A World of Ideas

Artist Statement

There is nothing more powerful than an idea. Through ideas, wars are started and ended, diseases are cured, art is created, and love is born. We decided to create a world in which ideas became commodities, items to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. In doing so, we came to consider how the world we created, and in turn, the world we live in reflect and influence our morals and society.

It was an enjoyable experience crafting the world in which ideas were mined, bought, and sold. What was particularly interesting was that we seemed to feed off of each other’s ideas, even though we worked mostly separately. Each new idea or concept seemed to spark new ideas and we were very unified in our vision of this strange world. Upon further reflection, it became clear that this was due to our having a unifying theme or purpose in our world building. Julian Beecker wrote in a 2009 essay that fiction follows fact. In our case, the design of our world followed fact in that it was based on our perceived inequalities in the world and merely accentuated these.

George Orwell’s masterpiece 1984, is not merely a novel about one man’s search for sex and fulfillment in a dystopian society. Rather, it is a stirring commentary on not only the society in which Orwell lived, but the progress of the human race. In much a similar fashion, we came to see how our created society was a commentary on our current society and world. There is class inequality in the world today and although social mobility is possible, it is severely limited due to lack of education and appropriate infrastructure. In short, the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, although there are several exceptions. We wished to highlight this, by creating a world in which there is no social mobility, since even ideas can only be purchased by the rich.

We attempted this feat by creating a newspaper. Through this medium we were able to present several different ideas in what would hopefully be a fairly normal fashion. We wanted to present the world as those living in it would see it and not as outsiders. Because of this, we focused on ordinary stories and advertisements. Through advertisements, we showed fashion, in particular focusing on the elaborate fashions of the upper class. One of the advertisements even compares the fashionable upper class to the plain clothing of the lower class. The upper class show their power and status through their extravagance. We also focused on the idea of ideas affecting everything from propaganda to crime.

Through this assignment, we were able to not only create a world and society, but also were able to speak through this world and get a point across that was more powerful through the presentation.

Mario-me

Artist Statement

            I grew up playing the Nintendo games of Mario and Zelda. To this day, I can recognize the sounds, sights, and even the controls of those classics. I do, however, view video games in a different way today. Through this project, I attempted to reconcile both my childhood view of video games and my current view of this media. In the process, I also reconciled my childhood view of myself and my current view of myself.

            Much as in Jenkins’s How Texts Become Real, as a child, I viewed video games as something malleable and moldable that eventually became mine through use. I couldn’t consider myself to truly be in possession of Mario Kart until I knew where all of the secret passages were, which character I drove best with, and how to get a boost every time I accelerated from the starting line. In light of this, I decided to add the name “Seth” to the foot of Mario, much in the manner that Andy in the Toy Story franchise writes his name on the feet of his toys. This shows both in the films that the toys belong to Andy and is often used to remind the toys to whom and where they belong.

            As I’ve aged, I’ve played fewer and fewer video games, although the ones that I do play are much different. Beginning with Goldeneye, I played a number of games that put me in the feet of the main character. Games have become more story driven and more personal. I attempted to show this by putting my face in place of Mario’s. Through this process, I began to recognize how I identify myself with video games and gamers.

            As a child, I tended to view myself more as a character in the video games I would later play. Life was my adventure, and I knew that it had a happy ending. There were goals and accomplishments and I knew that sooner or later I would achieve the ultimate goal. Now, however, I identify more with the very early games, such as the early Mario games. I realize that more often than not, I feel as though I am chasing after something, despite the almost certain knowledge that I will never achieve it. Mario is constantly chasing after Peach and (in the earlier games), he never reaches her. Not only that, but she never even acknowledges him. I feel, in much the same way, that I constantly work towards things without any recognition or achievement. It was because of this that I chose Mario as my subject as opposed to Link or one of the other earlier video game characters. Perhaps there is a happy ending, but for the Marios of the world, we’re still waiting.

