In the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston, there are many contemporary and older paintings inside. After visiting
the museum on the March 12, 2015, I decided that maybe contemporary art isn’t
my thing. I am going to about this for the next few paragraphs, and the time
you spend doing that will be time you won’t get back. You may as well just skip
to the end, as everything I am about to say is nothing you haven’t heard
before.
…
…
Have they gone? I’m sorry for the
ruse, but I know that I had to make the beginning look as much of an official
review as possible so I could then talk about something completely different.
If you are here, either its Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Mordeno reading this before
posting it, or someone reading this on the website if for some reason they
actually do post this. Anyway, this is really a review about modern culture and
meaning in paintings. For those who weren’t there, I have recently said that I
would rather not spend time analyzing a painting for its meaning. I stand by
that, but to a certain extent. I never get to finish a thought when I am saying
something to a group, so I may as well say everything I want to say right here.
I’ve come to understand that my statement
on not wanting to look too deeply into the art for meaning may have been a rub
in the wrong direction. I understand that winterim is a time to try new things
and to be enriched in the culture. I do fully appreciate the artwork, as it is
fantastic and beautiful. I believe that art is made to look beautiful. I also
believe that art can have meaning behind it, that’s great. In a museum however,
I want to look at the art and think of its beauty. This doesn’t mean I never
want to find meaning in paintings and sculptors. There are paintings where I
really want to know what it means, or why it was painted in the way it was. Those
paintings are always the ones that I find extremely interesting or I greatly
enjoy. For me, there is a loss of enjoyment in finding meaning in paintings I
don’t have a major interest in. In those cases, looking for meaning in the
paintings feels like work. That’s what deciphering a painting I have no real
interest in is to me, work. All art is a form of entertainment, and if I find
it work to be entertained, is it really entertainment?
So that is what I meant when I said
I don’t want to spend time analyzing a painting. For me most paintings are well
crafted and done, but I don’t feel connected enough to want to look for
meaning. Those paintings are either paintings that have religious implications
(oh, how tired I am of religious people trying to shove it down my throat. But
that’s a topic for a different day) and in modern paintings. I will now discuss
modern paintings, in two sections. One is of photography, one is of abstract
paintings.
To discuss photography you have to
be familiar with a certain work that I’ve seen recently. Well, seen is a strong
word as I was looking at the floor most of the time due to discomfort. I am
talking about photographs made by a guy I don’t remember the name of. The
photographs were sequences of naked/almost naked people. I detest this in two
different ways. One is because it made me uncomfortable, but that’s a personal
thing and won’t bother you with. The second is a bit broad, so I’ll explain it
before naming it. There has to be a consistency with the modern world. In a
group discussion I brought up a point that having these pictures of skinny
models was a way that art could give girls low self-esteem, as the way the models
were portrayed. Either I did not explain that correctly or no one wanted to
answer me directly, because I got the answer of “because it’s not on TV and
there is nothing being sold it is ok.” So let me re-explain my point in case it
wasn’t clear. Showing these extremely skinny models in a photograph is the
exact same as seeing them in a magazine or on television. It is showing girls
and women that to be attractive you have to be skinny. What is weird to me is
that we tolerate it in a museum saying that its art, but don’t tolerate it in a
magazine. I’m not saying that it’s ok in a magazine, and I’m not saying it
shouldn’t be ok with the art. My problem with it is the lack of consistency in
the modern world. There has to be a standard brought about through all sorts of
media, being art or television or news. Make up your mind, which is it, because
if it’s not tolerate in one place why is it tolerated in another. So I guess my
issue is lack of clarity or continuation of expectations when it comes to media
and being offensive. Anyway, with these thoughts running through my head there
is no possible way I can find meaning behind it, as all I see are naked people
making me uncomfortable.
Secondly, abstract paintings. To be
a bit brief on an introduction, it’s not what it used to be. Picasso’s abstract
drawings were abstract but had clear distinct meanings behind them. You could
tell if he was melancholy or angry at a war. However, in today’s abstract
drawings you get the simplest things that anyone could have drawn for any
reason. My favorite one of these is a white canvas, about three feet wide, with
green triangles drawn. The triangles start large on the sides of the canvas,
and connect in the middle where they are much smaller. When I look at this, I
know there is no possible way that I can understand any of it. Do the lines
represent government and how the only time it agrees on something is when there
is barely any government? Does it imply that a romantic relationship requires
equal contributions from both sides? There could be any meaning behind it. That
is when I give up and decide that there isn’t any meaning, because anyone who
would put meaning behind a painting would paint something more than TWO
TRIANGLES.
Anyway, to close. I believe that
modern art is the worst it has ever been. That doesn’t mean zero effort goes
into it, I just mean that it is uninspiring. My stance on this goes beyond
visual art, but you get the idea. I’d rather spend time looking at Picasso’s
and Venn Goh’s than some guy who drew two triangles on a canvas. I understand
that there is little likelihood that this will be put onto the blog. There has
to be some layer of censorship, right? I know this skews a little from where I
set out, but it is a review of modern art using a few pieces we’ve seen as
examples. If you do post this, then title it Rant on Modern Art. I titled it
the way I did to sucker you in a bit. Anyway, I better finish up with a way I
end my other reviews in case people just skipped to the end.
Yes, I guess go to the museum of
fine arts. There is plenty to see there and it is worth time to see. If you
bring kids, just make sure to keep them quiet.
Rating: 7 incredible hulks out of
10, because RRRRAAAAGGEEEEEE on. Also there are quite a few rooms painted
green. Also because there is a lot of power in 7 hulks, just as there is quite
a lot of power in some of the pieces, however not as powerful as 10 hulks
because the museum did lack a few things I would have liked to see.
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