Kyle Guzik Social Practice Art Documentation and Reflections

I have written previously in my social practice proposal and in my annotated bibliography about my concerns surrounding the potential harms that social practice art can cause. However, for my social practice art project I wanted to emulate the vast majority of social practice and social justice art we have studied in ARTE 780, which is socially conscious and helps others, both human and non-human. By chance, an animated gif I submitted to Cabell Library was selected for display on the “vitrine” LED display shortly before I presented the results of my art project in class. I was able to get a video of it during the day but was not able to observe it at night as the screen remained off after the afternoon when I made the recording:

https://twitter.com/kyle_guzik/status/808373262698905600

This work might be considered social practice art in that the space in front of the library is the focal point for most political activity on the campus. The vitrine display can reach a large number of observers in a short time due to the significant foot traffic in this area. The image itself is non-political and may have been cropped or resized to fit the screen. The original image was a 4’X6’ oil painting of a primarily yellow-orange square over a blue-violet rectangle to give the impression of a landscape. There was also a pattern of loosely interacting floral shapes to give a sense of motion and the yellow grows red near the horizon. The image was photographed with an film camera, resulting in a slide. This slide was scanned and then digitally edited by changing the value of the image to create a series of images with different sets of complimentary colors. This images were combined together to make an animate gif, which seems to have had its proportions offered to meet the requirements of the display. So the image has been shuffled through a series of formats. However, the goal was only to make something aesthetically pleasing. The image does not promote progressive values or actions, critique society, or encourage the viewer to contemplate a social issue. So the only connection the display has to social practice art is its proximity to a politically charged space. This work stands in contrast with my intentions as described in my proposal, to complete volunteer work that is of value because someone specifically requested help on a project or program. I was not able to attend the Christmas tree lighting ceremony because they canceled their call for volunteers. However, I completed approximately 12 service hours at a dog park, a retirement community, a middle school, and in a park along the James River. I then documented my volunteer projects with photographs on social media. It was not my initial intention to create any art with this project, but upon reflection I believe the performative and documentary aspects of the project as well as my intention to make a positive contribution to the community place it within social practice art.

BARK Dog Care and Cleaning

I took dogs for walks on two separate occasions at a dog shelter near Ashland. The dogs live in a large barn and volunteers take them for walks while other volunteers with more training clean the cages. The dog shelter is in a rural location and covers an impressive amount of land. There is a creek and a pasture on the property. Each walk takes about half and hour. All of the dogs I

walked were very happy to get out of their pens. It was somewhat physically demanding at times because the larger dogs are strong and heavy and very excited to go for a walk. One day liked to jump up and basically try to hug me with his forepaws. The peacefulness of the natural setting and the happiness of the dogs made this experience the most rewards of my projects.

BARK Dog Care and Cleaning

Westminster Canterbury Richmond Senior Celebration

To preserve the privacy of the residents, I did not take any photographs inside the retirement community. I volunteered with a program called “senior celebrations” which is led by a middle school teacher in Richmond Public Schools. There were a large number of volunteers included several children and we played Bingo with the residents. Because there were so many volunteers each volunteer helped a resident to determine when they needed to place a chip on their boards. One resident got up and appeared to be interested in having a conversation so I took the opportunity to introduce myself. I found out that she had completed her masters in English at VCU and has been a teacher for many years with experience in public, private, and religious schools. She told me about her trips to South America with her husband as a teacher for a religious organization. She shared with me the story of how she adopted her first child, the trepidation and uncertainty she felt and the joy of bringing her child back to the United States

and handing the baby to her father. This was a meaningful opportunity to understand the value of a lifetime commitment to learning and teaching.

James River Park System: Cleaning The Trails

In this project I work with other volunteers to clear brush from the trails near Pony Pasture and also remove invasive plants. I focused on using a Pulaski axe to uproot invasive trees. This required a lot of digging and chopping. It reminded me of my time with the Student Conservation Association. The pile of bush ended up about 6 feet wide, 8 feet tall, and 15-20 feet long. I enjoy and use the James River Park System a lot so this was an opportunity to contribute to the health of the park.

VA 365 Food Backpack Distribution- Albert Hill Middle School

I worked with several volunteers to place healthy afternoon snacks into bags for each classroom at the middle school. We also bagged groceries that students could take home for the weekend. There was some down time in between the bagging and the distribution so I started talking with another volunteer. She was a religious and friendly woman who had survived cancer and had at one time wanted to become a teacher. She told me repeatedly that it was inconceivable that children could go hungry in the United States. She was also a Trump voter. I found that I agreed with this woman on many issues and her support of Trump was primarily a protest against Clinton. She didn’t like the issues with the emails or the Benghazi narrative. However, she also gave Trump a pass on his sexual deviancy with the justification that Clinton was even worse. It became clear that we shared many core values, but also had fundamentally different interpretations of reality. I gained more empathy for some Trump voters, because they can be well-intentioned.

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