Accumulation Reflection and Changing Thoughts

In the beginning, I was very naive. I thought it would be cool to get people to trip out over someone asking them for something so personal. I wanted them to reflect on what they thought about what I was asking, but I never thought about what they might think, or the kinds of answers I might get. I just considered a "yes" or "no" answer. I didn't think about the degrees of positive or negative responses I would get. Some people were blatantly offended and would cuss and yell. Some were intrigued and began to probe further at what I was asking them. In the end, I was touched at the thoughtfulness of some of the answers I got, whether they gave me what I wanted or not. I never thought I would be able to help someone cope with their problems, or find pieces of themselves that they never considered or overlooked. In the end, the piece was more about accumulating meaning and understanding of ones self or ones fellow human than just simply gathering material possessions.

I think I was assigned this exercise to find more meaningful connection between art and life, and to better understand how we assign meaning and place stock in material possessions.

Accumulation Project Finale

I know I should probably create a piece that is amazing and fantabulous and it will make you shit yourself when you see it, but I don't think that was ever the aim. I didn't approach these people and ask them for their soul parts so I could later shoot them into outerspace via rocket-propulsion system. It was just a very sincere test of their belief structure. I can't sit here and create scenarios as to what I should do to make this project exciting or more interesting. How do you make photos and paper so interesting in the first place? This project has helped me grow and understand aspects of my own personality that I never even thought about in the first place.

The intent was always to capture these souls just to set them free. I can't keep them! They’re not mine. I have mine. I've always had mine and don't need any others.

When my ball python, Snakey Wakey One, died from a neurological disease, we set him adrift in a New Balance shoe box in the middle of Lake Norman. From the shore, we shot flaming arrows in the traditional Viking Funeral style... until the piercing, orange light struck the gasoline soaked cardboard and the blaze licked away at the serpents lifeless, diseased body. I think that is how I would want to release these souls from captivity; let the flames carry the smoke and vapors to the heavens.

Julian LaVerdiere

His art work makes me think of a short story I read call “The Nine Billion Names of God” by Arthur C. Clarke. This story has probably one of the most chilling endings I have ever read, and it’s only like 5 pages longs, so read it. The Nine Billion Names of God. I can’t really put my finger on why I see these two things relating. Maybe it’s the stark realization that what we don’t believe will ever happen can occur without a logical reason. Like the twin towers and the stars blotting themselves out as God begins to wind things up. I don’t know what I’m getting at.

Matthew Barney

I have been a huge fan of M.B. ever since I saw The Cremaster Cycle (illegal bootleg). His works are intense as hell, and have harmonious and grotesque qualities working together at the same time. Time Magazine called him the most important artist of our generation. So I guess he’s pretty important? The thing I think I enjoy the most about watching his films is when the point comes where you stop examining them, analyzing them for structural and plot integrity or trying to understand the symbols and find juxtapositions between ideas, and you start to just take in the visual components and see them as just eye-candy. It’s a purely sexual experience. It’s hypnotic and sensual and you don’t have to probe his deep, well thought-out symbols or imagery.

Site Specific Pieces day 2

I think that Arutyun and Jin win this bout. I really like Arutyun’s piece except for the fact that I think it lacks a personal touch. I guess nobody really had a problem with it except for me. The piece was very computer rendered and there was nothing in the whole piece that suggested that he had any emotional stock in the actual event. I’m not saying that he has too… I mean it happened 93 years ago. He wasn’t necessarily alive during that time. It just seemed very cold and impersonal. It seems even less important to him because he put it on YouTube.com. He gives the people the option of seeing it or not. Isn’t a mass genocide being covered up a problem? What if America (for some fucked up reason) decided to not teach the children about the Holocaust? Would you just stand by and allow someone to get away with murder? I like the actual short film, but I think the presentation could be worked on a bit. I would have been a lot more interested and responsive if you called up the entire class at 2:33 a.m. and told us to tune into channel 4 in five minutes.

Jin’s piece is simple but to the point, and I love the narrative quality.

Site Specific Project, "Existence is Futile"

Once again, this project has consumed most of my every waking thought. I got a lot of good ideas, but couldn't act on them. So the project was about site specific.

I couldn't very well reach a desert or a skyscraper's roof so I had to settle for my own back yard. For this piece I pulled inspiration from several artists, but the two that had the biggest influence were Robert Smithson with his "Non-Site" pieces and Andy Goldsworthy with land works. I pulled ideas from them on accident. I never sat down and planned out an elaborate scheme with them in mind. I decided to just start working on something and right after I did that, their ideas began to push mine into different directions, so here it is.

Keep in mind, I don't have money. Or time. Or knowledge. So I couldn't hire anyone to do this piece and I couldn't find a more suitable location that would give the piece a more pronounced meaning.

For this piece, I decided, once I started working, that it was going to take a very cliche but important subject matter and explore it deeper than I had ever before. I decided to base my piece with the theme of global warming. I started thinking about how we think about how global warming is and is going to affect us. We know were fucking up the planet with our shit, and we are collectively trying to avoid submergence of our major cities, here and all over the world. but I didn't really want to focus on that. I wanted to put myself in another cultures shoes to see how I would think about what we're doing to our planet. The first group I thought about was the Inuit people living near the north pole. You think we have it bad here when our coast line raises three measly inches. What if you were an Eskimo and all of a sudden you have to completely change your way of life because you're entire house, land and life melted, right out from under your feet. Your food swims to different bodies of water. Your transportation dies because it's getting to hot or you have nothing to move around on. I imagine it would be hard to adapt.

That's when I thought about Smithson's non-sites, or, as I like to call them, his double-displacements pieces. I, in an Inuit shoe, built an "igloo" out of unconventional timber. Because of the warm weather, I cannot bear the heat and I'm forced to remove my clothing. I don't know how to hunt or eat this food. Every asshole on the planet has polluted the earth, and I have to suffer the consequences first.

Existence Is Futile. found lumber, coat and naked body. "Igloo" - 4' x 4' x 6'

The Coolest Soul I Ever Got Was...

