I signed up for this course not knowing completely what I was getting into. I do not have a background in art or social action, which I am sure, also correlates to activism, and was a little worried about what I may encounter this semester. After attending the first couple of classes, read the readings, and observed class discussion, to be honest, I feel a bit in over my head.
Even from those few articles, my view of art has been greatly challenged. Not only was I shocked by the actual art pieces, but also by the messages they carried. I had no set definition of art in my mind beforehand, but I am guessing that it had much to do with aesthetics. Within the articles, I found nothing beautiful and nothing that instilled a feeling of joy or inspiration in my being. All I discovered was ugliness and bitter messages encrypted in the art. I know that these are pretty strong feelings, but I really don't see how anyone could come away from reading these articles and have any good feelings. But maybe, art doesn't always have to make you feel good?
The one piece that disturbed me the most was the refrigerators filled with rotting meat and maggots. I actually had to read over that article a couple of times just to figure out what it was talking about; I found the material so foreign and inconceivable. When I finally realized what the refrigerators were and what they stood for, I was completely disgusted. How could they be called art? How could anyone admire that, for its beauty or its message?
I know that I have so much more to learn about art and its meaning. I also possess little knowledge about social action. Hopefully, I will begin to understand them both more fully and their interaction and importance to each other.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment