Discussion of the Shelton With Sunspots by Georgia O'Keefe.

The Shelton with Sunspots Georgia O'Keefe 1926 (Plate 39 Page 85 from Twentieth-Century American Art)

The viewer upon seeing the Georgia O'Keefe work The Shelton with Sunspots, is immediately aware of its urban imagery. A large gray and black rectangle fills the center of the portrait format painting. The portrait format accentuates the towering form rendered with childlike simplicity and easily recognized as a symbol signifying a skyscraper. Blocky light gray forms placed in rows are present to signify windows, other partial rectangles cut into the foreground and background to connote surrounding buildings. As we read larger objects as closer and diffused smaller objects as further away, a sense of atmospheric perspective is achieved with a handful of darker and lighter shapes. 

Surrounding the largest central rectangle is a large glowing white negative space. The use of this negative space adds the feeling of vast towering scale to an image with very few details. The sense of the deco movement of the love of streamline forms is present in the piece and with a little imagination perhaps something of the jazz age. The work is bold and seems to express a love and admiration for urban life and modernity curious for an artist that famously walked away from both never to return. There is no sense of the grime or dirty under belly of the city from the work instead we are presented an almost angelic quality of work that reaches the heavens piercing cottony clouds and wisps of smoke that fill the white negative space area. Again these cloud forms are nearly graphic or childlike and seem symbols for smoke or clouds. 

A playful touch is the namesake of the painting, the sunspots. Near the top of the central skyscraper there is a diffused atmospheric area. The viewer is left to decide for themselves is this reflection of the sun bouncing off the enormous structure or the sun creeping from behind the edifice? A circular area the lightest and brightest of the nearly monochromatic composition is the disk of the sun either reflected or in plain view. One might be lead to read into the work an idea of man achieving the heavens or nature trumping man, the sun seems to somehow conquer the black and gray central tower and scatter its light around it. The geometric fixed even stark forms seem to be toyed with by light glowing circles scattered throughout the image and adding a yin to the overall yen of the work. Dancing light atmospheric clouds form a dichotomy a juxtaposition or paradox of light and heavy, masculine and feminine, natural and cultural. It would be easy now knowing what we know of O'Keefe to read into the work a love of the natural world. the central skyscraper pierced by sunlight seems nearly a man in business suit the white disk of the sun a single eye. 

Contrasting this is the only truly abstract element that seems to have no reference in reality and may be present for the sake of whimsy or fancy. In the upper left third slightly exiting the format as some of the buildings do, is what a appears a lock of black hair. the locks position in the format is in contrast to the rest of the angular elements, the disks representative of sunlight, and the rows of wisp of smoke or passing morning fog. Resting atop the format and the entire composition it is as if the lock of hair crowns the negative space the white portion of light and soft clouds surrounding the stark fixed central skyscraper.  

References: Doss, E. (2002) Twentieth-Century American Art Oxford Press.

Where did you start? 

I began with the title and name of the work looking for clues and interpretation within it. Being very familiar with Georgia O'Keefe I was surprised once seeing this painting at her museum in Santa Fe. It does not fit with what we think we know of the artist, in choice of palette and subject matter yet there is something feminine that creeps into her work and seems to hint at her later works.

What did you include/leave out?  

The history of Georgia O'Keefe was alluded to but not elaborated upon it is assumed that art scholars know her story well. The relation to Stieglitz would have been important to mention in that it looks like one of his many urban photos but would have been off task. She was married to him at the time of the work they lived in the building that is the subject of the work, and perhaps she was over shadowed or at best influenced by him. These details seem obvious to anyone that knows their work and history but speculation with regard to this work. I left out comparisons to her later work or any other work and merely described the work at hand as that was what was asked for. 

What aspects did you most attend to? 

I attempted to describe the image to stimulate the intellect and the imagination with the result of the feeling and appearance of the work being known.

Was There An Armory Show?

The following was posted for my current grad art education class

Twentieth-Century American ARH 6930

The discussion was based on the Armory Show an event that took place in New York in 1913. It featured some 1300 works mostly from Europe. The Eight a group of American artists several of which had worked for newspapers was highly publicized as the art event. Both rebellious against the art establishment and forming a new art establishment of wealthy patrons (The Whitney Collections namesake was a supporter) the Armory Show lives on. 

For more visit this blow by blow account of the show the uproar and the hype that still resonates.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MUSEUM/Armory/armoryshow.html

The Question was "What if there had been no Armory Show?" the following is my reply.

I was fortunate enough to have spent a year in Florence studying conservation and restoration, museums studies, and art history. It was not surprising that the art history was centered around the many incredible achievements of Italian artists. What was surprising was to learn that the Renaissance as we are taught it was a fabrication of art historians looking back and not something that really occurred. A tiny experiment my professors would say a failed experiment in realistic depiction, perspective and nearly scientific works. What we consider to be Renaissance Italian art historians break into numerous other specific categories that are seldom taught or mentioned in art history classes. 

Likewise the impressionist had no banner or common style or dogma that they adhered to but are now lumped together. Manet and Degas have nothing to do with each other any more than Botticelli or Leonardo did. 

My point is looking back art historians tend to create turning points or moments that may have been in important or perhaps not. The fabled Armory Show I would allege is one of those mythic moments conjured up by art historians. Evidence the reviews of the time which labeled areas the, "hall of horrors" or "Rude Descending a Staircase." The Armory Show did not hinder or halt the golden age agenda or end the classism or elitism of the day, anymore than the Renaissance experiment ended religious art or the Vatican.

What was unique about the Armory show was the press it received the PR machine it created and the aligning of forces and ideas that changed the commodification of art. Publicity for a show as an art event is still how galleries and art dealers push their artists.

The annual art summit that is Art Basel brings together the big name traders and curators of the world. While sipping an espresso in the cafe I heard two dealers haggling over two Francis Bacon works. "I will give you them both for $10 million right now but, right now, don't ask me about them tomorrow." One of the curators or dealers sheepishly nodded in agreement and the deal was sealed. A tiny hint of a grin passed over the buyers face as if ten million dollars for two Francis Bacon works was a steal. I tried to imagine how many starving artists could live from ten million dollars. I tallied all the paintings I have ever sold and found it reached about maybe ten thousand dollars. My point is that the PR and art trading machinery was really what was put in place at the Armory show. The idea of the big highly publicized art event as generator of sales is ultimately the legacy of the Armory Show. 

New York is an always will be an island unto itself with its own culture, mores, and rules. The idealized gallery is based upon notions of what Stieglitz and the Eight represented, the eternal push and pull between the art establishment and art as commodity, and the independent art for art sake under current of American bohemia. That the Armory show figures into the myth making of an imagined New York art scene, does not mean it had any effect on American history or in truth the life of the average citizen. 