Malena Bergmann's Soul! She is the coolest because she gave me an A in her concept studio class, which I deserved for the countless hours of worry I had to endure outside of class and the effort I put into making every class enjoyable and unique!

Site Specific Pieces day 1

Great job, class! I think we’re getting to where we need to be. Once again Ray scores a homerun. She must have a ton of time on her hands. I wish I had a sugar daddy to pay my bills while I got to hang out in prison. I have nothing interesting to say. I have to let their work soak in a little.

Body Lesson

I really enjoyed this lesson. Jenny Seville has phenomenal work. I think I’ve seen her work in MoMa about 3 years ago. During this lesson, I thought of my friend Diane, who is a transgendered person. I met her at a gallery. She did a documentary style piece which was a series of interviews about people who are put down in our society for having difference that they can’t control. I use to pity these people, but now have only compassion and high hopes for them.

I was very interested to understand William Pope L’s work more. On his site for the Black Factory, it reads, “The Black Factory contends that blackness is limited not by race but by our courage to imagine it differently.” To me, what he is doing is not just being an artist but he is being a cultural anthropologist as well. Race is NOT BIOLOGICAL! Race is 100% SOCIAL. It’s a social construct used to separate one group of people from another. From numerous DNA sampling experiments, it was reported that an African American, teenage girl was closer genetically to a White Swedish male than other black teenage girls involved. He’s addressing these social issues to people, not to alienate but to make them question racial stereotypes and consumer culture.

Joseph,
While I can appreciate your concept of gathering souls---there's something disconcerting about the idea of "loaning one's soul or portion thereof" to anyone, even a loved one, particularly when the contract does not specify your reasons for wanting custody of another's most prized possession. While you note that the soul will not be abused and that the owner may request termination of the contract, the principle of parting with any portion of my soul is personally abhorrent to me. Perhaps this is because from childhood I have been taught that my soul belongs to GOD but is in my keeping until such time that GOD chooses to claim it.

I'm not even certain I'd give my own mother or husband a part of my soul, so why should I give it to you? Someone I'm only acquainted with?

I am however curious to know how your "experiment" turns out.

Pamela H. Lawton, Ed.D

I think it is only appropriate to work toward obtaining souls from all walks of life. Males, gays, blacks, ugly, rich, marginalized, ignorant and doctors too...

April 16

(missing)

Site Specific

I am amazed at much site effects a work. I’ve never thought about it. I’ve never been taught it. When you make a piece of art, whether it be a painting or a sculpture, you generally plan for it to be in one of two places: on the wall of a gallery or out in the middle of a field or lake. It makes me want to go back to all the work that I have ever had in the past and reexamine the subject matter. Maybe I was accidentally on to something that I never saw in my work before. Maybe the mediocre sculptures I’ve created in the past would be hardcore conceptual pieces if I would just put place it upside down under a highway bridge or put it in a catamaran and pushed it out to sea…

Souls?

This man has no soul. I don't see why he thinks he gave me anything.


I own 49% of Debbie Archer's soul. Not 50%. She said that as long as she controlled the majority, then she was fine with that. She also believes in rounding up. I incidentally own 50% of her vagina. She gave that to me as a Birthday gift.

Beth - 2%

NoDa

Will was super-uber nice, a gentleman, a scholar, and a wonderful host. But, I have to say, I was very disappointed. Will, if you’re reading this, it’s not your fault. It’s mine. I had one idea in my head of how your work would look and make me feel and I was incredible mistaken. And I know that you can take a beating, so here I go.

I think that most of the work in his home was interesting. I loved how he envisioned his work and depicted his characters in their various poses on the doors. It’s an unusual depiction of a life I never see, and I’m glad that he takes the time to pay homage to these few, ‘marginalize’ people. But I have to say I hated his floor piece. I know I don’t know the situation very well, but I thought the floor plan was poorly designed. The piece didn’t flow and his subject matter was varied too extremely. It was hard to recognize how the pieces related to each one another. I think everybody hyped it up a little too much because of it’s sheer size, but I’m a firm believer in quality over quantity. Size doesn’t matter; it’s all in how you use it.

He did teach me a lot about how to live and work and achieve my dreams. I appreciate his will to express himself. Just because I don’t like his most important piece doesn’t mean I don’t think I can’t learn a lot from him.

April 7

(missing)

Racking in the souls...

My father. I started thinking about how souls are created and distributed. Are they like kinetic energy, that can neither be created nor destroyed? Is a new born baby a brand new soul or has it been recycled from the deceased, similar to Hindu or Jain beliefs? Is my own soul 2 parts of my parents? Can a soul really regenerate or are you given what you're given?

My 32 year old brother John. He sleeps with his eyes opened. It makes me wonder if this is a defensive mechanism or if he has mastered some kind of awareness meditation.

I currently have 22 soul pieces and 1.681943 whole souls.

Instigation and Time Pieces

I really loved Nicole’s piece. I wasn’t crazy about the outcome, but I feel that the idea was dynamite. The piece to me wasn’t so much about wasting time, but more about taking advantage of the social constructs within a culture or manipulation to create profitable experience. She took something positive, these gifts from strangers and turned the tables against them. She critiqued their work by destroying it. I love power struggles and find a subtle beauty in unkempt relationships.

Also I enjoyed the lesson on instigation. I appreciate the fucked up artist who plagues our societies. This lesson kind of showed me how different I perceive most art. I have always been very accepting of differing viewpoints and ideas. Most of the artists that I know or are affiliated with have a definite idea in their head as to what they consider art and what their limits are. I don’t think I have any limits. You can shit on my chest and call it art. I probably will call it art too.

Mr Boan

Brandon Boan was the nicest Swedish gypsy from Oregon I’ve ever met. His unconventional, nomadic, poor lifestyle helped me realize that I’m not that kind of artist! He is a different breed of subhuman (and by that I mean artists). It’s weird that he has an insatiable desire to create, kinda like a crack-attack. It’s admirable, but I don’t understand it because I don’t have urges to satisfy the way he does. I require structure. His work was intriguing, but I don’t think I liked it. His ideas were marvelous, and it’s not even that I didn’t like them; it’s just that I didn’t understand them. Brandon had some serious philosophies and theories cookin’ in his dome; So advanced that my tiny little brain couldn’t handle them. His in-depth exploration and questioning skills were great.

