I am currently putting some idea together for a local art competition.
The competition is call Art prize, you can check out their website at: www.artprize.org for more infor.
Art prize's prize money for the winners is the highest in the world of art.
Artists from all over the world come and contribute.
It is an amazing art competition and art show all together.
The winners are determine solely on the public vote.
So this year I decided to join in the fun and also to express and hopefully also spread a message.
here is my tentative first draft of the proposal of my art work. here you go:
Artist statement:
As I was growing up and my senses maturing, my eyes have been continuing to open up to the chaos and sufferings of this world. I cannot help but be angry and sad, frustrated and upset. I cannot help but wanting to give up the whole of myself for the world and in consequence ease some of the world’s sufferings and also some of my own internal tensions. Even though in my mind I wish desperately to be a selfless person that full of love with nothing else, but deep down I know and admit that I am a human being whom selfishness is my nature. There are sadnesses and guilts within me. Even though I believe that selfishness is inevitable but I also believe that part of our human nature are full of love, dream and passion.
My artworks take place in public where the mass can see, hear, experience and understand. My artworks is interactive. My artworks give each viewer a individual experience as he or she discovers truth from the artworks and also a collective experience since the artworks take place in public with the mass.
To me, art today need to take up the role as the tool of an activist, the sword of a warrior and the voice of the masses. I think that art needs to be more than just an object or a performance, but it need to be a movement, a revolution, a declaration of a stand, a calling to action or even a life style. Arts need to be off the walls, off the stages and come alive in people’s minds and lives to inspirit them to do what is right and what is beautiful. Arts need to bring up conversations that people can take with them throughout their daily life to continue to provoke he or she to thinks deeper about life and the world and such provoking thoughts will turn into fruitful actions with time.
About the work:
Title: A Perfect Human in his Imperfect Habitat
Art form: 2-D, 3-D, Installation, Performing, Interactive
Medium: Mix media
Year created: Not yet finish
Description of work:
The artwork would be a combination of performing art, sculptures, photo documentations, drawings, a video and other kind of 2D documentations.
The art work is a recording or a representation of a social experiment that I will be doing. In this artwork, I am trying to explore the idea that as we humans had built upon ourselves different kinds of habitats all over the world, from small village to big city with skyscrapers and highways, are they good habitat? Are we progressing to be better as our habitat become better suitable for us? One of the aspect that humans are recognized to be distinct from all other living things is their ability to create and build their own habitat to suit their own needs and wants. Human no longer need to learn to find their niche in nature and adapt to the environment like other living things but they now only have to learn how to alter the environment and build their own habitat that suit themselves. There is this notion: for a habitat of human to grow and to advance, it is best through the process of industrialization and modernization. A city is an ideal human habitat according to many human beings. A city like the one i live in is consider by most human beings as one of the better habitat to live in. This is what I want to explore: whether what we human had build for ourselves today, through our own evolution and history, is the best kind of habitat for us? Or had we actually regress and built a habitat that wasn’t good for us? I suspect that the city that humans live in and the social system that human live under is not the a good habitat for us. Many social studies and scientific studies had shown that the cities that we live in is not able to provide us a sustainable way of living. It been proven that it take more than just a change of heart but a change of the system and structure of our city. Even though I have statistics, still I want to answer those question on my own experience.
In this artwork, I try to answer those two questions by conducting a social experiment by living in this humans’ habitat (my city) that we built for ourselves which we, supposed had built with every intension to make humans’ life better and more fulfilling. The focus of this social experiment will be fully on my city which is a blooming city with all the medical researches and business coming in. In this social experiment, I will be trying to live in my city as close as being a perfect human since a perfect habitat should be a place where human can be as best as they can be, where they can come as close as to fulfill their purposes and callings as their human nature would let them. And from what I predicted will be, a very difficult task that it is to live perfectly in this habitat, I will find the answer for if this is a well suited habitat for humans or not.
Also in this social experiment I want to observe how other humans react to the way I will be living. A part of me know that it would be humorous to many as to what I am trying to do and is doing as I know from different studies and resources that the habitat that we built for ourselves is not a good habitat for us. It is a habitat that destroys and degrades. They would think that it is so funny that I am doing all these action and how funny it is that I even try to be perfect here. I want them to think that it is funny that someone would try to be perfect in such a hostile environment where it is so hard to do so. I want them to realize that it is actually not funny that the habitat that we built for ourselves does not enable us to fulfill our purpose and callings. It does nothing but make a human laugh at the notion of trying to be a true human here at this what so called “ideal” habitat of ours.
I believe that a human’s purpose and calling are: live in such a sustainable way that we will do no harm to nature; we will always yearn for truths and knowledges; we will also have a heart full of sympathy and compassion; we will always yearn for love and communal experience; we will also find way to continue to make the world a better place.
