Spring 2020 - ACE

Blog Post: Reflect on 3 key takeaways in connection to arts and community engagement based on the work of our guest Fabian Debora. Post your reflections on our blog.  ​ First.- I really enjoyed his presentation and his use of storytelling. He's provided a safe space for incarcerated youth to tell their stories and finds a place of healing through finding similarities with other youth members. second- He opens the space up to the family's of anyone who has had a history of being incarcerated, to do art together as a family, and shows us a bond that can be made over the process of re knitting broken threads in a family. third- Fabian is happy to give local artists that have had a history with the system, a studio that he never had access to. Then opens it up to us artists to comment on and consume, then inspire! He also didn't just tell us he did it, he went through all of the steps it took to get there so we could see the challenges he went though to provide Homeboy...

Week 14- A Genealogy What changed about your understanding of community-based arts after reviewing this genealogy?  After this, I had a new understanding of how the viewer receives art is a part of the art itself, the frame in which it is viewed is the art. I cannot believe that a sculpture in a public space could change a mind or hurt/help someone. I remember the effort it takes to make art is very small but the effort to make effective change is huge. Performance art has been a part of our history without us even knowing it. A few of these artforms I’m very familiar with.   What questions emerged for you? Who is supposed to take responsibility to correct the mistakes of others through art? Why do we choose art as a mode for change? Who is the audience that listens to artists trying to effect change, and what are the answers to correct “bad art”? In what ways are law enforcement and artists similar? What’s an example of art that has a very negative imp...

a) It is clear that Marten’s film “Enjoy Poverty'' was an unethical production and that he is an egocentric producer (pg 599) .. However, this part of the essay made me consider more generally how much we should consider whether art collaborative art that is trying to get across a political message is ethical based on what the overall positive change which that art may cause. If the art is simply displaying a current social issue but the art does not create any lasting change, is that enough to consider it unethical.    When reading about how ethnography is defined by James Clifford I  (pg.594) was able to think about how long the duration of such observation would need to be to create an accurate representation of the indidical, location or community that is being studied in the production of art. More so, this part of the essay allowed me to consider how the duration of observation relates to the ethics of collaborative art. Is longer observation more ethic...

After reviewing the slideshow, many thoughts emerged for me when considering the way in which my perception and means of interacting with community based arts has changed over the course of one semester. For starters, I wanted to analyze the term genealogy and what exactly that means for community engagement and the arts. I had never really seen the term used outside of the context of creating a family tree or exploring genetics/ancestry. I understand that it can serve a broader purpose when stitching together a timeline or lifespan of an idea or concept: however, genealogy I think serves as a great term for community engagement through arts. When we visited Esperanza on the class field trip, one of the things that these kinds of projects prove to me is the weight of familial relationships and cultural ties within the artistic community. Esperanza I realize, was a place for creative placemaking, a term I was not familiar with prior to this class. However, creative placemaking or soci...

What surprised me is how long community based art existed. It never really occurred to me that there are many forms in which such art can exist. It reminds me of a discussion I had in class about the politics of architecture and how certain designs in space can be a reaction to a political schema or can be directly used to manipulate the behaviour of large communities. It also brings up questions in how we few art today. On one hand you have aesthetically pleasing art like the works of Yayoi Kusama and on the other you have more political pieces like the works of Banksy. The "Fountain" would be a great example of something like this. From a traditional point of view, the "Fountain" would be just an average toilet, but because of the context in which it was made, the piece became a provocative piece of art that would influence a large number of artists today.

A) Highlight 3 insights that your reading has helped bring to the surface. Use specific test evidence to link your insights B) If you could ask the author 3 questions what would the be? C) What applications might this work have to your understanding of an ethical approach to community-engaged arts? D) Consider the work we have been exploring this semester. Choose one artist or project that resonated with you. What ethical considerations were in place on this project? A) "...it is not the tattoo that is of interest here, to paraphrase the artist, but the very fact that the social, economic and political conditions exist whereby such events can take place." - Ok so basically what the artist is trying to do is show that we live in a time where bad things can happen, and then he proceeds to do those bad things to make a point?!?! "Collaborative art practices, in short, appear to be judged on the basis of the ethical efficacy underwriting the artist’s relationship t...

