Hello, my name is Abigail but I go by Abby, I am in my second year here at Guelph and I am in the studio arts program. I love reading, music and my cat.
Marina Abramovic: “The Artist is Present”
Documentary Response/Reflection
Engaging with the presence of Marina Abramovic herself for the first time via documentary left me with an ensnared impression. The combination of herself and her art reeled me in, left me wanting to understand, to discover what was so captivating. To a degree, making me understand the thinking pattern and acknowledge the commitment of her aspiring students in the preparatory work leading up to “The Artist Is Present”. This prep work being an intensive workshop in hygiene and movement where they were taught her ways in performance art in a secluded countryside retreat. That commitment and compulsion of the students highlighted my initial captivation to Marina Abramovic, wanting to get closer, to know, to learn.
Strengthening her captivating, intense and compelling energy in “The Artist Is Present” by directly challenging the audience.
Using herself only to cause external stress to the audience, making an uncomfortable situation. Allowing them to become bestial, raw, emotional, seeing their true nature erupt through a simple held look.
Here you can see some of those raw, emotional reactions to Marina.
The effect of Marina Abramovic as shown has exemplified to me that my initial captivation is certainly mutual upon anyone who interacts with her. Marina and her art radiate and draw in the crowds with her unique and complex character. But that certainly is not the only thing drawing in the numbers, Marina’s resilience to repetition and the effect of time boggles the mind. Asking simply how a human can push themselves to such impossible lengths and to what extent.
Through her patience in the repetitive three months, seven days for 7 hours in “The Artist Is Present” exhibition to the “Relation in Space” work she did with the artist Ulay.
Where Marina repeatedly runs full force into Ulay, both in the nude for an hour straight.
Through being introduced to performance art through the work of Marina Abramovic, I can grasp the role of the limitations of the body, the endurance but more importantly, the risk and trust you must put in to succeed.
Citations:
- Photo One: Marina Abramović. the artist is present. 2009 | moma. (n.d.). https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/243/3133
- Photo Two: Bourne, A. C., Published by Catherine Bourne View all posts by Catherine Bourne, Bourne, P. by C., Bourne, C., & View all posts by Catherine Bourne. (2016, September 23). Marina Abramović: The artist is present. Virtual Artist Residency. https://virtualartistresidency.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/blog-post-title-3/
- Video One: Abramovic-Ulay-relation-in-space-G. Vimeo. (2025b, September 17). https://vimeo.com/163376505?fl=pl&fe=ti
Assignment One: Make a Kilometre
Planning Work
Initial Ideas that didn’t make it past the planning stage:
- Chew something (gum, candy, food) for the same (equated) length of a kilometre and stick them to a canvas – completely fill the canvas with chewed up food (meant to make you feel uncomfortable/grossed out)
- Walk a kilometre in new shoes (buy cheap flip-flops or slippers from dollar store) and then rip off the bottoms of the shoes and glue them to a canvas – show what a one kilometre walk can look like on the shoes
- Walk a kilometre in white socks – then hang them up on a clothing wire – video recording of me hanging the dirty km socks
- Take the amount of hair that fits into a kilometre (a lot) and in a video format showing just my hands balling up that amount of hair into a hairball as I ‘pull’ them out of my head
Final Idea: Push Pins
Im showing my kilometre through clustered push pins.
- Why Push Pins?
Thinking of a kilometre, my mind goes back to the basics, the map, paper or digital, doesn’t matter. While looking at the map, you can see it’s littered with highlighted lines, shapes, and multi-coloured push-pins (digitally or not). The push pins set in to highlight and determine a specific area (can be a pin for food, the bank, hospitals), detailing the distance from the pin to yourself in kilometres. Meaning, kilometres and push pins are common to each other within the same spectrum of thoughts. They almost pin down the kilometres themselves essentially in a more poetic way, holding down a distance common to us.
Some photo examples of push pins on paper and digital maps:
- Equating Push Pins With One Kilometre:
Taking from this observation, and knowing I need to downsize, I measured out the length of a single common push pin – 2.54 cm – And trying to figure out how many of those 2.54cm sized pushed pins could equate to one kilometre (which is 1000m), I divided the kilometre (1000m) by the push pin (2.54cm) and found out that roughly 394 push pins equated the length of one kilometre, equally as sized down.
