Art Made in Adversity
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Artist and educator Allison Smith shares her thoughts and library of books about art made in adverse circumstances. Featured are Vladimir Arkhipov's project Home-Made, archiving Russian artifacts made during Perestroika, and Trench Art, or art and objects made during armed conflict, highlighting works from Trench Art: An Illustrated History by Jane A Kimball.
Find the art assignment Allison Smith devised, called The Muster, here: • Declare your cause. | ...
Learn more about Allison Smith's work here: www.allisonsmi...
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Smith has massive Art Teacher energy.
Had to blink back tears a bit at the trench art. My maternal grandad was a cook at a POW camp in WWII Europe. His "war spoils" was personalized art. One of the French soldiers in an ally battalion gave him three beautiful paintings. Seascapes in white, blue, and black. I used to stare at them the living room, transported to their twilight world, or trying to decipher the French inscriptions that included my grandfather's name. His other gift was a handcarved box, made by one of the POWs. His name and a greeting meticulously carved in German on the lid. I've often wondered at the kind of relationship my grandad would have with these artists. My brother, also a soldier, has the box now, and one day the paintings will go to me. I never knew my grandfather, but I know the gifts given to him, and the kind of man he'd have to be. Thank you for the video, and the context.
Thank you so much for sharing this lovely story with us.
I find your grandfather’s story very touching, @tricksterbelle. Thank you.
my idea is that creating is part of the human experience, we crave to create. and our creations will be part of our story we will leave behind
🦋
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Thank you for sharing Arkhipov's project. I'm from Latvia and I remember the remnants of so many self-made things in my early childhood, when even if you could buy an item, it'd be of horrible quality.
Amazing! It's great to see new faces. Allison's presentation was super interesting and comparing our situation today with other major historical events really demonstrates how significant 2020 will be historically.
I love this! I love your channel! I love how we're not only looking back at history, but looking at ourselves in a historical perspective. Thank you!
Great comment! I love your channel also! 😊🤗🤗
Now is also a time to make sure to support artists too!
So. I have..... thoughts about this.
In the last decade I've lived through years of earthquakes destroying my home town, a mosque terror attack 2 min from my highschool where I had teenage interfaith meetings, been diagnosed with multiple severe chronic, degenerative diseases that have left me at times unable to eat, move or retain my job due to pain, distress and other such things. In the last year alone I've had 4 surgeries, including one where I nearly died after from sepsis, and one after I was hit by a bus on my bicycle. I'm currently on such strong drugs to try and halt the arthritis eating at my joints I've gone mostly grey at 26 over the period of 2 months--and what hair isn't losing colour is falling out by the handful. I lost a person I considered my second father in a horrific train crash this last christmas eve; I've been bullied, embarassed and ostracized by friends or work colleagues for my opinions, being too young or too willing to not lie down and instead act as whistleblower to high level governmental corruption.
Yes, this is not good stuff, and it could be better or worse--such is life, and there is always someone worse or better off than oneself. This said, the sole constant, unwavering knowledge I have found thru such difficulties is that, no matter what you live thru, the act of creation doesn't lose value, ever. It's immutable, and innate. Discovering such is powerful, and drawing your pain, drawing *from* your pain--whatsoever that might be--is perhaps the one solid gift that can offer a glimmer in dark days, a peek into the keyhole at the happy room, and even if it is only a minute amount it can be enough to ease the burden, however slightly, sufficient to give you the strength to keep going when the things in your life become overwhelming. It's not always the easiest to remember, but there is some comfort, I think, in knowing that this is something we all have access to, and nothing can stop you making, creating and drawing on each experience you live, to pin it to the page, define it, and maybe gain some sort of absolution in doing so, no matter who you are. And honestly, I think that's pretty dang cool.
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this is a lovely sentiment - thank you so much for sharing it and for your bravery to live through what you have.
Thank you for sharing your experience. You are an inspiration.
This is the most beautiful thing I've EVER read. Thank you for this. And bless you for your strength and amazing perspective.
Hey aap sab Mare channel ko subscribe kar do Mai bhi aapke channel ko subscribe kar dungi please please Mari channel ko subscribe kar do Mai bhi aapke channel ko subscribe kar dungi please please please
As a musician, I have been immensely frustrated at my inability to create these last few months. I have found it difficult to find joy in my instruments and where I usually have so many things to say when songwriting, I find myself at a loss for words. Perhaps because it is still too immediate, to big, to grapple with. When I find myself in times of trouble... I default to playing Beatles songs and old favourites, clinging to the comfort of them.
I love seeing the wonderful art that gets created out of adversity. I haven't found a route into it myself, but I suppose that means I have to keep trying.
