Janine Antoni Video Personal Response

Katie Gouch

Janine Antoni Video Personal Response

            This video was very inspiring to watch.  Antoni’s work is full of expression and deep thought.  I think that it is amazing how her ideas develop so naturally.  For example, from just visiting the dairy farm she developed this metaphorical idea of the cow drinking from her because she has drank from it for her whole life.  I think that is very smart that Antoni develops her idea fully before creating the piece.   For example, the hemp tight rope that she is creating at the end of the video; Antoni says that she does not know what the sculpture will look like, but she knows that it will be about falling. 

            Because Antoni does so much performance art in her work I think that her having the idea fully understood before she starts making it is very important.  In this way, her technique and material choices will reflect her feelings and expressions when she makes the piece.  I have the habit of developing the idea during and after I make the art, and I think that Antoni’s work is more successful than that method because she is fully informed in her idea from the beginning to the end. 

            My favorite piece that was shown in the video was the cow/human rawhide mold.  Formally, I enjoyed how you could see the human feet and head, but the heavy folds of the hide and the cow tail secured the identity to be a cow instead of a human.  Also, I think the statement she was making about her and the cow both being absent in the piece was very strong, and it relates perfectly to her first photograph of the cow and her. 

            I also admire how Antoni follows her ideas and keeps exploring from one thought to another.  For example how the Eureka sculpture flowed into the soap and chocolate busts because they centered on the material of lard.  This can also be seen with how the fabric rope inspired the tight roping video and then the in progress hemp sculpture. 

            In the future I would like to learn more about Antoni and I would like to read more of her artist statements to better understand her process.