Textual Poaching
5:19 PM
Artist's Statement:
I did ballet for 8 years, and then other types of dance for 3 years after that. I'm only 19, so when you add those years up, you find I have spent the majority of my life involved in the world of dance. When I was younger, I thought I would be doing ballet forever. I thought I would go on to be a prima ballerina or a ballet teacher. I was certain it would stay part of me forever. I still identify with dancers, ballet specifically. I have stopped dancing, but It was such a big part of me for a long time, that I still feel connected to that world.
Degas' ballerina paintings have always struck me. They represent more of the behind-the-scenes world of ballet. Degas liked to portray ballerinas as workers. Ballet is their job, and they work hard at at. It isn't all glamorous; there is more that happens behind the curtain. I took this particular painting, called Le Classe Danse, and found that I could really identify with it. I agree with Degas' portrayals of ballerinas and all of the time and work that goes into it. Ballet is something you have to be committed to for a very long time. It's much like any other serious sport. A person can't simply decide at age 18 that she wants become a professional ballerina, without having put in a lifetime of training. For people like me, this characteristic of dance is what made me stop. I didn't feel like I would be able to commit so much time and energy to ballet, because I was interested in too many other things. I wouldn't be able to achieve what I thought was my goal, because I didn't want to live that lifestyle.
I decided to repurpose Le Classe Danse to reflect my views of the dance world, and how I now fit into that world. As I mentioned, I still consider myself a dancer. It really has been something that has shaped me as a person. But now, I am on the outside of that world. I was once an insider, and I still understand the world of dance. I illustrated this by inserting a glass wall around the actual dance class. It is an extremely exclusive thing that can not easily be entered. The ballerina in the foreground is on the outside of the glass, but the action can still be seen. She is no longer a part of that world, though she has strong ties to it.
I feel my manipulation of the piece is similar to the DJ Spooky video we viewed in class. He took a piece of media that he identified with, and then remixed it to show his current views. I think I did exactly that with my piece, even though the medium was different. It also makes me think of fanfiction in general. People are taking a work that they feel strongly about and identify with, and they manipulate it to show their views and make it even more personal to them.
I got some interesting feedback when I posted this piece to a social media platform. The people who looked at it all interpreted it slightly differently. A few people who know me well thought it was about my introverted personality. I like to be on the outside of events, and just learn by observing. Most people said they could relate to it, especially because it could apply to athletics in general. The feedback I got was almost completely positive. A few people didn't like that I had colored the ballerina in the foreground, saying it was distracting. But some others said it added a lot of personality and had a lot of meaning. I decided to leave her colored differently, because I felt it represented my feelings accurately; I'm much different now than I was when I danced. I am glad people were able to interpret it in their own way, but could understand my views at the same time.
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