- How I’m going to show One Kilometre (Step by Step)
Make a 8.5mm x 5.7mm sized base out of styrofoam – inspired by topographic relief maps for the base, use air dry clay to sculpt out rough terrain then paint it black
Topographic relief maps like these examples here.
Initial Steps/photo’s of my topographical inspired base:
Then clustering up the 394 multi-coloured push pins, to similarly look like a highly popularized area on the map – fill until no black is showing through
like this example:
To look like this (mine):
Final Piece:
(add popsicle stick supports to the sides of the base and paint black)
I am left with a texturized, and visually appealing piece that perfectly equates and reframes the broader ideas of a kilometre.
Assignment Two: One Feat, Three Ways Video Project
Group: Abby, Emma, Ella
Introduction:
The act of trying to pick up and hold onto as much as possible before gravity drags everything back down. Seen in our raw and very awkward attempts to balance the weight in front of us.
Carrying, picking up, balancing and holding onto multiple items can be figuratively seen as a parable to a common phrase heard in our everyday lives, especially as students, “juggling with responsibilities”. These “responsibilities” being the shoe I pick up or even the toilet paper thrown at our heads. Knowing this ‘balancing act’, which can be seen as our lives, can only eventually come crumbling down. This ‘crumbling’ process seen in real time as we actively cannot hold onto all the items we pile and stack on.
- Video #1: The One-Shot
- Video #2: The Sequence
- Video #3: The Loop – Rotoscope Animation
To conclude and cut off the overwhelming and anxiety filled emotions induced through these tense videos, we essentially, give up. The end shows our balancing act crumble straight to the ground, brought to a breaking point, to a point we all know and hate.
Field Trip Assignment
Response to the Art Gallery of Guelph
- Art Work #1
“Out of the Ashes” 2025
Adrian Stimson
Walking around the Art Gallery of Guelph, observing the array of art pieces, different in all ways, I found myself drawn especially to this painting here. Taking into account my recently peeked interest in colour theory and painting from the work in my painting class this current semester, I feel connected almost to this painting. Wanting further to see the work in the process of creation, the pallet, the colours used. Wanting to understand, learn and further that connection through the paint on the canvas.
Walking away from this piece leaves me with a feeling of motivation, of inspiration to continue to work and find those colours on the pallet. In hopes to take away from this piece a semblance of understanding, of recognition in the process in which it takes to get to a final painting. To see what another eye saw as the final piece.
- Art Work #2
“Returning the Bones (52 Days), 2025
Timelapse Video, 10:24 minutes
Sheri Osden Nault
Learning about this piece specifically through a curated gallery visit, its concept and ideas around renewal and return, peeked my interests. Specifically its purpose as a temporary sculpture that will eventually return itself to the land, interweaving cycles of life and nourishing the future. The concept of intermingling used or ‘garbage’ worthy materials into an art piece is a concept I personally love partaking in. And seeing this piece and learning of its purpose reminded and inspired me to further my development down the reuse series.
Taking away from this a feeling of enlightenment and inspiration. Wanting to strengthen the world of reused art and continue to mix in ‘trash’ or ‘unusable’ items. Not only for my own personal art gain but for, like Sheri Osden Nault said, to nourish future growth and to reaffirm living relations between people.
To highlight more clearly what exactly I mean, within most of my art pieces, I reuse materials, save junk, pick up trash, wrappers, any discarded item that another human no longer deemed desirable and redefine it as desirable again. Placing the so called ‘junk’ into junk journals, zines, or mixed media pieces. So seeing the overall premise of this piece done here by Sheri Osden Nault, I felt heavily connected and drawn to it.
Article – Reflection Questions
1. Describe the work discussed in the article and the unique
challenges – as well as the unique gifts- that come with attempting to archive personal movements?
Reading through this article, discovering these authentic movements seen through individuals allows me insight to a more personal thought that one would not casually know. My interest was piqued reading about Arab and his anxiety hands , saying that he found in the process a new found ownership over his knuckle cracking. Another, Tjan, realizing that he tends to arrange his body so it takes up less space through the dancer who interviewed him. Through this ‘dance’ interview, the dancer dives into their personal lives, allowing them a place to feel open to understand these forgotten aspects of themselves. As well as being valuable to people dealing with loss, Heitmann received donations of movements from a Belgian woman who passed, allowing the family a form of memorabilia.
