Apr 23
sharonArnold commented on Gossip Chair.
sharonArnold commented on Gossip Chair.
# 5 is spot on. this is exactly the conversation that the Frye had with each of the artists in Chamber Music, and it's my understanding that this is a history Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker and Scott Lawrimore wish to continue as the Frye moves forward.
Mar 12
sharonArnold commented on Spring Art Calendar.
sharonArnold commented on Spring Art Calendar.
I would like to clarify that the May show at LxWxH is a curatorial, not artistic, collaboration between myself and Daniel Glendening; the exhibition will feature 11 Portland artists!
Thanks for the listing, Jen!
Thanks for the listing, Jen!
Feb 19
sharonArnold commented on A Theory of White Native Americans.
sharonArnold commented on A Theory of White Native Americans.
I'm probably guilty of being hyperbolic about the whole paperwork thing. But it is interesting, what acceptance into a tribe can mean and where it qualifies or doesn't - tribe versus government? Here is a link telling me how to do it:
http://www.bia.gov/idc/groups/public/doc…
Anyway. Johnny Depp or no, I have a lot of questions about the Lone Ranger movie itself. Not sure if it makes sense, if it's offensive, or what. I will probably not see it at all.
Also Johnny Depp or no, I appreciate the questions raised in the blog post by Natanya Ann Pulley about Native American-ness.
http://www.bia.gov/idc/groups/public/doc…
Anyway. Johnny Depp or no, I have a lot of questions about the Lone Ranger movie itself. Not sure if it makes sense, if it's offensive, or what. I will probably not see it at all.
Also Johnny Depp or no, I appreciate the questions raised in the blog post by Natanya Ann Pulley about Native American-ness.
Feb 19
sharonArnold commented on A Theory of White Native Americans.
sharonArnold commented on A Theory of White Native Americans.
First of all, I resent the implication that all Whiteness is the same. It isn't. People with pale skin come from a multitude of cultures all over the world, and they aren't universally the same; just as people with darker skin enjoy diversity of culture and experience.
Second of all, I resent the implication that Native Americans have disappeared. They haven't. The fact that anyone would suggest they have is a sharp indicator of how easy it is to sweep this particularly painful American issue under the rug, because it is actually harder to talk about in racial politics than Black or Hispanic racial issues, thank you commenter number 25 for pointing out those differences. Native American people are here. They don't always look like Native American people. That is to say, they don't look like what people think Native American people should look like. That says something too, doesn't it?
Third of all, there is nothing romantic about Native American history. No more romantic than the history of cowboys, Vikings, Moors, Picts, or Romans. History is rife with murder and conquest, and genocide. But Americans don't like to talk about genocide. It's unseemly.
Fourth of all, speaking of unromantic, did you know the only way to be legitimately Native American is to have paperwork? You know who else needs paperwork to be legitimate? Dog breeds. Is that romantic?
Lastly, I resent the implication that white people are not allowed to claim a race other than a generic "white". It is a subversively, quietly, racist perspective that even white people succumb to because we are afraid of claiming any ethnicity, for fear of denying we have benefited from white privilege. We are afraid that by saying we have anything in our blood other than what you see on the surface we are racist and ignorant of our place in the world, as though we are trying to claim something we have never experienced; as though we are taking ownership of ethnicity, too. You know what? You're right. I have only lived as a white girl in this world. I haven't had to endure direct racism or roadblocks. I see them there, and I watch others endure and surpass them or fling themselves against them and I know that I can never related to what that feels like. But it doesn't feel good to have to be quiet about something you can't see about me, because I will be vilified for even talking about it. To be dismissed on the basis of some predisposed attitude that white people only want the good parts about carrying the brown parts. Well consider for a minute that we have weighed it out, before nailing us to the stake.
(Guess who doesn't have a pedigr-- er I mean paperwork? Me. What tribe do I claim? An unromantic sea-side one in Southeastern Canada, Mi'kmaq. Have I tried getting a hold of them? No, I'm too nervous about this attitude in the article. Maybe some day I'll get over it.)
More...
Second of all, I resent the implication that Native Americans have disappeared. They haven't. The fact that anyone would suggest they have is a sharp indicator of how easy it is to sweep this particularly painful American issue under the rug, because it is actually harder to talk about in racial politics than Black or Hispanic racial issues, thank you commenter number 25 for pointing out those differences. Native American people are here. They don't always look like Native American people. That is to say, they don't look like what people think Native American people should look like. That says something too, doesn't it?
Third of all, there is nothing romantic about Native American history. No more romantic than the history of cowboys, Vikings, Moors, Picts, or Romans. History is rife with murder and conquest, and genocide. But Americans don't like to talk about genocide. It's unseemly.
