After seeing some of the art that my classmates had found around campus, ours really couldn’t compare to theirs. Any who, it didn’t discourage me from talking about why we all chose this piece. When searching through the area we saw this small, but loud, spot in the edge of a concrete brick bench. The rough texture caught my attention, but also the geometric-ness of it as well with how they all perfectly stack onto each other. When I look at this picture I feel satisfied, but also anxious. Satisfied with the fact at how organized and set the structure of it is. Anxious because of the white distraction that takes away from the structure. I almost wish I could just wipe it away! To me, this piece speaks to me that even though we have a plan in life it can always change unexpectedly. These bricks were meant to show a calming copper tone and nothing more, but through rain and shine they have changed over time giving a white spot as if it was intentionally placed by nature to just shake things up a bit. This is important in everyone’s lives to be prepared for any event.
Our piece was definitely not art before adding masking tape around it and won’t be art even after I remove the tape. Every Monday and Wednesday I walk past these brick structures and pay no mind to them. After all, I feel they weren’t meant for us to experience but to just support a bigger idea. It depends on how I view it and it what context it is in for me to be able to consider it an art piece. I had no deep connection with these bricks until I made it that way.
Art can reside in the body of an object, if we allow us to see it in that perspective. For myself, if a piece does not invoke an emotion or idea, it isn’t art. It could be a peanut taped to a ceiling and I wouldn’t consider that art. Just someone’s idea of a funny prank maybe, but to someone else it could strike a feeling that I would not get to experience. A person must have the motivation and choice to take time to have a viewing experience if it meant something at all to them.
Art can definitely be something other than an object. Music, movies, clothing (is an object, but just roll with me here), and poems can all be considered art forms. They are usually made to have the viewer experience something new and different. With music, I can relate to as art the most because I listen to music all the time! Some songs will play and I think “What in the world is this?!” and immediately change the song to the next. Some songs, I genuinely feel a connection to. It can speak to me on a level that I haven’t felt, which to me is an art form that someone is able to pluck one of my heart strings and turn on an emotion or memory in my mind.
Cynthia's Blog 