Artist of the Week: Yngve Holen

[Image courtesy of strangeteaching.info]

It's been awhile since I've been able to write an Artist of the Week post, but I promise that they're back to stay! To christen this lovely Friday afternoon and the beginning to more featured artists, here's a quick profile on German artist Yngve Holen.

As a Berlin-based artist, Holen works primarily with sculptures and collaborations of large scale trinkets. As a contributor to the genre of modern art, he puts his own twist on his creations, whatever they may be.

[Image courtesy of http://s3.amazonaws.com/contemporaryartgroup/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/110718_Leighton_026.jpg]

From his work, it is clear to see that Holen has an interest in aviation. Compilations of airplane models with holographic "sheets" skimming the top of them make up just a few of his pieces. However, he makes them his own by sometimes placing them on obscure objects, such as washing machines (as seen in the second image pictured below).

 

 [Image courtesy of taboofart.com]

[Image courtesy of www.frieze.com]

To learn more about Holen and his exquisite designs, check out his profile at www.johanberggren.com to view some of his exhibitions and further work that he has produced.  

Actuality vs. Quality

Construing reality into our own fantasy
leaves us craving something
that is never actually there to begin with.

Living our lives, we endure what may cross our paths
and take what we desire,
disposing of the bits and pieces that we can live without.

Trouble is, by throwing away what we do not want
we are left with next to nothing.

Living a minimalistic lifestyle
reveals what is necessary.

Eventually, the line that once defined what was real from imagination vanishes,
leaving us to our own devices.

Accepting Women in the Media

Discrimination is a prevalent force, whether we want to accept it or not. Racism, genderism and sexism are just a few that top the list in today's day and age. As a female journalist, one of the biggest challenges that I see today is the acceptance of women in the media.

Equality in general has been tested over the years, but equality for women has been one of the major issues. A constant fight that many have been fighting against for quite some time now, it seems like a never-ending battle.

There are so many people and figures in the media who have been battling for fairness in the world for women in the work place, school, and in daily life as a whole.

English actress Emma Watson has transformed from a young Muggle wizard to a strong spokeswoman for feminism. Over the past few years, she has spoken out on behalf of women everywhere, earning herself the title of the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in 2014. Watson has also recently released a statement inviting men to support gender equality as well, which is crucial to the movement.

Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai survived a shot to the head on her school bus at just fifteen-years old in her stand for women's right to an education in her country. Almost four years later and now at eighteen-years old, Yousafzai continues to stand up for women all over the world and calls them to join her in the fight for gender equality.

Even now, I am literally sitting in an art history class watching the Japanese art of Kabuki theater, another activity that women are prohibited from joining. All of these occurrences prove that sexism isn't just in one area or region - it's all over the world.

I'm currently taking a class about women and minorities in the media and how they have been treated over the years. While the class has only bee in session for about three weeks, we have already went over how discriminatory the people of the newsroom can be. In one instance, my professor had a fellow female journalist in one of her past jobs years ago who would hide in the bathroom whenever one of the men in the office would come into work. Why? Because whenever she walked by, he would pull her down in his lap and humiliate her in front of her co-workers.

But what could she do about it? The men in the office were considered to be superior. If she were to tell someone in higher-up, there is a fair chance that she would not have been taken seriously.

White males have been considered to be higher-ranking over history, and especially in the work place. While it may not be so drastic in the modern world as it has been over the past few centuries, there is no disputing that it still exists in many areas.

The newsroom is one place where the competition between genders has been high throughout the decades. Diversity in the world of journalism is still emerging. Today, Buzzfeed is known to have one of the most diverse newsrooms in the country.

Jane Cunningham Croly and Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, more famously known as their pen names Jennie June and Nellie Bly, are just two nineteenth century journalists who have paved the way for women today

While we have come a long ways in terms of fighting against discrimination in today's society, the war is far from being won.

Living for Yourself in the 21st Century

People often ask me what I want to do with my career in just a few years. I usually respond with a generic answer, based on what I am studying: "An art director for a magazine or a website." However, at other times, I find myself responding with three words instead of nine: "I don't know."

