Richard Lin
Artist Lecture: Janine Antoni and Stephen Petronio
Antoni
and Petronio are a pair of artists who collaborated to make works such as “Honey
Baby”. Antoni, prior to meeting Petronio, primarily were sculptures and
photographs. Petrionio on the other hand, worked in performance art. He grew
up, and as a college student, learned he wanted to become a dancer. Petrionio’s
dances eventually became an expressive art.
Combining
the talents of these two artists, they were able to manage interesting
compositions. Antoni would make sets for Petronio’s stages, but eventually this
relationship turned into one where their respective art forms would become
closer meshed together.
What was
interesting about this talk was how the two personalities contrasted each
other. While Petronio talked a lot, Antoni was quite reserved and only talked
when she had to. Additionally, the way they collaborated was explained by
Petronio as a sibling relationship where they communicate every morning at
least once or twice during the day. Furthermore, Petronio goes on to explain
that artists are terrible at collaborating because they have their own vision
for a project, and that collaboration is good for the ego, because you can
explore new viewpoints by receding some of your own.
Artist Lecture: Jennifer Garza-Cuen
Garza-Cuen’s
work consists of photography as a medium. She takes photographs of places and
gives it new context, usually adding interesting stories behind them. Her
lecture, likewise was different than most other artist lectures in that,
instead of presenting work and explaining the idea behind it solely, she told
about the stories behind each picture in a flowing fashion that was much like
an actual storytelling.
I will
admit that it was a bit difficult to hear her. Since I was not able to make the
first 10 or so minutes of the lecture, I’m not certain whether it was because a
mic was not set up or if they had technical difficulties with setting one up or
if this was intentional. This, combined with the dark room made it me feel
drowsy at times.
However,
I can appreciate the uniqueness of the lecture… it offered a fresh experience.
I’ve been to many lectures, and many of them are more or less similar in that
they cover their work and explain the thought process behind them in a
straightforward fashion. Because Garza-Cuen went through the pictures without
explaining each one—rather just telling a story about them—it was made that
much more interesting. It became memorable in that regard.
Two
questions I would ask Garza-Cuen: her inspirations and process, and her
favorite works out of the several photographs she has taken.
Two
questions I would ask Antoni and Petronio are: what happens when there are
conflicts in ideas, and what caused Petrionio to become more “artsy” with his
performances.
Artist Exhibition: DePaul’s “Hereafter”
DePaul
Vera’s “Hereafter” exhibition contained several works pertaining to the theme
of gayness. In the exhibition’s description, it says, “…if there is a Heaven,
but I can’t be myself up there, then maybe I don’t want Heaven. Hence the
Hereafter.” This series of work depicts a multiple medium approach. While all
of the works are framed and sized similarly and attached to a wall, some will
use acrylic paint, or just be plain graphite. The exact materials used to
create each work are typed out onto a fancy, sparkling sheet of paper which
serves to make the exhibition more “fabulous”.
Within each
work men depicted nude in various positions, containing up to 2 people—1 white,
and 1 black. Perhaps this can additionally represent a racial theme, the mixing
of races and acceptance of it. Many of these individual pieces contain sexual
or sensual elements, such as kissing and being drawn in positions that can be
considered sexual. This serves to question to the audience the acceptability of
gays in our society. As a major trending contemporary topic these several past
years, just how many of us can truly accept gay people? Is it still considered
unusual, and if so, should it be?
Until
society accepts gay activities without batting an eye, they may still feel
excluded, and I believe that DePaul’s description of the exhibition touches on
this idea. That even the best places are not the best if they don’t allow
people to have the freedom to represent their own being.
Artist Exhibition: Antoni and Petronio’s “Honey Baby”
This
work is a result of the collaboration between Petronio, who is a choreographer and
performance artist, and Antoni, who does sculpture and photography. Honey Baby
is a result of this fusion. The work takes place within what looks like a
cylindrical chamber, lined with honey. A performer is housed within the chamber
during the performance and gives the illusion of a baby within the womb. I
recall Antoni saying that honey was used because it seemed like amniotic fluid.
The use of honey and the gestures of the performer imitating
that of a fetus in a liquid environment gives the feel of an antigravity environment,
not unlike that of the baby within fluid. At periods of time, the camera would
swap to a viewpoint which closely depicts the performer laced in honey. Honey
Baby is composed of three parts, which get increasingly more active. The use of
sound within these works also serve to enhance the imitation of a baby in
utero. The sounds had a likeness to a heartbeat, but with a muffled sound, like
being underwater… which is what being within the womb would probably sound
like.
This work is interesting in that it upholds both artists’
recurring themes of exploring the body, but at the same time it shows the power
of collaboration between two artists. This work fluidly blends the works of two
different artists into one impressive piece, and demonstrates the importance of
interdisciplinary art.
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