Kip's Lecture: 3

          Kip’s lectures are somewhat difficult to outline, but I would categorize this week’s talk as one with the theme of identity.  Actually, the lecture even included beauty and gaze as well as life and time.  So maybe I can’t categorize it as anything specific.  He discussed a wide range of topics. 

          Kip talked pretty extensively about Robert Mapplethorpe and Catherine Opie, both of whom created art to outwardly express their personal thoughts and desires.  James Luna’s art dealt with the objectification of his ancestors and his culture, and Lucas Samara created many self-portraits as he played with the technicality of Polaroid film.  Susan Meiselas archived instances of spousal abuse with commentary on the warped identity that victims don after experiencing maltreatment. 

          Tehching (Sam) Hsieh was an artist that exhibited much dedication to his work dealing with life and time.  His quote, “Life is a life sentence,” feels very profound and heavy with meaning, but I think that I will have to experience more of life to fully appreciate what he means.

A Bootleg on Youtube

          My favorite thing that was discussed was Joshua Silver’s invention of the water refracting eyeglasses.  It is very rare these days to come upon true altruism.  Silver is not only creating a message for us here in privileged societies, but he is also directly impacting the lives of complete strangers.  He had a great idea, and instead of selling out and making a ton of money, he realized the importance of providing to those that have no means of providing for themselves.  And he did so without intending to be compensated or recognized for his good deeds.