As a depiction of an artistic response to the voice of mainstream media the C33 Gallery show is small yet effective. The show contains a nice selection of pieces which, while some gave me little insight into their alleged message, I found all of the pieces to be at least somewhat appealing to look at. The show provided different pieces of work which tackled a wide variety of different social, political, environmental, and financial issues. The technical skill of the artists was vividly apparent in each distinct piece of art yet some left me feeling cold and unsure regarding the meaning behind the artist's use of images and symbols. For instance, there was one piece of work that basically displayed a bizarre sort of game board. The piece of work depicted this game board as being a sort of representation of the Iraq War. I was unsure at this point about what the artist was trying to say with this piece. Was the work trying to speak about that the horror of Iraq should be played like a game? That the people running the Iraq War don't take it seriously enough? To me it remains a mystery.
More puzzling still was that although the basic purpose of the art show was supposed to be an advocate for a more well rounded approach for the mainstream media I still detected a slant towards the left which was impossible for me to shake off during my initial viewing. One piece in particular was a simple photograph of a police officer towering over a group of people, one of which looked like he had been cracked in the nose and was bleeding quite profusely. What in the world was this photograph trying to communicate? How is this an advocate for truth? Especially considering the context of where this piece of art is displayed. Of course at an art college there would be a picture of an evil symbol of authority standing ominously over a group of bloody, defenseless, and terrified individuals. I wonder what the purpose of the picture could have been, besides seeking to demonize the police.
Like most art exhibits some pieces were simply more effective than others. There were some pieces of work that filled me with a deep sense of wonder which in turn led me to a profound ideas about how the media sometimes seeks to craft the facts in a manner which will serve their interests and not the interests of the truth. Although some pieces were more successful than others the show as a whole got me to think about how the truth is often in the eye of the beholder and is influenced dramatically from where its coming from and who is receiving it. This show will run in the C33 Gallery until February 20th, 2009.
Adam Mohrbacher
01/30/2009
I really like the angle you take here, arguing back to the show a little bit. But then in the end you admit that the show succeeds in provoking thought, even if there are gaps in its overall effectiveness. That's a very reasonable-sounding approach. I'd like to have that kind of subtlety and clarity in the opening--you front-load the review with the summary stuff, and you need a better hook to lead off with.
ReplyDeleteHow about some links and images? You could supply some of the information that slows you down in the opening by linking to it.