Conception of Modern Art

My dad is an artist, and so growing up, during family vacations, art museums were almost always part of the itinerary. However, this did not foster an understanding and appreciation in me for modern art as one might expect or hope. It wasn’t that I disliked it; it was more that I was indifferent to it, puzzled by it, coming to a lot of the same conclusions as other people, like, “well, I could splatter paint on a canvas like that too. In fact, a three year old could do that.” You know, the usual comments we hear about modern art. However, during this class, I started questioning my conceptions of modern art. There wasn’t necessarily one particular article or one particular artist that we talked about that suddenly had me in a tale-spin, it was more of a gradual shift in thought due to many class conversations and articles.

            I am fascinated and frustrated by this concept of art being like a wheel that keeps moving forward. There is a sense that ideas are recycled and re-used but in a new frame or context, so that there is a progress to the recycling. Idealistically, I would like to think that there are still endless possibilities for theatre and art that have not been explored. Perhaps, that is not so impossible to hope for, but chances are that most things to come will be some form of reincarnation of what has come before.  Not a bad thing necessarily. My frustration comes from a feeling that theatre and art are kind of stuck right now, as though this evolving wheel has gotten caught up on some gum, or is rolling through molasses. Theatre is losing its power, there isn’t a lot of importance focused on the arts, and there isn’t a whole lot of funding for the arts either. So in class, when we started talking about different art movements that I might previously have found ridiculous or been indifferent too, I found myself having a growing appreciation and admiration for their determination to explore something new and different, turn the tide of art, make people question things, turn the tables, etc. Like the Futurists, for example, I don’t feel a huge connection to their work, and if I saw it performed, I may absolutely hate it, but they were reacting to what came before them and trying to explore something totally different, and in doing so, they created a new conversation in the art world.

            There was also a day in class when Dr. Fletcher talked about Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. One of the characters in the story having a moment where he addresses a group of people about his art, as they have been saying such things as I mentioned above, “a three year old could do this.” In this speech, he says something along the lines of: he wishes a three year old had made his art; he wishes that a three year old could come to the same conclusions and revelations and simplicity in one blissful moment that it took him many years and painful experiences to discover. I could be butchering this moment horribly, but the conversation we had in class about it struck me. If I think about what we try to accomplish in our acting work all the time, it is trying to take all the knowledge and experience we have as humans that make us complex and interesting, but then distill it all down to a fundamental sense of imagination, curiosity, listening, responding, being in the moment, and all these things are things that come naturally to children. So, why should I look at a piece of art that looks like it has been made by a child and let that be all I see? Why shouldn’t I look at it and see a childlike wonder combined with the pain, complexities, and knowledge of an adult? Suddenly, with that lens, I am much more interested in what the piece is saying.

            We also watched a clip of Marina Abramovic’s The Artist is Present, which then prompted me to watch the whole documentary on Netflix.  Previously, Performance Art had always been something that escaped me. So often it just seemed to be weird and interpretive for the sake of being weird and interpretive. Perhaps, this conception stemmed from a Performance Art class on Fluxus that I took while studying abroad. I never had any idea what was going on in that class. When I think back on it now, all I remember is a girl shaving a kiwi and throwing it into the audience. Why? I have no clue. But when I watched Marina’s documentary, I was captivated. Maybe, it was because it was about presence and that has been a hot topic for us lately, but I found her passion, dedication, and need to share through art incredibly profound. I ceased to think of it as weird and interpretive, and instead found myself viewing her work as an expression of her. There is an intense need in her to express something to the world and her art is the most visceral and powerful way she could find to express it.

            These are just a couple of examples, but I have found myself being much more open to finding the meaning behind something and not writing things off at face value just because they seem ridiculous, simple, or outlandish.