To be in the margin is to be a part of the whole but outside of the main
body. As black Americans living in a small Kentucky town, the railroad tracks were a daily reminder of our marginality. Across those tracks were paved streets, stores we could not eat in, and people we could not look directly in the face. Across those tracks was a world we could work in as maids, as janitors, as prostitutes, as long as it was a service capacity. we could enter that world but we could not live there.
We had always to return to the margin, to cross the tracks, to shacks and
abandoned houses on the edge of town. There are laws to ensure our return. To not return was to risk being punished.
Living as we did - on the edge- we developed a particular way of seeing
reality. We looked both from the outside in and from the inside out.
We focused our attention on the center as well as on the margin. We
understood both. This mode of seeing reminded us of the existence of a
whole universe, a main body made up of both margin and centre. Our survival depended on an ongoing public awareness of the separation between margin and center and an ongoing private acknowledgement that we were a necessary, vital part of that whole.
This sense of wholeness,impressed upon our consciousness by the
structure of our daily lives, provided us an oppositional world view - a mode of seeing unknown to most of our oppressors that sustained us, aided us in our struggle to transcend poverty and despair, strengthened our sense of self and our solidarity.
_bell hooks

Feminist Theory:From Margin to Center

Found Online

"But what men don't realize is that women in our society are on the receiving end of unwanting sexual attention at some point in their lives, and most of them get it a lot. Women are catcalled on the street. They're harassed in bars, groped in clubs, and whistled at in the grocery store. They're told that they need to be sexy to be valued and then they're attacked as sluts. Simply put, women put up with sexual intrusion for most of their lives, in big ways and small. It happens everywhere and most men have no idea how much of an impact it has. I've heard quite a few men say that women should just take it as a compliment. Ironically, these are often the same guys who lose it if a man cruises them, winks at them, or simply appears to be sexually interested in them. Seems like a double standard to me."

The Important Thing That Men Who Have Sex With WOmen Need to Know/ Charles Glickman via techbicolourx (via tobia)

oh, the cunnundrum

more...

In my research of Bad Babi, I am actually seeing my characters all over Trinidad. I think that I may have posted that before? I am not sure. But my Bad Babi girl is actually a very sweet girl just fending for herself in a hostile environment.
She is making up her own rules, as she may not have been given enough attention or affection growing up.
She may be loud and crass, but she is also beautiful, street smart yet vulnerable.
She is a doll, an overly sexualised girl/woman.
Bad Babi

news:http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trinidadexpress.com%2Fnews%2FAre_women_becoming_more_violent_-105614483.html&h=1fc5e

http://http//www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Pennelope_slams__horrendous__rape_of_schoolgirl-105326708.html

It is important to read the responses to Mrs.Beckles-Robinson's comments.
They range from the knowledge that rape and abuse of girls is wrong to the issues of girls who represent themselves as older, trick some men into the belief that having a relationship with them is appropriate.

She's A Ho

Sean Paul - Baby Girl

Baby Girl

The online urban dictionary states that the term baby girl is an endearment.
~ Something a boy calls his girl when he is in love.
A girl in love will also use the term and say, baby boy.
~ A sexy slang word for what a guy calls his girlfriend.
~When a boy is attracted to a girl, usually because of body.
This slang snuck up on me. I have no memory of how its use began. I feel the same way about the term, fadda, mudda and eat ah food.
Baby girl seems to have extended from the days when men on the block would call you 'family' as you passed by.
I also assume that it may have been adopted from Jamaican slang through their music.

Some thoughts

By looking at the concept of the baby doll, bringing it forward to the present, I am confronting how women are represented and also how they sometimes see themselves. By looking through the lens of the baby doll, and the whole image of woman dressed for bed, the theme takes on many layers.
As I have done in the past, I will use text as well as imagery with my 'babi girls '. But not only will I include societal impressions, there are rules and laws that I also want to bring to the fore with Bad Babi.
This is why I included the front page news article on the police woman who shot and killed two female bandits in Tunapuna. I think that the topic is extremely timely. That news item begged many questions, what would cause these women to be so reckless? Was the younger woman actually calling for her mother as she died? The compassion of the police woman who had to draw her gun on women criminals, is a powerful statement. Society is fed up with crime, and this particularly brazen one caused much conversation.
I believe that Bad Babi is an opportunity for all women to confront the way we are perceived, rightly or wrongly, for ourselves. I think that this is important because there are times that it may be felt that there may be few choices, or that there is no other way, or no way out. However, Art can assist with helping society at large look at limitations and even if for a moment, dream of alternative ways of seeing or being.

bad babi sketches

Bad Babi

Bad Babi features twelve characters -:

1. Sweet

2. Present

3. Big Up

4. Fertile

5. Brands

6. Tattoes

7. Red Gyul

8. Prefect

9. Bandit Queen

10. Dame Lorraine

11. Mother and Daughter

12. Carnival Baby

Bad Babi is my opportunity to look at femininity,feminism, sexuality and attitude from the perspective of the masque.

WOMAN COP KILLS 2 BANDITS
2 female bandits shot dead
By Akile Simon
akile.simon@trinidadexpress.com

DRAMA unfolded in Tunapuna yesterday as two women, identified as robbery suspects, were shot and killed by a policewoman assigned to the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation Municipal Police. The officer shot the women after she responded to a robbery at the Tunapuna Market.

The victims were identified as Latoya Mars, 26, and Susan Frederick, who police said could be in her mid-30s. Both victims are from the Factory Road, Diego Martin, community, police said.

