Life in da UP - summer 2022

 

Outfit of the day (ootd) 2022-23

 

"Produce Barcodes" Series [displayed at the Rozsa @ MTU on 4/16/23]

 

Artist's Statement

Produce Barcodes

Emma C. Johnson

12 5x7in. C-prints

Lettuce from USA

Nectarine from USA

Pepper from Canada

Avocado from Mexico

Plum from USA

Grapes from USA

Water from USA

Oranges from FL, USA

Pineapple from Costa Rica

Mango from Mexico

Banana from Guatemala

Peach from SC, USA

1 36 x 24in. color poster

Peach from SC, USA

2020 [printed 2023]

My work explores mundane, idiosyncratic objects representing hidden power structures. For over five years, I took photographs of the barcodes and color registration marks on my food and toiletries. I am especially interested in the juxtaposition of the organic-ness of produce and the commodification seen in their attached straight, abstract barcodes. 

As an artwork, there is a tension between the classical still life pre-industrialization and the neoliberal world where consumers are so familiar with objects being barcoded and wrapped in plastic that it becomes invisible. By documenting these ordinary snippets of daily life when we eat food from a global system, I invite the viewer to question this removed relationship with nature.

Displayed at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts at Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA, for the Second Annual Earth Week Art and Music Festival presented by Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action (KYCA), on April 16, 2023.

https://events.mtu.edu/event/Keweenaw_youth_for_climate_action_present_Earth_week_art_and_music_festival

"The Anthropocene" Song

I was inspired to write a song about the anthropocene when I read the work of philosopher Timothy Morton and art historian Jill Casid for my "Atlantic AnthropoScenes" course this semester. Hope you enjoy (as much as one can given the subject)! https://youtu.be/wjuocGVn8EI

“The Anthropocene” Song Written: February - March, 2023 Recorded: March 9, 2023, in Houghton, Michigan Words, music, and videography by: Emma C. Johnson Influenced by the scholarship of philosopher Timothy Morton, art historian Jill Casid, and "Atlantic AnthropoScenes" course at MTU. LYRICS In the Anthropocene. In the Anthropocene. A heat wave is coming. A heat wave is here. A heat wave is here to stay. Undulating but never leaving. The heat remains. You are my environment. We are the environment. Webs connected to the mesh. Strands and strands and strands. Strands and strands and strands. Strands and strands and strands. Plantations bled into capital. The familiar configuration. What was the scene? (‘Cause) The landscape / tries to conceal. A palimpsest remains / But won’t reveal. Be content to never know. The landscape will never show. Look at the Necrocene. You’ll see what I mean. The dead cannot speak / But they occupy space. Things will emerge. If Selectively Unnoticed. The past is dark / but you can see the light. Justice is fleeting But ideas take flight. The past is dark / but you can see the light. Justice is fleeting But ideas take flight. Ideas take flight! Ideas take flight! Ideas take flight! Ideas take flight! Strands and strands and strands and strands. In the Anthropocene. Strands and strands and strands and strands. In the Anthropocene. In the Anthropocene. A heat wave is coming. A heat wave is here. A heat wave is here to stay. Undulating but never leaving. The heat remains. You are my environment. We are the environment. We are the environment. We are the environment. LYRICS & MUSIC: [1st Pluck stings: [4797 on D string 3Xs, 4 on D string 1Xs] [2nd Pluck stings: [4797 on D string 3Xs, 4 on D string 1Xs (when 4 on D also 6 on G] [a.k.a. pluck: F# A/C# B A/C#] [3rd Pluck strings: [4797 on D string 3Xs, 4 on D string 1Xs (when 479 on D also 6 on G] [a.k.a. pluck: F#/C# A/C# B/F# A/C#] [Strum C#m] [Chords: A] In the Anthropocene. In the Anthropocene. [Chords: D] A heat wave is coming. A heat wave is here. [Chords: D A] A heat wave is here to stay. [Chords: E7 A D A] Undulating but never leaving. The heat remains. [Chords: A E] You are my environment. [Chords: C A] We are the environment. [Chords: A E] Webs connected to the mesh. [Chords: C A] [Vocals: C C C C D D A] Strands and strands and strands. [Chord: E] [Chords: C A] [Vocals: C C C D A] Strands and strands and strands. [Chord: E] [Chords: C A] [Vocals: C C C D A] Strands and strands and strands. [Chord: E E E E (8 BEATS)] [Power Chords: C#m E F#m E] Plantations bled into capital. The familiar configuration. What was the scene? (‘Cause) The landscape / tries to conceal. A palimpsest remains / But won’t reveal. Be content to never know. The landscape will never show. [Power Chord: C#m] [Power Chords: C#m E F#m E] Look at the Necrocene. You’ll see what I mean. The dead cannot speak / But they occupy space. Things will emerge. If Selectively Unnoticed. [1 chord progression Power Chords: C#m E F#m E additonal] [Vocals: F# F# F# A / A A A B B A_______. ] [4797 on D string] [Power Chords: C#m E F#m E] The past is dark / but you can see the light. Justice is fleeting But ideas take flight. The past is dark / but you can see the light. Justice is fleeting But ideas take flight. [Vocals: A B B A_______. ] [Chords: C# E] Ideas take flight! Ideas take flight! Ideas take flight! Ideas take flight! [Chords: D6] Strands and strands and strands and strands. [Chords: A7] In the Anthropocene.
[Chords: D6] Strands and strands and strands and strands. [Chords: A7] In the Anthropocene. In the Anthropocene. [Chord: E E E E (8 beats)] [Power Chords: C#m E F#m C#m] A heat wave is coming. A heat wave is here. A heat wave is here to stay. Undulating but never leaving. The heat remains. You are my environment. We are the environment. We are the environment. We are the environment. [slight rit.]

