Week 14
This week we read Darby Englishs, "How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness" from 2007. The work is about how people only view black art as just that "black" art and ignore some of the underlying messages that may speak to other classes or people. People expect art that does nothing but represent a minority when that art is made by a minority. People ignore the cultural and class themes as to them, in a weird way, minorities are seen as entertainment. As people long for black art, that represents black peoples struggles as a whole race, what they don't realize is that black peoples experiences are not all the same and that being black means different things to different people. One person cannot represent a race, just as one piece cannot. However, researching certain issues can show systemic problems within the community. These issues may be seen through their art, though these issues do not make them their race. In the same vein, there are people that take an understandable advantage of peoples need for "black" art. As they feel proud of their race and portray that through their art. In my opinion, this is an excellent way to remove the constant theme of pain and suffering that is seen from being a minority. While those themes are important to convey, they are often used even outside of minority artist circles to convey themes of suffering among communities, without the subtlety seen in professional artists work.
Hi Nathan,
ReplyDeleteI really love how you simplified and summarized the main idea for Darby English’s introduction. It was a difficult read, and the way you have written your blog makes the reading more comprehensible. I also like how you mentation that one art piece cannot represent an entire community, and it hard to look at marginalized art without thinking that pieces means something to that marginalized community the art piece is about. You said, “These issues may be seen through their art, though these issues do not make them their race.” And I was wondering if you could add more to this because I am confused by what you are trying to say.
Hey Nathan, you raise some valid points about people’s views of black art’s place in its own community, as well as others. Artists create their pieces with an intention or inspiration that may differ from what the viewer might see in it. When racism and its history in our society are considered, art can take on a whole new meaning, but people need to understand that racial issues aren’t always the subject of black art. You conveyed these thoughts well enough to grasp, keep it up.
ReplyDeleteHi Nathan!
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up the point that One person cannot represent a whole culture because everyone's experience is different, but that there are some works that have a theme can apply to more than one culture. Why do you think people fight so hard to experience 'black art' as only a form of entertainment and not representation of something the artist has gone through?