Final Performance-Blind

For my final performance, I sat blindfolded for three hours. I painted 3 paintings in this time the way I normally paint when I am at home- with my hands.

Now, one may think that this is an easy task and can be done regularly. But to be blind is extremely difficult. Not only did I have to place the paints in a strategic order, but I also had to remember that order, as well as keep them in that order by counting, feeling, hoping, and memorization. Now this is a fear for me, due to the fact that I already have bad eyesight. Without my glasses don't expect me to see who you are until your up close. As i get older I notice my eyesight getting worse and worse and I always say that it would be my luck to wind up blind in 30 years or something. This negative thought got me thinking. As an artist, what would it be like for me to create? How hard would it be? What would they look like? So this performance in which I faced my fear was a perfect time for me to figure this out. My method of working was to keep finding the edges of the paper and to feel around to where I had already applied the paint. It was also based on A LOT of memory as to what color I just put down and what shape I made with it. It would up being a challenge, but in the end I was so grateful that I was able to take that blindfold off.

Artist Critique

LIAnn sat on a towel on the ground in-between Cannon and Baressi. She was armed with a box of clementines and a book. In her statement she said she was going to eat the entire box (about 20) of clementines within the 3 hours provided. As we approached LIAnn, it looked as though she was just having a little picnic in the sun. But as we got close my mind shifted gears. She had already ate a lot of the box, and was spelling a word. What was the word going to be was all I wondered. She was not allowed to speak to any of us, so as we walked around her, she kind of reminded me of an animal in a cage at a zoo- on display. This made me think hard about the reason of her performance. Although i saw that her reasoning was to exemplify the "concepts of consumption and excess", I saw it almost as a critique on us as humans, always putting others on display (especially the famous). But her idea to me, goes along with what I thought because when people are put on display it usually is way too much, which reminded me of her consumption of all 20 clementines.

Performance Proposal

I, Samantha Sloan will be outside ACROSS from the front of harder (where the construction is) on the grass, (or in the Cohen studio if it rains) painting blind for three hours on friday. I will be blindfolded. I will have 3 pieces of paper, one for every hour to complete what I think is a painting. The paint will originally be lined up ROY G BIV, but I cannot be told what paint is what if i move them back to the wrong spot.

I cannot take off the blindfold for any reason.

I cannot be told what colors are what.

I will have to feel around the paper to create a piece of art.

No breaks for food or bathroom.

a special thanks to Chip who will be documenting the three hours with pictures.

(facing a fear)

We were trying to convey a day in the life of a student. It starts out with the idea of a dream; then going to a morning with the character waking up from the dream.

"In Motion"-10 second sound clip

10 second sound piece.
i used various sounds of the cars and movement of boots on a staircase
my goal was to portray movement through sound.

Kinetic Project- 'Aquavision'

Paul and I created a fish tank in which the tank would feed the fish.

The idea of it being in a television was symbolic to the fact that we are separated from nature. Things like television (many times) are the closest accounts one has to traveling and viewing nature first hand and we played around that idea of real life behind the screen, not pixels.

There is a motor at the top right of the screen (on the inside) which spun very slowly by gears and there was a cup with a hole which would spill out some food to feed them slowly, as to not overfeed and kill them. The chains are representative of everything that holds us back from truly being one with nature.

Cardboard Automata- FANCY CATS!

So this is my cardboard Automata. i made 2 reciprocating motion cranks, one for each cat.

special thanks to my friend Sara for writing the awesome poem about my cats which i incorporated into my piece. enjoy!

My Personal Record Of Time

To record time, i counted my footsteps.

thinking i should make it more interesting i also counted the amount of times i went up/down a staircase and sat down and interacted with someone while walking- (ex. smiled, waved).