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I Vandalized a Work of Art

11 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by danielwalldammit in Alaska

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Alaska, Art, Austin Parkhill, Graffiti, Ilisagvik College, Mural, Painting, Tribal College

ResizedTank

Close-Up of Tank

So I recently vandalized a piece of artwork. I totally tagged a painting by Austin Parkhill.

Cause that’s just how I roll!

…and because he invited me to.

Austin was in Utqiaġvik awhile back to complete a mural for Iḷisaġvik College. The man used to work here, before moving down to Homer. He is definitely missed.

Even so, we totally tagged his painting!

Yes, we did.

Snow Signatures
Snow Signatures
Butt and signatures
Butt and signatures
Tank
Tank
Corner Signatures
Corner Signatures
IMG_20190926_220936_679

Moni taking a picture of Austin at work.

Resized Closeup

Bear face

ResizedallPainting

All 3 Panels

 

BTW: You should definitely check out more of Austin’s work on his own website, right HERE.

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When Culture Appropriates You

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by danielwalldammit in History, Museums, Native American Themes

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Art, Diné, Fort Sumner, Hweeldi, indexicality, Mural, Navajo, Shonto Begay, The Long Walk

15871703_10211699926478752_5551079935863716489_nTo the left is one of my favorite images from a mural painted by Shonto Begay and Mike Scovel at the Fort Sumner Memorial in New Mexico. What’s to be memorialized at Fort Sumner, you might ask? It was the site of an internment camp, one which held the Navajo people for roughly 4 years (about 1864-1868). It also held Mescalero Apaches, but Begay’s and Scovel’s  mural is about the Navajo end of this story. Specifically, it is about “the long walk” to this place, still called Hwéeldi out in Navajo country.

What fascinates me about the image is a trick of context. It’s just one part of a rather breathtaking piece of art, but to me it’s definitely the most interesting. The larger mural wraps around the wall on both sides of a hallway at the memorial. If you follow the hallway, you come to a small movie theater where you an watch a short film about the long walk and the Navajo experience at Hwéeldi. The images are striking. Devastating. They depict a national disgrace, and in surrounding us with the images, this mural invites us to see that disgrace, not from the standpoint of objective observer, but from the standpoint of someone in the midst of it. Walking down that hallway, one is surrounded on both sides by images of people (Navajos) herded along by soldiers and scouts. The mural depicts a great deal of suffering, and it places that suffering all around us. Begay’s and Scovel’s work denies us the chance to step outside the event and view it as a disinterested party.

But when you come to this image, the immersion takes on a more dramatic significance. Suddenly, it becomes clear why all the solders seem to be facing us. The Navajo figures simply plod along, mostly looking in other directions, but the soldiers, they look right at us as we stand in that hallway.

It’s an interesting effect to begin with, but when you walk down that hallway, at some point that soldier’s rifle is pointed at you. The soldier in that painting doesn’t care who you are, what your ethnicity is. He doesn’t even care what your plans are for later in the day. And as my girlfriend pointed out, his rifle seems to follow your movements a bit, at least for a step or two. (I swear it does!) It’s a rather brilliant move on the part of the artists, because it places his viewers in the scene more effectively than anything else. More than placing the viewers in the scene, it confers a specific role on the viewer, as one of those forced along the walk.

It’s just art of course. We will at some point walk on to other parts of the exhibit, and many of us will no doubt shake off the effect of the image a bit quicker than those whose family histories include stories of those lost along the way. Still it’s an interesting contrast with the many times non-natives have chosen ourselves to assume some aspect of a native identity. Whether playing Indian as school-children, wearing a headdress at some music festival, or aping the Tonto-speak of Indian characters in countless westerns, many of us have done it at one time or another. Hell, some people have made a life out of it! Countless non-Indian actors have played Indians on screen, and countless non-Indian characters have become Indians in the story-arc of a common movie theme. And of course there is the Washington football team! What all of these other examples have in common, is a choice to assume some part of native identity, if only for a moment. They also have in common that the identity assumed creates a positive experience for those choosing it. When we non-natives play at being Indian, we get something out of it. It may not be much, often little more than a momentary source of amusement, but the choice is ours, and when choose it, we do so to our own advantage.

