The Meredith Mendolsohn article about Derrick Adams and the Green Books helped deepen my understanding of arts-based research. I appreciated that it traced his project from the very beginning. This helped me understand how an artist/researcher might happen upon something that inspires them and then weave that into their own pre-existing ouvre.
I found it enlightening when Mendolsohn called the Green Books a “creative point of departure” for Adams. And how they merged with subjects that were already “continuously percolating in his work”. I like the idea of making art out of research that you are already knee-deep into. It seems like sifting through archives and writing for months about a subject might not be as illuminating (or fun) as creating art around it. In the caption on page 6 of the article there is a quote from Adams: “I’ve thought a lot about barriers, and accessibility, and obstacles, and perseverance.” Perhaps he was thinking about those things before he embarked on this project, but now is able to see how they interact and intersect. A single piece of his, for example “Come on by Mr. Hoodwrench” (9), evokes different objects/subjects all at the same time which shows how he combines big ideas into complex themes.
I’m inspired by how he physically used the Green Books. He “includes wallpaper printed from pages of the Green Books, but that’s about the only literal reference to the guides” (8). But also how he imagines walking with or taking a journey with African Americans who actually used the Green Books. This hearkens back to the Pink article we read last week. While she described recording a literal walk, Adams uses his imagination and visually represents what he “sees”—with collage, painting, building, etc. In my project I could include text from Kerouac’s books in some part of my collages.
Lastly, I thought it was cool that Adams includes parts of his own personality in his work. For instance, “Hats, too, appear frequently in his work, in performances, videos, painting and sculpture, and he is rarely seen without one” (11). Having your own interests represented or reoccuring in your work is not something you can do with typical research. And as someone who has a hard time “keeping it formal” in academic writing, this is a welcome relief.
P.S. I’m so excited to share my project ideas on Wednesday!
Hi Regina:
We can’t always literally walk with those who we want to know better, but we can imagine being with them, and indeed artists of all sorts do this all the time. To walk with some one, either literally or in the imagination, necessarily infuses ones own person into the journey. In traditional research, the researcher often hides her own views, ideas and personality, an attempt to make it seem as if she is viewing an analyzing from an objective place or stance. But pure objectivity is not ever attainable, and there is something dishonest about not fore fronting where you are coming from and how your place, your orientation, beliefs and lens, mediate what you see and how you see it, what you feel and how you feel it. Artists are generally less able and less interested in hiding their position because they understand that every project they embark on is filtered through their own sensibilities and interests and that this a strength. For Adams, exploring the Green Book is a historical journey, a self-reflective journey, and a socially critical journey. In this way it has commonalities with Dora’s project and Amanda’s project and, clearly, with your own exploration of Kerouac.
I think using Kerouac’s text as part of your project is a wonderful idea. I also am imagining how different his travels would have been if you had accompanied him.
I am very much looking forward to your discussion about your project on Wednesday.
I really appreciated reading your perspectives about Adams and how this relates to your own work. It helped me see what he is doing better.