TITLE:
Art_Performing research_Proof of Project.

ABSTRACT:
Simply Art or is it a 'bounded object' (Latour) that connects the networked path, from the 'production of knowledge', through the construction of meaning, to the cementing of power within the institution of knowledge?

a bounded object activism

My project could be seen as a walk, a serious activist intervention, a graduate requirement for the Graduate ACE program or a post postmodern Art practice. By using an art piece I have researched and developed a titled Precocious Puberty that demonstrates my on going investigation of Language, Language as a kind of avatar, as a targeted mediator. The video art and radio transmission pieces that form part of this project are conceptually relevant and crucial to appreciating the Art. You will see how I have informed the public of three structured walks proposed as part of this project and then documented these performance pieces on Myspace, current TV, Youtube and on my own personal web site. The simplicity of small children interpreting words becomes more complex when mapped onto a tower, and heard though radio demonstrates the impact of language through multiple and concurrent use of ramped-up technology and new media. Everyone has an opinion, right? How much art is in the delivery?

On May 26, 2007, at 8:48 AM, awillcoc@uci.edu wrote:

> Here are a few videos take a look - my project
>
> http://www.myspace.com/fatsothedidileo
>
> angela


On May 28, 2007, at 10:32 PM,:

Hi Angela,
I am terribly sorry I couldn't attend your performance last night, but I am in the last
week of a yoga teacher training certification and couldn't miss class last night. (no I am not kidding, I am becoming a California New Age
woman...).I would have loved to see your actual project rather than documentation, but since this wasn't  possible it would be really
helpful if I could hear you talk/present the project before your actual thesis defense.

let me know if that works for you, otherwise maybe we can schedule a meeting where you can tell me all
about it. (I am leaving town right after classes end though).

all the best,
Beatriz
>
Beatriz da Costa
Assistant Professor of Studio Art, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Arts Computation Engineering (ACE) Graduate Program University of California, Irvine

www.beatrizdacosta.net
www.preemptivemedia.net

INTRODUCTION:
The Inspiration: I have been documenting my children (Diego and Raphael) for the past 5 years, as they learnt how to speak, write, read, interpret and use the American English Language. Language is an essential unit of my children's education as they create an understanding of their world. Over time my children's use words has become a tool for the flow of information, communicating and understanding, processing and acting and interacting. Through examination, research data collection and documentation the construction of language has been dissected beyond the superficiality of observation (site some language research) My observations, although not scientific in technique, are the biased lens of a mother and artist. Overtime my children learned to interpret and use words and this has influenced the way they interact socially. Their use of language has begun to define their beliefs, fabricate truth or fantasy carried their emotions and imagined ideas. As my small children weave their way through life, the gradual accumulation of language serves to increase their knowledge. This is an accepted fact. But at what point is the getting of this knowledge bound by “rules” manufactured and imposed on our language so that in the act of communication we perceive what “they” want us to perceive?
school local store hospital

Whether or not the children were in total control of the language uses and terminologies they were being constantly bombarded by different information. Through documenting my children's progress I noticed that factors outside the home were influencing the way my children used their words and understood situations. New Media such as TV, web, radios Mp3's, video games and film as well as schools, institutions (hospitals) or simply a journey to the local store fueled gave new a meaning and context. Over time those in the positions of authority, the parent, the mentor, the teacher, the sibling, the shop keeper all influenced my children's view of the world the words had become 'bounded objects'. bounded by and through technology.(McLuhan) (Latour).

To:	pumpkin@mindspring.com
Subject:	RE: angela wilcocks
Date:	May 24, 2007 9:54 PM

Had a look at the videos Ange, took me a little while to work the projection one out but it is quite interesting, I like seeing the kids again.

