PROCESS BOOK by Krista Langehennig

BRAIN FART PROCESS BOOK

CONTENTS 4

BRAIN FART

CRITIQUE WRITING

CHARETTE PROJECT

GENDER NORMATIVITY

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH

PROCESS

CONCEPT

MAKING

REFERENCES

WRITING

DOCUMENTATION

20 WHO PREVAILS? ANXIETY VS. NOSTALGIA SKETCHES MY STANCE MAKING DOCUMENTATION

60 CRITIQUE WRITING

68 PURITY OWNERSHIP RESEARCH CONCEPT REFERENCES DOCUMENTATION

86 CRITIQUE WRITING

noun

BRAIN FART

A temporary mental lapse or failure to reason correctly.

A brain fart can happen at any moment, on any day of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. The title of this book as â&#x20AC;&#x153;brain fartâ&#x20AC;? refers to the inevitability of human error. In many ways, the process of making art can

be thought of as many consecutive brain farts. Through this process of lapses in reasoning, the brain always returns and pulls all reason and creativity together to produce a final piece.

CHARETTE

PROJECT

he purpose of this project is to break existing habits and establish new behaviors. The objective is to establish a

system for the documentation of process. The next step is to create (in miniature) a hybrid design practice, then to create non-traditional design objects which express your persona. The hybrid object should push between graphic design and contemporary art. Method acting should be used to assume a persona and stay in character while producing a piece of work. Throughout the project we were assigned to do method acting, where actors embody a character, including the characterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts and emotions in order to accurately capture that persona in performance.

EDITH PIAF The Little Sparrow

father was a traveling acrobat. Her mother abandoned her as a young child, and her father left her with her grandmother when he went to fight in WWI. Her grandmother ran a brothel in Normandy, where she was looked after by prostitutes. Edith said later in life that she thinks living with prostitutes caused her weakness with men. From the age of three to seven, she was blind because of keratitis, until she was miraculously healed after a pilgrimage to St. Therese of Lisieux. At age 14, she joined her father in his acrobatic performances. After this, she began living with her best friend “Momone”, and they began making money by performing music on the streets. She gave birth to a daughter, Marcelle, at age 17, who soon passed away from neglect and meningitis. She was discovered by Louis Leplee on the street in 1935. Because of her small stature, and nervousness about performing, she was given the nickname “the little sparrow”. She appeared on stage only in black dresses with red lipstick. She began by singing songs of working class life, with its grit and sorrows.

Louis Leplee was murdered, and Edith was accused as an accessory because of her acquaintances in the mob, and then cleaned up her act in order to restore her public image. Edith had a series of intense relationships followed by extreme heartbreak and pain. She had countless lovers, and used love as her creative fuel for her music. The only true love of Edith’s life was the boxer Marcel Cerdan. He died tragically in a plane crash on his way to visit Edith. She married two men after Marcel later in her life. She lived a tortured life, growing up on the streets and in a brothel. She struggled through many passionate, tumultuous relationships with men. She was involved in three serious car crashes after 1951, which led to an alcohol and morphine addiction. She passed away at the age of 47 from liver cancer. Although she had a rough life, on the other hand, she had very positive moments. As a person, she was lively, brave, talented and beautiful. She was confident and sassy, and had a wonderful sense of humor. Her life is a mix of adventure, trauma, passion, love and sorrow. She is regarded as a French icon, and will be remembered forever in a positive light.

CHARETTE PROJECT

Edith Piaf was born in 1915 in Belleville, Paris. Her mother was a cafe singer, and her

GETTING INTO PERSONA

didn’t know existed. She has a certain magnetic draw that is irresistable and powerful. When I started researching her and her life, I admired her strength and her struggle. The qualities in her that I wanted to embody were her intensity, her passion, and her desire to feel fully without reserve. I also wanted to embody her talent, confidence and sense of humor. I tried to feel what it would be like to grow up in her circumstances and think about how it would influence my behavior with others and what type of work it would lead me to produce. Each day during this project, I put on my black clothes, and put myself in the mindset of a French woman, with a vivacious personality, and pure intense emotion. Armed with all of this valuable information and a good idea of who Edith was, I attempted to get into persona and work. The first time I got into persona, I struggled with truly diving into another person’s brain, another person’s life. But as soon as I let go, I started to feel more confident. I felt like a music diva with a humble upbringing in the streets. I tried to think of myself as Edith right in the middle of a terrible heartbreak. I laid in bed and pretended to feel a great loss of a man I truly loved. I thought about how I would cope with this loss. What would make me feel better? What would give me the ability to move on? A song! An image on left: Edith Piaf

expression of my lost love and of myself. I started looking at lyrics from Edith’s songs throughout her life, and I thought, “wow! these are intense, raw and beautiful...” I started writing a lot of lyrics, some of them sad, some about love. I thought about what medium besides singing would be appropriate to express myself as Edith. She grew up on the streets and in a brothel, so she had street sensibility and an influence from growing up with prostitutes. Through putting myself in her persona, I imagined an influence from the clothing of the prostitutes and scraps from the streets. I also imagined myself interested in the French aesthetic of the time and the patterns and textures related to it. She also loved to knit, and it was a lifelong hobby, so through all of this speculation and imagination, I found myself wanting to combine mediums Edith is familiar with. I found myself wanting to write more lyrics, and also to try out some sewing. With the mindset of a street sensibility, the influence of a broken heart, and the French aesthetic, I realized I could sew pieces of fabric together that me as Edith found beautiful. I went to the library and picked books about French fabrics to educate myself on the French aesthetic the way Edith would have been, since she lived there her whole life. I went to the fabric store and pushed myself into my Edith persona, and picked four fabrics I could sew together. The fabrics I chose combine the French aesthetic with Edith’s personal tastes.

CHARETTE PROJECT

Edith Piaf has always captivated my attention. Her music evokes emotions in me that I

“Imagine you are the soul of Paris herself, tiptoeing around the bar drunk out of your mind, kissing and crying to all of your fans, raw, rapid, an emotional mess BUT you aren’t scared of anything because you are adored.” -Catherine Gonzalez, friend

CHARETTE PROJECT printed fabrics from French Textile Books: French Textiles from 1760 to Present, and Printed French Fabrics - Toiles de Jouy

HYBRID OBJECT I did a drawing of how I wanted the fabric to look when I sewed the pieces together. I tried to think of an expressionist, and use my emotions to guide me. I eventually came up with an abstracted flower shape.

I wanted control over every motion, and to feel the tediousness of the process. As Edith, I thought of this as a labor of love. After losing someone, this is how I as Edith would cope, I would put my full self into something else that consumes my time and energy. The sewing machine would have taken away from this emotional process. CHARETTE PROJECT

I met with my friend, Abby Miller, from the fibers department and soaked up all of her sewing knowledge. I settled into the tedious task of sewing each individual piece together by hand. I chose to do this by hand because since I am embodying someone from the past, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want

to involve any sort of machine in my approach. I also wanted to do everything by hand so I could create a more expressive and flawed take.

image on left: Edith Piaf knitting

WRITING I also continuously wrote thoughts and lyrics throughout this process. I researched Edith’s lyrics and tried to write like her or her songwriters. Her lyrics have this intensity, this enclosing sorrow. I wanted to acheive that level of emotion in mine. I sat and thought how it feels to be heartbroken. To feel dramatically torn from something I still desire. To be in the world continuing my day to day life when I really just want to curl in a ball and never see the light of day again.

I researched Edith’s lyrics and found a couple of songs that really spoke to me. Here is a translation of the song “La Vie en Rose”, which is the most well known of her songs. I am struck by the depth and intensity of her feelings in these lyrics. I love her true belief that he is hers for life. Life in Rosy Hues Eyes that make me lower mine, A laugh that’s lost on his lips That’s the true portrait Of the man I belong to When he takes me in his arms, He whispers softly to me, I see life in rosy hues.

Everyday words And it does something to me. He’s come into my heart, A share of happiness Which I know the reason for. He is for me and I am for him for life, He has told me, has sworn it for life. And as soon as I glimpse him, I can feel my beating heart. Endless nights of love, Great joy then takes over Trouble and sorrow disappear, Happy, happy to die for When he takes me in his arms And speaks softly to me, I see life in rosy hues. He gives me words of love, Words of every day, And it does something to me. He’s come into my heart, A share of happiness I know the reason for. It’s you for me, me for him for life, He told me, he has sworn it to me, for life. And as soon as I glimpse him, I can feel my beating heart

The blue sky can collapse in on itself And the earth can cave in Little matters to me if you love me I couldn’t care less about the whole world As long as love will flood my mornings As long as my body will quiver beneath your hands The problems matter so little to me My love, because you love me

If one day life tears you away from me If you die and go far from me Little matters to me if you love me Because I will die too We would have eternity for ourselves In the blue of all the immensity In heaven, no more problems My love, do you believe that we love each other? God reunites those who love each other

CHARETTE PROJECT

Another song that spoke to me is called Hymne a L’Amour, which is about the boxer Marcel, who was the love of Edith’s life that died in a plane crash.

