accepting stories interactions at Boyden Gallery
except replace “photoshop” with “dreamweaver” and “crash” with “students can’t code php or perl on school server”
Assessment
Strength
I have a multitude of interests, both personal and professional, and this SMP has allowed me to express this idea of multiplicity, in the various mediums I use, the concepts behind my artwork, and even within the artwork, as I tried to create scenarios where there were enough people and stories that everyone felt included. Sometimes my artwork can be a bit haphazard, but even as I try to be more purposeful I want to keep the idea of multiplicity (in concept and medium) and inclusion in my artwork.
In my SMP, I have tried to draw the viewer into the artwork to the point of interactivity, which I did in part with the multiplicity of stories. However, I also tried to create objects that were attractive visually, that reference dolls that we all play with and seem non-threatening, even if they are strange. I have received a lot of positive feedback on that, as people I didn’t know would approach me and inform me that they enjoyed playing with the dolls I created, wrote stories on the notecards, or even that they took a sheet of the dolls home to play with outside the gallery.
Weakness
The past semester I struggled with content and medium of my artwork. It took me nearly the whole semester to come to a conclusion about the medium and conceptual grounding of my artwork. Because of my uncertainty, I was hesitant to say many concrete statements about my artwork, and I felt the work itself was less effective due to my hesitancy and uncertainty. Now that I am more comfortable with the concepts of queer and gendered narratives, interactivity, and inclusiveness as the core of my SMP, I hope that my writing and articulation about this work improves
Another issue I struggled with is the time it took to create my art objects did not leave much time for revision or even preparation for the installation. I knew the installation in the gallery last semester would be a test for me, and I see that with regard to the installation, it was weak and poorly planned. I am going to plan for the installation while making my artwork this semester, and even if it means creating less in the end, make sure that I give myself time to revise created pieces and the way they are viewed (on the web or in the gallery).
Future
Now that I have become more comfortable with my SMP, I am excited to expand upon the types of bodies and stories I created last semester, and create pieces that are more successful in engaging the viewer, as well addressing a wider range of people within the artwork. Some of this I have started to explore with forays into flash games, and creating a digital entity for the viewers to play in that will be more comfortable than placing the viewer on the spot in the gallery.
I am still interested in physical objects, however, especially since I saw in the fall gallery exhibit that people would collaborate in their interactions with the dolls. I hope to create an installation that relies more on what the viewer brings to the table to create narratives and characters, whereas my authorship is much heavier in the flash/website aspect. I will start with the installation setup and create the imagery and artwork to fit in a gallery space, addressing the issue I had last semester.
I am also hoping to expand on the ideas of relation and mass production in the work, and continuing with the idea of sharing what I create, especially with the addition of the web to things that I can hand out in the gallery.
