I am very please with the topic of the term Paper. It gives us freedom to chose and be creative and at the same time it gives us enough structure for us to stay on track. There are so many great works of political art/ Protests to choose from that am a lil’ lost. I do have some things in mind but I have not made a final decision. The following are not in any particular order.
The famous photograph, portrait of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, is in it self a symbol of revolution. Many people don’t know or don’t agree with the his position and role in the Cuban Revolution. One thing is clear, this iconic image is known across the world and it is exploited for profit. Every one knows some one with a painting or illustration, a t-shirt or a hat, a poster or a flag. It has even been the victim of many parodies. This photograph was very much like the blue and red Obama poster by Shepard Fairey (which also could be a topic). Che’s ideal for the Americas was that of unity so I know he would be happy about people coming together because of his image but I don’t know how he would fell about the real meaning of his work getting lost in a now commercial image.
Other possibilities that I think can be great topics are the songs by Nina Simone; Pirate Jenny, Four women and the song that we heard in class Mississippi goddam (but the original version, much more powerful that the one we heard). They all express a sentiment shared by many even to this day, even the oppressed across the world I think can relate to the sense of urgency and need for a way out. I love me some Nina music.
I was thinking about the painting by Picasso “Guernica” but I don’t think I’ll do that one though the painting is amazing I don’t know if it was part of a movement or if it had political impact. Something new that comes to mind is how some painters in the renaissance painted subliminal messages in their works because the subject of all the paintings then (in the west) were religious or portraits of rich people. In the time of the renaissance, Church and state one so religious was political. I just need to come up with a specific example but that would be nice too.
This brainstorming for this project feels to me like looking up in the sky in a clear night. the longer u stare, more stars become visible to the eye. Its actually kind of fun. It think I know which one ill do, but is too early
to say. I welcome advise.
Hi Castro - You've got some great possibilities here. I think Simone's version of Pirate Jenny could be great, because you'd be looking at a song written for an opera by two famous artists (Weill and Brecht) and how an artist made it her own and what it meant politically in that context.
ReplyDeleteThe Che image could also be interesting - you'd want to focus on that image and how it became so iconic - you wouldn't be doing a full thing on Che himself. I think it sounds like you are perhaps more interested in either of these topics than in Guernica - it was part of a context and an anti-war movement but there's so so much written about it. But any of these topics could make for a great essay.