Although this can be positive, there’s a challenge that comes along with these personalized archived movements for the dancers. As time passes, other peoples motions seep into the dancers lives, seen in Berkhout. When she noticed she woke in the position belonging to a Ghanaian woman whom she interviewed the year before.
The challenges that come along with these dancers lives seem as if worth it, to put it blankly. The outcome seems to be worth that push yet of course that is a complex thing to say. As these dancers now face years worth of unwanted resurfaced positions taken from others, never being able to ‘clock in or out’. But for art, one understands that ‘Your body needs to stay in training. If you stop, your artwork is gone’.
2. Discuss one or two examples of movements in the article – what strikes you about them?
When Heitmann mentions she also has contributed secondhand movements that she associates with her father after his death, I was taken aback by how personal she went. Having left behind only meaningless bank statements and tax reports. Heitmann, wanting to change this narrative of a ‘very one-sided picture’ as much as possible in the current situation allowed her dancers to perform his movements. Mentioning that the gestures weren’t particularly important but ‘neither were his tax filings’ and this allowed for a more human memory.
As striking as something so deeply personal was taken into her art, it also allows me insight into a different perspective of the process behind a different style of art.
3. Habitual Movements and Unconscious Gestures Study (of 3 people)
- My girlfriend, Val
- My Mother, Stacey
- My Sister, Riley
- Val
Quick Jot Notes of Observation:
– tight lips
– finger taping lips constantly moving
-eyebrow twitch
-awkward glancing
-tight toe
-tense
-lips
-tapping hands clapping hands together
-tongue on cheek
The Habitual Movements of my Girlfriend Val,
Taking note of her already anxious exterior due to the awkward situation I placed her in, noting down obvious anxious, natural tics. Started noticing first her face, the tension she holds in her lips, pressing them firmly together almost creating a straight line. Moving up immediately after, as if the lips set the eyebrows off to shoot straight up to her hairline, making almost an awkward, dissatisfied expression. Moving down her increasingly tense body, I immediately noticed her hand movements, her light finger taps that almost match that dissatisfied, rushed eyebrow raise. Noticing also that her feet held much tension as well, being tightly curled and closed together, almost there to comfort her in such a moment. Taking her final anxious clap as indication that her body was put through enough stress without having to say a single word.
- Mom, Stacey
Quick Jot Notes of Observation:
-thumbs hitting each other (impatient)
-toe tapping
-tight lips
-awkward glances
-crossing hands
-picking at face
The Habitual Movements of my Mother, Stacey,
Dragging my mom to sit her down and observe her unconscious gestures already left the room in a rushed frenzy. Noting her impatient tics and twitch, her thumbs quickly tapping each other, almost waiting and listening for me to release them. Noting that she noticed my glance, she immediately crossed her arms in, protecting herself almost from my prying eyes. Moving away from that now closed off section of the body, I notice her tight lips, lips that are constantly moving, almost as if they don’t know where to run. To further magnify that worry shown in her lips, she begun picking slightly at the centre dry spot. Taking her body language at this point as sign enough that the poor woman wanted out of there and was obviously very impatient.
- Sister, Riley
Quick Jot Notes of Observation:
-cracking knuckles
-sipping tea
-picking at finger nails
-nervous glances \ feet clasps together
-hand throw (piece of skin) picking at skin
-toes twitched hands on knees
-stretched legs
The Habitual Movements of My Sister, Riley,
Already noting the cool exterior she firmly sets in place, asserting and affirming that I won’t be able to truly see how she acts. She sits with a huff, immediately cracking her knuckles as if that slight reprieve was all she wanted in that painfully awkward moment. To continue on with her facade, she pulls out her mug of tea and ‘casually’ takes a sip, smoothly but obviously crafted. But time will only tell and as the clock ticks on, I notice the tension pulling at her facial features, worrying her brow, noticing worried, agitated glances off to the corners. To further exemplify her growing concern for when this might end, she begins picking at her finger nails, continuously, throwing her skin away as she goes. Taking her final placement of her hands firmly on her knees as sign enough that my observation has come to a close.
Reflection Question – Pauline Oliveros
Reflecting on my own experiences of listening.
