Research continues for a vastly disagreed on topic of: the Grandmother Hypothesis! I was unable to receive any contact back from 2 out of my 3 hopeful sources that were directly involved with the study, and some simply sent back articles to help me continue my research. But, I was lead to contact Dr. David van Bodegom, a gerontologist at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. I asked “Reasons for this theory include the idea that Grandmothers have a selective advantage because they help provide food and care for their daughters, which leads to more descendants. Is this even relevant since it has become just as necessary for the males to also contribute these same needs to their children?” Bodegom replied that “the grandmother hypothesis does not give enough credit to the role of older men in extending the life span. Men who live to be 80 years old have almost 20 percent more offspring than men who die earlier.
With that question came multiple responses. Rebecca Sear, an Evolutionary Demographist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine disagreed and said, “In spite of the importance of supportive fathers in a society, fathers generally have little impact on child survival. Instead, other relatives may step in to provide support in the case of an absent father, making the loss less devastating. Maternal grandmothers, older siblings and other kin are important.”
I repeatedly came across articles discussing the Ache Society in Paraguay so I did a bit more research on them. I found that in their hunter-gatherer societies, grandmothers and other older female relatives are less influential. Most of the Ache diet comes from hunted game, typically produced by fathers. When their fathers die, Ache children are 2.6 times more likely to die than children with living fathers.
It seems that men do have a substantial impact on their children, in different ways than women, but is still influential on their offspring’s survival. The males food production and contributions to the family are difficult to ignore.
I am a Commercial Art student, but as most know, I think and express myself with Photography. So naturally I have ideas of how to convey this theory, its varying opinions, and the fact that there are no facts, with a photographic image. But I think this research could use a hand rendered approach, more suited with illustrations. The Grandmother Hypothesis is based around the general idea that Mothers and Grandmothers take care of their young (and not so young) ones for many years longer than any other creature, a one on one experience of teaching, protecting, and nurturing, resulting in longevity. A pencil to paper process speaks to this topic because the illustrations would give a story book feel, reminiscent of childhood when Mom would read stories before bedtime. That visual brings up memories and feelings of childhood that would tie in with research, without a need to be childlike.
Research Blog Post 2 – Beyond yourself (Data Collection)
In my last post I discussed the limitations that artists face when creating and showcasing their work. While this is going to continue to be a system I may disagree with, I think right now I need to shift to a topic that I can focus in on at this time.
Instead I would like to ask this: how would the Grandmother Hypothesis be related to the life span of males, whose number of years have steadily increased alongside those of women?
Studies regarding the Grandmother Hypothesis provide an interesting theory to the reason behind longevity for women, but there seem to be an extensive amount of information that still needs to be considered in this research.
My exploratory research consists of finding and learning the information that is provided to me in books, articles, and online. I will take that knowledge and begin to contact outside sources to begin empirical reseach. Some specific contacts that I would like to discuss with include:
- Kristen Hawkes, an anthropologist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, had a large impact in setting this hypothesis in motion by collecting field data.
- Frank Marlowe, an anthropologist at Florida State University, who believes that a successful theory would need to account for the males.
- Friederike Kachel, an evolutionary biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, who disagrees with the theory and suggests that the benefits of grandmothering would have to be enormous to extend the human lifespan.
Aside from those directly involved with this study, I would like to get the opinions from the Biology Department here at Pittsburg State University.
Questions I would direct toward Hawkes:
- Are the results from breastfeeding being taken into consideration when comparing the life span of chimps to humans, since chimps breastfeed their young for a much longer period than most women? Does the menopause-like change that occurs when breastfeeding contribute to this?
- How does this theory work with women who have never birthed children but can still live to the age of other grandmothers?
- Does the differentiating levels of social interaction between humans and chimps help to bring in more information?
- Is there a noticeable difference in women who, like chimps, wait longer to have more children?
- Would a hysterectomy at a young age affect this theory?
Questions for Marlow:
- Reasons for this theory include the idea that Grandmothers have a selective advantage because they help provide food and care for their daughters, which leads to more descendants. Is this even relevant since it has become just as necessary for the males to also contribute these same needs to their children?
- How would the previous implications change when considering that the males DNA impacts roughly 50% of the offspring?
- Would continuing this study on other animals and mammals hinder or improve this theory?
Questions for Kachel:
- Does the use of chimps provide an accurate result for a theory based on human women? Especially since there is no solid answer for whether chimps even go through menopause?