Fourth of all, speaking of unromantic, did you know the only way to be legitimately Native American is to have paperwork? You know who else needs paperwork to be legitimate? Dog breeds. Is that romantic?
Lastly, I resent the implication that white people are not allowed to claim a race other than a generic "white". It is a subversively, quietly, racist perspective that even white people succumb to because we are afraid of claiming any ethnicity, for fear of denying we have benefited from white privilege. We are afraid that by saying we have anything in our blood other than what you see on the surface we are racist and ignorant of our place in the world, as though we are trying to claim something we have never experienced; as though we are taking ownership of ethnicity, too. You know what? You're right. I have only lived as a white girl in this world. I haven't had to endure direct racism or roadblocks. I see them there, and I watch others endure and surpass them or fling themselves against them and I know that I can never related to what that feels like. But it doesn't feel good to have to be quiet about something you can't see about me, because I will be vilified for even talking about it. To be dismissed on the basis of some predisposed attitude that white people only want the good parts about carrying the brown parts. Well consider for a minute that we have weighed it out, before nailing us to the stake.
(Guess who doesn't have a pedigr-- er I mean paperwork? Me. What tribe do I claim? An unromantic sea-side one in Southeastern Canada, Mi'kmaq. Have I tried getting a hold of them? No, I'm too nervous about this attitude in the article. Maybe some day I'll get over it.)
Jan 11
sharonArnold commented on Currently Hanging: A Sculpture That Breaks Through the Building.
sharonArnold commented on Currently Hanging: A Sculpture That Breaks Through the Building.
my boyfriend and I were just there last weekend - John Grade always makes beautiful things but this one is just amazing.
Dec 7, 2012
sharonArnold commented on Buy Art!.
sharonArnold commented on Buy Art!.
In case anyone is curious what LxWxH is, feel free to visit the website - www.lengthbywidthbyheight.com.
In short, it's original art in a box (sculpture, painting, printmaking, drawing, collage, etc) that you order online and it gets mailed to you! Historically, I've been curating in pairs and featuring a writer but 2013 is going to bring some changes, including the ability to buy individual pieces by artists under $200.
I'd also like to give props to ArtsYo! Like LxWxH, they promote the idea that art is a sustainable resource, and they make buying it super easy. www.seattle.artsyo.com
In short, it's original art in a box (sculpture, painting, printmaking, drawing, collage, etc) that you order online and it gets mailed to you! Historically, I've been curating in pairs and featuring a writer but 2013 is going to bring some changes, including the ability to buy individual pieces by artists under $200.
I'd also like to give props to ArtsYo! Like LxWxH, they promote the idea that art is a sustainable resource, and they make buying it super easy. www.seattle.artsyo.com
Dec 6, 2012
sharonArnold commented on Buy Art!.
sharonArnold commented on Buy Art!.
As someone who's been shouting this manifesto for some time, I'm happy to see the tide turning and more and more projects coming to light that make art buying more approachable. I think that it's only a matter of shifting priorities for a little while, if you want art in your life. I put off buying a new laptop for a few months so that I could purchase a painting. I'm a broke ass fool - if I can do it, anyone can. Sometimes art only costs as much as a month's worth of lattes. What can we do to make room in our lives, despite the recession? Unlike electronics or lattes, art lasts.
Seattle's bursting at the seams, it's an exciting time to start buying!
Seattle's bursting at the seams, it's an exciting time to start buying!
Nov 16, 2012
sharonArnold commented on 216 Nipples Later.
sharonArnold commented on 216 Nipples Later.
@81: I'm on that piece. I'm the curator of the show. Initially, my kneejerk reaction was in response to being the curator of the show and in that piece. In that moment, I realised it was subversive; Pollock pissing in Peggy Guggenheim's fireplace.
Please do not make assumptions about the women who are "represented" who don't mind - in the same way that I will not draw assumptions about the women or persons who object to the piece (and yes they are allowed to, of course!); I do not feel it's appropriate for anyone to draw assumptions about the rest of us.
I worked in an extremely male-dominated industry for 16 years, in Seattle and NYC. I'd be hard pressed to find the level of rampant discrimination, sexism, and harassment I endured in that industry, in New York, anywhere near Seattle. That discrimination was at such a level that I literally had to work twice as hard for less than my male counterparts and fight every step of the way. I know very well what exists out there. I'm sure I'm not alone.
Every woman has a scale by which she measures her interactions in the world every day. We are all approached by men, hit on, proposed to, joked with, and generally buffeted from all sides not only from individuals but from industries and ads and even our own kind. BUT. It is not up to any of us to determine whether or not that scale is calibrated "accurately". This piece has brought to light the fact that we are often inclined to do just that.
THAT. is also interesting.
