Artist Statement for Final Project

I have seen and read things that I doubt I’d ever want to see and read again. I don’t consider myself a sensitive person by any means, but this project really got to me. It made me realize how little value we have for the dead, which may just be a way for us to cope with our own mortality.

The written part of the project is a series of 5.5x 8inch pages that make up an easy reference guide to things you may never have known about death. It’s meant to read like a novelty book you’d find at Spencer or Hottopic. The reason I didn’t bind it or put a cover on it is because I did not feel like I was writing a book. Beside, I cannot start and finish a book that would do Death justice in one semester. I didn’t include images or graphics because my video piece was graphic enough.

The images I picked out for the video could have very easily come out of some book. However, to prove that we are a culture saturated in images of death, I decided to get on the internet and pick out images. It wasn’t hard at all to find what I was looking for. The music in the video is from my music library.

Finally, the video piece is not on You Tube because all images and sounds are copyright materials.

Research Continues

So, I was looking at the works of J. Witkin and I must say he really gets under my skin. Although his images are well composed I can't really look at them and not cringe. I consider myself pretty open minded when it comes to most things, but I guess when it comes to using the dead for personal monetary gain, I get a little sick to my stomach.

The images that really got to me were the ones where Witkin used dead babies. In addition to that, I read about how Witkin sets up these sets of the dead. How he pulls dead babies out of drawers in morgues. Something about that just seems very wrong to me.

Heavy Metal and Death in Art

Its been a while since my last post. So i figure i'd update everyone on my progress...

I've been making a decision as to how i want to approach this project. Through readings and research i decided to focus on popular culture, especially the heavy metal movement.



In my search to find articles online, i discovered a great book that explores the cultural sociology of the heavy metal movement.

The following is a link to the book. Its an easy read and I feel it does justice to the genre. So if you are interested, check it out.

http://books.google.com/books?id=D6tGaphXVlEC&pg=PA1&lpg=PP9&dq=positive+effects+of+heavy+metal+music&psp=9&sig=JJKAknXWtHygbmqA6uHlCVuxpLc


I have also started work on the audio-visual part of the project. I am going to include some work by Cannibal Corpse, Kreator, Obituary and Kitty. I am still looking for some compeling images and will probably look into Kutna Hora Bone Church in the Czech Republic as well as the works of Witkin.

This Project is Going to be the Death of Me

I have been reading and researching articles about death, art and anything having to do with the two.

I have not yet decided what angle I am going to follow in this project. I was thinking about making a timeline of human history and run it parallel to human use of death in art. The project will be a written one. It may consist of a book format that is accompanied by an audio-visual CD that combines images and sounds together.

The research includes psychology journals, anthropology journals and art journals. Although they are all interesting, nothing has really jumped out at me so far.

I looked into the works of Bill Viola which are interesting and would probably be great for the audio visual part of the project. The audio visual will also include musical works by Macabre, Cannibal Corpse, Cremaster and visual works by Jeol Peter Witkin, Marilyn Manson, and movie makers such as George A. Romero.

Death and Dying in the Arts

I have to be honest and apologetic, I really haven't had time to sit down and start writing and researching anything of substance in regards to the final project for the Thursday class. I've searched the web, read a few more myths and tales of death and dying but nothing super important to the project.

The following website caught my eye. It’s an easy read and touches on a few issues that I want to mention in my research project; human fear of the unknown, human experience, etc.

(NOTE:I Published the links 4 or 5 times but it won't link them on blogger so just copy and past them if you'd like to view them. Sorry about that... blame blogger :D)

http://http://www.lamortdanslart.com/main.htm

http://http://death.monstrous.com/art_and_death.htm

http://http://library.thinkquest.org/16665/frame2.htm

I am considering looking at popular culture and fascination with serial killers (many shock rockers take on stage names that are versions of serial killer names).

Books and novels (such as the Canterbury Tales, Frankenstein), mythology, poetry and everything else that is the macabre will be researched and discussed. Movies and TV shows (like Seven, Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummies Alive, CSI) will be discussed as part of the research. Also, less known cultures (Indonesia, South American, and African) art, mythology and religious practices are going to be mentioned in the project.

I am still debating if I should add music to a list of things I want to include in my research project. Music would include Classical, Opera, Shock Rock, Death Metal and perhaps a few other genres.

Those are the ideas/subjects that I'm working on... in my spare time.

Art and the Age of Death in Art Culture

Wherever I am, the macabre seems to follow. However, it’s not due to any underlying desire to scare or shock anyone. I don’t have homicidal or suicidal tendencies nor do I have adoration for necrophilia. As far as I am told, I am a well adjusted individual. My fascination (and dread) with death and the dead started when I was four or five. It was the same day that I discovered that my preconceptions of life after old age and “re-youth” didn’t really exist and that people actually died. Having never been to a funeral at that age, it was hard to imagine what death and dying was all about.

My project for the semester will delve into the use of death and the dead in art culture. I will attempt to look into different cultures and the way they view and treat their dead. My own culture and beliefs about death that I grew up with will be incorporated in my research.

If anyone has any knowledge of articles and/or books that I should look into, please let me know.

Art and Politics; My Experience

As a refugee from Eastern Europe, I found in the past, that keeping my opinions to myself, was the best policy. It was never due to ignorance or apathy but a desire not to completely ostracize myself from my family, friends and community.

My art work (which is photo oriented) has been largely based on experimental processes. The ultimate goal was to turn photography into something more than a two dimensional art form. I wanted to find a way to make it more sculptural and three dimensional. The only way I thought I could accomplish that was to experiment with various materials, methods and applications. There was never much room to incorporate politics.

Political works that move me are the works of Lewis Wickes Hines and his documentation on life in the slums, Dorothea Lange and her images of the Great Depression and Arthur Fellig (Weegee) and his dedicated work in capturing “true reality” on film. In the future I hope to include more of my own views on politics, my previous experience as a refugee and the works by my favorite artists, into my photography.

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