User:Jenniferclifford/sandbox

Literature Review

Source 1)

Blocker, Jane. Seeing Witness : Visuality and the Ethics of Testimony. Minneapolis, US: University of Minnesota Press, 2009. Accessed February 21, 2017. ProQuest ebrary. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgetown/detail.action?docID=10421840.

This online book features a chapter titled “Peoples of Memory: James Luna and the Production of History”. It discusses the unconventional means by which Luna uses his art to critique conceptions and ways of remembering of Native Americans. It will be helpful in his “work” section as it discusses a range of his pieces as well as provides more contextual information about Luna himself.

Source 2)

Blocker, Jane. "Ambivalent Entertainments: James Luna, Performance, and the Archive." Grey Room, no. 37 (2009): 52-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20627783.

“Ambivalent Entertainment: James Luna, Performance, and the Archive” contains information about James Luna’s family. It delves into not only the chronology of his work, but the context it influences within and is influenced by. This piece can provide a wide scope of information for the wiki site from biographical information to information about his work to information about the museums his work has been featured in.

Source 3)

Blocker, Jane. "Failures of Self-seeing: James Luna Remembers Dino." PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 23, no. 1 (2001): 18-32. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed February 21, 2017).

This piece puts a special emphasis on Luna’s attempt to confront his own alcoholism and the alcoholism that affects many native peoples. It breaks down his performance “In My Dreams” through sociological lenses, analyzing its contents and how they can be understood. The work also features an extensive works cited in cases I need to fill content gaps.

Source 4)

Caldwell, Ellen. "How Luiseno Indian Artist James Luna Resists Cultural Appropriation." JStor Daily, December 25, 2015. Accessed February 21, 2017. https://daily.jstor.org/native-disruptions-with-artist-james-luna/.

This article is published by JStor’s “Daily”. It provides a scholarly explanation of what Luna’s artwork is meant to do and has done for audiences that have observed it. Specifically it discusses his performance “Artifact Piece” and poem “I’ve always wanted to be an American Indian”. As a scholarly commentary on his work it may be useful to provide a summary of how James Luna’s work has affected people; however, will need to be used carefully as it is based on observation and not wholly objective fact.

Source 5)

Dauner, Maia. "Performance Art and Corporeal Confusion in the Work of Coco Fusco, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and James Luna." Order No. 3543266, University of Rochester, 2012, http://proxy.library.georgetown.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1176543225?accountid=11091 (accessed February 21, 2017).

This dissertation approaches James Luna as an important figure of hybrid identity. It places a special emphasis on identity and and the use of performance art to challenge norms. It will serve as meaningful background to Luna himself as well his performance art.

Source 6)

Fernandez-Sacco, Ellen. "Check Your Baggage: Resisting Whiteness in Art History." Art Journal 60, no. 4 (Winter, 2001): 58-61, http://proxy.library.georgetown.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/223303861?accountid=11091 (accessed February 21, 2017).

This text is not focused entirely on James Luna but on racial categories as they are perpetuated by museums. It likely will not be directly useful to the page, but it could provide some valuable context for Luna’s work and where it has been displayed. Like other sources, this piece too provides lengthy analysis of James Luna’s artwork.

Source 7)

Haas, Lisbeth, and James Luna. Pablo Tac, indigenous scholar: writing on Luiseño language and colonial history, c. 1840. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.

This book primarily features information of the Luiseno language and colonial history in California. There is a section of the book written by Luna with many images of the Luisana community provided by Luna. For the wikipedia page this book can provide some contextual information about Luiesno peoples as well as some carefully used information about Luna. Here, he describes himself as an “American Indian ceremonial clown”, a “culture warrior” and a “tribal citizen”. While this information will need to be used carefully, audiences may find Luna’s self-perception to be an interesting and valued addition to his page.

Source 8)

Luna, James A. "I've Always Wanted to Be an American Indian." Art Journal 51, no. 3 (1992): 19-27. doi:10.2307/777344. https://www.jstor.org/stable/777344?mag=native-disruptions-with-artist-james-luna&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.

This piece is Luna’s poem “I’ve Always wanted to be an American Indian”. I will not be able to use it for little other than my own context and reference when it comes to curating the substance of his article. I will, however, be able to provide access to the material on the page so that it becomes more easily accessible to viewers.

Source 9)

McHugh, Kathleen. "Profane Illuminations: History and Collaboration in James Luna and Isaac Artenstein's The History of the Luiseño People." Biography 31, no. 3 (2008): 429-460. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed February 21, 2017).

This piece provides background on a film that Luna co-made called “The History of the Luiseno People”. The information this essay provides will thus provide valuable information about another piece of Luna’s “work”.  Importantly, it also provides information about the history of the Luiseno People.

Source 10)

Saracho, Amanda Renee. "Identity and Authenticity: A Study of the Contemporary Native American Experience through the Works of Fritz Scholder and James Luna." Order No. 1558756, University of Colorado at Boulder (2014) http://proxy.library.georgetown.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1551196498?accountid=11091 (accessed February 21, 2017).

This piece focuses particularly on the contemporary context of Luna’s work. On Luna’s wiki page it will be important to give this element attention as his work is often intended to critique museums studies that treat Native American Indians as a part of history rather than a part of the present. It will be important to the “work” section of the page to use the wide array of information provided here.

Editing Worksheet:

1. Unsubstantiated claims: what information does not have a citation but needs one?

Ex: “John Day, Jr. would later emigrate to Liberia, and become one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Liberia. He served as Chief Justice, and was one of the first people to sign the Liberian Declaration of Independence.” (citation needed)

In the artwork section, Luna’s pieces are described without attribution to who has described them in this way which doesn’t seem appropriate for Wikipedia. For instance, it reads “By putting himself on display, Luna ‘challenges our prejudices, stereotypes, and assumptions about Native Americans in general and about him specifically.’” I think this should be narrated in a different way, like “Luna’s pieces are said to… (and the I will surmise the research I collect, but will not quote) from a neutral point of view.

