October artist Lecture: #1- Kate Gilmore

I really enjoyed Kate Gilmore’s lecture and it’s probably one of the best lectures that I’ve been to since my years at VCU. I especially liked how she didn’t even take an art class until her last two years of undergrad and how she started in sculpture only to move to photography, then finally to video. It just goes to show that you should never limit yourself to just one medium to express yourself or your work.

It’s funny when she talked about “Star Bright, Star Might” and how it’s somewhat about how girls have this idea in their head that you should never mess up or hurt your face because unlike her I never really had my mother printing that into my head, but I have grown up with that sort of mentality in my mind. Especially since I’ve been in an accident where my face was in danger of being fatally injured and actually did somewhat mess it up. Long story short, I got dragged by a horse. While getting off, I got stuck on a piece of twine that was attached to the saddle and was stuck half way on and half way off the horse, so I was practically underneath it’s belly and of course it took off running. While it was running I was being kicked by its galloping hooves, and somewhere in between there and finally falling of the saddle onto a gravel road scratching up my entire body, my front tooth got pulled forward and a large piece chipped off (half of my tooth). This fatal accident happened ironically on New Years day, but more importantly a couple years after having braces which made my teeth perfectly aligned. As a young girl it really damaged my self-esteem not having my perfect smile anymore, so I think from that is where I got the idea in my mind to damage anything but your face. Plus I think the media projects the idea that you’re face is what matters, especially if you’re a girl. So back to the lecture….

Although her work was overall very interesting, I found the way she talked about her work to be even more fascinating. I don’t think I could choose a favorite video however, because they were all equally good. When she talked about how she used specific characters that perhaps at first you despise or hate, I did eventually start to feel sympathetic towards them and their situations, particularly the “With Arms Wide Open” and “Main Squeeze”, which because of my fear of being stuck in a situation such as that, not necessarily claustrophobia, but I did almost have to watch it with one eye open. Her attitude and outlook towards her work is something everyone should use, because you do learn from your mistakes and/or failures. I also found it very interesting when she mentioned that she does sell her videos, but in slots of only 5. To think of having a collection of videos sounds strange, but considering how society seems to be focused on the media, television, & the internet, it makes sense.