Art and Life

images of final project This piece is an installation, including leftover materials from projects that fell through, past drawings/doodles, as well as personal elements like a label from my perscription.  The "My 16 year old boyfriend..." poster is an excerpt from my highschool diary. By using the materials I had on hand, enabled me to breath new life into past projects.  This plays into my concept, which is all about starting where you are with what you've got, while also acknowledging what got you here.

7 Signs That U.S. Education Decline is Jeopardizing its National Security The Forbes article linked shows how our countries poor education system (among other festering problems our country faces) is hurting not only our job market, but our countries defensive lines.  Though a great deal of money is invested in our education system, the U.S. compares poorly to our peers in all of the intellectual arenas.  The global economy requires foreign language skills, yet 8 out of 10 Americans know only one language.  Unemployment resulting from a lack of jobs is one thing, but you know it's bad when there are positions open with no one smart enough to qualify for the job.  The ACT has shown us that only 43% of high schoolers are prepared for college and 50% of college freshman are taking courses to catch up on material that they should have learned in high school.  Most disappointing of all of these statistics, 75% of those who take the military entrance exam fail. HELLO??  What, is the v

In Her Pants Do you know what that shape is?  Before coming across this article i didn't know what it was, either.  This shape is a human clitoris.  If you picture a clitoris as a simple nub, you are in agreement with popular belief.  You are also wrong.  Anatomy textbooks illustrate the clitoris to be one tenth of its actual size.  This new image comes to us from studies conducted in the 90's using an MRI scanner.  You may ask why it took so long for us to map the clitoris, but this is only a rediscovery.  Though we have had correct information about the anatomy of the clitoris released in reports dating back to the 1840's, textbooks have ignored this information.  The Seattle artist Lynn Schirmer's goal is to put this image everywhere she can and make sure that it is known.

As a preview to my presentation, Text as Art, I thought I would talk a little about one of the artists I will be looking at next week.  Bruce does not confine himself to any particular style or method in his art making.  Nauman started creating in the 60's and has body of work more diverse than any artist I have personally encountered.   Bruce Nauman makes all kinds of things, ranging from LED light signs, to performative works, to interactive spacial sculpture and video art.  Nauman's work can be best unified through a philosophical lens.  Bruce, although he would be embarrassed to hear it, is a big inspiration of mine.  One reason for this is his way of not taking himself or his art too seriously.  Nauman really knows how to let himself go and work just for the sake of doing so.  He has said himself that his urge to simply be working with his hands has been the beginning of some of his greatest pieces.  Nauman's concepts include exploring feelings of confusion, frustratio

Mismatched, outdated, and broken jewelry (with some glitter) arranged in the grass.