WPC Patrice St Louis, who fired the two fatal shots, was highly commended by market vendors for her decisive action.

A man, who claimed he was the nephew of one of the women, expressed shock over the incident at the scene, saying his aunt told him she was going to collect something in Tunapuna.

Mars was shot in the head and died at the scene, while Frederick sustained a gunshot injury to the upper left side of her body and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope.

Frederick was taken to the facility by PCs Winsden Rajcoomar and Ronan Newton, of the Tunapuna CID, who first responded to the incident. She was found lying face-down in a drain and had a gash to her face, which officers believe she may have sustained when she struck her head on the pavement.

Frederick, police said, was found in a crouched position behind the steering wheel of a car.

The deceased were reportedly attempting to flee the scene of the robbery when Mars, the driver of the vehicle—a white Nissan Sunny, licensed PAM 8680—drove north onto St Vincent Street, which is a one-way street, in attempting to elude police. After they were shot, Mars crashed into a Peugeot motorcar parked near the corner of Sapodilla and St Vincent Streets.

Up to late yesterday, WPC St Louis was being treated by a psychologist, police said. Minutes after the shooting, St Louis broke down in tears and had to be consoled by a male colleague who was on duty with her. She is expected, later today, to be interviewed by acting ASP Neville Sankar and Sgt Basdeo Sinanan, who are probing the incident.

Several vendors at the market who spoke with the Express after the incident, said the shooting was justified. The vendors said St Louis repeatedly called on the suspect in the car to surrender and stop their vehicle, but the women ignored the calls.

Around 12.30 p.m. yesterday, market vendor Andrea Amoroso, 26, of D'Abadie, was attending to a customer when she turned her back for a few seconds, only to discover one of the women had stolen her bag, which reportedly contained $7,000.

Amoroso ran after the suspects and managed to get part of her body inside the car as it was being driven away by Mars. Amoroso was eventually thrown out of the car by Frederick, but St Louis had arrived on the scene and repeatedly ordered the suspects to stop.

"But they continued driving up the one-way street and she (St Louis) fired two shots at the vehicle," Hosein said.

Scores of people gathered at the scene, many of them saying they believed justice was served in the incident. There was no sympathy for the female victims, with one woman stating that within recent times there were too many women involved in criminal activities.

"I thought it was men in the car, but I couldn't believe it when, after the car crashed, one of them (suspects) came out holding her face, crying for her Mommy, then she fall down inside the drain before police take she to hospital," a woman said.

"You see, you can't even trust some women nowadays, because some of them doing the same thing men doing and even worse. Why couldn't they work hard for whatever they want?" said a vendor who did not wish to be identified.

"Let me get to see she face, cause ah woman rob me up by the corner the other day," said another woman, as she tried to get a glimpse of the body inside the vehicle.

Market vendors heaped praises on St Louis, even though she was not present after the incident. They said St Louis did exactly what she took an oath to do—protect and serve.

"She (St Louis) should be awarded. She real good, boy. I thought she miss when she fire the two shots, but she really good. She take out two bandits and that's what we need here, because too many times we are victims of robbery," vendor Haroon Mohammed said of the incident.

"She (St Louis) is a very hard-working officer who always look out for the vendors here in the market and she's not the type that would shoot to kill anyone, even though this incident is so sad and she started to cry right on the scene."

Several streets in and around the market had to be temporarily closed by police as they processed the scene for more than five hours. Officers said they recovered a revolver, three wigs, a quantity of clothing and Amoroso's bag, which was stolen, among other items in the car.

Head of the Northern Division Snr Supt Stephen Ramsubhag said any incidents of lawlessness would not be tolerated by police.

"We are going to do everything in our power as police officers to ensure that law and order prevails, especially leading up to the Christmas period," Ramsubhag told the Express while at the crime scene.

"This incident that occurred here, even though it has to be thoroughly investigated, is true testimony that my officers would be out in full force to ensure that shoppers and law-abiding citizens can go about their business without fear.

"Criminals, beware! We are going to find you wherever you are and ensure that you are brought to justice, and any acts of lawlessness would be dealt with in accordance of the law, and none shall be spared."

Sankar, acting Supt Hendron Moses, Sgts Nafeez Mohammed and Basdeo Sinanan and officers of the Northern Division visited the scene.

Sankar and Sinanan are continuing investigations.

An autopsy is to be conducted on the victims at the Forensic Science Centre in St James on Tuesday

* ALl of these lovely references of Trinidad's past was provided through U-Tube, posted by someone known only as oldcalypso. Thank you so much.

Sparrow's "Jean and Dinah"

When I first heard this song as a child, although I did not have the language to understand the sexual currency of the song, I felt concern for these two girls who, 'If you caught them broken," were willing to be taken for nothing.
Over time, the stories of Trinidad during the war, and the arrival of American soldiers made the whole thing more understandable.
There was also a need to have an illustration of the barrack yard life, to know who these people were and what the island was like?
We naturally romanticise the past. But those were difficult times for many women, particularly women with very few to no prospects. Sparrow managed with that song and many more, to capture time, place and politics.
Again,the music might seem rude or low, but the fact of the matter is that an artist is there to capture literally, on the ground, the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the day,from the highest to the lowest without judgement.




Rum and Coca Cola by Lord Invader does this as well, and the fact that it is a much earlier song tells me that the theme was possibly very popular. It was covered as we all know and made a gigantic success by African American actor and singer, Harry Belafonte. It is also beautifully sung by the Andrew Sisters, who make it sound so folksy and almost sweet.

