I have always considered the Whitney as one of my favorite museums. I really enjoy modern art. When I entered the exhibit, Helio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium, the title itself intrigued me. I was wondering what this oxymoron would hint about the exhibit itself. Upon entrance, my friend Ashley immediately said, “What is this? A bunch of papers together?” I realized how art may come across to some people as certain things. This brings me back to our discussion on the first day about what classifies as art. I am still having quite a hard time answering that. Anyways, Ashley and I first saw the piece that was suspended in the center of the exhibit. It consisted of warm colors. Delirium as defined by Merriam-Webster is “frenzied excitement”. The pieces that Oiticica created were supposed to relate to the viewer. The caption at the entrance emphasized that this kind of art was meant to relate to the human experience. If I were to see this piece without context then I would think that it was just geometric shapes dangling in all honesty. However, as I read the caption and took a minute to tune this piece into my life it became more than just geometric shapes. It reminded me of my family and friends somehow. We were all little blocks of a sort that were separated yet still connected. The warm colors also expressed happiness when we were a cohesive unit that created our own art. I would never have been able to see it in this perspective if I had not taken the time to read the background as well as think in silence.
The next piece that I wandered off to was a piece that had several random objects on a table. I saw a jar of dirt, a candle, a miniature bed, and a pot with a flower and dirt. I immediately thought of this relating to Brazil. These pieces were beautiful and contradicted the military and war ridden Brazil that Oiticica experienced. This connects to a story I read once about ISIS destroying a mosque. The mosque was such a beautiful structure (the organization) but the destruction was the delirium. The flower in Oiticica’s piece brought me a certain calmness. It seemed to say that even in the toughest times everything could become better. The sand/dirt also reminded me of vacations. Vacations are also beautiful and serene aspects of our lives. For some reason, all of these art pieces seemed to invoke a certain calm feeling in me. This feeling continued as I went to another part in the museum where there was sand. I was told to take off my shoes as I walked on the sand and I saw the simple beds set up. Although the beds reminded me of something from a refugee camp (which was most likely prominent in the time of war at Brazil), the sane brought me happiness. I could tell it also brought my friend Ashley happiness as she reminisced about her country, the Dominican Republic, as she said “I wish I was there right now.”
Marie, I really appreciate the fact that you pointed out that art comes across differently to different people.
I am a firm believer in the idea that art is subjective. For example, to me, the Mona Lisa may not be art, but to you, it may be. Likewise you may think a poster is art and I may not.
Art is individual. It is dependent upon who is viewing it and what appeals to their sense.
Great work!
Marie,
First, I appreciate someone besides me also looks things up on google or in a dictionary when unsure of the meaning of a word. I found your connection to the geometric shapes and your family very deep. Also, I like how you concluded with contrasting the sand/dirt reminding you of your vacations and Ashley of the Dominican Republic. Its fascinating how two different people can look at the same picture and picture two completely different things.
Great work,
Andrew Langer
(Marie) Regarding to my response to other reviews, I think it is so interesting to see certain people’s perspective on the geometric shapes. I took it as relationships with others, but Claire took it as the relationship within oneself. It is very interesting to put the vibrant shapes in relation to sexuality. I do believe that the heightened sense aspect of Claire’s post is a shared sentiment throughout all of my classmates. This exhibit allowed us to interact with art in ways that other exhibits or exhibit simply do not do. For Anastasia’s post I was intrigued to see that she was one of the few that were unsatisfied. If I read her review before entering I would have also wanted to see more of the “delirium” aspect than the “organization”. It has started to make me wonder what if the ratio was not 50/50? Is there more organization than delirium? If so, how would a counter exhibit with more of the delirium side look?