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[OT] how does this sound/read



Background information/bio

    My early work concerns how it feels to be a disabled person in a world 
that perpetuates negative stereotypes about the disabled.  Americans typically 
lack historical knowledge about disability in general, and misunderstand the 
number, the true magnitude, of disabled individuals.  This mainstream attitude 
affects my everyday life:  although highly visible in one sense (people notice 
me immediately), I also experience a sense of acute invisibility, in that 
people prefer to ignore or underestimate me.  

On the disc there are three examples of my earlier work. I would now like to 
tell you a little bit about each of the works.

1.  Normal life. 

The work is about my relationship with a non-disabled woman and how her need 
for "normalcy" affected our relationship. It also speaks to the underlying 
need for all people to feel normal, even as it questions the concepts of 
"normalcy".

2.  53,907,000 citizens

This work addresses the lack of knowledge about disabled people residing in 
the United States of America.  Using data from the most recent census, I use a 
grid of blue dots to represent one hundred people.  Twenty of these blue dots 
are surrounded by orange squares, to represent the fact that 20% of the U.S. 
population has some form of disability.

3.  Which one of these men has epilepsy?

This work talks about how most disabilities are invisible. Unless people who 
have disabilities tell you that they are disabled, you may or may not ever 
know that they are disabled. This work also talks about stereotypes and the fact 
that most people think that disabled people are easily spotted.

Current info

      My newer work is about how it feels to be simultaneously seen and 
invisible. Through the use of slogans, thoughtful catch -phrases, and logos placed 
on business cards, stickers, posters, and even t-shirts my work becomes a 
metaphor for ideas of the seen and the unnoticed. These messages are very much 
present in my work as it appears in the everyday environment. However, they 
depend upon the viewer to change their status from the unseen to the visible.

Proposal for the Whitney Biennial
(see files marked "Hope" 1-4)

     Everyone who enters the Whitney Museum has to take a ticket and put on a 
sticker. This sticker allows them to pass through security. However, with 
their minds on getting into the galleries, how many people read what is actually 
on the sticker? 

My proposal is that my work will be these very stickers. For the duration of 
the Biennial each ticket sold or given will have an image taken from Hope 1-4.

Everybody will then have a piece of my work. As it dawns on groups of people 
that there are variations in the stickers then they will look for the others 
and so my work will become visible.

RESUME 

VISUAL
Handscapes - solo March 1-March 17/2000. in the Howard/Minton room at IUS
cuntcorpusgimp - photography by Thaniel lee and Beth teaford may 31- june 
15th/2002   at Artswatch funded by :  Kentucky foundation for woman and VSA of 
Kentucky

thaniel lee and paul nuefelder  august 2nd - august 8th /2002 at Harrison 
center for the arts 1505 N. Delaware st. Indianapolis, IN.  46202          

new artist new work new name group show oct 11th - nov 16th /2002 at swanson 
reed contemporary 

Kentucky national 2003 group show at Eagle Gallery Murray State University

Document - solo may 23rd - june 14th 2003 at artswatch

PERFORMANCE ART/SOUND ART

Insomnicathon 2001 w/ keenan lawler
http://ossatwork.com/insomniacathon/schedule1.htm

BRYCC HOUSE BENEFIT CD - I had a track call ash city part 1.

Thaniel ion lee w/ joee conroy, keenan lawler, and steve good 5/7/2001 at 
artswatch

Thaniel ion lee w/ steve good, greg acker, and zan hoffman

Thaniel ion lee, keenan lawer, and Arthur kalow at artswatch on may 2nd 2003

FESTIVALS

Insomniacathon
VSAI 1999 FESTIVAL
VSAI 2001 FESTIVAL 

WEB

http://www.ius.edu/journalism/2000/zlee.html

www.vsai.org/wint02.pdf 

http://www.unrestrainedmag.com/reviews19a.html

www.vsai.org 

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