What I See

this was my final art project for my Arts in the City seminar while in Chicago. it takes a bit of explaining, so bear with me.
what i wanted to do was combine types of art i learned about in my most recent art history class (art since 1940), particularly installation and non theatrical performance art, with art that i already do- like painting. i also wanted the meaning behind the piece to reflect my initial feelings of city life. having grown up in a small town, chicago was quite new for me. plus i generally prefer nature to buildings and exhaust fumes.
so my idea was to make the canvas into a stylized cityscape and paint a landscape over it. that's the painting portion of it. but i didn't just paint it. i painted it while sitting in the jackson red line cta station- a station i was at all the time in chicago. i chose it for that reason.
i plopped all my stuff on the ground, sat down, and started painting. lots of people looked at me funny. a couple people asked me what i was doing. my response to them was 'ainting what i see.' purposely vague. after that, if they didn't decide i was crazy and kept asking questions, i explained more. but mostly i got funny looks.
so that's the performance bit. non theatrical. doing something artistic in a non artistic space.
the installation comes in the site specificness of the station, and the fact that i left my painting in the station. as soon as i decided it was done, i packed up my stuff and walked out, leaving it to dry where it sat. i didn't look back.
of course, it was gone the next time i was there. although i'd like to think that someone loved it and took it home and is enjoying it right now. but it's probably in a dump. oh well. i like not knowing.
it was actually really hard to let it go. i liked it a lot more than i expected to, and i like having my art. it is difficult letting it go. so i'm glad i documented the whole process.
so yeah. if you made it to the end of this, i'm proud of you! i probably wouldn't have...