Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Monday, June 19th, Scrape the Willow, Part Three
In this section we again have Deborah Valoma's voice and once again she fills the essay with rich history. This time she looks at bias...gender, historical academy and the "otherness" of unknown cultures. As with her first essay there is information that might be new to you, or you may be aware of ..either way you will most likely get mad. That is ok. Respond by sharing what you think about the essay as a whole or you can focus on one part.
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Durban Diaries: I absolutely enjoyed this reading. This reading was set in a form that I can relate to. Diaries…. Stories… A way of listinening to, and visually seeing the life that the author has been going through. Most importantly the role of the co-artist that make our visions come to life. As art goes I can really appreciate the art that is developed from a process like this. While it is the vision of the artist it takes on a whole new meaning when the people that are constructing it unconsciously begin to make it their own.
ReplyDeleteConstructing it their own: I start to think of the Egyptians and the great pyramids, the construction of the Domo of the Florence Cathedral. Like the art of Liza Lou the architects had a vision but it did not become as great until you hear of the stories or sacrifices that were made to see this art erected. No one will ever remember the thousands of slaves that made the Egyptian pyramids possible. No one will ever remember the people that actually built the Domo under Burnelleschi and saved Florence at this time and under both circumstances … the ones who died…. Only Burnelleshis name lives on. Only the Pharos name lives on…
Artist / Architects: I appreciate how the artist gives credit to the people that developed her art into so much more… an art that the regular people can relate to. In this world, we as Americans do not, or refuse to see the world we live in. It is art in which we can express ourselves… I once sat with Barry Lopez… just as Donald Trump had been elected. He said now is the time when we are needed the most as artist… people are struggling to find out how to feel about this situation that we are all in….. I do not judge any way of thinking or their beliefs…. But as artist we can help the community deal with the anger one feels towards anyone or help to rationalize the objectives.
Artist for more than ourselves: I was saddened to realize the difference in how other countries treat their woman, but it was something I needed to hear, I knew but a reminder tells how much we as Americans think all is ok when it is not! We need to get out of this American bubble and create for all not just ourselves.
First I am so glad you had the opportunity to sit with and I hope talk with Barry Lopez, he too is an amazing writer who cares about this place we call home and the land we live with.
DeleteI am also glad you can begin to learn about the way women are treated throughout the world. Look around your own environment...home/school...how are women treated? How many hold power? How many are heard?
Prologue & Ch1
ReplyDeleteIn the prologue Valoma mentions that in the interactions with Parker, she has learned that meaning is not in the spoken, but in the unspoken, and intelligence resides not in the disembodied mind, but in the somatic whole (xix). This may not encompass the concept entirely, but back to the book on James Watkins, I feel like I would not have understood the work completely as a whole by only seeing his work without knowing what I know now, or only reading of him and not experiencing his work by seeing it first hand. That sounded more thought out in my head. I think there are many ways of being in the world.
I was surprised that Julia’s birth name was Florence Dominguez. I remember visiting New Mexico for the first time in my late twenties, and I admit I had a romanticized idea of what native American culture would be like. I found it extremely similar to my own Mexican- American culture, and thought mostly everyone looked “Mexican.” So I am surprised that Parker has a Hispanic/Latino name. However, I am adamant that Latinos, are indigenous. Latinos, will never be “authentic.” We have to be careful not to homogenize communities of people, because pure “authenticity” is a myth. Appropriation, however, is complex. As artists, we appropriate all the time, but there is a way to do it without harming the culture. I consider appropriation that harms a culture, cultural violence, and cultural violence in not always visible or tangible, or immediate. Valoma discusses how the “white savior complex” (13) reinforces what could be undercurrents of colonial systems in which communities of color struggle to survive in. I also like what Valoma describes as a second wave of colonization (14) as the result of cultural appropriation. I would still argue it as cultural violence, because it is an act of oppression.
Within the Latino community, ….I don’t really like calling myself Latina/o and I only check Hispanic when I have to. Latina is homogenous, and I think Latinos that are not Mexican like Cubans and Puerto Ricans have distinct histories and cultures. Hispanic is problematic because it distinctly identifies European (Spanish) heritage, and historically, for example, some New Mexicans claim only their Spanish roots and shun their indigenous roots. There was a stigma to being india or indio meaning Indian, like native American. This is an important distinction for me because I am a Chicana, which means that I celebrate my indigeneity, but my indigeneity as a Mexican American woman is not recognized. My indigenous roots are from Northern Mexico in the State of Nuevo Leon, but because the Spanish were such effective colonizers and Nuevo Leon was notorious for “liempieza de sangre” which is essentially ethnic cleansing, many of the hundreds of indigenous tribes are “disappeared.” land. Lots of “clearing land” happened in Texas. Texas is indigenous land and there were a plethora of indigenous peoples.
My challenge in looking, is clearly identifying an instance of and articulating a response to cultural appropriation that is useful to people that find any kind of cultural appropriation as an affront. Is a difficult conversation to have, and even more difficult to hash out the rhetoric. This is a heated debate in the art scene in my home town. An instance of cultural appropriation becomes a spark in a powder keg in a toxic social media call out culture.
This is a hard conversations partly because we are each filled with our own personal myths, truths, biases, and confusion about ourselves, about others. As I write this I am sipping ice tea (like my grandmother), Burkinstocks (from Europe) with a typical "Mexican " dress on from San Antonio covered in beautiful sewn flowers. I tell myself I am supporting local shops in that beautiful town but am I or am I just as bad as the others who purchased baskets?
DeleteHow do we separate what we admire from what we "borrow".
