Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Slingshot Out the Valley

My goal with my Honors Art History Senior Thesis was to put a little more local relevance and vitality into my academic pursuits. The end result is a split piece, a 20 minute art journalism video that profiles 3 local artists and contextualizes Salt Lake through the 337 Project. I showcased the work of Margaret Willis, Cein Watson, and Jann Haworth. Each of these artists does amazing work and has a complex relationship to Salt Lake City, together they create a snapshot of a corner of the city's creative field. The project could never be a whole portrait of all the amazing things going on in this city, rather I wanted to get a little more familiar with specific artists than we were able to in Afterimage: The Art of 337.



This video portion is the more consumable side of the thesis. It is expanded upon by the written portion, which delves into the roles of these artists in establishing local identity, the ideas of habitus and global art, and the role of technology in the aforementioned concepts. The paper posits that our interconnectivity is key to pushing great creative endeavors into the cultural limelight, which is mutually beneficial for the artists involved and art consumers both on a local and global level. It warns participants in this hybrid culture against becoming too homogenized in the expansive reach of the internet, and discusses methods artists can employ to maintain individuality while still enjoying the benefits of convergence culture.

Music by Casey Blandford and Alex Haworth

I'll soon have links up to the individual interviews, enjoy!

4 comments:

Esther said...

I love love LOVE Dada Factory videos! Seriously, after watching these, I swell up with pride for not only you guys, but Salt Lake City as a whole! Good job Davey, this was a lot of fun to watch and I really liked the points brought up by the artists about Salt Lake. I'm guessing that if your senior thesis is finished, you don't have much left to do before you're all graduated!!!

Davey D said...

Thanks Esther! It's nice to be loved in SLC. This place is always gettin' better.

Unfortunately I haven't finished the paper yet, that'll be done in 2 weeks. Then I'll breathe easy.

Jill Sheinberg said...

Thanks, Davey. Your mom sent the link to me and I finally got to really watch the video. I like it alot and now will send the link on to some artist friends on the East Coast. I think they will find it very interesting too.

Davey D said...

I'm glad you saw it Jill! I was thinking you'd have some interesting thoughts on it, knowing your relationship to Salt Lake/ New York. Thanks for sending it to interested folks.

Davey

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