Marseille: An overwhelming cultural experience !

Now that it's summertime and the curfew is over here in the old port city of France, a foreign student like me finally got to pay attention to more than random amateur's throw-ups and tags and see more than the same COVID-19 posters near the places I used to live in. Actually, now one can really take the time to enjoy both large and small elaborate street art and gaze at posters designs of real cultural events, everywhere that I go, be it in dirty neighborhoods or in upper-crust districts and touristic zones!

To be fair, I did appreciate the continuous upgrade of digital and paper out-of-home media by RTM (The Public Transport company in  Marseille) , even during the partial lockdowns, as well as the virtual events and competitions that Aix-Marseille university (AMU) kept notifying me about, via my inbox, during the whole academic year. I mean it is better than nothing! Besides, AMU's newsletters are simply remarkable! Hats-off to Communication Mangers who work with passion for public institutions! It is in part their communication  strategy, as well as the active virtual students' life that encouraged me  this year, to participate in two art competitions for students. One was unfortunately cancelled at the last time by the AMU Master's students who came up with the project that they called "Art and sustainable development competition", the other one is the well-known annual French Comics competition by the French regional centers for student affairs, the CROUS. As expected, the latter was highly competitive. I didn't make it! However, I do not regret investing my time and energy in such a contest, because I dared doing something new and challenging, I mean, the theme "2050" is not that easy to imagine and to turn into a story of more than one sketch! I am quite satisfied with the narrative of my futuristic comics "La comédie humaine" which was inspired by Auguste Rodin! 

Anyway, at least, I was rewarded for all of my artistic projects that were actually counted as part of my curriculum during my first year's master degree in health communication, at the School of Journalism and Communication of Aix-Marseille (EJCAM, École de Journalisme et de Communication d'Aix-Marseille) ! For those for are interested or just curious about the kind of artistic tasks that I was asked to do, they can check a whole section called "MASTER'S PORTFOLIO" that I added to my website rimaofficina.wordpress.com . 

During my free time, I did make some random sketches just for fun. The one that I consider worth sharing was a naughty pop-art painting on a tiny canvas using fabric markers and gouache. Even though it wasn't very elaborate, I am happy with the tacky outcome, because I got loose a little while ruining it! You can also find this artwork on my website, under the name "She sucked your mind". Never underestimate the liberating power of being in France! 

Marseille is an underrated French gem! It is not only an open-air museum thanks to its Graffiti and its old Baroque and Haussmanian buildings ! It is also rich by its different kinds of municipal museums which offer interesting permanent collections and intriguing private expositions! It is important to note that the entry to the latter is free every first Sunday of each month! How amazing is that! Most people have probably heard of its Mucem, and lately of Jeff Koons's visit with his typical huge pop art sculptures but unfortunately not a lot of people, especially students from North Africa seem to be aware of the importance of other museums, like "La Vielle Charité", which I had the chance to visit this month in order to realize one of my dreams which is simply seeing some of Salvador Dali's paintings live! Actually, it was part of a notable exposition dedicated to "Surrealism in the American Art" that is taking place there, until the 26th of September of the current year ! And let's not forget about the other fun next-door exhibition of 25000 jokes about COVID-19 in different languages! It was with no doubt a memorable experience, I mean, first, I learned a little about the history of surrealism between the 30's and the late 60's, in America, then I had a laugh with other visitors staring at memes from all over the world, glued to real walls! Of course, between the two visits, I took a break to enjoy a mouthwatering chocolate cake at the small and homey cafeteria in this majestic building, which is just a few steps away from the birthplace of its famous designer! Yes, it is Pierre Puget, one of the geniuses who introduced the Italian Baroque style to France! 

ART JAIL : My current personal case

A few days ago, while enjoying every second of my visit to the virtual gallery of the American artist "Wayne White" ( waynewhiteart.com ), that I discovered thanks to the contemporary art magazine "Hi-Fructose", I found myself captivated by one of his "WORD PAINTINGS" called "ART JAIL". This particular masterpiece was invasive like a wound opener, for it meant what it shouted at me! It reminded me how hard I can be on myself and how hard it is to let go of the constant search for that unique style that could define me, instead of simply enjoying the ephemeral artistic rides and adventures, which mostly knock on the doors of my brain randomly and by surprise, after losing hope in finding inspiration and motivation! Diagnosing oneself with the "Style Crisis" and the "Chronic Lack of Muse Disorder" can be a seriously damaging and challenging mental handicap with a high physical energy threshold. Trying to impress your pretentious Id while seeking validation from your Super ego is definitely a tough job for your poor ego!