The toolkit I chose was “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” In this reading, Peggy McIntosh discusses the ways in which white privilege is crafted into our way of life and culture. Some ideas she discussed that I found to be most interesting or new compared to concepts or ideas of white privilege that I have previously been introduced to, was the idea of how we have learned that racism is referring to outwardly racist or “mean” acts of hatred. We learn this because we do not hold ourselves accountable or responsible for things that we perceive are in the past, while failing to recognize that the same foundational racism that created America, has never left, and will not until we are able to dismantle racism as a principal part of the way in which white people thrive in our society, with little to no effort, comparatively to people of color. McIntosh discusses how her education played a large part in her understanding of racism at an early age. I was able to infer a l...

In this documentary, we see the youth of Oakland gathering on a rooftop downtown gearing up to perform candid conversations surrounding the portrayal of said marginalized youths. The students were tired of being placed in boxes by the media and never given the opportunity or chance to be seen or heard as multidimensional, normal teens. In “the Roof is on Fire” Suzanne Lacy and the collaborators utilized many strategies when trying to paint a full picture for the audience. They gave community members a space to actually have these conversations (in this case, the rooftop garage, which facilitated an open-air conversation between students at which other residents and media representatives could also congregate to hear them speak.) This project was also followed by other community engagement initiatives centered around the same objective: to partake in a six-week long series of discussions between high school students and the Oakland police department. Through this, they were also givin...

What changed about your understanding of community-based arts after reviewing this genealogy? What questions emerged for you? What new connections became clear?  I didn't realize that much the government used to support the arts. All of the site-specific pieces either had collaboration with local government, or was directly funded by a government run organization, like the National Endowment for the Arts. I'd like to learn more about how and why the arts aren't as supported in America than they are in other countries, and why the decline in support. A new connection I made was that everything is connected. I had never considered the birth of community-based art, I always took it for granted, but knowing it's roots and how it's connected with my favorite kinds of art gives me a new appreciation. 

Highlight 3 insights that your reading has helped bring to the surface. Use specific text evidence to link your insights. "This encounter between artist and co-opted public(s) can often create sites of confrontation and exploitation" helped me learn that sometimes confrontation can be a way of supporting communities.  "Art, in this schema, should be both socially and politically committed and utilize the aesthetic as a symbolic bearer or sorts for such commitment." Making sure that community specific work really fits in community its intended for, so you're not an outsider.  "To this end, we might enquire into the power relations involved in collaborative art practices and the extent to which participants are frequently cajoled into collaborating in projects that often have modalities of conflict at their heart." Not thinking about "community" but about the people as individuals If you could ask the author 3 questions,...

A) 1. This reading illuminated for me the importance of relationships within community art. Focusing on the collaborative aspect as opposed to what is most "interesting" or "intriguing" about a situation will allow for the most honest, authentic process possible, and also gives the community the most agency possible.  "Collaborative art practices, in short, appear to be judged on the basis of the ethical efficacy underwriting the artist’s relationship to his or her collaborators rather than what makes these works interesting as art" 2. Another value showcased was the modern importance of art's social impact, not only it's aesthetic value or physical quality. This recontextualizes art as a kind of "force" with potential long-term impact, as opposed to a passive object to be observed or interacted with. Instead, the art might interact with you.  "‘accompanied by the idea that art should extract itself from the useless domain of ...

While working my way through the genealogy, I kept thinking about things I have taken for granted being alive at this time as the person I am. One of these things is the history of art, and specifically community based art... seeing the timeline start at 1900s was a reminder of how very recently, the way people made art was very different. As human beings, a hundred years seems like a long time-- but in the context of our shared human history of over 100,000 years, it's not very much. This did bring the question to my mind of how community art existed before more modern definitions... perhaps there's some sort of ancient art practices that uplifted different communities? Helping other human beings seems to be human nature, and so is making art, so it seems very possible.  Another thing that struck me was the concept of art being anything designated as art (demonstrated by "Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp) being also an incredibly recent concept. This is something that, a...

What changed about your understanding of community-based arts after reviewing this genealogy? What questions emerged for you? What new connections became clear?  ​ ​ Something that has changed my understanding about community-based arts after digesting this genealogy is just how vast and ever expanding  the history of community based arts is and makes me curious about its future. How will it’s older history and forms continue to inform and inspire new waves to come? One question that emerged for me was what sparked artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles interest in “Maintenance Art” and what about performing these rituals publicly did for her? How did they feed or inform her practice?  Some new connections which became clearer was the information on site specific work. I had always thought that site specific work was a tool within performance which engages directly with the terrain. However I learned that, “the works did not implicitly engage the nature of the “place”...