I would go to the ends of the earth I would dye my hair blonde If you asked me to I would pull down the moon I would steal fortune If you asked me to I would disavow my homeland I would disavow my friends If you asked me to One could well laugh at me I would do anything I would do anything If you asked me to progress on sewing

After researching Edith’s lyrics, I compiled all of the ones I had been writing throughout the process “She preferred melancholy, mournful material, singing about heartache, tragedy, poverty, and the harsh reality of life on the streets; much of it was based to some degree on her real-life experiences” -billboard.com biography My writings throughout the project:

can the birds carry me away back into your embrace what moves us apart brings us together again I fall under your spell My love is lost The world encroaches around me I drown in sadness I chase my sorrow Until I cant run anymore Sorrow chases me Until I slip away Into the arms of another My heart aches My mind races I see him in my thoughts He is with me everywhere I go

He follows me His smile and love The emptiness is unbearable My heart is now a void Will he return my heart and soul I am bothered I am stormy The weather wont do Why are the skies bright Yet I feel so dark Why does the sun come up When my world has ended Why does the light follow me When I want to live in the dark My love brings me light He has rescued me From heartache and uncertainty My love falls into me I fall into love We fall together in bliss Life is best with him He brings light and love Love transcends time The mundane falls away Nothing matters When your hand touches mine The world ceases to exist When I am in your arms

Why does the sun shine When my world is no more Porquoi le soleil brille lorsque mon monde n’est plus

I am haunted by a loss Day and night there is no rest My love is a ghost I adore him My eyes follow his charisma His peacefulness while he sleeps I am forever his and him mine

iPhone picture of finished sewn piece with letters written for

I sink deeper into the ocean of his love an anchor crushes my spirit into his and we become one his whispers resurrect my soul breathing life into me keeping me alive together we must be my dream my love ill surrender my heart risk it all for you My dream my love Live a dream with me Chase clouds by my side Hold my hand under the sky

placement

CHARETTE PROJECT

my love is a weight I carry a burden I am grateful for if i were to lose him i would no longer be able to survive I am crushed under the weight of his love overwhelmed with his affection

WHO PREVAILS?

WHO

PREVAILS?

ne night, as I was riding home in an Uber slightly inebriated, I eavesdropped on the driver and my boyfriend, Cory. The

topic of conversation was the driver’s life experience and upbringing. The Uber driver launched into a rant about when he first moved to the United States, when “life was so easy and everything was cheaper and better.” He claimed he “used to be happy” and that he and his family had money. He complained that he “would like to return to easier times long ago”. I pondered his sentiments and reflected on the idea of nostalgia and romanticizing an earlier time in one’s life. Nostalgia has always been a positive thing for me, but I wondered if there was a point when nostalgia turns into something negative, such as anxiety about the present. I immediately started researching nostalgia, and how it affects me and if it’s possible that nostalgia can be negative. I thought about nostalgia in relation to the past, and wondered what the counterpart of nostalgia is. If nostalgia is related to the past, and it gives people a warm, calm feeling, what is the opposing force? I realized it’s anxiety. Not just anxiety, but anxiety relating to modern life and technology.

vs.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

anxiety (technology)

disconnection bullshit articles phone ping

shock value

typing bubble FoMo/

information

social anxiety candy crush

overload instant gratification WHO PREVAILS?

interconnectedness

family, holidays validates life and experiences

old toys, blankets, movies

music

leisure, slow hope for the

tangible

future

easier time

nostalgia

typing bubble

phone ping

NOSTALGIA

there's the rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash, if they have a sentimental bond with the product. My first job, I was in-house at a fur company, with this old pro copywriter. Greek, named Teddy. And Teddy told me the most important idea in advertising is "new". You simply put your product in there as a kind of... calamine lotion. But he also talked about a deeper bond with the product: nostalgia. It's delicate... but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, "nostalgia" literally means, "the pain from an old wound". It's a twinge in your heart, far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship. It's a time machine. It goes backwards, forwards. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called the Wheel. It's called a Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels. Around and around, and back home again... to a place where we know we are loved.” 1

“Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they’re sharing nostalgic memories. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people use nostalgia to literally feel warmer.” 2 “Nostalgia helps us deal with transitions,” Dr. Hepper says. “The young adults are just moving away from home and or starting their first jobs, so they fall back on memories of family Christmases, pets and friends in school.” 2 “Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present... the name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one's living in - it's a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.”3

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus#action=share 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgiagood-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 images on left: nostalgia from childhood

3. Quoted from movie Midnight in Paris

WHO PREVAILS?

“Well, technology is a glittering lure. But

“In a recent study Mobile Mindset study by Lookout, it was found that 73 percent of people would panic if they lost their smartphone, while another 54 percent admit to checking their phone "while lying in bed." 4 “Forty-five percent of responders said they feel "worried or uncomfortable" when email and Facebook are inaccessible, while 60 percent of respondents stated "they felt the need to switch off" their phones and computers to secure a fullfledged break from technology.” 4 “Data also revealed that two-thirds of respondents had difficulty sleeping after using social media, and 25 percent admitted to difficulties in relationships because of "confrontational online" behavior, per the Telegraph.” 4

The symptoms of anxiety The symptoms of anxiety include worrying too much about everyday things, no matter how large or small. Anxiety also causes fatigue, and

trouble sleeping. The effects on the body are constant muscle tension, clenching fists, tense neck and back. Anxiety creates an increased heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, trembling, feeling weak and tired and sometimes chronic indigestion. In the mind, self-doubt and second-guessing are present. There is a feeling of powerlessness and a sense of impending doom. Another facet of anxiety is social anxiety. With this, people tend to worry for days or weeks leading up to an event. If they do the event or situation, they are most likely uncomfortable during and will dwell on it afterwards, wondering if they did anything wrong. People with anxiety feel as if all eyes are on them and respond physically with blushing, trembling and nausea and difficulty talking. Social anxiety can cause issues with meeting new people, and makes it hard for people to advance at work or school. Another common reaction to anxiety is panic attacks. Anxiety is also associated with perfectionism and compulsive behaviors. 5

4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/social-media-anxiety_n_1662224.html 5. http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20646990_2,00.html

WHO PREVAILS?

ANXIETY

WHO PREVAILS? process of digitally creating graphic systems for anxiety and nostalgia

NOSTALGIA

30 ANXIETY

MY STANCE

reading about anxiety and I felt nostalgia reading about nostalgia. It was very strange. It was at this point where I started making connections, and I felt like I truly understood both anxiety and nostalgia. I have always been very literal in my representations in my work. I decided that since both of these phenomena are very much based off feeling, not representations, I wanted to create abstracted graphic systems for each. I wrote down countless situations and examples of anxiety and nostalgia and I started cataloging them with an abstract representation I felt suited the specific situation. For example, opening yourself up to someone and being rejected. I would take this concept and create an abstraction to express it. After drawing many of these concepts, I felt happy about the feelings created by them. I liked that they were my personal individual interpretations of these universal feelings. I was the only person who knew the exact meaning of each abstraction, but I hoped it would create an overall feeling within the viewer of the work. I then translated the work to digital graphics. I wanted to express the concept that anxiety is in the mind, its not tangible. I created my abstracted systems in illustrator and went through many iterations to create the feeling I wanted. I

left page: Shape of final piece

researched color theory and the feelings associated with certain colors, and settled on what sets of color I would use for anxiety vs. nostalgia. For nostalgia, I created the abstractions in a way that made me feel warmth, and comfort and tried to create a slightly outdated style from it.

The next thing for me to consider was the overlap between nostalgia and anxiety. What is my stance in this piece? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve created two separate abstracted systems, how do I bring them together and create my stance? I thought about how anxiety and nostalgia relate. The idea that nostalgia and anxiety can transform into one another. This led to the ultimate question: the two powerful forces of anxiety and nostalgia are up against one another, which one wins? Which is more powerful? Ultimately, I decided anxiety wins. As pessimistic and sad as that is, I needed to communicate that in my piece. I wanted to show anxiety dominating over nostalgia, I wanted my audience to see the power of anxiety and how scary it can be. But I also wanted to communicate the circular aspect that they are still related. I ultimately created two shapes in one almost circle, one dominating the other(anxiety). I skewed the shapes into the feelings I felt when I thought of anxiety and nostalgia. Anxiety is sharp, mangled and dangerous, whereas nostalgia is warm, soft and comforting. The shape of the overall piece is intended to reflect this dichotomy.

WHO PREVAILS?

I researched anxiety and nostalgia to the point where I felt both fully. I felt anxious

CONSTRUCTION

an exacto knife to cut the poster to the shape of the design, and then cut matte board in the shape of the anxiety side to make that side more stable and less fluid. I mounted the anxiety half of the poster on matte board, and left the nostalgia side more fluid and curved to create a curved shadowy effect. The last step in my piece was to give nostalgia the tangible feeling it deserves. I spent a lot of time about nostalgia caused by a blanket from childhood, or a favorite shirt, or an old smell of a favorite stuffed animal. I found objects that reminded me of my childhood and covered a few pieces of nostalgia with these pieces of fabric or yarn. This created a tangible aspect in that the viewer can touch the work and feel something

left page top: matte board mounted on the back of the anxiety side of the poster left page bottom: exacto knife mishap, bandaged wound right page: process of cutting pieces of fabric

soft, comforting and warm. The fabric also created the smell of something used and old, just like any old object from your childhood would have.

WHO PREVAILS?

I printed my final piece on the plotter, the printâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colors turned out beautifully. I used

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I realized that nostalgia and anxiety are inextricably linked, one can lead to the other, though one can be seen as positive while the other negative.â&#x20AC;?

