As I mentioned in my last post, a couple of weeks ago, Evan and I met with Dr. Tom Mould in the anthropolgy/sociology department to discuss my possible involvement in incorporating some works of art into the common space there in Lindner. This art would be coming from Elon’s art collection that I am working with as part of my 499 research hours this semester. One of the goals of mine for this semester is to hang an exhibition somewhere on campus using the art from Africa that we have in this collection. The anthro/soc department is interested bringing art into their space and we initially thought that we could combine their desire for art work with my desire to hang an exhibition. After discussing with Dr. Mould and Evan, we decided that it would be best if the art that was in that space not just be art from Africa because it was a misrepresentation of the academic work and research that faculty and students are doing in the anthro and soc departments, as there is no Africanist in the department. Work from the collection will still be used for this space, but I will just not be involved in the process as the art will be art not from Africa.
During this same discussion, Dr. Mould also asked me specifically about my project and what I am doing with it. There is a level of anxiety that also comes over me when someone asks me this question. Not because I am not passionate about what I’m doing and not because I don’t want to share my project with other people, but because my project is dealing with such large questions and multiple components that I am not always sure how to effectively convey my project as a cohesive and worthwhile endeavor. So, Evan and I sat down for a couple of hours in the library with blanks sheets of paper and pencil and sketched out what we think my project is at this point.
At this point, we have decided to focus a little more heavily on the question of “Why do we (humans) create?” within the contours of what I am doing. At the heart of my project, and something that I have really been asking in different ways all along, is a pull to consider and explore the different reasons and impulses for creative expression and representation. I have been thinking about this a lot recently and am excited about what this new emphasis will do for my project.
Another element of my project that I was feeling unsure about was my personal creative output in terms of what I am learning and experiencing through my project. A large component of my project was intended to be my personal reactions in the form of photographs and writing and this has fallen somewhat to the wayside because of where I have decided to put my attention during my 499 research hours this semester. Evan and I are trying to brainstorm ways in which to work on this and one of our ideas for solution was to create what we called a “Maggie Box” and what we are now calling the “Do Box” (because of a cutout that Evan recently taped to the front of the box.) In this box that sits in front of Evan’s office, I am supposed to drop anything that I have forced myself to write or make for this project. By having the box there, I can share and include whatever I want whenever I want, but there is not a strict schedule for when I have to produce something. This has been working really well so far and at this point I plan to include everything that makes it into the Do Box in my final exhibition as another sort of chronicle of what I am doing.
I have shared my current struggles with my Fellows class to get feedback and Evan and I are still working almost daily on these issues. While sometimes this project can cause anxiety or confusion, I am glad for it because I know that these ideas and issues are not supposed to be easy to understand or handle. My project was never intended to find answers or come to conclusions and I know that it never will. These “problems” are part of this exploration and while this makes it difficult sometimes on a day-to-day basis because I often feel lost, I am happy to be lost in situations that I know are causing me to think, that are causing others to think, and that will continue to create discussion and questions for a while longer.
If you care to share, with these new ideas in mind, why do you create? What do you create? What does “personal expression” mean to you?
More on where I am on this to come. We have discussed further and I will be updating you shortly on some new focuses and ideas that we have thought of in terms of bringing all of these things together. 
Hey, Maggie! Have you thought about asking the Geography department if they want to do the African art thing? They also have a new space in Lindner, and Dr. Frontani is the chair of that department, and she’s definitely an Africa person…