I can not forget this death. I can not forget the dehumanization of men that causes the brutalization of women. I can not forget that I am a female and weaker. I can not forget the inhumanity of a society that will not recognize that the oppression of one member of that society by another hurts us all. I can not forget that this is what we fear every day.
- Betsy Damon
I found this inspiring quote by Damon on Artemisa Clark's piece on Ana Mendieta: http://recapsmagazine.com/remake/my-darling-sexy-beautiful-tropicanita-by-artemisa-clark/
I found Clark’s reenactment of the death of Ana Mendieta at the UCSD VAF space fascinating! Instead of Clark just reminiscing about the anniversary of Mendieta’s death, she recreated the exact scene of Mendieta’s lover, Carl Andrew’s house, where the incident of ‘falling out’ of the window occurred. Clark did a great job with the reenacting scene to make sure we were able to see Mendieta’s artistic style, especially her emphasis on feminism. Mendieta had a way of making things stand out in a place, where they were supposed to blend in. Mendieta shows this a lot through her “Silueta Series,” which Clark also addressed. Mendieta had many pieces of artwork that emphasized women who had been victims of violence, murder, rape, etc; topics that are usually not explicitly discussed, which portrays her strong mind and feministic views. Clark’s reenactment is different from the violent events that are shown on TV, because she emphasizes the details, such as the Chinese food, the movies watched at the exact times that Mendieta watched them, the papers in the same layout of the room, and even drinking the champagne bottles and placing them in the same area where the kitchen would have been, all which make the viewer feel more engaged and sympathetic towards the incident.
Interesting analysis! I think that it was also particularly interesting that, in Artemisa's lecture, she mentioned the reenactment in the UCSD VAF space turned into a sort of seance to honor Ana Mendieta's body of work and efforts in feminism. I also see this reenactment as an extension of the life of Ana Mendieta in the physical world. This type of artistic reenactment greatly differs from reenactments of violent events we would see on television for a few different reasons. first off there was no violence or acting, just people in a space drinking champagne and watching movies that Ana and Carl had watched the night she died. Of course this reenactment was live and not on television, and the people were not actors, as they typically are on television. I found this artistic performance to be eerie, haunting and extraordinarily interesting.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with both Comm146Tbee and SMT. I also thought Clark’s reenactment was very interesting and unusual. I think it is interesting and ironic that Mendieta’s work typically represents violence, belonging and life & death where Clark’s reenactment of where Mendieta died happens to represent all of those things. The room is where she was last living and died where violence definitely occurred and it perhaps is where she belonged in her boyfriend’s apartment. The lines marked on the floor of Clark’s reenactment remind of the silhouettes Ana Mendieta is known for. Although it is not a silhouette of a body but of the layout of her boyfriend’s apartment I find strong similarities of the outlining on the floor or against the wall. These reenactments differ from those on TV because it offers a more realistic and honest view into a crime scene or area and almost makes the viewer feel apart of their life. On TV there are always people present but in the reenactment we only have view of the setting. Typically violence or crimes are not shown behind the scene and we our left to imagine what could have happened in our own minds but Clark’s work brings the images in my mind to real life. The object placements also add to the effect of feeling apart of Ana’s life because I feel as though although she is a talented artists she is just like me where I can identify ordering in Chinese food and eating in front of the T.V.
ReplyDeleteArtemisa's performance piece encompassed a great participatory aspect that allows the people in the space to experience Ana Mendieta's final hours of life. I believe that what she created is extremely powerful because it allows participants to step into Mendieta's world by eating her last meal, drinking her last drink as well as immersing themselves into the tiniest details of her last night. Artemisa created something very thoughtful and I feel paid a great deal of homage to Mendieta's life. Understanding the struggle of a woman in this way permits people who may not have any feminist views to see the violent end to Ana's last night. The quote Artemisa said she found herself manically rewriting over and over again perfectly illuminates this violence against women, "I can not forget the inhumanity of a society that will not recognize that the oppression of one member of that society by another hurts us all". This piece of the quote confirms how unfair the case of Ana Mendieta's death was. We may never know what really happened that night, but with Artemisa's work we are at least able to lend ourselves to Ana for the night in hopes of understanding what she went through.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate how eloquently you described Artemesia's performance piece. I also agree that the recreation of Ana's last night was extremely powerful, and I find that I am able to relate this homage piece to certain church practices involving the eating of bread and drinking of wine/water to symbolize the last meal of Jesus Christ. Like this religious practice, Artemesia's piece holds an extraordinary amount of symbolism, and inspired me to feel as though the recreation even provided a sense of closeness to the artist, even though Artemesia never met her. The quote is also very symbolic. Like you mentioned, Mendieta's death was not very well investtigated, leaves us feeling like justice was not served-it is unfair to her that her case was not properly explored. All-in-all, Clark's piece was a beautiful and intimate work.
DeleteI agree with other people that this is a very nicely written series of posts in which your collective analysis becomes much more than the sum of its individual parts. So many interesting ideas about outlines, participation, reenactments, seances, and sacraments.
ReplyDeleteComm146Tbee, this is an excellent post. Artemisa Clark presented an amazing work of art that demonstrates feminism and the struggles that women deal with. After reading all the comments, I would agree with everyone. Recreating Ana Mendieta's last known movements was genius. Clark's presentation clearly showed the violence and the moments leading up to her death. Whether it was a suicide or homicide, we will never know. However, what I found most interesting was the topic of violence and case trials. I am extremely interested in crime scenes and this got my heart pumping with excitement. Artemisa made me want to research more about Ana's death and get more details. What I am curious about is the boyfriend and how his stories changed every time he was questioned. Although that piece of information may not necessarily tie him to the murder, it is suspicious.
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