Category: Blog Post 8 (Page 2 of 2)

Amputee (Election II), 2004

Martha Rosler’s House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home, New Series delivers a piercing image of the horrors of war. This 2004 piece, titled Amputee (Election II), from the series depicts a war amputee walking across a living room. Present in the background is an image of President George W. Bush and his brother former Florida governor Jeb Bush. What appears to be smoke and flames are also visible in the window. The work is a reflection of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 2000s.

This work decisively constitutes avant-garde art through the style in which it presents the destructive nature of war. The brutal environment disrupts the peaceful household setting through a montage of different images ripped directly from magazines. Such a method strongly contributes to the work’s overall purpose. Political leaders and war veterans intersect domestic life. This definitely pushes boundaries by directly challenging the actions of our government through unique artistic means of imitation. The piece can be considered a mimesis in that it imitates both war and the home. The smiling president, the hallway, and the living room, all imitate the easy life of being at home, away from the terrors of foreign conflict. The household setting itself can be interpreted as an imitation of the family too. How the family interprets war is often shaped by how our leaders present it. The walking amputee is clearly an imitation of the genuine brutality that war produces, images that may not always be so present to those at home.

This work is very political, serving as a direct critique of poor foreign policy choices. Rosler aims to convey how repetitive American geopolitical actions have been over the past few decades from Vietnam to Iraq.  Poisonous decisions by our elected officials have resulted in a diminished consciousness of the implications of war. Our leaders feel accomplished through their actions but may widely ignore the overall consequences their decisions have, what impact such efforts may have on specific individuals and if their actions were ever truly valid. The smiling President and his brother reflect the overall ignorance of the matter. One of Rosler’s primary intentions is to convey how society may lack awareness of such horrific events that result from reckless political leadership. It seeks to change the viewer through providing a distinct perspective as to how society may view war, that war may be distant but it is a product of the decisions made at home. We often overlook how domestic and foreign affairs may intertwine.

The work’s experimentalism is directly related to its political content. Through imitating both the war and the home, it crafts a distinguished message regarding how the former is a product of the latter. The individual at home should be more conscientious of what long lasting effects their own choices will have involving such intense topics, whether it be a citizen or an elected official. Perhaps the viewer should reconsider who it places in positions of power to avoid such cruel events from transpiring.

Martha Rosler’s Diaper Pattern

When one views art, one typically asks themselves what it is they are looking at. They try hard to think about the art and what it is trying to representing and imitating or what it is a mimesis of. People do this to try to associate the piece of art with something familiar to them. If they could not associate what the artist is depicting with something they already know, they would probably drive themselves insane and their minds would be at unease due to all the thinking they would have to do just to picture what the artist is thinking. As I walked in Martha Rosler’s show at the Jewish Museum, though, I was exposed to a new form of art known as Avant Garde. Stealing from the powerpoint, Avant-Garde art is experimental art that breaks the boundaries of traditional art. Avant-Garde art broadens the spectrum of what we believe art is in that it is a type of art different from the typical conception of art that is a mimesis.

Rosler’s work of art that immediately caught my attention was the artwork depicted above, which is titled “Diaper Pattern.” This piece of art is not your typical artwork that is painted on a canvas or photographed, but instead it is a collection of statements made by American soldiers and civilians -some real, some fake- written on her infant child’s worn-down cloth diapers stitched together to form a quilt-like curtain. This work of art was created in 1973 as the Vietnam War was calming down and is a clear protest to the war. Although this piece of art may be a clear mimesis of a quilt, it is experimental in its controversial content, questioning the American motives of the war, and the way it is formed, through ragged diapers stitched together with written messages on them. The utilization of such an abstract way of presenting her ideas, allows Rosler to protest the war in an indirect way, to avoid cruelties such as censorship.

