https://tinyurl.com/ycq4hysj

Power in Images

Reading Responses:

Powerful Influences on my life:

- Family: Domination Power (Coercive)
- Social Media: Consensual Power (Persuasion)
- YouTube: Domination Power (Belief in Expertise)
- Friends: Consensual Power (Affiliation)

What images move you emotionally? When an image affects your emotional state, does the image hold power over you in some way? 

I found myself most moved by the image of the person being tied up as a puppet for the clock. I did find that the image held power over me since it was trying to hold my attention in the hopes that I would perceive its true meaning. This could be seen as Situational Power because either I give in to the image's power and continue to look at it or I could remain in power and place my attention elsewhere.

Is it the image itself or its context that gives the image its power? 

I find that both parts make up the power of the image. To begin with, the context the image gives helps sets the mood in a sense and begins to direct our thoughts down a certain path. The image itself then helps push us down that mental path and to dive into how the context is being used by the image. It may be turned on its head or shown upon in a new light, but there would be no new context if there also wasn't an image to represent it in the first place. 

Discuss your 3 selected concepts in terms of power and for whom.

Accessibility: I find that Affiliation power of both parties suits this concept best because both groups bring something to the creation. The students help give feedback and test out new ideas while the creator takes those feedbacks and tries to either fix what is already their or build new paths to the same goal. With both sides helping out, the final creation becomes all the more impactful and unique.

Creativity: This concept would be Situational Power because it all depends on how the activity is created and curated. Sometimes, the activity is cut and dry with the curator having all of the power in the lesson and other times the student is the one given all the power for certain purposes. This also takes into consideration the times when an activity doesn't go the way a curator would want it to, leaving the student with all the power until the curator can come up with a new solution.

Visual Culture/ Social Media: I found that the Belief in Expertise Power fits best in the way for the creator because they are trying to have the student believe that they are the expert in the activity. That since they are the one who has created it, they fully understand what needed to be done and what could be shown. The power itself may not be too strong though since many students today are hesitant to fully believe what they are told.