Month: September 2015 (Page 1 of 10)

What makes art unique is two very crucial characteristics: the boundless degree of freedom, and the importance of self interpretation. Many feel that it is one’s natural right to produce any work of art due to these inherent features. However, this all gets a bit more complicated when one’s self interpretation is in direct conflict with another’s freedom to produce.

Currently, there is an international campaign gaining traction mainly in London and New York. This campaign, which is centered around mural based artworks, is a way for people to express protest over the jailing of a female Iranian illustrator, Atena Farghadani. Farghadani was convicted for depicting her local politicians as she perceived them- as animals.

Atena Farghadani

This movement uses art as a way to communicate dissent over the restrictions and limitations of human liberties in Iran. So when Faith47, an acclaimed artist part of the campaign, approached Wylie Goodman about using one of her walls as a canvas for a new work, she gladly agreed. Ms. Goodman’s building stands tall in Red Hook, New York, her permanent residence. Unfortunately, the mural has been involved in protest, vandalism, and public unrest lately. Many of the local residents have expressed opposition to the mural in a wide variety of ways. After much consideration, Goodwin has capitulated, and decided to paint over the mural.

The mural, standing at 27 feet, depicts approximately half of a woman’s face, with her mouth nowhere to be found. The woman can easily be identified as Iranian due to the Niqab, or more commonly known as the Iranian head scarf.

Mural in Red Hook, NY, created by Faith47

To some, the apparent identification of an Iranian character is excessively disrespectful and inappropriate. They feel that the mural is reminiscent, and clearly associated with 9/11 terror attacks, which took place just a few miles away in 2001.

9/11 Rememberance

Upon my first reading of this situation, I was appalled by the irony. This remarkable campaign, along with this specific piece of work, is being protested due to self interpretation by many local residents. The evident paradox is that the campaign itself is concentrated on the belief that every person has innate rights, which includes the freedom to interpret various subjects however they see fit.

Rationally speaking, there are arguments to be made from both sides of the spectrum. To me though, it is clear cut which side has a logical approach, and which side does not. People certainly have the right to decide how they view any work of art. Nevertheless, it is my belief that to have a justified opinion, one must go ahead and do extra research and investigation on the subject at hand. If the residents did not just jump to their premature opinions, and rather did their own due diligence, then they would have discovered the truth behind the creation. They would have seen the painting as the spectacular, legitimate, extensive piece of art that it is. When a movement has such a positive, encouraging meaning behind it, there should be no grounds for objection or dispute. Beyond that, the residents of Red Hook, NY, were acting out of a sense of racism, and unjustified motivation. If we as a people are going to judge people based on the way they look, the people they are linked with, or the place they come from, then how are we any different than the ones who locked up Atena Farghadani in the first place. For us to live in a democracy with freedoms, there must be a balance between liberty and justification.

Thanks to Colin Moynihan, and his article “In Brooklyn, A Protest Mural Draws Its Own Protest,” I am now familiar with Faith47 and the movement to which she has partaken in. Even though Wylie Goodman could not handle the frequent vandalism and disapproval, she deserves great admiration and courage for taking the initiative to be part of such a great campaign. Hopefully in the future Faith47 can continue to spread the message of international solidarity on free speech; except from now on she should be able to operate with the natural human rights this movement fights for.

When one thinks of New York City, the image that pops up in most people’s mind is of a busy Time Square. This image of New York is by no measure uncalled for. According to Forbes, “26 million people visit Times Square each year, which is about 50,0000 people who go through Times Square every day, which consists of 25,0000 employees, residents and of course tourists.”

Time Square is perhaps the world capital of modern art with people running around covered in body paint, amateur artists selling their works, and costumed panhandlers. It is an inspiring piece of New York that is a leaves a positive finger print on American culture and will only grow in importance as time progresses. However, many would disagree with this assessment. Michael Kimmelman in he September 22, 2015 New York Times article, “Making Times Square’s Pedestrian Plazas Work,” reports, “William J. Bratton, the city’s police commissioner, to say he’d like to rip the plazas up. The mayor, Bill de Blasio, didn’t disagree, calling for a task force to study ways to improve the square.”

Luckily, instead of demolishing the plazas, Bratton has assigned a special unit to monitor Times Square. Nevertheless, one must understand that ripping apart Time Square is certainly not off the table. I for one believe that Time Square is a valuable artistic asset of the city.

These plazas were established by the Michael Bloomberg administration in order to improve pedestrian and driver safety while encouraging tourists to appreciate the artistic expressions of New Yorkers.

Moreover, the plaza isn’t only a center for art, but also a piece of architectural art within its own right. NYC Department of Design and Construction calls the plaza, “a back drop for pedestrians in the area.” The validity of this claim is proven when one examines the plaza. For instance, each panel of the concrete pavers has unique design with thousands of stainless-steel pucks implanted within them, which will reflect the lights of Broadway.

However, the story doesn’t end there. Kimmelman clarifies, “Craig Dykers, a founding partner of Snohetta, the firm hired five years ago to design the plazas, showed me plans for improvements yet to come, including widened sidewalks along a repaved Seventh Avenue.”

This means we have yet to see Time Square in its full glory. It could become a place that would encourage even more tourism, which in turn would incite more creative, innovative, and even weird artistic voices to be heard in the plaza.

In the final analysis, it becomes clear that we as New Yorkers must advocate for the preservation and expansion of the Time Square’s Pedestrian Plaza.