First and fore most art means little to the vast percentage of Americans. Museums for a variety of reasons struggle to keep their doors open while sporting events, movies, and other forms of entertainment continue to break records. Most of my educator friends meanwhile teach from a cupboard or cart and are forced to convince everyone down that the line that art can be integrated into the teaching of other, "important" subjects. Ask anyone on the street if the Armory show changed their perception of art or was an important event in art history I would be surprised if anyone had heard of the event at all. Further to say important and art history in the same sentence for most people is already dubious. 

According to the accounts of the Armory website Picasso was largely ignored at the event though it does not seem to have hurt his rise to fame or notoriety. If he had been praised and made an instant star everyone would sort of yawn and say, "yes of course he was at the famous Armory show." Being that the opposite is true can it really be argued that it was a game changer, when the shock and horror over Matisse hasn't stopped every poster and chain art supplier from selling his works in mass. Duchamp is hardly a house hold name the damage to western civilization that one critic predicted must have been inflated. 

Would it have been exciting to see the reactions, to walk the galleries of the Armory show certainly. Will it live on as a mythic moment and be the model of all large art events for the rest of time, maybe. Art has changed it is old fashioned to paint at all, the happenings of the Cabaret Voltaire and later beat and hippy shows have added performance art to the regular gallery experience. Video and electronic found object displays push the boundaries of what is considered art in much the way Duchamp's readymades once did. 

Yet I routinely as an exhibiting contemporary artist showing paintings from Basel to Macedonia, still have to defend my abstract works. They are still referred to as, "that modern art stuff," in much the way people reacted to Duchamp and others a hundred years ago. Imagine riding up in a hundred year old car and and introducing it as my modern auto. So did the Armory create an acceptance or understanding of modern art for the most part for most people absolutely not. 

So is the world different due to the Armory Show? Would the the world be different had it never happened? For art historians certainly and students of art history yes. For the larger history of the world no. I do not believe it changed anything at the moment of its existence or in its aftermath. The next time you are staring down a Thomas Kinkade so called fine art print ask yourself did the armory really change anything?

References

Doss, E. (2002) Twentieth-Century American Art, Oxford Press. 

International Exhibition of Modern Art (Armory Show, 1913)

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MUSEUM/Armory/armoryshow.html

Artificial Curiosities Curriculum Project ARE 6148

Artificial Curiosities the ASU Show
I am in the process of creating a show for the downtown campus of ASU. The works featured range from large format abstract works, found object abstract works, mixed media objects featuring photo elements, a few works I refer to as specimen trays, and finally a few Cornell type works.
I will update this page as the show goes up, opens, and as classes use the curriculum I have created for the show. I have contact with one school that is interested in working with me as an artist/musician and they will attend the show along with the other educational activities we have planned. As these things materialize I will post info here about them. In a few days I should have another short clip showing me working on the projects, the works for the ASU show, and further explanation of the student activities. For now here is an outline of the project with some images to illustrate the project.
There is also a narrated slide presentation which features some of the works in progress to be featured in the show below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We-4EUJwtIY

Artificial Curiosities Curriculum Project ARE 6148 

My idea is to bring in the history of museums and how museums have changed through history. Discuss found object artists Joseph Cornell,  Louise Nevelson, Fred Wilson and Jean Tinguely http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4iXF-LIYi0 

Activity and discussion of roadside attractions as forgotten museums of the 50's. Historic and archaeological preservation in a disposable society. Students will discuss and create their own curiosity cabinet.

The big ideas 

Who writes history and why? How does knowledge and our perception of it change? Why do museums work or bore us?

Do museums ever tell the truth or an imagined truth? Where did museums come from?

History is on going. What history have the students lived through their families their grand parents?

All objects tell a story have a history.

Specimen Gathering

Find a small object to be used as specimen tray or box. Gather three to six small items from your home, the ground, goodwill, or that you have kept. Arrange the items in the tray.

Play with the arrangement until it is pleasing to look at. How can you arrange them to tell a story? Let the others in the class try to figure out your arrangement and the items in the tray.

Explain the items what they mean where they came from, if they are important to you why. Select one object to be the tall tale object. In your explanation have one object be of exaggerated or purely fictional origins. See if the class can decide 

which one it is. Repeat the process throughout the class. How is it that we create histories for objects? 

Did some of the stories get elaborate? Were they all true? How important is context and provenance to viewing objects how does knowing the story of an item change the way we view an item?

Assessment and discussion

Imagine a museum where you have to simply guess what you are looking at?

Talk about the way science works, gathering specimens information data putting forth theories. Is specimen gathering cruel, zoos, killing jars, and dissection? Talk about the way museums work researching documenting curating items. 

How have museums changed from shrunken heads and stuffed animals to hands activities and children's programing. Reference the book, Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads, A, Stephen (2001)

Big ideas 

Is science cruel? Why do we collect things? Berger in his writings talks about the need to possess the subject of a painting and the need to show status and wealth through oil painting (Ways of Seeing, Berger, J. 1973, Penguin Books). Do museums still need to collect?

Brief discussion of the book The Museum in Transition Hein, H. 2000. 

Research component optional

Pick your favorite item from the example above and research it find out what you can about how it was made where it was made and of what it was made. Talk about the mining the museum exhibit.

Roadside Ruin Idea 

Louise Nevelson in her found objects glorified and Jean Tinguely and his made contraptions. 

Both deal with pop culture to a degree one uses the junk of our culture to create beautiful forms the other leaves the object as junk unrefined but turns them into new machines. 

In the 1950's an extension of Curiosity Cabinets, medicine shows, and circus sideshows sprung up the roadside museum. Like many of the elements of our past most of these once grand attractions have closed or fallen into ruin.

Discussion 

Look for an "undisciplined local collection," a roadside or homespun museum in your area. Reference the book Offbeat Museums, Rubin, S. 1997. 

Is there an old part of town in your town? Is there a highway that has been replaced? Are there old attractions, museums, or tourist traps in you town? How do the students feel about these old areas and why?

Research component 

Gather images of abandoned or ruined buildings in your local area. Gather images of ruins around the world from the internet magazines etc..

Talk about what the Coloseum in Rome or Mesa Verde in Colorado must have been like before they were ruins. Visit the UNESCO world heritage site, what are they up to?

Why do we save things and places that are connected to famous people or events? Are some types of history valued more than others?

Are some peoples history valued more than others? 

Activity Instant Ruin.

Find scrap wood (home depot usually has a free or cheap pile) junk from a junkyard, look around your neighborhood for rusted old items, bits of wood, or visit goodwill (free is better of course). 