ARTIST STATEMENT Sitting slightly inebriated in the backseat of an Uber

nostalgia as a cyclical operation. When one becomes anxious

driver’s car, I eavesdropped on the conversation between

about their life, they may use nostalgia as an escape. This is

the driver and my boyfriend, Cory. The topic of conver-

a very positive method of coping, up until the point where

sation was the driver’s life experience and upbringing. The

one feels anxiety about their present. This is the point when

Uber driver launched into a rant about when he first moved

one realizes they won’t be a kid again. Nostalgia and anxiety

to the United States, when “life was so easy and everything

have the ability to transform into one another. I wondered,

was cheaper and better.” He claimed he “used to be happy”

which is overall more powerful? With anxiety and nostalgia

and that he and his family had money. He complained that he

in tension, who prevails? Nostalgia has a fair chance. It takes

“would like to return to easier times long ago”. I pondered his

excerpts from one’s past or from history and plants them

sentiments and reflected on the idea of nostalgia and roman-

where needed. It justifies one’s existence. It gives hints on

ticizing an earlier time in one’s life. Nostalgia has always been

how to make the present better by looking at what was so

a positive thing for me, but I wondered if there was a point

magical about the past.

when nostalgia turns into something negative, such as anxiety about the present. I realized that nostalgia and anxiety

While nostalgia is certainly significant, anxiety is also very

are inextricably linked, one can lead to the other, though one

powerful. Modern life is filled with reasons to feel anxious.

can be seen as positive while the other negative.

Hearing the “ping” of one’s phone, the anxiety of an unrefeeling the effects of information overload, knowing much

Paris” by Woody Allen. The premise of the movie is nostal-

of the articles and posts may not even be accurate. Knowing

gia, and how wonderful it would be to step back in time and

the concern of finding a job that you will love which still pays

experience the glorious past. But when the main character,

the bills, the worry of having too much work to do and not

Gil, gets there, he realizes everyone in that time period also

enough time to do it, the fear of being vulnerable and putting

wants to go back to a “simpler, better time”. This is the point

oneself out there and being rejected, the anxiety of allowing

where nostalgia transforms into something that is no longer

negative self talk, the fear of a trauma, or the loss of a loved

positive. To quote the character Paul from Midnight in Paris,

one. Experiencing the physical affects of anxiety, such as

“Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present... the name

tension in the body, an upset stomach, shakiness, sweatiness,

for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion

the inability to concentrate because of worried thoughts.

that a different time period is better than the one one’s living

These things weigh heavily on people who have anxiety. And

in - it’s a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people

even in that past “simpler time” people tend to feel nostalgia

who find it difficult to

about, anxiety still exists. No one goes through life unscathed

cope with the present.”

by anxiety. All things considered, anxiety wins the battle.

From this, I thought about anxiety in modern life and how

This brings me to my final question at the end of this project.

modern society is overwhelmed with technology and the

Ten, twenty, thirty years etc from now, what will we feel

need for instant gratification. My recent move to Michigan

nostalgia about? What will be simpler about our present?

has given me a big taste of anxiety. I am transitioning, and

What will make 2015 an easier time in the eyes of those living

I find myself thinking of home and my parents and friends.

in 3015? Or thirty years ago, wasn’t the Uber driver saying

I feel better when I experience memories of a comfortable,

he wished he could have gone back another thirty years to

positive time in my life. Nostalgia justifies my existence and

his childhood? I think Gil in Midnight in Paris might be onto

my life so far. But along with the glowing warmth with which

something when he says, “That’s what the present is. It’s a

nostalgia brings me, comes also a sense of loss and anxiety

little unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying.”

that I can’t go back to the past. I began seeing anxiety and

WHO PREVAILS?

turned email, the unease of scrolling through Facebook and The idea of nostalgia brings to mind the movie “Midnight in

WHO PREVAILS?

REVIEW BY BEN SANTIAGO Frank Stella has said that, instead of making surfaces that were solely the substrate for gestures, his thinking behind shaping his canvases was to make the canvas itself a gesture.

Whether it took the form of irregular polygons, or abject piles of French curves, Stella’s work was an attempt to flex on the history of painting. By flex I mean both as a metaphor for muscular flexing — a Grumbacher-speckled Atlas struggling to bench the burden of painting’s history — and flexing in the more contemporary sense of “flexing on” or showing off beyond the rectangular limits of painting. Krista Langehening’s print is, by contrast, less about the aforementioned outward “flexing”, but more about an inward “swallowing.” This sense of internalization pervades not just the amorphous purple Pac-Manness that dominates the composition but the read of the piece and its apparent concerns or aboutness. While having some relationship to painting’s historical frustration with quadrilaterals, and bearing the (technically proficient) mark of graphic design’s digital tools, the print ultimately feels stuck in a space between design and art rather than inhabiting it. Langehening’s piece is filled with, for lack of a better term,“Illustrator-y” shapes. The forms bear an obvious and almost experiential connection to their construction. You can feel the “lightning” shapes inside the purple mass being clicked into existence with the Pen Tool. The yellow candy canes being option-dragged and rotated into a new location. The angle of the drop shadow getting adjusted. This relationship to their construction is most palpable at an arm’s length, or the distance from about where you could click, tap or swipe the piece. Getting closer to the work

doesn’t reveal detail in the print that you might get from the dusty, shadow topology of an Ad Reinhardt, as an example. Getting farther away makes the even distribution of the inner shapes more static and the detail on the edges of the piece less apparent. By virtue of this stasis being imposed on the z-axis, the viewer cannot appreciate the objects applied to the print’s surface or the IRL shadow of the print against the wall.. The clarity and confidence in the once-digital forms is muddled by the occasional unsure x-acto cut on the border of the piece or the curve in the paper, a result of coming through an inkjet printer on a roll. To be clear though, the ability to deduce the methodology of its construction is an articulation or expression of digital making, not a critique of it. Take Yung Jake’s Drawings a video installation from 2014 of several sideways monitors with video of mouse cursors on a white field, carrying the out-of-context intentions once held in a long deleted .psd or .ai file. While presenting little in form, almost fearfully so, Yung Jake’s piece critiques the anonymity and malaise of the contemporary digital info burger grill operator. Having a critical perspective does not give Yung Jake’s work “a higher score” than Langehening’s, or mean the print Krista has presented needs to have a critical framework applied on top of it to achieve an arbitrarily greater level of “success”, but that the clarity and immediacy in Yung Jake’s form and execution is used in his case, to make the critique of digital making more salient. However negatively critical one can be about the lack of consideration for the print as an object in space, you can’t really fuck with the earnestness in Langehening’s piece. The shapes feel cared for and lovingly, but not painstakingly

In continuing to think about the piece I still feel my thoughts magnetized towards Frank Stella, Wade Guyton’s inkjet “paintings,” or Yves Tanguy’s mysterious and sad blobscapes. That is, I move toward fine art and away from the designing of graphics. Designy-ness still present in the forms comprising the piece, my conclusion is that ultimately, the shapes in the piece feel lived with but not lived in. Like the distinction between a polite foster child who is secretly confused about the way you cook chicken and an angsty-teen who tests the structural integrity of your dinnerware before storming off to their room. There is not, or at least does not feel like,

there is a conflict, or crucible of formal exploration to bring the forms into their own. Although I can still appreciate them, components like the sharp edges feel borrowed from a comic book or a memory of a Lichtenstein, some of the wavy lines feel reminiscent of a discarded 50’s science textbook, and a few of the shapes borrowed from a midcentury record sleeve illustration. Rather than making the piece into an engine of novelty or placing primacy on pure idiosyncrasy, what I mean to say is that it has not lit its planeswalker spark. The multiverse of Magic: The Gathering is inhabited by planeswalkers who can travel between dimensions (or “planes” hence their name). It is through some formative event that a planeswalker’s spark is ignited and they first hop between realms. Although this is conveniently used as a metaphor for igniting a consumer’s monetary investment in Magic, the metaphor stands. The important aspect of the spark I want to stress, is that it is set off involuntarily. It is the investment in and pursuit of the individual planeswalker’s personal goal that allows this transformative interdimensional travel and subsequent mastery over their specific type of sorcery to occur. Through greater investment in the viewer’s spatiotemporal experience of the piece, Langehening’s work will overcome the troubling comparisons to more powerful but also more cynical work. The earnestness of the formal components of the piece, unbidden by the wall, rectangularity or the white cube will suddenly planeswalk into the liminal space that currently confounds the piece and begin to truly sculpt the mind of the viewer.

CRITIQUE

arranged, without the distracting heroism or cynicism present in the fine art works discussed both previous and subsequent to this sentence. Langehening’s work exudes the unadulterated (happy, happy) joy (joy) of Stimpy presenting his prized “nose goblins.” It is in this light that the illustrative qualities of the forms begin to spring to life. Although, I begin to piece together a narrative about the spiky Pac-man consuming the gelatinous yellow shape as some kind of leveling up from a particle to a wave and how this relates to a transcendence beyond objective “truth,” said earnestness lets me appreciate the shapes as they are and makes the narrative of this read feel like reaching for content that is not there. The work remains at a fulcrum point; a narrative about to be told, or a windswept illustration ripped from its context. A wiggly grid, a stretched out little egg, a sharp jellyfish, a kid’s drawing of Walter De Maria’s The Lightning Field. It is in this appreciation of the piece’s earnestness that it is most rewarding and the inexplicable meaning of the forms is allowed to gestate.