- Should vastly different living environments for chimps and women be taken into consideration when deciding what causes women to achieve this longevity?
Research Blog Post 1 – Identification of research problem
Research. That simple word has such a negative effect on my thoughts, bringing up feelings of apprehension and the need to kick and scream like a child. Oddly enough, though, I don’t consider the daily ‘internet searches’ and random questions to be the tedious job that research is, which is the exact reason research should be done over things that interest you; so it becomes an enjoyable experience rather than the dreaded task. Is this impossible? I’ll find out by December 🙂
My question is: How is art (in the creative form) supposed to continually be innovative and moving forward if there are a series of rules engrained into the minds of those who make it?
As art students we are taught first how to make art that is pleasing, using the rules of line, color, perspective, etc., and once we master the basics that is when the rules can be broken. I understand this, and have seen many examples in other great artists works, but the artist is still required to figure out the how to break the rules. So the rule is still there, still in their mind. If the art world is structured with these “pleasing rules” then how is the creator supposed to succeed? Behind all these aesthetics could be a masterful work adored by critics, if the critics could only see passed the exclusion of everything once believed and adhered to.
Art. Acceptance. Rules. Those words don’t flow together for me. It doesn’t make sense to ask if art is appropriate, or to sit in a class and be told that the way I did something is not how it’s typically been completed in the past, therefor it needs to be changed. Future work shouldn’t be created the same way past art was created, rules are made to be broken, and from that would come excellence.
Writing 5(blog posts) for Crit 4
Course: 550-01
Hey Hey Hey! It is absolutely gorgeous outside today, currently 74 beautiful degrees 🙂 so happy me = happy blog! Last critique I brought in my lightning photo shoot that I was inspired to create by Vaughn Wascovisch, who used a large format pinhole camera to create some of his images. While some found the images to be great, others thought I should try to take a different route with them and combine my illustrations with photography so that they weren’t so separate, possibly drawing the photo to see what element and potential that could add. Just the thought of making those photos into a charcoal drawing has me excited! This coming critique I am going to see if I can accomplish this task and just let the work go where it wants and needs to go. I am also striving to switch roles and make my photos into illustrations and my illustrations into photos…I can never improve if I don’t allow for change, right!
Here are some of Wascovich’s work
Course: 350-01
I know on my last blog post I said I had planned to cut my subject away from the motion lines to give a 3D look, but the work took a different turn, which happens 🙂
These are the finished pieces from my last critique. I had another great idea presented to me to incorporate actual musical compositions to my work. The issue was that I just couldn’t get inspired to finish them and so I took a step back and tried a little mixed media. The background is created using watercolor that I simply threw across the canvas, a little Pollock inspiration there. This allowed me to give music a form that wasn’t restricted to basic shapes and still allow it to flow from the subject and instrument.
Another great artist to check out, Carlie Gernhart. We are currently exhibiting our works together at Pittsburg State University’s Department of Art, Second Floor Student Gallery. She continues to blow me away with her ability to create such detail in her commercial art work, and always has an intriguing story to go along with her images!
Writing 4(blog posts)for Crit 3
Course 550-01
Hey everyone! Last critique I brought photographs of clients who had hired me to take family photos, since they didn’t have a strong sense of my artistic style in them the viewers suggested that I bring the photography that I take for myself. While I will continue doing shoots for people, I understand that there is a definite style change in the works I do for others and the work I make for me. So this critique I will bring in the photo’s I have done over the week. With so many storms in the area over the last few days I couldn’t miss the opportunity to get outside and risk my life for photography! Jokes aside, I am so happy that I had this chance to really witness the light show that nature had provided without a singe drop of rain to run me away. I have seen many photo’s taken of lightning and I am always impressed, how does the photographer snap the picture at that perfect moment? This time, instead of creating a crisp precise lightning bolt, I wanted to bring a sense of fear to the image. With photo manipulation and long shutter speeds I created textures that help create tension with contrasting tones.
            
Course 350-01
I am continuing work on my previous illustrations, I was advised to give my pieces room to “breath.” I believe I am going to take that suggestion and cut the subject out separately from the motion lines, creating more of a 3D effect. I have also switched my focus to include music because it can have just as strong of an energy to it as a physical motion, this energy involves the viewer at a more intimate level as well. 