Such purpose and calling would place many limits and changes into my old, regular life. I will be trying to life a life of no impact to environment, of curiosity to know the truth, of courage to find the truth, of sympathy to understand other, of compassion to love other, of dream and of revolution to change.
The experiment would require me to live as a homeless as the houses that we live in is full of environmental harmfulness. I have to become a nomad since the habitat that we built for ourselves does not allow me to be an environmental impact free human. If I want to survive, I would be a hurter gatherer in my city, by dumpster diving or be sustainable urban gardener (which I already started to find empty lot and dirt patch in my city’s downtown, planting vegetables and fruits so when the experiment starts, I can reap my own crops.). I would have to gain knowledge in a way that not cause any harm to the environment, which would force me to only gain knowledges and truths from a face to face, mouth to mouth conversation with other humans. I would have to learn how to get to know others and invite other people to get to know me. I have to learn to help other to learn to trust me so that they feel comfortable to let me help them in this world full of lies. I have to find a way continue my friendship and my relationship with my family as I trying to live perfectly with all this new limitations.
Since this habitat that we built for ourselves is not suitable for us to be a true humans, so before the social experiment, I will need to construct and make a special tool kit that would help me to live a life that is as close as a true human being that able to fulfill his purpose. Since with our mainstream, conventional of living and the structure of our habitat in this modern city, it is not a easy task to live as a true human. This tool kit will be the sculpture part of my artwork.
The tool kit will consist all the tools that would help me to survive sustainably, to gain truths and knowledge in a sustainable way, to offer help to others who in need, to connect me with others in a communal way. I will build the tool kit out of some objects that we encounter as trash in the city. Then with such a tool kit, I will start my social experiment by trying to be a perfect human being that can fulfill his purposes and callings with the tool kit that I made for myself. The experiment will last about two to 4 weeks (not yet decided yet). I will be documenting it with video and picture and journals entries.
My tool list:
a custom made cart that carry all my tool
a sleeping bag
some change of cloths
a tent or a tarp to sleep under
a rain water collecting devise
couples container for water or food
a map that I would had made for myself to tell me where my garden of vegetables are, where is the warm air van in the city are, where free water, public bathroom or patch of thick wood, where recycle or wasted paper are for journaling, where the safe place are that i can stay for the night...
a device that help me to go dumpster diving
a sign that I can show outside of the windows of restaurants to ask for left over.
gardening tool as I plant, care and harvest the plantation I will be planting
in downtown.
a sign that invite other to talk to me and teach me something I don’t know
a sign that invite other to come and trust me to be a good listener and tell me their hard times in life
a sign that ask others to bring a sleeping bag and live with me on the street trying to be a perfect human in a imperfect habitat.
a compartment for empty bottles and cans to exchange for money.
a compartment for planting seeding, gardening tools
a compartment
a compartment for garbages, so if i see trash on the street, i can pick it up.
a compartment for compost
a compartment for growing flower
a compartment for all my books and journals
“the book of maps” - a books that has all the information about my habitat, like where is the dumpster, the bathroom, the free water...
“the gardening log book” - a books that has all the information about all the plant that i planted and all the fruit bearing trees that I discover in the city.
“the book of knowledge” - a books that i been carrying with me everywhere I go. With that book, I record different fact or knowledge that people gave me with their signature. I keep the book with me all time and I pass it around so people can learn from others’ knowledge and at the time have the chance to teach other.
The social experiment will last about 2-4 weeks, depends on the situation. The whole time of the experiment, I will always invite people to bring a sleeping bag and join me for a night or two, to try for themselves the difficulties there are to be a true human being in this habitat that we built. I also want them to feel the joy of finally being a true human again. I want to inspirit them.
I will be collaborating with a photographer and couple film makers to make a documentary movie that will also be playing in the space to help farther explain and showcase the social experiment.
The space would be required to have plenty space to park the tool cart and also to display all the tools that I had rely on to survive as a true human in the habitat. There need to be wall spaces that I can display all the 2D documentaries from the preparation of and the experiment itself. I would also need a wall space for projecting the movie.
Work statement:
“A Perfect Human in his Imperfect Habitat” sets out to explores the issue of our man-made habitat in order to examines the progress humans had made. It farther explores the question, if this habitat that human built is truly suitable for a human to be a true human.
“A Perfect Human in his Imperfect Habitat” also dedicated to connects with the viewers in their own habitat. It strives to gets in conversations with humans and gains their reactions. it strives to provoke emotions, thoughts and actions.
What you think? do you have any suggestion and comments?
please comment.
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