Idea Blog: Multi-Culturalism

Throughout my reading i have found quite a few synonyms between identity struggles and multiculturalism. The issues that they each address are very close and cross boundaries on each of their territories. Identity is, according to the dictionary, a distinguishing character or personality of an individual. Multiculturalism is relating, reflecting, or adapting to diverse cultures. What the connection between the two is, is the effect that multiculturalism has on identity. Where you grow up defines how you are, how you live, what you do, and when you do it. For me, i feel like i almost have two identities; one being the teenage boy from Africa, and the other is the developed fantasy world of college in America. The hard thing is that it feels like these two different identities that create multiculturalism inside of me are always competing. One wants to do what is right in that mindset, and the other wants to do the complete opposite, and yet is still right in its mindset. They clash inside of me, creating this internal struggle with myself. I started thinking about the word multiculturalism, viewed images, and found a few things that were interesting to say the least. If you type into google a search for images of multiculturalism, all you get are such images as below. Many different hands or people from many different nations, in the world, holding hands around the world, or holding the world up itself. Now, for me, this just seems ridiculous, because what if you might have two different cultures represented by one hand? People would not get multiculturalism. People assume by the color of my skin that i am American, which i find very sad. These images are not representative of multiculturalism, they are just a bunch of hands from different places, and of different people. The definition of identity specifies such details as an 'individual', so if multiculturalism defines identity, then why do people assume that multiculturalism has nothing to do with just one person.
After thinking about my art and its relation to multiculturalism, i have found that maybe my artwork should be a place to show others how to depict multiculturalism through imagery in more than just one way. After some searching i found this imagery of 'multiculturalism', which i find quite relevant to my artwork in its meaning. This is much closer to what i am looking for to help me generate creativity. This might be a simple photograph of flags, but it means something more to me, because it puts me as the viewer in a place of thought about how many of those flags represent me. And that is much closer to the multiculturalism i am looking for. To me this inspires me to continue dealing with conflicting identities, and really dig deep to find what it really means to be multicultural.

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Atlas/Images/Glossary/Multiculturalism.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__hspjzfC024/SRf1jsQAo5I/AAAAAAAAArQ/WVl-BNqz8yI/s320/multiculturalism-freedom-equality.jpg

Artist Blog: Jeff Wall

Jeff Wall is an artist that i have heard has similar ideas as mine. Quite a few people draw references to Jeff Wall's work when i discuss my work and the meaning behind it. I finally decided to give him a closer look and see what i could possibly take away with me that would help me in my art. Firstly though, a little background information. Jeff Wall was born in Canada in 1946 and received his Masters in Art from the University of British Columbia, surprisingly not an art school. After school Jeff Wall started his career as a teacher, not an artist. After some teaching, he branched into making his own work. This varied from all sorts of work, such as constructed settings with models, to large photographs of bare walls. Surprisingly, i feel that all of Jeff Wall's work has a characteristic that i enjoy, and want to include in my art pieces. His work, such as this one, called The Forest, is a silver gelatin print that he took recently, has a figure in the middle, blending into her environment, yet leaving a scene. This creates a story, that the viewer is left to interpret, and can lead to multiple stories. What really grabs me in this piece is the struggle that is involved in this piece. The woman is clearly not happy or joyous, more like hiding or struggling over something that nobody is helping them with. I can look at this piece for a while, just reading it, and it representing me in my own life. I can see myself in the woman's position, and that is key for my art that i make, as well as Jeff Wall's. I need the viewer to feel an emotional attachment to the piece, that they can tie what might be going on in the piece to their own life. I feed off the emotional reaction, and it is the biggest accomplishment i can get from any of my pieces. Another piece by Jeff Wall that is completely different yet still ties into what i am looking for is this piece, called Sunken Area, is a simple picture, yet conveys, at least to me, a huge amount of discomfort and interaction. This piece to me may be of such simple subject matter, but it feels as if i can put myself in this situation as well. I would hate to be put in front of this supposedly endless wall of siding. Here i am staring against a wall siding, yet i feel as if there is something behind that is my goal. Now, i feel that the siding is just stopping me from seeing the real picture, the skin underneath the outer layer. This feeling of displacement and restriction is affecting me, which is the object of the piece, and this is what i am looking for in my pieces. The difference is that in the work i am aiming for is more focused on identity and the struggles with being multi-cultured. Jeff Wall is still alive today, and makes pieces that push me to continue making artwork.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/jeff-wall/
http://www.artnet.com/artist/17462/jeff-wall.html