THIS IS WHAT I KNOW ABOUT ART POST - Continued - Ricky Ochoa

  Quotes from This Is What I Know About Art

1. "For so many young people of color, we feel like we don't have the luxury of exploring the liberal arts - society tells us that we have to take coursework to become high earners to make valuable contributions to the world."

2. "Some students were upset by the artists' intention, and others were ashamed of the history that the piece highlighted. I, on the other hand, felt solidarity with the artists' need to highlight the shameful history of the world's fair and how, more often than not, people of color are brought into art spaces to perform for white audiences. How couldn't my classmates see beyond their guilt?"

3. "Activism is a collective action and an investment in the lives of other people. And, as the late artist Thornton Dial once said, 'If there is one thing that you can do, leave something for somebody else... You can work for somebody else's freedom. You can leave something for somebody else's child."

Responses

1. It's true because society treats art as a specialty to sit there and look pretty. It has deep psychological impacts that can influence minds and helps people in ways that words couldn't do. It should be treated as equal as any other job no matter the position you are in and be able to make money easily.

2. I understand how some of the white students felt guilty about how they treated people of color when they are shown the documentary that focuses on the art piece of The Couple in the Cage: Two Undiscovered Amerindians Visit the West. Their ancestors have built their legacy through these actions and have discriminated people of color to justify their actions and even try to mess up history by using stereotypical portrayals of people of color. It's hard to let go those racist ideals due to how we were told for many years. I can see how this is the first time they are confronted with that fact due to the reactions. They were probably taught about this racist ideology for many years warping their sense of reality which is why they couldn't see beyond their guilt when they were finally confronted with the truth that has broke down everything that they have believed for years. They are going through disillusionment. 

3. I believe that Art and Activism go hand and hand whether live action, performance, paintings, animations, comics etc. It's important to use activism to help people not just from your personal experiences but also helping other people outside of your scope to gain more experience and give examples to others that even those that don't know that much can help others spreading awareness and taking action to help those in need.

This artwork is interesting because knowledge equals power. If you can have the time to be bored, you can come up with many interesting ideas from the start. It is a fact that if you're alone, you will always be thinking about something and will develop self-consciousness, which brings creativity and critical thinking skills about yourself and what to do next. It is important to be bored because that happens usually in day-to-day lives, it helps us develop our creativity faster.

Title: Leave Space for Imagination

Theme: Creativity