MoMA PS1: The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood

Last Monday on our field trip to MoMA PS1 I got to examine many art pieces that to me where different from any other art pieces I've seen before in a museum. Some pieces of art I enjoyed , some had puzzled me and other didn't catch my interest at all. I will share with you the art pieces I liked , disliked and misunderstood.
When choosing one piece of art that I liked the most there honestly was only one called "It's Like a Jungle" By Henry Taylor. I liked this piece just because it was so random and out of place. In the piece I found brooms , sticks with different types of bottles painted black on top , a picture of Kanye West and other celebrities , branches , a bag  , several mops , boxes and many more. It really made me feel like I was in a jungle which made me like it the most. I feel as if the artist Henry Taylor just didn't throw all these items together , but placed them in a way where it looked creative.
In the museum there where many pieces of art I didn't understand but the one that confused me the most was the video "My Best Thing" by Frances Stark. The video was 99 minutes long and was just beyond confusing. I had only watched about 3 minutes of it and thought to myself  "how was this art?" There was just to many things happening at once which puzzled me the most. Even though I didn't really appreciate this piece, it is possible for me to appreciate something that isn't really my taste.
And last is the piece that I disliked the most. I choose "The Forty Part Motet" by Janet Cardiff. It was a 40 track sound recording with 40 speakers that lasted for 14 minutes. The reason I disliked it so much was  the type of music that was playing. After listening to it for awhile It became annoying and for that piece I really didn't understand how 40 speakers was considered art. I couldn't really relate anything personal to this piece which also made me dislike it.
In conclusions all these pieces made me think in some type of way. They made me question what was the artist thinking when they created this? How is this art? what does this remind me of when it comes to my personal life ? Even though I will come across some works of art I don't understand or dislike I can still use my creative mindset and try and relate it to myself.


Janet Cardiff
"The Forty Part Motet"
2001

Henry Taylor

"It's Like a Jungle"

2011

Frances Stark

"My Best Thing"

2011

Art and Identity: The Museum of Modern Art

When artist create a piece of art it can relate to the personal experiences of that artist. This usually shows us the identity in the artwork. Artwork can relate to an individual, cultural identity and historical. Last Monday on our trip to the MoMA , I looked over 3 pieces of art that could relate to each of these identities.

When talking about an artwork of an individual in the MoMA I picked "Tanya as Bandit" The Artwork showed a woman holding some type of gun and a bandanna around the piece. The piece symbioses liberation and freedom in a way. The reason I choose this piece as "individual" was because everyone as a individual has freedom and liberty, even women.

Cultural Identity would be anything that relates to ethnicity, gender, interest or nationality. The artwork I choose that relates to this is "Star Doll" by Mariko Mori. This represents culture because the doll dressed up in certain Japanese clothing can show how the Japanese dress. In all cultures everyone dresses differently and the people are allowed to wear what that culture accepts. The doll is wearing white boots, white stockings, blue top , plaid skirt, yellow shoulder pads and large headphones.

Lastly is historical, which is anything created during its time. I choose "Exodus of Confederates from Atlanta and Lost Mountain at Sunrise. When looking as this painting you see how it shows slavery and how the painting depicts the Civil War. The Civil War was a very important war in American history. The artist probably had a family a member in the war of in slavery.

In conclusion an artist can communicate with its viewers with art that show some type of experience or that can relate to other people's lives. Each artist shows something that can either represent something that occurred around them or you can be able to relate to something in your own personal life.

Kara Walker

 " Exodus of Confederates from Atlanta from Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War"

2005

Mariko Mori 

"Star Doll"

1967

Cady Noland

"Tanya as Bandit"

1989 

Narrative Digital Collage

This reminds me of the time one of my good friends told me she was walking in SoHo one afternoon and saw that giant cats where terrorizing the streets. They were flying, crawling, sleeping and attacking all over. People screamed and ran in fear not knowing what to do.

Good Art vs.. Bad Art

When it comes to describing what "good art" is to me it would have to be anything that is Realistic or Abstract art. Even though both types of art are completely different, they both have some type of impression on me. I find Realistic art interesting because it makes me wonder how the artist looked at something and was able to draw, paint, or sculpt the object so perfectly to match. As for abstract it makes you wonder what the picture "really" is/. You question what was the artist thinking of when he/she created this. Everyone has a different opinion when it comes to Abstract art because it can be anything in the world when we look at it. Eve though a Abstract picture could be a bunch of line of different shapes put together , I still find some type of meaning to the piece.

I find when talking about "bad art" it's hard for me to think of what bad art really is to me. But one example I can only think of when it comes to bad art is art that is just thrown together. By this I mean Art that doesn't tell a story , something that looks like it was just put together in 5 minutes with no type of thought. To me this just looks sloppy. I feel like when artist do this they art trying to make their piece look like some form of Abstract art. To me I feel like they did not capture the illusion of visible reality like a abstract piece would.

2 Examples Of Good Art 

Realistic

Abtract

2 Examples of Bad Art