Using the junk create a small sculpture draw from Tinguely and Nevelson if you like but think in terms of a ruin or an abandoned building or object. Imply or leave, age and decay or hide the decay as Nevelson does. Crackling effects, painted on rust, sandpaper can be used to imply age and erosion. 

Big ideas 

There is often a lot of beauty in forgotten abandoned things. Why are we so quick to throw things away? One persons junk is someone else's treasure. Once historic things fall into ruin you have to imagine them back, is this how history 

and archaeology are written? Isn't it easier to save things then recreate them? All objects have history even if they are personal items. Talk about the idea that junk transformed into art might be displayed in a museum is it still junk? why or why 

not? Museums are part entertainment and the roadside museums of the 1950's were mostly entertainment. How much car culture are we left with from the 1950's (drive-ins and drive thru, highways and road trips)

Assessment and discussion

Are there abandoned neighborhoods towns or buildings near by in your hometown or city? How did they fall into ruin and why? Did the car culture of the 1950's lead to these ruins? 

Curious Curios

Imagine living in a world and time where you would pay a nickel to look at a display of relics from history or the far side of the world? Hard to imagine in the internet age of limitless information. 

Present curio cabinets as a concept. How did these cabinets lead to museums? "The birth of the mercantile and first middle class gave rise to a collecting mania by about 1650", leading to curio or cabinets of artificial and natural history curiosities from Museums Objects and Collections, Pierce, S. (1992) Smithsonian Press.

Research component

Discuss Charles Wilson Peale, did he create the first American museum? The origin of the word museum, where did it come from? 

Present information about the history of museums, from curios to the Smithsonians. Visit the Smithsonian website reference The Official Guide to the Smithsonians (or other Smithsonian literature as available)  American Alliance of Museums http://www.aam-us.org/about-museums/museum-facts for further discussion on what a museum is.

How have museums changed? Wifi video screens wireless headsets all add to the modern museum experience as do museum websites and hands on activities. How does this contrast with the old school museums (things in boxes, stuffed animals and pickled heads)? Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads (The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums) Asma, S. (2001) Oxford Press.

Personal history cabinet activity

Find a small to medium size box, decide if you want to paint the box sand it down weather it to make it look old etc..

Gather objects from the ground, goodwill, a junk drawer, the garage or objects you have saved for yourself as important. 

The final portion is tying it all together. 

Talk about the artist Joseph Cornell. 

Activity

Using the methods of Cornell create a small personal cabinet.

Decide what story about yourself or an imagined narrative you want to tell using the objects you have gathered if the objects are worthless how does that change your approach? if they are precious keep sakes how do you treat them? 

decide if it is to be display to yourself a personal curio cabinet or an imagined self? If personal does it tell the story of your life? some event in your life? Your family? Your community or town?

Present the cabinets without explanation let the class imagine their meaning or create them. What does your cabinet say about its creator real or imagined? Have people throughout time created their own history?

Give the example of the Egyptian pharaohs of how once they came to power they created their own fantastic history. Shaman of the Yanamamo upon encountering bananas revised their creation story to include them. 

Assessment and discussion

What is the difference between a good tale, tall tale, history or myth? By the way things are presented (or not presented) do museums tell their version of history? How important is context? A mining lamp, a lunch pail and shovel do not really put 

you into a mine, how much imagination is needed to fill in museum displays? If we are using our imagination is it really history or our version of it, imagined version of it? deeper discussion talk about the book or paper, Mining the Museum: An 

Installation by Fred Wilson, Corrin, L. (1994) The New Press.

References

Offbeat Museums, Rubin, S. (1997) Santa Monica Press.

Mining the Museum: An Installation by Fred Wilson, Corrin, L. (1994) The New Press.

Making Museums Matter, Weil, S. 2002) Smithsonian Press.

United States of America: Backyard Chickens, Burlesque Beauties and Handmade Bitters, Reighley, K. (2010) Harper Colins Books.

Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads (The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums) Asma, S. (2001) Oxford Press.

The Museum in Transition, Hein, H. (2000) Smithsonian Press.

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder, Weschler, L. (1995) Pantheon Books.

Ancient Pueblo Peoples, Cordell, L. (1994) Smithsonian Press.

Museums Objects and Collections, Pierce, S. (1992) Smithsonian Press.

Official Guide to the Smithsonian, no author listed, (1996) Smithsonian Institute Press.

Do Museums Still Need Objects?, Conn, S. (2010) University of Pennsylvania Press.

Museums and American Intellectual Life, (1998) Conn, S. University of Chicago Press.

Ways of Seeing, Berger, J. (1973) Penguin Books.

The Manila-Acapulco Galleons: The Treasure Ships of the Pacific, Fish, S. (2011) Authorhouse Press.

Out the East (Spices and the Medieval Imagination) Freedman, P. (2008) Yale University Press.

1493 (Uncovering the New World Columbus Created) Mann, C. (2011) Vintage

UNESCO World Heritage website (http://whc.unesco.org)

ICOM International Council on Museums website (http://icom.museum)

AAM American Association of Museums website (http://www.aam-us.org)

Smithsonian Institute website (http://www.si.edu)

http://resobscura.blogspot.com/2011/01/cabinets-of-curiosities-in-seventeenth.html

10 things all art educators should know about art integration

ARE 6148

Review 6

Jonathan Sanchez 

For the University of Florida art education program

"10 Things All Art Educators Should Know About Art Integration"

As Damkohler states in her recent artsblog there are limits to integrating the arts in all disciplines and integration should not allow for the replacing art education or art educators, (anymore than language or PE instructors). Here however are some ideas from our recent readings that make a good argument for integration of art education into other subjects and other subjects into arts. This two way street can enrich both art education with other dimensions such as social or history studies, and also put a human aspect to many other pursuits such as the aesthetic thinking involved in engineering or industrial design. So below is my top ten list of the many ways art can augment and be augmented by integration with other subjects.

#1 Experiential Learning

As Maeda puts it, "the study of getting your hands dirty." Art allows learning through doing like nothing else does.

#2 The Human Quest (for truth and beauty)

All of the writings this time out suggest in various ways that art is inherently bound to enduring ideas as Maeda states the arts are, "dedicated to finding truth and beauty." Therefore it is believed that art will and can be an important invitation or initiation to the really big ideas.

#3 Metaphorical thinking

So much of are experience with regard to visual culture, literature, and the performing arts requires an unlocking of symbolic meaning or metaphorical thinking. Stewart, M. & S. Walker in Rethinking Curriculum in Art (pg 111, 2005) suggest that our first Vorstellung or introduction to symbolic thinking and therefore metaphorical thinking is usually through art. They further state that contemporary art being largely conceptual and less reliant on traditional representation is perhaps the best way to introduce students to metaphorical thinking. 