Part of the role of an artist is to soothe others. Sometimes the others are other artists. Perhaps right now you don't need to create, but instead sit at the feet of masters and heal.
You may find as the worst of this winds down you with have a burst of creation at the moment your mind is in survival mode. Do little creative things every day doodle haikus anything to keep that spark going and when it is ready it will burn again.
In my neighborhood during the confinement period (in France we're now free to move about within a 100km zone) there was a young man who played his bagpipe every evening in a one person parade round the block. People applauded him, it was quite lovely. You could play your music out of the window for your neighbors, I'm sure they'll appreciate it.
It's OK to record a scream, if that's how you feel. Don't curate yourself right now. Just let it out. Sometimes we can't be a light in the darkness. Sometimes, we have just to feel our way to the light. Or even whistle to ourselves while waiting for it to come through. And it will.
Very good topic! This shows that art is everywhere, all the time. Even with limited resources, people somehow feel the need to leave their own mark to everyday objects and create art☺️
this is a much needed reminder about perspective and creativity. thank you for teaching us about something so relevant, stay safe.
I’m coming out of a depressive episode and finally ready to start creating again. I’ve been being really hard on myself for not being able to channel my emotions into art during this difficult time. So many artists are taking advantage of quarantine and for so long I have felt like a failure for being so drained and unmotivated. The Art Assignment is constantly encouraging me to expand my notions of what art can be and continues to help me have more confidence in my work. As a fiber artist I would like to humbly suggest a “The Case for Fiber Arts” video. I find it really powerful that what was traditionally considered “woman’s work”, and subsequently devalued, was reclaimed and elevated to the status of “art” by feminist creators. Fiber arts definitely don’t get enough love (even today), but I loved your inclusion of Sheila Hicks in your recent art book
Art making, reading, watching and experiencing art online during this time for me is literally saving my life. Thank you for doing this video.
I wish I had learned more about this kind of art when learning history. Somehow it makes these events and places and people all the more "real." I've made stuff from necessity before, I make items from found materials, and so seeing the work of others, doing the same, it's like my hands know them. I already have a vivid imagination, but this just really did a number on me.
I never knew soldiers did needlepoint while recuperating, never thought about what someone might do during the long hours of incarceration. There's this strange sense that people in war zones and people in prisons just...stop. As if they don't exist outside of news footage or photos, they just...are static, somehow. Motionless, emotionless, with no personalities of their own, only what we as the viewer of that footage, those photos, project onto them.
This is art that hurts and yet somehow uplifts the spirit at the same time. This is art that has no price, really, because it is a little piece of someone's soul. Maybe not a dramatic piece - the man just needed a working pen. But a fragment nonetheless of one human's experience. The ephemeral made - if not eternal - at least enduring beyond one life. What else makes us more connected with each other and our world than this?
I have never been disappointed by an Art Assignment video. Thank you to the entire team for making these. This is especially comforting in January 2022.
Today I had my 10-year-old cat, Sócrates, euthanized. The last few days I've felt terrible and today I'm devastated, but still trying to cope. I'm a photograher who's gone through a bit of a hard time during the last year, which has almost killed my will to even stare at the world as one, but I feel the need to do something with the memories and photographs I have of him. Do you have any favorite works on the subject of loss and grieving? Thank you.
So sorry for your loss! I lost my first cat, Oliver, a couple of years ago and I was devastated. Losing a pet is losing a family member. I wish you all the best and a lot of strength!
My favourite art pieces about loss would probably be "Perfect lovers" by Felix Gonzales Torres and "Grieving spirit" by Yannis Tsarouchis ("Πνεύμα που πενθεί" Γιάννης Τσαρούχης).
I'm so sorry about socrates. I had my cat, lem, euthanized a few years ago.
It is a painful but loving decision to limit the pain of such a close friend. I hope you're okay
I’m very sorry for your loss. Losing an animal friend is no less painful than losing any other human loved one, I hope you are healing well and I know Socrates is meowing happily at you from a kinder place.
I've never heard of or thought of most of these ways of making art. This was really interesting
Great talk Allison Smith. I have been experiencing this in my own home while sheltering in place- trying to lower my consumption and making with what I have. Researching materials and process is a lot easier than making a pen or basket during war times.
This is so interesting. I’m amazed with the creativity that ranges across all kinds of neat items.
That was really interesting; thank you. Re: soldiers in captivity - I used to go the the Freemasons' museum at the main lodge in London a lot (not a mason; just a nice building). They have a collection of 'jewels'. Jewels are a sort of masonic arty thing usually encased in glass. The had ones made by POWs dating back to the Napoleonic Wars. Well worth checking out if you ever get the chance. The work that went into them is staggering.
