wearables

This week has found me writing a lot about my process, on the suggestion of Tamara. It's been interesting to put into words the process of working, something I usually just do and don't think about too much. I've had some interesting revelations about the connection between my day to day activities and my work.
I've also started a new piece, or rather series of pieces. Here is a video of the first one. Please disregard the sound, it's inconsequential to the piece at the moment.

And some photos 

Here are some things i've been looking at this week:

Liza Lou

Feminist classroom

Modern quilting

Jemima Kirke on Women in Art.

At 3:30 is my favorite part. 

National Geographic, Were the First Artist Women?

downhill sledding

Here we are, the start to the final semester! A lot of work to do before the end.

I've been working on making the individual reproductive systems over break. They are pretty easy to do, just kind of tedious. I'm not aiming for perfection on them; they all have flaws, as do all people in the world. Also making more of the beaded pads. I have been reflecting on colour combinations and what those might mean to different people. The cultural perceptions related to colour. I think the feedback I get in Critique about this will be interesting. 

Thinking about where things will go in the show. It is really crazy to go into the gallery and envision work there. Such a big space! Also, for me, just thinking about putting some of the work on the wall is nerve wracking. 

Here are some photos of things i've been working on: 

Some people and things i've been looking at:

Leszek Bujnowski

Vaginal knitting

Bruno Catalano

Daniel Coburn

Myra Mimlitsch-gray

A.J. Fosik

"Why I Wear Nailpolish"

Women Veterans

Genis Carreras

Fredrik Soderberg

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at TEDxEuston

golb golb golb

I've been a little lax about blogging lately. woops! Busy busy.
                  I've been delving deeper into the reasons why I am using the materials I am using. I feel like in my work I tend to use materials and concepts I am very uncomfortable with. This started with my work with reliquaries, specifically with my Ant Reliquary:

                I hate ants. I mean HATE them. It stems from when I was a kid, probably about 4 or 5, and I stepped into a red ant hill. They swarmed up my legs before my mom picked me up and brushed them off, and ever since then I hate them!
               When I was younger my mom handed me a bag full of hygiene products, briefly explained what they were for, and that was it. We never talked about it again. I've never felt comfortable with the whole menstruation thing. So when I beaded that pad, and saw how cool it looked, I thought that there is no time but the present to become comfortable with a process that I will be dealing with for the next 40 years (if family history is any indication). Reading about it, searching about how it's handled the world over, and directly exploring the products associated with menses, has made me much more comfortable with the whole thing. I feel like i've overcome something that I should have been comfortable with from the beginning. And that allows me to continue to work with these products in more ways and to push the work as far as it needs to go.
                 This is what i've been looking at:

wearing jewelry differently

Joss Weadon

Holly Gaiman

"I'm not a feminist"

The people who should be "Disney" princesses

I heart guts

Eva Marie Keiser Designs

Tribal designs

Why Creative People Sometimes Make No Sense

A crazy russian performance artist.

WW1 and 2 Propaganda

Female hunters on the rise

Feminist Quiz

SNL Kotex classic

Jewelry created by famous artists

SNL Big Brawn ad

The alternative limb project

hyungkoo lee

I am the little Dutch girl

I am the little Dutch girl
in the log cabin
I hunt and chop wood
and I repair and build
and I frequently bear the financial burden
of my little cabin.
I still wash clothes
and cook, and clean
and I will birth the children
and feed them from myself
I still like to look and act feminine
but i'm not entirely comfortable with the concept.
Trying to be a woman
but fill both roles
is hard.

The politics of gender words

In my critique today we were talking about the difference between gender issues and feminism. I think that the reason I am loathe to get rid of the word 'feminism' from my project, or from thinking about my project, is the vast history and the brave contributions of the women who have braved the waters of feminism. I also think that there would be no gender politics had feminism not happened, because it opened up the dialogue that everyone should be equal in all fields.
There is a cultural notion of what feminism is, and that is not always positive. I find that if more people who were into 'gender politics' could acknowledge that feminism gave them the freedom to be into gender politics it would be more socially acceptable as a label and as a way of life.

Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side.

Working hard to catch up to myself. My thoughts are running faster than my body can work! Nervous about my thesis review Friday, but i'm sure i'll get a lot of good feedback! 

I am diving into sewing and creating some wearable objects that communicate people's feelings towards  feminism. I am really interested right now in how men feel and think about feminism. I set up a facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/carmensmiththesis , to get some views on some questions about feminism. Please go there and answer the questions i've posted! The answer I think is really cool was answering the question: "I am a feminist and... it doesn't make me any less of a man". 

Getting public feedback on this topic has been interesting. There is an interesting disparity between different ages of women and men. 

This is what i've been looking at this past week or so, lots of internet time. 

Kate Lacour

Anatomical illustrations

Carlos Nicanor

Sculpture

James Reads

Surreal drawings

Female film directors

Willy Verginer

Figurative sculpture

Suzanne Lacy

Feminist performance in brooklyn

Andrea Kowch

Paintings of women in midwestern landscapes. 

Thais Ueda

Paintings and stuff. 

Korean sculpture

Rudt Peters

Male genitals!

Dru Lindsey Patrick

Power portraits

Jessica Todd

Wearable objects

Feminist Art Gallery, "FAG"

Craft In America, Forge

Logan Zillmer

Surrealist photography 

The Mens Rights Movement

This makes me ill, but is interesting from a psychology of crazies point of view. 

Man Boobz

"Misogyny, I mock it"

Getting Over Girl Hate

Guerrilla girl

Healthy? What does that mean?

I should have done my project about my health. I can't seem to get back to level of healthiness since this summer. Was supposed to have a relaxing weekend working on my paper and reading but ended up with the flu, miserable and watching day time television at my grandmother's in Sandusky, Ohio.
So, taking tomorrow to get home and hopefully get back to a base of health, and then jumping back in for the third time this this semester. Crossing my fingers that this doesn't happen again, and I can complete this semester strong and get a lot of work done.