by Catherine King
[Originally published as part of this piece.
Before, the idea of the exhibition was just kind of a joke to me. But after seeing the cheap and negative entries, my subconcious, it seems, wanted to provide the balance that the organizers claimed they were seeking. I hadn't expected to get involved in the exhibition this way, but there I was, busy designing and building America the Beautiful in my sleep. America the Beautiful -- that was the name of my installation for "Democracy in America." It would be a diorama inside of a room-sized tableau.
Lying there in the blackness I could see it:
You look into a studio apartment with one wall removed for viewing. On the wall facing you, the tiny apartment has a window onto the surrounding city. This is the diorama -- a three-dimensional street scene behind the window glass.
The street has the look and feel of a funky neighborhood in a Southwestern city. On the opposite side of the street is a graceless stripmall. There are storefronts for a charter high school, with an inspirational mural across the front, a mom-and-pop computer repair shop, a little mail store/copy shop, and a Sally's Beauty Supply.
The figures of the people walking past the window, or lingering on the sidewalk, will be about the size of those that Jon Haddock and his friends made for 98-107, but modelled far better. Also on the sidewalk are newspaper dispensers for New Times, PennySaver, and Auto Trader. A Mexican immigrant wheels by with his shiny white ice cream cart. In the street, Fed Ex and UPS trucks rush by each other in passing lanes.
Seated cross-legged on the floor of the studio-sized tableau room, a life-size woman works from the light of the window. She is American Woman and she is bright red -- on account of her blood, her passion. It has nothing to do with skin color.
American Woman is in the middle of working on some complex, Do-It-Yourself project. Spread around her on the floor are a cell phone, note pads, city maps, phone books and Idiots-Guides-To-Many-Things. One can see that this woman is truly connected to the world outside her humble abode.
The tiny apartment is uniquely, but cheaply decorated. It's fascinating, really. American Woman has created a beautiful environment from readily available materials. She would never save and wait forever to spend a lot of money on fancy digs. Life is to be grasped right now. Today is what matters.
American Woman is a freelance artist, stylist, designer. She sits there designing her business card. Let's see . . . Graphic Artist, no, Graphic Designer, no, Graphic Stylist, no, Style Consultant, no, Design Consultant, yes, that's it! This American Woman is preparing to take her talent outside and drum up some work while she improves the environment. When she looks out her window, she can imagine her handiwork all over her neighborhood -- posters, logos, signs, newspaper covers. Signs of dynamic, ongoing progress. America the Beautiful -- she helps make it so.
I was so excited, it was all I could do to keep from waking up Jerome to describe it. Instead, I stumbled in the dark to the computer and began inputting my vision . . .
The installation represents my personal view of what Democracy can mean to an American Woman. First of all, if the red-blooded American Woman ever took anything about her United States citizenship for granted, she corrected her attitude abruptly on the morning of September 11th, 2001. She knows and appreciates that this is the place for a man or woman to invent, or reinvent, themselves, as she is doing.
This is the place to be your own boss, as she is doing. This is the place to become a self-proclaimed Stylist and set up your tent. This is the land of the Self-Made, Self-Taught, Do-It-Yourselfer. Why, look at the businesses out on the street -- some of them were nonexistent several years ago, but they grew out of the need and vitality of an open society.
It particularly pisses American Woman off to hear smug college professors, from their cushy perches, bitch and moan about how tough things are here in the U. S. A.
And those whiney punks who made the crappy art for "Democracy in America" don't have to tell her how things aren't perfect or fair out there. Why do you think she lives in a cheap studio apartment? Yes, women still make 60 to 70 cents on the dollar to men right here right now, depending on their color.
The red-blooded American Woman knows that nobody on our side is really the enemy. The terrorists want to kill all of us non-Muslims, from the most innocent baby to the biggest asshole out there. American Woman loves every moment of her self-styled freedom, and even if plenty of her fellow Americans are hard to love, she never mistakes the assholes for the principles.
Posted by Jerome at July 10, 2004 10:24 AM | TrackBack