"Art can serve as a mechanism to articulate a younger nation's experience and perception of the world; it can provide an occasion for dialogue and the creation of shared meaning." Quote from "Africa's breakthrough: Art, place branding and Angola's win at the Venice Biennale, 2013" by Nicholas Cull.
It strikes me that the same is true of art in a person's home. When new inhabitants pick what will hang on their walls and populate their shelves, those choices express their self-perceived identities (either consciously or not). In turn, a home's decor will shape the particular narratives of its resident(s), as constructed both by themselves and by their friends/visitors. The interpersonal significance of art selected for a living space mirrors the international significance of art curated for a patriotically-oriented gallery. Same goes for intrapersonal and intranational story-making.
I don't mean to trivialize the quote by taking it out of the context of postcolonialism, but rather to point out the macro/micro significance of aesthetic discussions.
I hate it when I can't express what I mean without using incredibly pretentious academic language.
You can argue you're taking it out of context, or you can argue that you analyzed the author's intent, and applied what you learned to other situations. Critical reading skills.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I move I find there's art that gets hung up and some come down. I'm not always sure why. Sometimes it feels like it just doesn't fit the new personality of the house. Call it feng shui if you want.
My impulse is to fit that into your box-unpacking principle, but I'm not sure what term would describe that best. So I guess I'll call it feng shui!
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