Briana Carter
9/14/14
Reading

     The article I read this week was in the "Expressing an Artistic Attitude" category of our books and her name is Lorna Simpson. I was a bit confused on what she was really trying to prove or say in this passage. I understand that she is an advocate for the African American society and relates them in a lot of her work. Mostly she did this in a more opposite way than people are used to seeing African Americans. Instead of photographing ideas that make the black culture seem helpless, like during slavery, she took photographs of them in jail and committing crimes. The passage stated that "it investigates the thoughtful process of investigation." I felt like this was interesting because everyone try's to make people feel bad for the pictures of children starving, and puppies being abused, but no one takes shots of the other side of it all. The strange thing about her photographs though is the fact that they are all taken of people with no faces and their backs turned. Most of them are only shoulders down. They wear clothing that do not state what age they are or where they would be from. She states that she does this because she likes the "simplicity" of it all. I think this is so strange because we as humans are always putting a name on people. She is popular, geeky, fashionable. In this way, you don't really know, but wonder what this person is like when in fact, it gives you no information at all. This reminds me a lot of Kara Walker because she is using African Americans in her art, but in a totally opposite way. I think that this would be interesting in my art work, because I could actually go up in front of the class with no face. That might be an interesting piece to do. Maybe if I covered my face and put on clothes that doesn't show my age. I might look like a creepy horror film character, but it is an interesting idea. Lorna Simpson has opened my eyes to a bunch of new ideas. I never thought of doing something so different. I need to start learning how to think outside the box because I have been stuck inside lately.