Hi All

Hi All,

The link to the Shared Meal Among Survivors event page doesn't work so here are the details for anyone interested in joining...

The Places We're At: A shared meal among survivors

Saturday, November 25th @ 7pm 

4826 N. Montana Ave, Portland OR. 97217 

Hi all, 

I am hosting a community potluck at my home for folks who self-identify as survivors, whatever that may mean for you. After having conversations with people in my life about how we identify and dismantle our personal cycles of abuse, I became interested in how our individual experiences provide us with a wealth of knowledge that may help others along their own journey if we come together and share these experiences with each other. With this idea in mind, my hope for this dinner is to build community and collective support through shared meal and conversation. 

I will be cooking a large meal to feed about 10 people, but if you are able, please bring something you love to eat so more can join in our shared meal! 

P.S. I also hope to have some documentation of the night with the intention of making a zine that I can leave at the Multnomah Library. My plan is to have paper and a sealed box available for folks who want to anonymously record their thoughts or a portion of a conversation to be included as a part of that zine.

Feel free to share this event with your networks and invite folks you think would be interested.

If you have questions feel free to message me or post to the page directly.

-K

Project References - Interpersonal Relationships - Kate Taylor

Hardy, Janet W./ Easton Dossie. The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, and Other Freedoms in Sex and Love. Random House Inc, 2017.

A website featuring many informative articles, books, and videos about unconventional relationships (“Relationship Anarchy”):

http://www.relationship-anarchy.com/blog/

The Places We’re At: A Shared Meal Among Survivors

The Places We’re At: A Shared Meal Among Survivors

Initial research: Conversation with friends and colleagues whose histories and stories I am personally acquainted with led two main questions and two goals to roughly model the project: 

Community meal : “How to stop cycles of abuse”

FB event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2083884605192460/

Documentation: 

⁃ Pieces of paper/pens to create Zine pages

⁃ Anonymous submission box

⁃ Optional photo submission to FB event page

-       Tailor presentation based on outcome of the dinner

Inspiration: 

#metoo social media platform and responses (gained awareness after accusations against Harvey Weinstein) - critique and need for personal connection among survivors to build interpersonal relationship and tangible support networks

Zine culture - For the method of documentation; I love making zines because they encourage community collaboration and are easily distributed and easily accessible to multiple communities. - Self-selection or reader-ship - exists outside of capital institutions/ not a commodity as it is easily replicated and are in low demand due to the sheer volume of circulating zines. Related to history of free/independent publishing 

Previous ethnographic research on “Safe Spaces” on college campuses 

WRC workshop on popular education and implemented some of these concepts in my framework for facilitation as a co-chair of RJAT 

⁃ http://www.practicingfreedom.org/offerings/popular-education/

CREATE: The community Meal (Public Art Saint Paul by Seitu Jones) -“CREATE: The Community Meal, from Public Art Saint Paul by Seitu Jones, aimed to lower barriers to making healthy food choices. On September 14, 2014, 2,000 people gathered at 1/2 mile long table in the middle of Saint Paul's Victoria Street for a civic dinner table conversation about Food Access, Food Justice, and Healthy Eating. This socially engaged public artwork was led by artist and Frogtown resident Seitu Jones, in collaboration with a cohort of artists that included paper maker Mary Hark, Ananya Dance Theatre, visual artists Cliff Garten, Emily Stover and Asa Hoyt, poets G. E. Patterson and Soyini Guyton, and spoken word artists led by Tou Seiko Lee and Deeq Abdi. As Seitu noted, all 2000 diners were artistic collaborators as they engaged in an artistic ritual of a meal, spoke words of grace and closing, and shared food stories of the world cultures that comprise our community” 

⁃ https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/networks-and-councils/public-art-network/public-art-year-in-review-database/create-the-community-meal

Mealsharing: https://www.mealsharing.com/about 

https://www.mealsharing.com/browse

“Meal Sharing brings people together over home cooked meals. Our mission is to build communities through shared resources, facilitate deeper cultural exchange, and encourage people to cook at home to enable a healthier lifestyle.”

Rirkrit Tiravanija: 

"In this deceptively simple conceptual piece, the artist invites the visitor to interact with contemporary art in a more sociable way, and blurs the distance between artist and viewer. You aren’t looking at the art, but are part of it—and are, in fact, making the art as you eat curry and talk with friends or new acquaintances.

 

⁃ https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/02/03/rirkrit-tiravanija-cooking-up-an-art-experience/

Links to Readings for Week 9

Hi Everyone, Here are all our seminar readings for Week 9. Please read them and post 1 question, comment or quote that stands out to you from each of them in the comments by class time on Monday.

