The Ethics of Sheep

Winthrop University Digital Commons @ Winthrop University Graduate Theses The Graduate School 5-2019 The Ethics of Sheep Chris Smith Evans Winthrop University, Chris@chrissmithevans.com Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/graduatetheses Part of the Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Interactive Arts Commons, and the Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons Recommended Citation Evans, Chris Smith, "The Ethics of Sheep" (2019) Graduate Theses 107 https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/graduatetheses/107 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at Digital Commons @ Winthrop University It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Winthrop University For more information, please contact bramed@winthrop.edu THE ETHICS OF SHEEP A Thesis Presented to the Faculty Of the College of Visual and Performing Art In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Of Master of Fine Arts In the Department of Fine Arts Winthrop University May 2019 By Chris Smith Evans ABSTRACT The purpose of my thesis research is the creation of a group of pictographs, called Reiter Symbols to be used by victims and witnesses of sexual assault and human trafficking to oust predators Concurrent with this research, I challenged myself to master the art of working with materials of felted wool and natural dyes, the most metaphorically laden medium that represented the protection and strength implied by the Reiter Symbols Wool also contrasts with the violence and brutality of crimes against the innocent The first step of this tandem investigation tested the authenticity of the pictographs through an online survey of survivors and their networks The second step sought control of the processing of raw wool and natural dyes through research, trial and error Throughout my investigation I examined local products with transparent supply chains and sustainable methods of commerce In summary, the symbols emerged as pro-active weapons for victims while the wool functions as a symbolic shielding armor Cumulative results are the design and development of eighteen distinct symbols capable of being used by anyone, anywhere to oust serial sexual predator and traffickers Additionally, public engagement with my studio processes grew throughout the processing of the wool During the creation and installation of five groupings of three-dimensional wool sculptures an interactive component developed, which was unexpected but welcome Community engagement with the symbols and the wool has created a synergistic excitement helpful to launch the Reiter Symbols into practical public use ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the Winthrop University academic community, especially my thesis committee members Clara Paulino Ph.D., Seth Rouser M.F.A., and Shaun Cassidy M.F.A., who were generous with both their time and guidance Members of the Political Science Department, Scott Huffman, P.h.D., Director of the Center for Public Opinion & Policy Research, and Summersby Okey-Hamrick, Operations Manager, also deserve thanks for stepping outside their comfort zone to work with an artist on this unique project Most of all I would like to express my gratitude to survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking as well as their support networks for their participation in the polling initiative in this thesis Input from the survivor community has been formative in developing this work Lastly, I thank Middleton Plantation staff and the American shepherds who lovingly and ethically raise the thirty Lincoln and Gulf Native sheep, whose wool has been used in this work Their dedication to the preservation of these threatened species made this exhibition possible iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ………………….………………………………………………… … ii Acknowledgements iii List of Images v Introduction……………………………………………………………………… Section One: The Reiter Symbols ……………………………………… … Section Two: Materials ……………… ………………………… …….11 Section Three: Process………………………………………………………… 14 Section Four: Form…………………………………………… …………… …17 Section Five: References and Resources ………………………… ……… 19 Section Six: Conclusion………………… .…………………………… … 23 Bibliography………………………………………………… ………… … 25 Works Cited…………………………………………………………… …… 25 Works Consulted……………………………………………………………… 28 Annex……………………………………….……………………………………30 iv List of Images Figure Portraits of Victims (wool, onion skin) 31 Figure Portraits of Witnesses (wool, onion skin) 31 Figure Parodies of Predators (wool) 32 Figure Canaries (wool, onion skin) 32 Figure Predator Head on Pike (wool) 32 Figure Coach Reiter Symbol 33 Figure Police Reiter Symbol 33 Figure Help, Male-to-Female rape, Supervisor Reiter Symbols 33 Figure Lincoln Sheep 34 Figure 10 Wool Carder 34 Figure 11 Larry Burrows, Reaching Out 34 Figure 12 Catherine Leroy, Navy Corpsman Vernon Wike 35 Figure 13 Barbara Hepworth, Pierced Hemisphere 35 Figure 14 Isamu Noguchi, Inner Stone 35 Figure 15 Joseph Bueys, Coyote 36 Figure 16 Claudy Jongstra, Vertical Gardens 36 Figure 17 Adolph Gottlieb, Man Looking at Woman 36 Figure 18 Guiseppe Capogrossi, Surface 56 37 v INTRODUCTION In this thesis I have given form to eighteen pictographic symbols I created which assists witnesses and victims to oust sexual assault and human trafficking predators I have named these Reiter Symbols and have integrated them into an installation of relief and sculpted portraits made from felted wool The portraits are divided into three groups: human