1416 by melisa james

STATEMENT:

March 16, 2010

MEDIUM:

paper, acrylic paint, appointment cards, funeral images and glue.

1416

the title to my work for this project is 1416. this title represents the number of days that my father has been dead. as of today it has been 1416 days. this project is a reflection of my feelings from the first year after his accident. he was killed on the highway riding his motorcycle.

when i started greif counseling it was not a conscious decision to save my appointment cards. i just tucked them away into a cubby in my car after every visit and forgot about them. after about a year i noticed that i had a good amount of cards, at that point i decided to continue saving them for an art project. having no idea what or when this project would reveal itself to me, i just continued tucking the cards into the cubby. it has now been almost four years.

in this piece i have decided to only represent the first year after the accident. the book is broken down into months january through december. my father passed away in april, but i did not seek professional help until the following january. each month is represented by the appointments i had. i did not realize until i did this project that i attended a session just about every other day the month of october. october is the month he was born. the back side of the book represents the repetition in my thought and inability to focus on anything else in my life. i was completely consumed with the grief.

SECOND ASSIGNMENT: Transformation

our second assignment of the semesteer is to take an everyday object and transform it to create a new meaning. the object i have chosen for this project is the penny. the following images have been very insperational to me throught out my creative process. you will find my finished work following the other artists images.

pen·ny

   [pen-ee] noun, plural pen·nies, (especially collectively for 2, 3 ) pence

–noun

1.

a bronze coin, the 100th part of the dollars of variousnations, as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UnitedStates; one cent.

SARAH MORPETH

This is an artist book titled, “I Know Where I Am Going” by Sarah Morpeth. “I find inspiration in my obsession with British films of the Forties, in poetry, philosophy, science fiction and stories. I am also addicted to stationery - to labels, tags and postcards. Visually the imagery I use often comes from nature and the landscape that surrounds me. I find there is usually a considerable conceptual aspect to what I do - but I don’t need it to be obvious to the viewer. I value not only the conceptual but also skill in making and aesthetic qualities.” Beautiful work. Makes me want to break out the scissors and scalpel.

VANESSA BONET AND KASEY MCMAHON

Vanessa Bonet and Kasey McMahon made their collaborative debut as “Psycho Girlfriend’ in 2004. They have combined their creative ideas into a unique medium that focuses on “wearable art” pieces made from unusual materials.

DAN STEINHILBER

All of Dan Steinhilbers works are untitled, but not unrecognizable, as he works with a wide variety of easily accessible everyday objects. Steinhilber's signature media mix involves the combination of plastics (tubing, bubble wrap, bags, etc.) with liquids (soda pop, duck sauce, dish soap, etc.).

C. GERHARDT

transforming the female standard

At c.gerhardt we make visual art from everyday objects and experiences. We use our finds in non-traditional ways. We mull over unanticipated behaviors and present our concepts as relaxed environments where humor is a serious element.

DAVID HAMLOW

The igloo above seems to be made mainly out of newspapers, paper cups and plastic sheets, creating a surprisingly homogenous white-to-pastel colour scheme. This project was contributed by artist David Hamlow and others at the Art Shanty Projects 2006. This annual, 5-week public art installation uses a frozen lake as an open-air gallery.