As this work of art was created during the time of very debatable conflict, the Vietnam War, the piece has a clear political statement. Through her art, Rosler conveys the clear message that there is no good reason to be at war and only racism and xenophobia are motivating the war. With statements such as “Ho Chi Minh was an evil old gooky gook who sent other evil gooks from the communist stronghold to sneak up on our boys and kill them before we could get the goddam gooks,” it is obvious that Rosler is criticizing the American motives of the Vietnam War, making the American words seem like excuses. By combining the elements of experimental art with political statements, Rosler intertwines the themes of war and domesticity. The fact that Rosler puts these statements onto her child’s used diapers makes the additional political statement that these motives are nothing more than merely crappy excuses.

As I stepped into the show “Martha Rosler: Irrespective” in the Jewish Museum, I came across a variety of different art forms that were very new and unfamiliar to me.  There was a huge mobile prosthetic leg, a set dinner table, videos, photomontages, hanged diaper cloth, and more. The entire show presented me with a whole new experience as an observer, since my previous museum experience only consisted of paintings. Martha Rosler’s art can be constituted as avant-garde art since her art is both experimental and unconventional in the art world. Rosler’s art was pushing the boundaries of traditional art works, and causing observers such as myself to reevaluate our understanding of “what is art?”

The piece in the show that grabbed my attention was the artwork titled “Point and Shoot” from the House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home series. This piece was made in 2008 and  is an antiwar photomontage during the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rosler’s unorthodox materials consisted of a series of cut-and-pasted printed paper from magazines on photos from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In this piece, we see a war-stricken area in which American soldiers are directing the civilians to move ahead from a tank by pointing their weapons at them. The civilians in the background of the the photo are predominately male and are all looking back at the scene in front of them. There is also a male civilian beginning to walk across the tank, but the American soldiers’ attention lies elsewhere. Rosler had pasted a black and white cut out of a mother and child hand in hand coming face to face with the American soldiers. The mother and child are both holding papers, and the mother’s body language looks as though she is desperate to keep moving forward. Another obvious magazine cut-out pasted on this photo is the model posing in a white dress and black bag. The whole war scene brought before the viewer’s eyes is sort of interrupted with the large cut out of the posing model. The model’s presence is grabbing our attention and the way the model is pasted into the scene seems as though this is just another runway. This avant-garde art is also abstract art since its not following the traditional art guidelines, but rather creating its own rules. The combination of the model cut out and devastating war background do not coincide with each other and that works since it is abstract art. This piece goes beyond imitation art in order to raise awareness to issues that seem ignored or forgotten.

Rosler’s method of cutting out pictures from magazines and pasting them onto photos from the Iraq and Afghanistan war is meant to convey a political statement. This form of photomontages shares similar visual strategies to Rosler’s previous antiwar art on the Vietnam war. She is using her art as a way to criticize the country’s repetitive geopolitics and continuous engagement in one war after the other. Her art is powerful and its experimental aspect helps bring social awareness to the war going on out “there,” by pasting a picture  that we are looking at “here” in a typical American magazine. Everyone in the art work are focused on the mother and child and our attention veers off to the model on the left. The photomontage is presented in a way that our attention lies on the model, while there is a whole war in the background that goes unnoticed. Rosler wants to get the political message across that the experience we have viewing this art is similar to the way Americans are viewing the wars. We are spending our time focusing on materialistic things like clothes and magazines, when we should be aware of the politics and wars taking place.

The shows I saw at the Jewish Museum opened my eyes to the fact that art is such a broad term, because everyone has a different vision that comes to mind when envisioning art. The type of art that I experienced at the Jewish Museum at “Chagall, Lissitsky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918-1922” and “Martha Rosler: Irrespective” was definitely more experimental art than other pieces of art I’ve experienced throughout the course of this class. The pieces I saw were all both experimental and political works of art in their own ways.

“Point n Shoot” by Martha Rosler is an example of both avant-garde art and political art. In this piece, a picture of President Donald Trump is shown with names in the background of colored-Americans who have died because of police officers or while in police custody, and without the police officers themselves receiving any sort of punishment for it. The main writing in the art is in red letters across the entire picture which is a quote from Trump where he says “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s like incredible.” This work is a mimesis of a campaign rally which captures an image and text from this moment in time at the campaign rally.

