The first piece that I found, actually had me so distracted that I got lost from the group and had to text someone to ask where everyone went. It was called “Desert Houses 2002-Ongoing” (click here to see it) It was by an artist named Mark Ruwedel. His work emphasizes “revealing the narratives contained within the landscape, especially those places where land reveals itself as both being an agent of change and a field of human endeavor” (you can read more about him by clicking on the link attached to his name). The reason this piece caught my eye was because it looked just like my hometown. As I was strutting by it, I chuckled and thought, “Art?? No way is this art.” I am from the desert. A small small town in Southern California called Pinon Hills. This is a place where I see homes, just like the ones photographed, more often than I’d like. I have always thought my hometown was ugly, boring, and in no way entertaining. As a result, this makes my mom sad because I do not like visiting home. So, when I saw these progression photos of rundown homes in Antelope Valley, a mere 30 miles from my home, it made me question the way I was viewing art as a medium. It challenged me, and I appreciated it. The photos embrace a broken theme: a sense of vulnerability, tragedy and fragility. It shows struggle and hardship in the different types of homes that are broken, not trash. The environment to which these photos are in are harsh and secluded, which makes thinking about living in them, an unsustainable goal. This piece of art showed me how to look beyond the relationship I have with my hometown and how to see through to the vulnerability of the structures that were once someone’s home.
The next part of the museum that had me speechless was practically the whole fourth floor. As I walked into a room full of art about the Guerilla Girls, I couldn’t not help but be amazed by one specific framed question of art (click here to see it). The Guerilla Girls is a group of anonymous feminist artists that are committed to ending sexism in the art world. The visual language and strategies used to mass communicate a political message, is brilliant. The Guerilla Girls are known for challenging prejudice and confronting societies views on feminism, consumerism, and the cult of celebrity. This piece empowers society to take a stand on important views. Looking beyond the words in the frame allows for the audience to truly reflect upon the inequalities and injustices that are mirrored in society.
And the third piece that I wanted to mention just down the hall from the Guerilla Girls, was “Babel 2001” by Cildo Meireles (click here to see it). It consisted of a piece that was ceiling high filled with different radios that were all saying different things. When I saw this piece, it emphasized the importance of mass communication and how influenced we, as a society, are from the advertising, news broadcasts and bullshit we hear from the different platforms of media. Again, here we see with our eyes a tower of radios, but this piece challenges us to look beyond just what you see into the engrained themes of society, which really makes this piece memorable. In saying all of this, I was wrong about the way I interpreted this piece. In fact, “Cildo Meireles refers to Babel as a ‘tower of incomprehension.’ Comprising hundreds of radios, each tuned to a different station, the sculpture relates to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, a tower tall enough to reach the heavens. God was offended by this structure, and caused the builders to speak in different languages. No longer able to understand one another, they became divided and scattered across the earth, and so began mankind's conflicts” (Tate Modern Museum). Even though my interpretation on this piece was wrong, it still challenged me to look beyond my initial thoughts, and appreciate the differences in the way people view art.
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