Fashion as a Medium

Artist Statement

As I considered which medium I would choose for this piece, several ideas, each one worse than the previous one flashed through my mind. I thought of film, photography, painting, and music. It wasn’t, however, until I read that the almost-legendary designer Marc Jacobs announced that he would be leaving Louis Vuitton that I realized what I wanted to create.

            Marc Jacobs has been known for his extravagant, nonsexualized or overly sexualized to the point of fetishism, strange and otherworldly designs (examples can be found here, here, and here). He is the poster boy for fashion as spectacle and it was with this idea in mind that I began creating my piece. I decided to approach fashion as an art form and not really as a wearable medium. I purchased several articles of clothing and removed any utility from them by ripping, tearing, and cutting them. I then modeled them in a dimly-lit, grimy parking lot. In order to focus on the clothing and not on photography, I did not edit the shots and only used the camera’s automatic focus.

            My attempt was to show fashion’s potential as art and not merely as clothing. In the upper-class ultra-rich portion of society, the same fashion may be worn that three weeks earlier was parading down a catwalk in Paris. In the normal, middle-class portion of society, however, fashion is considered something merely to be worn and used. In such circles, luxury fashion is often considered to be unnecessary, over-priced, and in some cases a complete and utter waste of time. I find both approaches to be wrong in some respects. I believe that some fashion is not designed for wearing (see Marc Jacob’s Fall 2012 Collection), but should be appreciated and interpreted for what it is: an art form. We would not judge an experimental film because it does not conform to our ideas of traditional narrative; in like manner, we should not judge extravagant and almost-unwearable fashion because it does not conform to our ideas of utility.

            Through showing fashion that is not wearable and is not beautiful, I showed that fashion itself can stand apart from mere clothing. It is an art form of its own and should be appreciated as such. Just as McCloud in his piece “Show and Tell” argues that a change in the perception of drawing and writing should occur and is occurring, I believe that a change in the perception of fashion as art will positively affect both the fashion world and the art world. 

The Lion

Artist Statement

            “We went from children who were afraid of gunshots to now children who were gunshots.” – Ishmael Beah (former child soldier in Sierra Leone)

            As we approached our topic of child soldiers and war, we found it difficult to write our script due in large part to our lack of experience with such matters. Drawing largely upon stories Hunter had heard on his mission in Sierra Leone and research, we were however able to articulate our ideas into a coherent script.

            Having served in Sierra Leone, a country in which child soldiers were employed during the civil war of 1991-2002, Hunter was able to hear several stories from Africans who had fought as child soldiers. These stories were both shocking and disturbing. One such survivor spoke of arms being cut off at the wrists or shoulders depending on if the victim wanted “short sleeves” or “long sleeves.” Another survivor was betrayed to rebels by his father. These ideas cast a vivid backdrop to our story and allowed us to achieve some level of authenticity, despite our lack of personal experiences in such matters.

            Despite the gruesome and disgusting nature of these stories, however, we desired to write a script covering the theme of redemption. We found this to be a very realistic theme due to Hunter’s experiences with survivors. Many of them have gone on to live normal lives. Some are cooks, some are tailors, some are just moms. They are tied together through their experiences as child soldiers, but even more so through their quest for and eventual triumph in humanity. Through this idea, we came up with the concept of art as a redemptive medium. Kolleh, based off of an actual person known by Hunter, is able to remember and reconnect with his own humanity through the art and actions of another.

Although redemption was our ultimate goal, we also wished to portray some of the horrors of child soldiers. Drawing from Neufeld’s “After the Deluge” we wished to show the confusion that comes from innocence and ignorance. Just as the victims of hurricane Katrina didn’t believe that the hurricane would be so severe and went on with their normal lives, we wished to show the normalcy of life within a war zone, characterized by Kadi’s capturing of the butterfly.

In conclusion, we were able to achieve an almost archetypal narrative with hints of personality drawn from stories of actual survivors. Although we are not experts, we are human and are able to understand to some small extent the sorrow and despair that can be washed away by the joy and elation of redemption.