Sculpture – Post #6

Transgender Sculptures

            A few years ago, sculptor Marc Quinn took on the task of making a life-size sculpture of trans-man Buck Angel. Buck Angel, a female-to-male adult entertainer, has been changing the way America sees trans-individuals for years and the sculpture Quinn made was no different. After seeing the models of Angel, along with others Marc Quinn sculpted, one reviewer (Lauren Romano of Spoonfed.com) had to say this:

It's at once an unexpected ensemble – the risqué sculptures arranged in front of a series of vibrant psychedelic flower paintings – and shocking too. Shocking because the figures I'm confronted with haven't just been conjured up by Quinn in some kind of hormone therapy, plastic surgery, skin bleaching freak show; they are real life people, who really look like this. And have chosen to look like this.

Romano’s words could be taken negatively or positively, but it is apparent that society does not know quite how to feel about Quinn’s work.

            To decide how you personally feel about Quinn’s life-size sculpture of transgender female-to-male adult entertainer Buck Angel, take a look at the following link. Also, feel free to click on “Sculpture – Buck Angel’s Interview (Transgender Topics)” on the right side of the page (under “OUTSIDE RESOURCES”) to see how Buck himself feels about his life growing up and where he is at today with his gender and sexuality.

http://genderqueer.tumblr.com/post/430960616/life-size-scuplture-of-buck-angel-by-marc-quinn

Works Cited

"Genderqueer." Life-size Sculpture of Buck Angel by Marc Quinn... GenderQueer: Beyond the Binaries, 6 Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://genderqueer.tumblr.com/post/430960616/life-size-scuplture-of-buck-angel-by-marc-quinn>.

Romano, Lauren. "Marc Quinn at White Cube, Hoxton Square." Spoonfed. Spoonfed Media LTD., 6 May 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. <http://www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/lauren-romano-8167/marc-quinn-at-white-cube-hoxton-square-2832/>.

Xavier, Francis. "Buck Angel Is Redefining the Way The World Sees Gender and Sexuality." Examiner.com. Clarity Digital Group LLC, 4 May 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. http://www.examiner.com/article/buck-angel-is-redefing-the-way-the-world-sees-gender-and-sexuality.

Sculpture – Post #5

Food For Thought: Female Armor and Sexuality

            While thinking about Wonder Woman and other female superheroes, it is necessary to realize that not only gender stereotypes go into making them who they are today, but also the “norms” of sexuality. Although Linda Stein created her sculptures in a more “covering” manner, this isn’t how all pieces of armor are made—especially those in superhero stories, comic books, manga, and anime. Why? Because sexuality is a tremendous part of today’s society, and it always has been. Typically, females are seen as either the temptresses and/or the individuals that have to “put out” for the masculine individuals who are seen as conquerors and/or the aggressors in the relationship.

            Just a little food for thought, after reading about Stein’s Wonder Woman-inspired sculptures, take a look at this College Humor video that explores the idea of sexuality through female warrior characters. While watching the video, pay close attention to the differences between Stein’s empowering armor that covers the majority of a woman’s body, and the main character’s scandalous armor that doesn’t cover any of her vital organs.

Sculpture – Post #4

Finding the Wonder Woman in Sculpture

            Linda Stein, a lesbian artist born in The Bronx, has struggled her whole life with her sexuality and femininity. Sculpture and the creation of her art exhibit “The Fluidity of Gender: Sculpture” is where Stein has truly explored the aspects of both her own life and the gender stereotypes in American society.

            In her exhibit, Stein shows a variety of metal female bodies, many of which display masculine qualities. According to Stein, in an article by Noelle Brooks in The Colonnade, “A girl doesn’t have to be nailed down to behaving a certain way to be feminine, and a man doesn’t have to be nailed down either to be masculine. There should be more fluidity.” Stein pushes, through her work, the idea of a fluid gender—that both men and women should be allowed to express typically “masculine” and typically “feminine” attributes. Stein is later quoted saying, “the definition of gender is constantly changing, moving away from gender stereotypes. It’s becoming much more fluid, it’s getting better.” Although Stein is right in the fact that gender stereotypes have bent a bit—it is now socially acceptable for women to wear jeans and for men to wear tighter-fitting pants that give them a more womanly figure—it is still unclear whether or not these gender stereotypes are actually “getting better.”



