Martha Rosler 

The digital revolution has played a huge role in how we communicate with one another, through most forms of communication, even including art. It has allowed us to create widespread messages that can be translated quickly and efficiently to millions of platforms within an instant. Even in creating this project, it was as easy as Googling Martha Rosler and you immediately have access to some of her most well known pieces. The digital age has made art much more accessible, allowing it to have a much deeper impact on viewers. The fast spread of information on the internet allows these pieces to reach areas of the world they may never have been able to before. With this comes a connectedness that would not be able to be fostered previously. This allows individuals to feel seen by artists across the world and really relate to pieces they would not have been able to even know existed before. 

I have chosen the artist Martha Rosler as my inspiration for this project. I think that she is a great example of an artist who uses digital media, including things like photoshop, to create powerful social and political statements. Much of her work is based in editing software and combines dystopian realities with our utopian fantasies in order to emphasize the contrast between our portrayal of societies issues versus how they truly manifest in real time. Many of her digital pieces have to do with the ridiculous idea that we glamorize war and violence. A lot of her work also focuses on feminist issues and how women are reduced to objects or constantly seen as less than by their male peers. She has explained that she felt that in order to be taken seriously as an artist, she had to closely align her behaviors with her male colleagues. The snapshot to the left depicts her piece entitled Semiotics of the Kitchen in which she creates a "parody of domesticity". Above is another still from another one of her works called Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained in which, at its most shocking point, two men measure Rosler's body as she undresses. Again this work is all displayed on film, allowing the viewer to gain a deeper understanding while really experiencing the range of emotions that the work incites as they watch it unfold. 

In response to Martha Rosler's work concerning feminist issues I have created a piece in regards to the restrictions on healthcare that women, especially women of color, have faced historically. 

Women for decades have lacked bodily autonomy due to government regulations and this piece works to illustrate how such a small group of individuals can control millions of lives through harmful legislation. Women of color have specifically been targeted in this legislation through marginalizing regulations issued predominantly by men. There are currently only two women of color serving as Justices. With only 9 Justices serving the entire country, this is not enough. Having 9 individuals make such extreme and polarizing decisions for an entire country is seemingly absurd and lacks accurate representation of the general population. The idea that people are voting on things that do not effect them is also incredibly contradictory. Again, this feeds into the idea that women are not capable of making decisions even in regards to their own bodily autonomy. This piece aims to draw attention to the divide between the people in power and the individuals effected by the fallout.