I'm helping people

There have been a couple of people thus far that have given me their souls for whatever reason; they feel it's right or they don't believe they are actually giving me their soul or because they think I'm faking it and it's all some joke, that I'm not serious... whatever. Thus far I have just got a lot of reasons why people didn't want to give me anything, but just recently I acquired a contract from a fellow classmate that outlined his positive reasons why he had given me his soul piece. What was written is as follows:

I am freely giving you part of my love soul that I have been hanging on to from a past relationship. I am tired of holding on to it and need to remove it from my life in order for new love to grow. I feel that this is a part of my soul that is subject to regeneration. Do with it what you will. It is yours. I have done and experienced all that I can with it. It has haunted and plagued my thoughts and emotions and completely consumed my being for the last 5 years. By signing and dating this document I mark an influential turning point in my life.

I never thought that by starting this project I would help people in such a profound way. All I wanted to do was get some people thinking about who they were and how they connected with their spirituality. This project has evolved into something more valuable to me. It's not just signatures and photo documentation. It's becoming a piece about human drive, deep emotional understanding and trust bonds. To me, this isn't merely an attempt to move on by throwing your garbage problems on to somebody else's shoulders. I have enabled this person to move on to a greater appreciation for life and love. This person is relying on me to help them help themselves. I feel honored.

Time Piece

I had tons of ideas for this piece, but for the most part, they were too grandiose, time consuming or required me to be in a much better financial situation than I am currently in. I chose to show this piece in a progression. Not like stills from a camera but more like repetition of the same sculptural form in different formations.

For this project, I wanted to capture movement that was inspired by me making my bed. I live in a tiny 80 square foot dorm on campus and my bed can only fit in the corner. When I go to make my bed I throw out my sheets over the entire surface but the sheets hit the wall and fall on top of itself in ripples. I like the way it looks when it starts to overlap itself and decided to try and illustrate the movements over time in metal sculpture.

I found some random scrap metal outside of my dad's shop and just started bending then over themselves. I didn't realize that the metal I grabbed was varying thicknesses and densities, so I had to use a vice and sledge hammer to bend 2 of them. The others were pliable enough to just use my hands, feet and table tops to bend them.

Research and incorporation of 2 sources: I don't understand what this means or I didn't have to use them. The only 'source' I chose to research on was the various ways to bend metal. All I did was told my dad I wanted to bend them metal and asked him if he knew any secret methods. My main option was to just use brute strength. I didn't wear gloves because I want to have man hands, and I thought it might make me appreciate the material I was using better if it was able to physically harm me while I was handling it. It cut me in a couple places, and one place bled really bad, but I think overall I enjoyed it. I had just gotten a tetanus shot last year for purposefully pushing rusty nails through my back, so I'm still good.
(Juan Moya-Mendez, question to father, March 16, 2008.)
I don't have another one other than that. The purpose was simple. I wanted to bend metal to change it's perceived characteristics and had fun with it. So, Why did you choose the 1 specific source? Because it was easiest. And How will the source material make your aesthetic choices richer? It won't.

Discontinuation Series. Iron, steel, rust, sweat, blood, and tears.
2.5' -8" x 5.5" - 9" x 4.6" - 8.7"

More Souls

Carol Ann Oxidine, the soon to be Mrs. Carol Ann Moya-Mendez. She thought signing the contract was futile because when we marry our souls will join anyway. She's right.
This is our good friend Margaret Seyller. She is a bitch. She didn't want to donate anything to my cause. She compared this experiment to a Séance. How dare she! I'm trying to bring people closer to their own spirituality... not conjuring demons or spirits. So in the end I made her feel guilty about not giving me anything, and instead of us growing closer, we have grown apart...

March 19

(missing)

Phantasmagoria

This show was beastly. I loved almost everything. I have always been interested in parlor tricks and illusions, so I really enjoyed the piece that smoked and made you disappear. I wish I had that installed in my car seat or under my toilet. The first time I ever heard the word Phantasmagoria was in reference to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. Walt Disney himself was influenced by these shows because he was a huge movie/theatre aficionado and incorporated a lot of his ideas into the haunted mansion.

The exhibit was very powerful. The ghost reflections in the water and mirrors called to mind thoughts of the ghost I lived with for a year, the one that made me a believer. The exhibit as a whole reminded me of how hard it is to be serious about death and how hard it will be for me to cope with the impending death of my loved ones. I have never been close to anybody who has passed away. I fear death, yet mock it at the same time. I often joke about my own grizzly demise just before I tell my fiancée or parents “I love you… Goodbye”. Or when my brother tries to get off the phone with me when I’m driving in very bad weather, I tell him there is no way I’m going to be killed, just because I know it’s not going to happen. It was a magical exhibition with stark realizations hiding around the corner, ready to slap you in the face.

New Direction

It has become evident to me that people are more negative to this matter than positive. I have sent emails out and have gotten several responses of mostly people questioning what I’m going to be doing with them. This is Paige Cochran’s email to me, my response and then her rebuttal. She makes a very strong point.

Can you foward this to him or send me his email address? Now what does this person want to do with my soul? If he is interested in it, then why doesn't he want to know more about it? This is serious business and I don't think anyone should lend another person their soul, personally.

Hey Paige. My name is Joseph Moya-Mendez and I wanted to answer your questions you asked Malena. I want to answer your question, but first I need to correct you. You won't be 'lending' me your soul. You are going to be 'giving' it to me. Not the whole thing obviously. I can tell that you value your possessions and assume that you feel that your soul will carry a purpose, in this life or in the next. I tell people who try to give it all to me that I want them to be able to experience rebirth into the hereafter... if that's what they believe in, of course.
Now what will I do with it you ask? Nothing but possessing it. This accumulation is meant to drill down to the inner core of an individuals moral, ethical, and spiritual values. I want people to ask themselves what their worth is, or question their belief structure if at all possible. I'm also wanting people to question their faith. It is my idea that too often people place every ounce of their faith in a deity, higher power or God Himself, and little or no faith in themselves. Instead of praying or asking God to grant them revelations, healing or other miracles, they should be putting their faith into their own actions to better themselves and others in this world. Accompanying this idea, I think that people should also put their faith in other people. Trust is important, and if you can trust in yourself than you can trust in others.

