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amvis GENTRY, CHELSEA M

America is extremely visually oriented. After watching the two videos, "Empire of Signs," and "American Cisions, on modern art, I have come to see that even more to be true. The question is, how does that influence us?

Answer: in INCREDIBLE WAYS.

TRuth is, because we are human beings, we often see to believe. We see to learn, we believe what is put around us to be truth. In the "Empire of Signs," Robert Hughs informed us that the power within the empire is exercised through a number of different things: Money, death and attraction. He stated that America is said to be "swollen with pleasure." Flashes of consumption shot across the screen. It's true, isn't it? Compared to other countries, we hoard. We are the obese people.

In this statement, I am not just talking about food. I am talking about myself and my own desires to become something. I am talking about eye candy, and seducing others, gaining attention, being attractive: these are all extremely important to us as Americans. Nobody would disagree. The things we see we deem beautiful, and therefore want to become like. Magazines, artwork, clothing all embody this. You have seen the changes in fashion over the last decade. We have gone from larger women being an attraction: seen as an icon of health and wealth, to thinking the frizzy hair of the 80's is is down right sexy. We've had the the sportsy look, hippie look, bellbottoms, short shorts on men, and now we think, PROPASTEROUS!!! ( I don't know if that is spelled correctly or not?) We laugh at the styles our parents wore back in the day.

It's like that for me. When I see a painting by Mark Rothko, nothing happens. I see colors. I enjoy the colors, yes, but there are people that can stand in front of one of his paintings and cry. I don't understand how they reflect anything religious or meaningful, but to Rothko, they were drowned in such.

As the years passed and the artwork became more and more modern, the objects became less and less about what was right in front of them, and more about interpretation. I love it. One artist, Dali paints such abstract work that you can determine yourself it's meaning based on your perspective or experience. I think that that is beautiful. I do not however find the bland architecture of Donaledd to be particularly attractive... very bland. I do like feeling intellectual when I look at a peace of work, so that I can derive my own meaning from it. Donald Judd's work seemed to suggest that it's viewwer had no capacity to do this. It was said to be work that was "in the world, tells us nothing."

though some of the work spoke directly to the heart of hurting, anxiety and fear, like Richard Serras work in "American Visions." Also, some of Andy Warhol's pieces, such as his suicide body, and his car accident, and electric chair peices. I do believe it is comforting in a way to people to know that they are not alone in their fears or experiences. I think that peopple can relate well to these kind of paintings/sculptures and anything that arouses some kind of response can be good for a person. We as Americans need to RESPOND. To find ourselves amongst artwork, to embody some sort of feeling towards things and be able to identify it for what it is. To know who we are as American's and fight for the political views we believe are true, to agree or disagree with what is portrayed and not just go along with something because it is all that we know. Intelligence is being killed by the media... I just saw a bumper sticker on the way in that said that "Media is breeding ignorance," and I believe that wholeheartedly. I think that what was envoked due to the videos is that myself, America and artwork is all connected. Artwork is what displays what AMerica is, what it's believfs are and it's icons are: therefore, what I am, who I should be and what I am not. I believe in the power of art. I believe that we should have the liberty to display what we stand for, believe in or what our interpretation of the world is, but America is not who we are as a whole, but who we are individually, and if beauty is always in proportion to strangeness, we must not be afraid to take advantage of the fifth ammendment and stand up for who we are not what we have been told we are.



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