ART JAIL - Wayne White 

Lately, I have found out that one of the best ways to liberate myself from these dark cells, was by diving into the cartoon world, which has always been fed by infinite social issues and intense breaking political news. 

While daring to do more caricatures, I started to learn more about my artistic self, which is obviously so attached to fine art and outstanding facial expressions. Actually, I was unable to admire or accept my naive infantile sketches! I always felt the need to fix them and remake them in a way that pleases my eyes! I cannot deny the fact that it is relieving to draw randomly and write down my thoughts instantly, without trying to excel from the get go, but, I am afraid that it has always been nothing but a temporary outlet, for me! Honestly, it felt more like a task than a short art therapy session!

So, for the past couple of months, I shared about six serious attempts, mostly political ones, on my website (rimaofficina.wordpress.com). But, unfortunately, due to the increasing restrictions on the exercise of freedom of consciousness and expression, especially, here, in Tunisia, I am starting to get really sick of censoring myself, lest I be falsely accused of hate crimes or receive violent threats on social media, like other cartoonists and even facebookers who dared to share socially unacceptable cartoons on their personal pages! 

COLLAGE OF CARTOONS - Rima Said

Frankly, I also started to feel the need to take a break from caricatures and do something else, like, maybe, surreal paintings or meticulous still-lifes, because I don't want to end up saying "Once you go for cartoons, you are doomed'' (Yes, I just came up with that lol) ! So, in order to avoid that trap, a few weeks ago, I bought a canvas and acrylic paints from the one and only small art shop in my miserable hometown! But, since then, I have kept staring pathetically at the blank canvas and its unusual and annoying packaging, which says "Keep smiling^® is the art of living! MADE IN CHINA"!

I m not a big fan of Marcel Duchamp and conceptual art in general, but, ironically, I feel like the whole package is more interesting than what I might create, in the next days or months! So, in the meantime, here is "2020 MADE IN CHINA"!

2020 MADE IN CHINA

2020 SISYPHUS : A cartoon inspired by Camus

2020 Sisyphus - pencil and black pen on paper  (20/04/2020)

INTERNET MEMES : Another form of Art?

mythomaniavirus meme - JPEG (11/04/2020)

Are internet memes another form of contemporary Art? I found myself asking this question, after my first humble attempts in the world of editorial cartooning. Actually, I decided to turn one of my quick sketches into a meme, instead of a clean traditional cartoon, simply, because, I wanted to get fast previews of all the neat options, that I could come up with, before investing more time in one hand-drawn piece. Lazy much? Maybe! But, one thing for sure, I am one hell of a curious perfectionist!

After spending my whole day enjoying my confinement time, using Adobe Photoshop and canva.com, which I highly recommend, I became more attached to my designs and to the message behind my work!

By the way, while I still have your attention, I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who inspired me and pushed me to make use of both my artistic and scientific competences, and helped me transcend my anger, during these hard times, through graphic satire! A special "thank you" to those spreading fake news about random untested drugs and vaccines and those who are proudly sharing conspiracy theories about Big Pharma on social media, without citing any credible scientific source! Dear earthlings, I would like to remind you that "In the age of information, ignorance is a choice", so let's spread facts and wisdom and Art, instead of lies, stress and death!

As you can tell, personally, I do think memes, which are undeniably a predominant vogue on social media, are playing a major role in shaping our culture, and they are definitely contributing to the enrichment of our Art heritage! I think everything and anything can level up to the point of matching a good traditional piece of Art! It could be a meme, a meal, a deed…, you name it, and, hopefully, you share it with the rest of the world, by making or taking a photo, or maybe writing about your experience…

It is totally normal for us to feel lonely, while being isolated in our houses, because of the current pandemic, but it is vital to out-smarter ourselves, by practicing and showing more gratitude for having many things that we tend to take for granted, like our unused skills and internet connection! 

CREATING AND TRANSORMING ART: Simple and affordable ways

Take a second and imagine yourself stuck in a dystopian world, where artists refuse to share their artworks with the rest of the world?! How would that really feel? This terrifying thought re-emerged in my thinking, after watching a recently-released movie, called "Velvet Buzzsaw", which, I am afraid, wasn't highly entertaining. However, I must say, I did appreciate its dullness, because, it did translate the coldness of the overrated world of snobbish contemporary artists. My point is; regardless of its quality, Art is supposed to be shared and accessible to everyone! 