#4 Aesthetic Dimension of Knowing 

How do we interpret the world around us? How much of are experiences are based on design and other aspects of visual culture learning to interpret therefore our visual experiences is the primary goal of art education. 

#5 Encourages Innovation

"With global competition rising, America is at a critical juncture in defining its economic future. I believe that art and design are poised to transform and sustain… America's role as innovator of the world." Maeda, J. (October 2, 2012).

#6 Multi-cultural integration

Art appreciation and exploration can be used to bring in a variety of cultural traditions and therefore form a ethnographic, sociological, historic, anthropological or social studies dimension.

#7 Problem Solving

Like chemistry or any form of lab work mixing materials, or forming a composition involves a basic problem solving ability. The skills of problem solving are not unique to art and therefore can be applied to any discipline. 

#8 Interactive Learning

Group projects, research applied to creating a work, actually making things in an art classroom are all examples of the unique forms of interactive learning found in an art classroom. These mind opening processes can then be applied to any discipline. 

#9 Topical art and current events

Topical contemporary art can easily be used to discuss current events in a wide range of subjects.

#10 Aids in Creative Thinking

"Whether today's students go on to be artists, doctors or politicians, we know that the challenges their generation faces will demand creative solutions. We should fully expect that, in the coming decades, many of our best leaders will come from art and design backgrounds." Maeda, J. (October 2, 2012).

Damkohler, L. (July 6, 2011) Arts integration isn’t enough. ARTSblog.  Retrieved from http://blog.artsusa.org/2011/07/06/arts-integration-isnt-enough.

Maeda, J. (October 2, 2012).  STEM to STEAM: Art in K-12 is key to building a strong economy.  Edutopia.  Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/stem-to-steam-strengthens-economy-john-maeda.

Stewart, M. & S. Walker (2005). Rethinking Curriculum in Art. Worcester, MA: Davis Publications: Chapter 7: Art and Integrated Curriculum pp. 105-117.

Assignment: (Lesson 4) Reading Review.

Jonathan Sanchez

Summary

Teaching art through a basic formula of analysis will provide a path to understanding the big ideas behind works of art. That all art is first intellectual and a study of the resulting aesthetics can lead to the thought behind a work. Asking some basic questions as to what social and historic environment produced the inspiration for a work can give it a context. Employing the techniques of art critiques and art historians in a classroom setting will place a foundation for understanding and eventual appreciation of works of art. The stress is less on the techniques involved and more on the thought processes invested in the works. The example of a monumental work created to honor victims of the holocaust is given along with the notion, that without an understanding of what the holocaust was, the piece would have no impact.

The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts offers a curriculum pdf on its website through the educational portion of that site.  The enduring idea is that the existing image of Native Americans needs to be wiped out. Acknowledging that these images are centuries old an continually re-enforced a gradual education program should be in place and that art appreciation can be the door to this new understanding. "That art might be used to present the idea that the Native perspective is one of intelligence and not somehow some state of under development," (Museum of Contemporary Native Arts website pg 4) is consistent with the notions of the chapter. It is stated that key to art understanding is that there is thought and intelligence behind every work of art, and the viewer and therefore the student is challenged to unlock that meaning or form their own. Either way it is an intellectual process that art analysis encourages. The Santa Fe example also focuses on a few works and picks them apart in much the same pattern suggested through out the chapter, so again consistent in content. The list on page 44 featuring a system for talking about art includes interpreting, describing and judging art, and is similar to elements of the Santa Fe lesson plan. A

I focused on the Coyote Shuffle Off to Buffalo Lesson from the Denver Art Museum. In comparing this lesson to the Santa Fe lesson it is concerned with the same goals in breaking down stereotypes but more activity based. The large goals claim to be invention, self-direction, critical thinking and collaboration. The exercises and discussions are to encourage kids to decide what self means. There is a section where the question of, "why was the art made?" is asked, similar to the art analysis plan on page 44 of the reading though not as in depth. The DAM plan is more consistent with traditional elementary art education (they even pull out the glitter later) and not fully in keeping with the ideas presented in the reading. B

The final review is of the National Gallery. In an attempt to find common ground the lesson plan related to White Cloud a Hero To His People was studied. It presents Native Americans as museum relics pieces of the distant past and as helpless savages. It was the only example I could find on the museum website that addresses Native issues. The lesson itself encourages the kids to dress up like an indian and ask what a hero is to them? think about the elements of the work, and talk about what they would wear today to impress someone. This seems a shallow and even racist program. Looking at the elements of the work is as close as we come to the themes of the current reading. F

Personal Reflection

Some of the examples in the reading are so in depth including field trips not often an option in todays teach from a cart art education environment that they seem a little pie in the sky really. Imaging though that these sort of fantasy elements could be reality I think the approach is fantastic. I was fortunate enough to spend a year studying in Italy. It really hit home after years of old faded slides to have a professor say today we are going to talk about Micheangelo and off we went to see the David (a few blocks away). If we can make connections it is more real for students. In some inner city school in West Phoenix even if there were funding for a field trip the collection at the local museum is so sorry it would be a waste of time. I think then the approach realistically would need be more research based, discovering art through doing, with a power point presentation or less reliance on actual works in the area. That said art can be where you find it there can be a lot learned from say kitsch, advertisements, or architectural elements when present. Examples of western kitsch, katchinas, cowboy fantasies etc.. are readily available and easy to access and may even speak more to the reality of living in the West.  "Art obtains meaning through engagement, art is purposeful human endeavors," (pg. 42) to this end art can be interpreted in a very wide way. Further it is stated in numerous examples that perhaps some art is, "outside of the usual and aesthetic theory based in formalism would have little relevance." (pg 60).

         One of my favorite experiences as an art student was a visit to a junkyard. I was searching for metal to do some pieces on and visited several salvage yards, and scrap metal dumps (one with a one eyed three legged mean little dog). At any rate here was a place that felt like an art installation everything arranged for viewing and walk ways. There was definitely intent an order to the place rows and rows of axles or radiators etc.. With my mind in creating mode, thinking in terms of sculpture the place seemed like one giant work. My point is that art appreciation can occur in non-art places with non-traditional media or intent. Old faded signs can be so beautiful, worn old gold rush buildings in Colorado, or natural history museums. I suppose what I am getting at is that in time of severe budget restrictions one should be creative and find ways to view and talk about art where you can.

 References

(Stewart M. Walker S. 2005 Rethinking Curriculum in Art, pg 39-53)

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts http://www.iaia.edu/museum/ 

http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=how-coyote-came-to-shuffle-off-to-buffalo-2

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/education/teachers/lessons-activities/heroes-heroines/white-cloud.html

A Discussion of Visual Culture Theory.