WRITTEN REVIEW PRESTON THOMPSON While standing in front of Thompson’s piece, I find

to change the way I see by being asked to look deeper

myself in a whirlwind of appropriated imagery, cou-

than the obvious. The message is direct and literal, and

pled with language, lyrics, and a newspaper filled with

I keep looking for more.

articles copied from the Internet. I am overwhelmed

with the vast number of details that captivate me

We are allowed to see the bottom-most layer of the

as my eyes travel over the piece. The word “FREE”

piece, which is amateur graffiti one might see in a

“FREE” FREE” screams at me from all directions. The

neglected area of any city. Thompson has ripped this

powerful men stare at me as though they have some-

wall from a neighborhood, torn it from its original

thing to hide that I must protect. The piece evokes an

context. I wondered why Preston emulated a street

eeriness from the dismembered body dragged in the

scene rather than travel to Detroit and slap hundreds

central image. I am fixed in the semiotics: the bright

of the mass producible images all over the city. The

orange acrylic crosshairs, x’s, the black x on the hat

gallery context lessens the impact for me. The very in-

of one of the men, the paisley pattern framing the fig-

tentional and methodical rips in the paper feel forced

ures, along with two random blue squiggles that seem

and constrained to the parameters of the spray painted

out of place and meaningless. I am dominated by the

wood it is mounted to. I see white fingerprints/hand-

masculinity of the images and the aggression I sense

prints on the posters that seem to be an intentional

while looking at them. I consider the paisley border-

human touch and interaction to force the piece to look

ing the police officers, along with the red and blue in

like it came from the street.

each image, and I am instantly pulled into a space of gang culture -- entrenched in a power structure I don’t

The newsstand is secondary, and I wonder if I am sup-

quite understand.

posed to touch the art -- am I supposed to pick one of these up and read it? I look through the newspaper and

The wrinkled brown posters with wheat paste wiped

I feel unease with the focus brought to the lives lost in

across the surface are an immediate reference to street

contrast to the cover of the newspaper, where none

art. I am reminded of walking through the city and

other than the President himself defends brutality. I

seeing endless copies of the same poster pasted over

am put off by the nonchalant “Support Local Business”

endless copies of another similar or contradictory

on the back of this profoundly serious newspaper. The

poster. Like street artists and pop artists, Preston

newspaper is an antiquated form of communication

is using appropriation in his piece. The purpose of

and doesn’t have the reach that Internet media does.

Preston’s work is less about visual originality, and

This brings me to another lens I grasped, which is the

more about the message. The street artist, D*Face has

piece calling attention to the portrayal of instances

an Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein-esque style, and

of police brutality in the media. The media is another

speaks about his work in this way:

power structure that is not revealing the whole truth of these incidents. The language of the posters “We’re

“I wanted to encourage people to not just ‘see’, but to

doing perfectly,” “nothing to see here” drives this point

look at what surrounds them and their lives, reflecting

home. The police could be covering up their transgres-

our increasingly bizarre popular culture, re-thinking

sions, and since they are in a position of power, they

and reworking… A Pandora’s box of bittersweet de-

escape consequences. The media, which controls the

lights – sweet and sugary on the surface, but with an

release of information, is covering certain things. The

unfamiliar, uncomfortable, taste beneath” 1

crossed out stories of those lost indicates the censorship of things we aren’t meant to see.

This quote describes what I find to be lacking in Pres-

The images of the policemen resemble an image a

ton’s piece. I want more mystery, I want to be forced

police department might put up as marketing to

display a heroic version of a police officer. It is then

that light. The visual language in Thompsons’ and

defaced, perhaps by members of the community, with

Douglas’ work is similar, and the content and messages

gang associations. Thompson is referencing the tear-

run along the same thread. In a description of Douglas’

drop tattoo associated with prison and gang culture.

pieces depicting the police and other powerful people

The teardrop tattoo can have multiple meanings in

as pigs, he presents them as a nasty, fat, greedy and

different contexts, but is most often associated with

sloppy, which “translated well into the idea of police

murder or loss of a fellow gang member.2 The central

as pigs given the nasty way police terrorize the Black

poster is the most tense and successful for me, with

community then and now.”3 Douglas also placed the

the image lifted from a board game placed into the

badge numbers of specific bad cops in his work to ex-

context of this poster. On the original “chance” card in

pose them to the community. Douglas saw the police

the game of Monopoly, this image is shown, along with

as pigs, and Thompson sees them as gang members,

the text, “Go directly to Jail, do not pass go, do not

who create unnecessary violence in communities.

game is disturbing. The identity of the dragged person

Thompson’s work brings to mind the notion that

is obscured and indicates the loss of choice once in the

images can function as myth, a theory by Roland

hands of the person in power. The Drake quote taken

Barthes. It describes how bourgeois society imposes

out of context of the song becomes sarcastic and taunt-

its values on others.4 In Thompson’s work, he cre-

ing as if coming from a police officer or gang member.

ates a myth through the heavy semiotics of the piece.

The clouds at the top of the poster hint at those “high

“According to Barthes, the special trick of myth is to

hopes” that are out of reach for the unidentified figure

present an ethos, ideology or set of values as if it were

being dragged.

a natural condition of the world, when in fact its no more than another limited, man-made perspective. A

The depiction of police, subjects of power and other

myth doesn’t describe the natural state of the world,

race issues reminds me of the artist Emory Douglas.

but expresses the intentions of its teller”5 For exam-

Douglas was a member of the Black Panther party and

ple, Thompson takes the image of a police officer and

created art about African American struggles in the

places gang affiliated signs onto it, and therefore has

sixties and seventies for the Black Panther newspa-

transformed it into a myth of his own creation.

per. Their sensibilities are similar in that they have an obvious message, along with simple language allowing

The instrumentalist aims are halted by the gallery

for quick delivery of a message. Below is a description

context, as expressed in this quote from Douglas

of Douglas’ work:

Crimp about instrumentalist work, “communicating

“Around six o’clock in the morning comrades from the BPP would go out to sell newspapers. They had to be at their selling spots at 7am so along the way comrades would use flour and water to wheat paste old newspaper posters and issues. This really began to define the community as a gallery for art. Working people just trying to get by in the system, who could not afford to go to an ivory tower gallery, could now see these images on their way to work. Workers could see themselves in these images and feel empowered.” 3 This quote contrasts with Preston’s piece in that he does not use the community as a gallery for art. His work is only accessible to a small group of art students in one of the wealthiest cities in Michigan. The impact of the instrumental aspect of this work falls short in

only to an art audience is a limited accomplishment. Thus cultural activism involves rethinking the identity of the artist as well as the role of production, distribution and audience in determining a work’s significance.” 6 After sitting with the piece for a long time, I am longing for more simplicity. There is a powerful message that is repeated over and over again by each separate piece to the point where it becomes trivial. Each screen-printed poster stands as its own beautiful work, and each is packed with meaning. Thompson is making a statement on the power structure in African American neighborhoods, equating police to gang members. Overall, the piece makes me realize that the people in power are the only ones that are truly “FREE.”

CRITIQUE

collect $200.” This image taken out of the context of a

GENDER NORMATIVITY T

his project was a complicated one in that it can be looked at in many opposing ways because of the broad nature of the topic. I started reading about gender in society and the dif-

ferent reasons why we are the way we are. I wondered if we are born with certain “gendered” traits or if we are taught them by our society. If some men can have “female” traits and some women can have “male” traits, why are they not just traits? How are we still living in a stricly gendered world? And is it fair to leave out those who are homosexual or transitioning to a different gender? How are they affected by those stereotypes in our society? The question looms at when will we start to truly break out of the traditional patriarchical mold defined by centuries of sexism and limitations based on what private part one is born with. Martian and Venutians? wtf? Men and women are not inherently different, there is no longer a societal standard as to how a person should be. This painting aims to create a satire of stereotypes that put men and women and everything in between into binaries and anything outside of those binaries is considered to be just wrong.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The very creation of difference is the foundation on which inequality rests.â&#x20AC;? -Michael Kimmel

INITIAL RESEARCH

where my head would explode. I wondered why I was making it so complicated. I was reading Michael Kimmel’s “Gendered Society”, which was very enlightening but also slightly outdated. But here are a few things I picked up from it. Why is it that virtually every single society differentiates people on the basis of gender? Why is it that virtually every known society is also based on male dominance? The interplanetary theory of complete and universal gender difference is also typically the way we explain another phenomenon called gender inequality. Interplanetary theory claims we are all strictly different based on gender binaries. oh great. “Only white people in our society have the luxury not to think about race... And only men have the luxury to pretend that gender does not matter” 1 “Privilige is invisible to the privileged” 1 Binary thinking leads to “law of the excluded middle”. My piece addresses this middle group. Society has designed “female” and “male” qualities based on centuries of living in a patriarchical

society. Are these designations accurate or fair? These ancient stereotypes aren’t legitimate in today’s more progressive and informed society. I am calling out false universal differences between the sexes that act as an excuse to discriminate based on gender. This leads to gender inequality because it acknowledges all women might not be able to do the same things. “What will remain, I believe, is not some nongendered androgynous gruel, in which differences between men and women are blended and everyone acts and thinks in exactly the same way. Quite the contrary. I believe that as gender inequality decreases, the differences among people - differences grounded in race, class ethnicity, age, sexuality, as well as gender - will emerge in a context in which all of us can be appreciated for our individual uniqueness as well as our commonality.” I started brainstorming stereotypical traits associated with each sex and the strictly binary mindset surrounding them. I thought of ways to represent those traits in a stereotypical fashion to poke fun at their existence despite all the progress that has been made in regards to open-mindedness surrounding gender.