Mark



At the same time I was documenting my children, I was a student working with a group of women at ACE. We were researching a common a obsession, food; food production, consumption and classification. I noticed early on, that I paid little attention to the food I fed my children and didn't really care if this impacted them. I had control over what they ate but essentially the cost determined what food they got. After lots of discussions, meetings and research I noticed the different types of language used, such as Organic, general merchandise, generic, genetic and particularly precocious puberty. Precocious Puberty is the medical term for a disease that is perhaps linked to a child's consumption of food, I misinterpreted it as a naughty kids problem, why? Some how the placing of these two words together make me think the child became the problem. Coincidently a friend emailed me today

To:	pumpkin@mindspring.com
Subject:	virtuality in art?
Date:	Jun 4, 2007 12:13 AM

I mentioned PP to a doctor I know earlier today and he said “mention PP to a doctor and we immediately know what it means. There is only one meaning for Precocious and that is early. Look at the word, it comes from pre – meaning before and corpus meaning body. The medical jargon has only one meaning. It is when it gets out in the media that this title gets overtaken by several judgmental, sexualized meanings that lead to a variety of perceptions.” I thought that was interesting.

For me even the fact these words imply that the child is gifted with the disease of Precocious Puberty is problematic. My first impression find connection between precocious puberty, food and the child? Researching the disease Precocious Puberty,formed my concept and ideas, directing the path of my interdisciplinary, technological project.(ACE) The connections with food, language and children was inevitable spilling from my Interdisciplinary studies into my home a classic. My children became my muses, they were my lab rats being exploited and documented as I processed the implications and artistic parameters surrounding Precocious Puberty.



The research:
The more I researched the disease Precocious Puberty, the more confused I became, the more complicated and ill-defined the problem became. I started off believing that it was probably caused by pesticides and steroids and remember thinking "when will I be able to afford organic food" Then while researching a paper for a Womens Studies presentation (and paper) the deeper I dug the more I discovered how little I understood of the disease I had become a Modest witness (Haraway). The medical research was problematic: a majority of doctors, scientists and writers consistently sited only one research paper as scientific their form of verification and qualification for the disease and the methodology appeared flawed.

‘Precocious Puberty’ is on the Rise By Kim Ridley, Ode. Posted January, 2007
Hormone-mimicking chemicals found in food, water, and many consumer goods may well be the cause of why children as young as eight are showing signs of sexual development…… Researchers call this phenomenon "precocious puberty," which some say is on the rise. Forty-eight percent of African-American girls and 15 percent of Caucasian girls show physical signs of puberty by age 8, according to a study of 17,000 U.S. girls published in Pediatrics in 1997. In a subsequent study of more than 2,000 boys, lead author Marcia Herman-Giddens found that 38 percent of African-American boys and 30 percent of Caucasian boys showed signs of sexual development by age 8.

Most of the statistics referred to by the medical, technical and news agencies essentially quoted 4 numbers, as a demarcation point for classifying the age for the early onset puberty (PP) 6 or 7 for black girls,7 for girls Latin ,8 white girls ,9,10 for boys. How accurate can these numbers be, when the research was done on 93'% white children with no consideration for their the socio economic background?

" METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted by 225 clinicians in pediatric practices belonging to Pediatric Research in Office Settings, a practice-based research network. After standardized training in the assessment of pubertal maturation, practitioners rated the level of sexual maturation on girls 3 through 12 years who were undergoing complete physical examinations. RESULTS: Data were analyzed for 17,077 girls, of whom 9.6% were African-American and 90.4% white. At age 3, 3% of African-American girls and 1% of white girls showed breast and/or pubic hair development, with proportions increasing to 27.2% and 6.7%, respectively, at 7 years of age. " (3)

Then on 22/5/07 A friend, Leslie called me from Atlanta. "Yes" she had received my e-mail about my projections in Long Beach. And "No" she would be unable to make the performance, but she had been thinking about me today. Leslie had been watching Oprah Winfrey’s show yesterday on TV yesterday when a member of the audience , a mother asked Dr Oz if it was normal for her 6 year old daughter to have breasts? Dr Oz was appreciative of the question, as this was a recent problem and had become important to him, it seemed to be occurring more and more in children today. Dr Oz named this early maturing as the disease Precocious Puberty and referred the problem to Oprah, asking her if she knew that 25% of African American children have Precocious Puberty? http://www.oprah.com. (Oprah archive 21/5/07)



I quickly hung up the phone, thinking how fortuitous it was that Oprah and my performance had occured on the same day. I logged immediately onto the internet, looking up Oprah’s web site to connect with Dr Oz. at least I can e-mail them.

