Idea Blog: "Identity"
Such an interesting thought, identity, why do i feel so tied to this word? Who am i? Why am i here? all these words deal with identity. We are defined by ourselves the most, and if we cannot define ourselves, we are lost as human beings. I kind of feel like this and try to express my struggles in finding who i am. Because i am multi-cultural, i have multiple opinions, feelings, and struggles from each of the places i have lived in. Each place has told me to think a different thing, to act differently, and to do things foreign to the other cultures in me. This really feels like it is tearing me apart. Words that are just coming to mind, tri-polar, in the sense of multiple personalities, a three prong fork in the road, and the three headed dragon.
Especially at this time of my life, where college is nearly over, and i am supposed to start settling down, getting a steady job, and so on, i feel alienated and split between three cultures. Which do i choose? I picked up a few books from the library on such topics as identity of the African and American experience. Hopefully some of this reading will fuel my art, and give me some creativity and ideas that i will depict in my own way.
Also, this notion of identity falls into other parts of literature and arts. There is a song by David Gray, called This year's Love. I will post the link to the youtube video. This video is a very interesting way of looking at identity, and belonging in a world that is foreign to you.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-tp0JZvUA&NR=1
I have found that music has turned into one of the best ways for me to reveal my other 'identities', rather than the one i put on for show, whilst in other company. I listen to music, especially when i am alone, and just want to do some thinking.
Some art that i have been looking at that deals with identity and the 'struggle' has been some of
Jeff Wall's pieces. This piece below is called The Thinker, and
it was produced in 1986. This piece is similar to what i think i might be looking for in my work. Here is this man, who looks very simplistic, with basic needs, sitting on a tree stump on some concrete blocks. In the background is a huge city in which he feels a disconnection to. This disconnection is what i feel, his identity is confused because of his basic thoughts and actions that seem out of the ordinary in the modern day city behind him. He feels out of place, lost, and thinking about it too. That is what i feel, and what i fear to be endlessly sucked into. My art is an escape for the confusing things in my life to be released, yet this issue of identity has the deepest roots within me, being that i am my identity, even though i cannot define it.
The Thinker, 1986
211x229 cm, transparency in lightbox
Private Collection, Munich

Pan Walther - Artist inspiration

This is Pan Walther, an artist that i only recently found out about. I own a photography book called 20th Century Photography, published by TASCHEN, and these images and some information have been taken from this book about Pan. Pan Walther was an artist that was born in 1921 in Dresden, Germany. He studied at the Waldorf School, and continued on to be an artist and teach for over thirty years. His focus in his younger years was all on portraits, and while travelling, he would come across gypsies, peasants, and many others whose face told the most interesting stories. Later on, he moved onto work that focused on issues of
Pan Walther - The German Michel, from the series:
Think About It, 1983. Color Print 29.8 x 30 cm
present-day life. These color photographs were mainly staged, and were shown as performance art that was documented. These two pieces are from his later work, both from the series Think About It. I feel that this work is similar in thought to my type of work. Whereas my work is less performance, i still incorporate the problems i face in present day life, and how they relate back to the past. His work that i have seen, especially from this series, i really enjoy, and i can feel his passion through his work. His work inspires me to continue working with this idea of inner turmoil and struggle, even though his pieces do not focus on that notion. I want my pieces to make people feel what i feel, and even though the subject matter between Pan Walther's work and Pan Walther - Fighter in the Japan Look, from the series:
mine are quite different, his pieces just inspire me Think About It, 1983. Color Print 28 x 30.2 cm
to continue, I don't know why.

Philippi, Simone ed. 20th Century Photography.
Los Angeles: TASCHEN, 2007.