informers, human predators, and birds (canaries) Fifteen of these sculptures are now on exhibit at Winthrop University’s Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick Gallery Of the fifteen portraits, two represent victims, (Fig.1) two represent witnesses (Fig 2), four are parodies of criminal predators (Fig.3) and five represent singing canaries (Fig 4) The works are located in a rectangular gallery twenty-one feet wide and forty feet long Portraits of victims and witnesses are bright yellow wool, resembling warning or caution signs, and hang on the left and right walls of the gallery Descending from each portrait is a path of coal black, coyote-lure wool flowing towards a confrontational sculpture of a predator head mounted on a five-foot-tall steel pike (Fig 5) The relationship between the predator and victim/witness portrait is defined with different Reiter Symbols, which are placed on the black wool path by viewers On the perpendicular wall of the gallery are the heads of five yellow canaries, also on a field of black predator-lure Between the right and left walls is an expanse of open floor, an empty space of two-hundred square feet The viewer stands and walks between these two halves of the installation, filling that void On the adjacent wall are small shelves holding felted images of the symbols and an explanation of how the viewer can interact with the installation by taking these felt pieces and placing them onto the black wool paths The portraits of victims and witnesses, the Reiter Symbols, and the canaries are created with bright, yellow wool and contrast with the black predator-lure on the gallery wall and floor The birds represent “canaries in a coal mine,” who warn of danger, as each of the individual Reiter Symbols Wool symbolizes an innocent prey animal while also prompting thoughts of Aesop’s Fable The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, making it an ideal material for this thesis This relationship is detailed in the fourth of the six sections in this document Section One of this document is a brief history of hieroglyphic and pictographic symbols, and details a description of the need, purpose, and methods behind the creation of the Reiter Symbols; it further describes the polling initiative used in their creation, and explains how they provide victims with a tool to oust predators Selecting a medium to contrast with the brutality of human exploitation was critical in the selection of wool and natural dyes, and this is detailed in Section Two The irony of wool is that it represents both prey and predator, it is both impenetrable yet warm and comforting, and it can be used as a metaphor for spiritual transformation or as a mask for deceit The relationship between predators and their informers, which is the topic of my work and illustrates the changing role of informers, is described here in greater detail Section Three discusses my process of obtaining materials from sustainable farms and natural plants, and outlines the methods of processing wool from sheep to gallery The techniques of washing, picking, carding, felting and dyeing are covered in this section The formal elements of design used in my work are described in Section Four My choices of texture, translucency, and scale are explored in this section Section Five focuses on the artistic background of my work I present influences and artists who were central to my artistic development as well as my rationale for including portrait parody in my thesis Section Six concludes my thesis statement with a summary of the previous sections and a closer look at aspects of transformation connecting the visual works to the Reiter Symbols CONCLUSION Like no other material, the coarse physicality of wool is in tandem with its nonphysical aspects Using a corporeal, healing material is perfect for the introduction of the Reiter Symbols, which deal with subjects of sex, violence and broken human beings Wool feels quite alive when it is worked due to its ability to change appearance in a manner that appears random This transformative nature is a material charism of wool, and parallels the beauty and potential of transformation in the Reiter Symbols Historically, in both non-Christian and Christian religions the sheep is seen as transformational, and also as the symbol of the Christian God who was the ultimate human sacrifice, transforming our relationship to himself and to death, forever It is often chance and circumstance that place a victim in the path of a predator or trafficker The Reiter Symbols have the latent power, if used, to reduce the chances and circumstances of victimization by providing victims and witnesses anonymity and by publicly identifying “hunting fields” of serial predators and human traffickers I arrived at my thesis because it illustrates and offers the opportunity for anyone to resist the status quo and change an unjust system in which victims are isolated and silenced and predators are free to strike again The Reiter Symbols have the power to transform the seemingly powerless 23 victim into a powerful catalyst for rescue and protection It is a visible demonstration that art has the power to transform Producing this work has transformed me 24 BIBLIOGRAPHY Works Cited Alex-Baker, Andy The Word Became Flesh: An Exploration Essay on Jesus’s Particularity and Nonhuman Animals Marquette University, PhD 2009, dissertation, accessed at epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/596/ March 2019 Beauregard, Eric, et al “A Descriptive Model of