Truth be told, I can't say that I do know. I have a general idea in mind, but nothing is set in stone. I might only be four months shy of twenty-years old, but I have had big plans for my life for quite some time.

On a day-to-day basis, I have billions of little thoughts swarming within the four walls of my mind. I'd say that about a quarter of them consist of where I want to travel, what I want to do, goals that I want to achieve one day, and ways in which I want to live for myself.

Not that I stay cemented in the future by any means. I live for spontaneous decisions and jumping into any new opportunities that I come across, no matter how extreme (clever interlude into diverting your attention to my "Yes Man" post here after you finish feasting your eyes on this one). But when it comes to the rest of my life, I find it important to think about just where I see myself.

As a college student, I've talked to many of my friends and acquaintances about where they see themselves ending up. While many of them are in the same type of boat as myself, I've come across a few who say that it will be wherever their boyfriend or girlfriend decides, and that they will go from there. It doesn't matter if they have plans or goals of their own, because they have fallen too deep beyond the realms of infatuation.

What is there in life if you cannot live for yourself?

Keynote speaker Steve Maraboli once said, "When you are living the best version of yourself, you inspire others to live the best versions of themselves."

Throughout my life thus far, I've found that people come and go. People change, plans fall through and not everything is permanent. We can't always count on people, but we can sure as hell speak for ourselves.

Society today is pushing more than ever to stand apart from everyone else. No matter how close we might be to someone or how in love we are, let them do what they want while you pursue your own dreams. If things don't work out because you chose to live your own life, don't chase them. Let them go, because they obviously weren't worth your time anyways.

Think back to when you were significantly younger. What did you want to be as the years went by? (I apparently told my family that I "wanted to be a teenager" so I guess that I'm living the dream, but back on a serious note now.) No matter what your aspirations were, you knew that you weren't going to let anything or anyone stop you from getting to where you wanted to be.

The world can be such a vast and wonderful place. Take advantage of every chance you get, because the time doesn't stop ticking by.

Known As the Popular Loner

A few summers ago, I took this picture in a tunnel that I was walking through on the canal in my home town. Thankfully, I had the brains to upload it to my computer so that I could save it in case my phone were to break. Five phones later, the remembrance of this image popped into my head for some strange reason today and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

At the time that I initially saw this, I can't say that I really analyzed it too much. An angst-ridden sixteen-year old, I'm sure that I saw the spray-painted phrase with white, dripping letters as "so punk rock" and not much more. I kept in in some of my digital picture folders and moved on with my life.

Almost four years later, I can't attribute this graffiti to anyone and couldn't give you a proper guess as to who might have tagged it. However, I think that I have a firmer grasp now on what they meant by this. "Known as a popular loner . . ."

My greatest opinion on these five simple words is that the artist was feeling what many might also be familiar with: being surrounded by people, yet feeling the opposite.

Let me start off with a bit of a preface. I tend to refer to myself as an extroverted introvert. I talk non-stop and adore meeting new people as often as possible. I'm a rather social person when it comes down to it.

While this might be the case, having time to myself is a must. There are times when I turn down offers to spend time with people, just because I know that I need to be alone for a bit and collect my thoughts. It's not that I'm anti-social by any means, I just prefer to be by myself sometimes.

(I could easily go into my life story as it has been so far, but that's a story that I'll just have to save for another day.)

Now back to the picture. Even years later, I feel like I have a steadier understanding on the underlying meaning to such a simple phrase. Although someone might be considered a "socialite," a room full of people can still feel empty. The person who everybody thinks of as the life of the party might only be that to those who don't care to delve deeper into their true character.

Of course, there could also be a sadder and desperate meaning that the artist wanted to convey. Perhaps there was a feeling within them that felt the need for something more out of life. It could have very well been that he just wanted anyone to get to know his life, his story, his art.


I suppose that I'll have to settle with the fact that I may never know if there was a deeper meaning behind this, or if there was a specific point that the tagger was trying to make. So, for now, I'll end with one question: what would you leave behind as a simple statement to describe your life, and how many people would really understand?