And it's not that I'm not interested in your soul personally. I would really like to know it... but it's not really the point. It's like giving a homeless person on the street $5.00. You don't know if he's going to use it to booze up or to buy a hearty meal... You'll probably never even see that person again. But you feel good inside for letting him experience something he never gets to experience anymore, whether it's Milwaukee's Best or a Chicken sandwich. Ohh, except for I'm not going to use your soul for anything negative. I will love it and treat it like a little baby that I adopted from Russia, but will never play with, because I don't want to play with it.

If you still don't want to give me a tiny percentage, then I understand. You're right... this is serious business. Especially for me, considering I have to take on the weight of all of these extras souls I've acquired. Now I have to be extra honorable and much less mischievous. I can't taint these souls or I'm fucked. I'm just asking people to take a chance.

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or call me on the phone. My number is 704-502-9617. And thanks for taking the time to get to the bottom of things. That's what I want people to do.

Heart, Joseph XOXOXO

well, that's interesting. i do not believe in giving you my soul, sorry. but no. i used to give people psychic readings, i am a yoga instructor, and reiki master...so energy is very real to me. this contract you are handing out enables you with a real ability to access peoples' energy bodies, if they were honest about signing it. i'm not too keen on this idea. anyhow, good luck with your project. i'm sure you will find lots of people who are willing to give you their souls....there was this guy named jesus....he's still collecting them.

Paige

Hawkinson and Qiang

I really liked what Tim Hawkinson was saying about how music was a really big component of his art experience. Art must be viewed in the broadest sense of its meaning. It is an artist's duty to acknowledge and proliferate all forms of art - not just visual art, but performance, theatre, music, dance, language arts, culinary arts and the physical arts as well - even if they pursue mastery in only one or two specific disciplines. Music is an important component in my life.

Cai Guo Qiang’s bio was pretty interesting too… I wasn’t so much a fan of some of the work as I was his incorporation of the materials used. The way he developed a harmonious relationship with the gunpowder was really intriguing. I liked how he said that you have to accept the fact that the gunpowder was dangerous and accidental. I always have a profound respect for people who are able to let material things in their lives go for the sake of establishing “higher” connections. His work made me think of Ah Leon, a world renowned, Chinese ceramics professor. His work consists of ceramic teapots and landscape structures that are related to his heritage. His art was recently exhibited in the “Masters of Disguise” show at the Mint Craft + Design Museum. I find it absolutely astounding and honoring that an entire culture of people can structure their existence around the arts, whether it is by the way they dress, write letters, exercise or even serve tea.

Art 21 Series

Fuck engineers and their brains. Theo Jansen’s work was really inspiring though. He has taken his art to a new level, above mere existence. His work will one day be able to live on its own… Not like a painting can live in a collection, but actually living and breathing the ocean air, moving from place to place, where ever the wind takes it (literally). Even though the work is overwhelmingly beautiful and elegant, I can’t help but think about this new military device being developed by Boston Dynamics called BigDog. It’s terrifying; a perfect counter argument to Theo’s vision. It’s currently being tested to carry military supplies, but it’s robotic parts are so close to human limbs that it’s haunting. It too moves by itself, has a significant purpose, and they both struggle for survival.

How the hell did this guy come up with these 11 Golden Formulas? What an original idea that is. His work is a refreshingly original in a society that almost condemns a piece if it does not in some way, shape or form reflect that of an earlier work. The one thing I hate about this piece is how it makes me feel about my own art work. I think if I could have one truly original thought in my lifetime I would be ecstatic.

The Art World Expands

'Expansion' is a kind of a loaded term. It can be used in both positive and negative connotations. It's primarily good because it can bring several ideas to the table so growth and developement can occur and the general public can be exposed to worldly thoughts and ideas. But it can also be bad in the sense that it can make art too broad. For the most part, if people say that their work is art, then I would agree, but sometimes I look at a piece and think that it borders the realms of philosophy a little to much, or that it is so underdeveloped that it hasn't quite reached the realm of art, or it's to simple or unjustified. When I think of expanding, I think hot air in a balloon, or I'll associate it with a violent explosion.
What if art expanded so much that everyone was doing it, and the art world is bad enough about drawing inspiration to readily from previous work. Sherrie Levine illustrates this the best - Everything is a copy of a copy. It depresses me that my ideas have already been thought or expressed, hundreds of times over. And if everything is constantly being reworked or counterfeited, then when is there ever going to be room for a genuine idea to surface out of all of the clones?
By introducing nonart experiences into our sphere of art, aren't we dissolving what makes artistic expression so profound?

Souls and Contracts again

Here are some pictures of the contract. I wanted to provide a link so you could download it, but this is the best I can do.


Also, here is David who gave me a little over 1% and Brian who gave me 3%. Brian gave me the part of his soul with the tattoo. I thought that was a neat idea. His tattoo is a constant reminder of who he is and what his beliefs are. I think that was really appropriate for him to give me that. He isn't just giving me a random piece of his soul anymore... He is giving me a piece that represents his very souls identity! He gave me the most important part!!

The Story It Tells

Ranting and Raving: My Critique on Good Critiquing

I personally don’t like it when other people critique my work. It’s not that I hate being scrutinized or belittled or told I did something wrong. I actually love all those things. My main problem is the degree at which people critique my work. Too often they are not well versed, or don’t even speak for that matter, and/or haven’t the foggiest understanding of other cultures, thus not bringing anything interesting or intelligible to the table.

I’m great at critiquing, because for one, I’m not afraid to say what I think or feel. True story. If your abstract sculpture looks like cock and balls entangling and erupting all over a female figure, I’m going to say that I feel the piece’s main theme is centered around male domination… or that it looks like cock and balls entangling and erupting all over the female figure. But don’t fuckin’ giggle or roll your eyes at me when I say that, because I just said something somewhat profound that could lead the discussion in a new interesting direction… You don’t want me to identify you as the stupid idiot in class. When it’s your turn, I’m going to demolish your piece and make you cry. Will I feel bad about it when you actually start to cry? Yes. And then I’ll have to make up something that I actually liked about your piece or tell you that I didn’t mean it.