I have wondered why this song caught the attention of Hollywood? Particularly in light of that other song that was a huge hit,Feeling,Hot,Hot,Hot by the recently deceased soca artist, Arrow.
I wonder whether the women of my island were notorious, or whether the fact that Americans were in the islands, that the impression left was such that the song was popular to the island and then caught on in America?
When I know more,I shall post the information.

In search of the references

I never really listened to this post properly until I happened to be spring cleaning the house with my sister many, many years ago. We needed the music loud to push us along as we worked. I was so shocked by the lyrics. I did not realize just how explicit they were? At that time, I knew of the bawdy recorded comedies of Eddy Murphy who I understand had nothing on Redd Fox and Lenny Bruce in their day.
This song, Ram Ram is much more than the simple exploits of a woman in complete control of her sexuality, it is also a nod and wink to women generally.
Once I got over my initial shock, I then wanted to know as much as possible about this woman who sang the song. There is nothing definate that I do know, but I consider her a brave songstress.
Some may say that people like Foxy Brown and Lil Kim are as raunchy and memorable well, but I personally think that they have nothing on this lady and her delivery.
She gets to the quick of it all, with vigor and sass. It is rude and typical of the innovation of Jamaican music.
Does it liberate women or put them in a position of cliche? You be the judge.

Remember this!

When this song came out many years ago, I decided to poll my class at the time,which consisted of about five or six guys to twelve girls. The video was meant to provoke and it succeeded.
The girls hated it. The felt that Ms. Aguilera was too talented to need to take so much of her clothes off in such a gyrating manner. Meanwhile the boys in the class found themselves speechless. They admitted that the entire things had an alluring effect on them. This led to a long debate on whether women need to dress as she had, to get attention, Or to be perceived of as successful in their careers? The debate continues...

Victoria Square Mas 2008 - Baby Doll

1930's Trinidad

The history of the baby doll

One of the projects that I am working on right now, and I must say that it requires a great deal of work and time and the deadline is looming near.As usual, for carnival I produce a character that I then play in performace. This year, I am working on something much bigger. As always I have done some research on the theme, and I am including some of it here. I shall also include my sketches and other reference materials, so that my process can be documented.

.....................
From 1956 with the actress Carroll Baker



Baby doll lingerie is extremely popular today. Seen as a nightwear "classic," the babydoll continues to be remade and updated by lingerie designers. Yet very few people know the history of these now-classic pieces. Provided here is a brief guide to the short but interesting history of baby doll lingerie.

Women's nightwear has evolved and changed over time. By the 1930s, short and sensual were the order of the day. Women often wore short negligees with matching "bed jackets," which were short, sensual and sometimes trimmed with feathers or lace. Out of these bed jackets came the first baby doll lingerie pieces.

The garment got its current name from a 1956 film called "Baby Doll," which featured a young Carroll Baker wearing the item. The film was a success, launching a public infatuation with the garment. At that time, babydolls were simple, featuring a flared negligee with a hemline approximately six inches above the knee. Like the earlier bed jackets, baby doll lingerie often featured feathers or lace trim.

It was around that time that a daywear dress in babydoll style was introduced. The dresses maintained the short, sensual feel of the baby doll lingerie, but were more solid and appropriate for public view. Meanwhile, the nightwear version of the babydoll became increasingly more sensual. Gradually creeping shorter, and featuring ever more daring fabrics, baby doll lingerie made the switch from simple nightwear to true sexy lingerie.

Today, vintage baby doll lingerie can be highly valuable. Collectors often search for babydolls that date to the 1950s or 1960s. However, the item has also continued to evolve. Today a sheer babydoll or lace babydoll is easy to find. Hemlines now run the gamut from the traditional six inches above the knee to barely skimming the buttocks. Necklines range from a more traditional scoop neck to a deeply plunging, cleavage-enhancing V-neck. Babydolls are even available that more closely resemble the older bed jackets, featuring one or two front closures.


Referenced from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-Sexy-Baby-Doll-Lingerie&id=1078022
....................

THE JAMETTE CARNIVAL
This was a term which was used by the French and English to describe the Carnival celebrations of the African population during the period 1860 to 1896. The term comes from the French “diametre” meaning beneath the diameter of respectability, or the underworld . It was a term used at that time to describe a certain class in the community.

The view of the whites was that the Carnival activities were immoral, obscene and violent. The kalenda, the drumming, the dances and the sexually explicit masquerades were thought to be totally objectionable.
They were fully supported in this view by the contemporary press. Throughout the period there was a sustained attack on Carnival in most newspaper editorials. This ranged from outright condemnation to calls for a total ban. This was also the era of repressive legislation. The British Colonial Government passed several laws against all forms of African cultural traditions. As was seen in 1881, it took more than legislation and police batons to stop the Carnival. For the more repressive the legislation, the more aggressive the reponses. Carnival was more than just music , masquerade and dance. It was about their very existence.

Who were these Jamettes?
The Jamettes occupied the barrack yards of East Port of Spain. They lived in appalling conditions. These were the stickfighters, prostitutes, chantuelles, matadors, dustmen. There existed all the conditions for social instability : crime, vagrancy, disease, prostitution, unemployment, sexual permissiveness and dysfunctional families. It is no wonder, therefore, that Carnival was embraced with such fervour. For the Jamettes, it was a necessary release from the struggle that was their daily lives.