That’s the genius of this particular image. It forces that same transformation on anyone walking through the memorial. For just a moment, it makes us play Indian, and to do so on terms we didn’t choose for ourselves. On terms no-one would choose for themselves! We will survive that moment of course, perhaps even without really learning much from it. Still, it’s an interesting twist in the narrative.

That moment, when the business end of a rifle points you right into the story.

***

Here are a few more images from the mural (click to embiggen)!

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Murals and More in Anchorage

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by danielwalldammit in Alaska, Bad Photography, Street Art

≈ 44 Comments

Tags

Alaska, Alaska Natives, Anchorage, Art, Mural, Photography, Photos, Street Art, Tlingit

Raven and Eagle

Raven and Eagle

When I tell people I live in Alaska, I almost invariably hear about a visit to Anchorage. Either that or a relative who lives there. It’s the geographic equivalent of saying; “Oh you live in Denver; I’ve been to Albuquerque,” except that Denver and Albuquerque are closer to one another, and more similar. There really is a world of difference between Barrow and Anchorage. The Anchorage skyline is full of mountains, and it doesn’t lack for trees. I always notice those first. And then I notice all the people.

I also notice the artwork.

From my first visit to Anchorage, I took a shine to its public artwork. There is a particular downtown alley so full of murals I find myself headed towards it every time I make it into town. And yes, I am happy this city is part of he state I now call home, which is probably why it makes sense after all that people bring it up. I never get into or out of Alaska without going through this stopping point.

…which is a very good thing.

I am particularly fond of a number of murals featuring themes from Alaska Natives. The Raven and Eagle symbolism is of course a prominent feature of Tlingit life, and a number of murals feature hunting motifs familiar to Yupit and Inupiat. A few specific highlights of the tour would include:

– The Iditarod Mural, which now includes the name of John Quniak Baker, an Inupiat from Kotsebue. He won the race in 2011.

– A rather bland looking multi-panel piece with just a hint of something devious in it. (Honestly, I don’t know if I got all the panels right, but look closely. There is an interesting twist in there somewhere.)

– A Mural commemorating Alaska statehood. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘Alaskan Mount Rushmore’. It features portraits of Robert Atwood, Bob Bartlett, William Egan, and Ernest Gruening, each of which has been generated out of a range of smaller murals. You can find out more about this piece here.

– A Whaling Wall, one of a series of spectacular pieces created by the Wyland Corporation.

– The Sun Station at the Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk.

– The Anchorage History Mural by Bob Patterson, …which should probably get its own post some day.

– I’m particularly fond of the murals on the backside of Phyllis’s Cafe, not the least of reasons being that she was kind enough to talk to me about it for a little while. the Tlingit symbolism in the mural is no accident as Phyllis belongs to the Eagle Moiety, Killer Whale clan as I recall. She told me the mural still has a little work to go. Perhaps, I will be taking new pictures of it some time in the near future. I also enjoyed a wonderful meal of King Crab and amber ale in the cafe that evening, the perfect ending to a long trip.

I have by no means captured all the artwork anchorage streets and alleys have to offer, which is good, because I plan on going back for more.

(You may click on a picture to embiggen it.)

Airport Bears!
Twin Dragons Mongolian BBQ on Gambell and 15th.
Police Department

He tags because he cares!
Sculpture
Nuther Sculpture

School Murals
More School Murals!
Multi-Panel I

Multi-Panel II
Multi-Panel III
Multi-Panel IV

Multi-Panel V
Multi-Panel VI
Multi-Panel VII

I do not understand this mural. Is it poetry?
An original name for a bar, so to speak.
Sewing Shop

Yes, that really is what you think it is.
Moar fur panties! …and a bikini too.
Mural on a Bar

Furs
Theatre
Just Pretty

Buildings
Statue dedicated to William Henry Seward (I think it looks just like him!)
Sun Station

Totem Decoration
Eagle
Simply Gorgeous

“Alaska’s Mount Rushmore”
“Alaska’s Mount Rushmore” Minus the zoom!
Random Design

Grill Mural
Yamaya cafe
Imagine finding one of these here!