Jonathan Sanchez
Date Jan 23 2013
A Discussion of Visual Culture Theory.                                                                                                                                              All three writers agree that the basic premise of visual culture theory is that there is a need to create a multi-disciplinary approach to education at large and art history in specific. Tavin makes the case that art history can benefit greatly from cultural studies (Tavin, 199) and (eventually by page 209) has listed some thirty disciplines that he argues should be incorporated into the sphere of visual culture. In contrast Julie C. Van Camp in her critical look at the visual culture movement, seems to warn of the rise of a potential new dogma (Van Camp, 34). "Still further, the term "interdisciplinary" can simply suggest ways of expanding our methodologies in a variety of disciplines without staking a claim that only particular notions of interdisciplinary are acceptable" (Van Camp, 34). She seems to warn of throwing out the baby with the bath water, suggests that we should be slow to throw all of our ideas out in favor of the new Zeitgeist. Van Camps endorsement of visual culture theory comes in the form of a question, "Can our understanding of visual culture be used to enhance our understanding of what we traditionally termed or deemed as art?" (Van Camp, 34).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Tavin seems to burn with the fire of a zealot lighting a torch to the whole art academy and Eisner rests somewhere between Van Camp and Tavin, when he simply states, "Justification improves overall performance," (Eisner, 7). Pluralism pushes in one direction and standardized testing in another a pendulum swing that leaves art educators grasping.           Perhaps the strongest points that all agree on are the following; art history is no island, visual experiences are profound and far reaching, the everyday in the classroom breaks down the barrier of high art.                                                                                                                                              Art history and therefore art education is no island. In short trans-disciplinary approaches inspired by visual culture theory, can only help to bring context and a sociological component into the art classroom.                                                                                                                                   

Visual experiences are profound and far reaching even if they happen in a football stadium. As it was once said the "medium is the message,"  to see someones name in lights is thrilling weather we know why or not. It is that visual experiences reach us on a primal level like moths drawn to a flame. By saying that some experiences are high art and others not worth mentioning we close off a vast current of inspiration, and limit are realm of intellectual meandering. As Tavin states, "By inculcating students to existing cultural hierarchies, the canon of high art is maintained as unproblematic," (Tavin, 197).                                                                                                                                                  

Finally, bringing the current and the everyday into the classroom will not only help students relate it will address issues of whose culture are we making? Are we to simply repeat what has been done as a kind of art mantra or are we as May said active change agents (May, 146).                                                                                                                                                                 

Problems with a visual culture approach                                                                                                                                     1. Visual culture does not seem to have an overarching or concrete quintessence all of the authors seem to allude to this as a point of confusion. 2. It is perhaps too far reaching it would be as if arguing, why do we need geology and biology why not talk about them as the same thing? They are of course related and interact with each other but is it possible to talk about everything at once? We break things into categories in order to make sense of them. 3. How do we talk about art or visual culture if all terms are deemed antiquated and culturally loaded? "Visual culture seems to have rejected not only formalism but also almost any other way of appreciating and understanding art objects themselves." (Van Camp, 35)                                                                                                                                                                                                              Terms                                                                                                                                                                                   Interdisciplinary is addressed in all three papers though to what extent art teachers should become social studies teachers is up for debate (Eisener, 8). It is a tenet of visual culture and can be defined as a paradigm shift that allows for other studies to be incorporated into art studies.                                                                                            

Context or contextualization the process of placing art into a historic or social sphere. 

Critcal Response/Application/Personal Reflection/ Assignment Souvenirs          

Rose Bean Simpson is a multi-media artist from Santa Clara Pueblo. I was immediately drawn to her work because of her diverse styles, including comic art, sculpture, music, and spray paint. After watching Artisode 1.3- KNME (Rose Bean Simpson) I knew right away that I wanted to interview her for this project. I felt very encouraged by her voice, and that she was someone I could identify with. I have a great respect for any woman who is creating art that challenges mass media and objectifications. Rather than numbing one’s soul, Rose Bean Simpson is trying to enliven, strengthen, and build the soul.  She is not afraid to be who she is, in her natural, beautiful state, and this not only shows through her voice, but through her artwork as well. I am honored that I was able to interview someone who is actively transforming the negative effects of our media, and someone who is honestly connected to the purity of life. Through my own journey as an artist, I have experienced moments of complete frustration, and even oppression, due to the domination of our media society, so not only was discovering Rose a breath of fresh air, but I was truly inspired.

Rose Bean Simpson: In the sculpture “To Fill That Hole”, I had placed within the bars, multi-colored small faces. Much of my work is about looking inward, and trying to see or expose what is on the “inside”. (Emotionally, psychologically). I put small viewing spaces in my work for a while because they were all about revealing an inner truth.

Rose Bean Simpson from Santa Clara Pueblo uses found objects, traditional and non-traditional media to create often haunting and introspective works. Her creations exist somewhere between the ancient world of Santa Clara Pueblo (first inhabited around 1300) and the modern world of near by Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

In contrast to Rose Roxanne Swentzell also from Santa Clara uses traditional images and themes. Her works do not at first glance appear to be contemporary pieces but often vary little from museum artifacts of her ancestors. Under closer examination it is revealed that in fact she has used the traditional art forms to express everyday modern ideas.

  

Open a discussion with students about how important a sense of place, your personal history and that of your ancestors, and what are art materials? Using these three themes, three different ideas present in Visual Culture theory are presented. First, your home, your environment personally shapes your experience be it a seven hundred year old Pueblo or a modern suburban home. This theme addresses ideas of what visual experiences surround us daily, mesas, chilis and katsina, or shopping malls, SUVs and Ipads.  Second, your personal history and that of your ancestors, Pueblo folks often live with their ancestors in items, in the walls of their sacred spaces and symbolically. How important are our ancestors in mainstream America? Do we have a sense of history? If not how do we relate to our present surrounding friends and family?                                                  

Both artists are from the same unique culture, trained in western eurocentric schools, but choose to express their identities very differently. Rose leans toward contemporary art but still uses Pueblo themes and Roxanne bends and pushes traditional themes and icons to make them lifelike and fill them with a sense of the everyday and universal.                                                                

Start out with images that originate within the culture and everyday experience of students rather than imposing too quickly academic constraints on what counts as legitimate art. (Tavin 206)              

Like the artist Cornell, Rose Bean Simpson uses items that she has had contact with a connection to sorts of souvenirs of her daily life. Students would be given the assignment to bring in three tiny items from their daily life symbolizing past, present and the ideal or future. They are then charged with combining them into an original work.
References;

Tower Gallery Website  http://www.roxanneswentzell.net/r_swentzell Tower Gallery 78 Cities of Gold Road Santa Fe NM

