My second visit to the ICA in less than a week! As a class, we viewed the Great Force exhibition. In contrast to my abbreviated observation of the gallery on Friday, I spent a decent amount of time meandering through the first and second floors. I was able to recognize the themes of racism, black identity and culture, heritage, individuality, and defying stereotypes. Most of the works were extremely conceptual in presentation, which I both respect and dislike; I respect the artist's ability to develop an idea and express it in a manner that seems the most appropriate to them, but I dislike a complete disregard for formal techniques. Perhaps this sentiment makes me a bit old - fashioned, but I just prefer works that demonstrate foundational skills of observation and composition. With that said, my favorite piece from the exhibition was the installation piece entitle Colonial White by Charlotte Lagarde. While Lagarde does not have any tangible artwork displayed, the fact that she has actually challenged people to consider and respond to her comments about institutionalized racism inspires me. I value viewer engagement in a piece greatly, and the fact that people took the time and effort to carefully follow Lagarde's instructions and submit their own photographs proves the efficacy of carefully developing your content before thrusting it upon the viewer in a piece of tangible artwork. I can empathize with the difficulty of communicating your idea in a manner which appeals to a widespread audience because I myself had to tackle this obstacle in my sculpture last year. It was hard to figure out how I could persuade and inspire people to participate. Ultimately, such a task is rewarding because you do not truly recognize the value of connecting with another human being and having a sort of multi - dimensional, long - distance conversation with several different people regarding the same theme / topic. I had not initially planned on trying to incorporate viewer participation in one of my upcoming projects, but reflecting on Lagarde's work has exposed me to a whole slew of questions to consider, which could all be answered with interactive artworks: How can I create a dialogue between the text I incorporate in my works and the viewer's response? What can the viewer contribute to my theme? Why is it important to me that I have some sort of impact on the viewer, and how enduring do I want that impact to be? Would I truly be well - equipped to handle both good and bad feedback, should I choose to solicit it? What kind of viewer participation is most meaningful to me -- as in, would I rather someone contribute to the physical display of art or the concept?
I also enjoyed the other works I chose to feature in the above slideshow. Well, I didn't necessarily enjoy the video because i found it disorienting and much too vague for my taste, but I was intrigued by the presentation. However, I found the contrast of materials in Untitled by Radcliffe Bailey very appealing. I like the effect of the expanse of black glitter, as if the tarp is covered in basalt, as if it is situated on the shore of a volcanic island. The hazy photograph of the ocean creates a sense of displacement, as it is asymmetrically situated within a square of solid, sparkly matter. I definitely do not get any sense of the "forced migration" mentioned in the artwork's label, nor do I understand the connection to dehumanization, but I nonetheless am drawn to the artwork. I have no doubt that I would like it more, though, if I more clearly recognized the content so that I could self - ascribe a greater meaning and thus value it more. This experience encourages me to continue developing explicitly conveyed content so that the viewer knows at least a sense of my thoughts and feelings during the creation process. It is important to me to establish that connection between artist and viewer which transcends time and space.
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