Post 3 - Inspiration

\For my final project, the topic I'm going to talk about is the Travel Ban that has been issued in 2017. I'm going to create a baby mobile representing the seven countries that are banned from entering the US. Never making an art project like this, I looked at different artists who have a similar art style to see their messages in their art and how they portray those messages. One of the artists I've looked at is Willie Cole.

Cole is an artist from New Jersey who uses everyday items and transforms them into art. He has used items like steam irons, shoes, bicycles, and more recently, water bottles. He uses his work for activism by creating surrealism in his work and having themes on culture appropriation and pop culture icons. In a conversation he had with an interviewer, he says, "If you think about life on a molecular level, if you break anything down it's all the same particle and made from the same minute energy." On the topic of the materials he uses, he mentions how we are all connected, even if it is on a molecular level. Though the item may not relate to a certain object, he believes that we are all connected.

His art style reminded me of what my plans for my art piece are going to be. The materials for the baby mobile I'm going to make is made of simple materials such as string and wood. For the origami part, it's made of paper. His way of creating an art piece out of everyday items, that don't have to relate to the message he's expressing, is similar to mine. A baby mobile doesn't necessarily correlate with the Travel Ban. To raise awareness to my project, I decided to record myself making the baby mobile and uploading it onto youtube. I will do a voice-over of the document information as I create my project. Youtube has been a very useful platform to spread awareness and have the convenience to upload a video and share it to more platforms.

Another artist I've looked into is Joana Vasconcelos. She is a Portuguese artist that makes many sculptures out of items as well. Her most well-known piece is called A Novia, which translates to The Bride. Its a 20-foot chandelier made of over 14,000 tampons. In her work, she uses themes of appropriation and decontextualization of everyday objects. She's similar to Willie Cole for they both use everyday items to create sculptures. I was very interested in her work when I saw the chandelier. Since my baby mobile will be a hanging piece like A Novia, I wanted to see how she portrayed her message onto her piece. She has other similar pieces on a smaller scale, but her artwork style is something I want to reference to when making my project.