The Politics of Art & Authenticity

Ugh.

I didn’t want to make this into a rant, but in a way it has to be one.  For my final in my anthropology class with Professor Bellamy, I had to write a paper about a visit to the Rubin Museum of Art. The prompt was two or three pages long…. SINGLE SPACED.  I have a feeling that it was almost as long as my paper. Anyways… back to the museum.

Part of the visit was to analyze how Tibetan the museum was. Well it was enough. The shrine room, the gods… I think they were kind of scary.  I mean, I thought religion was supposed to be about finding peace after death… not about becoming a pile of nothing after death.

The museum made me feel lost. I mean, almost like Jen Mukofsky lost…  maybe it was my lack of belief towards any religion that made me doubt everything the museum depicted.  The museum itself was very Tibetan, but I found no sense in looking at the Buddhist paintings and the shrine room.