Captain's Log: Supplemental

(Edit: links added)

Sorry for the cliche title; but as I have been discussing my work throughout, I felt as though some sort of, "aside" would work best for this final statement. My work aside, I found that the ideas of art on the internet, or art via the blog brought up in early readings and videos for this course would be the perfect thing to talk about; especially given the "indulgent" nature of my first and last projects.

With my first project, the photos, one of the major criticisms I received that a lot of the meaning in my work would be lost to those who are outside of the various "sub" cultures I am a part of. (if the reason I put sub in quotes baffles you, you probably haven't been following this blog.) This critisim was proved fairly valid, as the interpretations for the first photos surprised and baffled me. I think people brought up patriarchy and the imprisonment of little girls, things like that. Considering I put a chibi (super deformed) cute girl in a cage, these interpretations are indeed valid readings; but they are not what I intended. While I could have done something to avoid those readings, I have realized it is likely that something else probably would have been added to my original intended meaning, also because of the lack of knowledge my class audience had. Even the title of that piece was a reference to a common phrase that character states in the series, and I am near positive no one got the reference, though I was still complimented for it. With my last project, I also had a very strange response. I purposely did not explain much in the last photo in my series because I wanted to see what people would say. I got a lot of responses which were obviously coming from people who were a little confused and were not sure what to make of the photo. The main conversation ended up being on giving emotions to intangible ideas, and inanimate objects; which fantastic due to the theme of my project, that being action figures. Another interesting comment was one which related my work to an old TV series or movie based on Old West toys. The actors (or maybe the actual toys were used, wasn't really clear...) apparently moved awkwardly, and in some cases switched toys in order to display emotions for the same character. That was a very interesting comment, and gave me ideas for future videos. But even with these fantastic thoughts which were less off topic than comparing the theme of my first work to some sort of scary patriarchal villainous behavior, I still found it interesting that the main (and in my mind obvious) theme of that photo needed to be explained. When I did explain it, I got some chuckles as if to say, "Really? That's simple but not obvious at all." which I also found very fascinating from my perspective, though a bit more predictable.

What I learned from the readings and videos, and everyone's comments throughout the class; is that despite spending a good deal of my time on the internet; that space is just as diverse and separated as the world of flesh and matter. There's some crossover for sure, but the internet I experience, the blogs I read, a lot of the places I go are completely different than some other people who also spend a lot of their time on the internet, and we would likely have just as difficult time relating to each other based on those experiences as "real" ones. In my middle projects, I approached them from more of an Educational angle. This gave me great responses, and people seemed genuinely interested. Though both of them were long, both resulted in people telling me they wanted to view the entire thing. I know this wouldn't convert them into geeks or anything, but it did make me happy in a weird sort of way; one which made me hopeful for the promise of cross-cultural understanding. These people couldn't conceive a world where people talk about figure articulation, or differing interpretations of a character, or why people argue about DC versus Marvel; but they were facinated by that world.

When I created my final project, as I stated in my last entries, I wanted to do something based on my culture. Something steeped in not just in the my hobbies, but using specific tropes from the online, anime and manga community. It was a self portrait which possibly only a few people in the world could see as one. I don't really find this a bad thing, as I feel that the images and potential video could have been interesting without that; and open to a lot of interesting interpretations. But the disconnect I had with the class got me thinking. Is there a space for "Art" in the geek community. And I mean, within the community. Now, the main problem here is the use of the word art as the university world has taught it. Simply drawing a picture, or making a video, or making a replica is not enough for "high art." After four years, I still don't think I can say what makes something art and not a drawing. Putting it in a gallery, giving it purpose, having other artists look at it and judge it? I can say that I do see why people do make the distinction; and even if I am not sure if I agree with it, I know it's there. That being said, would geeks appreciate or even get art made for their sake? There have been a few attempts. "I am 8-bit" is an art exhibition based on classic video games. Various toy customizers have also become fine artists, a phenomena from which an entire series of essays could be spawned. While I am against "Art just for other artists", would these works reach normal fans of the subject matter in ways that are not simply "This is cool." or, "I bet this has some deeper artistic meaning I probably can't understand." I am not saying they have to be critical of the art, but I hope you can see the delima I have come across.

If an artist wishes to make art coming from a "subcultural" origin, for that same audience, and still have it recognized as art, it essentially limits that audience to geeks who are also artists, art critics, or academics who could analyze the work.

But I think the internet is a wonderful place because it sort of breaks down those boundaries. And if you're successful enough, then you'll reach your intended audience, and more. I think it also is a place which allows people to do artistic things without being labelled an artist, or do things which wouldn't be considered art, and label your self as an artist.

Though this essay has become tangential enough already, (though for a blog, I think I am being fairly on-topic.) I do want to bring up something that I feel relates quite well to what I am talking about. The League of S.T.E.A.M is a performance art group who dress up at Steampunk Ghostbusters who make videos of them both going out in public, and taking on special effects ghosts. They also do parties. I love this because it seems like something just plain fun, really creative, requires a good deal of ability, and has an element of "making money" via the fact you can book them. As I mentioned last post, the whole University notion of art, or how they present it has been so difficult to understand, that the fact these guys can be considered artists makes me hopeful and just, happy really.

Back on topic to end this thing. When I started out, I set out to explore what action figures meant to me. Why I like them, why I want to tell people about them, why they are important to me. I brought up possible issues of maternal instincts, femininity, masculinity, collecting natures, decoration, cultural significance, sculptural impressiveness, religion, and possibly more. And the answer I came up with is,

"Yes."

Partly everything I listed is why I like figures. It's why I buy them, it's why I will continue to buy them, and it's why I have an deep desire to make my own, or do creative things with them. They're just, a part of my life, and there couldn't possibly be one reason I like them, that's like asking someone what the only reason they like their dog is. But over the course of the term, I found that the real main issue being brought up wasn't my own question of why, but me questioning why others were asking why. The fascination, the confusion, and the interest people showed to my hobby was a really fun thing to experience. Being able to share it with them, and also being able to come to a lot of their own interests and projects from my perspective was really a great experience; and it made me wonder if collaborations would be possible with some other spheres of interest in the world. It also helped me explore and analyze my experience and confusions coming through University in a way I never thought I would have the chance to explore. I also got to play around with toys, which is probably the best part.

I was asked to explore the question of why, and I hope I provided some answers. But more than that, I hope I left some mysteries, and raised more questions.