Tuesday, September 23, 2014

I've Narrowed Down My Choices

I was having a difficult time narrowing down my choices so instead of choosing just one, I decided to combine my ideas and narrow my choices down to three.



"A Barbie At War"( Not 100% sure about the title)


I am going to create my own type of Afro haired Barbie.  Her story will be about how she breaks away from the pressures society has placed on her and learns to accept her own natural beauty.
Her accessories will include a series of weapons
which were once used to straightened her own knots but are now being used as weapons to fight others who offend her.

1) Hot Comb Knife
2) Relax Cream
3) Fire Blowing hair dryer

Even though I'll be working with Barbies, I want the doll to be similar to the American Girl Dolls.  She'll have her own story book and accessories kids can buy.  I would create a website that featured candid photos of the doll and maybe it will even include a game


"Stereotype Barbie"

This is similar to my first idea however I'd be making many different dolls who have separate story lines.  Each doll would reflect a stereotype portrayed by the media about black woman.  Some of those stereotypes are Baby Mama, The Hoe, Sister Solider, Dyck, and Church Girl. 


"You Can Touch My Hair"

This idea came to me while I was attending the Maker Faire.  
There was a Public Art Exhibit in NYC where a few black woman held signs saying you can touch my hair.




I thought that it would be a cool idea if I could somehow recreate that using technology. I was picturing a robotic doll head full of hair or maybe it would have its own metallic hair that would get angry if you didn't ask to touch its head first. At the Maker Faire, I was introduced to new sensors I had'nt seen before which inspired me to create this robotic head. Honestly, I was scared that my other 2 ideas weren't technical enough so I figured this idea would actually fit into the genre of "New Media"

Monday, September 15, 2014

Is Idenity Over Done?


I had a meeting with Professor Mutiti to discuss my ideas on hair.  She gave me a list of artists to browse.(Kara Walker, Robert Pruit, Lorna Simpson,  Endia Beal, Johnson Ojeikere,)

Kara Walker

Image

 Robert Pruit

 

Lorna Simpson
photo terminartors.com
Her Stereo Styles(1988) 






     

Endia Beal
“Can I Touch It?”
Johnson Ojeikere

Professor Mutiti mentioned that a lot of black of artist focus on identity so much so that it has come to be expected.  I noticed this as I was browsing through the list of artists.  Alot of their work focuses on race,gender and stereotypes.  I wonder if this holds true for Black New Media Artists?  I am going to research Black New Media Artists and see how they compare.

I don't want viewers to be bored with my work because it's such a common topic but at the same time  I think it's more important for me to explore a topic I am actually interested in. Even if identity is an overdone topic maybe expressing this sentiment using technology will make it a different experience.    

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Throwing Around Ideas

I came up with ten potential projects for my Senior Project. Here are my ideas............


1. Interactive photo series of the evolution of African American Hair. (From Africa till now)

2. Hack famous dolls ( Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids, Baby Alive, My Buddy) Wiki list

3. Highjack hair products (relaxers that can also be used to straighten hair and as rat poisoning)

4. Attack the hair companies by making a satire version of their websites(similar to       GWBUSH.COM 

5. "PurGoods" Barter network for Purchase communities

6."Pretty Hurts" A photo series of little girls in the hair salon.  Capture sounds as well

7. What if dolls looked like real people?

8. Revamp Disney Characters. What if your favorite Disney characters work black hairstyles?

9. Revamp Famous people

10.Turn Black into white and vice versa