NEW ART WORK

Women as Diagrammed Sentences

Diagrammed sentences provide a way of picturing the structure of a sentence. By placing the various parts of a sentence in relation to the basic subject-verb relationship, we can see how the parts fit
together. Diagrammed sentences reveal more than syntax; they also reveal the agency given and denied subjects and objects. In my current art work I am using the structure of a diagramed sentence to visualize and challenge the traditional placement of women in language and art with respect to the subject, the verb and the predicate.  In art and in language,  women are often placed as the object, or the thing upon which the subject  acts by way of the verb. By diagramming the placement of women using the language of art, I wish to suggest a new language in which women become their own subject instead of the object.

Women as the subject, implies that she can create, act upon, define her world as she sees it not as an object that is merely the receptacle for the subject to act upon.  In the following pieces, she is not static and one dimensional, instead there are layers, upon layers of self; she is the doer, defining herself.

The subject chooses the object of a sentence as an object of consumption or desire; the object is passive. In object as the woman, she is camouflaged as a bathroom fixture, it is silent, it lies, and it deceives as women have always been reputed to do.  The object is a masquerade; it masquerades as femininity.

A woman as the Predicate of a sentence implies that she modifies the subject, object and verb. I chose creatures that are in the process of evolving. The Predicate makes, proclaims, asserts and declares.  She is fully engaged in life.

The following pieces are grouped as Subjects, Objects and Predicates and demonstrate both the current female place in language and the opportunities for expression available when art challenges syntax.

Women as Subjects in a Diagrammed Sentence

sub⋅ject  [n., adj. suhb-jikt;]
Grammar. (in English and many other languages) a syntactic unit that functions as one of the two main constituents of a simple sentence, the other being the predicate, and that consists of a noun, noun phrase, or noun substitute which often refers to the one performing the action or being in the state expressed by the predicate, as He in He gave notice.
Grammar The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the action or what is described by the predicate.

Women as Objects in a Diagrammed Sentence

ob·ject
Pronunciation: \ˈäb-jikt, -(ˌ)jekt\
Function: noun
2 a : something mental or physical toward which thought, feeling, or action is directed b : something physical that is perceived by an individual and becomes an agent for psychological identification

Synonyms thing
Related Words article, item, piece; being, entity, substance; commodity, good, ware; accessory, accompaniment, bauble, curio; knickknack, spangle, token, trinket

Women as Predicates in a Diagrammed Sentence

pred·i·cate
Pronunciation: \ˈpre-di-kət\
Function: noun
1 a : something that is affirmed or denied of the subject in a proposition in logic b : a term designating a property or relation
2 : the part of a sentence or clause that expresses what is said of the subject and that usually consists of a verb with or without objects, complements, or adverbial modifiers

Lynne Ford

This is an extension of the work I have been doing for a while. The first of the series had been created in leather which enabled me to work with organic forms. Clay seemed the best way to move forward with this because I am always drawn back to paint. Much of my inspiration comes from my interest in nature itself.

LIVING IN TRASTEVRE, ROME

Rabbit,

Worst restaurant in Rome

Eija, Jyrki and I set off to see the factory and eat at a recommended restaurant near there.  The restaurant was closed so we picked one at random.  Jyrki said at the time, "This is the worst food I have ever tasted".  The picture is of the rabbit I ordered looks decent enough but was mostly bones.  Fortunately, we all have a sense of humor and a sense of adventure.  The name of the restaurant is , Trattoria Zampagna, via Ostiense 179, Roma.

Centrale Montemartini on Via Ostiense 106 is the name and address of the museum in Rome's first power station, that I mentioned in an earlier blog.

Old factory

This is an old electric factory that was out of commission shortly after it was finished.  Instead of demolishing it, they put sculptures that had been recently found under Trastevere and other places in Rome.  They also kept the machines, so the statues and busts are interspersed among the machines.  Since they were found recently, they did not have fig leaves on them, which I learned had been put on the ones in the Vatican museum.  The hand and arm are enormous...a colossus.