Final

Cassandra Smith & Jessica Steeber

...finding meaning in status.

Current Tendencies III Response

By Aiesha Anglin

“There is a higher form of hierarchy and that is the hierarchy of the spirit. When I stand in front of a person, I stand in front of a soul and I have met magnificent souls in bodies

possessing no money, as well as parched and shallow souls in bodies bathed in riches. In the same light, I have met magnificent souls in bodies bathed in wealth, as well as parched

and shallow souls in bodies that are impoverished. I am tired of people busying their minds with hierarchy based upon money, because this form of hierarchy is primitive;

meanwhile

there is an altogether higher form of hierarchy that is of the soul. As you judge man and woman based upon their riches, I laugh at your primitive form of judgment! When I stand in

front of a human, I stand in front of a soul.” - C. JoyBell C.

It was important for me to challenge myself in thinking of a response for Cassandra Smith and Jessica Steeber's installation on finding meaning in status, because the subject matter of my

work is predominantly about the human being, state of the body, and social concerns. Thus the idea of responding to their work, in relation to the Haggerty's permanent collection photographs,

sparked an interest for me to create my own installation referring to this conversation of how we humans find meaning in status (or vise versa) amongst ourselves through portraiture.

In response to this dialogue, I have created an installation piece out of multiple portrait frames varying in size, shape, color, and material as a reference to a hierarchy that exists within the

human race and the statuses that are incorporated into the categorizing of our differences as human beings - grouped into certain 'classes' for means of identification. I am encouraging my

viewers to find their own sense of "meaning in status" through these frames suspending from the ceiling as a way of opening up this broad social conversation and inviting the viewers to become a

part of the piece when seen through those frames by someone else. By not giving the viewers imagery to gaze upon in the frames, I am asking them to fill in the blank... to end this "struggle" of

finding meaning through a quest of wonder and self-discovery.