sara gevurtz' blog 2

I think I talked a little bit about chapter 2 in my first blog, so I’ll try not to be too repetitious. It gets really confusing reading the same book for two classes, so I apparently got a little ahead of myself.

Chapter 2 talks about meaning in work, and how different works can potentially read different depending on how it is composed or what materials are chosen, etc. Imagery and materials are often loaded with meaning, be it art historical, political or cultural. Therefore it is very important that we as artists are aware of the meaning of imagery and materials.

In the project that I am currently working on, I am making very conscious decisions of materials and imagery knowing that depending on what I use, it will carry different meaning. I am dealing with research, specifically research dealing with endangered species within California. I am hanging my species from string; being very conscious of what metaphor this can refer to. I am not just arbitrarily hanging them. Endangered species are on the verge of extinction; therefore the metaphor I am employing is that they are “hanging by a thread.”

In another project I am working on, I am attempting to make a critique or commentary on our use of water bottles. I am choosing plexiglass, which is a kind of plastic, specifically because of the fact that water bottles are made out of plastic.

Going back to my endangered species project, I had to think very hard about where I placed my map of the California counties. The book discusses the problem of pedestals. Pedestals for me became problematic on multiple accounts. For starters, my map is potentially going to be too big for a pedestal. Tables are problematic because they are distracting and also constraining based on size constraints. Should I place it on the floor? What does that mean for it to be on the floor? My original idea would be for the species to be hanging above their specific counties like ghosts. But would the viewer really make this connection is the counties are so far below the species? So I asked myself the question, why couldn’t the counties be above the species and the species hanging down from them? They would still be ghost like. And because they are hanging from the counties, they are falling away from their native habitats.