Territory- at the MAC
The compilation of Territory is eccentric, intriguing, and moving. The premise of the show is to question the uncharted territory whether or not what we need is the same as what we want. There are several prompt questions offered at the beginning of the show: What do we need as people? What do we need as a nation? What do we merely want? Is there any difference? The pieces are imaginative and yet morally striking as well.
For example, the first piece at the entrance of the Territory exhibit is a bright red children’s readymade Radio Flyer wagon with a Nintendo 64 game consol remote control attached to it. To me, this represents the tension that exists between vibrant imaginations children seemed to have before video games came into play and invented their imaginations for them. Do we want our kids to be given a wagon and open up a world of possibilities for themselves or do we want our technological world to thrive and plant ideas in our kids’ minds before they build their own? The artist of this piece, Juventino Aranda was successful in this piece of art, conveying the very fine line between “need/want”. The art in this exhibit is relatable to so many people because the pieces are the product of the artists’ imaginations uninhibited and completely revealed. Aranda’s work reflects the mindset of many of the other artists present at this event.
What struck me about so many of the pieces, were the pairings of very realistic things with imaginative fantasies. As if much of the show were exhibiting what it might truly look like if our imaginations came to life; a collection of our daily thoughts and daydreams put together as one. Along with many other pieces that were profoundly executed, a couple pieces that drew this discovery out from me were the contributions made by our very own Katie Creyts who partnered with Kay O’Rourke. There were also several pieces that used a 2D image accompanied with 3D elements. Such as a painting highlighting a painted man holding a real-life brush. This factor allowed me to wonder about the question of reality and meaning. What were the meanings behind the artists’ choice to specifically emphasize the brush? What pieces of our own lives to we objectify or make more prominent? What do these choices say about our reality? Just as there is a question about absolute truth, is there an absolute reality?
2 comments:
I agree with your connection you made between the Radio Flyer wagon and the Nintendo 64 game controller. It is a very plausible argument to say that our children of the next generation have grown up in a world that offers ready made imaginations. As a nation, I think this is a strong representation of when our confusion between need and want affects us in a negative way. Our materialistic lifestyle often causes us to consider technology as something we NEED versus something we merely WANT. And in this confusion, we are possibly sacrificing the value of a creative, imaginative mind.
I completely agree with that! We have crossed the line between needs and wants so far, it’s not only hindering, but it’s destructive. It makes me sad to see imagination and creativity being sacrificed for wants. It seems to me that the difference between needs and wants has not only been lost, but reversed: some wants are seen as needs, and some needs are lost as wants. I would argue that the creative imaginative mind and it’s value are actually a need. It’s been said that “necessity is the greatest invention” with so much excess beyond need, there is less need for creativity, and imagination diminishes. Interestingly, creativity, imagination, and invention are what has brought things such as technology so far, but it is not the mere existence of technology that sacrifices imagination, rather it is the lost discernment between needs and wants, and increase in reliance and excess on it. If we as individuals and society as a whole, learned to once again distinguish between needs and wants, the world would be a much different place and maybe creative, imaginative minds would not have to be sacrificed.
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