Week 7 — Art Idea Essay — The Art of Place
Navarro, Melanie
Art 110: Intro to Visual Arts
Professor Zucman
October 11, 2020
Art of Place Essay
Place makes this world full of life. It makes the world feel full and colorful. Place is a really difficult topic to discuss because it is very broad. However, place affects us daily and significantly creates identity. Everybody feels they belong to a certain place, whether it is accessible in real life or only accessible through imagination or virtually. Place creates culture because there are different spaces where many different cultures can express themselves freely and feel a sense of home. For example, Olvera Street in Los Angeles, romanticizes old Los Angeles because it focuses on being a mexican market area. Having a place to make you feel welcome is significant and that is what having a sense of place does. Many do not find comfort in their own homes so they escape that reality through online games or through even taking a trip somewhere that makes them feel joy. We all value places differently. What one sees in one place, another might find pointless. However, we all have a certain place that gives us value.
Francis Bacon is an Irish-British artist who is known for his post war art in the 1900s. His work is bold because of the imagery in his paintings. He painted humans very distorted like and depicted bars/clubs in Soho. I found his work useful because as I did further research I came to encounter that he was a drinker and was a harsh man. However, his work connects to the place because of the bars and areas he painted his subjects in. He once described these places as somewhere to lose your inhibitions. These meanings of his painting showed places where people would get away. Vincent Van Gough is another artist whose paintings were significant with the idea of place. Van Gough was a very famous Dutch painter in the late 1800s. He was a post-impressionist artist who focussed on bringing color to his paintings. While visiting Arles, Van Gough decided to paint his bedroom. However, he decided to add color because the room was bland. This describes the place because he saw one thing, but transformed it into a lively scene because he reflected his feelings onto his art. Michael Foucault was French anthropologist in the mid 1900s. He is famous for addressing the relationship between knowledge and power and how it connects to social control. He describes panopticonism which is a place with several spatial units. In this case the place is a trap because although prisoners can see out, it is a trap. These windows expose them and they are unable to have freedom. Many think because they can see out it is freedom, however this window is used to watch the inmates which ultimately gives powers to those outside. This idea of place is significant because not all places make people feel sane.
There should be more virtual activities. Work, school, life has slowly adjusted to Corona. However, it has made life bland. Attending these places physically and enjoying everyday activities is what made these places enjoyable. This experience can be made better by simply trying to offer more activities. Place has already adjusted to Gen Z and Millennials. Digital Nomad Millennial’s experience of place is different from an office-working Baby Boomer because Baby Boomers have still not caught up to the technology of this century. Many Baby Boomers still have a former mindset.
Place is a complex topic. It holds a different meaning for everyone, but overall I believe place is somewhere that brings you comfort and makes you feel sasne. The 21st century should be safe and enjoyable. American in 2024 will be like the world now. However, in 2050 American will have more technology and hopefully by then schools and life will adapt to life with Coronavirus. I personally expect to navigate places online and in real life. After graduation, I would like for life to go back to normal so that I could experience life and enjoyment without so much technology.