Another reason I’m great at critiquing is because I’ve trained my mind to open up when people say new things to me… like an unclogged drain. You like to draw kittens when you’re not worshipping Satan? That’s cool! I’m open minded... Sometimes I think that some people just can’t do that though. It’s not their fault. They were probably raised that way or just grew up in a home where it wasn’t necessary or needed to develop an open mind. I just don’t want to talk to them though.

I think that it is really important for people to understand how to critique well. Critiquing is an art form in and among itself. You have to train your mind to respond differently to each work you critique just as you would respond to a different assignment, inspirational thought or canvas. It's also important that we soak it up as much as possible because it drives us to create more involved art pieces and it helps us to critique ourselves.

Scott Greiger Q&A’s

1) What message does this work convey to me?

Scott’s work is about showing the viewer the ugly reality of consumerism hidden in the backgrounds of our society. I personally relish in the act of cutting the Socialist Throat, and enjoy watching people speak out against the injustices our nation usually enacts. While my work doesn’t necessarily focus on corporate or political belief structures, I respond to it well. I enjoy hunting and finding the fraud behind what people say and what they actually mean or convey. I even use to create and collect ‘puns’ because I think they are exciting and misleading and intelligible. I think this work has got a greater theme of brainwashing than anything. Global warming is just a theory and Buddhism, like any religion, has a set list of rules that one must conform to in order to reach Satori. And obviously the American army and Third Reich require you give up all of your civil liberties.

2) Do I agree with the message he is trying proclaim?

Yes. As artists it is our job to notice when ‘the man’ is bending us over and raping us. I would even be as bold as to recommend he attack the corporate executives more than he is. He says the “executives seem to slough it off as a social problem, not their moral problem,” but in the same way he isn’t really contributing to making the situation better. It’s like when I hear a shitty rap song blaring from some ignorant assholes ride… They rap about the problems in our modern society, but offer no remedy to these problems. Yeah, I know there is crack being made and bitches getting smacked in the streets, but how can we fix it? I’m not saying I know the answers, but art should address how we can also create better living conditions for ourselves and for others. Or maybe not. Maybe that’s the job of the guy with the microphone?

3) What do I like/dislike about the work?

I like the fact that he brought all of the different ideas together in one piece and how he showed them relating to one another. 54 zafu cushions (like good little soldiers) lined up in front of the swooshtika (Hitler/Nike corporation), yielding their attention. The colors and shapes are all well balanced. I think he could have given the cushions different patterns though. Some of them are the same, and it shows less various than there would really be if these cushions came to represent real people.

4) What other famous artists can I relate to this work?

As far as conceptual pieces go, I would have to say Andy Warhol. One of his main themes in all his work was how we tend to become so desensitized to acts of violence, racism, political propaganda, and pop culture icons by simply viewing them on our TV’s every day. We grow numb to them because they are common. And one of the main themes Scott Greiger uses in his work is how corporate logos and political symbols, typically everyday images, get lost in the background but continue to influence our perceptions on class, wealth, health, beauty, or anything else we use to help construct our residual self image.

5) Does this work have a positive or negative impact on you?

I would say it has a positive impact on me because I can steal his ideas and use them in my own work. I think most people would say it was negative and would thus ignore it. No one wants to face the truth. No ordinary consumer wants to condemn the products or ideas that make life easy, even if a child in Malaysia is making it for them in poor working conditions, or if the products are being tested on animals, or if people are being sent to the slaughter in other countries because of one man’s influence.

6) Has this work changed me?

I would like to say so. I should explore what meanings in my work could represent in other contexts. My compositions or color choices could closely correlate to other culture’s ideas and that would give my work more depth. I’m just too ignorant right now. You can only be so worldly at age 23. But writing about this work has influenced me to do some more research and brainstorming when I am creating a piece!

Kim Jones (a.k.a. Mudman) Q&A

1) What are my initial reactions to this artist?

First and foremost, I pity Kim. Mudman hasn’t had to experience the bloody reality of war and is able to express himself as he sees fit and he can cope with regular situations or act how he wants to. But that isn’t to say that he doesn’t carry a burden. Even though he interacts with the people that he’s near, he can’t fully divulge his ideas or beliefs, because the random civilians he encounters are primarily focused on the outer appearance and probably care little about his ego or philosophies. It just seems like a very lonely walk. My other initial reaction to Kim’s work is that it seems selfless and cold, yet composed. His work probably doesn’t pay money, especially considering most people don’t want to buy documentation of him walking 18 miles. He does it just to transcend the normality that we all experience day to day, and I think that it’s a brave gesture, or an ignorant one.

2) Could I ever do work like this?

I think I could. 150 lbs. on your back all day would make you exhausted. But at the same time maybe there is some kind of therapeutic quality that could surface. The strain of your muscles after hours of this could kick in the serotonin and one might not even feel pain. Or maybe afterwards you could get some sort of lethargic bliss from taking it off and you could sleep for days. I guess it also kind of depends on the audience. I’m sure he relies very heavily on the types of people that come up to him, whether they are in a bad mood or a good one.

3) Does this relate to any other work that I have seen in the past?

The book says Eva Hesse, Chris Burden and Bruce Nauman, which I can all see, but the first person I thought about was Robert Smithson and his ‘nonsites’. The mud on his body was what triggered it. By smearing it on his body, leaving the gallery space and intruding on the concrete sidewalks of the modern world, he is adequately representing not only his alter ego, but his connections with distinct places. As he alters himself into a more grotesque figure, he also comes to symbolize the deterioration of our culture. He is a walking entropy monument, unable to deal with harsh social climate we live in; war and violence ridden, ruled by the ‘mighty aggressors’.

4) Why is this work important to learn about?

