Samantha Persons-I am Art Series
Person's Untitled (Reflections of art and the artist in relation to the viewer)
installation view of COMMODITY, COMMOTION, COMMUNICATION.
COMMODITY, COMMOTION, COMMUNICATION-by Samantha Persons is the sort of exhibition that is exhilarating to see in KC. It is an installation that is saturated within a much broader context than just the references made to art history and commercialism. It is an attempt to understand identity, amidst an inhumane capitalism (take our capitalistic notion of economy, instead of sustainable local economies). Persons’ explores the paradox of self. Personal identity, which is ever evolving in a world that could not even define the first decade of the twentieth first century because of the sheer of horror and confusion perpetrated by the very own system we have held dear, is the place of exploration.
Persons’ draws upon found object sculpture (Persons’ is a bit witty like Duchamp) and the abstraction of modernism. This is especially seen within Persons’ paintings such as I am Herstory, I am making History, I am a part of Herstory, I am Fighting History, which reminds one of the Constructivist Abstraction as well as a Dadaist collage. Now image that these modern artistic movements are the infatuation of a modern prepubescent girl who is in the midst of her grand sexual awakening. Gender issues are presented throughout by the use of bright colors, organic lines, mechanical lines, and glitter. Of course, there are the stickers, something which Persons’ is sort of known for employing as symbols of femininity and masculinity: Hello Kitty, SpongeBob, rainbows, etc. There is also the use of the american flag (Persons’ does not capitalize) and money as well, associated with Masculinity, or more specifically corporate America. This is mixed with a truly contemporary installation format that beckons comparisons to Jessica Stockholder’s use of paint drenched found materials and carnival-ish colors. Pieces such as I am a Fake blatantly attack the superficiality of modern existence as well as the idea of kitsch. We see Vermeer’s Milkmaid painted over to only highlight the figure of the woman with the action of pouring milk being removed, as the ultimate statement against objectification. A plastic banana on Styrofoam seems to suggest the absurdity of Andy Warhol, who elevated the phallic shape of a banana into an emblem of commodity.
Spectacular and celebratory as well as critical, Persons’ work is demanding by challenging the viewer to shift from the role of the consumer or the one swallowing the “art pill,” to one taking responsibility for interpreting and activating. To do so, the most activating and engaging part of the exhibition was Persons’ personal collection or “stacks” of reading material that highlighted discussions on Feminism, the history of Painting as well as titles on individual artists. Titles such as The Clash between Islam and Modernism in the West appear especially haunting in this configuration, when confronted by the gigantic american flag pillow you are invited to sit upon. You cannot help but then place yourself outside of the context of art, into a much larger sphere. Is this preoccupation with art within the west only allowed only because we are spoiled and greedy? Is our art experience a direct result of colonialism and if so how do we reject our history or rather accept our history? Freedom of expression in many areas of the east is suppressed or at least the attempt is made to suppress (look at the 2009 election in Iran). To avoid such guilt, to challenge the system, Persons’ suggest that the best resource starts with self-education as a means towards understanding identity and your place within in the world.
In essence, Persons’ work, if it had to be defined, would be labeled Altermodern. The work stands out as Persons’ personal archive but one to be shared within a broader global context. Persons’ work is a reaction against commercialism and the layered contexts of history, which, along with environment, shape and mold the self. For employing the anti-aesthetic, Person’s work is certainly is engaging. But then again, this is about the activation of the mind through an art context, something Duchamp supplied us with. This is Persons’ attempt.
http://samanthapersons.com/
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