This book is collection of memory and struggle of sustainability as basket maker Julia Parker. She learnt craft with precision. What is Indian or Indianness meant to Americans? So far I thought India is south asian country on the coastline Indian Ocean, which is belong to multi culture society. Learning about another Indians who lives in America is new to me. But I don’t like the way they treat Indians consider as different race. “it is no wonder, then, that playing Indian became primarily a feminine activity: wild land, uncontained femininity, unruly childhood, and Indian uncivilized Indianness converged in highly charged narratives of domination.” (p14) her story is inspiration for other people and set an example cultural richness which is inherent and carry forward generation to generation.
ReplyDeleteShe follows her spirit and fight against society odds, but she inspired for other from community to grow traditional values. She did different small jobs for surviving apart for that she learns basket making, but also she still continues work today on native American culture traditional cooking, basket making and storytelling. And Yosemite museum plays important part of established her identity as an artist.
Deepika, is this in response to Prologue and Part One?
DeleteNative Americans is a term used to group large numbers of individual nations/tribes into one. They represent the cultures that were living and surviving on what is considered United States. The relationships between these various cultures and the various European cultures have been horrible at best...war/lies/betrayal/more lies/ more killings. This book touches on a small part of the story.
You might look up Aaron Carapella and his Tribal Nations Maps...they list the original names of these cultures. We have one or two in Visual Studies in one of our files.
DeleteOne topic that is addressed throughout the book, but dives a little deeper in the chapter is the art vs. craft debate. Honestly, I used to be in that camp of people who would glaze over the idea and say that's not art. I'm not sure I really felt that way, but rather didn't take the time to understand the difference. From what the Veloma and Parker are saying, it sounds like this initially stemmed from lack of artifacts and the shear nature that these crafts were made by women and therefor given no credit to a male dominated field of study. It also appears that until the last few decades, craft was more defined by the materials used and whether or not it had a purpose. If it was intended to express something, then it is art. But why can something made for a purpose not also be meant to express something? And then other times it seems that it mattered where the artist learned their skill. So, the way i really see this is those who are in the 'know' of "high art" use what ever excuse needed to separate the 2. So then, how do you say Julia or her ancestors were not intending to express meaning in the baskets they made even thought hey were being used in their daily lives and not hung on the wall to be discussed? Because they had no time or use for that. Maria Martinez, a Native American pottery maker, has a similar story. As enamalware became more readily available, Maria saw the traditional pottery making techniques being lost and decided to revive them. Along with her husband, she used the traditional methods to make beautiful black pottery and make this form art relevant again. But it was now viewed relevant because someone was willing to buy it. Jewelry and furniture seems to also fit the craft definition seeing as it is wearable and useful. So if truly beautiful piece of jewelry or desk is made by a skilled person, then it is not art unless the intention is to sit in a museum? Nonsense. We wouldn't say that. I think I came around on this topic when considering the women in my family. I come from a long line of seamstresses. So does my wife. Growing up, the women all the women in my family owned a sewing machine (usually several) and they were always sewing something. My Nana made my clothes until middle school. The cool factor made it unacceptable after 6th grade. But they also made elaborate quilts. My mother in law also makes quilts. Non stop. She is always laying out squares to design her next quilt. I have watched her and my own mother and grandmother work. This definitely goes beyond craft. To me comparing art and craft are just 2 different ways of looking at the same thing. Whether talking about myself or talking to my students, we talk about perfecting our craft, not perfecting our art.
ReplyDeletethank you
ReplyDeleteThe difference between craft and art was defined by a small group of critics who needed something to use to make a name for themselves and to "help" define art for the masses.
Just like Chase mentioned how she used to be one of those persons that will say how is that art? Same with me, I've thought of that as well. I guess sometimes I am not able to see beyond the art that is in front of me and just like I thought there were times during the reading that people were not being fair to them, I think that me not being able to appreciate is unfair as well. In part three of the book one of the things I found super interesting was the evolution of the basket. How a basket had different meanings according to each culture and how it become a ethnic identity. Baskets being treated as secondary to the primary object which was being held. I've always thought generalization is not good, basket being considered low class, exclusively for the poor and sick is a great example of generalization. People used to think that only low intellectual people weaved baskets and I made me mad, I mean I think people should be able to do whatever makes them happy without being judge. A fact that I found very interesting was that basket weaving was the only textile process that was not mechanized during the industrial revolution. I believe it was really impressive and added more value to their culture because no machine was able to do that but only hands and passion.
ReplyDeleteSensuality was my favorite topic of the chapter, the comparisons made between baskets and senses was just wonderful. Valoma focuses a lot on how Julia's instincts are based on touch "all insights not seen, but felt" (p 125). During my architecture journey I've been fascinated with phenomenology so I did in architecture, which is using the senses to perceive architecture. I used haptic which means touch as a concept for one of my studio projects and being able to create something based on senses so everybody would enjoy architecture was a great experience. So reading about Julia using the touch to create art just makes me super excited, I think that is just wonderful. Another relationship I found between weaving baskets and architecture is that they are responsive to the environment. Today architecture focuses a lot on doing the less damage as possible to the environment and I think Valoma explains how their part of teaching is based on learning from the land, harvest and care for the land. Something architects and artists (like Julia) have in common is that we put our heart on what we do and we are able to chose details, materials ,color etc... so that people can enjoy it.
Julia's mission about cultural preservation is fascinating, Native Americans spiritual beliefs are full of enrichment and understanding they have an active relation with the land, makes their culture be unique.
Very nice comparison to Architecture.Reminded me of David Orr at Oberlin College.
ReplyDelete