Exercises for Rebel Artists: Pages 39-53

I had to read the section that begins part 1 of the book. The objective is for hands-on physical and perceptual exercises. My section was the physical warm-ups and stretching. It is suppose to get participants' blood and energy flowing. To sweat. The first one is the monkey-breathing dance.This is used to increase focus within the group and continue building energy. It is used to recognize the behavior of animals. Then there is walking in the dark. This is to get familiar with the the space around you and your peers. The second part is forming communities in the darkness. This is to form trust and group awareness. Running blind is an ancient exercise for trust. The section I had to read discusses many techniques to build trust and connection through group members. This is great for exercise and bring a connection to those around you. It works you out and brings you closer to group members.

Exercises for Rebel Artists: Pages 1-9

I had the introduction for the EFRA book that was assigned. The introduction talks about the "Pocha method". Guillermo talks about perceiving US colleges and universities to be sophisticated. The author sees the college campus as a reservoir for thought rather than a place of laboratories. The author talks about facing "philosophical vertigo". The author talks about the beginning of the disregard for art and the voice of critical artist. This was during the early 1900s and began the mid 1900s new era of art. The author discusses going into to teaching in academia. With the idea of performance pedagogy. The author addresses the new generations of students whose lives are surrounded by technology. Never knowing what it is like to go without a computer or phone. Everything given to you automatically. The author takes students and artists on a journey to understand one another and figure out each other. This is what the introduction is about.

Exercises for Rebel Artists: Pages 20-29

Fig conceptual artist: Chip lord and Gomez Pena 

Participants- Props 

1. Go to performance art supply stores 
2. Ex, weapons medical instruments, and prosthetic
3. Costumes are vital as well.

Rest-

1. groups will do long stretches 
2. tea, coffee, and water will be served 
3. replenished by the producer 

Visitors-

1. visitors must be planned 
2. encourage a creative session open to the local arts

Pocha workshops

Attraction of multiple communities-

1. Groups will be electic.
2. 26 people is a common number in a group.

Workshops are intense and bizarre-

1. any discomfort must be discussed straight away
2. vulnerabilities will inevitable surface at one point during the workshop.
3. no judgement,

Importance of autonomy and performance goals-

1. labor is divided 
2. responsibility to themselves 

Humor and Discipline-

1. humor is a vital element in the workshop 
2. fine line between irreverence and discipline. 

Foster punctuality and commitment-

1. arriving on time consistently
2. do not tolerate dilettantism.

Alternative healing-

1. exercise allows individuals to confront issues they have 
2. Help cross new borders.

Physically strenuous-

1. responsibility to inform partners strengths and weaknesses 
2. must regain energy before doing next movement.

Performance sketchbooks- 

1. Diary of thoughts 
2. record images and actions.

Collaborative creations-

1. product based workshop
2. there is no ownership
3. everyone is involved and ideas are shared. 

Exercises for Rebel Artists: Pages 10-19

1. Aims and motivations of a Pocha Nostra performance workshop
1. To help develop and strengthen performers
2. To create communities for rebel artists of all ethnic backgrounds, ages, genders, and nationalities
3. To develop new models for relationships between artists and communities, mentor and apprentice, which are neither colonial nor condescending
4. To discover new ways of relating our bodies
5. To raise crucial questions
6. To empower participants as individuals
2. Identifying and Preparing the space
1. Space
1.  It is determined by the number of participants.
2. Make sure there is enough space that artists don't feel crowded or constantly run into others
2. Lighting
1. It is one of the most crucial parts. 
2. Make sure the light is equal to the amount of participants and the amount of space
3. Sound
1. Space needs a good quality sound system
4. Costume
1. It is important to make a list of every prop and/or costume needed in advance
2. Do not rush or stress about costume. (It shouldn't be another worry to add to your list)

What is Modern and Contemporary Art?

