Reaction to Rashaad Newsome

McLuhan states that, "The interplay between the old and the new environments creates many
problems and confusions. The main obstacle to a clear understanding of the effects of the new media is our deeply embedded habit of regarding all phenomena from a fixed point of view." (69) This past week we were lucky enough to be visited by Rashaad Newsome at school. While I was unable to attend his lecture, I was able to sit down at lunch with him and talk about his art. One thing that intrigued me was his mix of media, while known for his performance pieces, Rashaad also has amazing colleague pieces, videos and sculptures. Although I have very little exposure to the vogue culture that is present in a lot of his work I found it very interesting to hear him talk about how he mixed this history with his own ideas into his final pieces. That is one thing that he stated was important in creating his work: he looks at the how history and pop culture are working together.

            Another thing that Rashaad does a very nice focus on is his work in tangent with each other. Rather then just working with one piece as a solo, he uses all of his works together. He explained that a lot of times he films the live performance to make his videos, and also uses the movement of the dancers to create sculptures of the final movement. Furthermore, in a lot of his performance pieces you can his own creations being worn or in the background as well. Using all of these elements together creates a larger even more impressive work. That notion of taking the one idea and expanding it to make a larger pieces creates more depth and meaning in the works, one that Rashaad prides himself on. 

To see some of his work: Rashaad Newsome