Who Do You Want to Be?

I plan to be Marina Abramovic, the self-proclaimed "grandmother of performance art." She explores the boundaries of the human body and mind. I'm interested in understanding how information and meaning are exchanged between artist and audience.

Rosie the Riveter is an icon in the US representing the women who worked in manufacturing plants during WWII producing wartime supplies after many of the men went overseas to fight. Many women were expected to return to the  home, though, after the war was over. Conditions were sometimes harsh, and women usually did not get paid as much as the men they were replacing. Rose Will Monroe was the real woman who was associated with the character.

          In the panel I will be Emily Balch, a writer and pacifist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for her work with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). After graduating Bryn Mawr College in 1889, she continued to study sociology and economics, and later became a professor in these fields at Wellesley College in 1913. She used her extensive knowledge of the social sciences to support her humanitarian efforts during the world wars. During WWI, she campaigned with the WILPF against America’s entry into the conflict. She later became an editor of a well-known liberal news magazine called The Nation. Working with the magazine helped her convey information that corresponded with her ideals to the general public. Using her expertise in the science of human behavior, and her passion for achieving equality, she dedicated her life to defending human rights. 

In correlation with Isabel's panel character, I would like to be Agent Astrid Farnsworth, also from the "Fringe" TV series. Astrid is a junior agent with the FBI who works in Walter Bishop's lab, and she is the assistant to another agent. She primarily focuses on cryptanalysis and uses this skill to find patterns to assist with the investigations. According to the show, Astrid went to Haverford College and graduated with a double major in Music and Linguistics and with a minor in Computer Science. Although Astrid has a vast amount of knowledge and technical experience, she still seems to be treated as inconsequential by Walter, especially since he still cannot remember her name even though they have worked in the same lab for years (this should explain the title of my post!). Because of Walter's "unique personality," Astrid spends a lot of her time helping him emotionally in addition to helping him professionally. Is this because of her gender? Hopefully we can explore this during the panel.

I will be coming to class as Jess Dobkin, a New York based performance artist. I attended a talk she gave here at Bryn Mawr about a week ago and her work primarily focuses on gender and the female body. Several of her performances also utilize technology, but in very sexualized ways. In 2006, Dobkin performed the piece "Fee for Service" in which she inserted an electric pencil sharpener in her vagina and invited guests to sharpen their pencils for a small fee. Guests were also required to write in a guestbook with that pencil after they had it sharpened. Clearly, Dobkin's work is heavily influenced by both her gender and everyday technology.

more of Dobkin's work can be found here: http://www.jessdobkin.com/works

I will be Czech director Vera Chytilova. The the subject of my post is the title of one of her most famous films, translated as Daisies in English. Now 81, Chytilova was a central figure of the Czech new wave film movement. She has been describe as the Margaret Thatcher of Czech film. When asked by an interviewer if she was a feminist she responded: "Is your newspaper a serious one?" She peers over her large sunglasses. "You ask pointless and primitive questions."She has been quoted saying, "People are generally weak, cautious and frightened of being embarrassed, whereas I'm merciless and impertinent."I have only seen her film Daises, but it profoundly affected me. I have never seen anything like it and I would love to learn more about the person who created it.

Here is a link to the first four minutes of Daisies if you are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md-LwM0s9fY

 "...what's remarkable is how many of us appear to be normal." --Dr. Walter Bishop

For our panel, I plan to embody the character of Dr. Walter Bishop, leading government scientist from the Fox TV show "Fringe."  Dr. Bishop is particularly relevant to our discussion of information because he uses fringe science to develop ways to extract information from dead or unconscious people and inanimate objects, supporting "Conceiving Ada's" notion that information waves exist independently of living people and can be accessed at any point using the right scientific tools. Walter also requested that a part of his brain be removed because he felt that he knew too much and was becoming dangerous. As a result of the surgery, Walter is extremely loopy and unfocused, which led to 17 years spent in an insane asylum. Walter has been re-discovering much of what was removed from his brain over the course of the show and is currently attempting to re-grow the brain tissue using chimpanzee cells. I'm looking forward to bringing Walter to life in our classroom! 

Corazon Aquino! First president of the Philippines (and Asia) who rose to power after her husband (who had intentions of becoming president) was shot on the tarmac as the family returned from exile. Despite being reluctant at first, she was voted into office. The intersection I see with technology and "Cory" is the way in which technology (such as print media, radio, telecommunications) was used to put her into power. I'm really interested in looking at how quickly the people of the Philippines managed to band together in order to instill this change. The mass media was critical here and I'm curious as to how this worked.

Originally, I was going to be Rosalind Franklin.  After some consideration, though, chose to be The Question, alter ego Renee Montoya.  Montoya, originally a no-nonsense homicide detective in Gotham City, was recruited by the original Question and, after his death, took up the faceless mantle.  Unlike the original Question, Montoya struggles with the idea of killing.

Montoya's coat, hat, hair, and mask are chemically treated to react was a specific gas (stored in her belt buckle) and transform into the Question's costume.  Montoya has no powers, relying on an energy pistol and her wits to get out of most situations.  As the Question, the mask covers up most of Montoya's identity; she's not a woman, she's not Renee Montoya.  She's just a female body in a snazzy blue trench coat, hellbent on prying injustice out of the corporate system (unlike other heroes, the Question traditionally goes after corruption, not thievery and assault).  Gender doesn't matter when Montoya gets down to business.  She's also a lesbian, disowned by her strictly religious parents.

Wolverine! Not just because the actor (Hugh Jackman) who plays his role in X-Men is stunning, but because his ficticious character is amazing and reveals a lot about gender and technology according to different eras. Wolverine's experiences are metaphoric when we relate them to those of humans, in terms of the purpose of how he was created and the binary that humans placed him in. By being a mutant, he was oppressed, but because he was a mutant his powers of healing and destruction were highly desired in making him a weapon. For more info, go to http://marvel.com/universe/Wolverine_%28James_Howlett%29

Originally I wanted to be Dr. Frankenstein's monster, before I reconsidered and decided to be the monster's creator, Dr. Frankenstein. However, after considering the themes of the course... I'm going to be the true creator of the monster: Mary Shelley. Shelley was daughter of a feminist and a philosopher and wife of poet Percy Shelley. She was also an accomplished author in her own right, writing in a number of genres. She is best known for penning the novel Frankenstein, which is considered to be the first work of science fiction.

I will be Major Motoko Kusanagi, squad leader of Public Security Section 9 in Japan in the year 2029--from the iconic manga/anime series Ghost in the Shell. She is a full-body cyborg, meaning her only organic (human) parts the few pieces of her brain that have not been "cyberized." The only woman in Section 9 and the squad leader (ultimately second-in-command of the entire Section), the Major is highly skilled in combat and technology--including hacking and using her synthetic/robot body as easily as a natural one. 

In this future, almost all people are cyberized, at the very least they have partially synthetic brains... as well as synthetic limbs, organs, and other body parts. (Interesting to see how this relates to GIST!!)

Her sexuality is ambiguous, dating both men and women, but often reflects on whether she is female or male--all that really signifies her as one or the other is the chassis where she keeps her brain. And while she embraces her female chassis, she occasionally uses the one she had as a child...