Because the color of the words spoken by President Trump are red, which is usually a color that symbolizes violence, blood, or evil things, along with the picture of Trump that is shown, which is an unflattering photo, leads me to conclude that Rosler wants to portray Trump in a negative way with this work of art. In addition, the words being quoted by Trump are ones which make him look like a bad President who does not care about the people of this country, and only cares that he has enough people voting for him so that is enough. I feel the message that she intended for it to hold was that had there been stronger gun control laws, maybe so many minorities would not have lost their lives from police officers to begin with. In this work, President Trump clearly does not believe in stricter gun control laws, considering he gives people listening an image of himself shooting somebody in the middle of Fifth avenue. I think this work is trying to change the way viewers look at gun control, if they do not already believe that we need more control over it, and that the lives of these minorities which were taken are important and always will be. Although this is what I got out of this work of art, this is something that is always open to the interpretation from its viewers, and I feel that is an aspect that was definitely a major point of Rosler’s intentions with this piece.

Martha Rosler: Irrespective

When we think of art, we imagine very articulate and imaginative paintings with easy to comprehend meaning and complex colors. Often these paintings define our definition of art, restricting the diverse genre of art to a very specific style However, art is much broader than such a narrow field of expression. The category of Avant-garde art pushes the boundaries of traditional art and challenges the accepted norms and guidelines of accepted art. Martha Rosler, an American artist, embraces this genre of art and uses various mediums in order to present radical and thought provoking art. She challenges the image of women in society by presenting very abstract art pieces to convey her message.

In the art piece shown above, North American Waitress, Coffee-Shop Variety, Rosler challenges the treatment of women workers in the food-service industry in the 1970s. She experiments her presentation of ideas by displaying it in a memesis of a scientific point-and-label diagram. By using such an abstract way of presenting her message, Rosler brings attention to the way women were patronized and discriminated against in the food-service industry. She highlights the various restrictions placed upon women, such as the need to have cleanly pressed collars, well-polished shoes and slip concealed skirts. This utilization of her abstract art brings more attention to the plight of women in the 70s than a regular painting might. It allows for the representation of a larger issue of sexism in the 70s and its various forms in different industries.

Rosler’s usage of the scientific point-and-label diagram, allows her to highlight specific and outlandish restrictions women faced in the workforce. This underlying idea serves to politicize this artwork and makes it a far grander art piece, in terms of meaning, than a simple diagram. By pointing to specific aspects of a woman’s uniform in the food-service industry, Rosler highlights the larger issue of discrimination against women; a political issue. The presentation of a larger political issue molds the art piece into a political statement and serves to present the ideas of inequality.  Such display of hurdles that women faced, allows for subconscious comparison with men and furthers the need for equality between men and women.

The combination of Rosler’s experimentation and the underlying political message of the art piece serves to enhance the overall message and impact of the art. The radical and boundary-shattering presentation of sexist ideas and restrictions against women stretch the extent of simplicity behind the art piece and allow for a profoundly displayed message.

Martha Rosler is an artist who delves in the realm of avant-garde art. Her work is very peculiar about what it wants to say and the method through which she gets her message across is a very thoughtful and creative one.

At the Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the exhibit that I could connect to the most was Martha Rosler: Irrespective. Her works of art attempt to shed light on the injustices in the United States and around the world during her lifetime. In essence, she attempts to show the world what she thinks is unfair in terms of how different groups are treated. What makes Rosler different from other activists, however, is the fact that she uses avant-garde art to promote and spread her ideas.

Avant-garde art is art that is not traditional, in the sense that it follows Dada or Pop art. It is not traditional in the way that it does not follow the medium and message of classical works of art. Classical works of art, such as the Mona Lisa or The Creation of Adam, normally tend to delight the viewer by offering pleasant or thoughtful view. However the purpose of avant-garde art is to be experimental and innovative, and even urges the viewer to come up with a different answer to the typical question, “What is art?”.

