Homework 11/08
Angela Ordonez
Yoko Ono - A Groundbreaking Artist, Activist and Fighter
“The simplicity of her work may have been derided for years, but it is exactly that which makes it greatly accessible.”
This quote has several meanings within it, one of the most important for me is that despite having been “ridiculed” she never stopped fighting. “Persistence is what will lead you to success” was what my high school English teacher once told us and I feel that it is exactly what is reflected in the story of Yoko Ono.
“Her work has always been an indivisible element of her activism and life-long mission of communicating with the world at large.”
I chose this quote because it connects to the topics we have been discussing in our class. She, like many other artists, tried to connect her own art and work with the fight for peace, she, like many of her, tried with her works to reach many people.
Performance Art: An Introduction
“Through their words and actions, they confronted their audiences and raised issues about the relationship of female experience to cultural beliefs and institutions, physical appearance, and bodily functions including menstruation and childbearing.“
I chose this quote because I found it interesting. Women today worry a lot about what people will say, we think a lot about how to "act like a woman", we try to be careful with the words and actions that come out of us so as not to be judged before other people, this due to the cultural beliefs of society, which since we were little have been giving us a wrong idea of what a woman can and cannot do.
“Indeed, at its worst, performance art can seem gratuitous, boring or just plain weird. But, at its best, it taps into our most basic shared instincts: our physical and psychological needs for food, shelter, sex, and human interaction”
I found this phrase interesting but above all a great way to inform readers about how performance art works and how it can be considered.
Performance, Pedagogy, and Philosophy
“I don’t know what drove me to identify as an artist because it wasn’t within my familial background—not that I know of anyway”
This phrase caught my attention because she and several artists like Kimberly Drew for example, did not feel that art was something to which they dedicated their lives, and I think this may be because they feel that this may not give them a “sustainable salary” or perhaps they are afraid of failure, but there are great examples that make us realize that it is worth taking risks and leaving our comfort zone.
“For a white student, particularly a young white student, seeing the mode of expression of an artist of color can shift as much of their worldview as it does for a student of color.”
This phrase is very true. Personally, I have seen many types of art that have touched me and made me see the world in a different way. For example, art in the form of a protest against the discrimination that many experience, makes me think about what the artist of that work felt when doing it, it makes me think about the reasons and the cruel experiences that many go through and take those experiences and they turn them into a form of art and activism.
“The Art of Activism”
“THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT taught a generation of activists about the power of image and performance, and these lessons were passed on-most immediately to the Black Power movement and groups like the Black Panther Party”
I chose this phrase because it lets us know that social justice events, like other situations in general, provide and fill people with knowledge to create and evolve art in activism.
The principle: style matters. People associate the message with the messenger, and how we appear in public communicates a message that is often more powerful than the words on the pamphlets we hand out”
This phrase is very true but above all very striking like the saying that says "A picture says more than a thousand words" and it is true. When we meet someone the first thing we both notice is how they look physically, we think that if someone is dressed in a reckless and vulgar way they come from a discredited family, or that if someone is well dressed we assume that they have a lot of money or that at least It is excellent economically.
“Humor is a key element in successful artistic activism. Where polemics and assertions put people on guard, and ask them to either agree or disagree, humor works more obliquely and doesn't demand that a person take a stand, at least not immediately. As such, humor allows us to reach people who would otherwise shut us and our message out.”
I chose this fragment because I consider it important since humor can really change many things if it is used correctly. I think that humor can serve as a convincing means but when used it has to be in a respectful way, but not the opposite.
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