Art is in the Eye of the Beholder

"Give me a museum, and I'll fill it." -Pablo Picasso

This is my critique of two art shows at UNC.

Of the two shows, the one I liked better was Pick of the Litter. I really liked Victorian House. I thought it was very impressive architecturally, especially since it was made out of just paper. I also liked Icarus. I think the story of Icarus is very interesting. In Greek Mythology, Icarus and his father were imprisoned in Crete, so they fashioned wings out of feathers and wax to fly away and escape. Icarus’ father warned him not to fly too close to the sun, but he was careless and did fly too close, which made his wings melt and he fell to his death. This piece was abstract and I don’t usually like abstract art. It can be confusing and usually has a less than helpful title like Unknown or Abstract, which makes me question the artists’ vision and intent by it. I don’t really know why, but I did like this piece. My favorite piece in this show however, was Halloween Mask. The piece was covered in newspaper and the thing that really drew me to it was that the newspaper was very thoughtfully and specifically placed. For example, around the border of the wings said Washington Post and the date over and over. I really enjoy that kind of meticulous attention to detail in art.

I did also enjoy the Detritus Transformed student exhibition. Here I feel I must reiterate that I think art is in the eye of the beholder. I think art becomes art when it means something to you. For example, when seeing the sculpture Story Time, I almost wrote it off. It looked like another hunk of rusted metal. Upon closer inspection I found in some of the holes in the metal there were pictures from a favorite book of mine, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. This small detail changed everything. I now had a connection to the piece and this made it more art to me. Also, I think people take from art what they want to take from it. In the sculpture Light of Life there is a light fixture with no bulbs. In one socket there was a plant and plants are obvious symbols for life. In the other two sockets there were nails. What I’m bringing to this piece is my background as a Christian. When I saw the nails I thought of Jesus Christ whom is often represented by nails, for He was nailed to a cross and crucified. This may not have been what the artist had in mind at all, but it’s what I brought to it and made a connection to. Both of these exhibits were quite thought provoking, which I think is a very good thing.