After completing the fall 2015 Work of Art course, I felt as though I gained a lot of insight to how the class functions, and how my peers in the class work. Feeling comfortable with my learning environment, I was ready to take on the winter 2016 term of Work of Art. During this term, we discussed topics such as, art games and disability. We visited the Portland Art Museum and looked at works of art in the permanent collection of the museum. The assignment was to find a art piece, and research and write about is and the artist who created it. The artwork  I chose was Omega by Lynda Benglis. Omega is a sculpture made from various materials such as: cotton bunding wrapped over aluminum mesh, acrylic paint, enamel, and above all, glitter, lots of glitter. Released in 1973, this intricate piece by Lynda is a giant knot, and then splattered with the acrylic paint. To finish off the art piece, Lynda covered the surface with glitter, giving the sculpture a dazzling sparkle. Then we were assigned to come up with an interactive game that informs the player about the art, or the artist. I came up with  video game that simulated the creative process of Lynda’s Omega.

 

This project was challenging for me because, there wasn’t a lot to research about the sculpture I chose, but I was able to find a lot on Lynda herself. Learning about the artist gave me insight to what Omega could have meant, and why she created it. It also made me think about the creative process of artists, and how unique it is to each artist. Lynda spent a lot of time between New York, and Los Angeles during the making of Omega. And while she didn’t state that she take from the general aesthetics of the two cities, being present in them was enough for the aesthetics to bleed into her creative process. Knowing this has helped me pick up on small details in other works of art that I come across. Analyzing the most minute parts of a art piece helps me gain a deeper understanding to the art work’s meaning.

 

When we started to talk about disability, it was a controversial and touchy subject for most people, including me. My introduction to disability in the class was a presentation from a guest speaker at a art studio in Portland, Oregon called Project Grow. They spoke to us about how unrecognized the disability movement is. Among racial issues during the civil rights movement in the mid 1950’s, disability movements were on the rise as well, but got swept under the attention that racial issues were getting. For someone like myself who is able-bodied, and doesn’t have a developmental disability, it is easy to be oblivious to the ableist world that I live in. In the Work of Art mentor sessions, we thought of things that a person with a disability might encounter in their day to day life such as; how to enter a building and, will there be an automatic door for me to go through in an eating establishment? Small but important things that can make life easier, or harder for someone with a disability should be recognized by all people. This is one thing that I have came out of the winter 2016 Work of Art term thinking about.

 

We went further into the disability topic by collaborating with the Project Grow program. Our class was able to meet and interview with the artists at Project Grow. One of the artist I met with was Jamal. He likes to paint with pen ink and bamboo stick on old maps. I really enjoyed watching him paint on the maps, and interacting with him by asking questions. I asked him, “what do you think about art?” And he responded with, “It makes me happy”. Those few words resonated with me heavily because, it brought me back down to earth when it comes to art. For a long time, I was always so critical about my artwork, or anything that I do creatively. I always thought my art was good, but never good enough. Jamal reminded me that art should make you happy, and be fun. I felt uplifted by his words, it gave me a new understanding of art, and the kinds of feelings art gives someone, like myself.

 

Overall, I feel that this term of Work of Art has challenged my perspective on art for the better. With art being such a broad subject, I think it as good that my class was able to dabble in more artistic mediums and really put our creative ideas into fruition. I am looking forward to the next step in my first year at PSU, and ultimately the Work of Art course. I think this course has helped me unlock a lot of creative insights for me, and sparked my drive to be creative.