9/30/08
Complete
9/28/08
Grad Research Artist Statement and New Semester Work Documentation
We tend to view ourselves as superior to animals, but when we develop relationships with companion animals it becomes clear that the notion of human superiority is an illusion. When we sympathize with them, acknowledge human characteristics, and speak to them as we do to other humans, we raise them to the status of people. Personifying animals and befriending them is a normal and natural human characteristic, and one that can be emotionally fulfilling. Perhaps pet keeping makes us more aware of our connection with animals and the natural world, and may help lead us from our delusions of superiority.
Blog 10
Elliott Erwitt
Read an Interview
Bio: Born in Paris in 1928 to Russian parents, Erwitt spent his childhood in Milan, then emigrated to the US, via France, with his family in 1939. As a teenager living in Hollywood, he developed an interest in photography and worked in a commercial darkroom before experimenting with photography at Los Angeles City College. In 1948 he moved to New York and exchanged janitorial work for film classes at the New School for Social Research.
Erwitt traveled in France and Italy in 1949 with his trusty Rolleiflex camera. In 1951 he was drafted for military service and undertook various photographic duties while serving in a unit of the Army Signal Corps in Germany and France.
While in New York, Erwitt met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker, the former head of the Farm Security Administration. Stryker initially hired Erwitt to work for the Standard Oil Company, where he was building up a photographic library for the company, and subsequently commissioned him to undertake a project documenting the city of Pittsburgh.
In 1953 Erwitt joined Magnum Photos and worked as a freelance photographer for Collier's, Look, Life, Holiday and other luminaries in that golden period for illustrated magazines. To this day he is for hire and continues to work for a variety of journalistic and commercial outfits.
In the late 1960s Erwitt served as Magnum's president for three years. He then turned to film: in the 1970s he produced several noted documentaries and in the 1980s eighteen comedy films for Home Box Office. Erwitt became known for benevolent irony, and for a humanistic sensibility traditional to the spirit of Magnum.
Exhibitions: Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA James A. Michener Museum: Dog Dogs
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA
Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
New South Wales Museum of Art, Australia
The Barbican, London, UK
Camera Work, Berlin. Germany
NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Germany
Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Photokina, Cologne, Germany
Review: Nearly every one of the 500 black-and-white pictures in this book is a miraculous blend of composition and content, placing photographer Elliott Erwitt right up there with the other postwar, 20th-century masters of moment and meaning. Erwitt writes in his introduction, "This is not a book of dog pictures but of dogs in pictures." It is the photograph that counts, above and beyond its subject, for the photographer of genius. But Erwitt is bound to be called a sentimentalist because he photographs dogs, whom we, in our species-centric way, tend to think of as, well, animals. If Erwitt proves anything, however, it is that our close relationship with these furry fellow travelers is due to mutual resemblance. There is a Native American myth that when the world was created, a great fissure began to split the earth. Humans were caught on one side of the chasm, animals on the other. The dog, however, seeing the gap widen, leaped across to the human side, where he has been ever since. This book captures the pleasures of our loyal, dependent friends, as well as their sorrows and disappointment when they are forced to adapt to human callousness, neglect, or even love. Erwitt sees the dignity of the ankle-high Chihuahua; the anxiety of the homeless hound; the smugness of the adored dachshund, sitting on its chaise longue in the noonday sun; the patience of the pom-pommed poodle; and the gormless joy of a homely but well-loved pug. In his vast range of emotion, and in his easygoing but precise mastery of the abstract elements of composition, Elliott Erwitt has made himself the Cartier-Bresson of the canine world. --Peggy Moorman (Amazon.com)
9/25/08
Blog 9
- Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?
- What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?
- What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?
- What did you achieve in your studio this past week?
- What has been an artistic failure this week?
- What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?
- If there was a visiting artist this week, what is your impression of their work and process in relation to your own?
9/23/08
9/22/08
Blog 8
Isabella Rozendaal
website
Bio: Born April 9th 1983 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Dutch/Brazilian Nationality, based in Amsterdam
Just graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts, Isabella studied photography with an emphasis on advertising and fashion.
However, she mostly enjoys photographing the remarkable and humorous things she encounters in real life, sometimes
expanding her fascination into substantial documentary projects. Although she has an awareness of and love for the
aesthetics of photography, conveying her wonder and surprise at the world is her main objective.
Explanation: This collection of images by Dutch photographer Isabella Rozendaal attempts to capture the bizarre and touching way that humans express their love for their animals. Long-haired dogs with braids and barrettes, sedated and post-op cats, retired show animals, horses with mouths bloodied by the bit and stuffed taxidermist's specimens all feature here.
