Miranda Rozek's Blog

Carrie Mae Weems is a very inspirational woman. Her advice and the way that she works and why she makes her work had really been eye opening to me and I am so happy I got to experience her lecture. Carrie talks a lot about “firsts”, the first time she experienced something or felt something. I think that is really powerful because if you can really get the audience to feel this something that you have felt, your art becomes more than a photograph or a painting, it becomes an escape and a way to travel to different places and it sucks people in and makes them think. That is one thing that I Really loved about Carrie is how she made me think about every piece of work and every word and belief that she said. Carrie really stressed the importance of understanding other artist’s work and what is out there so she knows what context she exists in and is making work in. This made me think of a question that was brought up in class the other week, “What makes a certain piece of art good?” For a piece of art to be considered “good art” people have to like it and for it to be great you usually have to be the first one to do it. But to be able to know what people in this generation like or other artists have done already, you have to go out there and learn and look. After Carrie stressed how important it was to look at other artists work, I just realized how absolutely crucial it really is to be able to produce amazing art works today. Also, what I thought was particularly interesting was not only her great need for understanding of the other artists of today, but the ones before her time, the history. History of politics, art, and people are all influenced in Carrie’s work. In her work she has references to other artists that she loves. She says that it is important to learn and know the history your work and refer to people and times before you. I really believe that taking this history of transmedia class is a great place to start for my work. We have learned about so many other artists and seen their work, some of which some and I like I don’t. But no matter if I like them or not I am learning something. I don’t mean just learning the names of artists before me but learning something about myself and what I want to bring to people in my work and what I want my work to say. Carrie really knows who she is and speaks confidently and passionately about her work. It no doubt took her awhile to find her voice and understand how she looked at the world, but I hope to one day be able to be able to know why I do the work that I do and what is different about my vision and what I can bring to the table. She is a very inspiring woman and I am so excited to take her advice and start my journey as an artist.