You don't need to be a talented artist, of great means, in order to experience and savour art! There is always a way to make something shareable with others or simply something fun that you can enjoy crafting, with your kids or friends! Shortage of materials is not an excuse! One can simply use what is available, within her or his reach! Let's cut this short and go straight to the how of things, by stating an example! So, here is my idea for making a personalized artistic phone case for a cellphone with basic and cheap materials. No need for thermal or 3D printers! All you need is a transparent phone case, a colored sticker paper and a design of your choice, that you can draw directly on the sticker paper, after cutting it, in a way that matches the shape and the features of your phone. You can always do this differently, for example; by cutting the paper into strips! Be creative and have fun! :D

Personalized sticker - Black ink on an orange sticker paper

Personalized cellphone decoration- sticker + transparent cover

Some people might wonder why I didn't share a draft of my design, before posting my personalized phone case. Well, I am trying to share the actual chronological process of my creations, with you :) I have always wanted to do a portrait of Hygeia, especially after my sister gave me a postcards book, featuring a selection of famous pieces of art made by the Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, but I was lacking motivation to do it, until I felt the need to decorate my phone. I did the design, primarly, on the sticker, without drafts, but, of course, I had to do some fixing. 

Months later, I noticed that the sticker is, unfortunately, a bit damaged,  because I took the tansparent cover off way too often. So, I thought about reproducing it, using mixed media, this time! As you can see below, I drew the same design on a watercolor paper, with a purple ink ballpoint pen. After that, I did the coloring, using water soluble colored pencils.

 

Hygeia - Mixed media on watercolor paper

What's next?

I digitalized my artwork and I edited many copies differently, by changing the contrast and the balance of the original colors, using Adobe Photoshop CS6. Then, I created the following GIF, thanks to Google Photos Animation, in order to get the "psychedelic trip" effect and experience Augmented Reality, using an AR app!

Hygeia - GIF

DIGITAL ART: Digitalizing my artworks

Keeping-up with the virtual world is a must these days. So, I started learning how to use both Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, this summer! It was a great decision. No doubt about that. Those kinds of software open an infinite universe of possibilities. I am always discovering a new helpful tool that I can use to create something fresh from scratch or turn a simple image into a complex and a dense content. I knew that is exactly what I need, to plunge head-first into the world of surrrealism that I have always been attracted to! Starting with pop-surrealism came naturally for me and that it is something I am not ashamed of. Actually, I appreciate pop culture and I think it is something worth celebrating, in this absurd world! And I am pleased to share my two following digital popsurrealist artworks with you!

Here is my equation for the first piece that I called "The open-minded strawberry":

"The open-minded strawberry"

GIF (23/10/2018)

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🎶 The "Strawberry fields forever" song 🎵

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Imagination 💭

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My painting of "John Lennon"

Acrylic on canvas (05/05/2016)

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My "IRAS ghost" drawing

white pastel on black paper (07/12/2016)

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Photoshop CS6

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Google Animation

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☕ Coffee ( Not LSD! 😜 )

The second digital artwork is called "Digital Entertainment".

 As you can tell from the name, it is about cherishing the fascinating aspect of the virtual world! I had a blast doing this one with the help of PS, while studying HTML and CSS. But, the idea stemmed from the want to digitalize a portrait of the glamorous Neo-Burlesque diva "Dita Von Teese", which I made about two years ago! I have always felt like it needed some upgrading! So, once I started taking some screenshots of my work on Notepad++ , things escalated quickly!

Dita Von Teese 

Pencil on paper (29/01/2016)

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Digital Entertainment 

PNG (02/11/2018)

"All glory comes from daring to begin!" This is just a start! I hope I will have the time to concretize more ideas that I have in mind, in the days to come. 
Stay tuned! 😄

CHOUFTOUHONNA FESTIVAL: A participant experience

Like promised, here I am psyched up to share my long-awaited Chouftouhonna experience with you.🙌For those who dont know, Chouftouhonna is the International Feminist Art Festival of Tunis and this year happens to be the festival's fourth edition! It has always been a dream for me to share the same exhibition room with artists! So, you can imagine how exhilarated and lucky I felt, for being selected and for getting the opportunity to expose my artwork in the National Theater of Tunisia, next to gripping masterpieces made by professional artists and gifted art hobbyists! 