To: "Oprah.com "
Subject: precocious puberty
Date: May 21, 2007 10:05 PM
I watched your program yesterday and found it extremely coincidental yet meant to be as I projecting my art piece – precocious puberty in public places
I am an artist and have been working the causes and effects of Precocious puberty for the past year.
I have created a portable projector with radio transmitter that enables me to walk the streets, malls and public spaces projecting my Art Work about Precocious Puberty.
Dr Oz was talking on your show in response to a parents worry about her daughters early puberty and I would suggest you take a look at my web site about this Precocious Puberty Problem.

http://www.awillcocks.com.PP.html.
Please feel free to contact me at any time
Angela willcocks

As an artist this could be my big break, the media, the news....the creating and building of interest in my work that will give me credibility. If Dr Oz, connects with me through my email, if he sees that I am interested in helping the public, he could be intrigued by my inventive art projections, then that could change my career, I could become a famous artist, all I need is that one piece of Media coverage legitimizing me. I can only imagine the chain reaction, the media, the galleries, the critics, the curators, the museums, the jobs possibilities, the universities. The fact is an artists reputation is built over time in the mediated space of the art world.



Being a successful Artist is a networked process, a process similar to the Academic. There are only a few ways to become an artist and culture maker. The most common paths are either being through the galleries, museums or the university system. All rely on the validation of the artist an artist that is reviewed in magazines, and books or mentioned in a Newspaper, becomes noticed. Take for example the heavily marketed Saatchi Collection exhibit, "Sensation: Young British Artists" 80% of the artist virtually all unknown now earn their living as Artists.

Chris Ofili christine Finn Van Gogh

Highlighted throughout history people such as Van Gogh or Frieda Kalo lived in poverty most of their lives, they had natural talent but where never recognized by the powers that control the Art world. The artist must take part in the production of their Art, the networking, the learning, the promoting and the selling, all necessary hurdles built by the structures within the framework of the Art World(Carter) For example Stelac the techno Australian a globally networked practicing artist.

To: pumpkin@mindspring.com
Subject: Oprah.com has received your e-mail
Date: May 22, 2007 12:05 PM

Dear angela Willcocks,

Thank you for your e-mail! Your message is important to us. Unfortunately, due
to the volume of e-mail messages we receive every day, we cannot guarantee that
you'll receive a personal response. Feel free to check out our Frequently Asked
Questions for additional help.
http://www.oprah.com/tows/program/tows_prog_main.jhtml

Thanks again for writing to us!

Sincerely,
The Oprah.com Staff
www.oprah.com

The promotion and the networking of the Artist is an essential key for success in the Art world today. It provides evidence of eminence. The artist must produce the work, but the connections that site, validate and display the artists work is powerful. The production of the artist is the same as the production of knowledge within the university system. It does not matter if it is the Activist artist who is supported by universities, grants and international conferences or the commercial artist supported in galleries, museums and corporate collections, the artist or academic need to be represented and both need media to highlight the importance of the artists career. Although there are several different ways to get noticed, the majority of aspiring artists follow specific paths. For example, firstly the 'high' artist (notes place definition of high and low art) needs a degree from a relevant university. The prospective artist has to be selected for a program under certain criteria by the Art Professors. Remember the Professors are artists employed by that institution and they build the reputation of the institution. The artists employed by the institutions are connected to galleries, curators and conferences that sell, display and promote their work. (Vehlmetta gallery +UCLA) The more important the university the more probability, you will be referred to prominent galleries or curators or conferences which in turn this validates your authenticity as an artist.

