Medium of the Art/Technique of the Artist
Although this was the first piece of art I saw, the design of this room was one of the most creative. As I walked in, to the right, a video of a tribal African ceremony was playing. In the video, members of the tribe danced and sang to traditional tunes; however, on the other side of the room, there was a large mirror that nearly spanned the size of the whole wall. Upon some speculation, I realized that the artist set up the room this way so that the spectator can look into the mirror and easily imagine that he/she is essentially at the ceremony with the tribal people. This gives a new and different perspective rather than just, say, watching the video online.
Design of the Museum
My favorite wing of the museum was the African Collection. In addition to the first display of the tribal dance video mentioned above, this exhibit was filled with interesting, creative, and colorful pieces, as seen above to the right. That colorful article of clothing is called a Fancy Dress and has been worn on New Year's Day in Ghana for decades. This past summer, as a graduation gift, my mother and I visited South Africa and Zimbabwe. Having done that, I believe some of the pieces here had a little more meaning to me than it would to most others.
Art and core values
Especially prevalent in current times, I am quite passionate about topics such as racism, feminism, and overall equality. This panorama shows numerous pieces of artwork that hone in on facts such as women needing to be supported in each of their industries as much as men (picture showing the definition of a hypocrite) and people of color needing more representation in awards ceremonies (factoids about the Oscars). Personally, I don't believe anyone's true good life can be fully achieved until some real progress is made when it comes to equality in general.
Art and the good life
I believe that this art piece represents the sustaining aspect of the good life. In this picture, a woman that seems to be a mother is using a sewing machine with her baby at her side. Additionally, there is a model of a house next to the baby. This really brings together the family facet of the good life and it seems that the mother is working hard to sustain this family, whether there are other family members out of the frame or not. She is hard at work with her sewing, keeping an eye on the baby, and modeling a possible future home that may provide a better life for her child. The sustaining aspect of the good life may put someone under the most pressure because he/she is trying to preserve all the hard work he/she has put in.
Bibliography
"Harn Museum of Art." Harn Museum of Art - Visit Gainesville - Florida Vacation Destinations. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2017.