The exhibit was really interesting and showed a range of creativity. The piece "Bring Me the Head of Saddam Hussein" was the most intriguing to me because of the symbolism behind the piece. The pose and title of the piece allude to Caravaggio's depiction of Mark 6:14-30 "Bring Me the Head of John, the Baptist." In the introduction to our text, How to Get Ideas, the author shares his favorite description of what an idea is... "nothing more or less than a new combination of old elements." This combination of recent events with a biblical stories brings up questions and thoughts about justice that may never have crossed the viewers mind otherwise. That is creativity.
Micheal Scoggin's pieces also reminded me of the reading, "Be More Like a Child." I did not love his work, but I did think he thought like a child to come up with some of the superhero names, such as, sonic wave, shadow mask, whirlwind, and solar streak. They were similar to more common comic book superheroes, but still pretty clever.
At first glance Male Baseball #1 seemed pretty surface level. Just a giant silver trophy, but the artist actually had some creative messages behind the seemingly simplistic piece. The man had a mass-produced quality, which was small, but made me appreciate the deeper thought going into the piece. Are pro athletes heroes? Can pro athletes be mass produced? Why is it that everyone in little league gets a trophy? Does that diminish the value of receiving a trophy?
Lastly a potato gun in an art museum... I've seen potato guns before. But then I started thinking what genius thought of shooting a potato? That is so weird and random, but I bet it was from a creative little boy. It made a want to think of other really random things to shoot, like Jello or high heel stilettos. Jello would just be messy. A stilettos gun would a pretty brutal weapon.
Yeah, the potato gun did seem to be a little out of place. I did; however, like that it was there because it was something that I have actually made before. I'm not sure what it had to do with the theme, but it strengthened my connection to the exhibit as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe Captain America piece was definitely intriguing. It definitely made me stop and stare for a second because of its boldness. I think it was even more interesting because they showed a couple pieces that it was similar to (the John the Baptist piece). I never would have guessed that it would so closely resemble a piece of religious art.
ReplyDeleteI also felt the depiction of Captain America with the head of Saddam was really interesting. At first is freaked me out, but after reading the comparison to John the Baptist, it really made you think of what the difference is in our minds of a very simular story, but one being the murder of a renowned prophet and the other of a terrorist...a hero and a monster.
ReplyDelete