Assignment 2

1. How is the festival theme of vulnerability reflected in the works? 

I think that the artists have done a great job of representing the theme of vulnerability in the works of art. It is interesting that while the artists are creating their pieces on vulnerability they are personally experiencing it at the same time as they perform and create the work. I enjoyed the piece by Grey Muldoon and thought he did an outstanding job reflecting vulnerability. He performs a very personal experience involving Christmas lights made out of 235 pill bottles. I also thought that Sara French’s piece was really well done. She embodies the character of a Greek philosopher and dresses up in her piece to represent him. It’s a performance piece that she does and the element of vulnerability is perceived in the performance part of it alone because she is opening herself up to the public to strangers and interacting with them in a way that makes her vulnerable.

Jeff Huckleberry’s work also represented vulnerability very well. He took it in a different direction however and explored physical vulnerability versus emotional vulnerability. It makes you realize how vulnerable and delicate our bodies really are. In his piece he rolls around breaking beer bottles and pulling apart wood that sends shivers down my body thinking about it and how he has taken himself to a whole other level of vulnerability.

2. What thoughts do you have on vulnerability in relation to art production, in terms of your own experience or research? 

I personally feel that my thoughts on vulnerability in relation to art production in terms of my own experience and research are very strong. I think all artists are vulnerable workers because we expose a part of our personal identity to people that makes us more vulnerable than most people. As artists we sometimes have to open up a side of our personality or life and show people in order to justify certain work we do. Not only do I believe that makes artists vulnerable but also the career in general of being a practicing artist is also something vulnerable in relation to the art production. We sometimes have to deal with underemployment, and the struggles of freelance work and possible low salaries at points. Our job prospects make us vulnerable at some point or another. The idea of exposing yourself to the world automatically I think makes us very vulnerable. As an artist you might create something that is so emotion and personal to you but as an artist you have to share that with the world. With my own personal experiences so far in my art career I don't stop to think that I am as vulnerable as that even though I am. I think that the university setting is such a safe and accepting place to be in that even though we are putting our work out there and making our selves vulnerable, the support we receive makes it much easier to move forward and not realize just how vulnerable we really are. 

3. Do the performances communicate the ideas the artists are putting forward in relation to vulnerability? Why or why not?

I think that the performances strongly communicated the ideas of vulnerability in the artists work. The performance pieces especially communicate to us that the idea of vulnerability is present. They show the physical and emotional side of vulnerability and make it clear to the audience. I think that the artists not only are the ones vulnerable but they are making the viewer as well by watching them perform these pieces. As we interact with the performers the audience shares a certain emotion and compassion for the performer. The performers are putting themselves through a process and sometimes one that is painful and so as the audience it makes us inclined to emphasize and share that connection with them. It makes not only the artist vulnerable but also us as the viewers watching. This is what makes the pieces so powerful to me.