I found the presentation on ecofeminism to be very interesting. It’s definitely a modern art form, and it’s one that most of the time needs to be valued for its message rather than the physical piece that’s there. I liked how many forms of art the presenter had shown as examples of ecofeminist art – from the massive art made out of fields to just small rocks. This style reminded me of a trip I had taken to the New Museum in the Bowery with my art class last November. The museum was full of various pieces that really required a purpose behind them in order to find a meaning. I remember this one big floor of the museum that had a pile of dirt with grass growing out of it in one corner, and the main piece in it was a massive white sheet that had wind blowing underneath it that caused it to ripple. On the first look, the pieces meant absolutely nothing, and they were by no means spectacular.
On Friday, I took a trip to the Met. When venturing into the galleries, I was immediately reminded of the portion of the presentation where we were discussing women’s presence in museums (specifically the Met). I saw many female nude portraits, but the highlighted pieces of these galleries were for the most part all done by men. This just goes to show that over time, women are still not getting the recognition in museums that they should be achieving. I didn’t really see any pieces or galleries there that shared views with ecofeminism, and I feel like that definitely needs to change.