My Teaching Persona (Song)

I wrote a song about being quirky but trying to be professional in the classroom called "My Teaching Persona"!

Watch the video! :)

https://youtu.be/wjuocGVn8EI

“Teaching Persona” (Song)

Lyrics, music, performance, and videography by Emma C. Johnson, November 2022

Recorded/performed November 27, 2022

[Duration: 7min, 7 sec]

[Key: E minor/G major] [Chords: G C G D Em Am B, Em6 E] [Melody: E D B D E B “I can never fake it”] [G C G D] [Em Am Bm Em6] [G C G D] [Em Am Bm E] [G C G D] [G C G D] I’m quirky. It’s not intentional. I try to look professional. Controlled facial expressions. Measured responses. Educational anecdotes that don’t reveal. So I’m approachable yet unemotional. I wear a blazer And a starch-white shirt to connote success. Shiny black heels slight embellishments But it doesn’t compensate Because my hair’s a mess. I spilled coffee on My black peacoat that hides everything. Students think it’s chic. It saves me on dry cleaning. Praying no one notices I don’t have it together. I need to get it together. When will I get shit together? [B7 Em6] Maybe next semester? Maybe next year! [Em Am Bm Em6] I want it so much I’m going to vomit. Young(-ish), eager to please, and prove myself. I bought a polyester blazer that seems like something a graduate teaching instructor should wear. Thing is I’m a little wacky and like to dress with a flair. My sartorial choice does not express my voice How can I be relatable if students can’t get to know me? I need a professional teaching persona I’m trying to fake it ‘til I make it But do I come off as inauthentic? But would authentic be too much? How do I reconcile personas inside and outside class? How do I find my voice? I’m at an impasse. How do I strike a balance? A dalliance with stiffness alas. Now, I must be in the classroom, organic with some sass. [G C G D] Let’s take a break from style and focus on substance: I’m talkin’ about The rhetorical appeals! Ethos is credibility. Do I have the ability To convince them I’m the teacher I pretend to be? Until that projection becomes me? Pathos is emotion. Can I use emotion to provoke them to see that a writer is a good vocation to be? Logos is logic. I wear a blazer. All professors who wear blazers are professional. Therefore, I’m professional. Enthymeme. I wear a blazer, therefore I’m professional. Visual rhetoric. Can’t you see my aesthetics reveal my disposition? Kairos. Now is the time. Let’s figure it out today! [B7 Em6] Let’s figure it out today! Let’s figure shit out today! [Em Am Bm E] I can never fake it to professional But no one can accuse me of being boring. Forget presentation. I’ll focus on content. How to teach the material And the rest will come (to me). Soon my facade and my spirit will converge. [chord progression] [G C G D] (… in) A pencil skirt with ruffles Now my outside matches my inside I don’t need to hide I can take pride Being my authentic self Me and not what I think I should be What I should be is what is needed. While professionalism should be heeded The new me superseded My past self for the authentic yet professional teaching persona! My professional teaching persona! My professional teaching persona! (I’m glad I found) my professional teaching persona! [strum G] teaching persona!

The sky above Auschwitz-Birkenau [06.26.22 Oświęcim, Poland]

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau and took a picture of the sky. I was inspired by artist Anton Kusters who took Polaroids of the sky at Nazi concentration camps across Europe. His work is about preservation and memory. I don't know why he took pictures of the sky, but for me I was compelled to take a (digital) picture of the sky because the sky is something that connects us, no matter our geography or circumstance. I find humanity in that. We also share the sky with people from the past. I share the same sky with the people who were there.

Velázquez --> [06.19.22 Prague, Czech Republic]

 Walking around Prague, Czech Republic.