Cover Letter for my Capstone Project
I struggled in the beginning of the Capstone Project process because it was difficult narrowing down my topic. I started with the topic of activism, however, I wanted to bring in interdisciplinary aspects. That is where I came up with the idea of researching the intersection of activism and art. What makes art such a powerful tool for expressing activism? And how does that creativity manifest itself on a literal or metaphorical canvas? I chose the topic of female oppression and feminism because it is a subject half if not most of us can relate to. And once I figured out that I wanted to create my own piece of activist art as my Capstone Project, I hit the ground running creating a dance. First, I choreographed a few phrases to give myself a foundation on which to form a dance. Then I decided to choreograph to a spoken word poem instead of a song, which led me to Blythe Baird’s "Pocket-Sized Feminism." Her words gave me the inspiration to fill in the gaps in my choreography, rounding out the dance into one cohesive performance.
Artist Statement
People use art as an outlet to express activism because sometimes it is often hard to put one’s thoughts and beliefs into words. These artists decide to express their most vulnerable, passionate, and intense emotions behind the thought through music, dance, visual art, etc.
My topic is activist art. What it is, how it affects us, why it affects us, and why people choose art to express activism in the first place. It is often difficult to conceptualize activist art because activism and art have different roles in society. Activism is the action of challenging power. It does not always mean going to protests, it can mean anything including “organizing a child care collective among parents in one’s neighborhood.” Art is more complicated, for it is never clear what the art is for or against. Its purpose, however, is to evoke feeling and emotion.
I researched various well-known examples throughout history including artwork done during the gay rights movement in the 1960-70s and songs written in protest of the Vietnam War. Paintings and music are common and easy-to-find examples of activist art, but I want to use my Capstone Project as a way of exploring the effect of activism-centered choreography. I have started to choreograph a dance surrounding a theme of the oppression of women throughout history. Each movement will have a deeper, metaphorical underlying message to it, a message that I hope I will be able to portray for my audience.
The dance begins with the heel of my hand pushing my head around, symbolizing both the frustration of women and the powerful hand of the patriarchy controlling our every move. The arms I wrap around myself are the bonds of societal pressures and expectations that I then throw off myself. The following movement is meant to resemble the motion of being shot, a tribute to the women around the world who put their lives at risk for simply speaking up. However, I do not fall all the way to the ground because women have proven that they never give up fighting for their rights even in the face of danger. The dance continues similarly.
In the video of my dance, I made the conscious decision to wear jeans and a shirt. I wanted the normality of my outfit to reflect the mundanity of female oppression in society. Wearing a leotard and tights would not have pushed the audience to the next level of bringing them into the world I am trying to show them. The clothes I am wearing are meant to show that everyday women are doing this dance; there is not one specific group of women being talked down to, harassed, or abused. The statistics are jarring: 42% of women face gender discrimination in the workplace, 81% of women have experienced sexual harassment, and almost 20% of women will be raped in their lifetimes. These are not all women in mini skirts in clubs like television shows and movies tell us; these are normal women living normal lives trying to make as much money as their brothers. Finally, my hair is down and unapologetically messy because I wanted to stress the messiness and chaos of sexism. And although I’ve always been self-conscious of my hair, that problem seems so insignificant next to female oppression.
I chose the audio component to my dance very specifically. While choreographing, I realized that I did not want to dance to a song– I wanted to dance to a spoken word poem. Historically and stereotypically, dances are performed to violins, drums, voices. Melodic notes strung together to guide the movements of the dancers. But there is something powerful in the idea of choreographing a piece to complement sharp, non-rhyming, strong words. The audio is a spoken word poem called “Pocket-Sized Feminism” written and performed by Blythe Baird, an award winning writer who speaks out about sexual assault, mental illness, eating disorder recovery, sexuality, and healing. The words in this piece, “I’m ashamed of keeping my feminism in my pocket until it is convenient not to like poetry slams or women’s studies classes. There are days I want people to like me more than I want to change the world” strike me the most. I can relate to this line more than any line in the poem. There have been many occurrences, especially in the last two years, where I have kept my mouth shut after a friend has made an insensitive joke because I don’t want to fall lower on the social hierarchy. A few months ago I posted about the dangers of vaping on my instagram, and I could almost feel myself thunk a few steps lower on the totem pole. But at some point there is worth in realizing that standing up for what you believe in is worth the consequences. If friends do not stand by your side when you express yourself, they are not your friends. They do not have to agree, but they have to respect your opinion.
