The Politics of Art & Authenticity

When we went to MoMA to see The Scream exhibit, I was very pleasantly surprised. I had seen the iconic image before, so i was just expecting more of the same. But the photocopied versions I had seen in textbooks and in my high school’s art room did not touch the heels of the original painting. Something about seeing it live and real and in the flesh was spectacular.. Thinking about the fact that Edvard Munch’s pastels carved the image out on this paper that I was looking at was a really beautiful experience. I am grateful that I got to see it in the few weeks that it was out for the public to see.

Next, we went to the New Photography exhibit. There, I saw one of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen. Along an entire wall was a picture that was made up of thousands of little pictures, all taken in one place over the course of a day, from three different perspectives. It was interesting to see two forms of art, one so modern and one so.. old fashioned (the scream), juxtaposed so closely together. The Scream is one of the oldest pictures in the book. I have seen it a million times. But, its message is a modern one. It symbolises modernity, how much people want to scream amidst the chaos and confusion draping over them. It looks at the insanity of our world in this post-industrialized society. So perhaps, there is no better place for this exhibition than right in the middle of this modern photography.

Later still, we went to see The Barnard Fall Project. When I walked into the auditorium, I thought, oh! thats why he was screaming! I truly have never seen a moe bizarre production. These girls were… wiggling.

weirdly. All across the stage, saying something about swimming. If they were trying out that stroke in the water, as a certified lifeguard i can tell you that they would have drowned. I cant understand what they were doing! And those four girls, Linden, Lea, MArtha Scott, and Katherine were CREEPY! why were they pulling eachothers hair?!

I guess it was trying to be modern, but I think it was too modern. I read the biographies of the dancers, and I truly commend them for being part of a production and expressing themselves through dance in a public forum. I just dont understand them, but nobody said it wasn’t art if I didn’t get it!

I think the common denominator between the three experiences of the day was modernity. So when I went home, I was mulling over the concept in my mind. Modernity is scary to me, because it is always changing. As time goes by, the modern becomes ancient, making way for the unknown. Someday, wacky dance wiggles will be an old story, and well all watch cloned fish robots walk in a circle on a stage. You really never know whats coming next. I think thats what the guy in the painting is so worried about, because Im worried about it too.