Website Contemporary Native American Artists http://contemporarynativeartists.tumblr.com/post/39391980928/rose-bean-simpson-santa-clara-pueblo 

Wendy Red Star Adjunct Professor Department of Art Portland State University                                            

Recycled and Expat Art

I have a unique connection to the theme of this weeks discussion of contemporary global artists.
I have been lucky enough to exhibit in London, Kicevo, Macedonia, Basel, St. Gallen, and Geneva, Switzerland, several US states, Siena, Italy and even Bangladesh. I do not say this to boast it is merely that I have felt the odd sensations of rootlessness that some of the artist describe and certainly the authors seem to romanticize through these exhibits. Further having lived in Italy, Switzerland and seven US states I can also recall the expat sense of being a kind of art nomad. A final nail in all this is having married a Swiss national meaning that half my daily experience is European through my wife and her native language of German. Also that half my family and more than tens years of experiences with have been on another continent. I truly feel that the sense that part of me is always there, and this is prolonged through annual visits but also through social media contacts. Likewise part of me is in New York with family there and Florida and Colorado and New Mexico and so on, some of these feelings are jarring others mere memories.
I will not rehash the last blog on family I found the discussion painful and the dysfunction glaring like Vegas flashing sign, but according to the authors we are to use this dysfunction run with it let it power our art.

The example of nomadic tent like structures from artist  Do Ho Suh mentioned in the article Globalization and Contemporary Art from Julia Marshal, are perhaps the best example of the detached ironic state global artist live with.  the works are both haunting and beautiful, which suggests a state of sadness and wonder at the same time. I am personally thrilled to have been to so many places to have lived in more than one culture but as well I acknowledge that I have given up many things in return. I get the same sense through Do's work.
while living in Switzerland I became aware of the Dada movement in near by Zurich and had a chance to work with a fantastic collection of Hans/Jean Arp's work. working with the curator of the Museum Liner I poured through Arp's personal items, paintings that hung in his kitchen collages made from flyers for his art events.

A series of prints it Snows Up was inspired by a tiny collage Arp made of tiny little pieces of black paper. To hold the original work and frame it for a show of Arp's work is still one of the greatest thrills I have experienced as a museum person.
In the article Transnational Visual Culture: Indecipherable Narratives and Pedagogy from Charles R. Garoain and Yvonne M Gaudelius, there is quote from Arp  (Garoain and Gaudelius pg 144) in which Arp specifically mentions collage I had to smile to myself reading. Suddenly it occured to me having spent a great deal of time with Arp, Klee and even handling Giacometti works I had reached a depth of understanding of Swiss art that a mere outsider would never reach. First, I was living in Switzerland which allowed me to work for an art museum. Second, I had earned a degree in art which was recognized in Switzerland. Third, having worked for AAM accredited museums it was understood that museum standards in America and Canada are some of the highest. Finally, English as nearly the language of globalization also opened doors for me abroad, as folks were looking to practice English as well it was a somewhat neutral language for the museum one that guests from many nations would be able to get by in.  All of the above are examples of how globalization has effected me personally.
Two artists I ran across (one I even met) while at the Swiss art museums Wilhelm Mundt and Wang Du.

Wang Du usually cross cultural references and pop images to blur into something like a global riff. Often political satirical and monumental in scope his works beg to figured out as they seem capable of squashing you. His giant sculpture of a crumpled New York Times seems to combine a fallen satellite or collapsed building with the text of the newspaper. Perched precariously the odd shaped work seems to menace viewers in its park setting creating an uneasy view that feels dangerous or as if we are viewing remnants of some disaster.

Wilhelm Mundt
Wilhelm does many different types of work but his largest body is garbage. Literally he has taken trash wrapped it in polyurethane sanded it polished it in large works that at first glance look like giant tumbled rocks. Upon deeper investigation we learn that they are stamped with manufacturing number often in transparent portions reveal their inner waste and debris and then we feel duped as the beautiful mineralogical specimen finally appears to be mere plastic.
Many different types of critique can read into the works from the industrial number they exhibit to the fact that they are glorified trash and what does it all say of our increasingly disposable global culture.

My Art
My art has varied over the years and it seems to shift with each major move. I am in the desert southwest so the palette and themes come from roadside attractions, old mining towns, the vast desert landscape and the other symbols of tarnished misguided manifest destiny and its reverberation throughout Pueblo lands.  The above work, entitled Roadside Ruin, is comprised of an old ticket booth from a family owned gold mine in Colorado. The shape appealed to me and was going to become fire wood for the often harsh winters at 9000ft in Cripple Creek. I threw it in my truck attached some other pieces to it (that I found on the floor of a home depot) sanded it down painted it, spray painted sanded it down again until had the right mix of worn and intentional.  It is comment on the many abandoned mines, towns, old hotels and roadside attraction of the west. The type of places with ten story high dinosaurs or tepees scattered about to lure the kitsch fevered tacky tourist.
I do occasional contract archaeology work in the southwest often based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have spent a great deal of time cruising the old Route 66 photographing the worn neon signs, the beat up motels and it seems that these are fantastic symbols of globalization.

Our American craze for whatever is new simply because it is new flies in the face of places with centuries old traditions even millennium old, and its this latest and greatest junk that America is known for around the globe. Like a bag of potato chips the salt or spice hits you right away and you tell yourself you can stop anytime and soon the bag is gone and you are left with a kind of junk food hangover. Then the guilt hits health concerns and how long is it going to take on the treadmill to burn that nasty bag of chips off. Sadly this is the kind of culture we export, in its ruined western form it hold a sort of beauty but there is a kind of safety that its crumbling disappearing and that its abandoned and no longer on the march.

Its like a castle in Europe a truly horrible thing when you think of it a symbol of fear, paranoia, war, torture, isolation all the worst things that mankind be. Yet they are clever and to our eyes often beautiful and of course now ludicrous in the age of nukes. They are no longer threatening with enough time but maybe hold important hints into the minds of their creators and the culture from whence they came, hence us. Roadside ruins are returning to the desert without the sacred burning of the Navajo or Hopi they are taking their spirits with them back into the earth. Whose dream was it to open a dinner in a town called Mexican Hat? Who came up with the idea to create a massive 3-d replica of the Flintstones with dinosaurs, crazy foot powered car, and the whole thing right at the entrance of the Grand Canyon? So you have one of the most impressive places on the earth and a door mat of completely not impressive location on its border.
Myself and the three contemporary artists mentioned above seem to feel the same about the throw away frivolous nature of American culture and its exportation through globalism. I imagine it will continue to fuel are art.
References
Transnational Visual Culture: Indecipherable Narratives and Pedagogy (Garoain and Gaudelius, 144)
Globalization and Art Education,(Delacruz, E., Arnold, A., Kuo, A., Parsons, M., 2009)
 Globalization and Contemporary Art (Marshal, J., 92)
Globalization and Art Education,(Delacruz, E., Arnold, A., Kuo, A., Parsons, M., 2009)

Migration and Adaptation.

