{"id":45,"date":"2022-03-04T18:15:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.art111.jenniferruvalcaba.dcreate.domains\/blog\/?p=45"},"modified":"2022-03-20T20:35:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T20:35:09","slug":"critical-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.art111.jenniferruvalcaba.dcreate.domains\/blog\/uncategorized\/critical-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We were assigned with creating 3 collages that would later turn into GIFs. My first collage arose from concepts and theories presented in my Africana class, AFR 233 \u2013 Surveillance in Black Literature. More specifically it was regarding Simone Browne\u2019s conceptualization of Dark matter and surveillance and Katherine McKittrick\u2019s theory of demonic grounds. To quickly summarize each one, McKittrick\u2019s theory of demonic grounds discusses the relationship between space, Black histories, and people to the creation of geographies. She situates geography as a man-made thing that is done through the act of socialization and the establishment of meaning while breaking down those who are seeable versus unseeable and the spaces that are geographic and the un-geographic.[1]<\/sup><\/a> Simone Browne\u2019s concept of dark matter arises from the contention between the existence of Black bodies in space while their social existences are rendered as invisible and unseen to select groups while being the focus of surveillance.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My second two were collages that seemed fun to put together while pushing me to utilize different tools within photoshop. From here, I decided that I wanted to expand on my first collage by adding more color, figures, and shapes that would lead to an easier analysis and provide clarity within the discussion that I wanted to spark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hence, I added a layer that traced over the eyes from the original collage with different colors to symbolize law enforcement (blue), the white gaze (white), and violence (red). At this time, I still needed a figure. So, I created three silhouettes with a similar posture but with different colors: white, gray, and dark brown. The color of the figures may be evident to their symbolic message but if they are not white represents white individuals, gray represents some who is ambiguous, and dark brown represents people of color. The last two aspects that were added were eyelids and beams of light. I wanted the ability to show that surveillance and privacy are racialized. In other words, white individuals do not go through the same surveillance and violation of privacy as people of color do. To showcase this, I imagined the eyes being able to open and \u2018turn on\u2019 (color is visible) when someone who is not white appears and close when someone who is white is there. In addition, I wanted to make sure that the act surveillance is targeted and intentional, so I added beams of light that were directed to the darker figure. This is similar to the artist Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, and Ai Weiwei and their piece \u201cHansel and Gretel\u201d where they explore public space and surveillance. They understand and unpact the dangers of surveillance as they state, “Public space, because of surveillance, is much more dangerous than we thought it was. That metaphor, their name for it, Hansel & Gretel<\/em>, is kind of perfect, because the idea is that Hansel and Gretel live next to a forest that they probably played in every day.\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The GIF above was the first one that was put together to function as a GIF. But with some helpful critique and advice for improvement, I made two more versions. The second version has major differences from the first version regarding the way that the beams are drawn and the manner which the concentration of color is applied to the beams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This change was inspired by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Lozano is a Mexican artist who concentrates his work within the \u201cintersection of architecture and performance art\u201d by making platforms that are open for public participation and interaction through their technological aspects.[4]<\/sup><\/a> More specifically, I was focusing on his 2019-piece, \u201cBorder Tuner.\u201d This piece uses beams as functional aspect of the art installation: bridges conversations between those in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.[5]<\/sup><\/a> While I am using beams to communicate something completely different, I found that his direct beams coming from a specific center may be a beneficial application to my piece. I say this because it allows the viewer\u2019s eye to travel smoother to the silhouette showing the concentration of surveillance on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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