Power & Imagination Art Museum Power Project * Trimble/Kudray

Due: May 10 (along with Part 1): turn in your handwritten notes and typed responses
PART 2: Contemporary Native American response to Edward Curtis: Dialoging with Hegemony
Earlier this term you were introduced to the idea that art is a kind of dialog between the viewer and the
art work, where meaning is informed by the imagery within the work, culture, history, perception, and
other factors that shape both the works creation and the viewers experience. The idea of dialog is an
overarching metaphor for the exhibit well be exploring today, and in turn will inform the experience
youll have viewing it. For this second part of the Observation Journal, youll complete a process that
reflects on three levels of dialog with the art.

Your viewer dialog with the photographs of Edward Curtis,

The dialog between contemporary Native American artists with Edward Curtiss work,
Your viewer dialog of contemporary Native American artworks on display with Curtiss
photographs.

To complete this exercise, youll work in groups of three, ideally with each person having watched a
different artist video so you can share with your group what you learned as you explore the exhibit
together. You may go in the order of the steps outlined below, or move back and forth between dialogs,
as this is an experiment with thinking about the layers of meaning embodied in the exhibit.
Before you begin, you might want to take about 10 minutes to wander through the exhibit to get a sense
of space and display as a whole, and note which works catch your eye.
Dialog 1 (Do this step individually ~20 min.): View the original Edward Curtis photographs in the
books positioned in the center of the room and displayed on some of the walls, and choose one to focus
on. (It can be an individual image or a thematic group.)
Write down notes about your interpretation of that photograph/group. Be sure to include what
descriptive and analytic steps informed your interpretation. If you were informed by the curators
placards, be sure to include this in your discussion as well. Be thoughtful in your notes.
As you reflect and interpret, consider points raised by the articles and videos assigned for todays class,
including the idea of the vanishing race, the romanticism of the noble savage, and other concepts the
articles discussed. Also, you might want to consider aspects of your own cultural upbringing, personal
experience, and education that may be informing how you view this image.
Dialog 2 (~25 minutes): At no later than 2:50pm, meet in the center of the gallery and get together
with our group:
Dialog Groups:

Collin, Elyssa, Laura

Alberto, Fiona, Grayson
Juan, Kylah, Kendall
Quentin, Sarah, Amber
Rachel, Brianna, Chris
Edman, Andrea, Ibrahim, Olivia

Choose one artwork from each contemporary Native American artist (Red Star, Wilson, Jackson ) to
observe, spending about 5 minutes on each artwork. (So youll discuss a total of three artworks.) Discuss
one prompt for each artist (below) to consider how the artwork subverts and comments on Curtiss
legacy, and take notes on your dialog.
Zig Jackson
Look closely at all the items in Zig Jacksons Mr. Flea-market Man. Discuss the different symbolic
meanings of the various objects and gestures in the photograph. How might Jackson be dialoging
about ownership in this photoboth literally and in larger historical meanings? (Perhaps imagine Zig
Jackson and John Berger talking about the tradition of still life as a form of declaring ownership)
The curator notes that Curtiss early work titles focus on the concept of the vanishing race. If you
notice the metaphors that Curtis uses for his photographs, contrast this to Zig Jacksons work: what
aspects to you find to be symbolic commentary on Curtiss naming convention? In what other was is
Zig Jackson dialoging with Curtiss work?
Wendy Red Star
In an interview, Wendy Red Star explains her cut-outs serve to give them a rest. How do you
interpret what she means by this comment? If we consider how our brains fill in the blanks when we
perceive the world, what cultural assumptions does she ask us to think about in her dialog with
Curtiss images?
Red Start noticed that Curtis mostly photographed men in her tribe, and yet the Crow are matrilineal
people. How do her photographs dialog with cultural assumptions about gender? Are there other
elements of Red Stars work that cause you to rethink what you think you know about Native people
and history? (Perhaps consider Cotters call to make museums moral again. How might Red Stars
work fit his argument?)
Will Wilson
Choose one or two Will Wilson Auto-Immune Response photographs to discuss, using Feldmans
process. Then consider Wilsons comment that Nostalgia is a political memory can be quietly violent
and I want to address that. How are Curtiss representations nostalgic (look up the word), and how
are Wilsons photographs a corrective to a nostalgic view of indigenous people in contemporary
America?
Wilson states, Native American populations are disproportionately affected by auto-immune diseases,
diabetes being the best known. Its also associated with sudden cultural, economic, and environmental
changes, transitions. But my work is also about a response, how we work to survive that process.
What do you think Wilson means (state in your own words) and how does a photograph you are
choosing represent the survival response?
Dialog 3: In the final 10 minutes of class, after your groups discussion, choose one of the contemporary
Native American artworks to write your individual reflection about how you interpret the art work you
chose, again using the description and analysis observations to explain your interpretation. (So use
Feldmans three steps, and again, include discussion of any of the texts that inform your interpretation.)
You may choose an artwork that your group did not discuss.

You will turn in your notes for all three dialogs on May 10. (If your notes are difficult to read, please
type up your notes before turning them in May 10.)