11/13, 2:30pm-3:15pm
What exactly am I looking for and has anybody thought looked into it? Those were the questions I had when I began researching my topic. I was interested in several different combinations of concepts: the portrayal of the black body and blackness itself, the use of the black body in the Western canon, and the underlying meaning in works centered around blackness.
That is a lot to unpack and it is harder to nail down a single point of research. So I started by pulling out 5 images that really resonated with me, and tried to articulate why they did. Here I have streamlined (kind of) my interest in the images:
- The medium used and how it conveys meaning in itself
- The forms, symbols, and other visual elements each artist showcases
- The appropriation of artistic styles associated with high European art
- The differing representations of the black body and identity
- The naming of the pieces and how that interacted with the actual piece
By staring at the images and pulling out 5 of them from the Pecha Kucha, I found that I gravitated towards something that I did not expect to. Sonya Clark’s Triangle Trade stuck out to me because of its meaning and its way of capturing a complex subject in this neat triangle. It was the use of materials- the woven cotton fibers- that drew me even closer.
11/14, 1:00pm-2:00pm
I have decided that each week would be devoted to another facet centered around the work of Clark which is outlined below:
Week 1: Getting to know Sonya Clark and her inspiration
- Who is Sonya Clark?
- Why hair and why in this medium?
- Does she work in other mediums as well?
- Where is she drawing her inspiration? What is her thesis or hypothesis?
- How does she see her work and her process?
- What are the influences Clark is bringing in?
Week 2: History and Context of African-American hair
- What are the implications of hair? In a social context? In a cultural context?
- What does hair say about us?
- How is African American hair historically and socially defined?
Week 3: How does this all make sense?
- How does this connect to what African-American/ Black art tries to do in general?
- The sociological imagination in art?
- Textiles and materiality
- Why did I end up here?
