The digital terrain is at once a culmination and a beginning for the tradition of media praxis.
On the net, time, place, and media collide, reformat, are archived, become one(s) (and zeros). Access expands; duration and attention decrease, creating new viewing practices and ethics.
Many of the binaries that structure earlier moments in this history become undone: distinctions between images and words, thinking and doing, producer and audience.
New boundaries form.
New forms of media citizenship and art are enabled, with new responsibilities and ethics.
New voices are added, witnessing what occurs where they live, self-representing, and adding these sounds and images to a thus changed media discourse.
During my trip to the museum, one of the artworks that stood out immediately was “Bus Companies Are More Enlightened Than NYC Art Galleries.” The artwork was made by a feminist activist group called Guerrilla Girls. Although I might not notice it at first, the statistics shown there seemed to be true, especially that of the bus driver. The chances that one would encounter a female bus driver vs. a male bus driver is 50%, based on my experience. I felt that it brought awareness to people visiting the museum about the sad fact that bus drivers are more diverse than the so-called “artists” museum.
My oh my, has media changed a whole lot over the years. In the above paragraph it says that attention spans decreased and they sure have. We see editing techniques that reflect that in current movies to keep the viewing pleasure of the YouTube generation. Our brains have become accustomed to quick images cut to music, sex and violence is the norm in todays movies and anything to engage that voyeuristic mindset we’ve been trained to receive. Commercials during the Superbowl also give us that hypodermic effect and the media is absorbed as fast as it was shown on a screen, hitting the brains pleasure center.
The visit to the Whitney museum was enlightening and the artwork was great. The soldiers Vietnam war memorial was heartbreaking but also gave a sense of hope and thoughts of new life. The artist that created it stuffed soldiers uniforms with seeds and dirt so that when the suits were buried it would sprout new life. I had been to the museum prior to the last visit but I always appreciate the tour and absorbing the artwork there.
The museum trip was pleasant and enlightening in that I got to see products of revolutions and activist movements throughout American history. I expressed some disinterest in the beginning as I have never experienced any of the events first hand. However, I did feel the most connected to works by the anonymous feminist group, Guerrilla Girls. There was one particular work by them that stood out to me, as well as my classmates, since its relevance is still ringing until this day, and it was called “The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist.” This artwork is text-based with bullet points listing out all the downsides and DISadvantages of being a woman artist.
A lot of the art works leaned towards the contemporary history of activism; most of which I have knowledge of, but no direct experience of, as I mentioned before. There were a lot of agitprop art during the ’60s over the protests against the Vietnam war. Interestingly enough, there were little to no mentions of Vietnamese people, which made me feel some way. Overall, I really enjoyed and valued this experience, since I had a better time enjoying the pieces along my peers.
Post #10
The exhibit “An Incomplete History of Protest” was absolutely wonderful and I loved all the pieces of art. The last piece of work we saw was a wallpaper of the same writing over again. The last 4 lines of the piece read: ‘no means no/ no means no/ no means no/ no means no’. This stood out to me because as simple as the saying goes, it still is not being followed. We are living in a patriarchal society where women are being told that it’s our fault that we are raped. We are living in a society where black people cannot walk on the streets alone at night. As well as, we are living in a society where the President is enforcing a travel ban against Muslim countries. And the list goes on. After taking this class, I have realized that without activism, there would be no change in the world. I have also learned that we should never be afraid to practice our First Amendment rights because essentially, all the people have all the power to make the change in the world.
#9: Power and Limitation of Sharing Digitally
There are a lot of powers and limitations in sharing digitally. Nowadays, sharing has become one of the norms, we, as a society, has accepted the digital world. Or, well, only the millennials and Gen Z children have. Sharing digitally not only spreads quicker than normal television broadcasting or mailing, but also connects all of us through the Internet space, where most of us feel very comfortable sharing not only our media, but also our thoughts and opinions. I like to think that people don’t shut up online, and that can be both a good and a bad thing. The bad thing about sharing digitally is that there is no barrier, no boundaries. Toxic messages can be spread just as quickly as positive or normal ones can, and sometimes they receive much better reception than messages of hope or happiness. For example, Donald Trump is a prime example of why sharing digitally is probably a mistake. His Twitter usage has increased in both traffic from the outside and the inside, and the messages he spread are ones of manipulation, slander, and generally bad vibes. He has somehow made himself into both a physical and digital disaster.
Another power and limitation of sharing digitally is the speed of which information are received. Before the Internet existed, people had to watch television and read the papers in order to get their news, and sometimes they have to wait one whole day before they can get more news. Now, the media has been injected into our lives 24/7. We get both good news and bad news within minutes of an event taking place. We get live footage in our hand any time we want, and I’m not sure if that is an entirely good or bad thing. It is both.