BABY DOLL
The baby doll character, which is now extinct, was played up to the 1930s. The masquerader portrays a gaily dressed doll, decked out in a frilled dress and bonnet. In her arms she carries a doll which symbolises an illegitimate baby. The masquerader portraying the baby doll, stops male passers-by and accuses them of being the baby's father.

http://www.nalis.gov.tt/carnival/carnival.htm
....................

on the net

ania bas: News - Autumn 2010: "Very Public People28 conversations with the local public people of West Bromwich interviewed by a group of artist based in the Midlands no..."

New Projects

After the symposium yesterday, one or two of the other speakers discussed things that got my creative wheels turning. I have already started a conversation of sorts with one of them. In the next few weeks I shall post here some of our proposals and our plans. Depending on how this goes, I would like to show what it takes to get a concept from a germ of an idea to the final presentation.

The symposium findings

It is very important to be invited to a gathering of Artists, Architects and Designers talking about their fields. You learn so much. You meet people of like minds and you certainly grow from the experience.
This, soon to be completed series of talks asked some pivotal questions and opened up for me observations and suggestions that I would now like to explore and hopefully help inform other work, new and developing alike.
With that stated, Galleryyuhself.blogspot.com, which was created only for the symposium, shall now continue as a blog for development and support of projects online and off.

Study using mobile phones to teach maths

In today's Express newspaper on pages 28 and 31, there was an interesting article titled, Moving from instant messaging to algebra.
This is a perfect example of the way that modern technology is being used to help make learning easier.
I have attempted to copy a small portion of the article here-:

Trinidad and Tobago has a mobile phone subscription rate well over 100 percent. Yet we have an O-Level mathematics paper two pass rate of only 20 percent.
Clearly we like our mobile devices more than we do mathematics.
Recognising this, one graduate student of the University of the West Indies (UWI) has started a study to discover if the popularity of the former can boost the pass rates of the latter. Mathematics has come to the mobile phone.
The three month study entails using mobile phones to assist secondary school pupils to study mathematics by building games into the device that encourage them to learn.
The project is being carried out by Vanni Kalloo, a postgraduate scholarship student in UWI St.Augustine's Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

Artist Wendell McShine

Taking his work further...

THE OFFERING from wendell mc shine on Vimeo.

But...

I gave further thought to the post about getting attention, and I had to look at the person who might say, what if I don't like blogs? Or I can't write on a topic at length. This may not mean that getting online and having your work seen cannot happen.
What this simply says is that you need to sit down and focus on what it is that you are good at selling. You can sell a whole number of things.
For some people it may be the ability to get two divergent ways of thinking together and forming solutions.
It can be that you like images and can talk about how things work, or fit together.
Your site may even be about your love of reading, or doing things with children. It can be about saving money or you may like to tell jokes.
Not everything starts out being money focused, but it can lead to a past-time that can.
You may still not be convinced. You may think that online forces you to be a show-off, or something that you may think to yourself, you definitely are not. You don't want to be a joiner, or you don't think that your level of expertise can outwit or stand up against other points of view.
These concerns are legitimate, and so, blogs can also be private. You can have an identity online and not compromise who you are.
You do not have to do things the run of the mill way. The point is, you get online only when you feel comfortable about it.
It is up to you.Who is to say that you can't join a group or do things with others as you decide where you too fit in.
That is the beauty of choice.

Notice board

Talk to the average person and they may tell you that an online presence is the way to making money online. This may be so, but it may not be as much as you might think. To make money online, people must know that you are there to begin with.
How does this happen?

There are many ways to get attention,here are a few ways-:

1. Write a blog that relates to a subject of interest.

A blog that gets hits that can then be quoted in other media
ie:television and radio, helps you get recognition.

2. Hinge your blog to other known and more reader driven sites.

This will help you to be seen by people you might never have
considered.

3. Add applets such as Twitter,Tumblr and Facebook to your page.





These sites help your page become more interesting and much
livelier.It requires more upkeep because you must keep
updating what you are about,but it keeps you current.

4. Branch out

Add a shop to your page or a comment box. This makes
your page much more interactive. Also create and or
join a group that has similar views. This group can
be local, regional and international in scope.

5. Keep Updating

Have something to say, or add information from
other sources. Before you know it, you may have
something that goes beyond interesting to something
that is actually publishable.

An online life is indeed a life, with activities, a schedule, a dictionary, file photography and even video clips. It is a very detailed space, with much to look at and to access and assess, but it it also a wonderful way to see your own growth and to put meaning to your working life.
It may pay off in bigger ways than money in the bank.

More on thoughts concerning the symposium theme

catalogue design
catalogue design

inner page from diary

The one day symposium is soon upon me, and this gives me the opportunity to get my thoughts together. Ever since I was asked to be part of the panel, the theme that I have chosen has been somewhere near the front or side of my thinking.
Naturally I want to do something memorable that I too would like to see and moreso, know.
What this whole proposal writing and speaking has done for me and this topic, is help me to get very clear about what I want to say, know and show.
I have concerns about the way space is looked at in Trinidad and Tobago.
When my late partner Richard Bolai and I started our graphic design partnership, not having a real shingle with a name, but two houses where we freelanced and then came together, was considered a bit unusual.
Doing things that are a bit unusual can make the client feel trepidation. It is important to put them at ease, and to do so quickly. Having an online presence via our blogs and then making those blogs worlds of their own has been a labor of love, but does the average person, whose business we attempt to court, understand our process?
This was something we discussed from time to time, and this was why we placed our design work online in the way that we did.
see:http://rabt.wordpress.com/about/
Now that my partner has died, I am left to re-evaluate what was created online and for an online audience. I am also now looking at his work online from the standpoint of his legacy.
All of this has helped me ask the question myself about space and working in an online setting.There is now so much more that can be done from when we initially started out. Cyberspace is much more negotiable. It is like having started off, one of the few houses on the street, realising that you need to get more than one water source or power source, to now being on a crowded street.
How do you set yourself apart?
I shall answer this question in the next post.