Martha Rosler: Irrespective

The work of art that I found most appealing was placed in the exhibit that displayed Rosler’s most recent art. It is titled, “Point n Shoot”. Produced in 2016, in the heat of the presidential elections, Rosler took a photo of the moment President Trump made one of the most controversial statements at a press conference as he rallied for support. Then president-elect Trump made a remark saying he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and [I] wouldn’t lose any voters”, as the crowd around him jumped and praised whatever he said. This grotesque remark made national headlines and caused massive controversy, as this was two months after the San Bernardino shooting that claimed 14 lives.

What made this work of art most interesting and appealing is the background of the photo had inscribed the various names of people of color who were killed due to police brutality and the lack of gun reform. This piece of art was the most chilling to me, as it forced viewers to make the connection between Trump’s blunt comment and the fact that many minorities lives have been lost during police encounters because of unjust laws that protect police from serving time due to these crimes. Many police officers have not been convicted or have been simply let go on paid leave when it comes to cases that resulted in the death of a person of color.

The names of the person killed, the age they were at the time of their death and the city/state are also mentioned. To the right of Trump’s shoulders were the names of individuals killed, that have made national headlines. Tamir Rice, at age 12, was shot and killed in Cleveland by a police officer after he had been playing at the local park with a water gun. The two police officers involved were placed on paid leave and were the grand jury decided to not indict them–essentially letting them go free without any consequence of taking away a young, innocent life. It was very chilling reading through the names of the list, and it became increasingly easy to understand just how universal the issues of gun control and police brutality are across the nation.

Martha Rosler: Irrespective

Rosler’s “Point n Shoot” is experimental in the way that it takes a photo of a press conference and the exact words of the President at the time the photo was taken, but also features the names of people of color who have been killed due to a lack of gun reform and police brutality. Work like this has never been very popular or reached mainstream media, especially if it is as political as this specific pease. All in all, there is nothing in this work of art that says this is Rosler’s exact point, however it is up to the viewer to make valid connections in order to come up with a conclusion. This is how the work of art attempt to make a change in the viewer or how the world views this certain topic.

In 2004, Martha Rosler presented a collection of montages called House Beautiful in which she juxtaposed political art with leisurely art. This particular piece, Photo Op, shows a fiery war scene through the windows of an apartment room. On the chairs in the room we see two dead girls, with their eyes closed, lying, or sitting covered in blood. In front of the depressing background there is an image of a blonde haired girl, pasted twice, overlapping each other. It could also seem like they are two identical twins. They are wearing pink revealing dresses while holding up pink flip phones. They are completely engulfed in what is happening on their phones, and are not paying any attention to the background violence.

This work of art falls into the category of avant-garde art. Avant-garde artwork is supposed to intrigue. The artwork should be radical and unorthodox, something that hasn’t been seen or done before. Martha Rosler is one of the first to criticize the Vietnam War with art, so this is certainly political and avant-garde.The things that she chose to make montages of were things that she believes represent the country’s geopolitics. Martha Rosler used a method in which she took photos from the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan Wars and combined them with pictures from magazines. By juxtaposing these pictures together, Martha Rosler directly takes the conflict of war, something we might turn a blind eye to, and puts it straight into our home, domestic life, something that we live in, that is impossible to ignore. This style of morphing the two mediums together is in essence abstract avant-garde and abstract. It is something intriguing and weird, that has not been seen before. The juxtaposition of this montage is meant to phase the viewer, and make a statement. Literally speaking, the art is political, as it is from wars, a political event. I believe that the message that Rosler is trying to send is that you can’t simply ignore the politics going on. Politics and war come back to you and are something you cannot avoid. Like shown in the image, there is war and hate going on in the background, while there are girls taking pictures on their cell phones in their home. They are materialistic and ignoring the facts, but Rosler is showing us that we can’t do this. We should not be bystanders to the atrocities of war that are affecting so many people around the world. Rather, Rosler is trying to teach a message, to be proactive about war efforts.