tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post231588149859030294..comments2023-08-24T05:28:28.355-05:00Comments on Myself the only Kangaroo among the Beauty: Post in which the Poet Admits to Being a FragmentSandy Longhornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04735445958970512617noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-47479251975060352102010-03-04T07:39:08.254-06:002010-03-04T07:39:08.254-06:00S., Yes, it was the simplification that bothered m...S., Yes, it was the simplification that bothered me.<br /><br />Q., I don't think the intent of the project was to look down the nose at the people of Oxford, but I'm afraid it might be the result, again, most paricularly b/c of the text.<br /><br />K., Thanks for sharing your bio. I'm also amazed at the number of "languages" I speak and how I move between classes.<br /><br />A., I need to check out the Disfarmer work. He was mentioned during the presentation. Again, I wonder what the photographs would have projected without the text, in the case of The Oxford Project. Would they have received such acclaim? It is a fine line.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone for jumping into this conversation. I'll definitely be ruminating on all of this for some time to come, and I'll post when I get the book, so you can read my impressions of the collected work.Sandy Longhornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735445958970512617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-21806210755187875282010-03-04T06:08:56.602-06:002010-03-04T06:08:56.602-06:00You might enjoy the photographs of Disfarmer (1884...You might enjoy the photographs of Disfarmer (1884-1959), a photographer of rural people from Heber Springs, AR. Link: http://www.public-pictures.com/<br /><br />His photographs are clearly ones that respect the people photographed, but occasionally the people who have "discovered" him and his work seem almost unseemly in their celebration of his seeming mixture of naivete and sophistication as a photographer. It's a naivete they assume exists because of his rural life and roots. It's insulting, of course, to assume artistic sophistication is the purview only of the urban. <br /><br />Sadly, without these same people, I am not sure the photographs would have been collected and put together. It's a constant tension in art (especially when the words "outsider" are ever implied about the artist). I often get this feeling during contemporary documentaries about rural people--- that they flirt with the line of exploitation and perhaps misunderstand the rural people they portray.Anne Greenwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16035223581364501579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-38748164050132818722010-03-04T05:54:22.164-06:002010-03-04T05:54:22.164-06:00I thought about no posting, but when I saw that my...I thought about no posting, but when I saw that my word verification was "docloth" (which I saw as do cloth, which I take as a command to return to fiber art), I took it as a sign.<br /><br />I'm only 2 generations removed from farm folk, so I know what you mean. My grandmother says she knew that her farm family was in a higher class than her husband's because they had an outhouse, and her in-laws just went outside to the woodsy part of the property to do their business.<br /><br />I've lived in small Southern cities (Montgomery, Alabama; Charlottesville, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee, Columbia, South Carolina) and even smaller towns (Newberry, South Carolina), and I've noticed a similar ignorance about the south, often from people who didn't live there long or got their ideas from movies.<br /><br />Likewise, my dad was in the Air Force, and you don't find many military kids working in academia. Lots of ignorance there.<br /><br />And don't get me started about how few people grew up going to church, the way my family went to our Lutheran church (even on vacation!).<br /><br />As I get older, I'm amazed at how many cultures I feel comfortable in, how many "languages" I speak. It's a gift.<br /><br />I look forward to hearing what you think about the book.Kristin Berkey-Abbotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16841824206762029363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-29693618597785216832010-03-03T23:11:42.723-06:002010-03-03T23:11:42.723-06:00If the project itself is laughing AT the residents...If the project itself is laughing AT the residents of Oxford, then that pisses me off. To no end. <br /><br />I'm tired of folks looking down their snooty noses at rural communities, whether it's the audience's problem or the artists'.Quintilian B. Nastyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442277796099767409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-51931615396691526662010-03-03T21:46:43.333-06:002010-03-03T21:46:43.333-06:00I remember seeing an article showing parts of the ...I remember seeing an article showing parts of the Oxford Project and thinking the same thing. I think the main problem is the use of simplification. It's not just that these are different people judging others, but that type of simplifying does not make either party look good. E.M Forrester defined "flat" characters" as ones that can be characterized in one phrase or less & that is what these people are attempting to do. No one looks good summed up in one phrase, nor do they look real. I find this project a bit lazySuziGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01082047801305087287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-26257366389100576562010-03-03T12:31:41.057-06:002010-03-03T12:31:41.057-06:00N., thanks. I should also qualify my post with th...N., thanks. I should also qualify my post with this: my comments are a result of the 90-minute presentation I attended. I've ordered the book and will spend more time with the entire project once it arrives.Sandy Longhornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735445958970512617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311201101178073119.post-69111599532283823162010-03-03T10:09:33.507-06:002010-03-03T10:09:33.507-06:00i understand the fragmentation. sometimes i wonder...i understand the fragmentation. sometimes i wonder if it isn't the modern condition. as i got out of my car for work today, i thought about whether any of my endeavors are making progress.<br />i, too, come from a relatively rural area. (though i live in a small city)my experience has often been that educated urbanites seem to not quite get what rural life can be. at that point, stereotypes come to the foreground. (lots of qualifying language here, because i don't know how true across the board my claims are)Nancy Devinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10895934793253274506noreply@blogger.com