The Politics of Art & Authenticity

I was never introduced to folk art until last week, when I made a trip to the American Folk Art Museum. Folk art is nothing like the fine art I’m used to seeing at museums; folk art expresses different cultures and is more decorative than aesthetic fine art. It just isn’t the type of thing I would assume I’d like. I mean, folk art… it sounds pretty random. So I was shocked when I found myself looking at exhibits made of sequins, beads, buttons, foil, and other interesting materials. One thing I thought particularly great was a traveling exhibit called “The National Tribute Quilt.” The quilt is a memorial for September 11th and its victims. Each one-inch square of the quilt has the names of one person who died on September 11th and was made and sent in by the someone in honor of the victim. Some of the blocks are quilted, some embroidered by hand or machine, and some even printed on the computer. The squares make up a picture of the skyline with the twin towers in the middle. The edges of the quilt are dedicated to the the four flights that were and the Pentagon. It looks like the background is smoke from the fire. I think this quilt represents a type of art that everyone is involved in some way or another. Art is a way to express oneself, and with this quilt, a large number of people worked to express their emotions after such a devastating tragedy.