One reason I guess it’s important is because in a way we can all relate to this idea of an alter ego. We all have ideas that we keep pent up inside us and most often we create or devise ways of expressing our inner turmoil by changing our identities. This allows us to become unafraid of conflict or deal with the stresses or anxiety that are placed upon us. For the most part, people who want to express the ideas of their inner self or alter ego put on nice suits or dresses or indie clothes (or whatever) or put their labrets in or get plastic surgery on their canines to make them look like vampires and they say shit they never would because they are different people in their ‘costumes’. Kim Jones put this stuff on because it illustrates his insides. Much like his art that was confined to the walls or spaces in his gallery, he too is confined and seeks to break out.

5) Is this work influential to me?

The transformation, not really, even though what I’m about to say is all bullshit. I’ve read Kafka and know all about metamorphosis. I’ve read Civilization and It’s Discontents. I feel happy with who and what I am. I don’t need to change my appearance to fit into some kind of ideal self.

As far as the living sculpture, I’m not really interested in it. It seems too much like fashion to me. I think he belongs on the runway.

6) Do I think he is a bad person for burning rats?

I’m sure he gets this kind of question in every interview he does. If he was burning live creatures as a performance piece, I would obviously stay and watch. And it’s not that I don’t care about rats either. If he was burning an endangered killer whale I wouldn’t intervene or walk out of the room either. It’s not my place to say, “Hey, don’t touch that fuckin’ killer whale!” Who am I to deny him an understanding of his own human nature or morals? I hate it when people interpret my work completely wrong out of ignorance and reprimand me for it. Plus, you can’t really blame him. He fought up in a place where that wasn’t considered abnormal probably. And during the 70s there was a destruction theme circulating in the art world. Chris Burden had just gotten shot, Yves Klein threw himself out a window 15 years previously, Acconci was eating himself, Abramovic was slicing her hands to shreds, Mendieta was portraying violent rape performances… the list goes on and on. I think that this piece is more impacting than Mudman.

Arnaldo Morales Q&A

1) What are my initial reactions to hearing about his work?

I never really thought about whether I like getting hurt randomly or not. I guess it depends on the context and the extent to which I feel pain. If I was by myself at some gallery crawl and some random fuckin’ piston punches me in the dick, I’m going to probably lash out. But if I was with my friends and this beaker spits acid out at me but I was able to dodge it, I would probably giggle. … So I guess I’m saying I think he is a sadist. He might think it is all about communication and creating ‘conversations’ but at the same time he is evoking suppressed fear and distress. However, at the same time I label him a sadist, I realize I too am a sadist (especially to get sexual gratification out of it). I enjoy being bitten and crushed and I definitely know how a near death experience can change your whole outlook on your life and your work. I guess I would just have to play with his shit in order to get it.

2) Is his work influential to me?

Yes. There is always work out there where the artist tries to get the audience to interact with their piece but it never works. Like Carl Andres’ 144 Lead Square at MoMa for instance. People don’t understand that it’s there and it’s on the floor and you can walk on it! Even Dr. Malena Bergmann (the best professor I ever had ever) said her intentions were for people to walk on her Requiem tubes, but nobody did it. Morales has found a way to create art that doesn’t resemble having the function of art. His work is transforming the gallery space into an amusement park. It’s a smart way of conveying your message to your audience by directly including them as part of the piece; I mean, his work is beautiful by itself, but without someone to prod or electrocute, it wouldn’t be as functional and would thus lose a lot of its meaning.

3) How would I describe his artwork?

If I was just a plain passerby outside of a gallery space, I probably wouldn’t describe them to a friend immediately as works of art. It’s to me more like a something an engineer or architect might put together. This type of work reminds me of my dad. He owns and operates his own mechanic shop on Sugar Creek in Charlotte. Some days, when it’s not busy because of rain or snow, he will just sit around sketching ideas in his mind, and taking old car parts and build little functional sculptures out of them, like whirligigs or wind chimes. I always find it fascinating when people from other fields of study incorporate their knowledge into making art. Like Frankenstein’s monster creation, or chemical engineers using acids and bases or chemical reactions to create beautiful murals, or using numbers (the Golden Ratio, Fibonacci sequences or math metal) to create baskets or draw perfect circles. I especially enjoy the science behind making art. I’m glad Morales is doing what he is doing. But I wouldn’t call him an artist initially. He is more of a mad scientist.

4) How do you think he develops his ideas?

There is obviously an abundance of images to borrow from everyday culture. Street sweepers, slingshots, military weaponry; science-fiction novels are loaded with futuristic ideas on how we will fight crime or build bridges; plastic surgery, obviously laser tag, electric chairs and tattoo parlors… the list goes on. He lives in a nation where violence is all around us and the media is giving us our daily injection of fear and hysteria. All he has to do is look outside of his window and watch people tear other people apart. Then all he has to do is build a machine that ups our dosage of fear and distress, or that can help us destroy ourselves that much quicker. There isn’t really much thought you have to put into it. How can I tap into the psyche to promote hostility and aggression? That’s all you really have to ask yourself.

5) What have I learned about his artist?

It’s really interesting to me how he plays on the anxiety of the audience to give his work meaning. At the same time it sounds to me like he isn’t necessarily trying to develop a communication between his work and the audience, or the audience and their ability to cope with hostility, but more he is trying to find meaning in his own work. I’m sure getting shot in the head sucks, but living to tell about it is close to a miracle, and I know I would feel gracious for what I was given (not blessed because I’m not very religious). And I don’t think there is any good way of saying what I mean, but his work seems like a way to understand the injustice he endured. I’m sure that if I was shot, then I would want to understand why I got to live, or want to get the shooter back or try to cope with it in some way. Maybe he is creating this work to try to understand the person who tried to murder him, or to justify their acts against him.

6) What ideas can I take from him to use in my own work?

My family is a bunch of packrats. We have so much shit just laying around our yard that people could probably pay me to take things to use in their pieces. I have never been to the junk yard because my house is sitting on one. But even though I live in one, I still feel the compulsion to go out and buy shiny, new materials to use in my work. I like how Morales takes his junk and makes it bling. He talked about polishing and removing scratches from all the machine parts he used, making them look like new. Maybe I just need to learn a little more about industrial cleaning methods, or get some Goo-Gone or something. In this last year, I have seen a lot of people make really astounding work from found objects. I just don’t think I have developed that talent yet of seeing the beauty in garbage. Seeing his work makes me a little more open minded when viewing found object pieces.