 Migration Story/Adapting

The Sanchez and Aguiar families were of North African make up living in the Canary Islands. As undesirables in the eyes of the Spanish they like many others ended up in the Caribbean. Settling in Puerto Rico family legend says that my mother's grandmother was Taino. My father's side visibly appears to be African (A DNA test showed little information from subsaharan African. In fact the test also showed no Taino though a tiny portion came back with the results reading deeper testing unknown area). From Puerto Rico the two families traveled to Brooklyn, New York. My parents were born in Brooklyn, where they met and married. An increasingly dangerous drug filled place my parents moved from Brooklyn  living in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Queens, California, and eventually Florida.

I was born in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia and raised in Florida. We occasionally returned to the north to visit relatives. After a divorce and a second marriage I belonged to a family of eight.

By the time I was in high school I had moved at least fifteen times (It was not at all surprising when the above mentioned DNA test turned up Gypsy heritage in the mix) The big move from Puerto Rico what kind of mark did that leave on my family? My grandmother never stopped talking about Puerto Rico and on here deathbed all she seemed to want was the traditional island dish pigeon peas with rice. She never really stopped being Puerto Rican. My parents however, loved the Beatles, Hollywood movies and gave us all Anglo friendly Biblical names. James, Jeffrey, and Jonathan when my grandmothers were Conception and Gracia. Grandfather's were equally Hispanic by name weighing in with Juan and Julio.

It may seem a silly point but these choices to leave New York, to try and create a better life away from drugs and gangs, to name your kids Jon instead of Juan, they start a process. Overwhelmingly people today lament assimilation as a negative culturally biased form of oppression. From the stand point of wealthy, educated, professional people the idea of loosing your culture is abhorrent but to a struggling immigrant loosing your culture might mean survival.

I have lived in three countries and speak German having married a Swiss national. It is perhaps the migratory nature of my family that has allowed me to adapt and survive in two different cultures. English is my mother tongue but German has a special place in heart as do many aspects of Swiss or larger European culture. Again what some might view as a negative I see as natural. I lived in a German speaking country I learned the language while there. My wife would never quite feel at home unless I learned her home cooking and language. So the process I have gone through has made me rethink what my relatives must have gone through leaving North Africa, leaving Spain, leaving Puerto Rico and finally leaving New York.  

Fleeting Family

In continuing with the genetic theme here is a short film I have spent a great amount of time on (though you would never guess that) It is a slide or photo essay and discussion on the theme of family migration.
The short clip is paired with one of my songs (Desert Wind) which deals with the idea of mobility, rootlessness, and the modern state of being part of a global family.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMsqb3aB09U&feature=youtu.be 

How would a DNA test change your thinking if you grew up thinking you were Irish or Italian and found out you were Turkish or Hungarian? How important are the stories we tell about ourselves versus scientific data and genetic information? How much of what we believe about ourselves is pure wishful thinking?

I invite your thoughts and hope you enjoy the film.

It has come to my attention that some folks are interested in the DNA tests I took years ago. I was part of a National Geographic project tracking human migration out of Africa, the major genetic groups as they exist today, and the effects of contact and current globalization for gene distribution.
I was also originally in a project called the Sanchez Name project but was later dropped when I did not fit conclusively what they were looking for in that project (Taino DNA). That project was taking the name Sanchez as jumping off point as it is one of the most geographically diverse names on the planet. They were interested in Jewish history and Native American history and the connections to Puerto Rico particularly north Eastern Puerto Rico. Being that my mothers side of the family is from the exact area they wanted to study and by family legend my great grandmother was Indian I was asked to take part. I turned up some Jewish traits but not what they were looking for and no one I know in my family is a practicing Jew (might have had to do with that whole Inquisition thing or that whole Hitler thing after that).
The results I am squarely North African and Roma (formerly known as Gypsy) but an unknown section (perhaps the Native American section) required deeper testing of which I was unwilling to pay for at the time. So I was dropped from the project.

The National Geo project goes on and you too can take part.

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/human-journey/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ7XNWJ0_d0&feature=player_embedded

I did my DNA test through My Family Tree DNA (not to be confused with familytree.com)

https://my.familytreedna.com/

A little explanation


Haplogroups are the major branches of the Y-chromosome tree. They are defined by Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), which have accumulated over many generations as the Y-chromosome is passed from father to son. These SNPs map the paths back to the single common male ancestor from which all men alive today descend.

The Y-Chromosome Consortium (YCC) has reconstructed the structure of the Y-chromosome tree by testing SNP mutations in different human populations. As scientists have discovered more SNPs (e.g., M254), the structure of the tree has changed. Currently, there are 20 haplogroups (A through T). In turn, each of these major haplogroups has subgroups, or subclades, that are named with alternating letters and numbers (e.g., I1c).

Below I will post my results keep in mind these are very general.
My specific Haplogroup: E-M35.1 or E1b1b1 wandered out of Ethiopia some 50,000 years ago. 20,000 years ago they had settled in many North African coastal areas including the Canary Islands (where my so-called Spanish ancestors came from). Mixing with Phoenician and Berber groups eventually becoming a different genetic group. My family was said to be Roma (or Gypsy) Jewish and of this North African group. Arriving in Puerto Rico they became Native American and West African. Physically we show some of this but the DNA test did not turn up and Indian this comes purely from family legend that my great grandmother on my mother's side was Indian. So what do I do with this info? There is a section on test on my mothers's side that turned up unknown deeper testing required, Indian?

Haplogroup Test: your matches suggest that you belong to Haplogroup E3b, therefore you qualify to order our deep clade test which focuses on all mutations shown on the next screen after you click on the "Continue for more information" button. Order your Y-DNA SNP test for Deep Sub-clades.E-M81 is found in NW Africa, not found in sub-Saharan Africa and its frequency sharply decreases eastwards. E-M81 is a "Berber" marker. It is also found in all Iberian populations, signifying Berber admixture, ranging

from 1.5% in Northern Italians, 2.2% in Central Italians, 1.6% in southern 
Spaniards, 3.5% in the French, 4% in the Northern Portuguese, 12.2% in the 
southern Portuguese and 41.2% in the genetic isolate of the Pasiegos from 
Cantabria. It is found in only 0.7% of Sicilians and in no southern 
Italians. It is also not found in the Balkans

Y-DNA - Ancestral Origins

The Y-DNA - Ancestral Origins page allows you to view the ancestry information for your matches from one of our Y-chromosome DNA STR (short tandem repeat) tests, Y-DNA12, Y-DNA25, Y-DNA37, Y-DNA67, or Y-DNA111.