GENDER NORMATIVITY

I got super deep into some gender shit while researching this project. Almost to the point

CONCEPT I decided this was best shown by a dystopian Hieronymus Bosch-esque painting of ridiculous tropes and vignettes. The vignettes are intended to call out certain stigmas, such as the idea that women can’t think straight or make accurate decisions when they are on their period. Or the idea that past a certain age, a woman isn’t as worthy and turns into an “old maid” or a “spinster”. Also the idea that all women are supposed to wear makeup or have the ability to be sexy every moment of every day. The ridiculous standards placed on men to be masculine and strong hurts men. The idea that a man is supposed to be the hero and the player is an impossible standard to live up to. Many of the ideas aren’t accepted in society anymore, so in some ways this painting is calling out things that are already not acceptable. It can also be seen as something that is becoming outside of the norm for our society. These stereotypes and the people that still believe in them to be legitimate can be

gendered products :(

considered a minority. The sad thing is that it is still alive and well, but it is not widely accepted by culture anymore as it was in the 1950’s and beforehand. In regards to the idea that this only speaks to gender binaries, and doesn’t consider the LGBT diversity and all the different stops on the spectrum. It does reference this because these issues can easily effect the LGBT community just as easily because of the idea that we all need to fit into a certain category. It’s just as damaging no matter where one is on the spectrum because it creates certain traits people believe one should have. There has been a lot of progress with varying family structures and a redefinition of certain stereotypical female or male roles. The overly exaggerated gendered structure present in the painting is representative of the ridiculousness of people conforming to those stereotypes in modern society.

AGRESSIVE SHARP HANDSOME KING MANLY CONFIDENT HUNK KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR TALL DARK HANDSOME HARD PATERNAL SEXUALLY AGRESSIVE LEVEL-HEADED THICK-SKINNED PUSSY DAPPER COMPETITIVE EXPERIENCED MR FIXER UPPER REBELLIOUS RIPPED MUSCULAR STRONG CLUMSY ASSERTIVE INDEPENDENT LEADER CHARISMATIC BACHELOR BEER SPORTS GROSS

MATERNAL BEAUTIFUL SPINSTER EMOTIONAL CUTE GIRLY DAMSEL IN DISTRESS QUEEN LOVELY BUBBLY SKINNY BIMBO DUMB BLONDE HOURGLASS PEAR QUIET GRACEFUL SUBMISSIVE SEDUCTRESS PUSSY PETITE ELEGANT WIDOW OLD HAG GORGEOUS SEXY ACCEPTING PURE INNOCENT SENSITIVE HELPLESS NURTURING

GENDER NORMATIVITY

GENDERED WORDS

MAKING

ridiculous not just because of their pink and blue colors, but also the language used on products for women vs. products for men. Products for women are supposed to be “gentle”, “easy to use”, and products for men are “tough”. Target even removed the idea of having boy and girl sections, but it doesnt help much because the packaging is still so gendered. I explored the concept of focusing on the fact that products are still gendered, even more so than they were 20 years ago. I couldn’t grasp a good way of showing this, so I may come back to that idea later. I also tried mixing words that are considered masculine and feminine without much luck either. I then started painting and started painting weird vagina and penis characters. I ended up drawing all these vignettes that show the ridiculousness of stereotypes. I thought it was better to use humor and satire than to make a serious statement, which I feel like is too overdone.

week. I decided to stretch my own canvas, which created even more possibility for error, considering I had never stretched one before. I bought the frame and built crossbars. Then Helen and I took on the difficult and slightly painful process of stretching the canvas. It was a success, and I had a huge, beautiful canvas. I gessoed it and then began. I painted constantly until the wee hours of the morning every day. My painting technique is not as refined as it should be since I haven’t painted since high school, but I did it to the best of my ability. GENDER NORMATIVITY

As I was researching, I found a lot of ridiculously gendered products. These products are

I started the process of taking on this giant painting. I knew that a 50” by 72” painting would not be an easy feat and by this point I had about a hand stretched canvas

image to left: one of those late nights

GENDER NORMATIVITY

REVIEW BY CHRISTIAN MORIN If “paintings are read in and through references to other paintings” then Krista Langehennig’s latest piece is largely situated between a velvet Elvis and a peace sign tree. Cliché after cliché, stereotype after stereotype, one can travel the boardwalk, past drum circles and through clouds of Nag Champa and find art that however earnest or entertaining ultimately leads to a stomach ache and sticky hands.

Krista’s large acrylic piece is no doubt painted with effort and care and the gender based narrative ultimately serious and relevant but the piece is so comical, so slapstick, and so self conscious that empathy quickly fades. I’m left feeling sorry that the works voice is probably too immature and too self affirming for anyone else to hear or care. It’s an informed realization of the classic grade school “dick drawing”. I don’t believe for one moment that the technical, personal, and physical maturation over the course of this young artists life has led her to this plastic Magnum™ opus. The painting feels soft and flat. Krista colors with paint, rather then build up any body or weight. This work is more of a picture then a painting. An illustration. All its forms, planes, shapes, and surfaces feel incestuous and redundant. Like an ab-ex disco ball that won’t stop. I’ve seen this painting before at my local coffee shop next to several Miro, Klee, and Mark Ryden derivatives. Denise Gonzales Crisp sets up a dichotomy of high and low aesthetics through the following categories: Unschooled Good Unschooled Bad

Schooled Good Schooled Bad This work falls in the category of Schooled Bad. Not bad because it is painted poorly but bad because the paint feels unconsidered. Krista charts her fantasy through choppy waters. Her muddled use of the medium gets trapped in a purgatory which is naive at best, and low brow at worst. Most of the artists in Juxtapoz magazine or that of the Pop Surrealist genre will be quick to tell you how conceptual their work is, but we won’t listen because we’ve already made up our mind about them based on the visual vocabulary in which they present themselves. It’s too easy for us to make them be what we want them to be. And that seems fine by them. I want to believe in the primitive simplicity and allegory, I want to discuss whats behind the paint, or whats in it. I just can’t seem to get past the surface. Other painters have found ways of using a comical and seemingly naive vernacular to convey serious concepts. Phillip Guston uses the painted medium in an illustrated way and yet it feels powerful. His raw marks and gestures force you to feel something before you arrive at any narrative or resolution. His marks point to ideas of society and identity though childlike abiguity. Ed Templeton’s work is similar but deals more with contemporary pop culture. Templeton although more explicit, merely recreates these issues of identity through his characters. Guston’s work demands attention amongst others in the white cube or museum while Templeton’s work subverts in a commercial and subcultural context. I have no bearing of where I am with Krista’s painting or where to go.

Krista’s piece references the classical allegory of purgatory. The narrative here is a mad magazine rendition of a feminist Dante’s Inferno. Comedic, irreverent, and heavy handed. All entertainment and spectacle distracts from any real conversation about gender bias or stereotype, or exploitation because were all too busy laughing and not talking. There is no room for reflection in Krista’s narrative or pictorial space. The viewer is left trying to figure out all of her carefully selected stories, which we eventually find to be generic and familiar: The dick at the gym, the dicks at work, the selfish dick. IRL you may know one of those dicks, or maybe your even friends with one or two. You realize you do Yoga in the same building as the gym dicks. Hey maybe your Dad is totally one of those dicks. Oh no, maybe you are actually a dick! I digress… On the other side you have crying, dripping, and almost tormented symbols of a tired feminine condition. We get it. The roadrunner outruns the coyote. The mouse gets the cheese. The Rabbit get’s the carrot. But Peter Rabbit is powerful not because its a story about rabbits. It’s because of the drama, ambiguity, and nuance in how it relates to the human condition. “Peter, don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your Father had an accident there…” It’s in the way it is told. Just as classical paintings of the 17th and 18th century were often either reli-

gious pictures or secular images commissioned to depict the patrons possessions, values, or self value. It is obvious Krista wants us to know, that she knows gender. She knows feminism. She’s seen the films on Netflix and used to buy the books at Barnes and Noble. She knows, and now she is going to paint a picture about it! A satirical landscape of flesh and foolishness! So eager, with the angst of a teenager. She jumps to metaphor, literally depicting what she sees and feels. Like a Christmas card written with a candy cane font, or mobile writing app with a handmade paper effect background. Krista’s metaphors don’t lead to new directions but rather circle themselves in an infinite loop of jokes and parodies. They point to the painfully obvious and stop there. The painting lacks discernment which suppresses the viewers cognition. In George Lakoff & Mark Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By, it states “The essence of Metaphor is understanding and experiencing one thing in terms of another… Metaphors are actually quite a bit more then manipulation. They actually facilitate understanding. And they help something that is unknown become known and they often precede the formulation of clearer concepts”. The designer Rob Giampietro further elaborates in a lecture given at RGD Ontario’s DesignThinkers Conference (2011), “When we experience one thing in terms of another thats when a metaphor is mapped into our brains and so that allows us to have this system where multiple metaphors are applied to a single target. Arguments for an example, we can talk about them in terms of war, we can also talk about them in terms of a journey, or in terms of a container. All of those don’t come into conflict with one another be-

CRITIQUE

The often mainstream idea of what art is: “the painting” seems at play here. This work is more preoccupied in screaming to us that this is indeed “Art!” then working out her angst, struggle, and disillusionment of any gender discourse. Here we have the painting, the most recognizable art object with some of the most recognizable and expected symbols of gender.

cause of the fact that we target specific parts of an argument to specific metaphors. And we do that through experience”. Krista’s use of metaphor and navigation through the picture plane allows us to experience something, but on its own terms, not really letting us in or trying to talk to us. The metaphors are quite literal and they begin to loose any immersive qualities after a a couple of reads through the image. The characters seem fine talking to themselves or distancing themselves from each other, perfectly happy or indifferent in their box.