When Pauline uttered the statement that ones ear cannot be trained but they’re listening can be, a new realization dawned on what sound truly can be. The parameters in my mind surrounding sound expanded in a way in which I allowed myself to listen differently, challenging already set standards assigned to sound. When Pauline expanded, mentioning to take a moment to notice what you’re hearing, to focus on the unnoticed, I allowed myself to expand my own listening.
Noting my previously perceived quiet or muffled out surroundings and altering my listening habits, I allow myself to feel connected. Focusing on my own sounds then listening to the sounds around me, giving my attention not only to my own. Hearing in it almost a heavy or full presence emanating from such perceived quiet objects. Noting that nothing is truly quiet, realizing and revealing in what Pauline mentioned, that listening is the closest to consciousness. And being conscious for too long can be exhausting, being hyper aware of sounds typically drowned out.
An Understanding for the process in which altered listening and hearing unheard sounds allows your mind a place to slip into unheard thoughts. Meaning, this deep listening exercise allows for one to fall deeper into their own consciousness. Overwhelming but also finding a place in these sounds for new ideas and thoughts to flourish. Allowing my brain to give time and attention to these new, unheard sounds, rattles what I believe my listening time should be given to. Altering what I believe a worthy sound has allowed me to think differently regarding our upcoming audio project and what sounds should be given that extra attention.
Assignment Three: Audio Art
“Shut Up!”
By Abby and Emma
Our Planning Process
Group work: Abby and Emma
- Following along our creation of the idea in form of jot notes, showing where we dropped certain ideas or kept growing others:
- In process notes
- Idea #1 – Cat Calling
That specific state of mind:
- Playing into that mind space one slips into when one goes through an unpleasant or unwanted experience
- That Mind space, a very obvious place our consciousness slips into
- Kind of like entering a static cloud, where your ears and mind are slowed down physically and mentally
- Kind of considered that ‘zone out’ stage or a point where your mind checks out or clocks out – conceptualized into audio form
Associating this state of mind directly with, unfortunately, a common feat presented in many women’s lives (not specifically just women but generally ones affected but such acts): The Act and Repercussions of Catcalling
- A feat in which we all face at some point, unnatural and dehumanizing – something that has been so normalized for, forever now
- But playing specifically into the state of mind the victim falls into once presented with this very disgustingly human act
How we are going to conceptualize this state of numbness, dissociation our mind slips naturally into once distributed (specifically when catcalled, verbally assaulted, ridiculed):
Basing our framework of this conceptualized sound off of a Youtube Video highlighting the exact situation we want to illustrate:
- Wanting the most natural approach to conceptualizing this feat
- Not wanting to “act” out this situation
“10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman”
Possible specific sounds + they’re associated meaning:
- Distant sound of ringing – like the ringing one hears in the back of their mind
- White noise – something to fill that silence, that feels static and almost tangible like you can touch its energy
- The street sounds like cars passing or honking, the sound of steps (sidewalk).
- Clips of men catcalling?
- Distant animal sounds – to play into stereotype – men as animals, men as one who cannot ‘contain’ their natural, animalistic urges
- Whistling – to play on obvious street calling/whistling at random women on the street
- To make it sound almost hazy, like we’ve been hit over the head, and our brain is trying to readjust to its surroundings
- Muffling natural everyday sounds – to enhance the ‘zoned out’ or ‘taken out’ effect – for example, we could record the sounds of everyday life on campus and muffle or distort the original sound – add a layer of water sounds maybe – to make it sound like its being heard through a wall or water
- Maybe include heavy breathing and/or a rising, increasing heart beat
- A type of inner thoughts coming out – maybe a slight incoherent mumbling to themselves – one in a reassuring cadence – or, completely opposite and go down a more aggressive, fed up inner speech, showing an aggression and reaction that is normally hidden or repressed
- Maybe even a humming sound – one that sounds reassuring almost – to steal back this already stolen moment
List of sounds to record/find :
- Ringing – we could find a bell – or ask about already prerecorded sounds
- Static noise/white noise – distort original audio of everyday life + distort it while editing – so record the sounds around campus
- Whistling sound
- Animal sounds – could go to a forest/on a walk in nature – or found audio
- Layer of water sounds – to add to the hazy effect
- Maybe record the sounds heard through a wall
- Heavy breathing
- Heartbeat
- Incoherent mumbling – aggressive or calm?
