Have you ever collected anything? Because it’s a common thing. Art isn’t the only thing that can be collected; you can essentially collect anything. These things become special possessions and treasures. You may keep all of these things in a certain place, or display them in a certain way. But more often than not, these things have a story behind them of how, why or when you got the pieces. You cherish these things because it creates a memory of a specific moment in your life; you’re essentially capturing a moment in an object. Unfortunately, the meanings of these pieces change, but the memories never die. At the end of the day, these pieces might not matter all that much in the scheme of life, but sometimes they do. These collections are often things we disregard in our everyday lives. But they are all around us, and they propel us through our lives whether we are aware of it or not. We are born from these objects that come from the world all around us.
When talking about collections, a million things came to my mind. I used to collect beanie babies and seashells as a kid. Now, I collect photographs. I am constantly printing out pictures from my own life, and collecting others and then making collages. I love pictures. I love taking them; I love being in them; I love everything about them. Like the people in the video we viewed, they capture memories; and let’s be serious, I need something to remind me of all the fun times I’ve had. I can’t possibly remember them all. This was a really personal video regarding collection and it was really relatable because it wasn’t solely focused on art. It reached out to those who are interested in things other than art and while I love art, it was still something unique to watch. It definitely brought me back to my childhood years and it made me think about why I cherished a stuffed animal so much. I mean, it’s not like it could talk to me or anything. Who knows; I’m sure I had a good reason at the time. But for now, all I can do is laugh about it (because I still have all of them).
Today we talked about a man who works with collections in museums by the name of Fred Wilson. He places objects together to create this different meaning than what the objects really stand for. He creates his own meaning within these objects. He takes everything he wants to say and depicts it with the collections. He says, “It is not art, but it is who I am.” He notes that you do your best work when you are doing something that you believe in. Wilson’s motivation behind his type of art is truly motivating and heart felt. His childhood as a black boy exposed to several different races, and discriminated against for his own race caused this sadness inside of him that he expresses through his work as an adult. He is very interested in the juxtaposition of objects; he works with this and explores the visual world around him that affects him so much.
Wilson’s work is truly admirable. Although he does not create the pieces with his own hands, he creates his own meaning and there is so much motivation and emotion behind what he does. He really went into depth to explain the meaning behind what he does. His pieces were touching because of the things they represented. He really embodies the idea that a picture, or in this case a collection of art, is worth a million words. Wilson has become stronger as a result of his rough childhood, and he took something in his life that was so negative and reinforced it in a positive way. There is definitely something to be said for that.
Another artists we discussed briefly is Mark Dion, who is considered a modern archaeologist. He mastered the art of traditional ceramic making. He made a ceramic teacup and then destroyed it and proceeded to display it as art. Many were baffled by the idea and did not understand the purpose of his piece. They considered it useless. When I heard this, I actually thought it was really cool. I think the whole idea of ceramics and the process is fascinating. The glazed look of a finished product is really intriguing, and seeing something like that in pieces is unique. Either way, it doesn’t matter because if he thinks it art than it shouldn’t matter what other think about it. It brings us back to our original argument of “What is art?”
-Kristen
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