I am my mom’s sense of humor, my dad’s drive to make a difference, my sisters’ shoulder to lean on, my brother’s wingman. I am my own worse enemy, the socially awkward girl in class but the life of the party with the familiar. I am too old for my age but too young for the world. I have no idea who I am, but the important thing about me is that I know who I want to become.
My ethnological research topic is on Open Mic Night at the Mustache Cafe or Potbelly’s. Music is my passion. It also scares the shit out of me, it always has. I’ve danced solos in front of hundreds of people, recited poems, been leads in plays; but when it comes to singing a song in front of even just one person I will piss my pants. There’s a deep rooted fear that what I have to say will not be accepted. When I do bring myself to perform the backstage process is a mess. I have intense panic attacks and have been prone to fainting; but once I’m on stage the audience would never know. Thank God for blessing me with a good poker face. I have won multiple singing competitions and have even been a featured artist on a rap track singing the hook, but no matter how many times I perform the battle with in myself never subsides.
That is why I have such utter respect(and envy) for artists who can just get up and perform instantaneously. I plan to observe and interview these artists to see what goes into their emotional thought process before performing their original songs. Fear of rejection rules my mind before shows which cripples my willingness to perform. I want to see if this project can not only help me but also gain a right to consider myself part of the amateur musician community.
The artist I chose to research is Ron Pippin. I googled some of his art work and was really taken aback by a few of his pieces. The theme of his work seems to be centralized around animal figures, almost in a demented disfigured state. His work really grabbed my attention because I am an animal lover and because of personal beliefs I am against hunting; Pippin’s work centralizes around animal death in a sort of mechanical way. He shapes animal figures out of wood and adds a ‘mechanical’ element to it. For example, in one figure there is a jack rabbit in a steel mask pointing out into a beak. It is also wearing a sleet roped harness that entangles one of his front paws. It defiantly portrays a dark feel to the art but it is intriguing. Pippin also gravitizds earthiness and elements of nature in these works. Everything seems to be made of wood, the colors are all muted in either browns or greens as you would see in a forest where these animals naturally live. Ron Pippin’s work actually reminds me a lot of Damien Hirst’s art. They both put an emphasis on animals in an unusual spin. Hirst’s animal art displays animals in a more modern and futuristic sense by putting cows in blue tanks and pink zebras as opposed to Pippin’s forest animals displayed in a more subdued and earthy feel. I am excited to see Pippin’s portion in the upcoming exhibit this Wednesday.
