Project #5 Books!

The Cabin  

105 Mountain View Calpine CA 91624

For project 5, I’ve chosen to for my GIS place the cabin my grandfather built for my family in Calpine, California. This is a special place because not only did it take him about ten years to build it, but he died shortly after completing it. I do not have many memories of my grandfather, who my sister and I called Papa. He died when I was five. But the cabin has become a sort of shrine for him. It is filled with paintings and woodworks that he created and the wooden duck collection he started in his early twenties. My grandparents had what many would call a whirlwind romance. Originally, the cabin was going the place my grandparents retired, but Papa had a heart attack and died in his sleep. My grandmother or Tutu as we call her, has a hard time staying at the cabin now. She says there are too many memories there.

The cabin has become a place my family has used to get away for a quick vacation. It’s located in the in a small town called Calpine, which is just outside Portola, California and thirty-minute drive from Reno. The area is filled with pine trees and is a little rustic. But Calpine is a peaceful place that stays cool in the summer and the winter is filled with sledding and skiing.  My mother and her sisters grow up in Calpine until my mom was five and the family moved to Reno. Papa and Tutu owned a construction and gravel pit in that area up until he died.  

343 Project #4 Voodoo Doll

Voodoo Media Doll

    Voodoo Media Doll is a response to the reading Propaganda-Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. The body of the doll is stamped with the words news and media meant to represent the visible people in the media. People like news anchors and producers. The suit represents the special interest or parent companies that control an agenda. Finally the pins and fabric are meant to represent the process and scrutiny facts or important information goes through to be considered media or news worthy. My intention was to create a interactive doll that would allow the viewer to play with it to discover the what was stamped on the body. However, unforeseen circumstances had me changing my idea to allowing the audience to try and stab the “facts” through to the fabric of the special interest clothes.

Knowledge Center Special Collection of Books

This piece is called Conexus. It is a collaboration exhibition between thirty-two female artist from Brazil and the US. This project, according to the online description, is a letter-writing project intended to gather information and explore the relation between art and culture that take place in each location. This project was created in 1986, making it a unique perspective of women from a generation before my own.

What draw me to the piece was the contrast between the dark red, light cream and black colors. I find this particular color pallet to be pleasing. The picture in the way the book is set up is also really interesting. The separating of the larger book into the small context was great because it lessened the impact and made it more agreeable.