Charles Ray Q&A

1) What types of feelings does his work evoke in me?

If blandness was an emotion, I would feel that when I look at Ray’s work. Maybe it isn’t his work that I find bland but more the presentation in the shitty book. The first page and a half is just Weintraub talking about what an average guy Charles is. So as I’m reading on, I’ve already locked this normal, skinny white guy into my mind and he offers nothing of interest. Not a very interesting way of portraying our hero. Then I say, “It’s just a book,” and I only read the things he had to say. But I love the deceptiveness in his work and I appreciate a good practical joke.

2) Does this artist relate to any artist we have talked about thus far?

Like Morales, he is interested in changing the way the viewer perceives what they are looking at, just in a different way. Morales is trying to make the viewer cringe and duck for cover, all the while getter a deeper understanding of the relationship between themselves and their anxiety threshold. Ray is trying something similar. In his ink piece, he is using anxiety to heighten observation skills, and in his merry-go-round piece, he is consistently ruining the pleasurable experience of the audience who are participating, thus raising anxiety levels once again.

3) How would you describe his artwork?

It’s very well crafted. It’s very plain work but the thought processes that occur when looking at it are dynamic. But at the same time I think it’s a failure. The whole idea behind his work is that it is supposed to be the antithesis to the modern marketing strategy. Corporations advertise shit that’s in your face and you don’t forget it. They don’t want to give you a chance to look away from their cool neon green pants or shampoo that smells like mango chutney! … Charles wants you to basically do the opposite. He creates blasé work that people don’t understand or care to see, and then as they start to turn away, he springs his booby trap on them! I personally don’t think the average Joe is going to get it, and if he does, it won’t stick, because it wasn’t impacting in the first place. Isn’t that why Corporate America advertises the way they do? Because we react instantly to the products that pop as opposed to the ones that linger unnoticed over time?

4) What are some major themes exhibited in his work?

First one I noticed was Proportion vs. Perception in the fire truck piece and the fall ’91 piece. By changing the sizes and proportions of an object or idea, he sheds light on how we perceive or attach meaning to the things he has exaggerated. Idealism vs. Realism was the next one pronounced in the male mannequin piece. Realism tends to represent the way things really are as opposed to idealism, which tends to pursue high moral principles and holds onto a system of beliefs that proclaim how the world ought to be perceived. I feel a little stronger on this theme than I do the others because I believe very strongly in teaching/promoting concepts at their face value. I wasn’t raised to sugarcoat or bullshit my work or ideas. I once tried to put my work in a show in Statesville; one of my life-size nude paintings. It was a very tasteful nude, but they almost didn’t put it in because she was obviously very bare! They were hesitant at first because they didn’t want to upset the locals. But the fact of the matter is we are all born naked, we are all naked under our clothes, we see naked people all the time on the Discovery Channel, covers of magazines or in our parents porn collection. It’s not taboo anymore. Voyeurism is another big theme that I specifically appreciate, because I like to watch as well. I like to peep over fences or into people’s windows at night or hide on roof tops with binoculars. True story.

5) What is your favorite piece and why?

Obviously the Oh! Charlie piece. I’ve seen this piece several times in magazines and on the internet. This piece is all about making unlikely connections between two ideas, like a metaphor. He’s saying one thing but meaning another. One might initially perceive Charles as having a fruitful, active sex life but then the reality hits that he has no one to really have sex with other than himself. It appears inviting, but isn’t. It’s a party you’re not invited to. The only literal idea in the piece is the phrase that inspired it… “Go fuck yourself.” I like his work because I like Greiger’s work. He is exploring the relationships between what we say and what we mean; our experiences and how others perceive our experiences.

6) What do you think inspires him?

Good question, Joey!! I don’t know. I would think that he is trying to slow us down a bit. We live in a time where everything is so fast paced. “I have to be in class in 10 minutes!” or “I’ve got a meeting in 3 minutes but I need my cup of coffee!” or “I’ve got to bullshit my goddamn blog entries and have them finished by 5 fuckin’ P.M. on Friday!!” Moving at this momentum, we NEED corporations to give us their shpeel without ambiguity or sugarcoating. We need our advertisements to be in our face, telling us what to buy, on what day, at this price, because we just don’t have the time to figure it all out. He knows we have only a limited amount of time to look at his sculpture, because he knows I need to get a hotdog in my belly by two o’clock! Maybe he’s trying to get us to stop and have a genuine thought, grow a little, before we move on to the next activity.

Yukinori Yanagi Q&A

1) What is your initial reaction?

I responded really well to what was said in the opening paragraph: “He chose, instead, to enlist an animal as his equal, his artistic collaborator… Yanagi chose to create art with an ant, an insect that is normally considered neither beautiful, individuated, endearing, nor directly useful to human enterprise.” But it is indirectly useful to human (I saw a special on ants a few weeks ago). Ants can destroy our homes or they help aerate our soil and kill pesky critters. In many countries they are used as a source of food and medicine. The Chinese have used ants for hundreds of years to help them cultivate citrus fields for harvest later. Ants maintain more than we think.

Another thing I thought about was the Jains of ancient India, who are still around today. Jainism is a religion/philosophy that stresses the equality of all life in our world. It’s very strict when it comes to killing other creatures and they are hardcore vegans. Non-violence is of the upmost importance, especially if you want to reach Moksha, which is similar to Satori or Nirvana. I practiced Buddhism in high school, and since Jains and Buddhists have very similar ideals, I restricted my travel, constantly looked where I was walking, and I never stepped a foot in the grass for about a year and a half. Traditional Jains almost always carry a broom with them, so as they travel they can sweep away any insects or living organisms. Killing a creature would hurt their chances of reaching an understanding of the true nature of the soul. So all in all, Yanagi’s work hits home. I remember constantly keeping an eye on the ground. When I came home from school I would pay very close attention to the way the ants and other insects moved so I could step over them to enter my house. I still have many of the same beliefs that killing anything is wrong, and non-violence is the answer.

