Introduction
I visited the Harn Museum with my friend Yoni in late January. When we entered the museum, we strolled through the first exhibit with the abstract paintings. We found them interesting and thought provoking, but were confused as to why the artist chose to make the painting he/she did. Our favorite exhibit was the room filled with ancient sculptures, because we were intrigued to see artifacts from many centuries ago. However, the most captivating exhibit was the room filled with female-related articles displaying how hard of a career art is for their gender.
Medium of the Art / Technique of the Artist
This artwork below is called the Seated Bodhisattva from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in Korea. Seeing this artwork in person changed my interpretation of the artifact because at first glance it looks like Buddha from India. Furthermore, seeing it in person allowed me understand the artwork better and correctly. His seated position was the most interesting aspect to me. The caption of the artwork explained the meaning behind each part of his body in the position that he is in. For example, the placement of his right hand is a symbol for fearlessness and the placement of his left hand is a symbol for gift bestowing. The smile on his face communicated to me that it is friendly and welcoming. The artwork made me feel comfortable, even thought it looks mysterious at first, because the artifact had its arms in a peaceful position rather than in an aggressive pose
Design of the Museum
Out of all of the exhibits, I found the room filled with pictures and newspaper articles relating to females in the career of art. This exhibit intrigued me because of the design of it and the use of primary sources to display the information. The design of the exhibit was, in essence, a tunnel of information on the walls, which allows the spectators to observe the artwork as they walk through the "tunnel." The lighting of this exhibit was specific, meaning that the lights only shined on or near the artwork and not in the middle of the exhibit where there were no pieces of art. The use of the walls as the canvas for the artwork resembled, in my eyes, graffiti, which relates back to my thought of the entire exhibit representing a tunnel and the artwork is the graffiti on the walls of the tunnel. The artwork made me feel surprised that women had such a difficulty succeeding in art just because of their gender.
Art and Core Values
This artwork named "Untitled" by Yasuo Kuniyoshi made me think of my core value of respect because I see a woman's purse spilled on a table and is left unguarded. My parents have instilled respect in me since the day I was born and I know that it is not polite, mature, nor morally right to steal from anyone let alone from an unguarded and spilled purse. This may not be what the artist was trying to provoke the viewer to think, but that is what immediately raced through my mind. By seeing this painting, it makes me realize how my core value of respect can be implemented and displayed. The respectful thing to do, in this case, would be to help the woman pick up all of her belongings that fell out of her purse. This artwork instills happiness because it reminds me of the right and respectful thing to do, which is what I strive to do in every situation. Therefore, it helps me better understand my belief of respect as an important core value to have.
Art and the Good Life
In this painting, there is a group of young men that are displaying Aarungu headdresses comprised of many different elements for decoration. This painting coveys the good life themes of celebrating and sharing the good life because the people depicted in the painting are wearing festive garments and have festive props. Furthermore, they are all together sharing the experience together, which relates to the theme of sharing. The friendship displayed in the artwork also conveys the theme of sharing. By seeing people from a different country celebrate, it opens my mind to a different perspective because I am familiar with most celebrations in the United States regarding the attire people wear, the things they bring to the celebration, and the reason for the celebration in general. Therefore, this painting helps me understand the celebrating and sharing themes.
