Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Art Museum Critique

And that quote was bs requirement so I made it a bs quote Haha.

My experience with this assignment had its ups, and of course, it had its downs. When I began preparing to write my critique of a piece of art; little did I know that a great deal of agony was in my near future. Procrastination and the art of “winging” assignments are my main skills. I believed these skills would carry me through this class and toward a respectable B, hell maybe even an A, in this intro class. “Woe was me” when I realized how mistaken about that assumption I truly was.
The day started like any other, morning rituals were followed by seemingly timeless sessions of videogames and other innocent past times. Near mid-day I decided to take a look at the credentials for this art critique. As I read the details I realized I was not going to be able to “wing” this one. I would not be able to write a flashy critique over a piece of art I hadn’t seen and I most definitely would not be able to come up with a quote like “St. Augustine complained that it was better to dig ditches on the Sabbath then to dance a ‘Choric Reign.’ ” [Sporre 231] With these new revelations I was off to find the art museum and a copy of the textbook, since I can barely afford the 32 cent ramen noodles in my belly.
I marched notebook in hand to the art museum and into a world I thought I left behind after a 3 week art binge at museums across Europe 2 years ago. Once I entered the building I could tell the gallery was close-by. The smell, the sound or lack thereof, and the cleanliness, it was all too familiar. A cold sweat slithered across my brow like a cold serpent of doom as my eyes rested upon the words “Gallery I” and “Gallery II”, I knew it was time.
I entered the room and the first thing I noticed was a giant skeletal beast hanging from the ceiling. As a stared into the eye sockets of this beast, I knew I could not back-out now. As I got close to examine the creature, I noticed that, no matter how fierce he once was, he is no longer a threat to me. However, once I realized I was no longer afraid of that monster, it became apparent I was surrounded by them. Different sculptures ice chests with speakers, diving goggles, and Lone Star beer cans engulfed me. “What will I write about?” the thought was overwhelming. I decided instead to venture towards the light and into the photography area.
A few photos caught my eye right away. A photo of a deep blue sky and a single South Western Airline plane off-center was especially eye-catching. The photo reminded me of my time as a child riding across state and country on airplanes. The picture made me think of how small we all look from the window of an airplane and how tiny an airplane looks with both my feet on the ground. As I stood there feeling like a child, the real world, this critique, came and eviscerated my childhood right out of my heart. After my flashback to better days, it was time to continue my report.
The next photo that caught my eye was a picture of a young Hispanic boy on a bed. The boy appears to be sleeping, although I could not help but fondle the question of death as I stared at his still body. As I stared at the photo I questioned the motive of someone who would want to end such a young life. As I asked myself this question, I saw out of the right corner of my eye, the beast from the first room, staring, peering straight into my soul. At that moment I believed that this boy was, as I am soon to be, a victim of this monster known as art. I vowed to the boy in the photo that I would avenge his death by producing a work of non-fiction to shed light on his situation, trapped in a photo unable to rest in peace until the dawn breaks on the end of days.
Once I snapped back into reality, I realized that I had been spacing out at pictures and sculptures for a good 30min to an hour. I decided it was time to leave the art galleries to prepare for the task ahead. I interrupted this assignment to be a way to relate my feelings about life and how it relates to art in a single medium. Although overly exaggerated, my experience was enlightening in many ways.