5/29/07
e-mail
Todd grey – UCLB

hey angela,

i saw you and your partner working at the home depot last tuesday. i kept a little distance in order to witness the interactions occurring around you, intending to greet you a short while later. i saw you speaking with a black couple across from the check-out area at depot, then went to get something from my car. when i returned i couldn't find you guys anywhere. looked all through depot, drove my car around the lot. i was only gone a couple of minutes. really wanted to observe more of the process. nice to see people putting on earphones and engaging.
best,
todd

As e-mails come and go I start to wonder how the idea of trying to promote yourself is not how the public sees the artist (Greenberg). Being an artist is like being a free spirit, someone who does not need to earn money because they are doing what they want. I then start to question my web site that I recently uploaded http://www.springmail.com/PP.html. Perhaps I need to change how the links go nowhere, maybe there needs to be more than just sound and a black square on some pages (all conceptual decisions demonstrating different parts of my research) The changes might compromise my Art Internet site, but the public will be able to follow the relationship between my hyper-linked pages. More clarity, less interpreting, more accessibility.

public forum public chat

All my Art is on the internet, open and accessible for public viewing. Our idea of the 'public' has changed from a place out of the house to a space created at home with access to the public. My thoughts project excitedly onto the fact that I might actually be able to get noticed. By posting my videos on the internet, I am not only proving my project for the university but I am opening up the possibility of having access for the public. Reflexively this New Media connection between private and public also promotes an artists practice .

To:	pumpkin@mindspring.com
Subject:	art again
Date:	My 24th , 2007 7:32 PM

hi angela,
just took a piece at the videos. like the guerilla stuff - the contraption that you where is really cool - love the performance aspect of it as well. it's hard to hear the audio inside the store - competes too much with the
audio in the video. oh yeah, the one that's projected on the water tower is really effective visually. i think scale makes a difference. i like the billboard conceptually, though the billboard imagery competes.

be well.
xo,
traci

Notes:

Bibliography:

Latour, Bruno (1987). Science In Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass., USA.

‘Precocious Puberty’ is on the Rise By Kim Ridley, Ode. Posted January, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/environment/46213?page=1

KidsHealth > Parents > Medical Problems > Sexual & Reproductive System > Precocious Puberty
Puberty, usually occurring during adolescence, is when kids develop physically and emotionally into young men and women. Usually, this starts to happen no earlier than about 7 to 8 years of age for girls and 9 years of age for boys (the average age is about 10 for girls and 12 for boys).



3. Herman-Giddens ME, Slora EJ, Wasserman RC, Bourdony CJ, Bhapkar MV, Koch GG, Hasemeier CM.
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7580, USA. 1: Pediatrics. 1997 Apr;99(4):505-12
Secondary sexual characteristics and menses in young girls seen in office practice: a study from the Pediatric Research in Office Settings network. Pediatrics. 1997 Apr;99(4):505-12. PMID: 9093289 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

Herman-giddens is also quoted " that other factors, including girls growing up without their father in the home, lack of exercise, and endocrine disruptors – chemicals common in pesticides – could also be playing a role in the early onset of female puberty (see Why are girls growing up so fast?).

“It’s not normal,” Herman-Giddens says, “but with the growing obesity epidemic, the problem is likely to increase.”

Journal reference: Pediatrics (vol 119, issue 3)"

The Artist in the Modern World: A Conflict Between Market and Self-Expression - Review
Art Journal, Winter, 1998 by David Carrier

"But unless we understand how art is sold and promoted, how can we properly grasp its purely aesthetic qualities? Much of the effect of most recent U.S. art depends on its being presented in upscale galleries - and that would be impossible without the financial resources of successful dealers. "I hate being called an art dealer," one dealer once said to me. But without several generations of such gifted businesspeople, the U.S. art world could hardly exist."

Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection (Paperback) book (Paperback)
by Norman Rosenthal (Author), Brooks Adams (Author), Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain) (Author), Saatchi Collection (Corporate Author)

Clement Greenberg: 1909 - 1994 An Influential twentieth century art critic, best known for his promotion and defense of abstract expressionism. In "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" (1939) he somewhat paradoxically combined his socialist convictions with a defense of avant-garde, abstract, "non-objective" painting and poetry, even while admitting that this art appealed to a small and shrinking elite, members of the ruling class, on whose money the avant-garde depended for its survival.