"Art
is after all communicated through a kind of language even if it is a pictorial
or symbolic language just as music is considered a language. Evaluating or
judging the status of mass culture in contemporary society is still one of the
most controversial aspects of modern life. Many, like the Frankfurt School
believe that mass culture only has a harmful and regressive effect on the
population – even if they are willing to admit that consumer impulses still
contain a distorted demand for respect and dignity". Walter Benjamin: The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction.
INTERPRETATION:
I believe the passage is
vividly telling us how art can communicate to us in different forms. What is
being portrayed in most arts are messages that need to be decoded or are just
portrayed so easily for even a layman to understand. Therefore, to me the
pictorial depiction as indicated in the passage might mean; art in a form of
photos. And it is obvious that most pictures give direct meaning to the object
in them, others give indirect meaning. The symbolic language might be a
depiction of symbols and other technique that needs to be interpreted. All in
all, art can be satirical, mysterious, complex or simple, natural, artificial
and all other elements can be made up of, as a way of expressing messages in
them. That is why the passage also talks about it as “one of the most
controversial aspect of modern life.”
How art is related to one photograph from the passage:
Photograph chosen: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother,
Florence Owens Thompson, 1939
I enjoy still pictures because they portray what movies cannot express. Dorothy Lange, the migrant worker, her face is so expressive, showing her concern for children and what will she must do next in order to survive so that her children can also survive. I do love movies but pictures tell a thousand words. Art is beautiful and expressive even if it is sad or too graphic to bear, they contain so much meaning and there are so many details, sometimes, the first time that you saw it, when you look a second time, there is something else there that you didn't notice before. This is a picture made for the National Geography or an art gallery telling a story about survival.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your message above. When I look at a photograph or a piece of art I try to imagine why was this object created, what was it's purpose and how does the artist look? I look at all of these perpectives because I'm trying to get the full understanding of the piece because I'm very curious like that. Therefore, art's language can either be clear or unclear so I can see why Benjamin considered art as a form of language. But like any kind language, it can be misinterpreted and used against a group which is why so many German artists' art pieces and artists were killed or their pieces were destroyed.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you interpret the passage and the picture you included clearly sends messages like uncertainty, worried and anything of the like. Pictures are great in giving us an idea of a situation or event with just a single glance and i think that's exactly what we can see here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the interpretation you provided for Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother. The photo does in fact a woman who exhibits great concern and uncertainty for the future and how she will be able to care for her two daughters. Art can be a powerful form of expression since it can reveal to us the historical and cultural ideals of the time in which it was created. The photo you cited, for instance, was taken during the Great Depression shortly before the start of World War II. This was a time of economic calamity and massive unemployment for Americans in the U.S. and abroad. The photo only serves to show the severity of the depression and its effect on people's livelihoods and their families.
ReplyDelete