The goal of my artifact is to not only provide my own example of activist art, but also see the effect it has on its viewers. Is dance a motivating form of activism? A powerful or meaningful one? My hope is that my classmates can see my dance and be able to understand and recognize the emotions and passions behind the movements. My piece of activist art is meant to pass on knowledge as well as awareness for an issue facing the world today.
My topic is activist art. What it is, how it affects us, why it affects us, and why people choose art to express activism in the first place. It is often difficult to conceptualize activist art because activism and art have different roles in society. Activism is the action of challenging power. It does not always mean going to protests, it can mean anything including “organizing a child care collective among parents in one’s neighborhood.” Art is more complicated, for it is never clear what the art is for or against. Its purpose, however, is to evoke feeling and emotion.
I researched various well-known examples throughout history including artwork done during the gay rights movement in the 1960-70s and songs written in protest of the Vietnam War. Paintings and music are common and easy-to-find examples of activist art, but I want to use my Capstone Project as a way of exploring the effect of activism-centered choreography. I have started to choreograph a dance surrounding a theme of the oppression of women throughout history. Each movement will have a deeper, metaphorical underlying message to it, a message that I hope I will be able to portray for my audience.
The dance begins with the heel of my hand pushing my head around, symbolizing both the frustration of women and the powerful hand of the patriarchy controlling our every move. The arms I wrap around myself are the bonds of societal pressures and expectations that I then throw off myself. The following movement is meant to resemble the motion of being shot, a tribute to the women around the world who put their lives at risk for simply speaking up. However, I do not fall all the way to the ground because women have proven that they never give up fighting for their rights even in the face of danger. The dance continues similarly.
In the video of my dance, I made the conscious decision to wear jeans and a shirt. I wanted the normality of my outfit to reflect the mundanity of female oppression in society. Wearing a leotard and tights would not have pushed the audience to the next level of bringing them into the world I am trying to show them. The clothes I am wearing are meant to show that everyday women are doing this dance; there is not one specific group of women being talked down to, harassed, or abused. The statistics are jarring: 42% of women face gender discrimination in the workplace, 81% of women have experienced sexual harassment, and almost 20% of women will be raped in their lifetimes. These are not all women in mini skirts in clubs like television shows and movies tell us; these are normal women living normal lives trying to make as much money as their brothers. Finally, my hair is down and unapologetically messy because I wanted to stress the messiness and chaos of sexism. And although I’ve always been self-conscious of my hair, that problem seems so insignificant next to female oppression.
I chose the audio component to my dance very specifically. While choreographing, I realized that I did not want to dance to a song– I wanted to dance to a spoken word poem. Historically and stereotypically, dances are performed to violins, drums, voices. Melodic notes strung together to guide the movements of the dancers. But there is something powerful in the idea of choreographing a piece to complement sharp, non-rhyming, strong words. The audio is a spoken word poem called “Pocket-Sized Feminism” written and performed by Blythe Baird, an award winning writer who speaks out about sexual assault, mental illness, eating disorder recovery, sexuality, and healing. The words in this piece, “I’m ashamed of keeping my feminism in my pocket until it is convenient not to like poetry slams or women’s studies classes. There are days I want people to like me more than I want to change the world” strike me the most. I can relate to this line more than any line in the poem. There have been many occurrences, especially in the last two years, where I have kept my mouth shut after a friend has made an insensitive joke because I don’t want to fall lower on the social hierarchy. A few months ago I posted about the dangers of vaping on my instagram, and I could almost feel myself thunk a few steps lower on the totem pole. But at some point there is worth in realizing that standing up for what you believe in is worth the consequences. If friends do not stand by your side when you express yourself, they are not your friends. They do not have to agree, but they have to respect your opinion.
The goal of my artifact is to not only provide my own example of activist art, but also see the effect it has on its viewers. Is dance a motivating form of activism? A powerful or meaningful one? My hope is that my classmates can see my dance and be able to understand and recognize the emotions and passions behind the movements. My piece of activist art is meant to pass on knowledge as well as awareness for an issue facing the world today.