Quote of the Day: Brian Jungen

Much of Jungen's work is created out of sports paraphernalia — a suit of armor made of catcher mitts, a skull crafted from baseball skins, blankets woven from jerseys, and totem poles of stacked golf bags. It's a deliberate choice, Jungen says, to make art from materials belonging to an industry that has claimed names such as The Chiefs, Indians, Redskins and Braves.
"I felt that if these professional sports teams felt that they had every right to use this terminology, then I had every right to exploit their materials for my artwork," Jungen says.

"Professional sports play a role in society that serves like a ritual and ceremony," he says. "Having experienced that within my own family — the dancing and drumming that I participate in — I know how important that is. So I wanted to use that — use things that people would recognize in their everyday world."
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113840238

Ramsey :D

my new best friend, cultural interpreter Ramsey is my homeboy
i better ask if we can beading bros because he's exactly what i looooove: art and math and physics
teaching me about beads and shit, and even bridges (compression vs. suspension)<3

topics:
quillwork weaving
pony beads are glass too
hand pump drill to drill beads
elk teeth to show hunter's abilities
spongebob beadwork
dragon beadwork
cherokee dragons - lizard with wings
lakota dragons - fire breathing water serpents
beaded pens, beaded clicker (tension keeps the beaded net together)
beadwork as MATH lessons --taught on reservations!
scooping beads up with the needle
quill-->beads-->plastic beads-->lacework
sinew - tendon which hardens, can be pulled apart like string cheese, one end left hard to be a needle!
talking about bridges--how europeans use compression (domes, hammer/nails) and latin americans used suspension technology
why indians never used the wheel (but they did have wheels)--Plains Terrain (no roads) would make wheels sink in, bandwagons always breaking apart, travoy's would bounce along, and also that indians didnt have large domestic animals (except south americans who have llamas who could just carry things up the highway)

TOO. COOL.

Derive-ing is de-riveting

So much fun and money this weekend but totally worth it

Phillips Collection for half an hour (freee admission) - Rothko Room was amazing!
Derive-ing in DuPont Circle, seeing the fountain, a live jazz band on the street, cool book stores, different embassies (indonesia, good job....egypt is a haunted house...and senegal is a convenience store front), Art Jamz!, The Board Room
Then tapas and salsa dancing at Bossa Lounge~

no one danced for like two hours but once 12:30am hit, it was like everyone got on the floor and starting shaking their salsa butts off! it was so great haha

got home late, and then woke up late x-x
went on an outing with Leslie from tmh and Sara from the front desk to Oyamel and then to air and space museum
marines making art/paintings/drawings! good stuff
tons of plans and space things~ and so many families
the original wright plane!

now im getting ready to go out for dinner with my lovelyyy roomie Rumi :D
whooo unos! lol

Let's Get Ready to R-r-r-r-rumble!

If only I could go, but maybe if by some awesome miracle I'll run into Stewart in the area while getting lunch or something XD

The Importance of Creation Stories

One benefit of being a NMAI staff member is hearing indigenous knowledge from tribal elders and leaders. Today, Clyde Bellecourt (Anishinabe) who is a ceremonial leader and one of the founders of the American Indian Movement, Arlette Loud Hawk (Oglala Lakota) who is a ceremonial leader, activist and radio host and Russell Blacksmith (Oglala Lakota) who is a defense attorney and treaty activist shared stories of creation, treaty rights and activism. Partnerships like these support the continuance of culture, traditional values, and transitions in contemporary Native life, which is a part of our NMAI mission statement.
(Facebook, NMAI page)

Lesson of the Day: Everyone Is Part Cherokee

Just made a 15 page list of all the potential benefit committee celebrities for the NMAInaugural Ball

Some hilarity:

Jessica Alba (Metis/Mexican)

The star agreed to take a DNA test prior to her appearance on comedian George Lopez's late-night show, and felt sure genealogy experts would discover her ancestors were more indigenous American than any other group. He told the actress, "You are 13 per cent indigenous American and you are 87 per cent European." A shocked Alba responded, "Really? Wow!" http://www.cinemablend.com/pop/Alba-Learns-She-Is-European-21454.html
 

 Johnny Depp (Cherokee/Creek/Comanche)

Harris said she had read in interviews that Depp identified himself as being part Native American, so she thought it would be fun to adopt him — a tradition she says is common in Comanche culture. She ran the idea past her adult children, and they agreed.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-05-22/news/31816918_1_johnny-depp-honorary-member-tonto#ixzz1voMfAlu4|

Fergie (Mexican/Native American) >_>

"Yes, I have Mexican in my ancestry,” said Fergie. “My Dad's grandmother was born in Guanajuato. I’m very proud of it; that’s probably where I get my fire! I’m mostly Scottish-Irish, though.”
 
http://www.latina.com/entertainment/music/exclusive-fergie-breaks-down-her-latina-roots
  

Megan Fox (Cherokee)

Referring to her role as Cherokee superhero, Rainmaker in Gen 13, she said “She’s a Native American and I have a little bit of that blood in me,” she said. “It would be a bit of a stretch –but if Jake Gyllenhaal can be the Prince of Persia, I think that I can do that.”
 
http://ethnicelebs.com/megan-fox

Cher
Prior to 1973, Cher’s biography always listed her father (John Sarkisian) as being of Armenian heritage, while her mother, Georgia Holt, was of Irish and German extraction. But when Cher’s single “Half Breed” started climbing the Billboard charts (it would eventually hit number one), suddenly she remembered that she was 1/16th Cherokee on her mother’s side.

Channing Tatum

"Tatum has stated in interviews that he is one-quarter Native American, but never lists the tribe. Biographies of him have stated he is from the Alabama region. In a January 2012 edition of USA Weekend, Tatum said that he was "35-40 percent Native American." He loses some credibility with me because if he said earlier that he's one-quarter then that would make his grandmother a full-blood. This 35-40 percent doesn't make very much sense. "

http://www.reznetnews.org/opinion/blog/2012/celebrities-american-indian-ancestry-should-be-recognized-american-indians
 

REAL WIN MOMENT:

Tommy Lee Jones
--> "I feel pretty lucky," [Tommy Lee Jones] says. "Those guys, they know my name. They know who I am. Not bad for a little Indian boy. Not bad."
I ask him his tribe and am quickly corrected about his grandmother's heritage. "It's not a tribe. It's a nation," he says. "The Cherokee Nation."  http://www.ericokeefe.com/wdranch.php

Huichol Vochol ~ Vehicular Art

lol last blog was dedicated to Potbelly and Cheng
when i finish my project i'll recount the hilarity of my findings XD but let's just say that channing tatum is hilarious.

today's theme:
Huichol Vochol
March 20, 2012 - May 10, 2012
NMAI
http://www.si.edu/exhibitions/details/Vochol-Huichol-Art-on-Wheels--4852

http://www.flickr.com//photos/smithsoniannmai/sets/72157629542562649/show/

http://grist.org/list/the-prettiest-road-spill-youll-ever-see/

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-04/ink-spill-ups-truck-paints-highway-rainbow

Garden In Transit (2007)
http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2012/02/16/9198920/GIT%20Times%20Square.jpg

Garden in Transit (2007)
http://www.nyc.gov/html/gardenintransit/home.html