I did this because I don't think it will just be "visual art" that I will end up talking about, nor do I think it will be limited to collecting. As this evolves I feel that it will be more centered on the art experience in the full spectrum.
Recently I came across a local artist through ETSY, and was fascinated with the jewelry that was made, primarily from the stand point of the stories that were detailed with each listed piece. I bought a bracelet about legacies and entitlements and then went back several days later and purchased 3 more items -- primarily because the stories resonated with me. (One was about freedom, another was about the lesson of 'resilience' and one was the ideals of a small mid-western college town.)
Though these items were billed as "jewelry" and perhaps are more centered in "crafting", (primarily due to the assemblage of recycled images) -- the stories transcended the piece into "art" for me. The word smithing was as much of the experience as the tangible jewelry, and in fact elevated the work into a fine work of art due to the complex stories interwoven with the layout of the images that made the links in the bracelet.
I recall a time that I was considering going to an art opening in which I, (along with a large group of others who had answered an open call), had assisted an artist creating a large installation piece. I was sure of my participation -- firmly rooted in helping another artist express themselves -- but I was struck by the artist own pre-conceived notions of her helpers -- My frustration peaked when she indicated I was the voice of the "stay at home Mom" in her project. This certainly was not how I saw myself, nor had anything to do with why I chose to contribute to the project. So, I decided to create a shirt for the opening that was going to be made up of my own labels. Nobody was going to tell the story of "me" other than myself.
I used an iron labeling system on an old blue jean shirt and typed out words and phrases -- I included short bits of stories I had written, my favorite things, descriptors of my own, (like caffeined), and so on. I even got creative and used regionally based areas of the shirt to tie to the words, (a statement about time was ironed on the left wrist of the shirt, a comment about idiots was place near the tail of the back of the shirt, etc.)
I tried the shirt out in a local coffee shop and was very aware of the stares, I even caught someone very close to my back -- apparently in mid-sentence when I turned suddenly. I ultimately decided to skip the opening entirely as I felt that my protest may be ill timed. An opening, though might invite creative interaction, is clearly a time and place for the featured artist. I only wore the shirt in public one more time and some years later to a Halloween party -- I went as an "open book", (but nobody really got it there either!). I still have the shirt in my closet and wonder how long I'll hang on to it.
But isn't this what art is for some? To scream out to the world and to defy how you are perceived -- to say this is who I am, this is what I think about, this is how I see things? Aren't the stories away of working out the injustices we see, or the beauty that we know is temporary? Wether or not we use actual words or merely images, (and sometimes a combination of both), it is all story telling.
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