Category: Art of Steve Prince Spring 2019

I went to Tora Con 2019 this past weekend. Tora Con ”is an annual two-day convention celebrating anime, cosplay, and nerd culture” which is hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology.  Thanks to the student-run organizations like Geneseo Area Gaming Group and Geneseo’s Anime Club I got to nerd out with my friends. For example, I bought a bag full of dice, went to a panel on LGBTQ experiences and anime culture, ate at Plum Garden a hibachi restaurant, took pictures of a lot of amazing cosplayers, and got to spend time with my friends. In total it was an amazing experience.

What made the trip successful was how transparent my friends were about the convention. In particular, a friend was discussing pricing for the event. We had to figure out how much we were splitting for gas and food. Thanks to this transparency, I did not have to worry about concerns like transportation and instead I ate and spent time with my friends.

[A Video Highlighting Tora-Con 2019 and showcasing Tora-Con 2020]

Continue reading “G『E』NESEO: The Myriad of Navigating Geneseo’s Binaries [3]”

During the Teaching Assistants’ lecture on March 11, 2019, they mentioned a painting titled The Third of May by a Spaniard named Francisco Goya created in 1808. In my last blog post, I mentioned how the TA’s connected it to the Steve Prince art piece Stand at the Gretna Bridge because he used Goya’s painting in reference to his creation. However, in my last blog post, I did not have time to unpack everything about Prince’s composition. Therefore, for this blog post, I will attempt to unpack the art piece to the best of my ability. Continue reading “A Closer Look at Goya’s “The Third of May””

In my last post, I wrote about the connection I perceived between the Baby Dolls of New Orleans and Steve Prince’s artistic depiction of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I was able to visualize and solidify this connection by interpreting several of Prince’s works and perceiving Prince’s horsemen and the Baby Dolls of New Orleans as straddlers of the line between certain dichotomies in order to empower themselves.

However, where in my last post I claimed I saw the most striking evidence of the horsemen’s line-straddling in “Katrina’s Veil: Stand at the Gretna Bridge” and “Dirge,” I first perceived the horsemen straddling the line between the dichotomy of masculine and feminine in “Second Line I-IV.” In these pieces, each of the horsemen is portrayed individually and is dressed in a masculine suit with spiky shoes. Their appearance is juxtaposed by their dainty, feminine poses that parallel those struck by the Baby Dolls while “walking raddy.” It is in this way that Prince depicts the horsemen as straddling the line between masculinity and femininity.

Continue reading “The Protecting Power of Destruction”

During class last Friday, my group (Amina, Joohee, Sarah-Anne, Sarah, and Amina’s sister), as well as TA Sabrina, had a great discussion about modern feminism and the struggles it has with intersectionality. The gist of the conversation was that, and this is something that should be clear but often isn’t, true feminism includes and has a space for everyone, regardless of background. However, this ideal of inclusivity is often overwritten by white feminism- the kind that leaves behind minorities (of race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation and more) and the unique struggles they face in favor of the struggles of straight, white, middle to upper-class women. This disconnect is toxic and has tangible consequences– 94% of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, as did 68% of Latinx women and 78% of Asian-American women. Compare these statistics with the fact 53% of white women voted for Donald Trump, which is a disgrace. Continue reading “Triple-Consciousness and Moi, Tituba Sorcière”

When the Teaching Assistants led the class on March 11, 2019, I did not know what to expect. When they began with a Human Clay exercise I was confused and felt out of my comfort zone. This activity required three people in a group: one person as the sculptor and the other two as the clay. The sculptor would mold their clays into the word that the TA’s instructed. Then, after forty-five seconds of working with the clay, the sculptor was able to walk around the room to view how other people interpreted the word. The words given to us in class were: difference, unity, conflict, grounded, peace, aliveness, and care.

Continue reading “Connecting the Dots”

The human clay exercise inspired me into thinking more about the variety of perceptions that can arise based off of one word, thought, or idea. The class was separated into groups and given 45 seconds to create a sculpture based off of a word we were given, with one person acting as the sculptor and two people acting as the clay. Despite the fact that we were all given the same word I was stunned to see that everyone created something different/unique. As I was participating in this exercise, I tried to think about how this experience could relate to this class and particularly Steve Prince’s artwork. One of my first thoughts led to our different perceptions on Prince’s pieces and what each of my peers are able to get out of analyzing his work. The specific piece I thought of was the Katrina’s Veil Stand at the Gretna Bridge and one of the main topics of discussion being whether the horsemen were good or evil. Continue reading “The Human Clay Exercise”

Recently, as a part of the Art of Steve Prince course, our class was given the opportunity to visit the Lederer Art Gallery on campus. While we were there, gallery director Cynthia Hawkins gave us a behind the scenes look at what it takes to run the art gallery. She discussed with us the different aspects of her job, such as planning exhibits, bringing in outside collections of artworks, as well as how she stores art pieces that are given to the Lederer permanently. This discussion was one that stood out to me, in part because it reminded me of all the work that I do in maintaining and curating the Kinetic Gallery. The Kinetic Gallery is a student-run art gallery on campus that falls under the Geneseo Campus Activities Board. As the Art and Exhibits Coordinator, I have the job of planning and executing all of the exhibits and art programs for the Kinetic for the academic year. As such, it was no wonder that Dr. Hawkins presentation was of interest to me. Continue reading “Process in an Art Exhibit”

Can you measure progress? How? Where does it start? If progress doesn’t have a beginning, does it have an end?

Continue reading “Modernization Theory: A Step Forward or a Step Back?”

When I heard that Professor Lytton Smith was returning to our class to give a second lecture, I was apprehensive. I remember he was the first guest lecturer for our class and that was the day I felt the most lost in class because I was not into the routine of our classes. However, when I walked into class on March 3rd, 2019 I tried to keep an open mind. Smith first began class with the word division and how we define it. To push myself from the first lecture he gave, I participated with my interpretation of division. I discussed how women in New Orleans face division in society by expressing themselves through dancing and music. Mary discussed the division with contrast of dark versus light. Amina thought of a literal divider and a segregated community. Within the span of ten minutes, I knew exactly what I wanted to unpack in my blog post: the word division.

Continue reading “The Multiplicity of Division”

About two weeks ago Joe Cope came to class and discussed with us the the relationship between text and imagery. I found this class period to be really informative in terms of how text can support images in terms of description and illustration, but what really stood out to me was the topic behind the images that Cope had selected. Cope had chosen images that portrayed injustices through insensitive and narrow-minded narratives. Specifically, Cope explained how in the time period displayed in the 17th century pamphlets he selected, it was a common thing for people to be arrested and put in jail if they were unable to prove that they own property or had a working job. Continue reading “Poverty as a Crime?”