Motel Show

Research:

Gender identity is a person's private sense, and subjective experience, of their own gender. This is generally described as one's private sense of being a man or a woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into a category of people:male or female.^[1] All societies have a set of gender categories that can serve as the basis of the formation of a social identity in relation to other members of society. In most societies, there is a basic division between gender attributes assigned to males and females. In all societies, however, some individuals do not identify with some (or all) of the aspects of gender that are assigned to their biological sex.

Closeted and in the closet are adjectives for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender etc. (LGBT) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.In late 20th-century America, the closet had become a central metaphor for grasping the history and social dynamics of gay life. The notion of the closet is inseparable from the concept of coming out. The closet narrative sets up an implicit dualism between being "in" or being "out". Those who are "in" are often stigmatized as living false, unhappy lives.^[1] However, though many people would prefer to be “out” of the closet, there are numerous social, economic, familial, and personal repercussions that lead to them remaining, whether consciously or unconsciously, “in” the closet. The decision to come out or remain in the closet is considered a deeply personal one, and outing remains a problem in today’s culture.

In the early stages of the lesbian, gay or bisexual identity development process, people feel confused and experience turmoil. In 1993, Michelangelo Signorile wrote Queer in America, in which he explored the harm caused both to a closeted person and to society in general by being closeted.^[2]

Seidman, Meeks, and Traschen (1999) argue that "the closet" may be becoming an antiquated metaphor in the lives of modern day Americans for two reasons.

1. Homosexuality is becoming increasingly normalized and the shame and secrecy often associated with it appears to be in decline.
2. The metaphor of the closet hinges upon the notion that stigma management is a way of life. However, stigma management may actually be increasingly done situationally.

The closet, however, is difficult for any non-heterosexual, non-cisgender identified person to fully come "out" of, whether or not that person desires to do so. Scholar Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, author of The Epistemology of the Closet, discusses the difficulty with the closet:

“the deadly elasticity of heterosexist presumption means that, like Wendy in Peter Pan, people find new walls springing up around them :even as they drowse: every encounter with a new classful of students, to say nothing of a new boss, social worker, loan officer, landlord, :doctor, erects new closets.”^[3]

Recent attention to bullying of LGBTQ youth and teens in the United States gives an indication that many youth and teens remain closeted throughout their educational years and beyond for fear of disapproval from parents, friends, teachers, and community members. To remain in the closet offers an individual a layer of protection against ridicule and bullying.^{[citation needed]} However to remain in the closet typically takes a toll on the mental health of the individual, especially in the adolescent years as reflected in suicide rates among LGBTQ youths.^[4]

Statement:

Upon inspection of the motel room I decided to use the closet. Partially because it was a separate space from the rest of the room and partially because of the word association potential. Instead of exploring the saying 'skeletons in the closet', I chose the saying 'in the closet'. I felt the exploration sexuality and gender roles would create a piece with more substance. I personally feel it is ludicrous and incredibly sad that people are made to feel as if they need to hide their personality or sexual preference. I chose to display LGBTQ individuels who are 'out of the closet', inside the closet. I wanted the photos to display different emotions and facial expressions. Keeping in mind that someones sexual preference is only one small part of who they are. I felt this piece was successful and I think the lack of information from elsewhere in the closet helped to keep it focused.

Interior Spaces- A natural history of the senses

Research:

Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, from the ancient Greek σύν [syn], "together", and αἴσθησις [aisthēsis], "sensation") is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.^[1][2][3][4] People who report such experiences are known as synesthetes.

Difficulties have been recognized in adequately defining synesthesia:^[5][6] many different phenomena have been included in the term synesthesia ("union of the senses"), and in many cases the terminology seems to be inaccurate. A more accurate term may be ideasthesia.

In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme → color synesthesia or color-graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored.^[7][8] In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be "farther away" than 1990), or may appear as a three-dimensional map (clockwise or counterclockwise).^[9][10]

Only a fraction of types of synesthesia have been evaluated by scientific research.^[11] Awareness of synesthetic perceptions varies from person to person.^[12]

Although synesthesia was the topic of intensive scientific investigation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was largely abandoned by scientific research in the mid-20th century.^[13] Psychological research has demonstrated that synesthetic experiences can have measurable behavioral consequences, and functional neuroimaging studies have identified differences in patterns of brain activation.^[8] Many find that synesthesia aids the creative process.^{[citation needed]} Psychologists and neuroscientists study synesthesia not only for its inherent appeal, but also for the insights it may give into cognitive and perceptual processes that occur in synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEqmNX8uKlA

Statement:

"Kathrine Mansfield once said that it took "terrific hard gardening" to produce inspiration, but I think she meant something more willful than Picasso's walks in the forests of Fontainebleau, where he got an overwhelming "indigestion of greenness," which he felt driven to empty onto a canvas."- 293

My objective with this piece was to create a synesthesiaic  experience. I chose to make the walls white to first remove unwanted colors from the environment. The participant is flooded with green, just as Picasso was. I used flowers and 'china rain' oil to create strong smells within the installation. The entering through he paper portal and the feel of the paper chair are supposed to be smooth unrecognizable feelings that can be associated with other things. The instructions tell the participant to eat a leaf off the herbs on the table. This is another feel and the addition of taste. Finally white noise was created by the fan next to the participant. With their eyes closed, the participant was supposed to be flooded with sensations and hopefully would make sensory associations in their minds.

