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...