The Fear Exhibit

As I entered the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons in Bird Library, it was not surprising to see that there weren’t many students other than myself and a couple CAS 100 students. The exhibit was called "Phobia: Collecting in the History of Fear." Due to the fact that I love scary movies and I love being afraid, I was quite excited to see what this presentation entailed . At that moment, I zoned out and began to wonder what I was afraid of. I came to the conclusion that what I feared was not a scary creature or a supernatural occurrence, rather a situation that could actually happen such as a terrorist bombing or a nuclear strike. Thinking about all these things got me very eager to see how this presentation defines fear and how fear could be placed in chronological order. All of a sudden all my thoughts and were halted as the first speaker was introduced. His name was Sean Quimby and I thought he was a breath of fresh air. As he delivered his introductory powerpoint about fear, he was very causal with the audience. He lightened the mood by telling jokes, making everyone laugh including myself. He even told a story of his fears as a young child which made all the senior citizens laugh even harder. One thing I noticed about the people in attendance was that there was not very many young people besides the five or six of us in attendance .
Mr. Quimpy’s presentation kept my attention as he began by explaining how fear is ever-changing as one matures. He explained to all of us that when we are young our fear is less rational as we tend to fear monsters and creatures of the dark. As we grow older we begin to have phobias of things such as the fear of being kidnapped or a snake crawling into our bed. However, he explained as we become more rational into our adult years, fears become more realistic and more susceptible to humans. For example, Mr. Quimby kept referring to the fear of being along without a family or fear of not making enough money to support yourself or a family. Mr. Quimby continued his presentation by referring to a variety of works focused on fear. One of which was called “Fear, a Cultural History.” The piece talks about how humans are afraid of the most unlikely of occurrences such as a meteorite hitting earth or a geological disaster such a hole in the ozone resulting in an apocalypse. What was most interesting about the presentation was the use of the “War of Worlds” audio piece to try to immerse the audience in a “fear of invasion” as Mr. Quimby so vividly describes. As the audio piece played, everyone was silent listening to every sound ever so attentively. The strategy used by Mr. Quimby allowed everyone to exit reality and place themselves in this hostile situation. I began to ask myself, what would I do in a situation like this? I began to question my own morals and ethics as a wondered if I would run to save myself or help others putting my life in eminent danger. Unfortunately the presentation ended for me then because a bus was waiting for me outside to take me and my teammates to providence. Nonetheless, Mr Quimby did a wonderful job describing fear to the audience while making us understand it better by creating a environment where we were afraid. He showed us the different types of fears and many books and movies that exhibit these fears. I look forward to Mr. Quimby’s presence on our campus and I would possibly like to sign up for one of his classes.

Binh Danh

At the Binh Dahn light work exhibit I found many interesting things, however the "One Week's Dead" collection stood out for me as the most intriguing. It was exciting to make the connection between all faces of the fallen soldiers and the actual environment in which they spilled their blood. The photos remind me of the current tragedies we our country is facing with the Iraq War. Just as soldiers died decades ago against guerilla forces that were hard to distinguish as Vietcong, our soldiers in Iraq die unexpectedly from same illusive enemy and guerilla tactics.

Susan Sontag would most likely concur with my feelings of Binh Danh's exhibit. She comments, “Photographs have an insuperable power to determine what we recall of events." This is valid in regard to Binh Danh’s work in that he displays graphic images that bring out emotions of sorrow and pain. Therefore by viewing those photos we strongly incorporate death with the Vietnam War. In addition, Sontag says, “Considered in this light, the photographs are us. That is, they are representative of the fundamental corruptions of any foreign occupation together with the Bush adminstration's distinctive policies.” I agree with this statement because as I viewed the photos from Vietnam in Danh’s exhibit, I made a connection between Vietnam and Iraq and how both wars were tainted with corruption and false reasons for reasons for mobilization. Also, the photos of the torture victims give our country and our administration a very bad name just as Sontag said above.

If I had to write the definition of ART it would be a unique and creative creation made by a person or group of people in order to convey a meaning or express an idea. I can recall one instance in my life where art really fascinated me. I was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my father and we stumbled across a beautiful piece called Water Lillies by Monet. As I became fixated upon all the beautiful colors and the detail of the art, my father tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Why don’t you walk a little closer and see how beautiful it is.” When I got a closer look all I saw was a bunch of colors splashed on a piece of paper. I thought to my self, this couldn’t be the same piece of art that I was looking at just thirty seconds ago. It was so chaotic and muddled. I then turned to my father with a bewildered look on my face and waited for some kind of response. He then said, “Walk back slowly.” As I started to walk back each step made the picture more clear, until I was back where I started, fifteen feet away looking at the most astounding piece of art that I have ever seen. I realized then how genius Monet was that he could make a bunch of dots and paint splashes from up close, a masterpiece from a couple steps back. I am not a huge art person but that day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Monet made me wish I had the gift to create a such a masterwork. If I could describe it to someone that has never seen it I would say it is a plethora of the most beautiful colors in the world. The flowers look so soft and white that it appears no human or living thing has ever touched them. The water is crystal clear and reflects every floating flower perfectly. When I looked at the painting I felt like I was there. I am guessing Monet created this work in order to relax and calm himself when he was feeling stressed.
After reading de Duve’s essay about art I found that my interpretation of art is very different than his. He describes it as one of the only thing that binds all humans together. Art to me is something I can comment on in one sentence however, Duve can express himself in a forty page essay. I learned that there are very different ways to view art. Throughout the reading Duve challenged me to take on different characters such as a historian, a extra terrestrial, a sociologist,ect. I found that as I changed my point of view I further understood art more in depth that I ever have before. Duve also has a tendency to connect art with culture throughout the reading. As I read more and more I realized that art is a reflection of culture and how the artist was shaped by his/her culture. Duve taught me that you can find out a lot of people through art work.

Blind and Dumb criticism reaction

1 comment: After reading this excerpt i totally agree with the author in that to be a critic is in a sense, proclaiming your own stupidity. In the last line of the reading the author comments about critics, "You don't want to understand the play by Lefebvre the Marxist, but you can be sure that Lefebvre the Marxist understands your incomprehension perfectly well." For me, this quote made me understand what the author was trying to say throughout the reading. In a way, he is very resentful of people that do not have the intellectual capacity of great writers but still have the audacity to critique it as if they were smarter.

1 question: Why does the author keep refering to Marxism and existentialism?