Crit Response (from March 7, 2011)

I really enjoyed the last critique that we had. I think some of the work shown has really progressed throughout this semester. I thought Jenn's presentation had a lot to say, and she was very focused on executing her idea. She is making this catalog archiving her possessions, like lipstick, pins, and a large mirror, which pertains to her actual installation of these objects that will be in the gallery displayed on shelves. Although for me it was not about these possessions being attached, defining, or part of her, just objects as objects. These objects are things in themselves, like a universal aspect of being a human, accruing crap over the years and things that we think define us when they are really just these inanimate objects. The mirror in Jenn's piece is the most powerful thing to me where the viewer gets to look and see themselves, imagine themselves owning all these objects. For me it really made me think about my own possessions, and looking at them objectively. I think in a way it is odd that we all have favorite items, or objects that we cling to. In a way Jenn is elevating the importance of these objects by displaying them in a gallery setting, but the objects are the only thing we have insight into, not into Jenn as an actual person which creates this interesting disconnect between the objects and Jenn. It speaks to how our objects, our stuff, defines us, but not in any tangible deep way. We have all these objects but they do not really let others gain access to who we really are from looking at them. You could learn that Jenn likes a certain color of lipstick, or that she owns a pair of vintage playing cards, but I still don't know about her character, decisions she has made, what she thinks about when she is by herself. I also feel like our objects mean so much to us, but it's never really about the things themselves. They are in essence little vessels that we put a lot of energy and feelings into. Jenn's concepts and the book she is working on for the show really impressed me. It's nice to see someone executing something with a ton of ideas and concepts to back up the work.