 |
| Average |
 |
| Feeling it again |
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| Too much |
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| Tight |
 |
| Deep, forced breaths |
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| Off. |
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| It's hurting me |
 |
| Hm? Oh, yeah I'm good. |
John Berger, Ways of Seeing Chapter 1
“And often dialogue is an attempt to verbalize this – an attempt to explain how, either metaphorically or literally, ‘you see things’, and an attempt to discover how ‘he sees things’.”
As I’ve mentioned various times in previous weeks, perception is something I find my thoughts deeply involved with. I find it interesting that I as a human being can see and experience the world in my own way while another also sentient human can experience it in theirs. The way I see an apple in my head, it’s not the same way another person might. Mine might be more red, or speckled. Theirs might be green, sour. The images I have in my head are the results of stimuli and experiences I have interacted with. The images and other people's heads are resulting from the same world and yet we come up with different interpretations and perceptions. Whenever I’m reminded of myself and other people's way of seeing it just makes me think a little bit deeper about the human experience along with our relation to the world and analysis of everything around us.
“Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.”
While the technological advancements for photography and other art forms have made us see the history of art differently from a technical level, I also enjoy thinking about how art, photography for example, documents a moment. While the documentation can be deliberately manipulated, there is usually always an intentional and divisive way of creating an image. Whenever we look at a photograph from the past we are likely going to have different interpretations and readings of the author, the photograph, the subject matter and so on. I am interested to see how the digital age and photos from this era reflect historically and how our time is perceived in the future. I hope that the images and art crafted now would have influenced change for the future in one way or another.
Khan Academy Performance Art An Introduction webpages
“For this generation, who had witnessed destruction caused by the Holocaust and atomic bomb, the body offered a powerful medium to communicate shared physical and emotional experience. Whereas painting and sculpture relied on expressive form and content to convey meaning, performance art forced viewers to engage with a real person who could feel cold and hunger, fear and pain, excitement and embarrassment—just like them.”
After World War II, psychological connections between one another and the human body influenced performance as the body is ephemeral. In the vast presence of time, our existence is fragile and fleeting, and our human sensations are raw, experiential. While we can experience a painting and contemplate the brushstrokes and meanings, literal experience and performance seems to manifest differently from a viewer's perspective as the performance is likely limited, the engagement may only be preserved on video or through image. Paintings and sculptures remain, but if a performance entails human interaction and attention within moments, the shared experience solidifies in the viewer's mind but it’s not a permanently preserved artwork.
“Through their words and actions, they confronted their audiences and raised issues about the relationship of female experience to cultural beliefs and institutions, physical appearance, and bodily functions including menstruation and childbearing.”
In a patriarchal society where women’s bodies are sexualized and not looked at the same way as men’s, art seems to be a necessary way of challenging these systems and perceptions. Art, especially political art, brings attention and sometimes even uncomfortable feelings in order to inspire viewing and contemplation. Some men, especially during the 60s, would likely be uncomfortable by the discussion of menstruation, as stigmatization of women discussing their cycles and general lack of education would lead the topic to be taboo in the public space. When confronting these topics and themes head on, we can challenge how they’re discussed and viewed.
Widewalls | Yoko Ono - A Groundbreaking Artist, Activist and Fighter
“Even her earlier pieces often demanded the viewers’ participation and forced them to become involved with the artwork. Staged in 1964, one of her most famous works was the Cut Piece, where the members of the audience were invited to cut off pieces of her clothing until she was naked, thus making an abstract commentary on discarding materialism and its impact on society.”
Commentary and discussion are the results of active participation through performance. Even if Yoko Ono only sat there while other people cut parts of her clothes off, even if she was not actively doing anything, she still actively was performing for the piece. The set up, the topic, and the concepts are deeply ingrained in commentary as the participation was likely theorized in accordance to the piece. She had an idea of what would happen and let the audience do their worst in order to prove the demonstration, the activity of others demanding attention as the participants actively become the art piece to be analyzed or criticized for their behaviors.
“Throughout the Beatles’ break up and fall out between the members, Yoko Ono and John Lennon pursued their anti-war goals and dedicated their lives to the cause and released the, now legendary, single Imagine. The couple collaborated on art, film and musical projects, becoming famous for their series of conceptual shows which were dedicated to promoting peace.”
Devoting yourself to a cause such as anti-war is respectful and likely stressful, as many people believe war is inevitable and unavoidable. Humans have become too caught up in their systems and categorically separated views of power across the world that tons of people die over rights to land, oil, and money. To imagine peace is to imagine a changed world, which isn’t easy, as there are so many powerful people and systems that make peace and change difficult. The promotion of peace, though, especially through mass media and multiple art forms has the potential to reach audiences and inspire others. Humans are very social creatures and when we get inspired by something, we can spread it to others, unifying not only us socially but also under one common idea.
Hispanic Executive | Interview with Shaun Leonardo - Performance, Pedagogy, and Philosophy
“I attribute my work ethic to them. However, it was in the mentality of striving for the best that I was also taught that success meant economic stability and mobility. And so art wasn’t really within my vision as a child:”
I feel for many young artists raised in low income or first generation households, they’ve been discouraged to pursue art due to the idea of the starving artist. Some may feel like their parents dedicated their lives to creating an environment for their child to succeed, and thus choosing something that might not ensure a financially stable life would be disappointing (in this point of view). Growing up, I saw how financially unstable my family was and always felt bad knowing I don’t think I can pursue anything that would make me solid financially. Of course, I love art and writing so very much, but I felt like I was going to grow up and be broke for the rest of my life, basically. I was actually going to try to be an English teacher but, surprise, teachers aren’t very well off financially either. There’s also so many socioeconomic factors for different careers depending on where and who you are so it’s a more complex conversation in that regard.
“I think the larger challenge surrounding not only the pandemic but also the converging crises of racial justice, reproductive rights, and everything else is the immediacy with which we are being called upon to act. This is infiltrated and influenced by social media and the sort of commotion and chaos of the news cycle: we feel compelled to act, act, act—to respond, respond, respond—and artists don’t operate best in that rhythm.”
Social media has become so overwhelming. I understand why there are so many issues going on with the world right now. Over the past several years especially, the amount of information, misinformation, horrific videos, guilt tripping, fighting, and blatant lies online are kind of mind boggling to me. Because social media can become a place with echo chambers quite often, if misinformation or edited source is spread, it becomes the “truth” and if you disagree you’re (insert a negative word here, either associated with your political party, identity, or some other sort of derogatory strings of text). If you take too long to express an opinion, people will assume you’re taking a “side” on something you’re not informed enough to publicly post an opinion on. As someone with severe anxiety and a hard time processing some information, sometimes I feel like taking a social media break because it’s very tiring constantly being sad whenever I go online but then I’m reminded if I do that, even for my mental health, I’m being privileged. But.. I can barely handle just existing in my own body sometimes so to take in the worlds issues constantly? I cannot act or respond because I’m overwhelmed by media and news and horror, but also there’s just so many important issues that strike off one after another.
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