Contemporary art

Truthfully when I signed up for IAH 209, I never would have expected that I would walk out of the class with as much knowledge as I have. Art class in high school was always fun and my teacher was always encouraging us to appreciate art and artists’ work but I never thought twice about it; same goes with contemporary art. I have heard the phrase before but I had no knowledge about what it was. I assumed that contemporary art was another word for modern works of art. Although I was partially right after this semester long class I have learned that there is a lot more behind it. My opinion began to develop as soon as we started talking about art versus craft. I never considered there was a difference between the two and when we began to discuss the differences, it opened my eyes to art.

We talked about a wide variety of artists, as well as movements that definitely broadened my appreciation towards contemporary art. My favorite movement we discussed was the Earthwork movement. I really loved the fact that they use the earth as their medium and that the artwork is not concealed in a gallery but in the open, allowing others to see the work. My favorite artist that really made me appreciate contemporary art was Andy Goldsworthy, who was an Earthwork artist. I wish we would have discussed more of his work in class but the video, River and Tides, about his works of art was interesting to watch. Even though it was dated, it was fun to watch and see how he would use whatever medium he stumbled upon in the area he was working. I especially enjoyed his egg shaped, rock sculptures because of his technique and the amount of patience he has to do his work. I also loved in the video, that he would show his works of art photographed as time wen...

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...but so far what I have grasped, I really enjoy. I have enjoyed and accepted most all the works of art and artists we have discussed. I accept that in contemporary art there is no right answer for what they are doing. No matter, there will be people out there that love what they are seeing and then there will be others that will be protesting. I am a very open minded person and my position for judging certain types of art, is accepting. I believe there is some sort of story behind most works of art, even if the artists had no intention in having a story. I believe that after having this course though, I can gather enough information when looking at a piece of art and analyze it to the best of my ability. I believe that I can judge a piece of art accurately with good reasoning and no matter what my opinion I will not be ashamed, and people should not judge my theory.