Figure A



            In many of Stein’s sculptures, she depicts women as the savior, over the damsel in distress. Wonder Woman (Figure A), a popular American superhero, helps Stein create many of her works because she “represents the possibility of strength no longer being simply a male attribute, but something that can transcend both genders.” But before we can explore Stein's work we need to stop and examine the idea of Wonder Woman herself. First appearing in a 1941 All Star Comics book, she has since been published almost non-stop by DC Comics as a muscular, large-chested woman in what is primary a bathing suit with high boots and a princess crown to keep back her long, flowing hair. Yes, it is a step in the right direction to have such a powerful woman superhero, but as a society are we really doing gender stereotypes any good with her depiction? As far as gender stereotypes go, Wonder Woman is no more than an independent, strong sexual figure for men to enjoy and women to emulate.



Figure B



            So how does this connect to Stein’s sculptures? Let’s take a look at her sculpture entitled W 629 (Figure B). The figure is, primarily, a woman with a wooden head and a metal body, but with one major difference—her stomach is taken up by a large shield with Wonder Woman’s emblem on it. As a viewer, it is necessary to take a critical eye to the placement of such an important aspect of Stein’s work. Why did she decide to put this symbol of power in the area of the uterus? Since Stein believes she is reclaiming the concept of a female hero, the placement may suggest the idea of women becoming the heroes of their own bodies, especially of what makes them innately “female.” On the other hand, viewers of Stein’s artwork may see this in a more negative light. Depictions of Wonder Woman show her wearing skimpy clothing and by placing her symbol over the figure’s uterus, Stein may be referring to the fact that in society today even though a woman shows power and tries to push forward, she is always pulled back by the idea that childbearing is the main “use” of a female.

            Either way, I feel that Stein is doing her best to push against gender stereotypes through the use of both sculpture and a popular American figure: Wonder Woman. The fact that there aren’t more female superheroes like her means a couple of things. First, that society has not broken far enough away from gender stereotypes to make any considerable difference. Second, Wonder Woman in of herself is a very influential character. And third, we—as a society—need to work harder to change this stereotype of the “sexy superhero” (Figure C) and make females a more prevalent body in the realm of strong, independent heroes. With Stein’s help, we were able to see just how much influence gender stereotypes around women has on the art world, society, and women in general. Although society is moving slowly into a more “fluid” state when it comes to gender roles and stereotypes, our work’s not done yet. Next time you’re surfing the web aimlessly during your lunch break or between classes, take a moment to type “superheroes” into your search engine of choice and realize just how few females are represented, along with how they are represented, and are decide for yourself: have gender stereotypes really changed?

Figure C

Works Cited

Brooks, Noelle. "The Fluidity of Gender: Sculpture." The Colonnade. Georgia College & State University, 20 Oct. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <http://www.gcsunade.com/2011/10/20/the-fluidity-of-gender-sculpture/>.

Stein, Linda. "Sculpture -- Linda Stein." Linda Stein. Calligraphy Studios, Inc., 2003. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <http://www.lindastein.com/gallery/index.php?s=sculpture>.

"Wonder Woman." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman.

Sculpture Post #3

Massachusetts Sculptor Challenges Stereotypes

            Looking around, I found an interesting article about the Charlotte Fine Arts Show where a sculptor named Michael Alfano exhibited his work. This event, held October 9-10 2010, displayed many different types of sculpture, pottery, paintings, and more, but it was Alfano’s work that really brought in the crowds.

            Alfano, who studied at the Art Students League of New York and then at Boston University, has worked on various public monuments such as a variety of Holocaust memorials and sculptures “of Hope” for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. However, Charlotte’s Fine Arts Show displayed Alfano’s work for its stereotype-bending ideas.  According to the QNotes article, Alfano explained that he is “obsessed” with the human form because it “captures our attention and speaks to us dramatically.”

Figure A

One of his most striking pieces of artwork is a sculpture he calls “And/Or” (See Figure A) where he explores the idea that “every person is on a spectrum of male and female attributes” and that “equality…is one of many issues he finds important.” Alfano is right and it is not hard to see through his artwork that Alfano knows what he’s talking about. Gender roles and stereotypes have caged society and “And/Or” is just one depiction of the greater problem; the fact that even though every individual consists of both stereotypical male and female characteristics, we are condemned within our society for showing these “other” sides of our selves.