I’m reminded of being in grade school when PSA’s would be rendered through a Looney Toons skit or a Fresh Price of Bell Air episode when drugs or sexuality were brought up. In those moments there was brief tension, suspense, and even consideration. But ultimately any life changing advice was short lived and soon forgotten after the next Acme anvil fell or dance scene commenced. Krista’s illustrated lens creates a parallax error between the viewer and the content. She situates her work in Toon Town, when she really should be in Cool World. But I’m guessing she probably doesn’t want to reside in either. Paul Rand once said about Norman Rockwell, “Its all content and the form is rather, boring”. I was not at all bored with Krista’s painting, I was entertained. This is where the work stops but shouldn’t. The complex issues of sexual discrimination, rape, and anatomy are obvious serious and personal issues. But it’s always easier to smile and laugh at something, or ourselves when we’re uncomfortable then to get down to seriously talking, analyzing, weighing in on these heavy topics. Rob Giampietro continues “In user interface design, you can over design interfaces (or icons) and it become difficult to put metaphors onto them”. Is everyones home actually a house? Is gender still easily defined as one thing or the other? “Borges describes how metaphors arise before

language. Before we find words to describe something. Then as we share these concepts with one another metaphors evolve into words. Borges jokes that a word is a dead metaphor, which is a metaphor. But then he returns to what metaphors can do and introduces the concept of openness, which is related to incompleteness. Metaphors are open because they are incomplete. They make a suggestion that we must complete in our own minds”. The painting costumes deep issues in the colloquially obvious character plot: guys can be dicks and girls have to deal with a lot of their shit. Instead of reading into why she feels that way or how to make any meaningful change or practice any bit of self awareness I laugh, think for a second, and move on. However sincere or interesting I just sit and watch this painting the same way I do as Charles Schulz’ bastardized Peanuts characters dance and bounce around on screen talking about the importance of life insurance. It has my attention until the “skip” this commercial button pops up right before the next episode of The Walking Dead. Jorge Luis Borges writes in The Metaphor “Remember what Emmerson said: arguments convince nobody. They convince nobody because they are presented as arguments. Then we look at them, we weigh them, we turn them over, and we decide against them. But when something is merely said–or, better still, hinted at–there is a kind of hospitality in our imagination. We are ready to accept it”.

CRITIQUE

WRITTEN REVIEW HELEN IP Screenshots on screenshots on screenshots! Ip’s

image with a completely cleared desktop relinquishes

piece, titled “The New Hypergraphy: Asymptote of

the human touch of personalizing one’s computer. It

the Times” includes an obnoxiously tiled pattern of

is pure, untouched, Apple goodness, factory settings

the default background for OS X Yosemite hung on a

and all. The purity of the default image becomes an

portion of the crit room wall, draping down to cover a

almost spiritual experience. The oversized cursors/

section of the floor. I glance around and see obvious In-

hashtag/spinny beach ball act as idols to worship. As

ternet symbols rendered in life-size arbitrarily placed

the creator of this piece, Ip falls into the same trap she

throughout Ip’s “virtual” reality. The purple pink

is mocking. Helen implicates herself as part of this

sunset simultaneously hurt my eyes while putting me

religion by taking the time to create these physical In-

in a meditative state due to the familiarity of it. I want

ternet idols. This path feels a little far-fetched though.

to scratch my eyes out while simultaneously enjoying the appeal of the child-size Yosemite tent. #dope!!

The physical production of everyday objects in Ip’s

was my initial reaction to Ip’s piece, as I surveyed all

piece reminds me of the artist Jeff Koons,

the different mediums she experimented with. I felt

immense pleasure and excitement about the possibil-

“A lot of Koons’ works is big; he uses size to defamilia-

ities of what I was about to experience in Ip’s Internet

rise everyday objects. In the series Banality, he takes

world made physical.

the kind of ornaments you might find in a gift shop and enlarges them out of all proportion. The most

The threshold of the tent greets me with a blanket/

famous of these sculptures is Michael Jackson and

welcome mat embroidered with symbols literally

Bubbles, a grotesquely sentimental trinket that Koons,

saying “Herro! Welcome to the internet!” I enter the

along with the other items in the series, finds “very

tent feeling like a child thinking of the possibilities I

beautiful, very seductive…” 1

would discover within. I awkwardly climb into this child-size tent and almost squish the still, drippy,

This is where I find faults in Helen’s piece with the

life-size beach ball of death in the left corner. The iPad

production of the cursors, beach ball and hashtag.

has a browser window with the URL “areyouok.click”.

Materially, I am interested, but the size indicates the

I attempt to click “OK” because I feel pretty OK in the

false possibility of interaction. The placement within

moment. Nothing happens until I draw a line and at

a small, personal space leaves the viewer expecting

the end a “NOPE” tells me I am not ok. I am clearly be-

more from these static objects. I see Koon’s work as

ing mocked by my inability to press the OK button and

successful because of the visual impact and absurdity

realize the only power I have is to draw lines. Then

of producing these recognizable objects at such a large

this in itself becomes fun, becomes a toy to play with,

scale. Ip’s pieces are still small enough to hold, which

I spent five minutes drawing “NOPE” lines repeatedly

makes them feel less ridiculous and less impactful in

until I realized there was nothing left for me to do in

comparison. Ip’s work also brings to mind the artist

this tent. The beach ball and the hashtag serve as toys

Aram Bartholl as he

I can’t play with even though they exist in my physical world, and I am left feeling overall disappointment

“explores the the blurred lines between the internet

with my short-lived experience inside the tent.

and the physical world in in Map; 1:1 scale physical recreations of Google Maps’ search results. Aram has

I wonder if I have fallen into a strange Internet tent

recreated the Google Maps location icon in painted

revival and Helen is the technological evangelist

wood, using it to mark the location of city centres

spreading the word from California’s tech industry

across the globe in physical space. The size of the life-

that technology is the new religion. The default Apple

size marker corresponds to the size of the marker on

the Google interface.” 2 I appreciate the intentionality

scene is something that doesn’t literally exist on this

behind the size and location of the object in Bartholl’s

earth, but metaphorically represents our daily lives.

piece in that it corresponds directly with the scale in

The physical manifestation is intended to create an

the digital realm, and has meaning based on its place-

experiential aspect, but the piece is overall too static

ment in city centres. Ip’s choice of size, material and

to round out the experience. Like the installations of

placement of the objects feels random and although

Yayoi Kusama, and Rafael Rozendaal, I crave an all-en-

I respond visually to the objects, I find them to be

compassing and exciting experience through installa-

empty when attempting to add more to the overall

tion, which feels like something Ip is reaching for, but

meaning of the piece.

without complete success. The wallpaper only covers a section of the crit wall and pulls me out of her “virtual”

The absurdity of certain aspects of Ip’s piece leads me

reality -- I cannot immerse myself. The sculptures of

to camp (purely coincidental). From Notes on Camp by

Internet symbols underwhelm me, and the only thing

Susan Sontag, “Camp is art that proposes itself serious-

I can slightly draw from them is the irony of not being

ly but cannot be taken altogether seriously because it

able to use these recognizable symbols in the physical

is “too much.” 3 Ip’s work is on the verge of being “too

realm and not receiving the instant gratification we

much” but isn’t getting there, which is the point of

expect in the digital realm.

of human nature and technology, the humor and irony

I have a positive experience for the few minutes I can

need to be pushed more. The absurdity of the piece is

spend discovering the piece, but then the abundance of

too limited. I believe Ip to be sincere and passionate

repetitive symbols brings me to a point where I can’t

about her love/hate relationship with technology/in-

discover new meaning. My experience inside the tent

ternet, but it just isn’t pushing itself through the work

was personal, fleetingly exciting, and then empty. It is

and therefore falls into “pseudo-Camp”

exactly the same as my relationship with the Internet, I get to a website, play around for a few minutes and

“Neither can anything be Camp that does not seem to

then realize I want to move on to the next thing. Susan

spring from an irrepressible, a virtual uncontrolled

Sontag says, “Something is good not because it is

sensibility. Without passion, one gets pseudo-Camp –

achieved, but because another kind of truth about the

what is merely decorative, safe, in a word, chic.” 3

human situation, another experience of what it is to be human - in short, another valid sensibility -- is being

I am also put off by the abundance of expected imag-

revealed.” 3 If Ip is attempting to mock society’s shal-

ery and symbols relating to technology and the Inter-

low, short attention span style of internet use, I would

net. In post-internet art, it is common to appropriate

find the piece to be successful, but the timidness of the

imagery and use default visuals. Michael Manning has

piece makes it difficult to fully realize.

a website called mirrrroring.net, which has collaged imagery of internet and pizza related animations and

NOTES

uses existing images, but also keeps an element of

1. Emma Brockes, “Jeff Koons: ‘People respons to banal

ambiguity about the meaning of each, which makes

things-they don’t accept their own history,’” http://

his work compelling. 4 I am craving more ambiguity

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jul/05/

and depth in Ip’s piece. This leads me to believe the

jeff-koons-people-respond-to-banal-things-they-dont-

interaction with the iPad is one of the more interesting

accept-their-own-history.

aspects of the piece.

