Reminder

Just a reminder that due to the fact I extended our reading time for "Our Lady" there is not additional readings coming in the mail. Have a great holiday and I can't wait to see your finished work.

Our Lady of Controvery, chapters 10,11

As we finish our last book I want you to reflect on one aspect of art making. How much is art about protest, about self knowledge, declaration of independence, and /or seeking independence? Respond both historically and personally. What is the motivation behind your work, the work you admire?

And finally, after reading all these essays and news reports consider how you would have handled the situation if you had been the target of the attacks?


A note on spring semester:
Registration is now open. We are offering Research with guest professor Helen Klebesadle from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is an amazing artist/educator and if you have not taken Research I highly recommend this class. BTW you can repeat Research for your degree.
We are also offering  a seminar  5360, Traditional Crafts Today, by me. This is not he same class on Crafts offered in the past so you need a seminar I think you will love this class. You can also arrange for an Independent Study class with either Ed or myself.

I am looking forward to your artworks as response to the readings. Remember any media, any response...this is your class.

If you are coming to TAEA come by the TTU table in the vendors hall to visit.

Nov 17th, Our Lady of Controversy, chap 7,8,9

These chapters are hard for me because they are so different from the heart memory I have of New Mexico. After graduate school I moved to Northern New Mexico, Eagle Nest, a small village of 75 folks between three mountain peaks, and half way between Angel Fire and Red River. This is the place I learned to meditate (TM), to laugh (after being widowed) and to two step. I did beautiful art and learned how to be a member of a community. I do not remember hated for anything other than the rude Texan on vacation.  Now this part of NM has more of a mining history and is home to some large ranches with lots of young cowboys. Which is a Junction story. It was and is the only place I feel I can be ME, in what ever form I want to take. It may have been my youth or the times ( late 1970's) but it remains one of my watermarks. Yet, I do believe my experience is romantic and very limited. Check out the previews for a movie about coming out in Northern NM.. Baby Lu, the movie. The father/mountain man is a friend from that time I hold dear.
So the NM that is represented in these writings is strange to me. I do not know how any group can claim a state. Especially a state with a large First Nations population.

As for censorship my experience was in Dallas. I had done a sculpture featuring three little clay figures on handmade stands(one bricks, one corn stalks, and one rocks) about aging and yoga. A cleaning lady had her son with her and decided the work was too suggestive for him  and his 13 years. Now these clay figures were anything but suggestive or sexy, just 8" high lumpy bumpy pinched clay. Nude but not real. Now I had painted some hair on the women's private parts but even that was crude. City Hall (location of the show) decided to draped the work. Now I was back in Lubbock but a friend  went to show after calling the newspaper and added fig leaves to the figures. What a hoot. It made the news and I ended up with two phone interviews , one in NYC and one in LA. The City backed down,not because I was so talented or so bright in my interviews but because Dallas was up for a huge bond and this made them look like hicks. They decided on the side of money.

Enough of my stories.

So as we continue to read, be open and question yourselves and your views.

Nov 10, Our Lady of Controversy, chapters 4,5,6

As we continue to read various takes on this subject I think it is important to remember that issues like this do not go away. As stated in the book there were articles everyday in the paper or on the TV news, thus we are also reading and re-reading about the issue. Life is not as simple as a book with an opening page and a conclusion...convictions are formed and defended, anger is developed and directed, stands are taken and fortified, causes become crusades, an clever work of digital art perhaps made partly in jest, as a self portrait or a plea, suddenly takes on a life that is beyond the gallery walls. It is and always will be insane when a incident like this happens. Think back on the big issues you may have learned in college. The lessons is usually on the censorship or protest more than it is on the art itself.
So for this week I have two questions. After responding to the readings give me one example of a protest, censorship or controversy in your community. Something local with a local theme. Next, ponder the issue of culture. Who owns a culture? When does culture change?