PSA
Whaling Wall
Whaling Wall, Part II

Iditarod Mural from across the street.
Iditarod Mural – 1&2
Iditarod Mural 1

Iditarod Mural 2
Map of Alaska
This looks like an epic struggle.

This does not appear to be a happy man.
Raven and Eagle
9-11

Backpacking Moose …of course!
Alley
Walrus Door

Polar Bear
A well guarded plane.
Puppy Heart?

Seal
Garbage and paint drippings in the alley.
Eagle Totem (Phyllis’s Cafe)

Raven Lodge (Phyllis’s Cafe)
Unfinished Section, Phyllis’s Cafe
Phyllis’ cafe

Alaska Fur Factory
Sundry Sea Mammals
Whaling Crew

Anchorage History Mural

71.271549 -156.751450

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In Reno With a Camera – Trouble Ensues!

21 Saturday Jul 2012

Posted by danielwalldammit in Bad Photography, Justice, Street Art

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

First Amendment, Free Speech, Freedom of the Press, Mural, Nevada, Photography, Reno, Sculpture, Street Art

So, I have this brand new camera, and I have been busy confirming my lack of photographic skills whenever I get a chance. Alone for a day in Reno, NV, I decided to go check out some of the artwork around town.

So, I figured these pics might go up on Facebook, but this isn’t a photo-blog, so I really didn’t think my trip to Reno would end up here at the northy place.

That was before I got to the Bruce R. Thompson, United States Courthouse & Federal Building. It had kind of an interesting sculpture in front of it, so I tried a few times to get a decent pic; zoomed in and out, turned the camera 90 degrees, tried it again, …you know the drill.

Enter the security guard.

He walked up rather briskly and asked me if I was doing this for commercial purposes? I answered ‘no’, and he proceeded to explain to me that if I had been doing it for commercial purposes, then I would need to get a permit. As long as I was just doing it, because I thought it was an interesting building I was okay, but taking a picture for commercial purposes required a permit. Asked why this was the case, the guard simply shrugged and said the politicians always have their regulations. What they were, he didn’t seem to know.

I had my pictures, so I walked off.

…but this has been eating me. Oh, the guard was perfectly nice about the whole thing, but still it’s eating me. I’ve studied enough legal conflicts to know just how complicated and counter-intuitive these matters can get, and normally I like to sort through the particulars before saying anything. Still! Somewhere in the scope of the First Amendment, I just can’t help thinking there ought to be room for taking a picture of a perfectly public building from a perfectly public sidewalk.

…and it shouldn’t require a damned permit to do it.

At this point I have no idea what the regulation is, or how broad its scope happens to be, much less how its framers envision its relationship to the rights of citizens. Nor do I know how much may have been lost in the translation from the particulars to what that guard said to me at that particular moment. But this is one case where I just can’t help thinking that no matter how the particulars shake out, it shouldn’t lead to exchanges like the one I had there with that guard.

Perhaps I am being unreasonable; I just don’t think so.

Since I’m thinking about it (airports and free time, you know how it goes), and since I now have story (however brief) to go with my bad photography, I am now going to inflict my pictures on those of you unfortunate enough to stumble across my blog today.

What did you expect? I’m a bad man!

Reno From Above
It’s entirely possible that the trouble began with check-in.
Now that’s a climbing wall!

They actually use it!
Reno, Mural 1
Reno Sculpture 1

Church in Reno
A river passes through Reno. It’s quite beautiful.
The Rover Again

So, …my new camera ain’t much, but it beats a cell-phone!
Duck!
Reno, Mural 2

Reno Mural 2, Close-Up
Reno Mural 2, Close-Up 2
Reno Mural 2, Close-Up 3

Reno, Sculpture 2
And here is the infamous sculpture!
The Federal Building

Federal Building and the Sculpture in the Same Shot, Oh yeah!
Reno, Mural 3
Reno, Mural 3

Reno, Mural 4
Reno, Mural 5
Reno, Mural 6

Reno, Mural 7
Reno, Mural 8
Reno, Mural 8, Close Up

Reno, Mural 8, Closer-Upper
Reno, Mural 9
Reno, Mural 10

Reno, Mural 11
Reno, Mural 12
Reno, Mural 13

Reno, Mural 13, Close-Up

71.271549 -156.751450

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