the Hunting Process of Serial Sex Offenders, a Rational Choice Perspective.” Journal of Family Violence, Vol 22, no.6, August 2007, pp 449-463 Beuys, Joseph, “Coyote, I like America and America Likes Me.” in Thompson, Chris Felt: Fluxus, Joseph Beuys, and the Dalai Lama, University of Minnesota Press, 2011, p 116 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version Good News Publishers, 2001 Burrows, Larry “Reaching Out, Operation Prairie, Nui Cay Tri, 1966.” LaurenceMillerGallery.com, www.laurencemillergallery.com/artists/larryburrows?view=slider Accessed March 3, 2019 25 Capogrossi, Guiseppe “Surface 56,” in Barbero, Luca Massimo, Capogrossi: A Retrospective, Marsilio, 2012 Cribb, Ruth “Direct Carving.” The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism Taylor and Francis, 2016, accessed at www.rem.routledge.com/articles/direct-carving doi:10.4324/9781135000356-REM415-1 February 28 2019 Noguchi, Isamu “The Inner Stone, 1973,” in Fletcher, Valerie, Isamu Noguchi, Master Sculptor, Scala Arts Publishers, 2004, p 14 Goodwin, Jill A Dyer’s Manual Ashmans Publications, 1982, pp 14-144 Gottlieb, Adolph “Man Looking at Woman,” in Alloway, Lawrence The Pictographs of Adolph Gottlieb, Hudson Hills Press in Association with Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation, 1994, s/p Hepworth, Barbara “Pierced Hemisphere,” in Barbara Hepworth, Carvings and Drawings, Lund Humphries & Co Ltd, 1952, s/p Jongstra, Claudy, “Vertical Gardens.” www.claudyjonstra.com, Architecture, Sept 12, 2007, accessed at www.claudyjongstra.com/architecture/restaurant-one/211 July 2018 Leroy, Catherine “Navy corpsman Vernon Wike, with a dying comrade, near Khe Sanh, South Vietnam, in 1967.” Herman, Elizabeth, In Her own Words, 26 Photographing the Vietnam War New York Times, September 27 2017, accessed at lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/in-her-own-words-photographing-thevietnam-war/ March 2019 Maiwa Handprints The Maiwa Guide to Natural Dyes 2018 Robinson, Andrew Writing and Script Oxford University Press, 2009, p.1 Spar, Ira “The Origins of Writing” Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000, accessed at www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrtg/hd_wrtg.htm October 2018 27 Works Consulted Adrosko, Rita J., and Margaret Smith Furry Natural Dyes and Home Dyeing (Formerly Titled: Natural Dyes in the United States) Dover Publications, 1971, pp 57-107 Krochmal, Arnold and Connie The Complete Illustrated Book of Dyes from Natural Sources Doubleday, 1974, pp 47-72 Leggett, William F Ancient and Medieval Dyes Chemical Publishing, 1944, pp 17-92.
 Lungman, Carl G., Dictionary of Symbols ABC-Clio Inc., 1991, pp 59-69 Morgan, Rachel, Kena, Grace “Crime Victimization, 2016, Revised.” NJC 252121, the U.S Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, October 2018 http://www.bjs.gov/ Accessed at RAINN, Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, The Criminal Justice Statistics https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system, July 2018 Richards, Lynne, Tyri, Ronald J Dyes from American Native Plants: A Practical Guide Timber Press, 2005, pp 19-250 Raza, Mohammad, MIAH, Telegin, Felix, Rahman, Saifur Eco-friendly dyeing of Wool fabric using natural dye extracted from onion’s outer shell by using water and 28 organic solvents International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Vol 03, no p 450-465, accessed at www.researchgate.com https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309779229_Ecofriendly_dyeing_of_Wool_fabric_using_natural_dye_extracted_from_onion's_out er_shell_by_using_water_and_organic_solvents 29 ANNEX 30 IMAGES Figure 1: Portraits of victims Figure 2: Portraits of Witnesses 31 Figure 3: Parodies of predators Figure 4: Five canaries Figure 5: Predator head on a pike 32 Figure Coach Symbol: Evans, Chris Reiter Symbols, May 2019 Figure Police Symbol: Evans, Chris Reiter Symbols May 2019 Figure Help, Male to female sexual assault and supervisor symbol: Evans, Chris Reiter Symbols, May 2019 33 Figure 9: Lincoln Sheep Figure 10: Carding wool Figure 11: Burrows, Larry “Reaching Out, Operation Prairie, Nui Cay Tri, 1966.” LaurenceMillerGallery.com 34 Figure 12 Leroy, Catherine “Navy corpsman Vernon Wike, with a dying comrade, near Khe Sanh, South Vietnam,” 1967 New York Times Figure 13: Hepworth, Barbara “Pierced Hemisphere,” 1948 Barbara Hepworth, Carvings and Drawings Figure 14: Noguchi, Isamu The Inner Stone.1973 Isamu Noguchi, Master Sculptor, by Valerie Fletcher, 2004, p 14 35 Figure 15: Beuys, Joseph “Coyote, 1974” Felt, Fluxus and the Dalai Lama, 2011 Figure 16: Jongstra, Claudy, “Vertical Gardens.” www.claudyjonstra.com, Architecture, Sept 12, 2007, Figure 17 Gottlieb, Adolph “Man Looking at Woman,” in Alloway, Lawrence The Pictographs of Adolph Gottlie, 1994 36 Figure 18 Capogrossi, Guiseppe “Surface 56,” in Barbero, Luca M Capogrossi: A Retrospective, 2012 37 ... THE ETHICS OF SHEEP A Thesis Presented to the Faculty Of the College of Visual and Performing Art In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Of Master of Fine Arts In the Department... tandem investigation tested the authenticity of the pictographs through an online survey of survivors and their networks The second step sought control of the processing of raw wool and natural dyes... for the work of these two artists gave me a foundational sense that the role of art could be to serve and inform for the good of the community While at the University of Texas in the early seventies,