Harn Museum: "Arting" the Good Life

Art, in its many forms, exists in every community regardless of the culture, location, etc. It is pretty cliché of me to say this but art is truly all around us in every shape or form. But like any art piece, the meaning we instill to art is up to the perceiver. This also applies to the process of when we perceive our surroundings, Art can be abstract or concrete, conceptual or blunt. Most importantly, I believe art reminds us how small our problems are compared to what we think is truly significant. They remind us of what we are missing out on or what we may not be aware of. I appreciate art for the reason being that a blank canvas to someone else is a novel to someone else. It reminds me so much of literature. Both indeed coincide and by appreciating the two, we can connect with our inner selves and our surroundings. Overall, through art, we are able to connect, empathize, and heal. Prior to going to the art museum, I must admit that I was not expecting much from it because it belonged to a university. I thought it would be simple or not appreciated as much. Regardless, I kept my mind open and wondered how the inside looked like, but it was definitely not what I expected. It was so beautiful. After our visit, I even became interested in volunteering, which I hopefully will in the Spring semester. Its diversity was alluring. The galleries were so spread out and the walkthroughs were more like mazes so I genuinely felt as if I were literally and figuratively lost in the artwork. Each piece reciprocated or strengthened the other. I was drawn to multiple at once. I was overwhelmed, but in a good way! [if !supportLineBreakNewLine] [endif]

I think the most difficult part of this assignment was having to choose which two pieces I was drawn to the most. I loved them all. After listening to The Bee Gees, I got a bit emotional and decided that it was the best time to choose which art pieces I was going to use for the assignment. The first artwork I chose was Tango for Page Turning for The Good Life, a short film piece by William Kentridge. I was enticed by it because of its oddness and uniqueness. It was the only piece there that was actually "alive" in the sense that it moved, sang, danced, and created meaning page after page, literally. I do not remember which song that was exactly being sung but I recall it being French. However, because it was a bit inaudible, the singing was actually pretty eerie. We discussed how the film made us feel and I commented how uneasy I felt just sitting there. I felt that I had to move, be on the run from an unknown source in hopes of finding my way out. From what? Words like "collision" and "Life & Transmutation of Atoms" randomly appeared from time to time. I know a story was being told and it was difficult to understand what it really was. However, I think this applies to everyone's "story." It is difficult trying to completely understand other people's stories unless you are the actual individual. Yes we can empathize or relate, but will we always know the ENTIRE story, detail by detail? Experiences are different from hearing them than from actually living them. Before opening up to someone, we fear that we will be judged or misunderstood. We may feel the need to run away from the possibility of becoming so vulnerable to someone. It can be quite frightening and running away is always the easiest way out. But I felt like at some point the people in the story were not running away from their problems, but embracing them and hence why they would dance. They danced and ran freely and swayed their way towards their fears and problems and their life. So basically, the message I interpreted from the short film was "Let it go. Whatever it is that you should have let go long ago. Let it go. The freedom that comes next is something wild and true."

The second piece of my choice was an abstract painting titled Gate #2 by Ross Bleckner. I chose this work to represent the Conversation aspect of the assignment. The title itself gives away what the piece is (a gate) but what I found most interesting about it was the lock in the middle of the gate. It just popped out, and the entire painting itself stood out to me from the rest. It is hard to believe that was created with oil paint on a canvas. From afar, it appeared almost 3D, but I think that is the beauty of abstract paintings. I believe this painting truly "speaks" or converses with the other Good Life painting of my choice. As I mentioned before, the characters first appeared to be running from an unknown entity, which is why I felt so uneasy and anxious at first. But at some point when the words "collision" continuously popped up here and there, I realized that the characters in the story were trying to connect and collide. There was always some sort of obstacle that restricted the characters from uniting. The characters can either represent the battle between the individual and themselves, or perhaps longing for a dream that seems so far from grasp. In the end, they still managed to pull through. This is definitely a metaphor of life and the obstacles we confront that try to steer us away from achieving our good life. It reminded me that we are the ones that hold the key to opening the doors to attaining our good life. We are our own worst enemy. Sometimes our problems are in our heads and we convince ourselves that we are inadequate when we have so much potential to do more. Fear of success, a term used in pyschology, applies here. As strange as it sounds, it is real. There is such thing as fear of failure but we are well aware of it. But fear of success? Why would anyone fear success when that is what we hope to achieve after putting up with so much? We fear success because we are scared of the possibilites that the future holds. When we fail, we know what to expect from it: Sadness, grief, regret, anger, and all other sorts of mixed emotions. When we are successful, it feels good, of course! But that only means we have set expectations for ourselves and others have done the same to us so there is that pressure. There is also the fear of not knowing what to make of our successess. It reminds me of my procrastination problem actually. When I am so close to finishing an assignment, I try to put it off as much as I can because I know that I coming close to ending something that will only open a door to something I am not comfortable with. Point is, we must learn to open our doors and face ourself eventually. We hold the key and I believe that is why the gate did not have a key painted anywhere in the piece. One key is not the same as the other, and although entering seems awfully frightening at first, what lies ahead will be worth the effort.