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Charles the first, Jean- Michael Basquiat, 1982
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Jean-Michael Basquiat's artistic endeavors were short lived, as he left this earth prematurely at the age of 28. His work exploded on the New York seen only shortly before his untimely death, but in that short time he took the art of graffiti leaps and bound beyond, blurring the lines between street and high art. Homeless when he was discovered, and taken under the wing of famed Pop artist Andy Warhol, Basquiat was instantly thrown into the lime light of the creative industry in the middle of the art mecca of the time.His alias SAMO, tells of his beliefs of the art world; "same old, same old". His work tells an important story of poverty, race and culture of his time.
Just a Basquait blurred the lines of what the meaning of art and value was in New York City in the 80's, my lines of understanding and acceptance become blurred once again. I continue an inner struggle with technology and the digitization of our world. The allowances of 'creativity and artistic ability are judged through my passion for a craft that is seemingly being borrowed every second of the day. This week, I let my passion for a community of people that struggle to become known, to make their art their life's work without starving, close my eye's and shut out acceptance.
My head gets a little crazy...
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| Head, 1983 |
There was a line in our reading that I had to read several times, up to that point I was had become a head nodder, in acceptance, feverishly taking notes of things that struck me in awe, that I LOVED, Then there was this line:" the possibility of drawing on existing media to resourceDIY media projects mean it is quite possible for the everyday person to cre-ate a polished product without necessarily being “artistic"( Lankshear and Knobel. (2008). WHAT? Yes, it is true, all the technology and digital Apps and programs make just about everything accessible to everyone, but creating polished products without being artistic? NO! What is happening is that people are being led to believe that they are suddenly artists, without any creativity. And that lack of creativity is what will always separate those who possess artistic talents and those that are just riding coat tails. An app, a program only allows you to create what the creator of that app or program allows you to create, you are constrained to the creators ability and creativity. Without artistic ability, you will have a sub-par product, this is the difference between the business cards you can't seem to stop looking at, and the ones that get lost in the bottom of your desk.
I struggle through the rest of the reading, ever present is this notion of art and artistry that I can't let go, I feel myself falling apart and regressing to my younger self pre-technology. My second daily create reflects my mindset as I use the opportunity to inform my peers of the creator of stop motion film, re-birthing Muybridges walk, whilst everyone else uses the technology of the day to create 'cute' little films of themselves walking around. My music is purposeful- 'I walk the line", striped of color and feeling, this is where technology started.
Simplicity and Focus regained- " I don't think about art when I am working, I try to think about life" Jean -Michael Basquiat.
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Untitled (Sugar Ray Robinson)-1982
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Sometimes we become so focused that we actually loose focus. It was at the Tedx conference this weekend that I am reminded how important that all this technology stuff is, that we continue to grow and develop as a community and species rather than lying stagnant. What would graffiti look like if the art never progressed past Taki183? Noted as the 'first' graffiti artist, Taki simply wrote his name, with a goal to have his mark in all 5 burrows of NYC. I see now the connection, we are all Taki's, and some of us are even a bit Basquiat creating better and more artistic marks that we leave behind. We all just want to share what we can do, to be noticed, and for someone to leave a comment.
In an expert talk, practical futurist Taylor Romero outlines he and his wife's success, all at the hands of technology and the digital age, because they opened their minds to the endless possibilities of being connected. He reminds the audience that anyone that doubts technology and 'hates' it should be riding a horse naked, and to that he would tip his hat, oh wait he couldn't because that would bring manufacturing into the conversation, and he would hate to offend. The crowd laughs hysterically, and there I realize that I have been kind of an ass this week.
I don't 'hate' technology, I am just getting used to the change. I have to remember all of the things that technology and being connected has brought me, my students and my craft. As my list of followers grows, the connections that I make become more valuable, conversations are used to help myself and others grow. This week I made a 'handshake' on twitter with @dogtrax, to the first person to figure out how to make a gif, a real one, not copy and paste, would teach the other person. This is what I need to remember about technology and artistry as I read about the accessibility of becoming a non artist.
Throughout my struggle with the topic, I continue to participate, though I still don't think that I have fully tackled the possibilities of what hypothesis is. I know that I write comments that I want to post to twitter, but then can't find them because they are part of a reply? I love connecting each week to an artist, and have not duplicated yet- there are so many to share, and inform the non artists and learning artist about, and remind the artist of the rich history that ha made so many changes to our culture. Basquiat is especially important, his work really impacted the art world, racially, economically and socially, which is a goal of mine with my students everyday.
I was a really lousy artist as a kid. Too abstract expressionist; or I'd draw a big ram's head, really messy. I'd never win painting contests. I remember losing to a guy who did a perfect Spiderman.
Do you think that the non artist drawing someone else's Superman is remembered by anyone? Use your own creativity to leave your mark, if you wish to be remembered.
Changing my own perceptions of being active in the previous week, this proactivity, stuck in my thoughts again. As Lankshear and Knobel suggest, learning occurs as we become participants and proactive in the learning environment. This proactivity recently brought a vandal to justice, as people used the online community to communicate her whereabouts, speak out about her choices and end the end locate her through the very affinity that she was posting. With out the act of social learning and community this person may well still be 'tagging' up up our National Parks. 
This week I have become an active participant. The readings by Jenkins and Dean were especially influential, as I found my grove and 'my people'. I am left wondering if I would have been so influenced by reading them at the beginning of the course? But there is no time to dwell on the past, there is so much to learn and do! The biggest take- away thus far, form this week and the entire course is about being truly active. It has changed my perceptions, attitude and outlook, and will probably influence my teaching style. You see, as if struck in the head, I have finally gotten it, you have to play along and try it all out before you can understand it. I thought I was so cool last week making my own gifs, in partial participation mode. Now I understand, and I don't need to make my own to be a part of all this, crazy, that's what all the pre- mades are for, so that you can quickly continue on to the real participation. Sure I still make my own when it is necessary to be super specific, but I can now feel comfortable using someone else's, I've got a PLN to grow. This week I have finally realized the point of all this, like Haring, is to communicate and contribute to culture. 
It's not that there is not things that I still do not agree with, there are evils and things that cannot be stoped, but there is a world or better yet a community of people out there on the web that are just like me, I am not alone and social justice is very prevalent. The web and digital space is much like real life, I was waiting for people to come to me without any effort, but as we all know it is a two way street. You have to put yourself out there, and I think too, that assuming positive intentions and being positive changes others perceptions and your experience. 'Dive in' I think is my new catch phrase, I can't wait to have students experience materials and their own digital selves by do just that. I have learned so much, and though through perturbation, it is all been worth it. 