2) Why does he do this kind of work?

To reach perfection is the first thing that comes to mind. Ants construct and maintain a perfect environment… never deviating, always at equilibrium. Yanagi is showing us what Utopia is like to experience. I see it as kind of an ‘informal interview’. By following the ant he is recording its journey through it’s life; the boundaries that have defined him and gives clues to what will come in the future. ‘The ant’s work’ is a direct representation of Yanagi himself. I think we could all learn a lesson from our tiny ‘friends’ as well.

3) “…Ants and humans have missions. But an ant’s mission is predetermined.” Response?

Does knowing your purpose in life make you a more evolved creature? Sure ants can’t learn culture, appreciate cool winds on a hot summer day, or cook a flambé, but does that make their existence less profound than humans? Do we really need to try to find ourselves, or learn other languages, or achieve our life goals? Do we really need to exist at all?

4) Who does this remind me of?

As far as meditation goes, Oliver Herring comes to mind. He said that his work with the knitted Mylar was meditative, even though it was time consuming and hard on his body. Frankenthaler comes to mind as well. She almost didn’t do any of her work really. She would dye the canvas and move it around, so that it ‘painted itself.’ I feel like Yanagi is doing the same thing here. He isn’t really creating these lines. The ant is. His mass is moving the ant around, and he isn’t really letting the ant go anywhere it wants… he is confining it to the space he has created.

5) Has his work influenced me?

Yes. Before I read about his work, I knew that I could use anything and everything to inspire me to create works of art. But after reading this, it makes me feel like I didn’t really know that everything could really inspire me in the first place. Fuck this class is good… Epiphany after epiphany!

6) What are you going to do now that you have had so many epiphanies?

I’m going to rethink my life of course. Everything I have done up to this point feels so trivial. Some of my ideas are good, but I need to totally overhaul the way I perceive my own work and develop my ideas in the future.

Identity Project

I had several ideas for this project... None which have worked out. I worked all day Sunday and created 2 identity projects, both which were complete failures. So I trashed 'em. Just simply deleted them out of my camera's memory.
In the end, when they day was closing in, I created one final piece, which I settle on. And it's something I thought about doing but only if I had the resources and enough time and thought put into the piece. I did a sound piece. Now I'm not knocking sound pieces as art, because I'm a musician and music is a form of artistic expression, but I just think it is so far from something I would actually do in the first place... so in a way, this piece is a non-reflection of my identity. It's some shit my Doppelganger Joey would do.
As far as identity goes, when I think of who I am (or what I have become rather), I think of my mom and dad. I believe the things I believe, do the things I do, laugh the way I laugh and look the way I look because of them. I am a perfect blend of their pros and cons. If they were a matryoshka doll, then you could yank them in half and find me inside.
As far as the piece goes, I decided to juxtapose my parents two completely different identities against one another. My father is a very heroic individual. Always opening the car door for a lady, donating to less fortunate families, while remaining humble. He would step in front of a bullet or a knife to save your life (and he has). My mother on the other hand, is very self-absorbed. While I care for her deeply and love her for her humor, gumption and care giving abilities, she is a very deceptive woman, a workaholic and obsesses over the trivial aspects of everyday life. On top of that she steals from her family, drinks excessively and chain smokes like Mr. Morris is declaring bankruptcy.
So what the piece is, since you can't hear it, is just 2 layers. My father is a creator and my mother a destroyer. In the sound clip, my father is playing The Eagles in a Spanish thumb-and-finger picking style. In the background, my mother is talking to herself in the dark by her fifty-five gallon fish tank about some coworker that threw a 'fucking knife at her hand' (which is probably a lie... she lies about everything).
I would have really like to develop this idea more, and incorporate more sounds to illustrate the identities of the people that I identify with. But I'm not 100% dissatisfied. This 'piece' offers a very stark contrast between my parents. It's as if I have lived in two separate houses my entire life.

Don't Throw Fuckin' Knives At My Hand. Sound piece.
3 Minutes, 42 Seconds

Still Struggling...

Splitting into groups was definitely an interesting way of collaborating this week. I wish we could do it more often, even outside of class so there is no inhibitions or constraints of time. Although, I think I learned something I wasn't ready to understand... I hate my own conceptual ideas. I think that they, for the most part, are 2d, unconventional, and underdeveloped. However, I am really good at taking someone else's ideas and turning them into thought-provoking and making them more dynamic. I also learned something else... I don't take other ideas well. I mean I do.. but it isn't genuinely my ideas. I know that my art is coming out of other art (other famous art), but for someone to just hand me an idea to run with is just awkward. I feel like I will be pointed out or reprimanded for illustrating or documenting a piece of work I didn't even develop in the first place.
Anyways, I'm really worried about my piece. I have gotten a lot of great ideas, and I've been thinking about it for 2 weeks, but now it's getting late and I just keep shooting them down or are unhappy with the final way I'm going to orchestrate everything, or I don't have enough time, money, materials or competent help to give me the alpha-piece I've been waiting to create my whole life... I would rather put an end to my misery by drinking a flask of antifreeze before I settle on an idea or final cut I view as a failure.

Souls and Contract

Here is one of the first images I gathered. My youngest brother James gave me his soul almost immediately. He tried to give me 100% of it and said he loved me and that I was his brother so I deserved it all. I said, "But what if you die early? A part of you won't get to experience reborn life immediately." He kind of frowned, and then said "Well how about 16%?" It was cute. He said later he gave me 16% because that was the age when he found God. And that made me think about how (older) people go to church and proclaim that every dollar they earn, they will give 10 cents back to the Church. It's moving to hear my brother try to give me such a grand portion. A lot of people I have talked to thus far want to keep it to themself. They say that they would disgrace God if they gave away something that He gave them. But my brother sees it as a sacrifice to a greater good. He isn't selling his soul to the Devil, or giving up something he doesn't care about, something precious. He does it because he knows what will come out of it will be good, and inspiring, and will make people think about their own spirits. I only have his picture to show, because he is the only one I want to show. There were more, but I want to dedicate this blogspot to him.

James Anthony Moya-Mendez