Grace Major

Marina Abramovic

After watching the film, I learned that Marina is extremely engaged and committed to her artwork; she uses the body as a way to make statements and challenge the audience. She captivates the audience by making the core of her artwork the shared experiences between the audience and the artwork, provoking intense emotion in her audience. I admire how she shows great courage by using her own body as her medium, testing her limits physically and mentally and ultimately achieving a connection with her audience. Even after being told to stop the performance due to health complications, she shows great dedication and fearlessness and refuses to end the performance.  

However, it is problematic that she goes to such extremes, putting her own life at risk. Her piece “The Artist is Present” consisted of her sitting in a chair for three months daily, where she remained upright and immobile. She refrained from eating, drinking, and taking bathroom breaks while performing. All of which caused great harm and strain, negatively impacting her health. Yet, the piece did show great success as it provoked intense emotions amongst the participants and became very popular as it seemed to create a profound human connection without speaking or touching. 

I learned that performance is a state of mind. It isn’t something you just simply do or act, but rather something you live. Performance art pushes physical and mental limits, often in front of an audience, showcasing vulnerability and conveying profound emotions to both the performer and the viewer. The quote “when you perform it is a knife and your blood, when you act it is a fake knife and ketchup” alludes to the fact that performance is very personal, real and raw human emotion, whereas acting is almost like putting on a mask and covering up those raw and personal emotions. 

One Kilometre

Roots and Rubbish

Turning the Gestures of Everyday Life Into Art

Something that really stuck with me is when she noted that a person’s unique movements and tics are a more human memory than physical items. I have never given much thought to movement and how distinct it is to each individual, but I find it truly remarkable how she demonstrated the ability to recognize and associate movements with people as a unique aspect of their identity. A person’s unique gesture is a great way of identifying or remembering someone. Challenges may arise when people know that their movements are being observed. As stated in the article, it can be tempting to perform and portray yourself in an ideal way, although the dancers encourage candidness.  

An example of movement in the article is how Chandra Merx raises her eyebrows, not only to express surprise but also when she is rushing or deep in thought. I find it captivating that this movement reveals the unconscious blend of emotion and thought. This shows that a single physical movement can express both a feeling and a mental state. I also find it striking how the artist who donated his “anxiety hands” redefines his anxious habit of knuckle cracking as a deliberate expression of self. He reclaims his own body and behaviour.

After reflecting, I noticed the unconscious movements of the people closest to me. My sister has a habit of fidgeting and pulling on her eyebrows when she is overwhelmed. It is something that she does unconsciously, but I always notice it. Sometimes she doesn’t even know she is overwhelmed until I point out that she is pulling on her eyebrows. My mom taps her foot when she is in thought, telling me without words that she has a lot on her mind. My friend will play with her hair when she is feeling anxious, twirling it over and over again. She tends to do this a lot when in bigger groups of people, demonstrating that she is uncomfortable. Each of these movements is the body’s way of expressing or releasing any overwhelming emotion. Although people may feel the same emotions, we each have our own way of expressing ourselves. 

Art Gallery Reflection

This piece is Out of the Ashes by Adrian Stimson and depicts a story from Waterton Lakes National Park. The Kenow Wildfire devastated the park in 2017, including the paddock where the bison herd was kept. During the evacuation, just one bull was left behind. After the fire, the staff returned and found that one bull was still there. This piece really resonated with me, as it prompted me to think more deeply about survivance. The one bull was not just a symbol of survival after such a disaster. The bull makes a powerful statement that it is still here despite all the destruction, demonstrating renewal and continuity. Still, it also represented endurance, like Indigenous peoples who have continued to adapt and protect their cultures despite the colonial devastation. This taught me about strength throughout devastation and the importance of the power to endure even when you feel lost or stuck. The piece being called Out of Ashes also makes me think that new life often begins after destruction, where the bull could be made out of ashes (destruction) and is a symbol of strength, renewal and endurance. Despite the destruction, you are still who you are, changed but not forgotten.

Lone Bull is another work made by Adrian Stimson reflecting on the story of the Kenow Wildfire at Waterton Lakes National Park. I found this piece to be very powerful as it is truly remarkable that all of the land surrounding the bull has been completely burned by the fire, except for the small bit of land surrounding the water, where the bull was found completely unharmed by the raging fires surrounding it. It seems as though in the art piece, the lone bull is carrying on just as normal, demonstrating that resilience can be very grounded. It makes me think that the land and water worked together to protect the bull. I think that the bull in this piece depicts how Indigenous Peoples have continued their way of life, language and traditions even after vast loss. The bull’s calm nature after the fire taught me that resiliance can be quiet, and it doesn’t always look like fighting. I also thought about the importance of continuing to be true to yourself, even when everything around you has drastically changed.