I can only hope - and noone else has actually brought this up - that those individuals who objected to the piece in their workplace are getting through this storm ok, because in a way this thing blowing up may have made things even worse for them.
Still, at the end of the day, to jump on the right or wrong of this piece is also a misguided attack. The location of the piece, not its content, are a larger part of this debate than its intent or its portrayal. If this had been in a gallery, not someone's workplace, the weight it would have carried would have been vastly different.
More...
Please do not make assumptions about the women who are "represented" who don't mind - in the same way that I will not draw assumptions about the women or persons who object to the piece (and yes they are allowed to, of course!); I do not feel it's appropriate for anyone to draw assumptions about the rest of us.
I worked in an extremely male-dominated industry for 16 years, in Seattle and NYC. I'd be hard pressed to find the level of rampant discrimination, sexism, and harassment I endured in that industry, in New York, anywhere near Seattle. That discrimination was at such a level that I literally had to work twice as hard for less than my male counterparts and fight every step of the way. I know very well what exists out there. I'm sure I'm not alone.
Every woman has a scale by which she measures her interactions in the world every day. We are all approached by men, hit on, proposed to, joked with, and generally buffeted from all sides not only from individuals but from industries and ads and even our own kind. BUT. It is not up to any of us to determine whether or not that scale is calibrated "accurately". This piece has brought to light the fact that we are often inclined to do just that.
THAT. is also interesting.
I can only hope - and noone else has actually brought this up - that those individuals who objected to the piece in their workplace are getting through this storm ok, because in a way this thing blowing up may have made things even worse for them.
Still, at the end of the day, to jump on the right or wrong of this piece is also a misguided attack. The location of the piece, not its content, are a larger part of this debate than its intent or its portrayal. If this had been in a gallery, not someone's workplace, the weight it would have carried would have been vastly different.
Nov 15, 2012
sharonArnold commented on 216 Nipples Later.
sharonArnold commented on 216 Nipples Later.
Don't we all find that dissent an integral component of good conversation, the foundation upon which the most interesting and constructive dialogue takes place? My opinion is there isn't enough dissent in contemporary society, that we are so afraid of conflict we shy away from things that disagree. This show has presented an opportunity for a multitude of people to ask really hard questions - not only of myself and of Cornish; but of the artists and of our society about what is and is not acceptable. I have welcomed each and every one of these conversations and questions because in a sense I feel it is my responsibility to engage in them as the curator who presented them. Agree with me on the premise or not - you have to admit that you are glad to be airing out all of this information. I know I am.
Nov 15, 2012
sharonArnold commented on 216 Nipples Later.
sharonArnold commented on 216 Nipples Later.
@54: you are taking a piece of a larger comment out of context so this is a non-comment. *one* comment on Facebook is not at all an accurate measure of the larger response a person has. My "actions" as a Feminist are quite public, including papers, lecture series, and lest we forget, Red Current - a survey of contemporary Seattle artists, all who were women, the point of the show being that artists were presented first as artists and the discovery that they were women second. It was important for me as an artist to present women this way, but I have already explained this in another comment elsewhere.
Hitchcock: I believe I address my support in my comment right before yours. Cornish did what it had to do to protect its employees' sense of safety. How could I possibly argue against that? I would want the same, if I were them. The larger decision of whether to pull the piece was not one I felt I could make as the curator. I was too fascinated by the questions and conversation the piece raised.
My studio practice is quite healthy, thank you for the compliment - truly. But why do I curate? Because I am compelled to do so. I find joy in asking questions, drawing lines between artists, presenting new as well as established people, and investigation/conversation. For me it's an extension of my studio practice. Also, I am starting a gallery to continue this practice. Why? Because recently I’ve come to understand better the importance of having a free, public space for us to experience the contemporary art in our city and rather than witness its demise (in light of several gallery closings), I want to help facilitate its revival.
Have you ever written a check for an artist? I have. It's the most gratifying experience, ever.
More...
Hitchcock: I believe I address my support in my comment right before yours. Cornish did what it had to do to protect its employees' sense of safety. How could I possibly argue against that? I would want the same, if I were them. The larger decision of whether to pull the piece was not one I felt I could make as the curator. I was too fascinated by the questions and conversation the piece raised.
My studio practice is quite healthy, thank you for the compliment - truly. But why do I curate? Because I am compelled to do so. I find joy in asking questions, drawing lines between artists, presenting new as well as established people, and investigation/conversation. For me it's an extension of my studio practice. Also, I am starting a gallery to continue this practice. Why? Because recently I’ve come to understand better the importance of having a free, public space for us to experience the contemporary art in our city and rather than witness its demise (in light of several gallery closings), I want to help facilitate its revival.
Have you ever written a check for an artist? I have. It's the most gratifying experience, ever.
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