#4 Controversial Art

Controversial art and its benefits amount to several things. First, it gets us thinking about how others view life and secondly, it opens up discussion about it. Where people get hung up about it is when an understanding of what the artist is attepting to convey or allow us to experience through the art form gets lost in the "translation" of the observation.

From culture to culture this could be dispelled with the simplicity of Steven Covey's "Seek first to understand, then be understood" premise.When people feel understood they have been fully communicated with and are honored in the process. This opens up new avenues for a much finer communication process between thinkers within and outside of our culture.

For instance, the Madonna piece was pre-judged wthout even a view or factual research about it by Guilanni. I can see some communication opportunities here. If the artist wrote a type of "fact sheet" up for viewers to read prior to viewing perhaps people might appreciate the "back story" to the piece. It helped me a great deal to see the piece in a new light due to cultural information acquired from this class. Knee jerk reactions are not professional nor a positive, cultural bridge building behavior.

You have asked, "Would the world be a better place if all art conformed to predetermined standards?" No, that would be a crazy-making experience! Who would decide what the pre-determining standards are? How would they be applied globally? How would one decide what is art or pornograghy? If this were to be done, the only way I could see it is if a cross sampling of people groups from the community simply heard the artist speak or read something they had written, coming to an understanding of it and then communicating or introducing the work to their own communities. Just a thought on how to possibly build bridges of understanding without going the censoring pathway: If the work was seen as pornograghy, how would that be addressed? Too complex for me- but with the right people--I believe much good can be accomplished. (FYI- I do not believe that porn is a contempoary art form- it tears apart married relationships and families-- and is addictive. Art serves a higher purpose.

Personally, this week was interesting culturally. I was a bit aahamed about how we as a people at times tend to not "Seek to understand..." and was hoping that this might catch on both ways as I would like to be understood as well.

There's a first time for everything. The pictures are of my daughter when we attended the Art from the schools last Spring. More information coming about this.