Zeph's Reading:

Intro to Beautiful Trouble: a Toolbox for Revolution, by Andrew Boyd:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1__tf--MT5ksinCpceiz6EAAmr2cKDpST/view?usp=sharing

Lauren's Reading:

Here are parts of the intro to one of my favorite books about cities; The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and The Erasure of Memory.

https://drive.google.com/a/pdx.edu/file/d/1rj-XPIQOtkbQiSOULKfqfVwkb__dCvWI/view?usp=sharing

If you are at all interested in this topic I highly recommend reading this book!

Michael's Readings:

Geology.com - Oregon Gemstones
http://geology.com/gemstones/states/oregon.shtml

Innagem.com - Oregon Opal
http://www.innagem.com/oregonopal/

Roshani's Reading:

Born in a Dazed and Confused Era - it Was a Fashion Thing! Essay by Sonia Mehta. Exhibition catalogue: Her Stories: Fifteen Years of South Asian

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ie2z3XrbrofNjeZ_EkyDkHGrNuRZY7wY

Eric's Reading:

City of the Changers: Indigenous People and the Transformation of Seattle’s Watersheds, Coll Thrush, 2006

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q9AaYvnuTkChBYELgD98ANYsdlAH5KKK 


Tia's Readings:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1w1sQ6PIF0wIH2efnMtu5A4QIXi9ESEx2

Color therapy/light therapy/color psychology Resources

*suspension of disbelief makes this more fun*

Color Therapy is a book by Reuben Amber, first published in 1964 in India (I'm not sure of any biographical information about this author but I'm curious as to his cultural heritage to compare to the second book I will mention). The first half of the book is general theories of color as perceived by people and groups both in modern day and past perspectives. The second half of the book is about application of color for healing:

In this section, a set of directives applying color to the dietary problems of man How to Lose Weight and How to Gain Weight is followed by an analysis of the properties and the healing powers of color. It ends with a list of the various diseases, the specific colors to be used in effecting cures, and the application of color to foods. Part II is specific and, at all times, practical. (from the introduction)

Part 2 is pretty wild and esoteric but interesting as theories anyways. I also wish I could find out more about the author and the sources he draws from. There is also an emphasis on food and color in this book which I find fascinating even if I remain skeptical:

Diet should always be the foundation upon which all the other techniques rest. The therapist must consider food and the color equivalents, as the last chapter of this section indicates. Foods of the proper color as dictated by the individual's needs must be recommended for food is nothing more than color materialized by the plant. (198)

Here's an example of some theories I find pretty amusing:

In the matter of clothing, white transmits more of the light rays than does dark clothing, and the light rays have a more animating effect on the body. Red can be worn when it is desired to warm any part of the body; for cold feet, red tissue paper placed inside the socks or red socks will have a more warming effect than a hot water bottle. (189) 

Doesn't seem likely since the paper would have to be illuminated to have the properties of the color itself? Not sure about that one. Red socks, maybe...

___________________

Another book I found for this project in particular is Color Psychology and Color Therapy: A Factual Study of the Influence of Color on Human Life by Faber Birren (first published in 1950). I haven't actually been able to read most of it but I found a section about light and plant growth which correlates to my interest in nutrition and color:

Johnston mentions that under the action of light, carbon dioxide and water are united in the presence of chlorophyll to form simple sugars. These sugars are elaborated into starch, proteins, organic acids, fats, and other products. Most of these compounds are foods - for the plant as well as for the animals that come to feed upon them. Further, the growth of the plant is vitally affected by the length of day, the intensity of light, and by color - even more so than by temperature and moisture (which also depend on light). (85)

I also wanted to mention that in the bibliography of this book most of the sources were either published in New York or London so I see a western bias to this book from noticing that so it makes me wonder about the specific perspective Amber was coming from.

____________________

maybe start here:
This video (It's super long and I recommend skipping to about 11:35 to start) is a good introduction into color as light therapy, which, is distinct from color therapy according to wikipedia although I think wikipedia is referring to color therapy in the historical context because color and light go hand in hand i.e. pseudoscientific color therapy theories published in mid 20th century* are distinctly different from proven effective light (color) therapy like neonatal jaundice treatment (seems to me as if scientists would like to distinguish color therapy that is proven to be effective as light therapy rather than just keeping it in the realm of color therapy). Anyways, there are some things I could take or leave in the video but overall a good overview.

*note: of course some non-western cultures as mentioned in Amber's book already had established theories of color and healing before it was discussed in western medical context

For further inquiry I'd like to look up more modern studies of light used for therapeutic application and see what the up to date research is and from there develop on my original idea of a dialogue around color and color therapy theories as a way to access the psyche or the "shadow self" and working through aspects of that part of the self using color as the guide.
I would also just like to read more books and articles from various perspectives to compare and contrast different cultural ideas about color.

