Screams from the Pink Collar Ghetto: art

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Art, Music and Literature that made an impression in 2012

A few of the pieces of art, literature, and music that I liked and that inspired me in 2012.

Literature:

Kate Atkinson: Behind the Scenes in the Museum
William Boyd: Waiting for Sunrise
Graham Greene: A Burnt-Out Case
Hillary Mantel: Wolf Hall
Marguerite Duras: The Lover

Art:

Contemporary Vietnamese Artists from Apricot Gallery in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City:

Trang Nguyen Dung

Quach Dong Phuong

Hoang Hai Anh

Le Minh

Dai Hong Phong

Le Quang Ha

Ta Thi Thanh Tam

Tran Luu Hau

Ateneum in Finland: Helene Schjerfbeck retrospective

Modigliani and Soutine at the Pincotheque de Paris

Pre-Raphaelites in Tate Britain

Music:

Austra: Lose It

Honey Claws: Digital Animal

The Civil Wars: Kingdom Come

The Storm: My Crown

The Frank Popp Ensemble: Breakaway!

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Art in Amsterdam

I've decided to take an art workshop. It's not quite lessons - I'm not sure what its going to be like. My first time was this morning. I cycled over to the studio on CzarPeterLaan at 10am and knocked on the window to be let in. We drank tea, looked at teh photo I had brought of something I felt close to, discussed supplies, talked about what would be the best way to render it, and then another person showed up so we drank tea, ate strawberry cake, and talked about religion and healthcare.

After a very pleasant three hours, I cycled in the stiff wind to the supply shop and bought some paper, some pastels, and (since I was near the market) some apples and asters.

I didn't once touch an art supply to try to draw anyting - I just talked about it a lot. This could be the perfect new pastime for me! I like talking about knitting. I like talking about taking tango lessons. I like talking about going to the gym. I like talking about playing my flute. I like talking about taking long bike rides. When it comes down to actually doing it - sometimes the reality is not as nice as the fantasy. So maybe my new art workshop will involve me talking about painting and drawing alot without having to actually produce anything that will not live up to my fantasies of my own art.

Virtual Reality - better than the real thing.

What is a Pink-Collar Ghetto?

Pink Collar Ghetto describes women stuck in certain jobs, mostly low-paying and usually because of their sex. “Pink Collar” denotes historically female jobs like maids, secretaries, waitresses, and nurses. "Ghetto" is where marginalized people are forced to live.

I chose this title for my blog from a book I started to write when I was 22 and working in South Carolina as a bartender (barmaid according to my mother) and a receptionist/ temp. As a feminist, I was worried that I would never break out of the pink-collar ghetto. I read Barbara Kingsolver's book "The Bean Trees" and it inspired me to leave SC and go back to school.

Now I am a feminist humanitarian working on gender-based violence in humanitarian settings. It's been a long way from that pink collar ghetto in South Carolina but I never forget my roots.