#bryansperry

The Blue of Distance was a much more interesting read, which discussed the implications of longing in our lives. Blue is associated with melancholy, and tinges the far distances of our lives with its unreachable haze. As the author writes about the lack of satisfaction when an object of longing is finally acquired, I couldn't help but think about how true this seems to apply to my life, and its relation to the greener grass phenomenon. I thought that this piece was very enjoyable and easy to follow, and I appreciated the focus which the piece kept. As I was reading about the hazy blue of distance, I thought of all the distant vistas I've appreciated, and how their distance was truly the main factor of their appeal.

The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot was written directly in the aftermath of WWI, and the disillusionment that comes across so beautifully in this poem is emblematic of society's disposition at the time. In the second stanza, we see images of a place ravaged by war, strewn about with broken stones, and dead trees. The author meets with the image of peace, as represented by hyacinths, and is struck silent with the memory of how peace was marred in the war, remembering the barren and desolate seas of the years past. The Wastland was rife with references, which quite honestly I didn't catch too many of. To an extent, all art is referential, but sometimes I feel that these kinds of heavy references make the art inaccessible, and honestly I feel weaken the poem overall. We see again in the third section this idea of a place left empty by war, where the Thames no longer bears it normal crop of human waste. Later the author goes on to describe the apathetic date of a typist, a call to the utter lack of emotion following the brutalities witnessed in the war. I think that if I was able to fully research all the references in this poem that I would have gained much more from it, but I did enjoy the way it was written nonetheless, as I thought the prose was very beautiful.

Faces Places was a lovely story about the unexpected combo of Agnes Varda and JR. As they traverse the French countryside to do their monumental pastings, we get an intimimate look into their personal relationship, and the process by which they arrive at their projects. I thought it was wonderful to see two wholly different artists come together on such a large project to work to create something special and emblematic of the communities they visited. It's certainly refreshing to see such empathetic works being created, which focus on the celebration of oft neglected rural communities. Their way of deciding on a project by simply speaking with the residents of an area to see what's currently going on in the area was super interesting as well. It was clear that Agnes and JR both had considerable experience with this kind of thing, and the depth of memory that Agnes displayed throughout the movie was also impressive.

Notes of Native Son was a touching autobiographical piece which dealt with Baldwin's experiences growing up black in Jim Crow America through the lens of his father's death. As his father became increasingly paranoid towards the end of his life, he tended to push everyone away from him, which as a child Baldwin resented. However, as Baldwin chronicles the repeated abuse he faced as he grew up, he begins to paint his father's condition as an example of a if not reasonable then ar least understandable reaction to being treated as subhuman. After living in St. Louis and being faced not only with numerous degradations but also with the very real repercussions of acting out against these norms, Baldwin describes how he became more understanding of his father.

"Ways of Seeing" raised a number of points on the modern perception of art as it relates to the idea of recontextualization. The digital age has enabled the unprecedented reproduction of images originally intended to be static; these copies now roam the internet to be viewed anywhere. The act of seeing paintings outside of the religious or museum contxts for which they were intended has altered the fundamental relationship between art and subject. Personally, I thought that the discourse on demystifying art was quite interesting, as it's true that we are encouraged to perceive art as something wholly other than our everyday experience, although it often depicts things familiar to us. The idea that seeing a reproduction of a work is significantally inferior to seeing the real ting is also of interest; while sometimes I feel that a sense of depth and immediacy is lost in reproducing an image, often (especially for works produced in antiquity) I am just as satisfied looking at a reproduction as I am in looking at the original. It is true that the artistry is often easier to recognize when one is able to see the individual brushstrokes, or examine the texture the goauche leaves on the paper. I think that the inclusion of the discussion with the children at the end also highlighted an aspect of art that we are persuaded to leave behind as we age, which is the joy that can be found in relating art to our personal experiences. Through the lens of school and academia, we are pushed towards the assumption that all art has one specific and correct interpretation, even though that kind of thinking makes art feel much more inaccessible. Just as much pleasure can be derived just simply from freely associating the work with whatever your brain conjures; after all, art is an incredibly individual experience.

Jenny Holzer is an American artist known for her pithy slogans projected or otherwise exhibited in highly public spaces. I recently saw an exhibition of hers at Mass MOCA, and was taken aback by the impact her work had. To be confonted with this series of wildy diverse statements forces the viewer to reevaluate their own thought proesses, as the viewer unconsciously identifies with disparate sayings in the art piece. Jenny Holzer began her career as an artist in NYC, where she would post her Truisms as black text on white paper on printer paper all over the city anonymously. This allowed her not only to completely separate herself from the work, but to engage people in a way that defied the traditional logic of art museums. Her work thrives off catching the interest of the passerby, with words that are reminiscent of the slogans we are constantly surrounded by. Not only does her work speak to the overwhelming consumerist society we find ourselves in, but also to the dynamics that face varying groups. I find this sort of public intervention to be fascinating, as it fundamentally alters the relationship between viewer and art, and contextualizes the artwork in the real world as opposed to the artificiality of a gallery or museum. Many of her works speak to topics such as political hubris, misogyny, and gun violence, blurring the distinction between art and public activism. Her staging of the work is impressive in its variety and inventiveness, and I think that it forces one to helfpul retrospection.

Yael Martínez Self portrait with my daughter and a presence of a hanging man. Taxco, Guerrero. Mexico. 2013