Art as a Political Statement

Starting the level 5 choreography process has been different yet similar to the previous level 4 choreography process. This year, the stimuli concentrated on art as a political statement- In previous years the stimuli haven't been focused on political subjects. At the start of the lesson, we were put into five groups of three, each group had to annotate all five stimuli. We were asked to think about what each image represented. Highlighted in blue are the ideas that I had for each stimulus which were developed from my thought process or what other students had previously written.

Stimulus 1- 'Stolen' - Portrait of Breonna Taylor who was unjustly shot by the police at the age of 26. The artist: Adrian Brandon painted this portrait of Taylor for 26 minutes to portray each year that she had lived. You can see that I had discussed that this woman is trying to hide who she is due to all the racism and cruelty to black people. After hearing the true meaning of this painting and it was pretty emotional to hear because there was potential for the drawing which portrays Breonna's potential in life that was taken from her. (Oppel, R, Taylor, D. and Bogel-Burroughs, N. 2022)

Stimuli 4- 'Un Violador en Tu Camino- This was a song with movement used by Chilean women protesting the treatment of women- Artist: Las Tesis. I had a vague idea of where this stimulus was from due to my research in the past. Even without knowing the true meaning, it is still just as clear as in the image that women of all ages are fighting for women's rights and that they have to use their inner power and strength to fight the vile actions of some men. ('A rapist in your path': Chilean protest song becomes feminist anthem. 2019)                 

Stimuli 5- 'Human Cost'- Protesting cultural institutions for taking money from companies that have connections to unethical/immoral behaviors- Artist: Amy Scaife. I found a different meaning because I focused on the suffering of the person rather than what the substance on the floor was. Due to the increased cost of everything, people can't afford to live anymore and so the message that this portrait is trying to get across is that the demand for payment increase is drowning them. (Halperin, J. 2019)

Our group created a short phrase based on stimulus 5. We related our choreography to the stimulus that people are manipulated and trapped by the hierarchy of people for entertainment purposes. We began the phrase with an abstract lift where I was lifted by 2 people and I tried to run while being lifted. Throughout the rest of the phrase I stayed on the floor whilst Portia and Ben used dynamic movements and levels to manipulate me whilst I mirrored their movements. I enjoyed this task because I could use my interpretations to create specific motifs relating to the image. I found it interesting to see other students' ideas and how people linked their ideas to someone else's. Going forward I think I will continue to reflect on images and how they can influence a movement.

Bibliography:

Oppel, R, Taylor, D. and Bogel-Burroughs, N. (2022). What To Know About Breonna Taylor's Death. The New York Times, [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/article/breonna-taylor-police.html [Accessed 28th  September 2022] 

'A rapist in your path': Chilean protest song becomes feminist anthem. (2019). [Video] Guardian News. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5AAscy7qbI&ab_channel=GuardianNews [Accessed 28th September 2022]

Halperin, J. (2019). In an Age of Political Division and Dirty Money, Can Museum Boards Ever Be Immaculate? Some Think They Have Found a Solution. Art World, [Online] Available at: http://news.artnet.com/art-world/board-musems-money-2019-1600507 [Accessed 28 Spetember 2022].