Site Specific Landscape

Statement

My intention with this piece was to share an experience that stemmed from four years of living in Saint Augustine and traversing the 312 bridge. Time and time again, I noticed an area by the bay of the inter-coastal waterway as I drove over the 312 bridge. On a few passings I noticed people down there. The project stemmed from my curiosity about this location and how to get there. I decided to explore this and share the entire experience. I chose to explore the idea of a single experience or moment and how, in this day and age, we record and share everything. I felt a picture frame best symbolized the obsession  with capturing and storing experiences. This particular experienced included a confrontation with: blatant littering, death and swarms of mosquitos. The final images display the triumphant experience of finding my way to the bay and satiating my curiosity about the site.  

Downtown Peepholes

Research:

Location: Old City Gates
                - Inside square hole in wall.
Theme- Historical reference/ slight religious satire. Our Lady de La Leche.

Modern view of Gates

Statement:

My objective with this piece was to allude to its historical context, being previously called Gate of our Lady de la Leche. The gate was named this originally because the Lady de la Leche chapel was the only thing the road led to, when the gate was fist built. The piece was supposed to be satirical of christianity. The associations made with christianity that went into the piece were: Money, Milk, Garbage (referring to its value), and birth. I chose to use an egg with a money face to illuminate the church's capitalization off the birth of christ. The stools and pews were made of money and garbage as well. The whole piece is meant to be metaphorical. It is made to be a replica of the Lady de la Leche chapel. I feel this piece was successful because some viewers took it upon themselves to vandalize it. This told me that my message was received.

Reading Responses- Spell of the Sensuous

3-29

31-44

"The body is that mysterious and multifaceted phenomenon that seems always to accompany one'es awareness"- David Abram, 37

"By associative "empathy," the embodied subject comes to recognizse these other bodies as other centers of experience, other subjects."- David Abram, 37

"there is more to any thing, or to the world, than I myself can perceive at any moment."- David Abram, 39

Associations:

Human interaction

Point of view

Extinction

Expanding/shrinking Universe

Mirrors

Out of Body experience

Brain is the shell and soul is the nut

Shared pain

Statement:

       When I read the first half of this chapter, the first thing that struck me was; " the scientist never completely succeeds in making himself into a pure spectator of the world." It was the idea of a spectator. I was further intrigued by the ideas of interconnections making up most of our perception. I was struck by the idea that our world would grow infinitely smaller if we were the only person on the planet. This led me to think about extinction as well. Between perception, point-of-view and ideas of extinction what came to my mind most was the owl. Being it has a completely different perception and its ability to look all the way around makes its way of viewing unmatched. The great grey owl is a north american owl on the endangered list.

Great Grey Owl. Picture from http://onebigphoto.com/great-grey-owl/

45-72-reading 3

"I am ashamed before the earth;

I am ashamed before the heavens;

I am ashamed before the dawn;

I am ashamed before the evening twilight;

I am ashamed before the blue sky

I am ashamed before the sun.

I am ashamed before that standing within me which speaks with me.

I am never out of sight.

Therefore I must tell the truth. 

I hold my word tight to my breast."

pg 70

This poem/prayer really struct me. I had a hard time believing it was a Navajo adage. It seems to classically christian with the idea of having something be wrong with yourself naturally and by being watched. I strongly disagree with the idea that because "I am never out of sight" "Therefore I must tell the truth." Thats bullshit. Truth deserves to realized and always present. The idea of being watched or governed is not a good reason to be honest. I responded with how I feel.

I am proud I came from this earth;

I am blind to the heavens;

I am asleep before the dawn;

Before the evening twilight, I am.

I am enamored with the blue sky;

I am thankful for the sun;

I am what I see, and what I don't.

I can not experience anything honestly.

That option is gone.

I have never seen.

73-92

"Indeed, all truly meaningful speech is inherently creative, using established words in ways they have never quite been used before, and thus altering, ever so slightly, the whole webwork of the language."- Page84

When I initially read this passage the very first thing it reminded me of the word fag and a bit that Luis CK did. He talks about how the word faggot never meant gay to him. This made me research the  etymology and history of the word faggot. I found out that the word fag was originally used to describe old or ugly woman. It also is used to describe a young school boy in England behaving like a servant for a upperclassman.  Along with that it was used to describe a bundle of sticks and cigarettes as well. The homophobic connotation is considered to be an american thing, that Americans do... I also found pictures of all the crazy church people who write "god hates fags" on their signs. In response I drew a picture of an old woman carry sticks and smoking a cigarette, the things god hates the most.

From west-borough baptist church

93-115-reading 5
"Language, for the Hebrews, was becoming a purely human gift, a human power"-101


"Some historians and philosophers have concluded that the Jewish and Christian traditions, with their other-worldly god, are primarily responsible for civilization's negligent attitude toward the environing earth."-94



115-135-reading 6
"touch and proprioception(inner-body sensations),  and unlike the chemical sense of taste and smell, seeing and hearing regularly place us in contact with things and events"

181-191-reading 9
"What we call time...could not be isolated from the Hopi experience of space"-191

Statement:

In response to this reading, I tracked my my travel. I kept track of distance and time. This was an exploration of the time and space that I occupy. I wanted to explore the nature of 'a moment'