- Humming sound (reassuring cadence)
- Meditational counting (near end)(maybe)
Assignment Four: Conceptual Portrait
My Planning Process:
Direct Inspiration,
Work of William Anastasi and his piece, “Nine Polaroid Photographs of a Mirror”, 1967, Photographs (Medium: instant diffusion transfer prints)
Feeling directly inspired by his use of the mirror within his work, a vital factor in the final product. Learning more about this piece directly, its exploration of the concept of self and the nature of perception. Through the gradual placement/covering of said mirror with photos, transforming the mirror into more.
- Process involving, photographing the mirror, attaching the print to the surface, and photographing the mirror again until the surface is covered
“Anastasi’s gesture problematizes what was once a direct, unmediated perception of the real with an endless labyrinth of recycled images”.
- Cool fact: ‘Nine Polaroid Portraits of a Mirror’ constitutes one of the ways in which artist of the 1960s parodied the interiority and introspection of their immediate predecessors, the Abstract Expressionists
Taking from this a newfound inspiration for my own conceptual portrait project:
- Taking away from Anastasi’s piece certain aspects that stood out to me and my own planning: The use of the mirror + the act of covering said mirror in its reflected photos
My Planning Process:
Wanting more so to conceptualize an abstract idea rather than a specific person (as I fear that it will generally summarize who they are down to that one idea – I don’t want to do injustice to the person’s image.
Playing into the idea of insecurity in self-identity – meaning, portraying that obsessive mindset that leads one to copy or change their own personality to be accepted – the feeling of having to work hard/change to fit in.
- The “follower”
With this constant need to be accepted, one loses their own identity, leading them to only simply be a reflection of others, not themselves
- The portrait is basically a portrait of the most ideal person – reflected by the use of the most ideal (videos) of human interaction, life onto said person – making them (and their) portrait the most ideal form
- A conceptualized perfect portrait of the most ideal person – through use of copying, following, reflecting others – a mask almost
Gaining this initial inspiration through,
- my fear of misrepresenting a specific person
- Not knowing full well my own self identity
- Understanding the shared mindset of an insecure person + how that can be their entire identity – hence why this ‘insecurity’ is the main focal point of this portrait
Initial ideas (that didn’t make it past initial stages) – wanting to represent a shiny, reflective surface in some way :
Idea #1: Video recording of the breakage and re-assembly of a multitude of different mirrors
- Taking a multitude of different mirrors, all from different places (e.g. old family mirrors, thrifted mirrors, or found mirrors)
- In video format, record a bird’s eye view of myself breaking multiple different mirrors on a table
- Then reassembling a newfound mirror from all the now discarded/recycled mirrors – trying to glue back together all these different mirror pieces into a reflective surface
- Can be bumpy, messy, cracked – that’s the point – as it’s a product of recycled/discarded others
- The video will show me assembling this mirror to the best of my ability
Playing on the follower mindset – in which one takes snippets/aspects of other identities and morph them into something of their own – constantly recycling identities until it forms this mix-up of reflected identities
Idea #2: Video recording of the placement of mirror shards onto someone’s face
- Find recycled, donated, discarded mirrors, break them
- In video format, record the placement of these broken mirror shards onto the face until they cover most of the face
like this image here
- Playing on the assembly of one’s identity – the video is basically a video tutorial on how to assemble copied/found identities
- Stop until the face reflects everything else but who the actual person truly is
Idea #3: Projection of found video onto a human body
- Find/record video footage of human life – go downtown Guelph, go on campus, to the mall – anywhere where there is a lot of human interaction/activity
– like this image here
- The human skin acts as the screen for these videos – want to keep the nude aspect as it can act as symbolism to a fresh start or a rebirth into this new identity – similarly to how we are initially born (nude) when we start out our lives, our initial identities
- Take another video recording of the projected videos onto the skin as the videos play through
- Playing into that insecure mindset where one takes aspects of their reality, of other identities/personalities and morph and project it as their own
Issues: don’t have a projector and have never worked with one
Final idea #4: Carrying a mirror around as a fake head(feel best towards this one but not 100% on which idea to choose)
- Find a thrifted/discarded mirror (singular)
- Carry it around the city – record quick clips of myself (or in general a person) holding said mirror up to their head (covering their face with the mirror) in random, populated spots – e.g. downtown Guelph, Uni campus, the mall
- Video shows person just standing still, holding the mirror up, reflecting what’s around them
- Can have natural elements of people walking through, busy streets – jarring/uncommon image to see in everyday life – placing uncommon/awkward ideas in everyday/common life
like this here