Design Ethos: A Bugle of Change: Change Observer: Design Observer

A look at the schedule

Art, Design and Architecture in Our Space:
New Perspectives on Art and Design Practice in The Caribbean

7.30 - 8:30 Registration

8:30 - 8:45 Opening remarks - FHE, DCFA / VA

Art in Our Space Moderator: Dr. Gabrielle Hezekiah
8.45 – 9:00 G.A Gardner
9:02 - 9:17 Peter Doig
9.19 - 9.34 Shastri Maharaj
9.36 – 10.00 Q & A
10.00 – 10.15 BREAK

Design in Our Space: Moderator: Ms. Lisa Allen Agostini
10:15 - 10.30 Adele Todd
10:32 - 10.47 Richard Rawlins
10.49 – 11.04 Robert Young
11:06 – 11:21 Lesley Ann Noel.
11:23 – 12:00 Q & A

12:00- 1:00 Lunch

Architecture Panel : Moderator: Dr. Maarit Forde
1:00 - 1:15 Mark Raymond,
1:17 - 1:32 Vernelle Noel,
1:34 – 1.49 Geoffrey MacLean,
1.51 – 2:06 Jenifer Smith.
2:08 -2:30 Q & A

2:30 – 2:45 AFTERNOON BREAK

Art, Design, Architecture in the Wider Community Panel : Moderator: Ms. Marsha Pearce
2:45 – 3:00 Sean Leonard,
3:02 – 3:17 Keith Cadette,
3: 19 - 3:34 Prof. Gerard Hutchinson,
3.36 -3:51 Gary Turton.
3:53- 4:15 Q &A

4:15 – 4:30 Closing Remarks

Change of venue for Art, Design and Architecture in our space

Due to the overwhelming number of registrants for "Art, Design and Architecture in Our Space - DCFA One Day Symposium", the venue has been changed to The Auditorium, 2nd Floor, School of Education UWI - Agostini St, St. Augustine (near UWI doubles).

You can still register for the event, which takes place next Wednesday October 6th, with Marissa Brooks at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts - 663-2222 or marissa.brooks@sta.uwi.edu

Registration is free, but lunch will be available for sale at the Staff Social Club next door for $25-$40, at several other venues nearby, or you can feel free to bring your own packed lunch. We will circulate the Staff Social Club's menu to confirmed registrants early next week, so you can confirm your lunch order, or you can also order on the morning.
...............................................................................

One of the reasons that I started Gallery Yuhself has been to also introduce the reader to people who are actually working in alternative ways in Trinidad and Tobago. I have already interviewed Richard Rawlins, an Art Director who pushes the boundaries of design through his magazine and art projects. James Hackett who is an illustrator, designer and carnival maker. The third person is Alicia Milne, an artist working in a variety of media. Her blog reads like a personal diary and her insight into ways of seeing and creating is extremely refreshing.
....................................................................................

Alicia Milne
http://intriguingthings.blogspot.com/



I chose to ask Alicia to send me a paragraph explaining her work instead of doing an interview. She kindly obliged with the following missive-:

I am finding it very interesting making work these days. I always found it to be a bit of a struggle to get into a groove of producing but once I got to that physical and mental space I can get into a state of continuous and constant production. While I was still at school I now realize I was afforded the luxary of having a space and time set aside just for me by my family as I was a student so I suppose they believed I needed my 'study time'. Now that I have recently left my job to have a go at my work full time it is even more of a struggle! My living situation makes it very difficult to work without interruption. It is extremely challenging to make work when one seems to be in an almost perpetual state of interruption. But somehow I can push through it (sometimes!).

I am consciously trying to separate the thinking about the work and the making of the work. I am finding that if I talk too much about ideas and try to justifly, legetimize and contextuilize the work I get too intimidated by it. I am doing the making and then step back and think, discuss. It's valid because I have made it. Sure the talk is a very important aspect but at the end of the day if I have not produced all I am left with is just talk.

Interview with Illustrator / Designer: James Hackett

James Hackett
http://shizzies.com/blog/

Hello James, can you give me some insight into your working process.
what's your avarage day like?

Well I do not have a routine per se. I just usually work early in the day. I am usually awake around 4-6am in the morning. Early in the day it is just a little bit quieter and peaceful so I focus better when compared to later on in the day with noise, heat etc.



2. Your interest in comic book illustration has always informed your work, tell me about this against your background in carnival.

Comics pretty much gave me my start in art, my brother kind of initiated me with it and later on I became an avid collector and fan of these books. I was drawn to all the bold imagery and colours and pretty much the fantastic way that only a comic book can tell a story in graphic details.

It is the design and illustration aspect that got me very interested in carnival and the way one can tell this visual story through sequential layout of costumes. I believe I benefitted a lot by having experienced working with various local prominent artist involved in carnival and art locally like Peter Minshall for example and all the talented artists that were part of the camp in the 90s.

Over an extended period I worked alongside Marlon Griffith who is also quite an interesting creative mind and doing well creatively and getting more and more recognition worldwide for his work. He is also an artist that travelled some similar paths to mind and quite fond of carnival and comic art.



