Skip to main content

Scott Goldfarb Week 4

These works are intricately connected with issues of identity, history and place.  How do context and identity impact the form and meaning of these artistic projects?

 While context and identity strictly define the meaning of these pieces, the form varies and is not tied down to the former and latter. To begin with, meaning in this response refers to the meaning that the artist originally created and intended with, and form refers to the physical form or design of the project. So in the terms defined, meaning is therefore inherently, closely, linked with the context and identity of these projects, due to the major idea that all three of the monuments were made in response and directly related to historical contexts and contemporary identity issues. The Bracero Monument was made with the historical context of the bracero migrant workers, and the monument is tied to the current identity politics in play around Mexican nationals in the U.S. and on a larger scale with Latinx identity in the U.S. The same goes for the Rumors of War monument and its historical ties to slavery and modern Black identity in the U.S. The Fons Americanus monument is slightly different, but still fits this framework as the identity and context is meant on a larger and broader scale than the other two projects, yet it still addresses similar issues and still derives meaning from similar identity conflicts. 
While the meaning is intrinsically tied to context and identity, it is much more loose with the form as all three of the projects address this in varying ways. The Bracero Monument is an example where form is not inherently tied to context and meaning, as the project is extremely realist and does not break from this. It is a monument of a Bracero worker with their family, and there is no abstraction to be made as the form is literally a realist depiction of this. Rumors of War toys with form as a means to show identity and context, as the design of the monument is in style with that of several Robert E Lee monuments, and also in a style inherent with monuments of pre and during Civil War figures. So with historical context tied to that, the abstraction on current identity is made with the subject riding the horse being an African American man in modern clothing. In terms of the Fons Americanus, it makes use of historical context and identity the most in relation to form as the piece features a tiered story on the transatlantic slave trade in relation to public structures, this being that it is in the style of the Queen Victoria Memorial. This use of form calls a greater question towards neoclassical structures found in Britain, and how identity can be seen in something that is so often ignored.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Emmanuel Bradshaw-Monuments article-wk4

While reading some of the monuments pieces I felt as if each of them had something that they  needed to prove. For example, for the Tate piece felt the need to expose what history has done to  people. Each level exposed how much each person was taken advantage of in service of someone  else. For the rumors of war piece exposed the whole idealism of the past resurrecting a past historical  leader to make sure that the event does not happen again. The Bracero monument exposed all of the  work that the people of that time had done in order to make sure that not another person is taken  advantage of again. But truth be told, all of these monuments have come with some sort of backlash.  The bracero monument had gotten criticism for stating that the braceros were free to do what they  wished. From what the article had stated that was not the truth. It was merely one persons  interpretation of what a bracero was, b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clare Morrissey-Art and Social Change Reader- Week 6

Art and Social Change Invisible Theatre               Invisible Theatre is the art of creating a performance in spaces that are not stages. The people who witness it cannot be aware it is a performance or else they would become spectators. The way this can be done is creating a solid and locked script that the actors stick to but also know it so well it allows flexibility and the ability for them to mess with it when the people witnessing the act give input or there is any disruption. The actors will prepare for anything when it comes to their performance. It is imperative to choose a location where people gather in large groups in the public. An example of how this is done is by having actors play in a scene in a crowded restaurant with many patrons. You have one actor make a big fuss over a meal they hate and the waiter offers them the nicest meal, acknowledging the price which the actor eating the meal lets it be known that the price is o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Scott Goldfarb Week 7

Assignment: Roberta Uno- Blog Post (due October 29th, 8pm) In preparation for Roberta Uno's visit next week, read her  "Steps Towards A New World."    In it she includes 11 precepts. In a blog post, address each of the following prompts: - What are the most important/significant ideas or elements outlined by Roberta and why? - What are the implications or resonances of Uno's precepts in your own practice? - What could be a metaphor or analogy for the kind of theater that Roberta Uno describes in this text? - What questions came up as you were reading this piece? ​ I found that the most important concept in the text was how the organization is not simply chained to a building. The theatre is wherever it is necessary to be, and is defined by the community it envelopes, not the brick and mortar it houses. Community and working together collectively to create art is more important than finding a roadhouse or a nice stage. Interestingly to me, this ...
Post a Comment
Read more