Artist Response: Double WHAMMY Edition
Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde:
Though I did not attend this particular talk, and thus know little of Conde's background, there is something instantly jarring about his photocollages. They are timeless in subject matter; new and old blend together with identical perspective shots, with the sepia sometimes being the only giveaway of the superimposition. Yet, the message doesn't seem to reflect that timelessness. It reflects change and dissociation. Changes in the social structure are juxtaposed with near-identical architecture. There seems to be a kind of commercialization of the concept of revolution, which is honestly fascinating. On the wall text in the Wriston Gallery, he writes: "[In Hotel Habana], we call attention to how we conceive of the past, how we perceive the present, and how we imagine the future. From our reality and from our experiences we project what could be the dreams and fears of others" In this intermingling of opinions and thoughts of Cuba, one cannot help but feel a detached, objective vantage point. Through his works, it's difficult to tell what Conde particularly feels, but one thing is clear: with these collages, he is not capturing anything singular. He is depicting an evolution of zeitgeists; thoughts and feelings and symbols of nostalgia and cynicism into one sensory experience. I think this fits very much in line with the opening paragraph of his wall text: "Our work is born fundamentally of our interest in understanding the reality in which we live". By culminating an objective eye of shared experiences, social structures, and perspectives both literal and symbolic, he is contributing wholesale to that understanding.
Melissa Potter & Reni Gower:
I was quite late to this dual-artist talk, and they had so much to say in so little time it was difficult to remember it all. Luckily, the booklet in the gallery served as a fantastic companion to understanding the origins and aims of these works. I remember more the passion in their responses, especially when asked to discuss the paper-making process in detail. From 10 rows up, I understood, to the best of my abilities as I don't do paper-making myself, the arduousness and grit that goes into the practice. I loved how they related the themes of pressure to both the physical process and underlying social intentions of the project, that is bringing up pressing discussions such as ecological and representative ones. Even the pressure between mediums, such as the artificial and tactile, is emphasized (seen through Potter's work, especially the two pieces involving neon lighting embedded within the paper itself). That punning just adds a lot, in my opinion.
As for Reni's work, the concept of interconnected-ness through fractal compositions really resonated with me and my own work. With this game project, for example, I'm using fairly basic shapes to communicate a narrative that any person can feel. Using these abstract iconographies removes national, biological, and sociological identities; if I had a giant American flag on the ship, for example, that fundamental human experience would be destroyed by bias and disconnect. So, seeing fractals beautifully and, again, arduously made, certainly made me feel that universal connection. Everything and everyone is connected in some way, shape, or form, and through a lot of creative projects I've been making and books I've been reading and movies I've been watching, that's become (seemingly by coincidence) a core theme and philosophy of mine.
Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde:
Though I did not attend this particular talk, and thus know little of Conde's background, there is something instantly jarring about his photocollages. They are timeless in subject matter; new and old blend together with identical perspective shots, with the sepia sometimes being the only giveaway of the superimposition. Yet, the message doesn't seem to reflect that timelessness. It reflects change and dissociation. Changes in the social structure are juxtaposed with near-identical architecture. There seems to be a kind of commercialization of the concept of revolution, which is honestly fascinating. On the wall text in the Wriston Gallery, he writes: "[In Hotel Habana], we call attention to how we conceive of the past, how we perceive the present, and how we imagine the future. From our reality and from our experiences we project what could be the dreams and fears of others" In this intermingling of opinions and thoughts of Cuba, one cannot help but feel a detached, objective vantage point. Through his works, it's difficult to tell what Conde particularly feels, but one thing is clear: with these collages, he is not capturing anything singular. He is depicting an evolution of zeitgeists; thoughts and feelings and symbols of nostalgia and cynicism into one sensory experience. I think this fits very much in line with the opening paragraph of his wall text: "Our work is born fundamentally of our interest in understanding the reality in which we live". By culminating an objective eye of shared experiences, social structures, and perspectives both literal and symbolic, he is contributing wholesale to that understanding.
Melissa Potter & Reni Gower:
I was quite late to this dual-artist talk, and they had so much to say in so little time it was difficult to remember it all. Luckily, the booklet in the gallery served as a fantastic companion to understanding the origins and aims of these works. I remember more the passion in their responses, especially when asked to discuss the paper-making process in detail. From 10 rows up, I understood, to the best of my abilities as I don't do paper-making myself, the arduousness and grit that goes into the practice. I loved how they related the themes of pressure to both the physical process and underlying social intentions of the project, that is bringing up pressing discussions such as ecological and representative ones. Even the pressure between mediums, such as the artificial and tactile, is emphasized (seen through Potter's work, especially the two pieces involving neon lighting embedded within the paper itself). That punning just adds a lot, in my opinion.
As for Reni's work, the concept of interconnected-ness through fractal compositions really resonated with me and my own work. With this game project, for example, I'm using fairly basic shapes to communicate a narrative that any person can feel. Using these abstract iconographies removes national, biological, and sociological identities; if I had a giant American flag on the ship, for example, that fundamental human experience would be destroyed by bias and disconnect. So, seeing fractals beautifully and, again, arduously made, certainly made me feel that universal connection. Everything and everyone is connected in some way, shape, or form, and through a lot of creative projects I've been making and books I've been reading and movies I've been watching, that's become (seemingly by coincidence) a core theme and philosophy of mine.
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