[-empyre-] Fwd: from damali ayo - i'm here!

[Michael Arnold Mages <marnoldm@du.edu>]

hello folks!


sorry for the delay in my arrival. an unexpected move left me without
dial-up for the last week. but now i'm here and ready to get the
discussion on....please forgive my lengthy intro.


i hear i'm supposed to start with a statement:


here's 2:


1) artist statement:
damali ayo statement
http://damaliayo.com
check out all my exhibitions on line...

i create dialogue-driven conceptual art that engages contemporary social
issues through the media of assemblage and installation. i reconceptualize
everyday objects and cultural icons to create a shift in a viewer's
perspective on our world and their position within it.

my work is performative in its relentless desire to engage the audience
and generate an audience reaction as an on-site companion piece. i explore
social/political issues that permeate our culture and my everyday
experience. the work is fully committed to engaging the aesthetic, even if
it describes things we consider ugly.

on the other hand i am a junk artist. in our capitalist-driven society
objects are given meaning by their purchasability. our social/political
issues are junk, things we once bought (or bought into) and keep around
because we are accustomed to their presence. and like the other junk i use
in my work, i seek to reconceptualize these items and help us to examine
their continued function in our lives.

i believe art should make people think and feel. i want to leave my
audience pondering discomfort, confusion, anger, joy, sadness, emotions of
all kinds. i am an honest manipulator, presenting contradictions and
demanding response.



2) rent-a-negro.com statement: http://rent-a-negro.com
this work has gotten a great deal of attention lately, and is
race-on-the-web, so relates directly to this discussion.


the rent-a-negro.com web site is a conceptual performance
e-commerce-as-media work consistent with my art which explores "object
junk" (the things we buy) and "social junk" (the things we buy into). my
art/performance explores a range of social issues, one of which is race
and racism. the site is an exploration of the dynamics between communities
in the united states, interactions, histories, understandings.


i draw my work from my real-life experience. all of the "satisfied
customer" quotes on the site are things people have said to me, each
"service" listed comes from requests i've had from people in my life.
strangers invade my personal space to touch my hair, compare my skin to
theirs, or ask invasive questions. these actions reflect a pervasive
mentality that categorizes black people as objects to be consumed. many of
you have similar experience either as the "object" or "consumer." the site
was generated out of the thought that i am tired of filling this "service"
for free, looking to shift the "cost" to the consumer. the site is satire
on some level, but on others it is true to reality. my work as a
conceptual artist doesn't create any falsities, simply re-configures real
experiences and offers them back to the viewers to hold up a mirror to our
societal structures as well as our interpersonal interactions.




i invite everyone in this discussion group to sign up for my mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/damaliayoinfo


so that's me.
what's on your minds?


damali ayo