Modern  Art and Contemporary Art

1. Modern Art 
• 1860s-1960s
• Modernism:
• Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract expressionism
• All things since the early renaissance.
• Social, Cultural, technological, and political developments.
• Industrialization and Urbanization were significant factors in influencing art.
• photography, film, and new styles were being created.
• Art movements were prominent in modern art.
• Late 1960s created different and more provocative types of art.
• Experimental art was a prominent practice.
• This then led to the popularity in art based events.
• Modernism whenever an artist used a new technique that would create a "modern" style.
• Modern vs. Modernism
• One is of the current fashion and the other respectively is the type of style in the era of modern art.
• Modernism Rules
• specific time and place created, medium it was made of, how it was made.
2. Contemporary Art
• 1970s-Present
• Art made by living artists
• Theory and idea driven.
• Post-Modernism
• Contemporary art is an idea that must be explored individually.
1. Contemporary Art: Whatever that means
• A different technique must be created for a different age of artist.
• Seen as an image that provokes the mind.
• Contemporary art is most seen as a way to break the current rules of art.
2. Themes in Contemporary Art
• Participation
• Linked by the collective action and shared ideas
• Site/Place
• The location of where art is created is significant.
• Cinematic
• Moving images have become a common use.
• Medium
• What is used to create the art.

What is Drawing?

1. Methods and Methodologies
• Intention of the What Is program:
• provide background and contextual information.
• promote information sharing
2. Drawing
• Introduction:
• Modern and contemporary art.
• Painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, video and performance.
• Artworks range across types of media and genres.
• What is Drawing?
• An idea that is always changing and advancing.
• An attempt to make sense of the surrounding environment.
• Materials in order to draw may change, but the idea is constant.
• Society states that drawing for a career is reserved for those with the most skill. 
• Drawing is one of the founding fathers equivalent of art techniques that communicate ideas.
• Art is seen throughout history to express emotion, faith, and ideas.
• The production of paper increased the ability to draw.
• Drawing is essential in the process of painting and sculpture and was involved with the Avant-Garde movement.
• Cubism, Dada, Suprematism, and Constructivism.
• Drawing was not always a still image, but a story to be told.
• Drawing advanced at the same rate technology advanced.
• A Continuous Incompleteness
• Drawing is not one set definition, but many ever-changing meanings.
• Drawing is not always visual.
• Specific traits to drawing
• DRAWING IS SUBJECTIVE.
• No single form of "good drawing".
• Good drawing is derived from the current time.
• What is being done in drawing?
• Drawing does not belong to one strict discipline.
• Drawing is an art form that has influenced in many careers.

What is Installation Art? What is Conceptual Art?

          The First Article was about "What is Installation Art". "What is Installation Art" is the fifth in a series of talks and booklets which aim to provide a general introduction to key concepts and themes in Contemporary Art. It represents the inherent problems and contradictions in attempting to outline or summarize a wide-ranging, constantly changing and contested sphere of both art theory and practice. Installation Art is characterized by the incorporation of the SITE or space of display into the artwork. Installation Art has helped the progression of technology, especially video and film. The Store was started and it was a collection of typical saleable objects rendered in papier-mache, such as a dress and decorative ornaments. The Store marked the displacement of studio that occurs in installation practice as the work is definitively constructed at the location of its presentation.
          In an age defined by paradigms of mobility when potential to journey seems evermore widely available, artists are increasingly nomadic and virtual travel re-characterises the geography of social networks, the desire for physical spaces where contemplative, confrontational and participatory spectatorship can occur is peculiarly constant.

            The Second Article is about "What is Conceptual Art". This texts provides a a brief overview of Conceptual Art. Conceptual Art refers to a diverse range of artistic practice from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, where emphasis was placed on the concept or idea rather than a physical art project. It emerged during a period of social, political, and cultural upheaval in the 1960s. Conceptual Art is hugely influential, considered by some to be the turning point from Modern to Contemporary Art practice. Conceptual Art is not about forms or materials, but about ideas and meanings. The term conceptual art has become one of the most used terms for works such as, broad spectrum of experimental artworks and practices that develope from the 1960s onward.