A Response to Art and Myself

At first, I found visiting the different galleries a jarring experience. It occurred to me soon after the second gallery why we were asked to read about what a contemporary is. I guess what I found jarring was my loss of the artistic language a study in art history gave to me. I was unable to place the works anywhere. I felt amateurish looking at much of the art. I was like a superhero telepath without telepathy, I could no longer hear, visualize, or contextualize any of the artist’s intentions. I wanted to embrace the newness of all the works and the scintillating emotions that arose, but I was too insecure and close minded to do so. I think what I took away most from the experience was that I didn’t know as much as I thought I knew and maybe some of what I thought I knew didn’t even apply. I was able to get past some of my anxiety…actually. I digress. The work of Marcel Dzama was so uniquely captivating to me, that it broke me of my anxiety for a moment. Naturally blown away by the films, there was a work on the wall that got my attention immediately. Whether it was part of the artist’s intentions or not, what I couldn’t get over were the connections to Christian views on Satanism and Witchcraft. Realizing the artist had other intentions with his work, this is what drew me to this particular piece. In no way do I practice Satanism or Witchcraft (neither do I condemn it), but there was something so beautifully shocking and real to the work for me. It resonated with me. Perhaps the subversiveness of it? Perhaps the images it brought it up in mind? Unfortunately, if I keep moving around from gallery to gallery with the same close mind, I’ll never have a similar experience let alone a deeper one.