I truly enjoyed going to the Whitney Museum. It was my first visiting this museum, and the exhibits was very inspiring. The assigned escorting guide did a spectacular job in explaining the exhibits. I especially was move by the pictures/paintings of the man dying from Aids. it captured that strong image of pain, suffering and death in that painting. Next, the picture of a young man burning his draft card, worded “FUCK THE DRAFT.” Then, the picture of the confederate Flag with crisscross statement “Hate Is A Sin.” Lastly, is the picture of someone cutting a barbed wire fence. These four displays personally stood out to me. Each one represented a degree of activism, and the remarkable thing about these four exhibits are that they still can be applied to todays issues. I will try to submit these photos
I love going to museums, so the Whitney was a treat. Something that caught my eye was the Gorilla Girls exhibit. The exhibit consist of frames on a wall with statistics, facts, and witty statements. There is sarcasm in almost all of these. They seem to be made by frustrated female artists of the eighties. One that stuck out to me was a pop quiz question: “If February is Black History Month and March is Women’s history Month, What happens the rest of the year?” And the bottom right corner, written upside down is the answer: “Discrimination.” I thought this was interesting because it’s covered in sarcasm. It’s stated in a format that feels like the content should be a fun fact, but then it becomes real. I like this because it is directed to those who are ignorant to the inequality among black people and women. The way the pictures are made tell me I’m seeing fun facts but the content it holds are important messages.
Visiting the Whitney Museum was an entirely new experience for me and gave me the opportunity to learn about different forms of media activism from the past and the present through various types of media. Some of the works I found interesting was the civil rights flag, which stated somebody was killed by a police today. This was an example of what the NAACP used in the south when men or women were lynched, so the will hang the flag out to inform the people in their communities that an injustice had occurred. It felt compelling seeing a form of that flag in real life. It moved me to know the people of color are still losing their life due to violence, but just in a different way. It showed me that it is always relevant to this day.
I was able to take a few photos of the museum during the tour of the museum and saw a lot of positive message through the forms of media activism. I was able to share some of the photos online and got some responses from others asking where did I go to see these exhibitions, because they had questions about the content. It showed me when you go out a learn about a form of media activism and share it online it makes people want to learn about it too. The internet has done some harm to the way people think and communicates with each other, but people can use it for good to make changes within their community and the world as a whole. It can take one click to inform people about what is out their and things they can learn about. One way I informed people on social media is sharing my trip to the Whitney Museum, and it merely informed my peers that there is a place where they can learn about different forms of media praxis on a different artist who is sending messages that we look past every day.
Post #9:
The visit to the Whitney Museum was enlightening in which I didn’t realize the different ways you can protest through art. Each work was expressive and emotional; my favorite one was “New No”. The simplicity of it was ming boggling. It was just phrases put together stating what they won’t stand for anymore; racism, violence, homophobia etc. The story of its distribution was interesting as well, the group that put is together took out an entire section in the newspaper to sort of force people to look at it and realize that what is going on in society is just wrong. I feel like sometimes you do have to force people to look at the ugliness in order to take steps towards ending it.
Getting a toured guide through the Whitney Museum was a really cool experience. I’d never been there before, so being introduced to it by someone who works there, and is clearly well-versed in the interaction between media and art and activism was really enlightening, and interesting. I particularly enjoyed the exhibit with the stretched pantyhose. You could see the fabric straining not to rip any further, which was a testament to the delicacy of the piece. It was also interesting that the artist required the one strand of cloth that reached all the way up to the ceiling to be exactly a 45 degree angle. I enjoyed the fact that the tour guide pointed out that a lot of works of art are usually phallic in nature, and that this was actually vaginal and symbolic of womanhood via the way it was stretched, and the material it was made out of. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, and I am grateful for the opportunity to see the exhibit.
Visiting the Whitney Museum for the first time, was an amazing experience. To see the artwork of many revolutionary artists there, made me feel empowered. A piece that caught my attention was Dread Scott’s, ‘A Man Was Lynched By The Police Yesterday’. To see those words and it remain true and significant up to this day, saddens me. It makes me think, will it still be relevant twenty, thirty years from now. Dread Scott was inspired by the NAACP’s 1920’s banner, ‘A Man Was Lynched Yesterday’. Almost 100 years later, and things remain the same. This shows that nothing has changed BUT raising awareness and discussions surrounding this topic is a start.
Our class trip was my first time visiting the Whitney Museum. It was also my first time being taken on a guided tour of a museum. I think that having a guide to take me through each exhibit and give context to the works we were seeing is what made it such a valuable and memorable experience for me. The exhibit itself was highly fascinating and I enjoyed the variety and diversity of the work. Every aspect of the exhibit touched upon something for everyone, whether it was the topic or issue that was being protested or the medium that was used to do so, anyone in attendance was able to connect with at least one work. My favorite pieces were those by the Guerilla Girls especially their film installations as well as the exhibit on AIDS Activism. I’m very grateful that we were able to do that and felt that it was a great way to end the semester and really captivated what we had been studying in class.