38. Jack Straw Productions: Ugly Me

Thirty eight down. Seventeen to go.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, where does self-worth reside? That question was posed by Gabriela Denise Frank's Ugly Me installation at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery. I visited the gallery one beautiful summer evening to hear a talk by the artist and see the exhibit, described as an exploration of "the interplay between appearance and self-worth through fashion photography, distorted selfies, and spoken prose."

Ugly Me explored beauty, worth, and the "power of the selfie." It was a serious and thought-provoking work, but also a fun and whimsical exploration of the world of distorted selfies (taken with various apps you can download on your smartphone). The artist said that through this project she has "learned to not to squirm (too much) in the presence of cameras." She also invited folks to tweet selfies to the exhibit or post them in person at the gallery.

Founded in 1962, Jack Straw is a multidisciplinary audio arts center. Its home on Roosevelt Avenue in Seattle's University District has exhibit, classroom and office space, and a production facility for local artists to work creatively with sound.  Among its many offerings, Jack Straw has three different artist residencies, art and technology education (including programs in the public schools), and collaborations with arts and heritage organizations to integrate sound and music into their programs. Jack Straw has a full-service recording studio and provides creation and production opportunities in all forms of audio media, including radio, theater, film, video, music and literature.

Jack Straw is producing a podcast interview of Ms. Frank discussing Ugly Me which should be fun and interesting. I will share the link here as soon as it is available. 

The Ugly Me installation included a dozen poems by
the artist, Gabriela Denise Frank

The installation included many images from public media.