3. What do you think about the way both Art and Design are evolving?

It is a fun time for me I think. I like playing around in various media and discovering different ways to tell my story. It is kind of the reason I am doing fashion, but now there are so many advancements in print and film that you are starting to see interesting narratives in art occur now beyond just the traditional fine art painting. That is fun and exciting to me.


4. What are your views on design education and what would you like to see being done for Artists and Designers now?

I think new designers need to be able to work on a world level. We cannot learn about processes and styles and techniques that are outdated we have to keep abreast of what is going on worldwide. I think designers and artists now have to get off the back seat and be proactive about their world. No one else will understand what needs to be done other than us. This is why I like what the people at Alice Yard and the folks behind Draconian switch are doing for example.



5. You have always embraced alternative ways of seeing, how does this work for you?

I bore really easily. I am a restless individual. Anything routine or static I cannot do for very long. My big adventure involves some risk taking but most times it has benefitted me in the long run. As an artist I try to pay attention to what is happening what people are doing and most importantly find my own spin on something. For example I am a fan of anime and Japanese manga. I started illustrating to find my own interpretation of it, rather than just using the style wholesale with Trinidadian names, I wanted to create a visual animated, illustrative style that was Trinidad. This style however was still informed by the techniques and processes by the Japanese and even some American influence as well as local illustrative stalwarts. Alternative can just mean finding your own voice and being confident enough to use it.



6. Any advice for the student out there who likes drawing but doesn't know how to move forward?

Have to become confident, and never be afraid of mistakes. I spent several months sketching on cheap books and old drawing pads. It built up my confidence to move on to bigger projects and simply made me want to draw more.




7. What are you working on next?

I scrapped quite a few plans I had for this year, now I am just focusing on fashion illustrations and my other fashion related work. I have put off any solo exhibition attempts until I graduate because I am putting most of my energy towards these last two years of school.

Thanks so much James.

Thanks. I enjoyed answering the questions.


PS: You can get James' prints on his site, here -:http://www.shizzies.com/shop/products-page/

Interview with Graphic Designer : Richard Rawlins

Richard Rawlins

1. How did you come about using design in such an interactive way?

The decision to actively show work meant that I would have to negotiate some unfamiliar terrain. Our local artscape has it’s own set of unique rules, governed by levels of acceptance, economies of scale, exclusivity, relevance and tenure among others things. Design is about ‘communication for living’ and as such it presented me with the answer to some of the problems ‘plaguing’ the ‘scene’. I set out to circumnavigate those problems.

For me it wasn’t any different to what I did everyday in my advertising job. How would I be able to show and address all of these issues? I would employ design as the major tool of communication and then some.

I ‘DID’ it. By that I mean I literally D.I.D. it.

Defined it. Initiated it. Developed it. Defined an objective of what I wanted to achieve.

Initiated a position for where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do.

I say initiate because this may have changed over the time and development of the work and I may have had to backward engineer. Last was the Development of a Communication strategy. What vehicle will we used to get from A to B.

"A" being the place we are currently and "B" being the place that we desire to be.



2. Did your ideas meet any resistance at first?



Resistance is objective really. I mean if you want to show in a gallery, but galleries would rather show other work that’s not yours and you appropriate a space and still show your work, the problem is solved. When I started sending out stuff from artzpub.com and eroticartweektt.blogspot and my own blog richardmarkrawlins.blogspot.com via Facebook, I got flagged for spamming. Maybe it was Facebook’s server or somebody with other interest other than my own who didn’t want to see me get ahead. I still beat that by embedding message codes in my statuses, using twitter, word of mouth and email. Before one of my shows someone tried to piggyback off of what I was doing by attempting to book a one night show of work supposedly similar to the work that I was showing in my one night show, the night before my own show. Of course from time to time you get the odd person here or there that will seek to pull you down over what you are doing and claim it’s only about self-promotion. There is always something…and there is always a way to beat it.



3. How did you bring people around to your way of thinking?



I didn’t have to. Having defined the problems with our local artscape and looking at its rules, I went the other way. Sun Tzu was Japanese warlord. Touted by some as probably the best there ever was. His father on the other hand it has been said was an ass, and did everything badly. Tzu learned from his father by going the other way and hence ensuring success. I go the other way…away from the norm. There are people out there that don’t need convincing about wanting something a little different. What I’m doing is a little different. That in itself creates interest and fits into my communication strategy.



4. What have been some of the projects that you have done and how did they come about?



• Speak UP 2007 – this was done as part of the Radical Designs group show of eleven artists and designers, who would employ Jeans as the medium for their expression. This was the beginning of a concerted effort on my part to show work. This work was the first time that I really began putting together the exploration of my own visual vocabulary. The work consisted of a pair of jeans and a book with representations of our local picong-patois-vernacular. Download it here:



http://www.artzpub.com/alt/pdf/SPEAKUP.pdf



• Draconian Switch 2008 – started this as a way of encouraging creative people in the advertising industry into expressing themselves in another forum, that might have been closer to their creative self and minus the mental blocks and frustrations of dealing with clients and account executives.


• Alice Bangie 2010 – my first foray into furniture and sculpture as inspired by the work of Surinamese artist Roberto Tjon Meeuw to build a FATU BANGIE a huge bench for friendship, community and liming.