2. Joanne McNeil, Domenico Quaranta, Nick Lambert, Art and the Internet (London UK: Black Dog Publish-

Ip’s “virtual” physical reality becomes a metaphor for

ing., 2013), 132.

our everyday lives as we isolate ourselves from other

3. Susan Sontag, “Notes on ‘Camp’,” http://interglacial.

humans through technology and waste hours doing

com/~sburke/pub/prose/Susan_Sontag_-_Notes_on_

the pointless, meaningless surfing of the Internet;

Camp.html

equivalent to drawing “NOPE” lines in a tent. Ip’s

4. http://mirrrroring.net/index.html

CRITIQUE

crisis for me. If the piece is intended to be a mockery

CRITIQUE

PURITY

urity balls are part of a strange world that exists due to many years of patriarchy and traditional values. I started won-

dering why I was reading an article from late 2015 about a photograph from a young girl’s purity ball. The photograph seems normal enough, but her and her dad are pictured holding a certificate from a girl’s doctor confirming her hymen is intact. Not only is this medically inaccurate, (girls can be born without a hymen or it can break for other reasons) it is completely incomprehensible that this kind of thing still exists. It also led me to think about all the other issues surrounding the control of women’s bodies and reproductive rights. All of this really doesn’t add up to me in our current society. I decided to create an illustrated animation to depict these events and the undertone of something not quite right going on in the background.

CRITIQUE

OWNERSHIP

THE WORLD OF PURITY BALLS

So basically what goes down is young girls between the ages of four to college age dress up in a white dress and take their father as a “date” to a ceremony held once a year. A guest speaker warns the young girls of the dangers of premarital sex. The girls give a key to their father and ask them to hold it until they get married, and then it is passed to the husband. The girls then walk down the aisle and put a rose in front of the cross. The father is encouraged to tell his daughter she is really beautiful and to make her feel special. There is even a nightline episode covering this purity ball phenomenon, and the girls on this episode don’t even kiss their significant other until their wedding kiss. These purity balls emphasize and enforce traditional gender stereotypes and cause a huge setback to a lot of progress that has been made. This led me down a path of thinking about abstinence-only sex education that is enforced in certain communities. Research shows this kind of sex education to be largely unsuccessful in preventing pregnancy and STDs because most teens end up engaging in unprotected sex any-

image to left: young girl holding hymen certificate

way. The purity ball and abstinence sex education are the extreme examples, but it enforces a stigma that still exists for many young women. Although there is a lot of progress since sexual liberation, there is still a damaging amount of shame associated with sexuality at a young age for women. There is a dangerous double standard that young straight boys are more justified having multiple sexual partners or becoming sexual at a young age. There is something disturbing about a young girl giving ownership of her virginity and sexuality to a man it doesn’t belong to, and never learning what its truly like to own one’s sexuality and find yourself in that respect. It’s a whole world young girls miss out on because of people taking a sexuality that doesnt belong to them. It also brings up a lot of issues for me surrounding the attack of women’s reproductive rights. The obsession with trying to control women’s bodies and choices is still rampant in our society and I don’t want to really live in a world where this kind of archaic behavior is still acceptable. I have no problem with a woman waiting for marriage, but it should be her choice, and her choice only, and shouldn’t be put on a a public dispay for anyone else.

PURITY OWNERSHIP

I delved into the world of purity balls and came out with some disturbing revelations.

PURITY OWNERSHIP

The purity myth is the lie that womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sexuality has some bearing on who we are and how good we are. Because, really, I think that we all know that young women are so much more than whether or not they have sex. We really should be teaching our daughters that our ability to be good people is based on their intelligence, their compassion, their kindness, not what they do with their bodies.

-Jessica Valenti

VARIOUS FUCKED UP QUOTES “I snuggle with her, nothing sexual about it...”

“father has responsibility of protecting daughter”

“Deep and close relationship between the daughters and fathers, and in this way they avoid the premarital sexual activity that allegedly results from young women who seek love from the relationships they have with other men”

“symbolic of a wedding”

“old enough to have first period”

“teaches girls why they should wait for someone worth it”

“silently commit”

“fathers can teach their daughters about self-esteem and how to respect themselves”

“no clothes above the knees, show cleavage or have cutouts”

“whole being absorbs my loving attention...resulting in self-worth and identity...” “dad is your boyfriend for now”

“guest speaker warns girls about dangers of premarital sex” The daughter gives a gold key to the father and asks him to hold onto it until the day of her wedding, he hands it to husband she will marry” “These balls are common for conservative Christians who want to teach their children about abstinence and not about condoms” “1 in 6 children virginity pledge, 88% break the vow, this may fail because not taught to boys” “I don’t need a boyfriend, I have my dad”

Sources: 1. http://generationsoflight.com/html/boys.html

2. http://www.purityball.com/ 3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/05/purity-ball-photos_n_5255904.html 4. http://www.upworthy.com/a-womans-purity-certificate-went-vi-

“dad is only man in a girl’s life until her husband” “Boys become men by watching men, by standing close to men. Manhood is a ritual passed from generation to generation with precious few spoken instructions. Passing the torch of manhood is a fragile, tedious task. If the rite of passage is successfully completed, the boy-become-man is like an oak of hard-wood character. His shade and influence will bless those who are fortunate enough to lean on him and rest under his canopy.” -Preston Gillham on manhood ceremonies

ral-time-to-talk-about-that-whole-virginity-thing 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S168jf-4V9Y 6. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/purity-balls-lifting-veil-special-ceremony-23061335 7. Purity Myth, Jessica Valenti 8. Full Frontal Feminism, Jessica Valenti

PURITY OWNERSHIP

“Arriving in the arms of their fathers...” “enter into marriage pure...”

SELF-ESTEEM VOW

OWNERSHIP RUINED

PROTECTION

DEVOTION

RESPECT

WORTH AUTONOMY

SHAME

PAIN

CHASTITY

IDENTITY PURITY

RAYS

PUBES

WHITE ROSE

CROSS

CANDLES

LOLLIPOP

TIARA

CHERRY

NUDE

KEY

SWORDS

PURITY RING

WHITE DRESS

CANDY

PURITY OWNERSHIP

“Your body is a wrapped lollipop. When you have sex with a man, he unwraps your lollipop and sucks on it. It may feel great at the time, but, unfortunately, when he’s done with you, all you have left for your next partner is a poorly wrapped, saliva-fouled sucker.”

ARTIST STATEMENT virginity and then passing the ownership on to her husband when she gets married (which completely leaves her out of the equation) or the stealing of women’s reproductive rights or the scare tactics and false sex education used to make young women feel like they will be ruined if they become sexually active. Autonomy and choice without shame and guilt need to be the new norm.”

PURITY OWNERSHIP

“I started this project because of a recent viral image of this girl and her dad at her purity ball and she’s holding a certificate from her doctor that confirms her hymen is still intact. Purity balls are nothing new, but it really brought into perspective how fucked up this shit still is. The purity ball is an extreme example, but one also has to consider society’s archaic obsession with controlling the sexuality of women, whether it’s a father taking ownership of his daughters

REVIEW BY PRESTON THOMPSON Sweet, pure, innocent, and light are four words one can use to describe describe Krista Langehennig’s animation. The ani-

mation consists of six sections with illustrative imagery that can seduce one by the overwhelming varieties of pink, the aphrodisiac cherries and the sweet lollipops. The illustrations are successful in that they were given a generous amount of detail with the gradient shading of the objects which provided the illusion of depth and dimensionality, however they also provide no personality but rather commercial and suitable for mass production. The first scene includes four lit candle sticks flickering against a pink background with sprayed water droplets. The candles are reminiscent of the candles used in Catholic churches for celebrations and rituals in tradition. The sun ray like effect shining through the top of edge fading down the candles recreates the recreates the optical illusion of crepuscular clouds or often referred to as the “fingers of god”, when the rays of sunlight appear to radiate from where the sun is located in the sky. The water droplets also suggests religious themes and celebration as water is symbolic of purification and cleansing and it’s used with many acts such as baptism which signifies birth and the fruitfulness of life given in the Holy Spirit (Catechism). The second scene consists of an antique skeleton key that falls into a small contracting red whole. Beyond the understanding that keys are used for locking and signifiers for protection, privacy and exclusion, keys are also symbolic of knowledge and power. In the catholic belief, Peter was given two keys from Jesus, one gold key that opens the gates to heaven and a silver one that closes the

gates. This gift from Jesus insinuates trust and power and is an emblem of authority. Perhaps Langehennig’s gold key representation is referencing the authority of her celibacy? However, to use that assessment, the control is lost once it falls into the whole. If the key isn’t viewed as being lost it could be interpreted as her experience giving that authority to someone else and allowing them open access to her and trusting them, just as God did with Peter. What makes the idea of Langehennig locking her body interesting is that when she does give it to someone else they now can be viewed as an intimate secret that she will lock. In the third scene the screen view has completely changed as the viewer is zoomed in as if it has been guided inside the small hole that was contracting in the previous frame. Inside this frame is a group of cherries confined to a small space which can make one think it’s referencing the vagina. The group of cherries then transitions to a single cherry that floats over a cup that is half way filled with the dripping contents. A female losing her virginity is referred to as having her “cherry popped” however in Langehennig’s reference the fruit is intact not penetrated nor excreting its fertile matter without control, but rather slow and consistently. The final scene is a lollipop freshly wrapped with the starburst from frame one behind it. With the previous information the starburst suggests celebration and happiness however its not until it transitions into the next frame upside down, used and now dripping that it seems like the cel-

