It's Our One-Year Anniversary!

It’s our one-year anniversary this month and in OD-CAP’s effort to explore themes that are valued by our contributors and users, this issue continues to consider works of art that engage us. Most of the uploads deal with race and/in digital space—defined as the historical use of digital formats, contemporary Black youth and digital media, digital platforms that have transformed communication in African nations, digital graphic and design remixes, and access to video works through YouTube.

View this sample video by Antonio Jose Guzman.

We will also attach links to other websites or blogs that intersect with our concerns and interests or that our artists and contributors send to us like Bamako Time Zone, a project by David Damoison.

http://bamakotimezone.wordpress.com/

Like a collage, we “cut and paste” our way through these digital platforms, while also exploring other interests. Several of our writers are “foodies” and we are drawn to artists who focus on food. As an on-line community of volunteer writers, we are also keenly aware of navigating the job market with an art degree and the necessity of having to put food on the table while we sustain our artistic lives and communities. So, subsequent issues will continue to explore some of these themes and present new conversations with artists, articles, and galleries in June and September. Frequent blogs will continue to appear in our Voices link.

More News--The Aloe vera plant as an icon for OD-CAP

I wanted a logo that visually summed up my current reflections on a life in art and green thinking. Aside from a career in art, I have always been an avid gardener. In wakes of indecision, writer’s and creative blocks, I turned to my garden for respite and reassurance that all was still well within my world.

Considering a logo, I remember the presence of Aloe vera plants in my mother’s garden in Los Angeles, California. She planted all types of succulents and cacti to beautify our home environment. As I grew older, and had my own children, I used the plant’s juices on their burns and scrapes. This plant has resonance with my present life as I invite my own creative spirit back in.

I accept the Aloe vera plant is a symbol of regeneration and renewal. It grows naturally in Africa, America, Asia and Europe. For me, it signifies a merging of experiences and a closer collaboration with artists and their reasons for creating. In a market driven art world bordering on distastefulness, the Aloe vera plant represents my commitment to work collaboratively in new and interdisciplinary genres away from what has become the status quo.