Underground Up Blog #2

When I visited the gallery I thought that I was going to walk around and just see paintings that didn’t mean much. Obviously, I was completely wrong and saw more than just painting. I saw sculptures, drawings, collages, some sort of comic about monsters. After seeing and trying to understand what it could mean I’ve read some of the descriptions that the artists wrote about their piece and it started to make sense. Some of the artwork made more sense than others so I will start off with the ones that made sense to me.

Aileen Bassis Is this my America? Is basically about the social injustice that the people of America are facing. The issues have been going on for many years and some have grown to tolerate the injustice but there are still people that still think to themselves “what is America coming to?” I believe that this poses a strong message for the people to open their eyes and do not remain silent.

David Sandlin’s Pur-Ton-o-Fun Co. is about his experience from living in an urban area and then transitioning to a rural state. He mentions in his description that his artwork was about his vices and demons that he’s experienced when he moved. Usually, when you live in an area where it’s normal to drink, go out in the city, meet people, and possibly have relations with them, you would think it’s normal, but when you move to a place where that is considered a sin then you see everything in a completely different perspective. You start to question yourself and everyone will see you differently. In that moment it will be very difficult to be socially accepted if you lived a lifestyle like that.

Kate Dodd’s Losing Leaves is something that we are unconsciously doing today. We are letting go of what used to be a form of gaining knowledge from books but now that society is changing people are letting go of the old and bringing in the new form of gaining knowledge and that’s computers. People don’t read the encyclopedia now but they used to since it has a lot of information about basically everything. Now all you have to do is go to google and type whatever you need to know. Society is changing but there are some that still cherish the old style of gaining knowledge. We just have to accept that everything else is changing around us.

I believe that Asha Ganpat delivered a strong message about how, in the carved books, deep children’s books get. Sometimes people are only focused on is the vibrant colors when in reality there is a subliminal message hidden in the book. It could either be in the texts or in the picture itself. Some people are blind and do not realize that children books are sometimes dark and disturbing. Even though it might not be a huge issue it still concerns me to believe are children books really friendly or are people who write this actually want to slip in a hidden message for kids. You always have to be careful what you read to children because if you read carefully you might find some disturbing things.

When I saw this exhibition it was hard for me to understand what everything meant but as everything was broken down and once you dig deep on what the artist is talking about in their description of their artwork it brings light on the topic of activism. These artists have shown their artwork because it expresses what they feel about society. It shows that they are passionate and it gives the artwork a powerful message about the social issues we are dealing with today. It’s basically a message to us open your eyes. See what’s going on with your surroundings. This exhibition is basically making you cautious about the things you buy and read for your children, about social injustice and about how people are still oppressed by the government that was supposed to protect us and help us but instead turns their back on us or shames us. It also shows us that people are so dependant on their technology for knowledge and don’t bother picking up a book which is the same thing. It also shows how society is quick to judge outsiders that are not used to the certain belief system everyone else believes in. This society has a lot of issues that are not yet resolved and this exhibition is a great way to spread some sort of activism through the power of art.

In the book Seeing Power, Nato Thompson wrote, “Given the complete transformation that the culture industry has had on everyday life, it is shocking to find that artists and activists continue to talk about their work as though the world has not changed.” I believe that in this exhibition it is clear that these artists view the world as if we didn’t progress. People believe that the world changed because everything around them is visually changing. People are unaware that everything that changes is just a mask to cover up the real problem in society that only a hand few of people can actually see.

Nato also said, “We gain a sense of how the game is played; and we play it well, for the purpose of gaining more knowledge.” I found that this related to David Sandlin’s artwork because what Nato is talking about is how the game is played well to gain knowledge. For David, after he moved he had to adapt quickly to socially be accepted. People were feeding him all this information that he doesn’t know and it was up to him to actually try to fit in so he doesn’t feel like an outsider.

Aileen Bassis, Is this my America?

Kate Dodd, Losing Leaves

Asha Ganpat, Visions Come to the Seer,

The Ghost Girl Charmed the MOnsters with the Glow of the Severed Unicorn Horn and Was Kept Safe by the Circlet of Fried Eggs Which Grew Around Her, The Creeps, Anchor

David Sandlin, Pur-Ton-o-Fun Co. (Volume 2 & 3)