https://granta.com/notes-on-a-suicide/
I am drawn to this subject in part because I have spent many hours reviewing the notes of people who have killed themselves. This I do because I spent several decades working in mental health and i am still active as a Chair of a local Charity. I am also curious, as I still do not comprehend how people make that fatal decision. The academic world appears no clearer, there is certainly plenty of theories. Isolated factors that might prompt or push people over the edge but in that critical moment, what can we really know. We can turn to accounts of those who have tried but are they the same as those who are successful. So what might art add to this? I think this is the final version. Theres a lot going on but I hope that will draw people in and get them to talk about what does it really mean to MAGA
Its a catchy title and of course its hard not to be aware what it means or is it. Coined originally by President Ronald Reagan. Now adopted by President Trump.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_America_Great_Again
One strand of my art is based on action figures. Carried over from my youth or collected at flea markets, my kids collections and auctions. I like playing with these in various compositions. Often in portraiture but not always. I am curious to what they might evoke in the viewer and if they take on an imagined symbolism. For my MAGA project I had to hand several figures that fitted with a certain symbolism of that quote. I do background research on what others have either created from an art perspective but also written about the subject. I also look for iconic images, in this case America in general. I also did economic research on when was america great from an economic point of view, assuming that was the goal of Reagan and Trump. In the case of Trump, I felt that there was more to it than that. That underlining the MAGA, there was a nostalgia for something purer and maybe religious. We have read a lot about the Muslim ban and also the white supremacy that some believe lies beneath the Trump vision. For my first set of compositions I have utilised a collage background to convey some of the symbolism that for me felt relevant. The great coincidence for this project is the fact that Reagan was an cowboy movie star and that one of my figures was a cowboy. What others have created. www.google.co.uk/search?q=make+america+great+again+artists&newwindow=1&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIv-nt7vvSAhXCVRQKHbmvA-4QsAQIJg&biw=1734&bih=1008
I was not prepared to go as far as this artist though.www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/make-america-great-again-anus-tattoo_us_58cac967e4b0ec9d29d9bba0 For more on the subject also see www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jan/25/donald-trump-street-artists-graffiti
I take a lot of pictures, with different composition, angle, colour, shading etc. I have also played with the figures and background to mix up what might be the meanings that could be attributed by the viewer. While some of this might be obvious, some may not be. The baby being held in the cowboys hand is a figure I play into a number of pictures. What it means for this piece might be about re-birth, new beginnings, saving the white race, you as the viewer have many choices. But there is one meaning that might not be so obvious. For me MAGA makes overtures to a theme in a book I read last year. One of the factors this books thesis put forward was that prosperous nations begin to fall when they find they cannot sustain the population needed to drive economic growth. As they become wealthier than stop producing babies. If you then stop immigration you might have a problem. We need more babies.
www.goodreads.com/book/show/27161205-the-price-of-prosperity It 's been sometime since I posted to my notes. In part because in 2016 I was travelling around the world. Now I am back with fresh ideas and inspiration. I have been trying to organise my older material and posting some of that to my www.pictaram.com/user/maudathome/3121846695 . I have also revamped this website and created a
www.facebook.com/curiousfutures/ . I have a number of projects that I want to explore and so more should be coming this way but first, I am off ski-ing for a week. |
This BlogI come here not enough, the occasions of speaking up are infrequent. I should try harder to talk more. Maybe 2019 I will find a voice to tell..... Archives
January 2018
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