First, I must say that relativism is not my intention; rather it is specificity, which can be determined in many ways aesthetically, culturally, socially, philosophically. I am interesting in approaches that lead to specificity without falling into traps of obviousness, or literalness to the point of didacticism. Secondly, I do not know your understanding of the word “represents.” Looking up the word, I find my use of it very appropriate as a “study of formal ways to describe knowledge,” or more willfully and politically as “one’s ability to influence the political process,” or in the arts specifically as “the depiction and ethical concerns of construction in visual arts and literature.”1

One of arts greatest abilities is its method to defy rule and obedience. I am more and more interested in this aspect in art, and for me personally, in color’s ability to be disobedient, or in another related thought, to exist openly and free.

I also feel I have already stated in my first reply what you now also say in your follow-up: “For me, when I make art, I want the minds of people who see it to move freely and actively – within a particular realm.” This is also what I hope to achieve, and abstraction is this path that leads me toward this possibility. Art is not black and white; rather the question is how do we decide to navigate in the space between.

In the process of writing this reply, I realize I am most interested in the idea of understanding. Over time I have found this to be a unique and very special position one can hold. One does not have to like, nor accept a position presented to them, but to understand it is I believe an important place of intelligence and engagement.

Thank you again for the inclusion of my image in your blog, and for the opportunity to make clarifications I felt necessary with regard to my work.

-Odili Donald Odita

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Represent

I knew kids in high school who thought it was funny to pretend they were high. But, well, they were dumb and they were teenagers (is that redundant?).

In any case, I’m not sure drugs or even forgetting when you’re in public and when you’re not have anything to do with being a good actor – one way or another. Then, since don’t really care about celebrity personal drama, as far as Joaquin goes, all that matters to me is the job he does as an actor in the movies I end up watching.

Fake or not, I still admire the way Dave Letterman handled the situation as it was presented to him. I mean, I laughed.

http://www.nmwa.org/pubs/wia_main.asp

Free with membership!

Also: The pingback comment above links to a blurb with a promise to review the NMWA’s current show, “Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography.” You can read that review here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=36571

I’ve never really been able to bring myself to do it.

Let me know if it works out for you though.