Also, check out a fellow artist who goes by Gaga. I have had the privilege to work beside her and watch her ideas turn into absolutely adorable works of art. Her pieces are an assortment of mixed media on a generally small canvas, but recently she has began creating beautiful tile’s out of clay. Gaga’s style varies from feminine and childlike to intricate and thoughtful. She is worth checking out! http://nanxuanzheng.blogspot.com/
Writing 6 (blog posts) Artist Lecture
Ariel Bowman is currently exhibiting her work in the Museum of Art at Pittsburg State University. I was lucky enough to be able to attend her lecture yesterday afternoon where I found the room filled with people eager to hear more about her art work. She began her lecture discussing her childhood, being raised by parents who also worked in creative fields and having a strong connection with animals. Bowman also included other artists works that she was inspired by, the subjects of these pieces consisted mostly of nature that had a romantic sense to it, where the habitats where untouched by humans. Bowman’s series began with a study of different kinds of ancient animals and how millions of years of evolutions had changed them. In her series, she combines distressed animals that were never alive during the same era into a single piece of work, they are frozen in a moment so the viewer can really stop and look and appreciate the passage of time.
While Bowman’s presentation was full of information and beautiful imagery, it seemed to bounce around in a manner that did not seem to address each topic in any given order. I was able to follow her thought process fine, and enjoyed that she came across as a person I could relate to and approach. Check out her detailed art work at www.arielbowman.com
Writing 3 (blog posts) for Crit 2
Course: 550 01
Course 350 01
I am continuing to work with my illustrations to the point of a finished work. I received suggestions of how the images could be displayed to add different aspects to the pieces that had never occurred to me before. With that I added shadows to my figures to help them “pop” away from the background since there is a limited color palette. I am also considering adding a lighting element behind them to cast a shadow on the wall as well as illuminate the lines of the piece. 
Hannah Coward, whom is in the same group as myself, brought in paintings that she had done in Procreate on her iPad. She worked with textures to capture details of her subjects and their surroundings, including important aspects of her subjects lives. Her ability to render an individual to its likeness and yet still keeping the painterly quality brings levels of interest that make the viewer want to look closer. Check her out! https://hannahcoward.wordpress.com/
Writing 2 Blog Post for Crit 1: course 550 01
Critiques
For this critique I have stayed true to my intentions of creating a series that involved hidden emotions and personal aspects of life. With photography I captured how life can go from calm to a hectic swirl of messy disasters, resulting in the subject connecting with themselves and the reality of the strength they have to conjure to make it through life. Just as with my illustrations I mentioned a few posts down, I focused on the movement, in this case it is the result from instability of life’s journey.
I was inspired by photos of women with wind blowing through their hair. For the most part these photos included travel, giving the sense of moving through life and gaining experiences. I also realized the impact wind can have, from its ability to give a slight tickle to the power needed to destroy a city, and the ease of bringing peace and spirituality for others. A seemingly invisible idea that can only be felt while having the capabilities to bring about an array of consequences.
Rebecca Parker:
Effy Esquivel:
My Work:
Writing 2 Blog Post for Crit 1
ID Series
“Art As Healing.” A lecture series that discussed the power art has on individuals and the process that allows them to work through troubling times in their lives. I was able to attend Dr. Harriet Bachner and Melinda Ledlow, Jessica Stallings and Dr. Gaelynn Wolf Bordonaro, Dr. Janice Jewett, and Josie Mai. While they were not all licensed art therapists, they did all have involvement with introducing art into peoples lives for the better.
It was interesting to learn of the reaction people have to art and dance and the ability to portray their feelings through these methods rather than having to verbally express themselves. As an artist I know that art can tell a story with depth that words can’t always accomplish, a method that has no limit on age, and a promised safety of expression. Some groups chose to reenact situations they were unhappy with but would alter the circumstances so that the individual could control the event and feel that they could move forward from it. Before, I would never have guessed that role play such as this could be beneficiary, and would have considered it a trigger that the individual would have wanted to bury.
Writing 2 Blog Post for Crit 1
Artist Post
Luis Calderon, a name to not forget when looking for an artist who creates beautiful portraits! He began with painting but his talents may be pushing him towards illustration. Calderon has an interest in drastic shading, pointillism, and self teaching himself human proportions; he has a talented style that ranges from realism to caricatures. While he loves getting down the intricate details of the skull and facial features, he is slightly less interested in areas outside the space of chin to forehead 🙂
Check him out here!:
http://louiescritique.blogspot.com
Rebekah M. Parrish 