Now on my list for my next trip to London (whenever that might be!?!)
this is why I love these videos. I feel really edified by them and I actually feel like I learned something useful.
Loved this video, thanks for sharing.
No matter what suffering you are going through, there is always a response. In taoism there is a story of a man losing his wife who begins drumming as a response to his sadness. His friend who sees him drumming can’t understand how he can do it after what he has been through, but he understands that his action of creation is life. Creation affirms life during suffering when there may be no other response and it is a vastly beautiful response no matter what you go through to get there and these works show you that whatever you do matters and there is always a way forward however you need to get through the eye of the needle. There is a short video from the poet and novelist Ben Okri on the day he became a writer after a harsh experience on an art channel called Louisiana Channel. Anyone suffering who needs a little motivation should look it up.
This video took my breath away. Thank you!
If you guys are ever down in Australia again, you HAVE to go to Tasmania to the museum of old and new art. You will walk out of there feeling like you belong to a different species than when you went in. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do some episodes there!
Thank you very much Alison for you presentation and open your heart and joung student memoires. The Trench ART book it look amazing.
I know this covid-19 thing has definitely affected how I work. Since supplies are hard to come by, I've resorted to making things out of junk I find around the house. The things I once didn't even consider as supplies have now become my main source of materials. It's like if good paint had overnight become too precious for me to use. Last week I even built a working camera completely from scratch! Pieces from old orange crates, paint stir sticks, cardboard tubes, an old pair of reading glasses, a clothes pin and plenty of glue are all I needed. Is it good? not really but asking that question is beyond the point. I built something that most people would consider impossible to do, and that made me extremely proud of myself.
For any of you watching, if you’re interested in seeing more things like the ones in the “Home-Made” book, look up “очумелые ручки” on youtube. It was a popular segment of a Russian tv-show that aired mostly in the 90s. They are probably an inspiration for a channel “5 minute crafts” and are famous for their ability to create almost anything out of plastic bottles and tin cans. I hope you’ll find them as entertaining to watch as I did when I was a kid.
Wonderful. Thank you for sharing this concept.
Great ideas, lovely guest, awesome channel
I'm watching this three years later and it seems like it's never been more appropriate with everything that is going on in the world right now ❤
This is fascinating stuff! I am amazed by how beautiful some of the pieces are.
Allison looks at and speaks to me like I am a small child seated on a carpet and she is a special guest the teacher brought to speak.
Thank you! It was very interesting and inspiring - talk about limitation (i mean people make art being in a war camp, there are no excuses not to do it at home)
Wonderful and fascinating. Thanks for sharing these.
I made several works of art during the pandemic. The one that I think about now is the astronaut. Long and lanky, he filled up the page. three sections of color lay behind him as "space" nonuniform, but cartoonishly wavey lines separate the three color sections. It represents how I was feeling at the time. Alone, isolated, and unsure of the future.
It is a piece I hold dear, as I feel sorry for the kid who made it. I want to tell him that everything is going to be okay.
Thank you so much for this video. Checked national libary in Denmark and got the chance to order some books. Mrs. Smith has a wonderful libary and I wouldn't mind at all if there was a whole video just about that ... :-))
I was just wondering about what kind of artwork has been created in previous epidemics. Was looking for a good compilation but found little in the way of one.
Here are a couple articles that might be of interest:
Spanish flu and the depiction of disease: wellcomecollection.org/articles/XabLWhAAACEAnUH2
Pandemic art: how artists have depicted disease: www.theartnewspaper.com/analysis/art-pandemic
This is so beautiful. I hope to keep making art even though it’s much harder right now
We need her on this channel more!
Gracias Allison ❤️ súper inspiradora
Really enjoyed this video. Thank you. 🙂
Thank you! This was so interesting. I wish you all the best, stay healthy and continue the good work. Many greetings, Ethel
Thank you for this! It's really got me thinking about how and what I create during this time.
Amazing video! Thank you for sharing all this
One of my favorites youtube channels, thank u
So inspiring!!! I really love this! Thank you for sharing 🙏🙏🙏
Avocado stone, fantastic carving material.
So you carve when still soft or let it dry or... I'm so curious now. (Will go Google, but wanted you to know you inspired a curious.)
I would also like to know!
@@3countylaugh The way I do it, I let it dry a day until the outer skin starts to crack, then I peel it off and then I use a paring knife to cut off the outer layer while still soft. After that, I let it dry for a few days -- I crack it in halves to make the process faster.
Once it's hard, I carve it with a combination of wood-carving knives, OLFA art blade, dremel, sandpaper/file.
It's got such a nice carve-feel that the first time I carved into it, I just carved until nothing was left but a floor full of avocado dust.
