Butoh

Butoh is a type of Japanese contemporary dance.  It consists of a wide range of performance or movement practices which first emerged in 1959.  It is often defined as resisting definition or explanation but can have great impact on it’s audience. It is often called the ‘dance of darkness’. 

It is said that it came about because of the social devastation and sadness left by World War II.  Other opinions state that is was designed as a contrast to the contemporary dance in Japan at the time.  However, the founder of Butoh (Tatsumi Hijikata) has said that it was based on an imitation of the West or as an imitation of Noh (classical Japanese musicals).

Today, Butoh is known for its’ darkness which can include sex, death, grotesque imagery and eroticism.  It is usually performed in white body makeup with very slow movements. Often the dancers will have upward rolled eyes and contorted faces, inward rotated legs and feet and can be performed with or without an audience.

It is a very popular dance form today and is performed all over the world.

Steve Jobs Commencement Speech

Steve Jobs delivered a commencement speech at Stanford University on June 12, 2005.  He was the CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios.   In his speech, he tells the audience that he did not graduate from college and goes on to tell three stories. 

 The first story is about something he calls “connecting the dots”.  In this story, he tells of his college years and how he dropped out of college, taking only courses that truly interesting him, including calligraphy.  At the time, he did not think this course would have any practical application.  However, ten years later, when he was designing the MAC computer, this knowledge was in fact helpful and he states that it is not until much later in life that he connected the dots.  He stated that you can only connect the dots when you look backwards and that you have to trust that dots will somehow connect your future.

The second story he tells is about love and loss.  He tells the story of getting fired from Apple, starting all over again, starting Pixar and NeXt and returning to Apple.  He tells the graduates that they should never lose faith when life hits you in the head with a brick.  He suggests that the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work and to keep looking until you find that work. 

 The third story he tells is about death. He tells of his cancer diagnosis and how he has always lived each day as if it was his last.  He states that all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure all fall away in the face of death and that remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.  He wraps up his speech by saying that no one wants to die and yet we cannot escape it.  He reminds the graduates that their time is limited.  He closes his speech by quoting from one of the bibles of his generation.  “Stay Hungry, Stay foolish”.   Steve jobs died in 2011. 

Baroque Era

The Baroque era was representative of an artistic style which began in Rome in approximately 1600 (1592 – 1720).  Painting, architecture and sculpture embraced this style and eventually, this style of art became popular throughout the rest of Europe. This style is described as dramatic, colorful, massive and theatrical.  It also greatly influenced dance and music.   The music of this period was ornate and heavily ornamented while the dance was mainly a simple step (English country dance or The French Noble style)

The style grew out of the religious tensions of the 1600’s.  The Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of this period were greatly influenced by the Baroque era.  Catholic emperors and the Vatican in general used this style to show their power, grandeur and to reassert themselves.  Baroque art in more protestant countries had less religious focus and attracted the middle classes of the country.  During this period, palatial structures were built consisting of extravagant staircases and elegant reception rooms.Undoubtedly, the baroque era was one of the richest and most diverse periods in history

Performance Piece

For this performance, my anonymous associate, laid down on a bench with a pillow and an umbrella for nearly an hour. It was during the morning hours of a beautiful day. The theme is the decontextualization of the umbrella, park bench, but questions the behavior of college students.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aL_yGvr28g&feature=youtu.be

For this assignment, I used a Xerox machine to copy images of both my left and right hands. I then decided to honor my home country of Canada and recreate the Canadian Maple Leaf.

Sheryl Oring

Sheryl Oring is currently an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is widely considered as a prominent artist throughout not only the United States, but also internationally. What separates Sheryl Oring from other artists? Well more than anything, her work is meaningful to the public as it examines important social issues. She takes into account the opinions of the public and in 2004 conducted her most impressive public performance; "I Wish To Say." For this project, Sheryl has typed and sent over 2000 postcards to the President of The United States. For this performance piece, Sheryl received many accolades including; “Person of the Week” award on ABC’s World News Tonight; a Creative Capital grant; and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship. 

Grid Art Project

This a picture of my father and I from 2012. I used confetti in the shape of stars to recreate the image. It took a about 7 hours total but it turned out pretty well.