Post Studio Project 1: The Conceptual Self-Portrait

         It has been a while since my last entry, but now that the new semester is underway I have a lot of content and ideas to explore. One of my classes, Post Studio Projects, focuses on "conceptual art", a movement started by John Baldessari in 1970. Like Modern Art of the early 20th century, conceptual art completely changed notions about the creative process. Some of his assignments (of which there are more than 600) include putting makeup on a pet, making up art parables, or having your photograph taken as you insult someone. The first project given to my class, after a lovely eulogy for Baldessari, was to create a self portrait in which we were to "express a single word, represent a single object, embody a single action, and define a single image." After mulling over a few ideas primarily revolving around words like hunger or consumption, I settled on devour.
          The image above was projected onto a wall, and I sat underneath reading while balancing an apple on my head. There were mixed reactions, but overall the feedback from my peers made me realize that I had contributed to the piece in ways I hadn't even been aware of: my clothes, the book I was reading, the fact that I chose an apple, and even my reading glasses. There are all type of hungers (food, knowledge, sex, etc.) that I wanted people to think of when looking at my piece, so while this was a successful first attempt there is still much more to learn. It's only the tip of the iceberg, and we've barely begun to dive into Baldessari's assignment as well as creating our own 110. Class if going to become very personal, but it should bond us all together as artists. 

Open you mind, be brave, and be kind. 
- Noah