This reading exposes a new way for artists to consider art in an institutional setting such as museums and galleries. It is true that artists today are confined to a certain space and feeling of hierarchy when it comes to displaying what they have to offer. An artist is only as worthy as his art, and if his art is put on a shelf so is the artist. Art can no longer just be. It's presence cannot influence the ordinary person and cannot be seen by the majority. Only those who chose to go to the institutional setting can gain some insight of the political expression that rises through art. Personally I believe that public art is a very important thing in a society. Why not display our creative selves for everyone to see? Why not enhance an ordinary walk to work through artistic expression? We are all artists that are made to believe that our skills or input are not necessary unless worthy of a gallery or museum space.
Two works that stuck with me would be Daniel Buren's Within and Beyond the Frame, 1973, and Maria Laderman Ukeles's Harlford Wash: Washing Tracks, Maintenance Inside. These two pieces express the concept of site-specific art to the fullest. The fact that the flags go beyond the museum walls not only creates an unknowing for the minority viewer that is culturing themselves, but gives an empowerment for the ordinary "stranger" that has not been exposed to an artistic lifestyle. They can see the art from the outside. It is as if the museum itself is spilling out its beauty for the world to see. It is very clever and well executed. Secondly, Ukeles's project opens up new doors of thinking. When at a museum or gallery, viewers barely think of how different the space would be if it wasn't maintained to its full potential. What if trash or dirt surrounded the walls upon which the art is displayed. Evidently, the viewer would not feel so special or intellectual from a street pedestrian. Art is meant to be viewed as paint on a canvas or sculpture of its surroundings. It is not necessarily right for them to be caged between white walls. Ukele's artwork exposes the work that has to be done to maintain this kind of hierarchal position of the way we portray art. In reality it seems unnecessary and useless.
Two works that stuck with me would be Daniel Buren's Within and Beyond the Frame, 1973, and Maria Laderman Ukeles's Harlford Wash: Washing Tracks, Maintenance Inside. These two pieces express the concept of site-specific art to the fullest. The fact that the flags go beyond the museum walls not only creates an unknowing for the minority viewer that is culturing themselves, but gives an empowerment for the ordinary "stranger" that has not been exposed to an artistic lifestyle. They can see the art from the outside. It is as if the museum itself is spilling out its beauty for the world to see. It is very clever and well executed. Secondly, Ukeles's project opens up new doors of thinking. When at a museum or gallery, viewers barely think of how different the space would be if it wasn't maintained to its full potential. What if trash or dirt surrounded the walls upon which the art is displayed. Evidently, the viewer would not feel so special or intellectual from a street pedestrian. Art is meant to be viewed as paint on a canvas or sculpture of its surroundings. It is not necessarily right for them to be caged between white walls. Ukele's artwork exposes the work that has to be done to maintain this kind of hierarchal position of the way we portray art. In reality it seems unnecessary and useless.
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