Cleaning “NOW”
I didn’t feel particularly artistic cleaning the “Now” art piece but there’s something very gratifying about breathing new life into something that’s in desperate need of tending to. Its enjoyable to maintain and restore something that’s already had time put into it. I was showing my respect for the artist that created the structure in a more meaningful way then a complement.
Hollywood Star
In class we were shown an image of a woman cleaning donald Trumps Hollywood Star and then posed the question who would we get down on our hands and knees to clean their star. In essence the question is who if any is great enough that we would lower ourselves to clean something of theirs without ever having met them. Few people deserve that kind of respect and admiration, personally I don’t think any entertainer deserves that kind of respect. However a former president certainly does so I would clean Ronald Reagan’s star .
What Is Art
One of the quintessential topics we discussed in class is how can we even define art? What is this thing we’re talking about and what or who determines what is and isn’t art? The easiest solution to what is art is to stop asking me and go to an art museum, you’ll know what art is when you see it. Unfortunately that isn’t at all a definition you can put in a dictionary… or as an answer on a blog post. So some examples of art that we looked at in class were Mierle Laderman Ukeles Maintenance art of cleaning the steps of an art museum and Richard Serra throwing molten lead at an art museum wall. The similarities between these two are they both happened in an art museum. The differences between these two pieces are everything else. So how are they both art? The intent of the artist, and the perception of the viewer. Two different artist with wildly different approaches striving toward the same goal, to convince the viewer that what there doing is art. What makes these actions art isn’t were they are, or the medium used or even whose making the art. The reason they’re both art is because the artist managed to convince us that what they’re doing is worth looking at, worth interpreting, and that we’re gonna walk away with something if we analyze there work. Painting a house isn’t art because its not worth thinking about, but creating a beautiful myural that invokes passion or sorrow or anything is art because it’s worth analyzing. The defining characteristic of all art across all mediums is that people experience it and think about long after the sensation has finished.
“Womens Work” as Art
In the blog prompt It asks Mierle Laderman Ukeles, or Jennifer Lopez, made you think differently about “Women’s Work”? Is “Women’s Work” ever art? Work is work. I work at a gym I study as an aerospace engineer and I go home to cook and clean for my family. Women and men tend towards doing certain work more consistently than others but its not mutually exclusive, if there’s work to be done I’m worried about bodies to do it not gender. So no Ukeles and Lopez didn’t make me think differently because I had never put much stock in distinguishing “Men’s Work” from “Women’s Work”. As for if “Women’s Work” is ever art, well, there’s a reason why they call it artwork.
Zack’s art blog 