Week 8 — Artist — Joseph DeLappe & Micol Hebron
Artist: Micol Hebron, Joseph DeLappe
Media: Video, Photography, Paintings, Video Games, Sculptures
Website: http://micolhebron.artcodeinc.com/pages/bio-and-artist-statements-and-old-news/, http://www.delappe.net/bio/biography/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unicornkiller1/
Micol Hebron and Joseph DeLappe are artists who have lived two distinct lifestyles that has led them to have vastly different experiences in life. Micol is an artist who has primarily works with different organizations and collaborates frequently with other artists but also has a teaching career, being an Associate Professor of Art at Chapman University. Her interests in pedagogy, evolutionary biology, and social media has led to most of her work being collaborative projects that explore many social issues and experiments with different media to see what is most effective in communicating her message. Joseph DeLappe is the Professor of Games and Tactical Media at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. His interest and experiences with gaming and electronics has led him to create art about social issues, politics, and history through a combination old and new media. These artists illustrate the numerous different mediums of art and how they can be used to explore similar topics.
Micol predominantly creates her art in collaboration with other artists through videos, performances, installations, and photography. A majority of her photos have the human body, primarily hers, as the main focal point with some occasional photos about animals. She uses a variety of colors and filters to create certain tones in her photos which can be seen in Burning Bush, 2010 which is monochromatic except a hint of red to emphasize the female characteristics. Furthermore, her videos consist of short skits of her and others and edits of different clips and movies together. People are also the main topic in her videos, with the person taking up a majority of the space to pop out to the audience. Additionally, the short nature of a majority of her videos ensure that the viewer does not get bored and is able to understand her message. In contrast to Micol’s artwork, Joseph uses other media including video games and paintings. Joseph has created several videos and photos using video games as a base. His video Elegy: GTA USA Gun Homicides contrast the joyful and patriotic song, God Bless America, that is playing in the background with the screams of the people being gunned down in the game to create a depressing, dystopian tone. In his paintings, Joseph uses a variety of drawing mediums from chalk to watercolor. The paintings vary from abstract lines to detailed depictions of people. It would appear that Micol and Joseph do not share much in common. However, both do share some media, one of which is installations. Micol has decorated large rooms that fully immerse the viewers into her art; Joseph on the other hand has created large sculptures to emphasize his message and to provoke a grander reaction from the audience. Overall, the artists both have unique media and some overlap in the mediums they use.
Similar to how Micol and Joseph occasionally use the same medium, their artworks often have overlapping topics, specifically that their art addresses many social issues. Micol’s art stems from her interest in the role the body has in society. This has led to her works exploring gender equity, feminism, freedom of speech, and relationships. For example, her exhibition Reverse Engineering involves the deconstruction and examination of the history of feminism so she can have a better understanding in how the movements and ideology has affected her art. One of the videos in the exhibition, Daddy Issues, portrays her wish to undo the injustices women have faced throughout history. Other artworks such as GOMEX/BIEBEX and Bubble Gum Pop further explore the role of women while also relating it to other topics such as war. Comparably, Joseph’s art addresses other social issues including history, war, and geopolitics. His wearable art, Me and My Predator — Personal Drone System was created to the simulate the insecurities, oppression, and comfort created in a society that lives under a sky full of drones. Additionally, his series The Great Debates explores the use of computer gaming as an art medium to express ideas. All in all, Micol and Joseph use their art not only to examine societal issues but also to test and expand the boundaries of what can be used to create art.
I do not personally relate to a majority of Micol and Joseph’s artwork but support the ideas and messages that they try to convey. I have learned the history of feminism and the struggles women have faced over the course of history, but Micol has given me more perspective on the situation and how society can improve gender equity. From her, I have learned how different media, especially video, can be used to express one’s idea and has given me motivation to try experimenting with it myself. Furthermore, I can more personally relate to Joseph’s work more. I have lived my life surrounded with gaming and technology and thus support his efforts in bridging the gap between video games and art. I do not have any personal experiences concerning the topics of politics and war in his art, but I do agree with his messages. In conclusion, these artists have introduced me to new mediums and forms of art as well as unique perspectives on social issues that I fully support.