Roshani's High Chai research findings

Her stories essay for reading pp 106-108 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ie2z3XrbrofNjeZ_EkyDkHGrNuRZY7wY/view?usp=sharing

U.S. Multiculturalism or Cultural Assimilation?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/a-b-wilkinson/us-multiculturalism-or-cultural-assimilation_b_8218490.html

Acculturation - Cultural pluralism and multiculturalism

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/5/Acculturation.html

Acculturation - Cultural pluralism and multiculturalism - Culture, Society, American, and Assimilation 

 http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/5/Acculturation.html#ixzz4yWO1ejvg

Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, essay by Cristina Tzintzun

https://books.google.com/books?id=WbnLDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT12&lpg=PT12&dq=her+stories+sawcc+book&source=bl&ots=hEzTMVMTxa&sig=9QeTFvigZEX19MJfPTicTwZf2tM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinwYrfq8HXAhUM2GMKHW6aBoo4ChDoAQgvMAM#v=onepage&q&f=false

Claire Tancons - Carnival

http://www.clairetancons.com/images/Faena%20Art%20at%20the%20Trinidad%20Carnival-HD%20(1).mp4

You Love ‘The Simpsons’? Then Let’s Talk About ApuArticle on comedian Hari Kondabolu's documentary, The Problem With Apu coming out on November 19.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/arts/television/the-problem-with-apu-the-simpsons.html

Namaste Motherfucker (with Mitali Desai and Naben Ruthnum) from The Racist Sandwich Podcast  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-racist-sandwich-podcast/id1110874551?mt=2&i=1000394834541

Informal interviews:

Anupam Singh, MFA Art + Social Practice candidate

Saleshni Sundar, owner of the Big Elephant Kitchen

K.S. Dillon, chef of Gandhi

Artist Presentations - Haha/Regan Tamanui

Haha/Regan Tamanui

Australian self-taught artist working with stencils, specializing in portraits. Began working on the street but has expanded into gallery spaces. -www.regantamanui.com

Haha investigates the power of mass media within Australian popular culture and the new virtues of the 21st century: reality TV, sports, criminal lifestyles, instant fame and fortune. His images generally derive from newspapers or photographs.

His tag “Ha Ha” was inspired by the laugh of the character Nelson from The Simpsons. He tells documentary maker Nicholas Hansen, "I set myself goals. And my goal was to go through two tins of paint each night...and if you get caught? Ha ha. Ha ha."

Been exhibiting for over 8 years, held 10 solo shows in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart & Sydney. Represented by three commercial galleries across Australia. The National Gallery of Australia, BHP Billiton, State Library of Victoria, City of Melbourne, Artbank & private collections across Australia, NZ, UK & USA. -http://www.theblenderstudios.com/regan-profile.html

Ned Kelly Portraits

Notorious outlaw Ned Kelly - bushranger, outlaw, gang leader, convicted police murderer - is an iconic figure in Australian history, culture, and works in the arts.

"Ned Kelly was a criminal. Just like graffiti or whatever you want to call it. The act of stencilling runs in that same vein of thought. The cool thing is that Ned Kelly was loved by the people, and with street art, it's the people's art. It's like the voice of the people." -Tamanui

Personal Heroes

Coinciding with the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Retrospective portrait series of New Zealand Rugby players.

Team players once worked to support their collective sporting endeavour. These days corporate money encourages the status of the individual/celebrity, an advertising icon for multinational business products.

"...the whole idea of the show is it's all about rugby before it became a national corporation," says Tamanui. ‘So I've got pre-80s rugby players where dudes had to work on the farm, or have a real job.’”

A "lament for the passing of the mantle `individual hero' over to `corporate property'." -Gallery blurb

Related Interlude: Stuckism

Various people by HaHa in Stevenson Lane

Stuckism began in London, in 1999. Tamanui started the first international branch of the movement in 2000, the Melbourne Stuckists.

The Stuckists generally take a pro-painting and anti-conceptual stance on art. Tamanui explains, “Yes, I still consider myself a stuckist but I don’t subscribe to all the stuckist stuff. I do enjoy most themes in conceptual art, especially conceptual art you can interact with and become part of.” It appears he is able to see the potential for inclusivity in the nebulous miasma of conceptual art work. “I’m interested in the accessibility of art to the everyday person – that’s why I love street art. It’s the people’s art and deals with themes that we all relate to. The streets are like the people’s art gallery and everyone becomes a participant.”

“It’s very easy to be sophisticated and analytical and academic and intellectual and neurotic and totally tangled up in your thoughts and complexes. It’s much harder to get down to the essence of something and sum it up.” -Charles Thomson (English artist, poet, photographer, co-founder of Stuckist art movement in 1999)

Denham Lane Portraits

Commissioned by the Townsville City Council. Two story building on Denham Lane, featuring past and present people from Townsville.

Tamanui suggests, “A successful art piece should have controversy. That wall kind of reflects the ancestry” of the town, including figures that people can look up to. This piece works as “an example of honoring these people who contributed to the collective consciousness of Townsville.”

An interview highlighting this project, including some discussion of his various other works and processes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTk-MMh4imo