Okay, now for the intro.
Hey, I’m Heather Ross, and I’m the newest resident of the Fine Arts Reading Room. I’m starting off a little bit later than I should have due to an injury, but as it stands, I have 4 weeks left in my residency.
I’ll be setting up a website this week and linking it to this blog, throughout the residency I’ll be compiling a zine, and I also have an installation in the FARR which will change and grow every day I’m here.
About my project
I’m researching something really broad, I want to learn and talk about accessibility in artist and research spaces, and how technology has affected that. I’m focusing on marginalized* groups, and how they access information differently because of technological growth in all formats. I’m focusing on everything from 3D printing paintings for the blind, to how education is accessed, to how research is done by a person with a disability (hello, thats me, I am one of the people with a disability, I'll get into that another time), to people in wheelchairs who gather on second life just to fly. I will be documenting my findings in multiple different ways, whatever feels right, whatever way is relevant.
If you do get the chance to check out my installation in the FARR, you’ll notice it’s pink, girly, child-like. I myself work with electronics on a regular basis, and have felt like I’ve needed to hold back femininity in my work to be taken seriously. I’m over it. I also have felt influenced by the DIY nature of cyber/net art, and the idea that art can be not only playful, but personal. A computer can be an extension of self, in the same sense, I believe a work space can show personality and tell a story. In Jon Rafmans paintings “You Are Standing in an Open Field”, he shows a series of messy desks, just by looking at each one you can tell what type of person it belongs to. I love that. I love that no matter how sterile technology looks, there are millions of cases, covers, stickers, wallpapers, keyboards, customization tools. You give a person something, and they’ve gotta make it their own.
I hope you enjoy following my process
- Heather
*Marginalization is social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is used across disciplines including education, sociology, psychology, politics and economics.