One Feat, Three Ways

Video 1:

Video 2:

Animation:

After completing the One Feat Three Ways project, I feel like I have learnt a whole new set of skills. I think this assignment was successful at pushing me out of my comfort zone and allowing me to dip my toes into a more technological approach. It was challenging to step outside of my comfort zone.

After trial and error, I think that we were successful technologically, as the video was well-focused and well-lit. Our videos did have high contrast, but we were able to bring the contrast down when editing. In the future, I think that it would be beneficial to put more time and thought beforehand into what shots and clips we were planning to film. A lot of our shot ideas came to us in the moment, which was great, but I think the second video would have been more successful if we had planned which clips we wanted to use ahead of time. It would have given us more to work with. I think that the animation was technically well done, and the use of colour was visually appealing. I do think that the clip we chose was difficult to edit, and didn’t turn out exactly how we hoped when in reverse.

Reflecting on this assignment makes me realize how much I have learnt throughout the process. I also think it was a lot of fun, and it was cool to experiment and see what worked and what did not go as planned.

Pauline Oliverios Reflection

Pauline Olivero’s idea of deep listening allows me to realize how often I only listen partially, or just to respond rather than to understand. Rather than listening to the meaning, emotion, and the environment that surround them, I tend to focus on the words. Initially, when I think of listening, I think of it as using your ears. However, Pauline frames it as a full body practice, involving awareness, openness and curiosity.

Pauline framing listening as a full-bodied, mindful practice allows me to reflect on how I listen and pay attention to those around me, encouraging me to explore how sounds interact to create connection and how silence can be portrayed. I think that it would be beneficial to slow down and listen mindfully to what others are saying, rather than planning an immediate response. Digesting and thinking about what was said before responding is helpful to really listen to understand. Pauline’s idea of deep listening encourages me to move away from passive hearing and influences me to engage and understand with what I am hearing, as it deepens my relationship with those in my life, and with myself.

Audio Assignment: First Words

Critique/Unpolished Audio:

Final Audio- First Words:

This audio piece consisted of greetings from phone calls that Kate and I made to a variety of people: our family, friends, acquaintances, businesses, etc. We found, when recording this, that depending on the relationship, we got different reactions and expressions, such as surprise, excitement, or annoyance, allowing the listener to understand the relationship from a simple phone call greeting. This was a unique approach as it gives the listener such little context; however, they can still have an understanding.

I found this piece challenging, yet rewarding, as it pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me feel more vulnerable. This piece was successful in teaching me new skills and techniques, as editing and recording were completely unfamiliar to me before this assignment. The reaction from certain people reminded me of how important it is to call your loved ones and speak to them rather than messaging, as it is something that is becoming rare.

Conceptual Portrait Idea

I was inspired by “A Portrait of David” by Micah Lexier, as the piece visualizes the human life cycle from infancy to old age, showing how people change visually over time.

Conceptual Portrait: Almost Touching

Kate and I wanted to capture the idea that hands are a way to understand and interpret someone, as they are the closest body part besides the face that can reveal someone’s identity. Our hands can dictate a lot about who we are, as we all have different physical conditions of our hands that are either present since birth or due to our routine and habits, as well as different ways of expressing ourselves through aspects such as tattoos or jewelry. Each aspect of our hands shape who we are, and can tell provide narrative clues to a person’s identity and story.

We wanted to focus on the idea that we are all connected through our similarities; however, we still have features and mannerisms that allow us to each remain unique and individual. Those around us influence us and have an impact on how we choose to express ourselves, as we are represented by connecting and merging some of the hands in the collage.

We decided to create a collage, combining both Kate’s and my hands, as well as each of our roommates. We did this to display the differences in each person’s hand, as well as the similarities. This highlights the idea that the people in our lives are all different, yet similar, as we are all connected in a way. We pick up habits and mannerisms from those around us, making us a unique blend of those around us, as we can see in the way people choose to express themselves with jewelry, tattoos, and hand poses.

We instructed this by inviting our roommates to pose and move their hands in any way they wanted. We tried not to influence their movement much, allowing us to see the most natural mannerisms possible. We found it interesting as we experimented with deciphering our roommates just by looking at their hands, which proved that hands are so personal to each individual and that you can notice many clues about a person and who they are as a person by looking at their hands. When experimenting, we noticed that we were looking for physical conditions (scars, bruises, calluses, scratches, nails), as well as jewelry and tattoos, and those were the clues alluding to whose hands we were looking at.