NO WALLFLOWER McLean Fahnestock, MFA sculpture student, exercises her political views through her video art. Politics and celebrity shape powerful characters we all get to know, but politicians hold all the power, Fahnestock says.
It's come down to less than 24 hours before Election Day. History will be made either way -- the possibility exists for the first black president or the first woman vice president to enter office.
Whatever the scenario, Masters of Fine Arts sculpture student McLean Fahnestock is watching carefully, so carefully she often records politicians or those stalwart political TV analysts in the act.
In the Gatov gallery, she's got Hilary Clinton in a "Today Show" interview from 1998 -- the day after the Lewinski scandal broke. Part of Fahnestock's interests include documenting politicians who mesh "private and public parts" of their lives before the media. A better example rings louder in the Merlino gallery, occupied by another one of her videos, "The Great Debate." "God. God. God. God." repeat two men. This is an example of how God, being that private thing, gets delivered in such a public manner.
THE "GOD" VIDEO "God. God. God. God. God." Currently in the Merlino Gallery, Fahnestock's 45-second video projection called "The Great Debate." The video shows two conservative news analysts, George Will and Cal Thomas. The great debate? It's about teaching creationism and evolution, noted Fahnestock.
"I am watching performance," notes the part-time video artist. "It's a facade, all in the face, a schedule in looking like people."
Like how democratic nominee Barack Obama announced he'd be spending time with his children for Halloween?, I probe. Actually, Farhnestock responds, more like John McCain's making-up of fictional characters, like "Joe the Plumber," attempting to grasp the middle-class archtype.
Farhnestock is excited about the election, and so am I. And as the school's arts commissioner, I'm more curious of which candidates have more interest in supporting the arts and funding for artists, a lot of like what I do.
Click here to read what LA Times has to say about the presidential candidates and their individual support towards the arts.
Do you vote according to who has greater support for the arts?
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