A Comment on Morals......

Ive been reading back through my crit notes from the first critique of the semester. here are some things ive pulled:

---god, i mean that just made me sick. i could hear and feel the violation in your voice.

---the whole time i was watching your work, i kept thinking to myself... "okay, she hates this job and she's bitter as hell towards these men.... but why is she still doing it? is she a masochist?" i was more interested in and distracted by that thought than anything else.

---Why is Nia presenting herself to us only as her job? this whole issue is more complicated and you're not allowing it to be.

---Well, let me start off by saying that "Phone-Jacker" is kinda offensive, not to me, but to yourself. It seems weird that you like/dislike receiving this pictures. Like, I can understand if you getting these pictures from a boy that you like or or going out with, but this dude is almost a stranger. It's just a bit unsettling in my opinion.

---I don't really agree with Sonali about the ethical concerns, because honestly...fuck that strip club.

---I don’t really see who this helps promote your argument, much like the decision to use footage without permission, because the man you worked for was unethical. I think as Sonali pointed out, two wrongs don’t make a right.

---Yes, strip club = bad. Yes, the owner of the V seems particularly = bad. But stealing images makes you = bad ... and therefore you're just someone with low morals trying to critique low morals. (I say this only cause the footage you took likely had footage of other people ... so really, you stole images of someone ELSE'S show. Which puts you near the level of your peeping-Tom manager.


Nia says:
I really feel that my critiques have been critiques of my personal morals and ethics, not of my work. This is problematic for me. DO NOT CRITIQUE MY MORALS.
I dont understand why the issue of where i get my footage from even came up. Call me narrow minded. Call me bitter. Call me whatever you want for taking footage. Ive been called worse by better, trust me. It doesnt matter to me one bit that my colleagues think im "bad" or violating moral or ethical code. No. Im not. Im violating YOUR moral and ethical code by acquiring footage, working at V, whatever else. Make the separation.
Stop talking about morals and ethics. It bothers me so much that the work is hardly being critiqued for what it is. I dont care that you think i should quit, i dont care that you dont agree with how i get my footage, i dont care. I appreciate the concern, but get off it, lets talk about the work thats in front of you.
As for the two wrongs dont make a right argument, its only valid if i am doing something wrong. Im not.
Stop it. Please. My work isnt about morals or ethics. My work is about a damaged and conflicting psyche. My work is about control and the lack of it. My work is about sex.
I am sincerely sad that its difficult for many people to understand the idea of individual ethics and morals, as opposed to the whole. Its not my problem.
Fine. Im a bitch and a slut and a liar and i use people for their money or whatever else i can get out of them. Im manipulative and i take what i want and im a damaged and fucked up person because of it. Ok. That makes me a bad person. Wonderful.

Can you critique my art now?

Im pretty sure that the only people in this entire department that havnt had the "well, this is bad" talk with me is Paul, Tracie, Stephanie and Tom. Thank you. Thank you for critiquing my work. I know i blur the lines sometimes on MY take on "right" and "wrong", but these people are the only ones who have stuck with THE WORK and not THEIR ethics and morals in terms of discussion about the work.
THANK YOU thank you thank you thank you thank you.
I have to graduate this year because i have to go. I have to go. I need to leave. I need to be done with Richmond, the south, with V, with the people i associate with as a result of the V. I cant be here another year, another semester. I need to progress as an artist. Thats why im here. Im busting my ass and all im getting is "well, youre bad because you do this". SO?!?!??!?!
While im here, i need people who are willing to talk to me about my art, not about my choices. Theyre made. Its done. Please dont talk to me about the fact that you dont agree with/take issue with my life. Please please please talk to me about my art.
Im in graduate school to progress as an artist, not be told what right and wrong is. Please help me progress so that i can continue to do so outside of this institution.
Leave your morals, your ethics, your jesus, your pussy, your dick, your hang-ups, your feelings, leave it out. Theyre YOURS, not MINE. Ive got my own.
Fuck this moral high road bullshit. Lets look at art!

If im totally off here and missing something, someone please punch me. Maybe im missing some grand point here. If i sound fucking harsh, im sorry, but goddamn, i already know what the world thinks about who i am and what i do. im over this shit. the art is whats important.