WEEK TWO 9/20

 

A Bottle a Day Keeps The Thoughts Away - Josue Guzman

Cindy Sherman Bus Riders

 

The Cindy Sherman Effect

Quote 1: “We live in the era of YouTube fame and reality TV shows and makeovers, where you can be anything you want to be any minute of the day, and artists are responding to that.”

Response: This quote highlights that in modern society everyone can be whatever they want to be. This is seen all throughout social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Reality TV, etc. It shows that many people use this as an advantage to show the world a fake version of themselves which many artists now use for their artwork.

Quote 2: “The art world was ready for something new, something beyond painting. A group of mostly women happened to be the ones to sort of take that on, partly because they felt excluded from the rest of the [male] art world, and thought, ‘Nobody is playing with photography. Let’s take that as our tool.’”

Response: This quote stuck out to me because it reminded me of a quote I chose for my previous blog post from Carrie Weems. It talks about women artists not feeling included in the art world. It explains that women artists needed something new and different besides paintings to stand out from the “male” art world. That's why Cindy Sherman chose photography since it was something many artists were yet to deal with which allowed her to be different from the rest.

NY Times: The Ugly Beauty of Cindy Sherman


Quote 1: “Sherman herself is reluctant to discuss the meaning of her work; she is amused by the interpretive frenzy it provokes.”

Response: This quote gives us a unique insight into Cindy’s brain about how she feels about her artwork. Instead of explaining in full detail what her art is about she finds amusement in the crazy interpretations that her work generates. She prefers to let viewers draw their own conclusions and engage in a lively discussion about her art's significance.

Quote 2: The longer I look at these photographs, the less sure I am of them. Are these women insisting on being seen or are they taunting us, mischievously playing on fears of female ugliness, of becoming old and absurd, or just invisible?

Response: This quote talks about Cindy Sherman’s photographs of her different personas. It raises many questions about the intentions of the photographs, like whether they seek attention or mock societal norms about aging and looks. Cindy Sherman’s art invites viewers to contemplate the female experience of the present day.