Thank you ❣️
Awesome Allison Smith, you tricked me into ordering more books :)
I’ve been really considering the impact of the culture from the 1918 flu pandemic, as well as particularly Black artists of the time given the boom in civil rights activism with the Floyd Awakening, and I was wondering if anyone reading or at The Art Assignment can point towards books of artists which meets these criteria in part or intersectionally ✌️✨ Continue to stay safe all and know we artists are continuing this legacy, in however small or large a contribution
if anyone's curious, the glasses are from the brand blake kuwahara, they make cool stuff
wow! very nice video, excellent art.. thanks for sharing
Thanks! This video has started my cogs whirring again after a few weeks of stillness. Stay safe.
Thank you.
Welp, I wasn’t expecting to be crying within the first minute, but…there it is…
Same Oliver. Same.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
That was awesome, thank you
Extremely interesting and wonderfully presented. Thanks for posting. 💞
Gives me hope that I can still create something meaningful no matter how tough life may be
This was inspiring. Thank you!
Wow that bullet art was chilling.
Resumed "War brings chaos and we build from chaos." Thank you so much for this video
Magical bubble wand! =]♡☆
gracias a mi maestra que nos oriento a ver este documento , y los autores
Most art supplies destroy habitat, at a time when the habitat is collapsing.
Thank you for this video! Cheers from Brazil (;
Necessary as air in this days: art
Never heard of trench art! Really wish i'd known about that in high school when i was doing an art project themed around world war 1!
btw: its's not a street cleaning sign but a roadworks sign
This is so inspirational. Thanks so much.
I needed this.
this is magnificent. very touching (:
wonderful. i enjoyed it.
You are awesome 🤗
♡Thnks a lot! I love this vid. Your story and your taste..I'm keeping all my books. God bless you beautiful! ^i^
I love her voice! Maybe that's a weird comment to make lol, but I feel very relaxed now 😊
Thank you
One minute in and Im already crying
Great video!!! I hope to see one soon about Ernesto Oroza in Cuba on Technological disobedience. It would be a great companion to this video!!!
Thanks for bringing up his work here! In case anyone would like to see it: www.ernestooroza.com/
Sourdough is a form of art
Now, I want a Case video for Trench Art. Huhuhuhu... But I am still not giving up on you doing a Pop Art case video or case video for Anime, Manga, or Comics.
Fantastic information thanks
Wow!
trench art is going to become my new obsession
you guys inspire me everyday
Great vid.
She's got the art teacher glasses.
This was so interesting
those classes are unique
💙💙💙
OH! my alma mater! a nice surprise!
are you a wes anderson movie character
amazing!
Nice video
For more inspiration like this, check out The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946. Beautiful and amazing! www.amazon.com/Art-Gaman-Japanese-Internment-1942-1946/dp/1580086896
Yes! Thanks so much for bringing this up here. It is also part of Allison's collection of books.
I find this frustrating because I work at a grocery store and for the most part, everything is the same as it was, except I'm now angry at people for not wearing their masks properly. I have a huge stash of art supplies so I don't have to invent anything special to make art. Any art I make during this time is going to look and feel about the same as it would have without the pandemic.
Pendlera But maybe you can use those art supplies to express the things that have made you angry about people not wearing masks properly at the grocery store. Prior to the pandemic something as seemingly benign as a face mask would not have meant what it means to you or to most people today. The symbolism of a face mask has changed dramatically in a few short weeks as has the danger of working in a grocery store. Who would have previously considered that working in a grocery store would be as dangerous and stressful as it now is? Certainly those topics would be appreciated in your art. I guess I’m saying your pandemic art would still be quite interesting without you having to invent some kind of supply you were lacking. After all, you are on the front lines and can share your perspective.
I want to be an art teacher
My favourite piece of trench art is this cross stitch
dangerousminds.net/content/uploads/images/made/content/uploads/images/aaafguyhljgbyuhjbl_465_567_int.jpg
On the surface it is a very well made but bland piece stating who the maker is, where and when. The Germans running the POW camp actually hung it up.
But the decorative board of dots and dashes is actually Morse code for God save the Queen on the outer layer and fuck Hitler on the inner.
I love the insistence on turning every piece or work into a subversive action against the oppressor, even if it would be dangerous or counter productive to do so openly. It's filled with bravery and defiance.
Wow, thanks so much for sharing this powerful work. It reminds me how much art, regardless of the circumstances under which it was made, is a kind of testimony to existence. I was here. I did this.
Dacha is Russian word for a small vacation house.
Am I the only one that cringed when she pronounced it dac-ha and not da-cha?
I have. My Grandfather’s trench lighter