• The Bag Project 2010 - a little experiment at showing online. This exploration in recycling using old jeans and turning them into bags facilitated an online performance art piece. Initially meant to show only online, the project jumped from art and fashion as the medium to fashion when it was shown as part of Jazzing Up the Runway. See the show online here:



http://richardmarkrawlins.blogspot.com/2010/07/richard-rawlins-bag-project-2010.html




• Button Project 2010 – the culmination of my political explorations from 2006 -2010. Held on the verge of the 2010 election. There is an element of political associations in T&T that’s like a fashion statement in themselves. We are asked to choose between colours. This show marked my foray into multi-media as well. I ran an animation on street, projecting animation onto a house opposite Alice Yard, and I would start my use of video for my artist statement. I really don’t believe in the long artist talk of 30 ‘over –intellectual’ minutes. What I have to say about my work can be done in under 10mins. This leaves the person coming to my event with the ability to chat, view the work, and hear and see me doing my artist statement at any point of the night (it loops), without feeling corralled to listen to what I have to say. My statements are brief to the point and perhaps even entertaining. Of course on the night of the show I’m still very accessible for discussion. My show is a human interaction piece afterall.




• Chinese Worker 2010 - this show was my homage to the Chinese Migrant Worker. The focus of this exploration was the affordability of art as well. I wanted anybody to be able to come to my show and “feel like they in the thing too.” We lament the fact that people don’t buy art, but I say people will buy art if an artist makes something that the average person can afford. This doesn't mean undervaluing your work or even working cheaply, but it does mean employing techniques toward the commercilisation and franchisement of work, something that the international galleries have long understood with their museum gift shops. Also as one friend pointed out we are in globalised recession so there are concerns about excesses in the art market and a certain amount of fiscal prudence being required. It’s art without excess. Affordable to make and affordable to buy...it’s I suppose trying to have a balance…create a market that’s sustainble...given the market we are in. Everybody wins the artist, the buyer and the "local art economy".


• The RMR Store 2010 – this venture is an extension of that exploration about merchandising. Long after my show, the work and items related to the work can actually be purchased online. The work, ‘works’ for me in the background while I continue to make more work or add to the inventory. Check out the store here: http://www.zazzle.com/rmraffinity*



5. What are some of your concerns about design in Trinidad and Tobago at this time?


My concerns are that not enough Design is being utilized. Design is about living. What does that say about us who aren’t making more use of it? I go to a bookstore and I see local magazines on the shelf, all badly designed and ugly. I see children’s books all badly designed. Not even the content structure is designed well. I look at our transplanted Miami template buildings and our packaged Made in China templates and it’s the same thing. There isn’t a conscious decision to employ and implore designers to do things. When I say designer we think Mas. We think Fashion Week. Do we think about street signs and highway signs? Do we think about environmental signage? Where is our design relevant Trinidadian design? Don’t get me wrong, Designers like Noel, Darbeau, Allen, and Young are exploring these fields but we need more. We need our own Alessi Design Factories, our own Wedgewoods and our own IKEAS. It shouldn’t be that one of the only avenues of employment for a designer is in advertising. We need more Abovegroups handling the design of identity. Maybe that is what we need a conscientious look at the overhaul of our identity as a nation. Maybe this a job for the newly formed Ministry of the People of Trinidad and Tobago. Getting Trinidadian designers to design our space. The UK design council is a perfect example of embracing growth and innovation. They have always championed the cause of Growing design to Grow Business. They hold at the centre of their being the concept of design as a building tool for a stronger economy and improved way of everyday life.



6. What do you think about the teaching of design and art, what do you believe is not being done and can be done better?



That’s hard for me to answer. I am not an educator in either of the disciplines. I would have to defer to people or peers that are practicing artists/designers and teaching. I look at life with promise and look at the graduating classes with the hope of the next big thing. Who knows what’s coming out of the programme. I recently saw the work of the UTT Animation Graduating class. I was so damned impressed. I did not feel as though I was watching student work at all. The collaborative teaching of the likes of Camille Selvon and people like Martin ‘Mice ‘ Raymond just showed through. I guess that is what I want. After four years of art school your work must no longer look first year “ish”.

I have hired COSTAAT students for my art department. I’ve never been disappointed. You come out of that 3-4 year Visual Communications Programme and you are ready to work. What we as artists and designers do is valuable and we must treat our craft with the respect it deserves, that starts with your education in the disciplines. With the likes of teachers like Adele Todd, Steve Ouditt and Lesly-Anne Noel teaching at UWI. I guess I expect a whole lot from that programme as well.



7. Do you have any suggestions to the up and coming designer or artist?


I always say just make work and make lots of it. I believe that creativity is God in Action.

When you look at his work (if you believe in God), you better believe that you have big shoes to fill. Don’t waste your time doing nothing. Practice, practice, practice…it’s what designers and artists do. They work. They are the real thinkers and revolutionaries of the world. We are the people that invent the stuff that does the stuff for people that don’t need to think about stuff. If we do it well enough people won’t have to even care that their life is better for it, they’ll just assume it was always so. Embrace technology and social media make them work for you. Archive your work. We debate the lack of appreciation for archivists and the act or archiving everyday in Trinidad. Archive your work. Explore it write on it examine and dessiminate it. Somebody somewhere will read it and care. Have valid and relevant content at the core of your work. Step out of the notebook and into reality. Invest in you and make things happen. Create your own action plan and follow it. Promote your self and have no shame for doing so. Phillipe Starck is the most self promoted designer in the world. Support for your work is the ticket to engagement. Ultimately this is what it all comes down to engagement.


gracias...