- Kinda like showing the process of how one gathers their ‘identities or the process of copying/following others – video documentation of what being a follower consists of (abstractly)
- Kind of like a conceptual portrait of everyone and everything – like how followers intend to live
To loop this back to my initial inspiration from the work of William Anastasi, while I am out in these random places recording this footage, I also plan on taking a photograph of what the mirror is reflecting (the mirrors perspective) – gaining a collection of photos from all these different places I went to (all these identities I’m ‘copying’) and cover the mirror with these images – kind of like covering up who you are, who your original identity is with all these images of others ‘identities’
- So, I will have a video recording of the process of copying identities and the outcome/new identity on a physical piece (the mirror)
Critique:
- disintegrate projection of body possibly
- body copies the movements in projection video
- have a phone in pocket filming how people react to mirror head – my POV
- cut holes in mirror? – to have more of a self perspective look
- print out eyes (or google eyes) instead of cut out holes to keep that personal perspective look – to make it seem like im actually a mirror face, that this is what I look like – a reflection with eyes
- wear mirror like a mask
- while in mirror head costume – can follow people around, copying them
- can use maybe a mirrorball as a reflective head – as a mask (personal crit)
- can still cover mirrorball with reflected photos
- can even have a clip at the end of myself looking in the mirror and attaching the new photos to mirror face – kinda like reassembling ur face – like getting ready in the morning – can include a photo of red lips to emulate the getting ready idea
Taking Away from Critique:
Context for my switch:
Wanting to completely pivot to a new idea – feeling not attached to my initial idea, not super confident in my abilities to complete it to my standards
Wanting to make it more personalized and less abstract – Thinking of what is close to me, what I hold significance to and what has consistently been a factor in my life – or has contributed to it
- Taking away from this observation – looking more closely at my personal belongings
- Knowing that my family hold onto loads of memorabilia, and seeing how this hoarding mentality has projected itself onto my daily habits as well
- Holding onto boxes + boxes of old family sentimental objects, photos, books, magazines, etc.
- I’ve noticed this mentality has spread into my life as I also have a couple memory boxes – with a range of items from throughout my life that I’ve deemed important enough to myself, identity, and journey as Abby
- Taking from this plethora of, to put it blankly, junk, that my family and I have assigned meaning to, enough that we won’t allow ourselves to(collectively) to throw away or donate them
- Knowing the sheer amount of photo albums and scrapbooks my mom created during our developmental years has led me to want to document these sacred yet very random items in a arrangement that puts one into a nostalgic feeling – kind of like copying my mom (my creator)
- Knowing how important memorabilia is to myself and my family, creating this junk scrapbook/photo album of my memorabilia/memorabilia my family saved in memory of me would be a perfect conceptual self portrait of myself and a conceptual portrait/ohmage to my family and they’re lasting habits
Steps on how to approach this/initial planning steps:
- Knowing my mom has specifically assigned photo albums/scrapbooks for each family member (including herself) (possibly made my her mom, my grammy – a whole lineage of scrapbooks made in my family – in which I want to be a part of) – using her specific photo album as a shell/casing for my personal items – kind of playing on how she is my creator, so starting with her name/book with the inside contents being all of me – can also be a play on how she gave birth to me, I came from her – the layout of this can be seen as similar
- Starting from my younger ages up (following how a regular photo album layout goes)
- Includes photos with certain items – can be little written letters associated with photo – b-day cards – hobby related items (dance), dried flowers, old iTunes apple music player with with wired headphones attached with a specific dance song ready to go – anything within out stored boxes in my family’s basement + my own memory boxes
- All following the timespan of my life so far – maybe like each year (20 pages)
- Its also interactive – as the audience can flip through pages and play around with specific (noted) items (e.g. the music)
- Want to place/present it in a moving box – like how all of my family members photo albums originally are – covered in dust, spider webs – can even have old tape/writing on it (maybe use one we already have lol)
Conceptual Portrait Assignment: (Final Piece)
Collections of valuable items that were kept or saved in memory of me from my mom and family through out my younger years and childhood. Up until I continued on saving important personalized or identity revealing tokens of memory . All conceptualized into a personal portrait photo book/scrape book, heavily inspired by my mothers immense work with scrape booking and photo albums (which has been an ongoing family tradition/creation that most of the mothers in my family tree have upheld). So wanting to put in my own rendition, or start to a collection of photo albums/scrape books I intend on creating.
