BA #11
Ariel Margolin
*Disclaimer: My phone was being repaired the day I visited the exhibits, and I had no device upon which to take photos, so the photos are off the internet.
Chrystie Street Fence
What I enjoyed about this piece was its humoristic element. The work is a clear mockery of the whole concept of “fences keep us safe” where needless fencing is put in needless places. The artwork placed fences between two high rise buildings, a place where no one would physically tread, but a fence was put up “just because.”
Gilded Cage
For this piece, the message resounds clearly “the nicest cage is still a cage.” Although it may be covered in gold and its safe and secure, he who’s inside is relegated to what is but a luxury prison. This is what fences do to a place, they box it in and turn it into an isolated, forsaken place. However nice a place may be, being closed in limits it.
Walter Gropius Banner
This banner represents the benefits a society stands to gain if it opens its arms to immigrants. Walter Gropius was a famed personality who worked many years at the famed Bahaus Art Studio in Germany and came over after the Nazi’s shut it down and taught art at Harvard. Not only does keeping a country open to new arrivals give people a safe refuge from despicable places and regimes, it also allows the accepting country to grow as new people with new ways of thinking come to its shores.
My Community Project:
If I were to make an art exhibit, I would make it something that brings an important issue to attention, as keeping something in the eyes of the public, the “word” get out on a greater scale. The issue I believe is most pressing to us New Yorkers is the keeping of natural spaces within New York.
My exhibit would be followed based on specific guidelines where the pieces must be viewed in order to understand my complete idea. The first piece would be the largest tree in Central Park and this is chosen to show how beautiful what is at stake can be. My next piece would include a small historical blurb next to the exhibit pamphlet about a place that used to be full of greenery and now is a high-rise building. Manhattan is chock full of these and I will find the example which stands out most to me. To not make the exhibit too long, I will finish with the showing of a community garden in what is otherwise a concrete wasteland. This community garden will feature young trees planted as well so as to show that the rehabilitation of the city is possible if concerned citizens make the effort. The finishing on a positive note will leave the audience (hopefully) ready to take action and make it a better, greener city that helps citizens and visitor alike.
The aesthetic values of having nature within an otherwise highly-developed landscape are often overshadowed by the “real” benefits of plant-space such as fresh air and Carbon Dioxide breakdown. I always found it a wonderful sight when I saw a row of planted trees in an urban place or seeing a park in the midst of the grey mayhem of the city. Great art not only shows us the beauty of life, it inspires us to expand beauty in everywhere that we go.
I really liked your idea for your curatorial project. I also think about how much paper is wasted from sending things through Amazon and other online retailers we use so frequently today. I would love to see this art project actually implemented!
Julie
Loved how you stated, “the nicest cage is still a cage.” This helped to bring the reality back to the fore front of the art. Your analysis of the other sites were also very spot on because you were able to see the deeper meaning behind the artists’ purpose. Also liked how you wanted your own art public project to be an important issue that was kept in the eye of the public. This helps your art to be controversial and have a greater impact on the people of New York. Overall great blog post, I was a fan!