richard rawlins
richard.rawlins@cmbcreative.com

Meaning in Art and Design

There's nothing like an economic meltdown to encourage a spontanious drive to look within. A desire to bring meaning to "what now?" will always force a look at true values, and it is in so doing that we see the development of a variety of media being used to answer such questions.

why me? why this topic (First thoughts)

My embroidery project done in the environment on the status of crime in a paradise that is Trinidad and Tobago

The Bookmann in character as Betsy Ross Trinidad style

Tibor Kalman's excellent campaign for Benetton

When I was asked to be one of the presenters for the symposium on Art,Design and Architecture in our Space: New Perspectives on Art and Design Practice in the Caribbean, at first I was a bit taken aback by the request. I may be one of the lecturers, teaching part-time at the University of the West Indies, but I am also an Artist and a Graphic Designer.
I came about my career through a very crocked path. I never wanted to give up Art to pursue Design. In the time that I studied the subject at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, I was fortunate to encounter lecturers and teachers who were conscious of the very new splintering of fields.
Today it may not seem like such a big deal,these fields appear seamless, but back then, in the early nineteen nineties, as was the case with the invention of the home computer years earlier, there was the issue of new ways of seeing and creating. Some names that quickly come to mind and definate pioneers whose work cannot be denied were such people as David Carson,Neville Brody and Tibor Kalman (d.1999) who created design for magazines like Spy,The Face and Emirge.

Emirge magazine


These people helped push the boundaries of using drawing, painting, photograhy and Photoshop.
The beauty of all of this is that there is great design and design experiences happening all the time, you must just be well versed to see it. Here in Trinidad it comes out culterally, and my partner in design, Richard Bolai, alias The Bookmann, now deceased, and I spent a great deal of time looking and seeing, as well as making.
So it is with thoughts of my own experiences and goals for my career that I bring forth my process, my concerns and hopefully solutions and observations for the future.

A list of inspireing sites

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/


>http://www.wreckthisjournal.com/



http://www.kerismith.com/


One cannot talk about alternative spaces and not show that it is happening all over the world.In this blog entry, I would like to show you a few sites that are conscious of this trend and are doing a lot of interesting things.

http://www.sagmeister.com/index.html

and of course amidst all of this, there are other fabulous women and I shall discuss that in the next entry.

More on the budget 2011 as it relates to the Arts

e. The diversity of our culture is our strength. We must now leverage our cultural energy to develop a culture based industry for both local and export market. We will partner with the Artists Coalition of Trinidad and Tobago and other interest groups to act on a number of projects. Some of these include: additional funding for the music industry, creating a National Heroes Policy and publishing a Book of Heroes, restoring and recognising Heritage sites to promote destination tourism, as well as creating a National Hall of Fame and a House of Music, amongst other policies. These projects will reflect the rich heritage of our multicultural society.

f. The international fashion industry is a multi-billion dollar business. We must be prepared to enter this market. To do so we shall encourage our local fashion industry to market its strengths abroad. Trinidad and Tobago is known for creative design, expressed in carnival and other cultural and religious festivals. We must use this strength to build a thriving design industry that can compete internationally. We will support these groups to market their products abroad.

g. We will review the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company and the Trinidad and TobagoEntertainment Company to ensure that their mandates are consistent with their operationsand financial management. We will take steps to ensure that these companies areentrepreneurial and commercial entities. In addition, the National Arts Scholarshipprogramme will be expanded.

Excerpt from the 2011 budget speech for Trinidad and Tobago

This excerpt refers specifically to the allotment of moneys for the Arts-:
Increase in Art and Culture Allowance
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the invaluable contribution made by the arts and culture in shaping Trinidad and Tobago’s heritage.
As a result, the government will increase the Arts and Culture Allowance applicable under the Corporation Taxes Act from $1 million to $2 million.
This measure is estimated to cost $10 million and will require amendments to the Corporation Tax Act, and will be effective from January 1st, 2011.

The Paper

The much touted phrase "global village,' has put most of us working in the field of Art, Design and Architecture into a mindset of considering 'new' spaces for greater reach.
I have asked myself this very question as it pertains to getting the most out of not only making Art, showing and actually making a living, but also to the greater thinking of sustaining, advancing and expanding ways of seeing, making and being relevent in our instant media world environment.

My essay shall look at all of these facets of making and selling work today. The components necessary for success and the challenges at present as we build the future.

Art, Design and Architecture in Our Space - DCFA One Day Symposium

06 October · 08:00 - 16:00

The Visual Arts Unit of the Department of the Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA), Faculty of Humanities and Education, The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine will be hosting a special one day symposium, entitled Art, Design and Architecture in our Space: New Perspectives on Art and Design Practice in the Caribbean to be held at the Institute of Critical Thinking, UWI, St. Augustine on October 6th 2010.

This event e...volved from the 2009 UWI Sculptural Project, which was spearheaded by artist Dean Arlen and proposed the installation of seven sculptures designed by several young Trinidadian artists. One of the seven sculptures was installed on the St. Augustine campus and has subsequently opened the discussion around public art and design in Trinidad & Tobago.
The 2010 symposium aims to initiate a dialogue on issues that affect the practice of art, design and architecture in Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean. The DCFA and Mr. Arlen have collaborated to develop a series of themes for four panel discussions during the symposium on Wednesday 6th October 2010:

Art in Our Space
Design in Our Space
Architecture, Landscape and Urbanism in Our Space
Art, Design & Architecture and the wider Community

Sixteen panellists drawn from thefields of art, design and architecture, as well as researchers from related disciplines will present papers at the Symposium. The Symposium papers will be published after the event.