Her book On Loving Animals
Interview: Its in Dutch, unfortunately. All her reviews, etc. are in Dutch. :-/
http://www.hetgesprek.nl/archief/1409/
Gallery Rep: http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/
Barwood Grad Research Assignment: Discussion ?s on Article
Most people would say they feel closer to their pets than a wild animal because they believe to have an unspoken bond with the animal. Some would argue that their dog has more consciousness than someone’s pet Boa or hamster because their brains are larger and therefore must be more developed than that of an amphibian or rodent. These perceptions are often biased and ignorant. We want to believe that we have cultivated our pets to be close family companions who can decipher our emotions and desire to be loved.
If new studies reveal that animals are not as conscious as we once thought, how will that affect our relationships with our pets?
I believe that most people who have pets will not change their behavior and attitude towards their pets. People want to believe their pet companions are aware and conscious of the bond between them. They won’t believe that their pets are incapable of accepting their friendship or that they merely depend on them for their basic needs, i.e. food and shelter. People who have had pets throughout their lives will never believe that the “bond” they once shared with their pets was a fabrication and myth create in their heads. However, I do believe that people who have never had pets before would find it easy to believe that pet owners were wrong all along and that their pets served as a warped place to put their love. Perhaps they would say that pet owners had convinced themselves for so long that they could never see it any other way.
9/16/08
Blog 7
- Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?
- What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?
- What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?
- What did you achieve in your studio this past week?
- What has been an artistic failure this week?
- What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?
- If there was a visiting artist this week, what is your impression of their work and process in relation to your own?
In the same way my work is about my love and hatred for the relationship humans have with animals.
9/14/08
Barwood Grad Research Assignment: Discussion Questions on Article or Essay
Article 2
How do we explain these phenomena?
Idea 1: Dogs are pack-oriented and they rely on each other for survival. When the pack leader dies, the dogs feel unstable and lost. The dog may have not realized that he could defend himself without his owner and therefore was stuck in a state of defeat or inadequacy.
Idea 2: The dog was truly guarding the man’s body from predators. Coyotes would have eaten him if the dog hadn’t stuck around.
Idea 3: It is possible that the dog was mourning the loss of his pack leader. Perhaps the dog was truly suffering from depression because his companion and provider was gone.
I believe the explanation lies within both idea 1 and 3.
How does society impact or influence our view of the wild and pets?
People throughout the world relate to animals on the basis of such factors as their society, culture, and personal values.
“Economics is a strong influence on a society's value of animals, she said. For instance, the human-animal bond is stronger in prosperous nations such as the United States, Canada, Germany, and England. Because their basic needs are satisfied, citizens in those countries have disposable income to provide for veterinary care and can contemplate the moral value of animals.
In less-developed countries where food, education, and health care are scarce, animals will be valued more for their utility” (Dr. Bonnie V. Beaver).
For many, pets are family members. But for others, they are disposable and have no value whatsoever.
For many Americans, pets are seen as humans. We give them human status, emotions, facial expressions, food, and sometimes human rights. We are so quick to see pets as people and when we do that, we undermine their needs as animals.
9/13/08
Blog 6
Jill Fineberg's book People I Sleep With
Bio: Jill Fineberg was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and after pursuing a professional photography career in New York City, moved to New Mexico in 1983.She worked for many years as an entertainment photographer, covering live concerts for Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli, Prince and Anita O’Day, as well as shooting Broadway shows and ballet. She has been published in Time, Newsweek, People Magazine, After Dark, and Dance Magazine. As a commercial photographer, Fineberg worked for magazines such as Mothering, Common Boundary, New Mexico Magazine, Woman’s World, Instructor, The Sun, and Family Weekly, and companies including AT&T, Miles Pharmaceuticals, IBM, Learning Forum/Supercamp, and the Whitney Museum. She also worked as a photo editor for the Associated Press, Gamma-Liaison Picture Agency, and Harper & Row Publishers.Upon moving to New Mexico, Fineberg focused her skills as an intuitive energy bodyworker, and recently became certified as a grief counselor. She began PEOPLE I SLEEP WITH in 1997, after creating an intimate image of her mother Mickey, in bed with her beloved chihuahua, Sophie, early one Alabama morning. Fineberg put the project aside for years due to a highly successful bodywork / healing practice. But after the deaths of her mother and Sophie (exactly two weeks apart), and more recently, her longtime kitty companion, Miracle Maxine, who slept with her every night of her long life, she decided to revive the idea.
Exhibitions: http://www.peopleisleepwith.com/media.html
Statement: "In a G-rated volume with an R-rated name, photographer Fineberg takes an intimate look at "those we let into our beds" by snapping black-and-white pictures of people napping with their pets. Fineberg gives her subjects a two-page spread: one page offers a series of small, seemingly preparatory shots (a cat mincing her away along a bed, for example), while the facing page reveals the real snoozing action (the same cat, joined by more cats and a few dogs, lying on a bed with her human companions). Happily, Fineberg goes beyond cats and dogs: she captures a man dozing in the dirt with two donkeys, a boy napping with his pet scorpion and a woman sleeping with her 125-pound potbellied pig. Some of the photos seem too staged—Can that lady really be sleeping while that gecko's sitting on her face?—but they're charming nevertheless. Complementary quotes (from Jane Goodall, Stephen Budiansky, May Sarton, etc.) accompany the dozens of b&wphotos, and captions at the back of the book reveal more about the photos' subjects. Fineberg also lists some of the benefits of the human-animal bond (e.g., studies have shown that people with pets have fewer minor health problems than people without) as well as the names and addresses of numerous organizations dedicated to animal welfare. This is a sweet, just slightly schmaltzy exploration of the animal-human bond."