Figure B

Through a bit more research of Alfano and his work, I discovered another sculpture that truly grasps onto the idea of stereotypes in sculpture. Cubed (see Figure B) delves into the idea of racial differences in society and how although each piece of his “sculptural puzzle” is of a different ethnic background, he understands that together it builds a full human being. We may all look different, but we are the same at our core. Another aspect of Cubed that garners a lot of attention is the fact that on the back of this racially diverse male portrait is another racially diverse female portrait. This allows viewers to see that it does not matter what gender or race a person is, everyone is the same deep down.

Now that you have learned a bit about Alfano and the background behind Cubed, take a look at this four-minute long You Tube clip showing all of the variations possible with Alfano’s “sculptural puzzle” along with quotes from Alfano himself talking about his feelings on the issues behind the sculpture.

Works Cited

Alfano, Michael. "Cubed by Michael Alfano." YouTube. YouTube, 09 Feb. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaUQosmkKPo>.

Alfano, Michael. "Monuments and Other Public Art." Monuments & Public Art by Michael Alfano. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. <http://www.malfano.com/monuments.html>.

DeVere, Tyler. "Sculptor Challenges Stereotypes, Gender Roles at Charlotte Fine Arts Show." QNotes. Pride Publishing & Typesetting, Inc., 2 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. http://goqnotes.com/8639/sculptor-challenges-stereotypes-gender-roles-at-charlotte-fine-arts-show/.

Graphic Design Post #4

Graphic Design 

Post #4

Women in the Graphic Design Work Force

          I wanted to post a link to this article on the Just Creative blog. "7 Female Graphic Designers That’ll Rock Your Socks Off"shows some of the most famous work from some of the most famous female graphic designers in the world. It was very interesting to see this article because, unfortunately, there are very few profession female graphic designers even though there are usually high numbers of female graphic design students. Surprisingly, only about 3% of of creative directors are female ("Love Swah"). This blog also exhibits female graphic designers which were found by scouring social websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Seeing blogs like this makes me hopeful for women who choose to enter this competitive career field.


-- Sammy McCracken

Works Cited 

"Some Thoughts on the Gender Inequality in Graphic Design." Love Swah. N.p., 13 Jul 2011. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://www.loveswah.com/2011/07/some-thoughts-on-the-gender-inequality-in-graphic-design/>.

Graphic Design Post #3

          

Graphic Design 

Post #3

Sexual Graphic Art in Advertising

          While scouring the web for other blogs that have an interest in sharing sexuality and graphic design, I found this blog called The Dot. It is very interesting to see how sexuality has been booming in advertisements recently and how far advertisers will go! One of the most interesting ones, I think, is number 10. Graphic design artists created a stamp which has been placed on benches at a local bus stop. Whenever someone sits on the bench with exposed skin, the stamp gets nicely imbedded into their exposed areas and they are forced to walk around with the embarrassing text until their skin recovers. Another one that I felt was pushing the envelope between public pornography and public advertisement was number 12: Victoria's Secret. Now, this franchise has been displaying their products sexually from the beginning, which half naked woman dotting their stores and graphic ads, but I haven't seen anything like this yet. If you have a smartphone, which I'm sure many Americans do, you can just simply scan the code on the advertisement and poof! Suddenly, the woman's sexy lingerie is fully visible on your phone! I think this have definitely gone too far... Number 20 of part 2 in also quite interesting. I'm not sure if the graphic designers intentionally had a sexual innuendo in this piece, but the author of the blog sees it. It's concerning how prevalent sex has become in society's advertising.


-- Sammy McCracken

Sexism and Racism in the Film Industry

            Sexism and racism are two prominent forms of discrimination in the film industry and while progress is starting to be made more steadily by women and minorities it has not always been that way. One example of both sexism and racism is that it took from the time the Academy Awards began in 1929 until 2002 when Halle Berry became the first African American to win the award for Best Actress almost 75 years after the awards began while Sidney Poitier was the first African American to win Best Actor in 1963. While this is one example there are many others including the fact that an Asian Woman has never won the Best Actress. Only one Asian woman has ever been nominated for that category, Merle Oberon in 1935 who hid her racial background for years to avoid racism. The first American woman to be nominated for Best Director was Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation while the first woman to win in that category was Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker taking over 80 years for this award to be given to a woman. So although it has taken a while to get where we are progress is being made to lessen and eliminate this problem although it may never be removed completely.