Wanting to play on specific developmental or pivotal moments in my life, incased by a old photo album my mother used for my parents wedding – playing on how they are my creators and this is what they created (so far) – and how I’ve developed into my own person (again, so far)
My Planning Process:
New idea – diverting from original plans
Wanting to make it more personalized and less abstract
Thinking of what is close to me, what I hold significance to and what has consistently been a factor in my life – or has contributed to it
- Taking away from this observation – looking more closely at my personal belongings
- Knowing that my family hold onto loads of memorabilia, and seeing how this hoarding mentality has projected itself onto my daily habits as well
- Holding onto boxes + boxes of old family sentimental objects, photos, books, magazines, etc.
- I’ve noticed this mentality has spread into my life as I also have a couple memory boxes – with a range of items from throughout my life that I’ve deemed important enough to myself, identity, and journey as Abby
- Taking from this plethora of, to put it blankly, junk, that my family and I have assigned meaning to, enough that we won’t allow ourselves to(collectively) to throw away or donate them
- Knowing the sheer amount of photo albums and scrapbooks my mom created during our developmental years has led me to want to document these sacred yet very random items in a arrangement that puts one into a nostalgic feeling – kind of like copying my mom (my creator)
- Knowing how important memorabilia is to myself and my family, creating this junk scrapbook/photo album of my memorabilia/memorabilia my family saved in memory of me would be a perfect conceptual self portrait of myself and a conceptual portrait/ohmage to my family and they’re lasting habits
Steps on how to approach this/initial planning steps:
- Knowing my mom has specifically assigned photo albums/scrapbooks for each family member (including herself) (possibly made my her mom, my grammy – a whole lineage of scrapbooks made in my family – in which I want to be a part of) – using her specific photo album as a shell/casing for my personal items – kind of playing on how she is my creator, so starting with her name/book with the inside contents being all of me – can also be a play on how she gave birth to me, I came from her – the layout of this can be seen as similar
- Starting from my younger ages up (following how a regular photo album layout goes)
- Includes photos with certain items – can be little written letters associated with photo – b-day cards – hobby related items (dance), dried flowers, old iTunes apple music player with with wired headphones attached with a specific dance song ready to go – anything within out stored boxes in my family’s basement + my own memory boxes
- All following the timespan of my life so far – maybe like each year (20 pages)
- It’s also interactive
How I am going to record/document these collage/layouts:
- Can photocopy my layered items
- Playing on the fading memory idea
- To include all aspects of memorabilia in a way in which it is flat enough to fit into a photo album
Photo Gallery
–
Deconstructed Photo Album
Assignment Five – Counter Archive Zines
I wanted to take this opportunity to create a zine that allowed my own experiences as a queer woman to be heard. The world has saturated and consumed queer female love as this sexualized, performative act that simply stands as a joke. With the (not so great) help of media sites (porn) that contribute to this untrue narrative for queer women. Allowing this behaviour to be accepted or more so, normalized.
I am done with the assumptions and questions, I am done with one assuming my relationship is not real, that it won’t last, I am done with men sexualizing my sexuality, asking to join, to watch personal, private moments in MY love life. I am not just here simply for your entertainment; I am real, my emotions, my love, my life.
This Zine takes you on a short (would have loved to make it longer if I had more time) journey through a more realistic, sapphic and a little comedic view from an actual queer women (not some made up queer women put in place for men’s media consumption).
My Creation Process:
I created this Zine initially by hand, on paper opposed to digitally, finding I enjoy the creation process more. Using cheaply found materials, only what I had around me, as I have loads of scrape paper from previous projects. Alongside simple printed found imaged.
Wanting to include my own personal style/taste/aesthetic to this zine, keeping that whimsical, dreamy, almost fantasy vibe while incorporating main, commonly recognized signifiers of queer, womanly love.
Zine Creation Party: