Post Three

When thinking about art today, I see abstract and diverse. As art has been around for centuries it is hard to imagine artwork today being considered original. How would we define originality? Well according to Sherrie Levine originality is no longer a real possibility. Levine dedicates herself to her work of reshooting photographs taken and finds she is building off of someone's work and instead of copying she is more collaborative. Levine's work is quite literal as her message is questioning modern day society's originality. How we are all a reflection of the past politically, and historically. What is even more so arguable about originality is the idea that today we are a social media driven world. Men and women today consciously and subconsciously support and live their life based on the current trend. Style of dress, lingo, and experiences are all based on someone they saw do it first and wanted to embody. Sherrie Levines work is empowering and addressing the way the social structure for what it truly is, a repeated cycle. 

After Walker Evans, Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife, 1936

With the idea of originality I find that we can also question where lines of culture have been crossed. Culture is reflected in many ways. We see culture in peoples style fo dress, music, and so on and while we can recognize a certain cloth pattern or sound as one definitive culture, there is still cultural appropriation taking place. Music in particular derived from black culture and pop music today had taken from every music faction. Nothing is less original than appropriating someones culture. Lubaina Himid is an artist dedicated her lives work to creating art exposing and reclaiming the culture and identity of not only black men and women, but also minorities in general. Himid gave women of color a platform to stand on by creating a sense of beauty around them and giving them power when painting them. Himids artwork was meant to highlight the struggle for equality black people faced, discrimination they face, and cultural appropriation. Once highlighted she used the art itself to draw women of color , and people of color, to symbolically take back the power that they lost as people, and as a culture. We should never and would never allow someone to try and steal our identity, or our power, so why should we allow them to take and change our culture? Culture is sacred. We are defined by many things as people and a main source of our identity lies within our heritage, culture, and it must be protected and reclaimed!

“A lot of my work has been about european masters took African artefacts. I am trying to say a lot about the swapping of culture, how both sides, how everybody is taking from everyone else , to make better art” (Chadwick 388)

           Naming the money

As we now think identity I find myself asking what truly makes me, me? Am I original? Lets think back to the 1950's where women's lives were designed by their husbands, and society. Cindy Sherman is a photographer who used her own body as her subject in order to recreate a stereotypical women. Though her pieces are falling the decades as they go and has done exceptional work for women of the 90's her pieces about the 1950's remain some of her most understood work. Women of the 50's were told what to wear, think, how to clean, how to be a wife, how to be a better wife. Social media actually published advertisements for women to find ways to look more beautiful while cleaning so they remain a good eye piece for their husbands. This lack of individualism lead Cindy Sherman to give her body away to this cause and show how these women lacked. What is even crazier is how little things have changed since this time. Women of color are still taking two steps for every one step a white women takes. While Cindy was a platform for women of color he message of struggle, lack of identity, lack of opportunity is there and thus relates to this idea. Sherman art is meant to question, argue and compare our reality and concept of originality and individualism. 

Are we our true selves? You decide. 

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To be our most original, authentic selves there has to be a level of confidence, and strength. Our bodies are simply an extension of our power, and in order to protect it only we should be allowed to make art of it, show objectivity with it, and show its beauty. Barbra Kruger is a conceptual artist who uses her artwork to express how are female image is used to tear ourselves and other women down. But Krugers art also shows women empowered and claiming their bodies. As written by Chadwick, "She emphasizes the way in which language manipulates and undermines the assumption of masculine control over language and viewing, by refusing to complete the cycle of meaning, by shifting pronouns in order to expose the positioning of woman as "other", "(382) 

Women today are held to societies standards and as apposed to just following these guidelines Kruger says no more. Society needs to lower their expectations because the females of this world are no longer going to answer to it but begin listening to what we want for our bodies, and how to distribute and protect our power. 

What is it about this dynamic of power women have in society? Why do we allow for ourselves to succumb to these men. Why do we listen to the white man when we know he is bad? We have been classic conditioned to a point where we see the faults around us, while also not even realizing the bad we do everyday. How every day when we look at the trend, ask our friends what they think of our clothes, look for acceptance on social media we are feeding the white man who instilled these insecurities in us. Guerilla girls says no more. They are a female group that has come together and use their platform of unconventional methods to ask why female artists aren't given recognition. Why women must be naked and drawn by a man to appear in a museum. Forget women of color , white woman are still fighting for this opportunity! Guerilla girls are a group of women who hide their identities and allow themselves to become their art. They remind women we are to claim our power or someone else will and we cannot let that happen. 

 

 What do all these female artists have in common? They are giving us women of all color, shape, and size to stand up and reclaim ourselves. Allow us to self reflect and connect with our own identities and learn to separate ourselves from the world. Will this ever be possible to be original? No because were all inspired by something everyday but thats okay because what is originality? It is an abstract poory thought out concept ! Be ourselves, claim our power, our minds, our body, and express that through art however we find we can.

Main source used was Chadwick , "Women art and society"