Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

                Very often, many individuals have trouble defining themselves, or really identifying who they are. Identifying who you are may take a lifetime for some, and for others may take just as long as the strike of a brush on canvas. It becomes a bit simpler to identify yourself when you have creative ways to express yourself, such as through art. Through art, we are able to visually appreciate the identity that the artist meant to create. However, artists are not always seeking just to define their art through their own identity, but they use their works to define the identity of cultures, and time periods such as those belonging to history.

                One specific work of art that defined individual identity for me, was "Untitled" from the Series of Dear Painter, Paint for Me by artist Martin Kippenberger. This specific painting portrays a man sitting on a disposed of leather black couch on the sidewalk of what appears to be a city much like New York. The indidvidual in the painting is merely just sitting there, and seems to be pondering away in the middle of all that garbage. What spoke to me about this painting was how this man was not afraid to sit down, in the middle of the busy city, in garbage laying the sidewalk no less, and just ponder his thoughts. To me, this spoke out as not being afraid to be different in a city where the hustle and bustle makes everyone seem alike. As an individual, the man in the painting is sitting in trash without a care, without caring that he has just identified himself out of everyone in the big city.

                Cindy Sherman's work "Untitled #264" spoke out to very loudly as an example of cultural identity. The way that Sherman used the enlarged genitals and breasts of the woman in her photograph made me consider that culturally, women are still considered sexual objects and that as a culture, without realizing, we make that idea okay. We support the idea that women should have larger breasts, thinner waists, and larger behinds in order to be attractive enough for men. And if we do not appeal to the other sex, it is almost as if we are socially and culturally unacceptable. Sherman's use of exposed and enlarged genitals and breasts goes along also with the face of the woman in the picture being covered by some sort of gas mask. I took this as Sherman using this work to portray that this is a poison we are feeding to our culture, this exploitation of woman that should have ended years ago, or better yet never should have begun.

                Sherman's work "Untitled #201" is a picture that also spoke very loudly to me, only this one spoke to me as identifying a historical moment in time. The use of Sherman replicating a man of power from a period of history much before her time, really indentified how good the men of power looked. The individual in the portrait looks extremely well fed and well dressed, speaking to me that the wealthy have always had it great, and reminding me that both back then and now, the poor and middle class have had to work twice as hard as the rich and still live less than half the life of the wealthy.  The fine materials and just the image itself captivate the kinds of things that the wealthy have been able to attain that the middle and lower classes have never been able to come close to. I believe this particular picture speaks both historically and presently, clearly identifying the differences in class that we try so hard to pretend does not exist.

                The use of art to express an identity, as stated before, clearly is a great way to get into the minds of your viewers and make connections with a kind of identity. You may find your own identity even, by becoming a creator or viewer of a certain work. Identity begins from within, and I am a strong believer that everyone should try to find theirs in their own way, but especially through some form of art that may help someone else begin to find themselves as well. Good art, I believe, speaks out to you and makes you wonder, therefore good art makes you indentify.

Works Cited

Martin Kippenberger

"Untitled" from the Series Dear Painter, Paint for Me 1981

Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas

2007

Cindy Sherman

"Untitled #264"

Chromogenic Color Print

1992

Cindy Sherman

"Untitled #201"

Chromogenic Color Prints

1989

Narrative Digital Collage

That Reminds Me of the Time When I Walked Into the Wrong Wedding!

I was super excited when I got my cousin's wedding invitation a month prior to the date, so when the day finally arrived I put on my best dress and heels, and got all dolled up. Of course, me being a girl and all, I was running a bit late. My cab driver was trying his best to get to the beach where the wedding was being held as fast as he could, but there was some minor traffic. Already about 40 minutes late, I arrived to the beach, but I was unsure of what field it was being held in ,and had left the invitation back at home. I tried to remember if it was field two or five, and decided that it was five because that was my cousin's favorite number. I threw off my heels so I could run through the sand, and started seeing quite a few dogs around the beach but thought nothing of it. I could see a ceremony going on close to the beach water, and ran faster so that I could at least maybe catch the final moments of my cousin's big day. I concentrated on the well decorated cake up ahead, and ran as fast as I possibly could but stopped short when I realized, I was at the wrong wedding! There were plenty of guests, only the majority of the guests were dogs! The only real humans around were the owners I suppose, who stood off at a distance and all looked at me as if to say, "well where is your doggy"? I tried to act as if I was invited, and stood off with the rest of the crowd of humans, and watched this adorable ceremony. My cousin never really forgave me for missing her wedding, but at least I got this priceless picture of the wedding I'll never forget.

Good Art v. Bad Art

What makes good art, good? Good art is, as mentioned in the video, something that you can connect to. Art is a work that speaks to you, that you can relate to and almost feel what the artist felt when they created the work. Good art tells a story of some sort, and is a passageway to the idea of the moment in which it was created. Art from the Renaissance era, for example, tells beautiful stories of women and religion, which immediately gives you the idea that those two components were extremely important during that era. Photography, my personal favorite, is extremely powerful. I say this not because it is a biased opinion, but because a photograph captures a moment, a figure, a movement, a shadow,  color, something that the photographer considered significant enough to capture forever and share with others. Point blank, art speaks. Art connects with you in some way, makes you think and wonder about the work. Good art comes in different forms of all kinds, and connect with everyone in some kind of way, but all in all gives a message to someone in some way.

As for bad art, it is hard to define what is "bad". What may seem like a piece of trash to you, may be the most amazing work of art to someone else. Bad art may be something that has no meaning, but again that lies in question to whom it may have meaning. I suppose that if I had to give bad art a definition, I would say that bad art is a blank canvas. I don't believe that anything not worth effort is art. For example, I dont believe that a blank sheet of white paper can be art. There's no feeling to it but blankness. Art is full and rich with feeling, not blankness. Art connects with you in some way, and everyone is made with effort, so how you can connect with blankness is beyond me. I have yet to mean anyone who has absolutely no emotions, therefore I do not believe anyone can create a connection with nothing. Art is part of life, it is emotion and full of intensity. Art is beautiful and ugly at the same time, but it is full of effort.