-Publishers Weekly Review
People I Sleep With book description: "Somewhere at the dawn of our history, a wolf lay down by a Cro-Magnon campfire and the first intimate relationship between animal and human was born. As the millennia passed, we learned to harness the tireless speed and strength of horses and matchless hunting and herding skills of dogs, and thus became the dominant mammals on the planet. We continue to employ and rely on animals to this day, not only for the many heroic and utilitarian services they perform, but also for the peerless companionship and unconditional love they offer. PEOPLE I SLEEP WITH documents this very special bond between some very special creatures, both domestic and exotic, and their beloved human guardians. This powerful collection of images is by turns poignant, provocative, and whimsical. It is impossible not to marvel at the mastiff and the boa curled protectively around their dreaming boy. Or smile at the sensitive hen snuggled up to her girl, the inky embrace of the tattooed gentleman with napping poodles, or the dapper, delicate scorpion and his dozing young friend. Each photograph captures the effortless intimacy between species as they sleep, sometimes tenderly intertwined, sometimes not even touching, yet always quietly, undeniably connected. "
9/10/08
Blog 5
- Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?
- What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?
- What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?
- What did you achieve in your studio this past week?
- What has been an artistic failure this week?
- What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?
- If there was a visiting artist this week, what is your impression of their work and process in relation to your own?
9/6/08
Blog 4
Sarah Jean Hill
Bio: Born in Toledo, Ohio, Nicole Jean Hill received a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Canada and a MFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has exhibited her photographs extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Through her anthropological approach to art making, Hill photographs familiar spaces and activities within the American cultural landscape. She is currently a faculty member in the art department of Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA.
Artist Statement: My pet portraits address cultivation as a means by which we organize our relationship to the nonhuman. In Towards a Philosophy of Nature, Robert P. Harrison suggests that, “precisely at the moment when we have overcome the earth and become unearthly in our modes of dwelling…we insist on our kinship with the animal world. We suffer these days from a new form of collective anxiety: species loneliness.” While our subjugation of the natural world appears to have irreversibly isolated the human from the nonhuman, my images represent hybrids of nature and culture and examine the ambiguous borders between reliance, interaction and imposition.
Jen Beckman's Hey, Hot Shot winner: Winter 2006
Galleries and Organizations:
Bemis Center for Contemporary Art
Silver Eye Center for Photography
Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography
Newspace Center for Photography
First Street Gallery
Jen Bekman Gallery
Center for Land Use Interpretation
Blue Sky Gallery
Shotgun Space
Workspace Gallery
9/3/08
Blog 3
- Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?
- What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?
- What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?
- What did you achieve in your studio this past week?
- What has been an artistic failure this week?
- What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?
- If there was a visiting artist this week, what is your impression of their work and process in relation to your own?
9/2/08
Grad Research Assignment: Discussion ?s on Article
1. What makes the human-companion animal bond so strong?
Perhaps it can never be pinpointed. But research shows that dog owners are as emotionally close to their dogs as to their closest family members. And in many cases, people were actually closer to their dogs than to any human family member. Perhaps it’s the unconditional love they give us. We provide the essentials they need to survive and in return we get loyal friendship and devotion.
In the wild, a dog's very survival depends on a strong, stable, and organized pack, where every member knows its place and follows the rules established by the pack leader. The pack instinct is perhaps the strongest natural motivator for a dog. As dog owners, we assume the role of pack leader by providing food, leading them on walks, and establishing the guidelines for appropriate behavior.
2. How did this kinship develop between humans and animals?
Perhaps because of our dependence upon domesticated animals, we developed a close bond with them. For thousands of years, people have been dependent upon dogs to perform specific functions such as herding, hunting, etc. In recent history, however, the role of dogs in our lives has changed from a utilitarian to an emotional one. Pet keeping has only become popular in the last one hundred years. Perhaps we engineered dogs to be our best friends, through years and years of aggressive eugenics. Some breeds were already known to be loyal hundreds of years ago but now that trait has been perfected in nearly every breed. Millions of people have discovered the joys and rewards of having pets in their lives.
Grad Research Artist Statement
I'm not here to pass judgment. I am fascinated by the (psychological, physical, emotional, and social) effects this relationship has on both the human and the animal. My work is about the intimacy and affection we give our pets, however misguided it may appear. These images reflect our complex relationships with animals and our desire to control nature.