Sarah Paulsen
  • News
  • About & Bio
    • Statement
    • CV
    • Press
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  • Current Projects: On Whiteness
    • The Invention of Whiteness >
      • White by Law
      • Passenger
      • Consumer's Void
      • The Racial Matrix
      • Jello
    • On Whiteness >
      • hidden white norms
      • Family Culture, Traditions, and Rituals
  • Visual Art
    • Animation Drawings, Props, and Ephemera
    • Painting >
      • Untitled Women
      • Parades >
        • History of Parades
      • Female Flaneur >
        • Female Flaneur Exploration in St. Louis
        • Thrift Store Identities
        • Searching for Art in South America
        • The Grand Tour
      • Portraits of Columbia
      • Group Portraits
    • CamRah >
      • Ant Circus and Built
      • Echo
      • Off the Wall in Utter Pandemonium as We Tape on It.
      • Temple of the Dancing Bear
      • Murals and Set Design
    • Collage/Assemblage >
      • Targets
      • Wanderlust
    • Community Projects >
      • Community Workshops & Artist Residencies
      • Curating
      • Murals
      • People's Joy Parade
    • Drawing >
      • Recall Redraw Release
      • Things for Which I am Nostalgic
      • Sketches and Process Work
    • Installation >
      • & Animation
      • & Paintings
      • Female Flaneur Exploration
      • Found Fabric Screen
    • Costumes and Performances
  • Video and Animation
    • Ant Circus
    • Begin
    • Elegy to Connie >
      • Elegy to Connie artworks
    • High Wire
    • Heart is a Muscle
    • Midwest Hair
    • ¿Qué Séra, Séra?
    • W.O.W (Women On Wheels)
  • Teaching
    • Marian Middle School and College/Adult Classes
    • Animation Workshops and Classes
  • Sales
    • Freelance & commission work.

Jello

Comprised of a series of jello cutouts from cookbooks, many self published by “Jello”, this stop motion animation explores Jello as a metaphor for “whiteness”.
 
When a St. Louis based activist asked a group of white people what the food of their culture was- the only thing they could think of was jello. Contemplating this idea, I became further intrigued by how Jello as a substance was originally transparent, but assumed the color/taste/course of that which was added inside. This reminded me of how whiteness encompassed and overtook certain ethnic groups or denied groups from entering its domain. Whiteness continued to mutate its definition as a means of maintaining power. Jello was also a food emblematic of middle class parties, the artistic prowess of the housewife, and a desire to fit in. 
​

The entire piece was animated in the style of an advertisement. Vernacular String Trio created a catchy 50’s jazz soundtrack that matched the rhythm of the animation.
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