In academic work Luna’s history in teaching is not cited: Luna has taught art at the University of California, San Diego. 

In Honors Luna’s awards are not cited: During his career, Luna has received many awards, including Best Live Short Performance at the American Indian Film Festival and a Bessie Award from the Dance Theater Workshop of New York

In Quotes Luna’s second quote is not cited: Of the performance "Take a Picture With a Real Indian": Standing at a podium wearing an outfit, I announce: “Take a picture with a real Indian. Take a picture here, in Washington, D.C. on this beautiful Monday morning, on this holiday called Columbus Day. America loves to say ‘her Indians.’ America loves to see us dance for them. America likes our arts and crafts. America likes to name cars and trucks after our tribes. Take a picture with a real Indian. Take a picture here today, on this sunny day here in Washington, D.C.” And then I just stand there. Eventually, one person will pose with me. After that they just start lining up. I’ll do that for a while until I get mad enough or humiliated enough.

The citation section of the page is also a mess, I plan to fix the current citations that appear to be added in a rush and reorganize the notes/ references/ links section to make the information more clear and accessible for viewers.

To do this I am going to use Bradley Cooper’s Wikipedia page as a reference. I chose him because he is the first living person I could find in the featured article and as an artist (though very dissimilar from Luna) I hope the organization and content of his page can at least somewhat match what I think will be needed of Luna’s.

2.   Expressed bias: which information needs to be adjusted to reflect a neutral point of view?

Ex: “It is amazing that Dave Drake was able to achieve what he did with his pottery.”

The artwork section needs to be adjusted to provide more context for his work without reflecting bias. Currently the information that describes his use of his body in his work says “By putting himself on display, Luna ‘challenges our prejudices, stereotypes, and assumptions about Native Americans in general and about him specifically.’” I think this needs to be adjusted not only by ridding of the quote, but also stepping back the narration from observation to a summation of what is written by scholars in regards to his work.

Given the very limited material that is provided, this seems to be the only instant that seems to be explicitly biased.

3.   Are there any content gaps? What seems to be missing? What important sources should be cited? Identify what information needs more authoritative sources. (For example, if you look at the entry for Poplar Forest, there is little to no information about the current excavation of the slave quarters there).

Luna’s entry is very short and thus there seem to be many content gaps. Foremost, the lead section is minimal describing only his location and education. Here, I intend to provide more context for his demographic and familial background as well as providing more information about why he is significant. For instance, I will add information about his art and his awards.

There does not appear to be a shortage of information about Luna on the internet either. Most articles seem to relate to his work and the influence it has had in representations of identity and current political discussions about appropriation. I think this information is especially interesting and pertinent to his page.

His background is very much a reiteration of the lead section in more, but still minimal, detail. Here is where I would like to delve further into his Native American ancestry and Mexican heritage. I think it would also be interesting to include more information about his influences in becoming an artist. Rather than include a section on Personal Life I will include the information that I find here, as I imagine speculation on Luna will mostly relate to his work, unlike say Bradley Cooper where viewers are likely visiting his page to snoop into all aspects of his life.

The artwork section is currently the most substantial, but it is unorganized and poorly written. I would like to provide a better summation of his previous work, where it has been used, and for what purposes.

His Academic work section is very brief saying only that he currently works as an academic-counselor. If there exists no further information on his work in academia I will delete this section and include this information in his lead or incorporate a “Career section” where this information can be more coherently organized.

His Honors section must be built upon.

His Quotes section is currently very awkward and thus far I am uncertain if it is appropriate or necessary.

4. What needs copyediting?

The existing citations especially need to be made more clear.

All of what is written in Luna’s artwork section needs to be revised and given the amount of information that is needed to fill content gaps, I imagine the other sections will undergo significant revision as well. There is currently no information on the talk page so it seems like I have a lot of freedom and to make the many improvements that are necessary.

I also intend to revise the organization and sectioning of the page is it is currently disjointed and inadequate in providing a full scope of Luna. I think a background section will help bridge this gap, as well as a section that focuses explicitly on his career will make information more clear.

Laundry List and Final Vision:

• Clean up existing information: I will tidy what is currently on Luna’s page (content and references) so that it will be a clean slate when I go in to add my information.
• I will compile a full list of sources
• Organization: After reviewing my sources I will create a layout of what sections needed to be added and deleted to include all relevant information about Luna while allowing for a clearer flow

Vision: From an outsider’s perspective, Luna’s work looks very interesting. I want to know more and the Wikipedia page as it exists does not do much to fill my knowledge gap. I hope to edit Luna’s page to be an adequate representation of his work and its influence so that future viewers will be able to access a full scope of James Luna that is easy to understand and befitting of his myriad accomplishments to date.

Post-Lit Review Laundry List and Final Vision:

I found far more information on Luna's work that I had anticipated and relatively little about Luna himself. Thus, I will continue my plan to tidy up the existing information about Luna on the page, but will focus greater detail and energy on the sections detailing his work.

Envisioned layout:

• Initial Section: Brief sum of all necessary information regarding Luna.
• Background: More in depth look at who James Luna is, where he comes from, and the trajectory of his life.
• Artwork: I will start with an overview and then detail his more famous work each in its own paragpah
  • Artifact Piece
  • "I've Always Wanted to be an American Indian"
  • Emendatio
  • Etc...
• Honors: I will create a section that acknowledges how his work has been formally recieved
• Quotes: I will add to this section- initially I was not sure of it, but after reading up on Luna I think his own self-perception provides a valuable elns to whic his work can be examined