3 key takeaways in connection to arts and community engagement based on the work of our guest Fabian Debora. Hearing how important the foundation of family was and is for him. He spoke of how he was never a perfect father, son and or partner. He actually caused his family and loved ones a lot of pain but once he was able to break his cycle of addiction he strived towards no longer making promises and simply getting the help he needed in order to rebuild his familial foundations.  The power of  symbolism. He spoke of it when he described almost being crushed by a truck and landing on a center divider where he sat and witnessed powerful rays of sun dancing just moments after this almost horrific catastrophe. That he was filled with feelings of peace, joy, happiness and serenity. “The feelings that could only come from something much more greater. In this case, my God.” I was moved by his connection to spirituality and how that ends up translating symbolically in the n...

There were some artists that I am very familiar with in the presentation, I love all the works that were shown. I believe they all come from the same powerful realm of trying to make people feel something; whether that is good or bad. These artists wanted to bring people together in some way. I wonder who where the intended specific audiences for some of these pieces. Its amazing that throughout history no matter the circumstances art  had and still has the ability to change peoples perspective and and bring people together. 

What changed about your understanding of community based arts after reviewing this genealogy? I don’t think my understanding of community based art has really changed much; however, I did learn about the history of community based art and got to see some great examples. I personally think that Richard Serra’s tilted arc was very interesting. It was such a simple yet impactful piece not only for the duration it was installed for but afterwards as well. Even just by observing it through some pictures and reading about, I feel both annoyed by the piece itself and annoyed that it was removed. I could imagine being there and having to walk around this giant wall and feeling irked that it was taking away the simplicity and comfort of walking with the natural flow of people walking but then remembering Serra's quote, “To move the work is to destroy the work”. How contradictory! What questions emerged for you? I didn’t quite understand why the art piece “Spoonbridge and Cherry” by C...

After reading the Genealogy review, I feel an excitement in me that I haven’t felt in weeks. It's quite inspiring to see so much art in one place that paved the way for us artists today. Community-based art is something that I consider myself pretty familiar with just because I’ve been interested in pieces like that since I got to CalArts. I really enjoyed the breakdown on how art can interact in a public place. The difference between art in a public place versus art becoming the public place isn’t something I’ve really actively thought about. I guess I used to think of art only existing in the public place and no t being the public place. In regards to Art with the public, I felt very connected to that kind of work. It reminds me of the immersive theater I've witnessed and been a part of while in LA. Bringing the viewer into the art and making them the art is a whole world of it’s own. The statements that all these kinds of work can make all stand in the same arena but ask so...

The question asked on page 594 “ Are artists reflecting upon and co-opting already formed communities – regular visitors to galleries, for example – or are they producing provisional communities that come together in experimental formations for the duration of a project?” was insightful in the way we approach the real effects of our work. The way you consider your audience or create your audience has a huge effect on what your goal could be within the creative process. What you ask of your audience is deliberate. Another insightful statement came on page 595 “Collaborative art practices, in short, appear to be judged on the basis of the ethical efficacy underwriting the artist’s relationship to his or her collaborators rather than what makes these works interesting as art.” The term later used by Claire Bishop, “Consensual Collaboration,” feels properly used as I never would have thought there was a huge difference between having the audience experience the art you've created, or...

What changed about your understanding of community-based arts after reviewing this genealogy? What questions emerged for you? What new connections became clear?   Post your writing on our class blog.  ​ It's really interesting to see the evolution of popular art centered on viewership to modern art that is focused so much on process. Theater as the middle ground between sculptural or wholly visual experiences versus art that makes you consider the process of creating the piece and the artists' motivations. The socially conscious theatre with the goal of eliciting a response made by the Federal Theater Project & Newspaper Theater may be the first true form of community engagement art before Kaprow's happenings in the 1950's. I hadn't before considered site-specific art as community engagement due to the lack of observer participation that usually occurs in large scale art pieces like that. The engagement of the material with the landscape is an entirely n...

I felt a real connection to the comparison of Sleeping Muse and Duchamp's Fountain. I just watched Persona by Ingmar Bergman this weekend and was so refreshed by the honesty in which they discussed abortion and motherhood in 1966. Meanwhile Jacques Demy was making musicals that resisted form and were full of color, Kubrick was making incredible flying space babies in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Agnes Varda was making a documentary about Black Panthers that didn't narrate, but rather let the people of the Free Huey rally speak for themselves. It just blew my mind that in such a rich discussion of codependency and openness between women was happening in Sweden while the rest of the world reeled with different subjects and forms. It feels like it's from another dimension or a time undefined. They all are from the same span of couple of years, but feel like they were born in different worlds from each other. Obviously current films draw inspiration from Bergman, Kubrick, Varda an...

