Everyone
has distinct opinions on what exactly is good art, bad art, and even what kind
of art they actually understand. Many times, we can look at a piece of art and
identify right away whether we think it is good, bad, or even realize that we
are not so sure what it might be or what it might represent. The way a work of
art connects to you is key to your reaction towards that piece, whether it may
be an artist you like or dislike, a medium you are fond of, a color you enjoy,
or even a sound you may recognize quickly.
One
piece of art that I personally considered a good (well, rather great) example
of art, was "The Forty Part Motet" by Janet Cardiff. This 40-track
sound recording of an entire choir impacted me in a way that was almost hard to
explain. Upon entry to the exhibit, one sees 40 speakers around the room, and
hears almost what sounds like angels performing for you at their greatest. However,
once you step inside the oval of speakers and begin to walk around, if you
listen closely to every speaker, you hear every single heavenly voice that was
contributing to such a lovely sound. It was really quite moving to hear such
beauty at first and then be able to experience every single detail that was
contributing to this amazing piece. This piece by Cardiff honestly spoke out to
me very loudly, in a way that made me consider how much effort and detail every
amazing piece of art takes to construct.
Just as
there is good art that speaks loudly and moves you, there is also art that
speaks loudly but makes you want to move away from it. Clifford Owens' Anthology
piece titled "Xenosphere", originally
thought of by Lorraine O'Grady, was a piece that was almost disturbing to me.
The piece required two kinds of sexual behavior, one with either an animal, a
vegetable, or a mineral, and one with an actual interaction with another person.
Owens chose a chicken, a table of vegetables, and a young female. During all
three of these individual acts, Owens behaves in a sort of sexually aggressive
manner that was not very pleasant to watch at all. Although I have no issues
embracing art that5 concentrates on sexual activity, I found this piece quite
disturbing, perhaps because I had never really watched anyone interact quite so
sexually and aggressively with vegetables and chickens, and almost
uncomfortably with a female. I believe good art should connect with you, but in
all honest I could not connect with Owens' piece at all.
And
just as easily as art might speak to you in a good way or a bad way, art may
not speak to you at all. In fact, you might be the one speaking to the art,
asking it what it's supposed to mean. That was my reaction towards Darren Bader's
piece, " Chicken Burrito, Beef Burrito". This was a piece that I
mulled over for a very long time, because I could not exactly understand what
two burritos on a windowsill could possibly represent. This piece did not speak
to me at all, it only made me scratch my head in frustration that I could not
understand it. I found it extremely odd considering that I had loved and clearly
understood most of Bader's other exhibits, but this one really just got to me.
I o not believe I will ever understand this piece unless Bader himself were to
personally explain its value and purpose to me.
No
matter what your views on what may make a piece of art good, bad, or even
misunderstood, art is still the creativity of the artist who created it.
Somewhere deep down, that piece that you may think is horrendous or you cannot
quite figure out, has a lovely significance to the artist or anyone else on
this large earth. Art is a lot like life, I've realized. Just as there is good,
there is bad, there is what we don't understand, there is what speaks to us,
there is what defines us, there is past, there is present, and there s future.
I believe that art is life on a canvas.
Works
Janet Cardiff
"The Forty Part Motet"
40-track sound recording (14:00 minutes), 40 speakers
2001
Clifford Owens
"Anthology" (Lorraine O'Grady "Xenosphere)
3-channel HD video
2011
Darren Bader
"Chicken Burrito, Beef Burrito"
Medium N/A
Date N/A