Country - This is the paternal country of origin.
Match Total - This is the total number of matches for a specific country.
Country Total - This is the total number of people with Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) results from the country of origin in the Family Tree DNA database.
Percentage - This is the percentage from the country of origin compared to the total number from that country in the database, i.e., the MATCH TOTAL column divided by the Country Total column. Please note, a percentage will not be shown if the Country Total is less than 100.
Comment - This is additional information such as a social, religious, or ethnic group. Where more than one match from a country has provided the same comment, the number of matches is shown beside the comment. For example, someone with matches in Germany might have Baden-Württemberg (2) and Schleswig-Holstein (7).
NOTE: Family Tree DNA uses the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 3166 for country names.
12 Marker

Exact Match

Country	Match Total	Country Total	Percentage	Comments
Albania	2	28	N/A
Armenia	1	222	0.4%
Austria	4	606	0.7%
Belarus	1	666	0.2%
Belgium	1	517	0.2%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	87	N/A
Bulgaria	6	170	3.5%
Croatia	2	213	0.9%
Czech Republic	3	676	0.4%	Bohemia (1)
England	49	23931	0.2%
Ethiopia	2	34	N/A
France	12	3366	0.4%
Georgia	1	54	N/A
Germany	41	12073	0.3%	Ashkenazi (1) Rhineland-Palatinate (1)
Greece	24	681	3.5%
Hungary	13	1181	1.1%
Iraq	1	179	0.6%
Ireland	9	14064	0.1%
Israel	1	138	0.7%
Italy	26	3335	0.8%	Sicily (2)
Kosovo	1	2	N/A
Lithuania	3	1013	0.3%	Ashkenazi (3)
Macedonia	1	61	N/A
Montenegro	1	20	N/A
Morocco	1	82	N/A	Sephardic-Levite (1)
Netherlands	5	1709	0.3%
Norway	4	1335	0.3%
Poland	11	3630	0.3%	Ashkenazi (1) Prussia (3)
Portugal	2	786	0.3%	Azores (1)
Romania	2	546	0.4%
Russian Federation	9	3070	0.3%	Ashkenazi (2) Ashkenazi-Levite (1)
Scotland	12	11425	0.1%
Serbia	3	87	N/A
Slovakia	1	498	0.2%
Slovenia	3	148	2%
Spain	6	3351	0.2%	Canary Islands (1)
Sweden	6	1595	0.4%
Switzerland	7	1844	0.4%
Turkey	1	559	0.2%
Ukraine	8	1545	0.5%	Ashkenazi (4)
United Kingdom	16	10657	0.2%
United States	5	2563	0.2%
Wales	2	2029	0.1%

Genetic Distance -1

Country	Match Total	Country Total	Percentage	Comments
Albania	1	28	N/A
Austria	17	606	2.8%	Ashkenazi (4)
Bahrain	1	28	N/A
Belarus	23	666	3.5%	Ashkenazi (19)
Belgium	3	517	0.6%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	87	N/A
Bulgaria	14	170	8.2%
Canada	2	353	0.6%
Cape Verde	2	23	N/A
Chad	2	2	N/A
Croatia	7	213	3.3%
Cyprus	1	53	N/A
Czech Republic	10	676	1.5%	Bohemia (3) Moravia (1)
Denmark	3	814	0.4%
England	111	23931	0.5%
France	20	3366	0.6%
Georgia	3	54	N/A
Germany	159	12073	1.3%	Ashkenazi (7) Baden-Württemberg (1) Schleswig-Holstein (1) Silesia (1)
Greece	26	681	3.8%	Rhodes (1)
Hungary	27	1181	2.3%	Ashkenazi (3) Bukovina (1)
Ireland	19	14064	0.1%
Israel	2	138	1.4%	Ashkenazi (1)
Italy	85	3335	2.5%	Sephardic (1) Sicily (9)
Kuwait	1	155	0.6%
Latvia	2	260	0.8%	Ashkenazi (1)
Lebanon	1	239	0.4%
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	1	22	N/A
Lithuania	24	1013	2.4%	Ashkenazi (16)
Macedonia	1	61	N/A
Mexico	1	814	0.1%
Moldova	2	78	N/A	Ashkenazi (1)
Mongolia	1	588	0.2%
Netherlands	10	1709	0.6%	Ashkenazi (2)
Norway	1	1335	0.1%
Poland	52	3630	1.4%	Ashkenazi (25) Ashkenazi (Galicia) (2) Prussia (1)
Portugal	5	786	0.6%	Azores (1)
Puerto Rico	1	242	0.4%	MDKO: Puerto Rico (1)
Qatar	1	147	0.7%
Romania	15	546	2.7%	Ashkenazi (4)
Russian Federation	38	3070	1.2%	Ashkenazi (18)
Saudi Arabia	6	1132	0.5%
Scotland	18	11425	0.2%
Serbia	1	87	N/A
Slovakia	13	498	2.6%	Ashkenazi (5)
Spain	19	3351	0.6%
Sudan	1	149	0.7%
Sweden	5	1595	0.3%
Switzerland	15	1844	0.8%	Bern (2) Zurich (1)
Syrian Arab Republic	2	205	1%	Sephardic (1)
Turkey	7	559	1.3%
Ukraine	41	1545	2.7%	Ashkenazi (19) Ashkenazi (Bessarabia) (1)
United Arab Emirates	2	269	0.7%
United Kingdom	49	10657	0.5%
United States	24	2563	0.9%
Wales	9	2029	0.4%

Please wait while we check for your 12 marker matches...

25 Marker

Genetic Distance -1

Country	Match Total	Country Total	Percentage	Comments
England	1	18790	< 0.1 %
Germany	1	7082	< 0.1 %
Poland	1	2029	< 0.1 %	Prussia (1)

Genetic Distance -2

Country	Match Total	Country Total	Percentage	Comments
Albania	1	10	N/A
Austria	1	293	0.3%
Belarus	1	419	0.2%
Croatia	1	71	N/A
Czech Republic	1	343	0.3%
England	5	18790	< 0.1 %
Ethiopia	1	8	N/A
Germany	4	7082	0.1%
Greece	2	221	0.9%
Hungary	1	661	0.2%
Italy	3	1315	0.2%
Poland	1	2029	< 0.1 %
Romania	1	235	0.4%
Russian Federation	1	1088	0.1%
Slovenia	1	68	N/A
Spain	1	1569	0.1%
Sweden	1	673	0.1%
Switzerland	2	1182	0.2%
United Kingdom	1	6893	< 0.1 %