1- Who are the 5 artists you chose?
The artists I chose are Trey Abdella, Cao Fey, Michael Rakowitz, Jordan Casteel, and Theaster Gates
2- What were the themes the artists addressed about making work?
A lot of the themes that reoccur is identity, and being part of a community, expressing the value of just being, and cultural history. Using this theme around each of these artists' work gives us a sense of what they see and their perspective on life and how they express themselves in mediums of all types.
Trey Abdella- Abdella explores duality by combining attraction and disgust in his work. He uses a wide range of different mediums and pushes the boundaries of medium. He uses and paints on the surface of found objects, uses interactive elements and creates his images and turns them into a three-dimensional space. Using imagery drawn from everyday American culture, he does this to idealized visions of what the American Dream looks like, which reveals the discomfort and contradictions that lie beneath its glossy surface. It’s like this push and pull tension, it looks inviting but the longer you look at it, the more unsettling it gets.
Cao Fey- She combines themes of reality vs fantasy, showing how people navigate their everyday life and their fantasies. Fey uses roleplay and avatars to illustrate how identity and desire are shaped by real environments and digital spaces. Her project, RMB City, is an artificial island in the world of second life, that resembles a collage of landmarks and chinese landscape paintings.
Jordan Casteel- Casteel uses community as the main theme in her work, using everyday people from the streets of Harlem by capturing them in a moment that often gets overlooked in society. In the video, Casteel talks about how she photographs her subjects on the street to quickly capture a fleeting moment, then spends hours painting in the studio reconnecting that moment. This reflects her commitment to the deeper process of honoring these individuals and their presence.
Michael Rakowitz- Rakowitz explores the themes of decolonization and reclaiming cultural history by recreating artifacts that were stolen from Iraq. In the video, Rakowitz describes how museums in America hold objects and artifacts that were taken from their original cultures and treat them as treasures, not knowing how they got there in the first place. He responds by making paper-mache “ghosts” of those missing objects, using food packaging from the Middle East and everyday materials from there, to haunt these institutions with their absence and question who gets to own their cultural history.
Theaser Gates- Gates theme revolves around memory and cultural archives, he focuses on the idea that collection of objects carry a bit of personal history to them. He gathers together things like entire archives, hardware store inventories, records and everyday materials from Chicago's South Side as a way to track community history that are usually overlooked. His practice shows how transforming found materials reframes what history means and who gets to shape it.
3- What were the challenges the artists faced in making their work?
Trey Abdella- I think his challenge was trying to capture “sweet and disgusting” without one element overpowering the other. He carefully combines playful Americana with unsettling elements like experimenting with crafts and materials and using figures to create tension.\
Cao Fey- Cao’s challenges were bringing virtual worlds and translating them into the physical world. Many of her works involve large groups of performers, dancers, workers, which requires a lot of trust and coordination. There's also the political aspect of the art, working in china sometimes means trying to navigate around censorship.
Jordan Casteel- Trying to capture and photograph subjects on the street then recreate the emotional immediacy in the painting isn't easy to do. The challenge was not only trying to capture the moment but also ensuring that the subjects feel seen and valued, not objectified in the creative process.
Michael Rakowitz- Rakowitz’s challenges were making sure that he did research and was ethically responsible for the artifacts he was recreating that were destroyed and stolen. Using materials like paper and packaging to stand in for highly valued artifacts is risky and physically challenging.
Theaser Gates- Gates greatest challenge was preserving the fragile archives, collecting old magazines, hardware store materials and records requires careful hands so they don't fall apart. Making everyday objects look meaningful can be conceptually challenging, a lot of the items he uses carry historical and cultural significance.
4- What were the inspirations you drew from the artists?
Some of the inspirations that I got from the artists were to just experiment with your materials and what you have. I usually get comfortable with the material I'm used to but I feel if I venture to other mediums, I might find something I truly love working with and maybe incorporate it into my work. Involving my community into my work is something I always wanted to do as well. Having others help me create my vision would not only make me ecstatic but the individuals who helped me put it together will feel proud of being part of the art piece.
5- What were the things you would like to incorporate into your own work after watching these videos?
Some of the things I'd like to incorporate into my own work are virtual worlds and found objects. I already love world-building, like in games such as The Sims and Animal Crossing, so why not turn it into art that reflects my creative voice? I can use these platforms to create an interactive exhibit, like using The Sims to create unique buildings or spaces or using Animal Crossing to create and build insane islands that people can visit. I also love collecting books, artwork, figures and toys. Eventually, I won't use these items and rather than letting them collect dust, I could include them in an exhibit so it can be enjoyed by the public.
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