How does art play into these changes? In James Nares’, Pendulum, he captures the constant changing swing of a wrecking ball. The sequences vary so that the viewer is entranced in the motion allowing them to forget the true purpose wrecking ball. The change of the wrecking ball’s swing reflects the change in the development of the City. Pendulum is art imitating life.
William Cullen Bryant’s “The Prairies”, makes us realize how long the struggle over change has taken place in our country. Written in 1832, the poem, tells of the Native American’s struggle to overcome changes from American Settlers. Matthew Buckingham also reflects on this in his film, Muhheakantuck-Everything Has a Name. Buckingham shoots footage of the Hudson River from a helicopter. The title of the film comes from the original name of the river, Muhheakntuck, which means river that flows in two directions. Buckingham touches on how the past shapes the future. Manhattan, a great present day city on the Hudson was initially explored in 1609 by Henry Hudson. He states how “the significance of past events appears in the ordinary moments and people.”
Where stood their swarming cities. All is gone --
All -- save the piles of earth that hold their bones --
The platforms where they worshipped unknown gods --
The barriers which they builded from the soil
All -- save the piles of earth that hold their bones --
The platforms where they worshipped unknown gods --
The barriers which they builded from the soil
From “The Prairies” by William Cullen Bryant
(Illustration for "The Prairies" from Poems, 1876 edition)
Jimbo Blachy’s About 86 Springs, documents the current conditions of the path of James Reuel Smith followed almost 100 years ago. However the two paths are extremely different. Blachy encounters fast food restaurants, fenced offed courtyards, office buildings and sewage drains where once was rich wooden areas with clear streams.
Our physical landscape is constantly changing. Our mental landscape keeps the history of our environment intact. Modernization will continue for generations and generations. Things we take for granted today will someday be obsolete and dispose of by future generations.
In the reading, Shifting Ground: Street Art of the 1960’s and 70’s, Frazer Ward discusses the protest culture of the 1960s and 1970s. This is an era marked by the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, Women and Gay Rights Movement. These protest often played out in the streets. Art was a very important vehicle in the protest culture. Artists such as Jacques de la Village and Claus Oldenburg used elements from the streets to create their art. Fluxus performance art such as Street Cleaning Event and Touch Cinema literally used the street as a stage. . Yoko Ono’s Rape and Vito Acconci’s Following used the street as a character in their respective films. Instead of using a studio or a film stage, they created their art on the street and the street became part of the final result.
Photograph of Hi Red Center performing their Street Cleaning Event,
taken June, 1966 at Grand Army Plaza (58th Street and 5th Avenue), New York City.
taken June, 1966 at Grand Army Plaza (58th Street and 5th Avenue), New York City.
Photograph of Hi Red Center performing their Street Cleaning Event,
taken June, 1966 at Grand Army Plaza (58th Street and 5th Avenue), New York City.
taken June, 1966 at Grand Army Plaza (58th Street and 5th Avenue), New York City.
The two readings tie together in the fact that our physical, mental and artistic world is always changing. We can choose to be part of the change or not. We can choose to create our art in spite of the changes or we can choose to have our art be a part of the changes. Neither is a wrong decision, just a personal decision.
Example of how change is constant in all cultures
Some Native American groups are protesting the development of sacred
land for solar energy projects.
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