Project Statement Joe Gardner

New Life
The theme of this project is new life. The shape of this object is organic, all surfaces curved. The shape of this object suggest an egg shape, or maybe the shape of a seed or fruit. After Robert Rauschenberg was discharged from the Navy he attended art school, then went to Paris in 1948 where he met Susan Weil. They were married from 1950 to 1952 and had a son together in 1951, Christopher. It is this phase of Rauschenberg's life that I wish to explore with this project, as I do not believe there is any sound evidence that Rauschenberg and Johns were lovers. I believe that some are interpting that relationship in light of their own feelings. The exterior of the object is dull white, because marriage between a husband and wife is the common practice in our society. I would also like to point out that Rauschenberg produced a set of works, the white paintings, that were only white paint on canvas. The interior is red, the color of passion. Pick the object up, it weights 7 pounds. Un-SCREW the top, there are male threads and female threads, it takes both for the top to work. There are 7 threads per an inch, the 7 year itch is said to be rooted in our biology, in our caveman days it took 7 years for a child to become self-suficient. The object is filled with rice, a symbol of fertility and prosperity, which makes guest active participants in the wedding ceremony. I believe that while a single parent can raise children a husband and wife can in most cases do a better job much easier, that goes for any other form of life-sharing.

Hope Chest Intentions
Iwould like to make a hope chest in the shape of an egg, which symbolizes new life. I would like to make it out of wood which is a organic material. I would make a hatch in the top through which one could gain acess. the interior would be plush symbolizing the pressiousness of life, this project would have a straight perspective which suites me.

ART EVENT TALK ABOUT JOHN BALDESSARI BY HEATHER MEQUIRE
John Baldessari's works critique society enriching us in the process. Baldessari has been painting for forty years after he worked with a class of challenged young men and discovered that they had an interest in art.
The main focus of this presentation was the work Blasted Aleogories, a piece that is divided into 6x6 frames and has a diagonal line crossing it. Each of these frames had a word that had some meaning to the artist painted on it. Baldessari believed that words and images were interchangeable. It was difficult to get a good look at the frames due to the nature of the presentation, it would nice to study the frames in detail. Baldessari's work was in the Neo-Dada style which reemerged in 1951 appropriating material from popular culture. Baldessari broke many of the rules with his work. This was an interesting presentation but I think it would be better if it were presented at the gallery that shows his work so that it can be studied in detail.

The first thoughts I have after reading the article about Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg is that the claim that Rauschenberg is the most important artist in the 20Th century after Picasso is pretty far fetched. If R is so important then how come I've never heard of him, I have run across Andy Warhol's name thousands of times. Rauschenberg (R) and Johns (J) are described as being Neo-Dada, pop, or junk artist. It seems that R and J denied that they were a couple. That might be attributed to the homophobic attitude of that time but there seems to be no solid evidence that these two were lovers, and they ended their relationship after six years, not a long time. Much of this article deals with their rebellion against Abstract Expressionism, the Cedar Bar was a gathering place for artist in New York in the fifty's, the A-E's were a macho bunch and to be gay was not sanctioned. The cause of their break-up seems to be conflict between them due to J's more being more successful.
The BBC article Queers and Marriage presents the pros and cons of marriage for the Gay community and our society as a whole. I don't agree with this author's vision of society. I don't agree with gay marriage or some Mormon in Utah's right to live in a cave in the mountains and have three twelve year old girls as wives, I think of marriage as limited to a man and woman only. All of these other combinations of life-sharing are not good for the raising of children. I believe that marriage is like democracy, not perfect but much better than any other system.
The article on Freedom to Marry Day had some complaints from couples wishing to marry but since the number of gay people wishing to marry is probably less than five percent of the population I don't believe enough people care about this issue, they are worried about paying their mortgage and their electric bill.