“MoMA PS1: The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood” Field trip #2

When viewing a work of art, one receives an instant reaction towards it; either you like it or you don’t. After analyzing it, your opinion might change, or not. I know from experience, once I take the time to fully understand a work of art, I may begin to appreciate it. In other situations, I just can’t seem to fathom the artwork. This past week, we had another wonderful opportunity to experience the MoMA PS1. When visiting, I came across three works of art; one that I didn’t like, one that I did and one that I didn’t understand.

Personally, the work of art by, Frances Stark “My Best Thing,” was the work of art that I had the least interest in. In video form, Stark expressed how people do sexual favors over the internet in chat rooms. To me the video was just pointless because it was uncreative. There was no deeper meaning brought forth. Each second that I witnessed this “work of art” I became more and more uninterested in watching the rest, which is why I couldn’t stick around to view it anymore. The mini film didn’t capture my full attention which is ironic because of the topic it discussed. I was also a bit bothered that the characters in the mini film reminded me of Adam and Eve from the first book of the bible. It was almost as if Stark made a mockery of them. Overall, it was simply untasteful.

The exhibit that I liked and really enjoyed was Janet Cardiff “The Forty Motet.” This was a room that consists of forty speakers that played a fourteen minute forty track sound recording of “Spem in Alium Nunquam Habui” by Thomas Tallis. I thought that it was beautiful and so captivating how although each speaker had its one individual sound, but when you stand in the midst of the speakers it forms a beautiful harmony as if it was one sound. I personally believe that this symbolizes unity, and that is the deeper meaning that the artist is expressing. I enjoy the stimulating thoughts that Cardiff allows that listeners to experience. This is what art is all about.

The work of art that I didn’t understand was “It’s Like a Jungle,”by, Henry Taylor. In Taylor’s work of art, he created a sculpture that consist various forms of items that you could find in your house. Although each of the pieces used to create Taylors creation was interesting, his idea wasn’t clear enough for me because each piece had an different character. It would go from an picture of Kanye West, to an broom stick. If the pieces had a format, a pattern or if he played with the scale a bit more, it probably would have made more sense to me. I did enjoy the contrast between white and black, but overall I didn’t understand the message of the piece. To me it wasn’t clear.    

In conclusion, everyone has a different an opinion of art. You won’t always agree with an artist suggestion of what art is and sometimes you will; and there are other times when you may need a little guidance to really understand a work of art that doesn’t make sense to you. As the saying goes, “Art is in the eye of the beholder.”

Frances Stark
"My Best Thing"
Video (Sound, Color)
2011

Janet Cardiff
"The Forty Part Motet"
40-track sound recording (14:00 minutes), 40 speakers
1957

Henry Taylor

"It's Like a Jungle"

2011