Although, I am far from being a green activist and I wouldn't call myself a feminist, but rather a pro-feminist, I reckon there were two major prefestival announcements that made this edition a special one! As you can tell, the early announcement was about collaborating with the "ZERO WASTE Tunisia" organization, which promotes environmentalism  and making the event an eco-friendly celebration. The second announcement came a bit late. It declared the organizing committee's official decision to finally eliminate the usual competition between participants, because it is clearly against the spirit of sisterhood and feminism! This particular annoucement push me to reservedly suggest overlooking the selection process next year and making the festival's fifth edition even more generous and inclusive! 😅 Yes, probably, that is too much to ask for, in view of the fact that quality is more important than quantity!

I am neither a wallflower nor a social animal, but admittedly, getting out of my confort zone was challenging! Certainly, my admiration for feminists and artists, as well as my unfaltering love for art and my growing need for muse made it possible for me to not feel alienated and to actually enjoy my time, in the hectic conservative neighborhood, where the festival took place! I have even managed to freeze the usual self-consciousness about my own appearance for few minutes 😆 and I ended up talking in front of the Sardinian artist Cladinè Curreli's camera, for an interview about "feminism and why we need it?"! 

The National theater turned into a melting pot .. a cloister garth full of wide and hybrid flowers! It was the right place to be, for someone like me, who is in a constant and a desperate need for both inspiration and hope. My eyes had enough of the strict conventional dress code! The daring outfits and the gamine pixie-cut hairstyles and the expressive tattoos were simply and exactly what I felt like seeing. By the way, a special thanks should be given to the talented tattoo female artists and the hairdesser who enriched this picturesque view, in situ! Besides, the majority of the exposed artworks were non-traditional, bold and intriguing, which made it easier for me to miss some really interesting lectures, in order to take part in the "Surrealist writing and drawing" workshop! The atelier was animated subtly and smoothly by the talented Tunisian artist "Bochra Taboubi", who also exposed her "Abysse" masterpiece in the same room as me, during the festival. This engaging activity was such a needed refreshing boost to feel like producing more artworks, in the days to come! Most probably surrealistic drawings! The compliments of art lovers and the encouragements of artists were also boosting! I hope I will live up to their expectations! 

The live theatre and dance shows as well as the reading sessions were not less inspiring and entertaining! The talented artists were able to strike the audience with their electrifying performances and to successfully convey a myriad of intense emotions like confusion, yearning, self-liberation and queer love! The festival offered many other shows and workshops. And let's not forget the "Time's up" Chouftouhonna late parties, which were publicized mostly to support the #me_too movement, by inviting feminists and profeminists to enjoy the nightlife, with the female DJs, without fear of the Tunisian public prejudice against women who go to nightclubs. 
Witnessing the diversity and the courage of feminists inside and outside the theater was heart-warming. It helped me ignore the constant penetrating gazes of Tunisian men and overcome the angry comment of a veiled stranger in front of the theater, ordering me to cover my legs! No wonder why the organizing committee picked this place to be overrun by feminist artists! 🤣 Actually, the "men-only" café and the small public park in front of the national theater were invaded by women! And to splendidly mark the end of the festive days in a Tunisian style, artists reclaimed the streets with ululations and drum beats. 

I am undoubtedly not regretting cancelling some of my plans in order to be present at the festival earlier than expected! But, honestly, I would have appreciated receiving an early detailed plan! That could have spared me many troubles! There was also another frustrating thing that could have been avoided and should have been fixed, because it has something to do with the festival-goers' health! The organizing comittee shouldn't have made us put up with a hellish weather in small non air-conditioned and poorly equipped rooms.  Yes, it was supposed to be an eco-friendly festival edition but the heat of the Tunisian September days is hard for locals, let alone, for people who come from cold countries! Bottom line, a rich festival content deserves better conditions to celebrate it! Obviously, we can't expect the poor Tunisian governement, at the current moment, to spend more money on culture, and more specifically on the theater! So, I guess the solutions are the following: Moving the festival to a colder season and finding more sponsors and donators who are willing and ready to invest money in culture and women empowerment! More volunteers are also needed for optimization!
At the end, I want to thank the current sponsors! I imagine, this festival would have not been possible without them! I also want to thank the organizers for their patience and dedication and I hope they will stay open-minded and accept my criticism that I expressed in the hope for a more pleasant and a more satisfying experience for everyone. 💕