Fabian Debora's talk in class was very inspiring. My first Key Takeaway from his story was that even though he was punished for his art expression in school as a boy, he never let that stop him from continuing to use art as expression and escape. When I was in middle school I was the most free I'd ever been. I went to an experimental arts magnet school in the Minneapolis inner-city. I was spending most of my time doing theatre, but I also explored fashion design, songwriting and music, painting, photography, and dance. When going into high school I was forced to switch school districts. I was dropped into a colder environment, where art was seen as "uncool." I was also one of the only students of color. Trying to fit in, I stopped practicing all art other than theatre, and I stopped wearing my own designs and started wearing what all the other girls were wearing. I think it was very brave of Fabian to continue drawing even though his teacher embarrassed him in class....

Anna Deavere Smith  Something a rabbi told her,  " the only whole heart is a broken heart   because it lets the light in ."  That's why people need art that pushes the boundaries of what's comfortable for them. Some art may break your heart, but it will leave you whole because you're given empathy as a reward. I think that quote really resonates with me as an actor because vulnerability is something I struggle with. If I can't be vulnerable with my audience, how can I expect them to be vulnerable with me. Anna Deavere Smith makes Documentary Theatre, taking on different real character's struggles and desires, some of which is heartbreaking. That light comes into the audience's hearts as their leaving the venue and driving home. That light is empathy, and it makes the world a better place.  Danger of a single story by Chimamanda Dichi   Chimamanda Dichi's TED Talk is something I've watched for several classes throughout middle school,...

One thing I took away from this genealogy of community engaged art is the progression that this work has made, and the paths and tactics that have been created in order to obtain engagement. One thing that stuck out to me was the "Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp. I was aware of this work before, but never in the context of being a starting point for engaged arts. Conceptual Art can be very shocking and surprising at times, and whether it was intended or not, this work certainly paved way for other art just like it, and I think engaged people just because it was so shocking. I think there is an element of this, to some extent, in every community engaged practice. For example, in Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work Surrounded Islands  consisted of surrounding the outer edge of small islands in Miami with pink floating fabric. I can only imagine how surprising this must have been for people living there. It is such a big and bold statement, but it is without explicit context, whi...

Read (or view or listen) and synthetize key ideas/learnings. Make sure to cite your sources as evidence to support your key points. Reflect on potential applications in your understanding of community-engaged arts practices  or  your understanding of your own artistic practice in particular. Share your writing via a blog post.  The Danger of a Single Story: - Children will listen - There is danger in media and lack of understanding - History is written by the victors, by the rich, the most influential - Ideas and mass-misunderstanding always have and always will exist... i.e. there is no way that the entire population of the earth will understand every aspect of life because there is no way to truly comprehend every life situation unless every life is exactly the same. Even communism doesn't reach that standard, and communism (while it is the most simple form of living) never has and never will truly work. Sarah Jones: One Woman, Many People ...

Takeaways from the Geneaology presentation: - Art reflects life (what is going on in the world... politically, socially, physically) -'Edgy' art is what survives : the things that take most people by surprise will be saved, photographed, written about, gossiped about... whether the reaction is good or bad (example: corsets from the Victorian era were padded to make figures seem more extreme and photos were painted over to make the waist appear thinner. The surviving garments are those that are petite and extreme because people thought them worth saving.) - People are drawn to nature art - art that is made with nature/is made by nature, or is made a part of nature - Art over time can be classified into two categories (not only these 2... there are many more, but ultimately if you took all the art from everyone over all time and were told to group them by categories, these 2 might be what I would choose) : Art for the rich, and Art for the poor         ...

For this assignment, I chose to read the chapter from Dangerous Border Crossers written by Guillermo Gomez Pena. I read Part III, titled Conversations Across the Border Fence. I knew nothing about the artist or their performance art before this assignment and I’m really intrigued by the type of work they’re trying to do. It seems complicated, but worth learning about. In the chapter they discussed the general life of a performance artist and the problems they associate with when putting on certain shows and trying to discuss cultures with the audience. The biggest piece that caught my eye was the “Identity make-over booths.” This piece seems so hard to actually articulate well and it seems very delicate. They bring audience members in, and let them pick their “favorite” culture. They then get dressed up and put on makeup that lets them “participate” in that culture. It sounds terrifying to me just reading it. The audience then works with the performance artists to create poses that ...