Hi! As mentioned, My name is Argo I use he/they pronouns. I'm from the south side of Holland and have been in and around the university for a long time because of my mom's work. I love to draw and write and play games- with a special interest in open world fantasy games and rhythm games. I have a younger sibling, two cats, and lots of friends both here at GVSU and back home (& beyond) that I love very much.
I've recently learned that I am hyperglucenic or have hyperglycemia or whatever the big kid medical term is... anyway, basically my blood sugar is stupid and i have to eat a LOT or i keel over and dry heave for ten minutes. This is why I was late to class That One Time.
I rest, crammed against bodies of vibrant ink plastic and color
Waiting for my day to be lifted from the wreck
Ritually drained of my fluids, sacrificed to the art of creation
My only purpose to wait until the ritual day
A humble and patient follower
Used, dried, and nothing more
michael and the wheel smiley face
So most of the found objects that I collected for this project were stuffed animals and other materials that were similarly reminiscent of early childhood.. Specifically bedtime. I like the general vibe of sleepiness and lullabies, a stress-free moment in many childhood experiences that we, as adults, no longer get.
My childhood was kind of wonky, between moving back and forth between houses and growing up far too fast for the sake of caring for my younger sibling and helping my mom- my childhood was fleeting. Though, I always retreat to this ideal of bedtime or naptime in my darkest hours, finding solace in this stitched together ideal of a peaceful childhood that I rarely got as a kid. So.. I guess this piece, with its stuffed animals and fragments of nursery rhymes and storybook pages, is reminiscent of the ideal naptime.
I want to construct a suit of armor, truthfully.. Or a monster of some sort? Some protectors not… of childhood but.. A suit of armor, created by these naptime staples, protecting their child even if that child isnt a child.. It’s harder to explain than I thought, haha..
Alright so- my group decided to create this sort of portal-looking instillation made out of broken (cut apart) cds and tape. The ideal was to create this galaxy-like structure that felt like some sort of swirling portal to another place. I was thinking a lot about escapism and sort of- running away to someplace magical when we were working on this project, so I tried to keep the portal imagry in the forefront of my mind while we were working. I think my only regret is not having more material to work with, cause if we did, I would have liked to make the middle space a little more dense and add more floating pieces for dimensionality.
Flower Ball, 2002
Me and Double - DOB, 2009
727, 1996
Mr. DOB, 2016
I'm going to be very honest here; my favourite of Takashi Murakami's works has probably go to be My Lonesome Cowboy (1998), and other pieces from the same exhibition. The reason I like them so much is also the same reason I don't feel like adding photos of them would be my most clever idea- My Lonesome Cowboy is a very vulgar and sort of sexual piece, but that is why I like it. It's vulgarity really took me by surprise when I first saw it, and the fact that something so vulgar could be put on a pedestal in an exhibition was appalling. All that being said, I admire the courage it must have took. I had struggled for a long period of my life with traumatic experiences and shame related to sexual and vulgar subject matter- and it took me a very long time to work through and overcome, so I think that's why i'm as enthralled by Murakami's bravery to put something so taboo up on a pedestal with an entry fee.