Hello My Name Is: Day One, Premed

More images to be added as the week progresses... Artist statement at end.

Pink Jesus

Artist statement: “Pink Jesus” is a performance art piece done by Cindy Paauw, which criticizes aspects of organized religion. Religious ritual starts off with a vast amount of meaning and history behind it, but through repetition and ignorance ritual starts to become an act devoid of significance. The mystery behind prayer seems to be whether or not they get answered, are received, and/or make a difference. This piece seeks to explore that question by using the pink Jesus eight ball. The audience was instructed to ask a question, and then shake the eight ball to receive an answer. Answers were given each time such as, “Believe, Let me ask my Dad, Sinner, For Christ’s Sake, No Chance In Hell, Yes my child, I Died For this, etc.” It was hysterical. The whole setup was designed in pink, inspired by the pink Jesus eight ball, and meant to add to the atmosphere of “religious fluff.” Communion was also a part of the piece, and one could have pink Gatorade and pink wafers (in place of wine and unleavened bread). This performance was part of an assignment in which the class was assigned to design a performance which is both meaningful and absurd. (JJV)

The Stroller Effect

Waiting for transportation in wilson commons

elevator contraption in wilson

Artist statement:

Sometimes the sentiment towards people with disabilities is that of pity, discouragement, “babying”, or fear. Through my experience with working with people with disabilities I have come to know them as people who have many creative skills and abilities, and who are willing to be independent and want to be able to advocate their own rights. I wanted this performance art piece to be representative of the crippling effect, authority figures/family members can have on people with disabilities by treating them as incompetent or weak. To spread more positive information, cards were handed out with facts disproving common misconceptions about people with disabilties.

Ex:

Myth 2: All persons who use wheelchairs are chronically ill or sickly.

Fact: The association between wheelchair use and illness may have evolved through hospitals using wheelchairs to transport sick people. A person may use a wheelchair for a variety of reasons, none of which may have anything to do with lingering illness.

Myth 3: Wheelchair use is confining; people who use wheelchairs are "wheelchair-bound."

Fact: A wheelchair, like a bicycle or an automobile, is a personal assistive device that enables someone to get around.

Myth 4: All persons with hearing disabilities can read lips.

Fact: Lip-reading skills vary among people who use them and are never entirely reliable.

Myth 6: People with disabilities are more comfortable with "their own kind."

Fact: In the past, grouping people with disabilities in separate schools and institutions reinforced this misconception. Today, many people with disabilities take advantage of new opportunities to join mainstream society.

Myth 8: Curious children should never ask people about their disabilities.

Fact: Many children have a natural, uninhibited curiosity and may ask questions that some adults consider embarrassing. But scolding curious children may make them think having a disability is "wrong" or "bad." Most people with disabilities won't mind answering a child's question.

Source:http://www.easterseals.com/site/PageServer?pagename=ntl_myths_facts

-Juanita Jenny Viera

we've received orders not to move

Three people were kneeling in a row with an audio box in front of them. The people wore vintage dresses and aprons. The aprons were white with a pattern ofsmall pink flowers. Each of these flowers was pierced with a safety pin, which was open. The audio was the sound of chains with voices repeating “we have received orders not to move”.This piece was a meditation on gender control both from within and without. Increating the piece I attempted to fill the gender roles women are meant to fill and, in doing so, forced myself to confront my failings in this area. I used inherited sewing kits from my grandmother and great grandmother to sew the aprons by hand despite having no sewing knowledge or experience. The kneeling position of the performers references the sexual roles and expectations which are placed upon women. In both the making of the aprons and the kneeling, I failed according to traditional standards – I was not able to kneel for hours on the end and the stitching on the aprons was inconsistent and flawed. The open safety pins are a visual representation of the pain involved with fulfilling traditional gender roles. The pink flowers are representative of feminine innocence, while the open safety pins express the pain involved when this fantasy of purity is pierced with reality. The audio states “we have received orders not to move”, the voice could belong to one of the people kneeling or from an outsider – this was left purposefully ambiguous. Either way, the people have chosen to obey their orders and, in doing so, intentionally torture themselves.

Hajji

It was just after 9-11 when Hart Viges joined the Army and the start of the occupation. He entered Iraq in March 2003. As a mortar man, he had his first taste of what he calls the loss of humanity that comes with war, when he helped set up rounds aimed at civilian neighborhoods in a small town on the way to Baghdad. He felt his humanity further slipping away when he fell into the habit of labeling everything with the racist epithet, "hajji." His testimony includes stories of raids on the wrong houses, which resulted in prolonged detention of innocent people, and his refusal to pose for a photo with a dead Iraqi man found lying in the road, not because he was disturbed by the death, but because it wasn't his kill. Later, he found a moment of clarity in the midst of chaos. Training his gun site on the face of a man standing in a doorway with an RPG strapped to his back, he saw an expression of fear and confusion that he understood to mirror his own. He didn't pull the trigger.

In this group performance, four soldiers push a “Hajji” back and forth, forcing the anonymous figure to carry a large, branded rock. This happens, in silence, until the “Hajji” can’t hold it any longer and falls to the ground. The began with the intention of addressing the role that racism plays in war that requires soldiers to dehumanize the enemy. A single set of headphones dangled from a wooden stand in the case that anyone was curious enough to put them on and listen. The soundtrack played the horrific testimonies of the Winter Soldiers—testimonies spoken directly from the mouths of Iraq War veterans, all of whom have defied the pressure to remain silent. While the soldiers pushed the "Hajji" back and forth, three plain-clothed participants passed out pamphlets describing what was happneing and how people could obtain more information:

http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier/testimony/video

Jessica Sheu

AsIs Gallery Opening