In terms of subject matter content Langehennigs piece is reminiscent of Elinor Carucciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body of work. Just as Langehennig, Carucci focuses on intimate and private moments in her life as a narrative. Aesthetically neither censor topics that society may find undesirable such as menstrual blood or pubic hair that embody experiences. Where Carucci differs from Langhennig besides medium is that her approach is less glamorized and more literal. This piece is interesting but one can get lost in itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lack of visual storytelling. For example each section is transitioned by a jump cut, In the third section it seems as though the viewer was brought inside a space however by the fourth section the viewer is abruptly brought back out, recurring actions such as the drips from the objects but not enough contrasts for the viewer. For example, The viewer is presented with four subjects of focus: the candles, the skeleton key, the cherries and the lollipop. Two of the objects are edible and both have pop culture connotations associated with sex. Naturally a viewer with any pop culture awareness could be inclined to reference the cherries to women and the lollipop to men however, Langehennig doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it clear. If she is referring to women with both the cherries and the lollipop then the viewer is naturally inclined to believe she is critiquing women; sweet versus artificially sweet, classy versus trashy? Each frame is able to stand on its own and loop infinitely which makes its existence appropriate for the internet. To be pushed

further Langehennig can explore visual narrative from frame to frame. Animations rely on a visual narratives or else the work can come across as a series of motion graphics. Overall the motion graphics are densely coded and visually and seductively pleasing.

CRITIQUE

ebration is over. The used lollipop makes sexual innuendos from the pubic like hair attached to it.

WRITTEN REVIEW QINGYU WU Ceci n’est pas une Ping-Pong table

This spontaneity can clearly be traced to the idea that “Fluxus artists were most heavily influenced by

A change in perception of what is considered ordinary,

the ideas of John Cage, who believed that one should

accepted or normal in the everyday is the goal of Wu’s

embark on a piece without having a conception of the

latest installation. Upon first viewing of the installa-

eventual end. It was the process of creating that was

tion as a whole, I observed an ordered randomness and

important, not the finished product.” 1 This impulsive-

a feeling of forced familiarity. Upon closer inspection,

ness can be found in certain aspects of Wu’s piece. The

I appreciated the craft of certain objects and selected

other idea adopted from Fluxus is the notion of art and

teasing qualities that jumped out here and there. I

life being inextricably linked. This is best explained

caught a little bit of humor and a few exciting forms

by referencing Fluxus linked to Zen philosophy, “Zen

that can be linked to one another, but ultimately

had a powerful impact on John Cage who thought that

perceived a lack of intentionality and a surface level

art should be concerned with equivalency of values

approach to humor or playfulness.

instead of elevating artistic experiences from everyday experiences”. 1 Through the Fluxus lens, I see Wu’s

After grappling with many interpretations that

work as nearly aligning with this ideal of the everyday

were quickly cancelled out by one object or another,

and spontaneity. (see examples of Fluxus works on

I keep going back to an interpretation that can link

image spread)

all of these seemingly random objects together. Like many before her, Wu has taken purchased objects

Beyond the awareness of the readymade and redefin-

(readymades) and placed them in an installation. She

ing everyday objects, some of the duality in Wu’s work

incorporates made objects interspersed throughout.

makes me think of the concept of yin and yang,

She places them in locations and heights they wouldn’t normally be found (toilet paper on a pedestal, ping

Yin / Yang : Two halves that together complete

pong “table” close to the floor, etc) the obvious nature

wholeness. Yin and yang are also the starting point for

of the objects’ strange stations push the reading that

change. When something is whole, by definition it is

everyday objects we encounter are no longer usable

unchanging and complete. So when you split some-

when location, material, accessibility or convenience

thing into two halves – yin / yang, it upsets the equi-

are changed. As we all know, the readymade began

librium of wholeness. This starts both halves chasing

with Dada and, at the time, pressed what could be con-

after each other as they seek a new balance with each

sidered art and was thought of as ironic and humor-

other. 2

ous. It placed ordinary objects on a pedestal (literally and figuratively) and defined them as art. But with an

This general definition resonates within Wu’s piece

awareness of the idea of the “readymade” fully formed

in the articles that are dependent on one another. The

in the annals of art history, with the pioneers followed

paddles without a real Ping-Pong table, or the beer

by the copycats and so on… the placement of this

bottle without a bottle cap; they are missing their

concept once again in a contemporary art landscape

other half. Therefore the balance is thrown off. The

feels tired.

duality in Wu’s work also calls to the work of the artist Daniel Eatock’s work in his exhibition “One + One”. He

What I believe Wu is attempting to achieve can fall

configures two found objects together to create new

into a Fluxus mindset of creation. Her use of found

meanings, beautiful color combinations, or stimulating

and made objects generates a sensation of spontaneity.

forms, “The 1 + 1 sculptures are considered, the two

objects are carefully placed together – a deck chair

to communicate between one another. These group-

and an ironing-board, they share similar forms, one

ings of two construct a social interpretation that is

is associated with leisure, the other with work, both

stunted by the remaining odd objects in the scene.

have fabric skins and an X crossed legs/structure – when place one on top of the other a nice infinite loop

Along with a social connotation, the installation

results. Like placing two mirrors facing each other.”

brings up some childlike associations. The balloons

3 The intentionality behind designing seemingly

and the Ping-Pong table are connected to memories of

random objects together creates new meaning. This is

childhood parties and friendships. I begin to see hints

similar to Wu’s placement of a spray top on a beer bot-

of a longing for play and desire to remain a child rather

tle, but I can’t seem to find this type of consideration

than transition into adulthood. It represents the stage

throughout most of Wu’s piece.

in one’s life of adolescence, roughly ages 13-19, “Adocovery. The transitional period can bring up issues of

jects in the installation. The calendar sitting on the

independence and self-identity; many adolescents and

floor causes a bit more of a stir when I contemplate

their peers face tough choices regarding schoolwork,

its meaning. Each page represents a second in time,

sexuality, drugs, alcohol, and social life. Peer groups,

totaling four minutes and fifty-nine seconds on the

romantic interests and external appearance tend to

date December 31, 2016. Not just any four minutes and

naturally increase in importance for some time during

fifty-nine seconds, it’s the minutes right before mid-

a teen’s journey toward adulthood.” 5 With this, I find

night, or the New Year. This calendar and timeframe

relations between the awkwardness of the trapped

suggest Wu is trying to provide a glimpse into the ac-

balloon, the shift in appearance of the Ping-Pong table,

tivities occurring in the last few minutes of this year.

and the strange beer bottle/spray contraption indicat-

She is capturing moments, or a sequence of events.

ing an indecisiveness about growing up and making

She is depicting a party with the drinking, game

decisions.

playing, and the colorful balloons. This illustration of a sequence of events in a certain timeframe is thought

I enjoyed cycling through multiple interpretations, but

provoking, but I find faults when I start to consider the

felt disappointed with the conceptual shortcomings

presence of the eggs and the toilet paper roll, which

I found in each one when reflecting upon the objects.

seem out of place in this interpretation.

The piece’s meaning can be interpreted in multiple ways if one can select parts of it that make sense as

My next understanding of the work folds from the

a group. The duality of certain objects can imply an

same outliers (toilet paper/eggs/calendar) Possibly

attempt to throw off the yin and yang of our world.

the strange placement of objects and unusual modi-

The calendar, beer and Ping-Pong table can suggest an

fications of items suggest the awkwardness of social

illustration of a party. The childlike colors and imagery

encounters. This is not unlike Yayoi Kusama’s piece,

of a game and balloons propose a struggle with tran-

“Silver Shoes”, where, “Kusama has taken recognizable

sitioning to adulthood. The only rationalization that

objects—women’s shoes—and, by painting them silver

can include every object in Wu’s piece is the concept

and filling them with lumpy shapes, stripped them of

linked with readymades and turning the ordinary into

their functional meaning. Their uncomfortable pairing

something extraordinary by shifting one’s perception

reflects the personal and societal tensions of human

of the world and ability to interact with the static

relationships.” 4 I endeavored to see the objects as

objects surrounding us. The fact that this is the only

characters with something not quite right between

conceptually sound understanding I can garner from

them. The awkward beer bottles unsure of their

the piece makes me find comfort in the familiarity of

function, the one balloon trapped (self-consciousness,

the message, but I still continue to seek a more com-

inhibitions) one balloon almost free. The Ping-Pong

plex significance.

paddles distanced from one another with no capacity

CRITIQUE

lescence can be a time of both disorientation and disMy attention is then turned to one of the made ob-